TLl ^Ah^ / '^^^ i.'«- JT'^C THEOLOarCAL SEMINARY, | Princeton, N. J. -g A ^, Division ^l.. j €((!«' o * S. Shelf, Section ;.:.. D iiw>/.% No, © .... - ■<^ » • • f" ^"^ ^ > .. *: . .^. ». \ ». ■» » ^ -^ j», TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE William, Lord Mansfield, LORD CHIEF JUSTICE OF ENGLAND, AND TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE Sir John Eardly Wilmot, Knt. LATE LORD CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE COMMON PLEAS, TRUSTEES FOR THIS LECTURE, THE following SERMONS ARE MOST HUMBLY INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR, R. HURD. lincoln's-inn, MARCH 2, 1772- Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive in 2011 witii funding from Princeton Theological Seminary Library http://www.archive.org/details/keytoprophecieOOfras EXTRACT FROM THE DEED OF TRUST FOR FOUNDING THIS LECTURE. An Indenture, bearing date July 21, 1768, sets forth, " That the right reverend William Lord ' Bishop of Gloucester has transferred the sum of * 500 I. Bank Jour per cent, annuities consolidated, ' to the right honourable WilliamLordMans- ' FIELD, Lord Chief Justice of his Majesty's * Court of King's Bench, the right honourable ' Sir John Eardly Wilmot, Lord Chief Jus- * tice of his Majesty's Court of Common Pleas, ' and the honourable Charles Yorke,* of Lin- ' coln's-Inn, in the county of Middlesex, upon ' TRUST, for the purpose of founding a Lecture^ * in the form of a Sermon, To prove the truth of * revealed Religion^ in general^ and of the Christian ' in particular,, from the completion of the prophecies * This noble and eminent person was the second son of the Lord Chancellor Hardwicke. He had been, for many years, in the first reputation at the Bar ; and, having passed through the fjffices of Solicitor and Attorney General, was, himself, made Lord Chan- cellor in January, 1770, but died soon after his appointment to that hig-h dignity — LuctuosMm, hoc su:s ,• aarbinn patrix ; grave bonis omnibus. Cic. 11 EXTRACT FROM THE DEED OF TRUST. " in the Old and New Testament^ which relate to " the Christian churchy especially to the apostasy of " Papal Rome : That, in case of any vacancy in " this trust by the decease of any one or more of *' the above-mentioned Trustees, the place or places *• shall be Jilled up ^ from time to time and as occasion " may require, by the surviving" Trustees, or Trustee, '■'' or by the Executors of the survivor of them : — " That the Trustees shall appoint the Preacher of *' Lincoln' s-Inn for the time being, or some other able " Divine of the Church of England, to preach this " Lecture : That the Lecture shall be preached " every year in the Chapel of Lincolnh-Inn (if the " society give leave* J and on the following days, viz, " the first Sunday after Michaelmas Term, the " Sunday next before, and the Sunday next after " Hilary Term: That the Lecturer shall not preach *' the said Lecture longer than yor^/^d-jfcrw? o/*four " YEARS, and shall not agaiji be nominated to preach " the same : And, when the term of four years is " expired, that the said Lecturer shall print a?id " publish, or cause to be printed and published, all the " Sermons or Lectures y that sliall have been so " preached by hi?n.^^ * The Society have given leave tliattliis Lecture be preached in their Chapel, and on the days specified. CONTENTS. SERMON I. False ideas of Prophecy. Pase. 2 Peter, i. 21. Prophecy came not in old time hy the icill of man : but holy men of God spake^ an they were moved by the Spirit of God 9 SERMON II. The true idea of Prophecy. Rev. xix. 10. The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy 27 SERMON III. Conclusions from the true idea of Prophecy. Rev. xix. 10. The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy 49 SERMON IV. The general argument from Prophecy. John xiii. 19. Now 1 tell you before it come^ that when it is come to pass, ye may believe^ that I am He. 77 SERMON V. Prophecies concerning Christ's^rs^ coming. Isaiah xiii. 9. Behold, the former things are come to pa . ana nezz things do I declare : before they .spring forth, I tell you of them 10 1 tiii CONTENTS. SERMON VI. Prophecies concerning Christ's second coming. Isaiah xlii. 9 Behold^ the former things are come to pu.^s, and new things do I declare : before they spring forth, I tell you of them 129 SERxMON VII. Prophecies concerning Antichrist. 1 Ep. John ii. 18. — Ye have heard, that Antichrist shall come 165 SERMON VIII. Prejudices against the doctrine of Antichrist. 1 Ep. John ii. 18. — Ye have heard, that Antichrist shall come. 198 SERMON IX. The prophetic style considered. EzEKiEL XX. 49. — They say of me, Duth he not speak parables^ , . . . 223 SERMON X. The style and method of the Apocalypse. EzEKiEL XX. 49. — They say of me, Doth he not speak ' parables? 249 SERMON XI. Prophetic characters of Antichrist. Luke xii. 56. — How is it, that ye do not discern this time ? 273 SERMON XII. Uses of this inquiry into the prophecies — Conclusion. Rev. xxii. 7. Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book, 317 SERMON I. FALSE IDEAS OF PROPHECY. 2 Peter, i. 21. Prophecy came not in old time by the xvill of man: but holy men of God spake^ as they were moved by the Spirit of God. X HE argument from prophecy, in support of the Christian revelation, would be thought more conclusive, at least would be more distinctly ap- prehended, if men could be kept from mixing their own prejudices and preconceptions with it. The general question may be expressed thus-— " Whether the predictions in the Old and New *' Testament do not appear to have been so far, " and in such sense, fulfilled, as to afford a rea- " sonable conviction, that they came not^ as the text " speaks, by the "will of man^ hut from the Spirit •' of God.'' o 10 FALSE IDEAS OF PROPHECY. In examining this question, the predictions themselves cannot be too dihgently studied, or too cautiously applied : But, while this work is carrying on, we are still to suppose, and should not for a moment forget, that they may be, what they manifestly claim to be, of divine sugges- tion ; I mean, we are to admit, not the truth indeed, but the possibility, of such suggestion, till we can fairly make it appear that they are of hu- man contrivance only. It will not be denied, that the tenour of scrip- ture, as well as the text, clearly asserts the divine original and direction of the prophecies. A just reasoner on the subject will, therefore, proceed on this supposition, and only try whether it be well founded. He will consider, whether the construc- tion of the prophecies, and the application of them be such, as may accord to those pretensions ; and will not argue against them on other principles, which they do not admit, or suppose. All this is plainly nothmg more than what may be expected from a fair inquirer, and what the rules of good reasoning exact from him. The use of this conduct would be, to prevent^ or set aside, all those fancies and imaginations which too frequently mislead inquirers into the evidence of prophecy ; which fill their minds with needless FALSE IDEAS OF PROPHECY. 11 perplexities, and disgrace their books with frivolous and impertinent disquisitions. And, because I take it to be of principal moment, that this use be per- fectly seen and understood, I shall, Jirst^ apply my- self to justify and explain it. It is true that prophecy ^ in the very idea of that term, at least in the scriptural idea of it, impHes the divine agency ; and that, exerted not merely in giving the faculty itself, but in directing all its ope- rations. Yet I know not how it is that, when men ad- dress themselves to the study of the prophetic scrip- tures, they are apt to let this so necessary idea sHp out of their minds ; and to discourse upon them just as they would or might do, on the supposition that the prophet was left at liberty to dispense this gift in all respects, as he should think proper. No wonder then, that they should misconceive of its character, and entertain very different notions about the exercise of this power from what the scriptures give them of it. Nay it is no wonder that they should even treat the subject with some scorn, while they judge of it by the rule of human prudence, and not of divine wisdom : for, though they would readily own themselves incapable of pronouncing on the secret counsels of God, if prophecy, in its whole administration, be regarded as proceeding merely 12 FALSE IDEAS OF PROPHECY. from him ; yet, from their knowledge of human nature, they would think, and with some reason, they were well able to conceive how the spirit of prophecy would be administered, if man had the disposal of this spirit committed to him. Now it happens, as I said, (by an inexcusable perverseness, or inattention, indeed, yet in fact it so happens) that, to the consideration of the argument from prophecy, as applied to the proof of the Chris- tian religion, many inquirers bring with them this strange and fatal prejudice ; and then their reason- ings, or rather conjectures, on the subject, the END, and the dispensation of prophecy, are only such, as this prejudice may be expected to inspire, I. Judging for ourselves, and by the light of human investigation only, there might be some ground for supposing, that, if it should please God at any time to confer the gift of prophecy on his favoured servants, they would be solely or chiefly commissioned to unfold the future fortunes of the most conspicuous states and kingdoms in the world : that so divine a power would embrace, as its pe- culiar object, the counsels and enterprises, the suc- cesses and triumphs of the most illustrious nations ; those especially, which should rise to the summit of empire by generous plans of policy, and by the, FALSE IDEAS or PROPHECY. 13 efforts of public virtue; oi free states^ in a word, such as we know to have flourished in the happier ages of Greece, and such as we still contemplate with admiration in the vast and awful fabric of Con- sular Rome. This we might think a fit object for the prophetic spirit to present to us ; as correspond- ing in some degree to the sublime character of a prophet ; and as most worthy, in our conceptions, of the divine attention and regard. But how are we surprised, to find that this aston- ishing power, the most signal gift of heaven to man- kind, hath, in its immediate application at least, respected, many times, obscure individuals, whose names and memory are only preserved in one bar- barous chronicle, hath been chiefly employed, and, as we are ready to express it, thrown away on one single state, or rather family ; inconsiderable in the extent of its power or territory ; sequestered from the rest of the nations, and hardly known among them ;* with some mention, perhaps, of greater • Thus Celsus represents the Jews — (XVjJfV TsrwVolf a^/oAoyov TSi^aJiuvlctQ, HT iv hoy a, sfi' iv «pi6/xw uvrHg Tsole yflf vvi/xivsf . Orig. contra Gels. /. iv./>. 181, eil. Sptnc. Cantab. 167". And in p.l75, he represents it as the highest absurdity in such reptiles to pretend that their insignificant concerns were the objects of divine prediction, and that the supreme Governor of the world, who had «o many greater things upon liis hands, should be only solicitous, ns it were> to keep up a perpetual intercourse witli them. See 14 FALSE IDEAS OF PROPHECY. things, but incidentally touched, as it may seem, and as they chanced to have some connexion with the interests of this sordid people ! Was this a stage, on which it might be expected that the God of heaven would condescend to display the wonders of his prescience ; when Ke kept aloof, as it were, from more august theatres, and would scarcely vouchsafe to have the skirts of his glory seen by the nobler and more distinguished nations of the world ? Such questions as these are sometimes asked. But they are surely asked by those, who consider the prophets, as acting wholly on human views and motives ; and not as over-ruled in all their predic- tions by the spirit of God. For it is natural enough for vain man, if left to himself in the exercise of the prophetic power, to turn his view towards such objects as appear to him great, in preference to others ; and to estimate that greatness by the lustre of fame, in which they shine out to the observation of mankind. But a moment's reflec- tion may shew the probability, the possibility at least, that God''s thoughts are not as our thoughts ; the whole passage, which tlie philosopher seems to have taken a pleasure to work up with much oratorical amplification. Juliaib too, was much pleased with this foolish objection- FALSE IDEAS OF PROPHECY. 15 and that, if the prophet's foresight be under the divine influence, there may be reason enough to direct it towards such scenes and objects, as we might be apt to undcrvakie or overlook. It is even very conceivable, that, if God be the dispenser of prophecy, and not man, all that seems gieat and illustrious in human affairs may to his all -judging eye appear small and contemptible ;* and, on the other hand, what we account as nothing, may, for infinite reasons, unknown to us, but so far as he is pleased to discover them, be of that importance as to merit the attention of all his prophets from the foundation of the world. It is evident, then, that to reason in this manner on the subject of divine prophecy, is to suffer our- selves to be misled by a poor and vulgar prejudice ; and to forget, what we should ever have present to us, the claim of God's prophets to speak, not as them- selves willy but as they are moved by his Spirit* II. The END, or ultimate purpose of prophetical illumination, is another point, on which many per- sons are apt to entertain strange fancies, and to frame unwarrantable conclusions, when they give them- selves leave to argue on the low supposition, before mentioned. • Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are countett as the dust of the balance. Isaia/i x\. 15. 16 FALSE IDEAS OF PROPHECY. I. It is then hastily surmised that the scriptural prophecies, if any such be acknowledged, could only be designed, like the Pagan oracles, to soothe the impatient mind under its anxiety about future events ; to signify beforehand to states or individu- als, engaged in high or hazardous undertakings, what the issue of them would be, that so they might suit their conduct to the information of the prophet, and either pursue their purpose with vigour, or ex- pect their impending fate with resignation. For, what other or worthier end, will some say, can heaven propose to itself by these extraordinary com- munications, than to prepare and qualify such events as it decrees to bring to pass ; to animate despond- ing virtue, on the one hand, or to relieve predes- tined misery, on the other ; to adapt itself, in short, to our necessities by a clear discovery of its will in those many intricate situations, which perplex human prudence, elude human foresight, and, but for this previous admonition, would bear too hard on the natural force, or infirmity of the human mmd ? Some such idea, as this, was plainly enter- tained by those of the Pagan philosophers, who con- cluded, from the existence of a divine power ^ that there must needs be such a thing as divi?iatio?iJ' They thought the attributes of their gods, if any such there were, concerned in giving some notice of futurity to mankind. * Si dji sunlj est divinatio. fALSE IDEAS OF PROPHECY. I7 2. Others, again, encouraged in this conjectural ingenuity by partial views of scripture, come to persuade themselves that prophecy is an act oi special grace and fervour, not to this or that state, or indi- viduals indiscriminately, as either may seem to stand in need of it ; but to one peculiar and chosen people, who, on some account or other, had merit- ed this extraordinary distinction. Self-love seems to have suggested this idea to the ancient and modem Jews ; and many others, I doubt, are ready enough to suppose with them, that prophecy, under the Mosaic dispensation, had no otlier reasonable use or end. 3. Lastly, there are those who erect their thoughts to nobler contemplations, and conclude that this intercourse between heaven and earth can only be carried on with the sublime view of pre- serving an awful sense of providence in an impious and careless world. Vanity, or superstition, may they say, has ■suggested to particular men, or to societies of men, that their personal or civil concerns are of moment enough to be the subject of divine proph- ecies, vouchsafed merely for their own proper relief or satisfaction. But nothing less than the maintenance of God's supreme authority over his 18 FALSE IDEAS OF PROPHECY. moral creation could be an object worthy of his interposing in the affairs of men, in so remarkable a manner. To keep alive in their minds a pre- vailing sense of their dependance upon him, is, then, the ultimate end of prophecy : and vi^hat more suitable (will they perhaps add, when v/armed with tliis moral enthusiasm,) to the best ideas we can form of divine wisdom, than that this celestial light should be afforded to such ages or nations as are most in want of that great and salutary principle ? There is reason to believe, that many of the ancient speculatists reasoned thus on the subject of divination. For, \,sls they argued /rom the ex- istence of their gods, to the 7iecessity of divina- tion ; so, again, they turned the argument the other way, and from the reality of divination, in- ferred the existence and providence of their gods.^ In drawing the former conclusion, they shewed themselves to be in the system of those who maintain, that the end of prophecy is the instruc- tion of men in their civil or personal concerns ; when they drew the latter, they seemed to espouse the more enlarged sentiments of such as make the end of prophecy to be. The instruction of men in the general concerns of religion. * Si divinatio sit, dii sunt- FALSE IDEAS OF PROPHECY. 19 I omit other instances, that might be given ; and concem myself no further with these, than just to observe from them ; That the foundation of all such systems is laid in the prejudices of their respective patrons ; conjecturing rather what use might be made of this faculty, and to \vhat purpose men, according to their different views or capacities, would probably apply it, than regard- ing it, with due reverence, as directed by the Spirit of God. For then they would see, that not one of those ends, nor any other of human conjecture, could be safely relied upon, as being that of pro- phetic inspiration. Not that all these ends need be rejected as manifestly unworthy of the divine intention ; perhaps, each of them, in a certain sense, and Avith some proper limitation, might without impiety be conceived to enter into it. But neither could it be presumed, if none of those ends could hav^ been pointed out, that therefore there was no reasonable end of divine prophecy ; nor could it with modesty be affirmed that the noblest of these ends was certainly that, which the wisdom of God proposed chiefly and ultimately to accomplish by it, unless the information had been given by himself. III. But this folly of commenting on prophecy by the false lights of the imagination is never more conspicuous, than when the dispensation of this 20 FALSE IDEAS OF PROPHECY. gift, I mean the mode of its conveyance, comes to exercise the curiosity of presumptuous men. " If it be true, will some say, that the Supreme Being hath at any time condescended to enlighten human ignorance by a discovery of future events, these divine notices, whatever the end or subject of them might be, must have been given in terms so precise, and so clearly predictive of the events to which they are applied, that no doubt could re- main either about the interpretation or completion of them, " On the contrary, these pretended prophecies arc expressed so ambiguously or obscurely, are so in- volved in metaphor and darkened by hieroglyphics, that no clear and certain sense can be affixed to them, and the sagacity of a second prophet seems wanting to explain the meaning of the first. " Then, again, when we come to verify these predictions by the light of history, the correspon- dence is so slight many times, and so indeterminate, that none but an easy faith can assure itself, that they have, in a proper sense, been fulfilled. At the least, there is always room for some degree of sus- pense and hesitation: either the accomplishment fails in some particulars, or other events might be pointed out, to which the prophecy equally corres- FALSE IDEAS OF PROPHECY. 21 ponds : so that the result is, a want of that entire and perfect conviction, which prophecy, no doubt, was intended to give, and, when fulfilled, must supply.* " Indeed, continue these inquirers, if our prophe- .cies had been derived from no higher an original, than that of Pagan oracles, we might well enough have supposed them to be of this stamp. When men had nothing to trust to, in their predictions, but their own ingenuity, they did well to deal in equivocal or enigmatic expression, and might leave it to chance, or to the passions of their vo- taries, to find an application for their random conjectures. But when the prophet is, what he assumes to be, an interpreter of heaven, he may surely afford to speak plainly, and to deliver noth- ing to us but what shall appear, with the fullest evidence, to be accomplished in the event." * These objections were long since urged by Celsus who speaks ot the Jewish and Chi-istian oracles, as fanatical, uncertain, and obscure^ ./.vii.jb.338 — xyvuQU, '/.ut Tsoc^oig^cij'ncii Tsuvlyi a^VjXUfUV to (jlsv yvuf^u tiSei<; av e%wv v5v ev^eTv Svvuilo, uauCPvi ya,<^ nut TO (J')^06V, as applicable to other subjects besides those to ivhiclt they -were referred— TUg iig TO, -zre^/ T8't« aV^Cpf §0/XeWff tspoOvfiiiug ^vvug'^ui nui ahhoig i0ci^(j.6iiEiv Ts^a,y(jt.ci(Tu I. i. p- 39 — nay, as onuch more applicable to others^ than to Resits — fji^v^ioig uhKoig 6(Pu^fj,o^v\vcii dvvug^ai '^ohO tsi^xvaTi^ov rot, tsf^oCpviliv^k y\ tw 'Ivi^a /.;;.;,. 73. 22 FALSE IDEAS OF PROPHECY. The invidious comparison, here made, between scriptural prophecies and Pagan oracles, will be considered in its place. To the general principle, assumed by these inquirers. That divine prophecy must be delivered with the utmost clearness and perspicuity^ and fulfilled with irresistible evidence^ it may be sufficient to reply, as before, That, though these inquirers use the words, divine prophecy^ they manifestly argue on the supposi- tion of its human original, or at least application. In this latter case, indeed, it is likely enough that the prophet, for his own credit, or for what he might fancy to be the sole end of prophecy, might choose, if he were entrusted with the knowledge of future events, to predict them with all possible clearness, and in such sort that obstinacy itself must see and admit the completion of theih : but then, on the former supposition, that the prophet was only the minister and instrument of the divine counsels, in the high office committed to him, they will do well to answer at their leisure, the follow- ing questions. "How do they know in what manner, and with what circumstances, it was fit for divine wisdom to dispense a knowledge of futurity to mankind ? How can they previously determine the degree of evi- dence with which a prediction must be either given ®r fulfilled ? What assurance have they, that no FALSE IDEAS OF PROPHECY. 23 reasonable ends could be served by prophecies, ex- pressed with some obscurity, and accomplished in a sense much below what may seem necessary to unavoidable conviction ? Can they even pretend, on any clear principles of reason, that very impor- tant ends, perhaps the most important, may not be answered by that mode of conveyance, which ap- pears to them so exceptionable ? Can they, in a word, determine before-hand, I do not say with cer- tainty, but with any colour of probability ; what must be the character of divine prophecy, when they know not the reason, most undoubtedly not all the reasons, why it is given, and have even no right to demand, tliat it should be given at all ?" Till these, and other questions of the like sort, be pertinently answered, it must be in vain to cen- sure the ways of Providence, as not corresponding to our imperfect and short-sighted views. - So much for that capital prejudice taken from the supposed obscurity of the scriptural prophecies. Of smaller scruples and difficulties on this head, there is no end. Men may ask, for instance, why the instruments employed in conveying these celestial notices to mankind, are frequently so mean and inconsidera- lole ? Tiie subject of a prediction is the downfall of T;in. vcr. 577. j Qliod est enim crimliiis genus, aut rei esse alicujus ignarum, aut ipsum, quod nescias, sine aliqua profiteri dissimulatione nescire ? aut uter magis videtur irrisione esse dignissimus vobis, qui sibi scientiam nullani tenebrosae rei alicujus assumit, an ille, qui retur se ex se apertissime scire id, quod humanam transiliat notionem, et quod sit caecis obsciirilatibus involi'.tum ? Arrobit($, adv. Gen. I. ii- 4 I t: 26 FALSE IDEAS OF PROPHECY. and how far, and whether in any proper sense, they have been fulfilled : to examine them, in a word, by their own claims, and on the footing of i their own pretensions ; that is, to argue on the supposi- tion that they may be divine, till they can be evi- dently shewn to be otherwise. This is clearly to act suitably to our own facul- ties ; to keep within the sphere of our duty ; and to reap the proper benefit, whatever it be, of a so- ber inquiry into the authority, and character, and accomplishment of the prophetic scriptures. All the rest is idle cavil, and miserable presump- tion ; equally repugnant to the clearest dictates of right reason, and to that respect which every seri- ous man will think due to the subject, and te himself. SERMON II. THE TRUE IDEA OF PROPHECY. Rev. xix. 10. The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of Prophecy, AT is very clear in what manner common sense instructs us to prosecute all inquiries into the divine conduct. Wise men collect^ from what they see done in the system of nature, so far as they are able to collect it, the intention of its Author. They will conclude, in like manner, from what they find de- livered in the system of revelation, what the views and purposes of the Revealer were. Prophecy, which makes so considerable a part of that system, nmst, therefore, be its own interpre- ter. My meaning is, that, setting aside all pre- sumptuous imaginations of our own, we are to take our ideas of what prophecy should be, from 28 THE TRUE IDEA OF PROPHECY. what in fact we find it to have been. If it he true (as the apostle says, and as the thing itself speaks) that the things of God knoweth no man but the spirit of God* there cannot possibly be any way of acquiring right notions of prophecy, but by at- tending to what the spirit of prophecy hath reveal- ed of itself. They who admit the divine original of those scriptures, which attest the reality, and alone, as they suppose, contain the records, of this extraordinary dispensation, are more than absurd, are impious, if they desert this principle. And they, who reject or controvert their claim to such origmal, cannot, on any other principle, argue per- tinently against that dispensation. In short, believers and unbelievers, whether they ^vould support, or overturn, the system of prophecy, must be equally governed by the repre- sentation given of it in scripture. Theformer must not presume, on any other grounds, to assert the wisdom and fitness of that system : and the latter will then take a reasonable method of discrediting, if by such means they can discredit, the pretensions of it. For, as to vindicate prophecy on any princi- ples but its own, can do it no honour ; so, to op- pose it on any other, can neither prejudice the cause itself, nor serve any reasonable end of the opposer* * I Cor. ii. 11. THE TRUE IDEA OF rROPIlECY. 29 To scripture then we must go for all the infor- mation we would have concerning the use and in- tent of prophecy : and the text, to look no farther, will clearly reveal tliis great secret to us. But, before we proceed to reason from the text, in which, as it is pretended, this discover}- is made, it will be necessary to explain its true meaning. St. John, in this chapter of the Revelations, from which the text is taken, had been shewn the down- fall of Babylon, and the consequent exaltation of the church, in its closest union with Christ, prefigured under the Jewish idea of a marriage. To so de- lightful a vision, the angel, in whose presence, and by whose ministry, this scene of glory had been disclosed, subjoins this triumphant admonition — fVrite^ says he, Blessed^are they which are called to the marriage of the Lamb, These are the true sayings of God, The apostle, struck with this emphatic address, and contemplating with grateful admiration so joy- ful a state of things, and the divinity of that fore- sight by which it was predicted, falls down at the angel'' s feet to worship him. But he said unto me. See thou do it not ; I am thy fellow -servant^ and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus : wor- 30 THE TRUE IDEA OF PROPHECY. ship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. The sense is plainly this : Direct thy acknowl- edgement for this important discovery, and that religious adoration, which it inspires, to God only who revealed it, and not to we, who am but thy fel- low-servant in this office of bearing testimony to Jesus : I said in bearing testifnony to Jesus ; for know, that the spirit of prophecy^ with which I am endowed, and by which I am enabled to foretell these great things, is but in other words, the testi?}iojty of Jesus ; it has no other use or end, but to do honour to him ; the prophet, whether he be angel or man, is only the minister of God to bear witness to his Son ; and his com- mission is ultimately directed to this one purpose of manifesting the glories of his kingdom. In dis- charging this prophetic office, which thou admir- est so much, I am then but the witness of Jesus, and so to be considered by thee in no other light than that of thy fellow-servant. It is evident from the expression, that the text was intended to give some special instruction to the apostle, whose misguided worship afforded the occasion of it. For, if the design had merely been to enforce the general conclusion — worship God — the premises need only have been — / am the ser- THE TRUE IDEA OF PROPHECY. 31 vant of God as well as thou — for from these prem- ises it had followed, that therefore God, and not the angel, was to be worshipped. But the premises are not simply, / afn thy Jellow-serva7it, but / a;?2 the fellow-servant of those who have the testimony of Jesus: which clause indeed infers the same conclusion, as the former ; but, as not being nec- essary to infer it (for the conclusion had been just and complete without it) was clearly added to con- vey a precise idea of prophecy itself, as being wholly subservient to Christ, and having no other use or destination, under its various forms and in all the diversities of its administration, but to bear testimony to him. Therefore the angel says em- phatically, in explanation of that latter clause, — For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy — or, as the sentence in our translation should have run, the order of its parts being inverted. For the the spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus, It may not be pretended that no more was meant by the text, than that the particular proph- ecy here delivered, was in attestation of Jesus ; for then it would have been expressed with that limi- tation. The terms, on the other hand, are abso- lute and indefinite — the spirit of prophecy — whence we cannot but conclude that prophecy, in general, is the subject of the proposition. 32 THE TRUE IDEA OF PROPHECY. We have here, then, a remarkable piece of in- telli,^ence conveyed to us (incidentally indeed con- veyed, but not therefore the less remarkable) con- cerning the nature and genius of prophecy. The text is properly a key put into our hands, to open to us the mysteries of that dispensation ; which had in view ultimately the person of Christ and the various revolutions of his kingdom — The spirit of prophecy is^ universally, the testiinony ofJesus.^ ^ yia^Vqia. tS Iv](T8 the testi'hiony of, or Concerning ^esus, not — the testimony given by ^esiis. The former appears to be the sense, for the foUowhig reasons. 1. The point asserted, is, " That the angel, who had delivered this illustrious prophecy, was thefelloxu-servant of ^ohn, and not of John only, but of those ixho have the testimony of Resits." The proof is— for the spirit of prophecy is the test:m,ony of ^esics — i. e. the end of prophecy is to bear testimony, or, to do honour, to Jesus ; there- fore) I, says the angel, who am endowed with this prophetic spirit, am but employed, as thou art ; who, in thy character of apostle or evangelist, hast received the same general commission, namely, to bear testimonj', or to do honour, to Jesus. See Acts x. 42. We are, therefore felloiu-servants, or joint labourers in the same cause. All this is clear and well reasoned. But now take the words — the testim.ony of yesiis — in the sense of — the testimony given by yesus — and how does the angel's having the spirit of prophecy, prove him to be afelioiv-servant of^fohn ? for the reason assigned will then stand thus— ^or the spirit of prophecy is the testimony vohich Resits gives of kinisef. The inference is, that the angel was a true prophet. Again : how is the angel proved, in this way, to be thefelloiv-servant of those Kho have the testimony of Jesus ? Why, thus ; the angel had the spirit of prophecy, and prophecy was the gift of Christ ; there- fore he was the fellow-servant of those, who had the same gift, i. e, who were prophets. Without doubt. But why so strange a way THE TRUE IDEA OF PROPHECY. 33 The expression, as I have sl^iewn, is so precise as to leave no reasonable doubt of its meaning. Yet it may further serve to justify this inter- of proviiij^ so plain a point ? It had been enough to say—/ am a prophet, us others are. Still, wliat was this to St. John ! who in this place, is not sustaining the character of a prophet ; for the worship he was inclined to pay the angel was on account of the an- gel's being, what himself was not, a prophet. Turn it which way you will, the reasoning is frivolous, or In- consequent. I conclude thei'efore, that not this, but the other inter- pretation gives the true sense of — the testimony of Jesus. 2. To speak of prophecy under the idea of a testimony to, or con' cerning yesus, is conforming to the true scriptural idea of that gift. Thus we ai'e told that — to him [i. e. to Jesus^ gife all the propheta ivitness — TSTCti TSoivleg T!!l^oQ)v\TCii jXCi^lv^5(TiV, Acts x. 43. Prophecy, therefore, being the thing here spoken of, is rightly called tlie tes- timony, or witness to, or concerning Jesus. 3- Lastly, the construction is fully justified, 1. By observing, that the genitive case [as here Iv)3'8] is frequently used in scripture, not actively, but passively. See a variety of instances in Mede, p. 626, where he explains hi^UtTHaXiUi ^Ul(J.OVic»iV : and 2. by refer- ing the reader to the following passage of St. Paul, where the very expression of the text Is so used— |xv) 8 V i7:uiax^V^)(fg TO l^d^lv^iOV T8 KvQlS V/XCOV clearly, be not ashamed of bearing testimony to our Lord, 2 Tim. I. 8— and to Eev. i. 9. where the apostle tells us, he was In the Isle of Patmos— 5/ii TOV hoyo)* T8 ©£8, V.UI lia TVjV fJiUfflV^iciV 'Ivi!T8 Xl^igS—on account of his having been faithful in preachivg the viord of God, and in bearing testimony to Jesus Christ —and still more plainly, if po»ssible, and indubitably, by refering him to Hev. xil. 17, where, speaking of the dragon, he says, he- went in wrath to make war on those, ivhich keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ— rm TVlpavlwV TOLQ 5v1oX«c T8 0f 8, VLUi £%ov1wv Tvjv ^u(iv^ici\> T8 'Iv|cr8 Y.^i;S; for theseobjectsof the dragon's fury are properly,THEWiTNESSES.those faithful servants of truth, who suffyred for the coorageous and per- 5 34. THE TRUE IDEA OF PROPHECY^ pretation, if we reflect, how exactly it agrees with all that the Jevidsh prophets were understood to in- tend, and what Jesus himself and his apostles assert was intended, by their predictions. It were endless to enumerate all the prophecies of the Old Testament, which have been supposed to point at Jesus : and the controversy concerning the application of some prophecies to him may be thought difficult. But it is very certain that the Jews, before the coming of Christ, gave this con- struction to their scriptures : they even looked beyond the letter of their sacred books, and con- ceived the testimony of the Messiali to be the soul and end of the commandment. The spirit of prophecy was so firmly believed to intend that testimony^ that the expectation was general of some such person, as Jesus, to appear among them, and at the v^ry time in which he made his appearance. This, ,I\say, is an undoubted fact^ what account soever ' may be given of it ; and so far evinces that the principle^ delivered in severing testimony, they gave, in evil times, to Jesus Christ, and to his pure religion. On the whole, there cannot be the least doubt of the interpreta- tion, here given of this famous text. The expression fairly admits this interpretation ; and (what the true critic will regard most) the scope of the place, or pertinence of the reasoning, addressed to St. John, admits no other. 4 ^. THE TRUE IDEA OF PROPHECY. 35 the text, corresponds entirely to the idea which the fathers entertained of the prophetic spirit. Next, Jesus himself appeals to the spirit of prophecy^ as bearing witness to his person and disj^ensation. Search the scriptures^ says he to the Jews, Jbr in them ye think ye have eternal life^ and they are they which testify of me.* Two things are observable in these words. 1. If the Jews thought they had eternal life in their scrip- 'U J ^ tures, they must needs have understood them in a spiritual sense ; for the letter of them taught ^^^^ '^Z ^ no such thing: and I know not what other spir- itual sense, that should lead them to the expec- tation of eternal life^ they could put on their scriptures, but that prophetic or typical sense, which respected the Messiah. 2. Jesus here expressly asserts, that their scriptures testified of him. How generally they did so, he explained at large in that remarkable conversation with two of his disciples, after his ressurrection, when, beginning at Moses and all the prophets ^ he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself \ The apostles of Jesus are frequent and large in the same appeal to the spirit of prophecy. * John V. 39. f Luke xxiv. 27. 36 THE TRUE IDEA OF PROPHECY. Those things, says St. Peter to the Jews, which God had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.'^ And, again, after quoting the authority of Moses, Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel, and those that follow after, as many as fidve spoken have likewise foretold of these days.-\ St. Paul seems to have composed some en- tire epistles,^ with the view of shewing that Christ was prefigured in the law itself, and that He was, in truth, the substance of the whole Jewish dispensation. So thoroughly, according to him, did the spirit of prophecy pervade that system, and so clearly did it bear testimony to Jesus ! Whence, in his apology before Agrippa, we find him ~ asserting of the whole Christian doctrine, that he said none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come.^ More citations cannot be necessary on so plain a point. And I bring these to shew, not the truth of the principle itself (which is not now under * Acts iii. 18. t Acts iii. 24. See also Acts x. 43. 1 Pet. i. 10- ■% See especially the epistles to the Hebre'ws, and Galatians. § Acts xxvi. 22. See farther. Acts xxviii. 23. Rom. iii. 21 Eph. ii. 19, &ci THE TRUE IDEA OF PROPHECY. 37 consideration) but the certainty of the interpreta- tion, here given to the text. I or I make it say- no more (though it says it indeed more precisely) than the scriptures themselves were imderstood by the Jews to say, and are represented by Jesus and his apostles, as actually saying, when I affirm its sense to be, " That the scope and end of pro- phecy was the testimony of Jesus." On this principle, then, \\q are to regulate alt our reasonings on the subject of prophecy. They who maintain, and they who would confute, its pretensions, must equally go on this supposition. If the system of prophecy can be justified, or so far as it can be justified, on these grounds, the defence must be thought solid and satisfactory; because those grounds are not arbitrarily assumed, but are such as that system itself acknowledges. On the contrary, whatever advantage may be fairly taken of those grounds to discredit prophecy, must needs be allowed, for the same reason. Again: On the believer's scheme, that prophecy is of divine inspiration, there can be no presumption in arguing from the grounds here supposed in fa- vour of prophecy. Because, though all conclu- sions from a principle of human Invention must be hazardous and rash, yet from a principle of divine authority many sober and just inferences may be 38 THE TRUE IDEA OF PROPHECY. drawn. For it is one thing to discover a principle, and another to argue justly and cogently from it. On the other hand, the unbeliever, who regards the whole system of prophecy as of human invention, must yet be allowed to argue pertinently from the same grounds, because they are the proper grounds of that system : his arguments may be tightly form- ed, though the principle, from which he argues, ap- pear to him of no authority. The rules of logic will indeed oblige him to argue on that principle ; for, otherwise, he combats, not his adversary's position, but a phantom of his own raising. Having premised thus mticli concerning the right interpretation of the text, and the important re- lation it bears to the present subject, I should now proceed to inquire what conclusions naturally and fairly result from it. For from this assumption, that Jesus is the end of prophecy^ it will, I think foU low very evidently, that the greater part of those objections which make so much noise, and are so confidently urged, on the subject of prophecy, have ao force at all in them. But, before we enter on that task, it may be useful to consider more particularly what the as-^ SUM ED PRINCIPLE itsclf is, and to pause a while in contemplation of this idea. THE TRUE IDEA OF PROPHECY. 39 The text, as here interpreted, and in full con- sonance with the tenor of die sacred writings, im- plies this fact — that Prophecy in general (that is, all the prophecies of the Old and New Testament) hath its ultimate accomplishment in the histoiy and dispensation of Jesus. But now, if we look into those writings, we find, 1. That prophecy is of a prodigious extent ; that it commenced from the fall of man, and reaches to the consummation of all things : that, for many' ages, it was delivered darkly, to few per- sons, and with large intervals from the date of one prophecy to that of another ; but, at length, became more clear, more frequent, and was uniformly car- ried on in the line of one people, separated from the rest of the world, among other reasons assigned, for this principally, to be the repository of the di- vine oracles : that, with some intermission, the spirit of prophecy subsisted among that people, to the coming of Christ: that He himself and his apostles exercised this power in the most conspic- uous manner ; and left behind them many predic- tions, recorded in the books of tiie New Testament, which profess to respect very distant events, and even run out to the end of time, or, in St. John's expression, to that period, zvhen the mystery of God shall be perfected,^ * Rev. T. 7.- 40 THE TRUE IDEA OF PROPHECY. . 2. Further, besides the extent of this prophetic scheme, the dignity of the Person, whom it con- cerns, deserves our consideration. He is described in terms, which excite the most august and mag- nificent ideas. He is spoken of, indeed, sometimes as being the Seed of the ivoman^ and as the Son of man ; yet so as being at the same time of more than mortal extraction. He is even represented to us, as being superior to men and angels ; as far above all principality and power, above all that is accounted great, whether in heaven or in earth ; as the word and wisdom of God ; as the eternal Son of the Father ; as the heir of all things, by whom he made the worlds ; as the brightness of his glo- ry, and the express image of his person. We have no words to denote greater ideas, than these : the mind of man cannot elevate itself to no- bler conceptions. Of such transcendent worth and excellence is that Jesus said to be, to whom all the prophets bear witness \ 3. Lastly, the declared purpose^ for which the Messiah, prefigured by so long a train of prophecy, came into the world, corresponds to all the rest of the representation. It was not to deliver an op- pressed nation from civil tyranny, or to erect a great civil empire, that is, to achieve one of those acts^ THE TRUE IDEA OF PROPHECY. 41 which history accounts most heroic. No : it was not a mighty state, a victor people — " Non res Romanx pcrituraquc rcgna — " that was worthy to enter into the contemplation of this divine person. It was another and far subhmer purpose, which He came to accomplish ; a pur- pose, in comparison of which, all our policies are poor and little, and all the performances of man as nothing. It was to deliver a world from ruin ; to abolish sin and death ; to purify and immortalize human nature ; and thus, in the most exalted sense of the words, to be the Saviour of all men, and the blessing of all nations. There is no exaggeration in this account. 1 deliver the undoubted sense, if not always the very words of scripture. Consider then to what this representation amounts. Let us unite the several parts of it, and bring them to a point. A spirit of prophecy per- vading all time — characterizing one person, of the highest dignity — and proclaiming the accomplish- ment of one purpose, the most beneficent, the most divine, that imagination itself can project — Such is the scriptural delineation, whether we will receive it or no, of that economy, which we call prophetic ! 6 42 THE TRUE IDEA OF PROPHECY. And now then (if we must be reasoning from our ideas of Jit and rights to the rectitude of the divine conduct) let me ask, in one word, whether, on the supposition that it should ever please the moral Governor of the world to reveal himself by prophecy at all, we can conceive him to do it, in a manner^ or for ends^ more worthy of him ? Does not the extent of the scheme con'espond to our best ideas of that infinite Being, to whom all dura- tion is but a point, and to whose view all time is equally present ? Is not the object of this scheme, the Lamb of God that was slain from the foun- dation of the world, worthy, in our conceptions, of all the honour that can be reflected upon him by so vast and splendid an economy? Is not the end of this scheme such as we should think most fit for such a scheme of prophecy to predict, and for so divine a person to accomplish ? You see, every thing here is of a piece ; all the parts of this dispensation are astonishingly great, and perfectly harmonize with each other. We, who admit the di^ inity of those records, which represent to us this state of things, cannot but be infinitely affected with it : since, in that case, we only contemplate an undoubted fact, in this representation. And it should further seem that even those, who question that authority of THE TRUE IDEA OF PROPHECY. 43 scripture, must, if they be ingenuous, confess themselves struck l)y a representation at once so subHme and consistent. They require, on all occasions, to liave reasons of what they call Jitness, in the divine conduct, pointed out to them : Can they overlook them here, where they are so obvious and so convincing ? At least, the credibility of such a scheme, as that of prophecy is in scripture represented to be, appears not, so far as we have hitherto consid- ered it, to be opposed or lessened in any de- gree by our natural prejudices ; by the best notions, I mean, which we can frame on this subject ; but is, indeed, much strengthened and confirmed by them. On the idea of such a scheme, as is here pre- sented to us, I enlai'ge no farther, at present, than just to make one general observation. It is this: That the argument from prophecy is not to be formed from the consideration of single prophe- cies, but from all the prophecies taken together, and considered as making one system ; in which, from the mutual dependance and connexion of its parts, preceding prophecies prepare and illustrate those which follow, and these, again, reflect light on the foregoing : just as, in any philosophical system, that which shews the solidity of it, is the harmony and correspondence of the whole ; not the application of it, in particular instances. 44 THE TRUE IDEA OF PROPHECY. Hence, though the evidence be but small, from the completion of any one prophecy, taken separ- ately, yet, that evidence being always something, the amount of the whole evidence, resulting from a great number of prophecies, all relative to the same design, may be considerable ; like many scattered rays, which, though each be weak in itself, yet, concentred into one point, shall form a strong light, and strike the sense very powerfully. Still more : this evidence is not simply a growing evidence, but is indeed multiplied upon us, from the number of reflected lights, which the several component parts of such a system reciprocally throw upon each : till, at length, the conviction rise into a high degree of moral certainty. It hath been said indeed, of this scheme, or way of considering prophecy, that it is an imagi- nary scheme, of which there is not the least trace in any of the four gospels ; and that it even con- tradicts the whole evidence of prophecy^ as it was understood and applied by the apostles and evan- gelists."^ But what, is there no trace of this scheme in the gospel, when Jesus himself began at Moses and the prophets, and expounded [to his * Dr. Middleton's Wtrks, vol. iii. /». 137. London, 1752, 4fo- THE TRUE IDEA OF PROPHECY. 45 disciples] in all the scriptures the things con- cerning himself? Is this scheme contradictory to the evidence of prophecy, as understood by the apostles, when St. Peter argued with the Jews from ruhat God had spoken by the month oj* all his prophetSy since the world began ? Is not here a series of prophecies, expressly referred to, as running up not only to the times of Moses,* but to the beginning of the world ? And is not this series argued from, as constituting one entire system of prophecy, and as affording an evidence distinct from that which arises from the consideration of each prophecy, taken singly and by itself ? But Jesus and his apostles, usually, applied the prophecies singly and independently on each other^ as so many dijfere7it arguments for the general truth of the gospel. ■\ Could they do otherwise^ when the occasions offered, in the course of their ministry, to which those prophecies were to be applied ? Or, could they do better^ in their discourses to the people, • Though by Muses, is here meant, not the prophecies of Moses only, but the books of Moses, containing those former propliecies, ■which, as St. Peter says, had been delivered, since the v:orld began. t Du. MlDDLETOX, /». 139- 46 THE TRUE IDEA OF PROPHECY. to whom the argument from single prophecies would be more familiar, than that complicated one, arising from a whole system ? Does it follow, because the prophecies were applied singly, that therefore they might not with good reason be applied systematically ; or that they may not now be so applied, when we have to do with those, who are capable of entering into this sort of argumentation ? Will it be said that, because the moral precepts of the gospel are delivered singly, there is therefore no such thing as a system of morality, or that the subject may not be treated with propriety, and with advantage too, in that form ? On the whole, the prophecies of the Old and New Testament, having clearly all the qualities of what we call a system, that is, consisting of many particulars, dependant on each other, and intimate- ly connected by their reference to a common end, there is no reason why they may not be consid- ered in this light ; and there is great reason why they should be so considered, since otherwise, on many occasions, we shall not do justice to the argument itself. To return then to the text (which implies the existence and use of such a system) and to conclude Avith it. The spirit of prophecy is the testimony of THE TRUE IDEA OF PROPHECY. 47 Jesus, This angelic information presents, at first sight, an idea stupendous indeed, but, on such a subject, suitiible enough to our expectations. It offers no violence to the natural sense of the hu- man mind ; but, on the contraiy, hath every thing in it to engage our belief and veneration. Such is the idea of prophecy, contemplated in it- self. What conclusions (of importance, as we sup- pose, to the right apprehension and further vindi- cation of prophecy) may be drawn from that idea, will be next considered. SERMON III. CONCLUSIONS FROM THE TRUE IDEA OF PROPHECY. Rev. xix. 10. The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy^ VV E have seen how precarious all our reasonings on divine prophecy must be, when built on no bet= ter grounds than those of human fancy and con- jecture. The text supplies us with a principle, as ive believe, of divine authority ; as all must con- fess of scriptural authority ; that is, of the same authority as that on which prophecy itself stands. This principle has been explained at large. It affirms that/e^w^, whose person, and character, and history are sufficiently known from the books of scripture, is the end and object of the prophetic syS' tern contained in those books. 7 50 CONCLUSIONS FROM THE We are now at liberty to reason from this prin- ciple. Whatever conclusions are fairly drawn from it, must to the believer appear as certain truths ; must to the unbeliever appear as very proper il- lustrations of that principle. In general, if difficulties can be removed by pursuing and applying scriptural principles, they are fairly removed ; and the removal of every such difficulty on these grounds must be a presump- tion in favour of that system, whether we call it of prophecy or revelation^ which is thus found to carry its own vindication with it. From the principle of the text may, I think, be deduced, among others, the following conclu- sions ; all of them tending to clear the subject of prophecy, and to obviate some or other of those objections, which prejudiced or hasty reasoners have been disposed to make to it. I. My first conclusion is, " That on the idea of such a scheme of prophecy, as the text supposes, a considerable degree of obscurity may be rea- sonably expected to attend the delivery of the divine predictions." There are general reasons which shew that prophecy, as such, will most probably be thus de- TRUE IDEA OF PROPHECY. 5X livered. For instance, it has been observed, that, as the completion of prophecy is left, for the most part to the instrumentality of free agents, if tlie circumstances of the event were predicted with the utmost precision, either human liberty must be re- strained, or human obstinacy might be tempted to form, the absurd indeed, but criminal purpose, of counteracting the prediction. On the contrary, by throwing some part of the predicted event into shade, the moral faculties of the agent have their proper play, and the guilt of an intended opposition to the will of heaven is avoided. This reason seems to have its weight ; and many others might still be mentioned. But I argue, at present, from the par- ticular principle under consideration. An immense scheme of prophecy was ulti- mately designed to bear testimony to the person and fortunes of Jesus. But Jesus was not himself to come, till what is called the last age of the world, nor all the purposes of his coming to be fully ac- complished till the 671(1 of that age. Now whatever reasons might make it fit, in the view of Infinite Wisdom, to defer the execution of this scheme to so distant a period, may probably be conceived to make it fit that the delivery of it should be proportionably dark and obscure. A certain degree of light, we will say, was to be com- 52 CONCLUSIONS FROM THE municated from the date of the prophecy ; but it is very conceivable that the ages nearer the com- pletion of it, might be more immediately concern- ed in the event predicted ; and that, till such time approached, it might be convenient to leave the prediction in a good degree of obscurity. The fact answers to this presumption. Proph- ecies of very remote events, remote I mean from the date of the prediction, are universally the most obscure. As the season advanced for their accom- plishment, they are rendered more clear ; either fresh prophecies are given, to point out the time and other circumstances, more determinately ; or the completion of some prophecies affords new light for the interpretation of others, that are unful- filled. Yet neither are we to conceive that those Jresh prophecies^ or this neiv light removes all ob- scurity ; enough is still left to prevent or disap- point the efforts of presumption ; and only so much additional clearness is bestowed on the prophecy, as the Revealer saw fit to indulge to tliose who lived nearer the time of its completion. But this is not all : By looking into that plan of Providence, which respects Jesus, and the ends to be accomplished by him, as it is drawn out in the sacred writings, we find a distinct reason for TRUE IDEA OF PROPHECY. 5S the obscurity of tlie prophecies, relative to that subject. We there find it to have been in the order of the divine councils, that, between the first dmvnings, of revelation and the fuller light of the gospel, an intermediate and very singular economy, yet still preparatory to that of Jesus, should be instituted. This economy (for reasons, which it is not to our present purpose to deduce, and for some, no doubt, which we should in vain attempt to discover) was to continue for many ages, and while it continued, was to be had in honour among that people, for whom it was more immediately designed. But now the genius of those two dispensations, the Jewish, I mean, and the Christian, being wholly different; the one, carnal, and enforced by temporal sanct- ions only, the other, spiritual, and established on better promises, the prophets, who lived under the former of these dispensations (and the greater piut of those who prophesied of Jesus lived under it) "Were of course so to predict the future economy, as not to disgrace the present. They were to re- spect the law, even while they announced the gospel, which was, in due time, to supersede it.* So much, we will say, was to be discovered as might erect the thoughts of men towards some - D. L. vol. Y. p. 218. Lond. 1765.-. 54 CONCLUSIONS FROM THE better scheme of things, hereafter to be introduc- ed ; certainly so much, as might sufficiently evince the divine intention in that scheme, when it should actually take place ; but not enough to indispose them towards that state of discipline, under the yoke of which they were then held. From this double purpose, would clearly result that character, in the prophecies concerning the new dispensation, which we find impressed upon them ; and which St. Peter well describes, when he speaks of them, as dis- pensing a light indeed, but a light shining in a dark place. Upon the whole, the delivery of prophecy seems well suited to that dispensation which it was given to attest. If the object in yiew had been one single event, to be accomplished all at once, it might perhaps be expected that the proph- ecies concerning it would have been clear and pre- cise. But, if the scheme of Christianity be what the scriptures represent it to be, a scheme, com- mencing from the foundation of the world, and unfolding itself by just degrees through a long succession of ages, and to be fully accomplished only at the consummation of all things, prophecy^ which was given to attend on that scheme, and to furnish a suitable attestation to it, must needs be supposed to adapt itself to the nature of the dis- pensation; that is, to have different degrees of TRUE IDEA OF PROPHECY. 55 clearness or obscurity according to its place in the general system ; and not to disclose more of it, or in clearer terms, at one period, than might consist with the various ends of wisdom which were to be served b}' the gradual opening of so vast and intricate a scene. Another circumstance of affinity with this is apt to strike us in the contemplation of tlie scrip- tural prophecies. There is reason to believe that more than one sense was purposely inclosed in some of them ; and we find, in fact, that the writers of the New Testament give to many of the old prophecies an interpretation very different and remote from that which may be reasonably thought the primary and immediate view of the prophets themselves. This is what divines call the double sense of prophecy ; by which they mean an accomplishment of it in more events than one ; in the same system indeed ; but at distant intervals, and under different parts of that system. Now, as suspicious as tliis circumstance ma) appear, at first sight, it will be found, on inquiry, to be exactly suited to that idea of prophecy which the text gives us of it, as being from the first, and all along intended to bear testimony to Jesus. For from that idea I conclude again. I 56 CONCLUSIONS FROM THE II. " That prophecies of a double sense may- well be expected in such a scheme." And where is the wonder that, if prophecy was given to attest the coming of Jesus and the dispen- sation to be erected by him, it should occasionally, in every stage of it, respect its main purpose ; and, though the immediate object be some other, it should never lose sight of that in which it was ultimately to find its repose and end ? It hath been before observed, That, between the earlier notices concerning Jesus and the ad- vent of that great person, it seemed good to Infinite Wisdom (I speak in terms, suited to the represen- tation of scripture) to institute the intermediate economy of the Jewish law. Among other provis- ions for the administration of this law, prophecy was one ; and, upon its own pretensions, a ne- cessary one ; for the government claims to be strictly theocratical ; and the people, to be gov- erned by it, were to be made sensible, at every step, that it was so. Therefore the interesting events in their civil history were to be regarded by them, as coming within the cognizance, and lying under the control, of their divine Governor : to which end, a race of men were successively raised up among them to give them warning of those events, and, by this divine foresight of what was TRUE IDEA OF PROPHECY. 57 seen to be accomplished in their history, to afford a clear conviction, that they were in fact under that peculiar government. Add to this, that the law itself, so wonderfully constructed, was but a part, indeed the rudiments, of one great scheme ; was given, not for its own sake, but to make way for a still nobler and more generous institution ; was, in truth, a preparatory stiite of discipline, or padagogy^ as St. Paul terms it, to bring the subjects of it, in due time, to Christ,* Jesus then, the object of the earliest prophecies^ was not overlooked in this following dispensation ; which was, indeed, instinct with presages of that divine person. It gave the shadow of good thhigs to come, but the body was of Christ.^ The legal * Gal. iii. 24.-0 ■ii6{i.og '^uidufuyog ^/xwv yiyovBV elg Xqigov. ■j- Coloss. il. 17. Hence, St. Austin affirms roundly, "Tliat, to such HS consider the genius of the revealed system, the Old Testa- ment must appear a continued prophecy of" the New." — Vetus Tes- iamentum, recte sentientibus, Prophetia est Novi Testainenti \_contr. Faustutn, I. xv.] and St. Jerom speaks of it as a generally received maxim, "That it is the manner of sacred scripture, to deliver, beforehand, the truth of futurity in types" — hunc esse morevi acripturte sanctx utjuturorum veritatem prainittat, in typis [Hieron. T. iii. 1127.] — I know, that the ancient fathers, and from tliem many moderns, have exposed tUemselves to WJUch and deserved 58 CONCLUSIONS FROM THE prophets, in like manner, while they were imme- diately employed, and perhaps believed themselves to be solely employed, in predicting the occurrences of the Jewish state, were at the same time, prelud- ing, as it were, to the person and dispensation of Jesus ; the Holy Spirit, which inspired them, bear- ing out their expression, and enlarging their con- ceptions, beyond the worth and size of those ob- jects, which came directly in their view. censure, by pursuing this principle too minutely and superstitious* ly, in their mystical and allegorical comments on the Jewish scrip- tures. But men of sense will consider, that a principle is not therefore to be rejected, because it has been abused. For instance, that the Passover was instituted with a reference to the sacrifice of Christ, that the paschal Lamb was, in the language of St. Austin, ?i prophecy, or, in that of St. Jerom, a type, of the Lamb of God, will seem highly credible to one who considers the aptness of the cor- respondence in two related parts of the same system : But, that the famous Law in Deuteronomy, concerning the marriage of a brother's widow, wa.s prophetic, or typical of the dut}', incumbent on the ministers of the gospel, to espouse the widowed church of Christ, is certamly much less clear, and will scarcely be admitted even on tlie authority of St. Austin. Hoc ipsum — quod uxorem fratris ad hoc frater jussus est ducere, ut non sibi, sed illisobolem suscitaret, ejusque vocaret nomine, quod inde nasceretur : quid aliud in Jigiira prxmonstrat, nisi quia unusquisque Evangelii praedi- cator ita debet in Ecclesia laborare,ut defuncto fratri, hoc est Christo^ siiscitet semen, qui pro nobis mortuus est, et quod suscitatum fuerit, ejus nomen accipiat ? Contr. Faustum, I. 32. St. Austin might, perhaps, say for himself, that he had an example of this practice in the mystical comments of St. Paul : it may be so : but an example followed without warrant in this instance by the learned father* and not improbably ill understood by him. TRUE IDEA OF PROPHECY. 59 There is nothin,^ in this accoipit of prophecy but what falls in with our best ideas of the divine wisdom ; intently prosecuting one entire scheme ; and directing the constituent parts of it to the general purpose of his providence, at the same time diat each serves to accomplish its own. This double or secondary sense of prophecy was so far from giving offence to Lord Bacon, that he speaks of it with admiration, as one strik- ing argument of its divinity. In sorting the pro- phecies of scripture with their events (a work much desired by this wise author, and intended by this lecture) we must alloxv, says he, Jor that latitude which is agreeable and familiar unto di- vine prophecies^ being oj the nature of the Au- thor^ with whom a thousand years dre but as one day ; and therefore they are not fulfilled punctu- ally at once^ but have springing and germinant accomplishment 'throughout many ages, though the height, or fulness of them may refer to some ene age.* But, that we may not mistake or pervert this fine observation of our great philosopher, it may be proper to take notice, that the reason of it holds in such prophecies only as respect the several suc- • Adv. of Learning-, b. ii 60 CONCLUSIONS FROM THE cessive parts of one system ; which, being intimate- ly connected together, may be supposed to come within the view and contemplation of the same prophecy : whereas, it would be endless, and one sees not on what grounds of reason we are author- ized, to look out for the accomplishment of proph- ecy in any casual, unrelated events of general his- tory. The scripture speaks of prophecy, as re- specting Jesus, that is, as being one connected scheme of Providence, of which the Jewish dis- pensation makes a part : so that here we are led to expect that springing and germinant accomplishment ^ which is mentioned. But had the Jewish law been complete in itself, and totally unrelated to the chris- tian, the general principle — that a thousand years are -with God but as one day — would no more justify us in extending a Jewish prophecy to christian events, because perhaps it was eminently fulfilled in them, than it would justify us in extending it to any other signally corresponding events whatsoever. It is only when the prophet hath one uniform con- nected design before him, that we are authorized to use this latitude of interpretation. For then the prophetic spirit naturally runs along the several parts of such design, and unites the remotest events with the nearest ; the style of the prophet, in the niean time, so adapting itself to this double pros- pect, as to paint the near and subordinate event TRUE IDEA OF PROPnECY. 61 in terms that empliatically represent the distant and more considerable* So that, with this explanation, nothing can be more just or philosophical than the idea which Lord Bcicon suggests of divine prophecy. The great scheme of redemption, we are now considering, being the only scheme in the plan of Providence, which, as far as we know, hath been prepared and dignified by a continued system of prophecy, at least this being the only scheme to which we have seen a prophetic system applied, men do not so readily apprehend the doctrine of double senses in prophecy, as they would do, if they saw it exemplified in other cases. But what the history of mankind does not supply, we may repre- sent to ourselves by many obvious suppositions ; which cannot justify indeed such a scheme of things, but may facilitate the conception of it. Suppose, for instance, that it had been the pur- pose of the Deity (as it unquestionably was) to erect the free government of ancient Rome ; and that, from the time of i^neas' landing in Italy, he had given prophetic intimations of this purpose. Suppose, further, that he had seen fit, for the bet- ter discipline of his favoured people, to place them, for a season, under the yoke of the regal govern- 62 CONCLUSIONS FROM THE ment ; and that, during that state of things, he had instructed his prophets to for^tel the wars and other occurrences which should distinguish that pe- riod of their history. Here would be a case some- what similar to that of the Jews under their theo- cratic regimen ; not exactly indeed, because proph- ecy, as we have seen, was essential to the Jewish polity, but had nothing to do with the regal or any other polity of the Romans. But allow for this dif- ference, and suppose that, for some reason or other, the spirit of prophecy was indulged to this people, under their kings, as it was to the Jews, under their theocracy ; and that it was primarily employed in the same way, that is, in predicting their vari- ous fortunes under that regimen : Suppose, I say, all this, and would it surprise us to find that their prophets, in dilating on this part of their scheme, should in a secondary sense predict the future and more splendid part of it ? That, having the whole equally presented to their view, they should antici- pate the coming glories of their Jree state, even in a prophecy which directly concerned their regain and much humbler successes ? That, in comment- ing on their petty victories over the Sabins and Latins, they should drop some hints that pointed at their African and Asiatic triumphs ; or, in tracing the shadow of freedom they enjoyed under the best of their kings, they should let fall some strokes, that more expressly designed the substantial liberty of TRUE IDEA OF PROPHECY. 63 their equal republic : the end, as we suppose, and completion of that scheme, for the sake of which the prophetic power itself had been communicated to them ? Still more : supposing we had such pro- phecies now in our hands, and that we found them ap[)licable indeed in a general way to the former parts of their history, but frequently more expres- sive of events in the latter, should we doubt of their being prophecies in a double sense, or should we tiiink it strange that two successive and dependent dispensations in the same connected scheme should be at once the object of the same predictions ? And lastly, to put an end to these questions, could there seem to be equal reason for applying these predictions to such events as might possibly cor- respond to them in some other history, the Grecian, for instance, as for applying them to similar events in the Roman history ? Let me just observe further, that, from what hath been said under these two articles, we may clearly discern the difference between Pagan ora- cles^ and Scriptural prophecies. Both have been termed obscure and ambiguous ; and an invidious parallel hath been made, or insinuated, between them.* The Pagan oracles were indeed obscure^ sometimes to a degree that no reasonable sense * Dr. Middleton, Works, vol. iii. p. 177. Lond. 1752, 4to. 64 CONCLUSIONS FROM THE could be made of them : they were also ambigu-^ ousy in the worst sense ; I mean, so as to admit contrary interpretations. The scriptural prophe- cies we own to be obscure^ to a certain degree : And we may call them, too, ambiguous ; because they contained two, consistent indeed, but differ- ent meanings. But here is the distinction I would point out to you. The obscurity and ambiguity of the Pagan oracles had no necessary, or reasona- ble cause in the subject, on which they turned : the obscurity and ambiguity of the scriptural prophecies have an evident reason in the system to which they belong. As the Pagan predictions had near and single events for their object, the fate perhaps of soine depending war, or the success of some council, then in agitation, they might have been clearly and precisely delivered ; and in fact we find that such of the Jewish predictions as foretold events of that sort and character, were so delivered: But, the scriptural prophecies under consideration respecting one immense scheme of Providence, it might be expedient that the remoter parts should be obscurely revealed ; as it was sure- ly natiu'al that the connected parts of such a scheme should be shewn together. We see then what force the^e is in that ques- tion, which is asked with so much conidc^nce — "/j: it possible J that the same character can be due I TRUE IDEA OF PROPHECY. 65 " to the Jewish prophecies^ which the rvise and " virtuous in the heathen -world considered as an " argument of fraud and falsehood, in the Pythian ''prophecies?''* Firsts we say, the character is not entirely the same in both : and, secondly^ that, so far as it is the same, that character is very becoming in the Jewish, but utterly absurd in the Pythian prophecies. What was owing to fraud or ignorance in the Pa- gan diviner, is reasonably ascribed to the depth and height of that Wisdom, which informed the Jewish prophet. t To proceed with our subject. It further appears, III. On the grounds of the text, we now stand upon, " to be very conceivable and credible that the line of prophecy should run chiefly in one family and people, as we are informed it did, and that the other nations of the earth should be no further the immediate objects of it, than as they chanced to be connected with that people.'^ Prophecy, in the ideas of scripture, was not ultimately given for the private use of this or • Dr. Middleton, vol. iii p. 177. \ See further on vbU subject, D- L. vol. t. p. 290- ee CONCLUSIONS FROM THE that nation, nor yet for the nobler and more general purpose of proclaiming the superintending providence of the Deity (an awful truth, which men might collect for themselves from the estab- lished constitution of nature) but simply to evi- dence the truth of the Christian revelation. It was therefore confined to one nation, purposely set apart to preserve and attest the oracles of God ; and to exhibit, in their public records and whole history, the proofs and credentials of an amazing dispensation, which God had decreed to accomplish in Christ Jesus.* This conclusion, I say, seems naturally and fairly drawn from the great principle, that the spirit of prophecy was the testimony qfJesuSy because the means appear to be well suited and propor- tioned to the end. The testimojiy thought fit to be given, was not one or two prophecies only, but * Quand un seul homme auroit fait un lln*e des predictions de Jesus Christ pour le terns et pour la maniere, et que Jesus Christ seroit venu conformement a ces propheties, ce seroit une force infinie. Mais il y a bien plus ici. Cast une suite d'hommes durantquatre mille ans, qui constamment et sans variation viennent i'un ensuite de I'autre predire ce meme avenement. C'est vs PEUPLE TOUT entier qui I'annonce, et qui subsiste pendant quatre mille annees, pour rendre en corps temoignage des assur- ances qu'ils en ont, et dont ils ne peuvent eire detournes par quel- ques menaces et quelque persecution qu'on leur fasse : ceci ^st TOUT AUTREMENT CONSIDERABLE. PaSCal. TRUE IDEA OF PROPHECY. 57 a scheme of prophecy, gradually prepared and continued through a large tract of time. But how could such a scheme be executed, or rather how could it clearly be seen, that there was such a scheme in view, if some one people had not been made the repository, and, in part, the instrument of the divine counsels, in regard to Jesus ; some one people, I say, among whom we might trace the several parts of such a scheme, and observe the dependance they had on each other ; that so the idea of what we call a scheme, might be duly impressed upon us ? For, had the notices concerning the Redeemer been dispersed indiftcrently among all nations, where had been that uncorrupt and unsuspected testimony, that continuity of evidence, that un- broken chain of prediction, all tending, by just degrees, to the same point, which we now con- template with wonder in the Jewish scriptures ? It is not then that the rest of the world was overlooked* in the plan of God's providence, but that he saw fit to employ the ministry of one people; this last, I say, and not the other, is the reason why the divine communications concerning Christ were appropriated to the Jews. * See the passage before referred to in Sermon i. p. 13. i^B CONCLUSIONS FROM THB Yes, but " some one of the greater nations had better been intrusted with that charge." This circumstance, I allow, might have struck a superficial observer more : but could the integrity of the prophetic scheme have been more discern- able amidst the multiform and infinitely involved transactions of a mighty people, than in the sim- pler story of this s.nall Jewish family ; or would the hand or work of God, who loves to manifest himself by weak instruments, have been more conspicuous in that designation ? On the whole, I forget not, with what awful diffidence it becomes us to reason on such sub- jects. But the Jact being, that o;z(?, in preference to other nations, had the honour of conveying the prophetic admonitions concerning Jesus, it may be allowable to inquire, with modesty, into the reasons of that appointment ; and the end of prophecy being clearly assigned in sacred scrip- ture, such reasons will not be hastily rejected, as obviously present themselves to an inquirer from the consideration of that end. The benefits of prophecy, though conveyed by one nation, would finally redound to all ; and the more effectually^ vve have seen, for being con- veyed by one nation. May we not conclude then trut: idea of prophecy. m (having the Jact, as I said, to reason upon) that, to olDtain such purpose, it was fit to select a pecu- liar people ? And, if thus much be acknowledged, it will hardly be thought a question of much mo- ment, though no answer could be given to it, why the Jeivs had diat exclusive privilege conferred wpon them. It is true, a great scheme of prophecy was once revealed to a gentile king ;* but a king, connected with the Jews, and who had a Jewish prophet for his interpreter. It is, besides, observ- able of that prophetic scheme, that it laid open the future fortunes of four great empires ; but all of them instruments in the hand of God to carry on his designs, on the Jewish people first, but ulti- mately, with regard to Jesus. For it hath been re- marked with equal truth and penetration, that Nebuchadnezzar's vision of the four kingdoms was designed, as a sort of prophetic chronology^ to point oat, by a series of successive empires, the beginning and end of Christ's spiritual kingdom. So that the reason, why those four empires only were distinguished by the spirit of prophecy, was not because they were greater than all others, but simply because the course of their history led, in * Daniel, c. ii. 70 CONCLUSIONS FROM THE a regular and direct succession, to the times and reign of Christ.* We see then, on the principle, that prophecy was given for the sake of Jesus only^ that no pre- sumption lies against the truth of it, on account of its respecting chiefly one people, how inconsidera- ble soever in itself, or from its silence in regard to some of the largest and most flourishing kingdoms that have appeared in the world. IV. Lastly (for I now hasten to an end of this discourse) I infer from the same principle, " That, * Est autem Quaternlo iste regnorum Danielis (quod Imprimis observari velim) cHROKOT^ociA q,u^dam prophetic^, non tarn annorum quam regnorum intervallis distincta, ubi regnorum in praecipua orbis terrarum parte, simul ecclesiam et populum Dei complexa, sibi invicem succedentium serie, monstratur tempus quo Christi regnum a tot seculis promissum etprimum inchoandum sit, idemque demum certis temporibus consummandum. — Ex his, quae dicta sunt, ratio elucet, quare, ex omnibus mundi regnis, quatuor hsec sola selegit Spiritus sanctus, quorum fata tarn insigni ornaret prophetia ; nempe quia ex his solis inter omnia mun- di regna periodus temporum ejusmodi contexi potuit, qua recta serie et ordinata successione perduceret ad tempora et momenta regni Christi. Non vero quia nulla istis paria imperia, forsan et aliquibus majora, per omnia secula orbis visurus esset. Nam neque Saracen- ©rum olim, neque hodie Turcarum, neque Tartarorum regna ditio- nis ampUtudine Persico aut Grseco, puto nee Assyrio, quicquam concedunt ; imo, ni fallor, excedunt. Mede's Works, b. iii. p. 712. Lond. 1672. TRUE IDEA OF PROPHECY. 71 if, even after a mature consideration of the proph- ecies, and of the events, in which they are taken to be fulfilled, there should, after all, be some cloud remaining on this subject, which with all our wit or pains we cannot wholly remove, this state of things would afford no objection to proph- ecy, because it is indeed no otlier than we might reasonably expect." For, 1. If Jesus be the end of prophecy, the same reasons that made it fit to deliver some pre- dictions darkly, will further account to us for some degree of obscurity in the application of them to their corresponding events. I say — will account to us for such obscurity — for, whatever those reasons were, they could not have taken effect, but by the intervention of such means^ as must darken in some degree, the appli- cation of a prophecy, even after the accomplish- ment of it ; unless we say, that an object can be seen as distinctly through a veil^ as without one. For instance ; figurative la7iguage is the chief of those means, by which it pleased the Inspirer to throw a shade on prophecies, unfulfilled : but fig- urative language, from the nature of it, is not so precise and clear, as literal expression^ even when the event prefigured has lent its aid to illustrate and explain tliat language. 72 CONCLUSIONS FROM THE If then it was^t that some prophecies concern- ing Jesus should be delivered obscurely, it cannot be supposed that such prophecies, when they come to be applied^ will acquire a full and absolute perspi- cuity.* 2. If the dispensation of Jesus be the main sub- ject of the prophecies, then may some of them be still impenetrable to us, because the various for- tunes of that dispensation are not yet perfectly dis- closed, and so some of them may not hitherto have been fulfilled. But the completion of a prophecy is that which gives the utmost degree of clearness, of which it is capable. 3. But lastly and chiefly, if the end and use of prophecy be to attest the truth of Christianity, then may we be sure that such attestation will not car- ry with it the utmost degree of evidence. For Christianity is plainly a state of discipline and pro- bation : calculated to improve our moral nature, by giving scope and exercise to our moral faculties. So that, though the evidence for it be real evi- * To this purpose the late learned and ing-enious author of the Discourses on Prophecy — " A figurative and dark description of a fu- ture event will be figurative and dark still, when the event hap- pens." And again — '• No event can m^ike a figurative or metapho- rical expression to be a plain or literal one." Bishop Sherlock, Disc ii. p. 32 and 36, London, 1749. TRUE IDEA OF PROPHECY. 73 dence, and on the whole sufficient evidence, yet neither can we expect it to be of that sort which should comjx:! our assent. Something must be left to quicken our attention, to excite our indus- try, and to try the natural ingenuity of the human mind. Had the purpose of prophecy been to shew, merely, that a predicted event was foreseen, then the end had been best answered by throwing all possible evidence into the completion. But its concern being to shew^ this to such only as should be disposed to admit a reasonable degree of evi- dence, it was not necessaiy, or rather it was plain- ly not fit, that the completion should be seen in that strong and irresistible light.* For all the reasons, now given (and doubtless, for many more) it was to be expected, that proph- ecy would not be one cloudless emanation of light and glory. If it be clear enough to serve the ends, for which it was designed, if through all its obscur- ities, we be able to trace the hand and intention of its divine Author; what more would we have? How improvidently, indeed, do we ask more of that great Being, who, for the sake of the natural • Le dessein de Dieu est plus de perfectionner la volonte, que Tesprit. Or, la clarte pei'faite ne serviroit qu'a I'esprit, et nuiroit a la volonte. Pascal. 10 74 CONCLUSIONS FROM THE world, clothes the heavens with blackness, Is. 1. 3. ; and in equal mercy to the moral world, veils his nature and providence in thick clouds^ and makes darkness his pavilion, Ps. xviii. 11 ? To THESE deductions from the text, more might be added. For I believe it will be found that if the endo{ prophecy, as here delivered, be steadily kept in view and diligently pursued, it will go a great way towards leading us to a prosperous issue in most of those inquiries, which are thought to perplex this subject. But I mean to reason from it no farther than just to shew, in the- way of specimen, the method in which it becomes us to speculate on the prophetic system. We are not to imagine principles, at pleasure, and then apply them to that system. But we are, first, to find out what the prin- ciples are, on which prophecy is founded, and by which it claims to be tried ; and then to see wheth- er they will hold, that is, whether they will aptly and properly apply the particulars, of which it is compounded. If they will, the system itself is thus far clearly justified. All that remains is ta compare the prophecies with their corresponding events, in order to assure ourselves that there is real evidence of their completion. The use of this method has been shewn in FOUR capital instances. It is objected to the TRUE IDEA OF PROPHECY. 75 scriptural prophecies, tJiat they are obscure — that they abound in double senses — that they were deliv- ered to one people — that^ after all, there is some, times difficulty in making out the completion — all of them, it is said, very suspicious circumstances ; aiid which rather indicate a scheme of human contrivance, than of divine inspiration. t To these objections it is replied, that, from the very idea which the scriptures themselves give of prophecy, these circumstances, must needs be found in it ; and further still, that these circum- stances, when fairly considered, do honour to that idea : for that tlie obscurity, complained of, re- sults, Jro77i the immensity of the scheme — the double senses, from the intimate connexion of its parts — the partial and confined delivery, fro?Ji the ivisdom and necessity of selecting a peculiar people to be the vehicle and repository of the sacred ora- cles — And lastly, the incomplete evidence, from the nature of the subject, and from the moral genius of that dispensation, to which the scheme of prophe- cy itself belongs. In conclusion, it is now seen to what purpose these preliminary discourses serve, and in what method they have been conducted. 76 CONCLUSIONS, &c. The FIRST, shewed the vanity and folly o£ reasoning on the subject of scriptural prophecy from our preconceived fancies and arbitrary as- sumptions. The SECOND, shewed the only true wav of reasoning upon it to be from scriptural principles, and then opened and explained one such prijiciple. In this last, I have shewn that, by prosecuting this way of reasoning from the principle assigned, some of the more specious objections to the scriptural prophecies are easily obviated. Tuken together, these three discourses serve to illustrate the general idea of prophecy, considered as one great schenne of testimony to the religion of Jesus ; and consequently open a way for the fair and equitable consideration of particular prophe- cies, tile more im,mediate subject of this lecture. SERMON IV. THE GENERAL ARGUMENT FROM PROPHECY. John xiii. 19. JVow I tell you before it comCy that^ when it is cwne to pass, ye may believe, that I am He. XT hath been conduded (not on the slight grounds of hypothesis, but on the express authority of scripture,) that prophecy was given TO ATTEST THE MISSION OF JeSUS: tO afFord a reasonable evidence, that the scheme of redemp- tion, of which he was the great instrument and mhiister, was, in truth, of divine appointment ; and was carried on under the immediate cognizance and direction of the Supreme Being, whose pre- rogative it is to see through all time, and to call those things, which be not, as though they xvere.^ * Romans iv- 17 78 THE GENERAL ARGUMENT Our next inquiry will be, how the prophetic scriptures serve to that end, and what that evi- dence is (I mean, taking for granted, not the truth of the prophetic scheme itself, but the truth of the representation^ given of it in scripture) which is thus administered to us by the light of prophecy. I. The text refers to a particular prophecy of our Lord, concerning the treachery of Judas ; of which, says he to his disciples, / now tell you be- Jore it co?ne, that^ when it is come to pass^ ye may believe^ that I am He : that is, "I add this, to the other predictions concerning myself; that, when ye see it fulfilled, as it soon will be, ye may be the more convinced of my being the person, I assume to be, the Messias foretold,'''* The information, here given, was perhaps in- tended by our Lord to serve a particular purpose, To prevent, we will say, the offence, which the disciples might have taken at the circumstance of his being betrayed by one of them, if they had not, previously, been admonished of it. But the reason of the thing shews, that the use, wliich the disci- ples are directed to make of this prophecy, was the general use of the prophecies concerning Jesus. The completion was to verify the prediction, in all cases ; and to convince the world, that He was I FROM PROPHECY. 79 the Messiah, in whom such things should be seen to be accompHshedj as had been expressly foretold.* Indeed prophecies, unaccomplished, may have their use ; that is, they may serve to raise a gen- eral expectation of a predicted evcmt in the minds of those, who, for other reasons, regard the person predicting it, in the light of a true prophet. And such might be one, a subordinate ^ use of the pro- phecies concerning Jesus : but they could not be applied to the proof of his pretensions, till they were seen to be fulfilled. Nor can they be so applied even then, unless the things predicted be, confessedly, beyond the reach of human foresight. Under these conditions, the argument is clear iUid easy, and will lie thus. " A great variety of distant, or, at least, future events, inscrutable to human sagacity, and respecting one person (whom we will call, Messiah) have been by different men, and at different times, predicted. These events Iiave accordingly come to pass, in the history and fortunes of one person ; in such sort, that each is seen to be, in a proper sense, fulfilled in him, and * T«Dt« d Geo? Tir^oe/x^^viKre 5/« ts tsi^o<^v^i'ah 'TsvevfJi.cilog yi^i^Keiv yivea'^ui, lv\ orav yivvpai, fJi-vi UTigvi^ifl, T. MAnxvn, Apol. i. r. 74 so THE GENERAL ARGUMENT all together in no other person whatsoever : There- fore the prediction of these events was divinely inspired : or (which comes to the same thing) therefore the person, claiming under these predic- tions to be the Messiah, or person foretold, hath his claims confirmed and justified by the highest authority, that of God himself." Such is the argument from prophecy : and on this foundation, Jesus assumes to be the Mes- siah; and his religion, to be divine. II. Let us now see, what the amount of that evidence is, which results from this kind of proof. / Careless talkers may say, and sometimes think, " that prophecy is but an art of conjecturing shrewdly ; that the sagacity of one man is seen to be vastly superior to that of another ; that, in some men, the natural faculty may be so improved by experience, as to look like divination; and that no precise bounds can be set to its powers." Light or skeptical minds may, I say, amuse them- selves with such fancies : but serious men will readily acknowledge. That miny future events, especially, if remote, or extraordinary,^ or describ- * Socrates foretold that he should die within three days : and the event followed — JUst apud Flatonem Socrates, cum esset in ciistodia Mtblica, dicens Critoni suo faTniliari, ^ibi post tcrtium diem esse nw FROM PROPHECY. 81 cd with some degree of particular it ij^ arc not uithin the ability of the human mind to predict. And, to cut off all occasion of cavil, let it be own- ed, that the argument under consideration is, or ought to be, drawn from the completion of prophe- cies, so qualified. To evade the force, which this argument ap- parently carries with it, it must then be said, that the completion of any particular prophecy, alledg- ed, was fortuitous, or, what we call, a lucky hit. " Coincidencies of this sort, we may be told, are very frequent. In the ceaseless revolution of hu- man afFuirs, some event or other will be turning up, which may give a countenance to the wildest and most hazardous conjecture. Hence it is, that every groundless fear, every dream, almost, has the appearance of being realized by correspond- ing accident ; which will not be long in occurring to those, who are upon the watch co make such discoveries. Upon these grounds, the supersti- riendum — quod, ut est dictum, sic scribitur contigisse. [Cic. cle Div. 1. i. c. 25.3 Jtsus foretold that he should suflTei- death by crucifixion. [John iii. 14. viii. 28. xii, 32 ] He, likewise, foretold that he should rise from the dead, within three days after his ci'ucifixion. [John ii. 19. Matth. xii. 39, 40.] — The first of these predictions, miglit be a saga- cious conjecture. Can it be said of such, as the ttto last, Auguriiim, ratio est, et eonjectura futuri ? Ovid, Trist. 1. i. viii. 51. 11 §2 THE GENERAL ARGUMENT tion of om€7is hath, at all times, been able to sus- tain itself; and to acquire a degree of credit, even with wise men. We see, then, that chance, in a good degree, supplies the place of inspiration : and that He, who sets up for a prophet, is likely to drive a safe, as well as gainful trade ; especially, if he have but the discretion not to deal too freely in precise descriptions of times y and persons:* a consideration, of great moment to the men of this craft ;f and which hath not been overlooked by those, whom we account true prophets. '* Such libertine reflections, as these, thrown out with an air of negligent ridicule, have too often the effect intended by them. At the same time, they disgust sober men, and are thought too light and trivial to deserve a confutation. But, because I take these suggestions, with whatever levity, or disingenuity, they may be made, to contain the whole, or at least, the chief strength of the infidel * Hoc si est in libris, in qiiem hominem, et in quod tempus est I Callide enim, qui ilia composuit, perfecit,ut, qiiotlcunque accidisset, praedictum videretuv, homtmtm et temporum definitione sublata — • said, in discredit of the Sibylline oracles [Z)e Div. 1. ii. p. 295. fol- Lutet. 1565 :] how far applicable to the scriptural prophecies, will be seen in its place. f A/« TO oKuQ elvui u[i.oi.1vi\KCi eAarlov, 5/« twv yfvwv T8 Ts^uyfjicii^ Keysaiv ot fxcivleig. And again— o/ %§v](r- {JiOhoyoi, « 'TS^oaopP^Ovlui tsQre. Aristot. Rhet. 1. iii. c. v- FROM PROPHECY. 83 cause, on this subject, I shall not decline to give them a very serious answer. It is true, no doubt, what is here alledg- cd. That the conjectures of fanciful or designing men, whether grounded on casual signs, or deliv- ered in the direct way of prophecy, have been fre- quently verified in the events : that is, such events have actually come to pass, in the sense put upon the sigTij when it was observed, and in the literal sense of the prophecy^ as delivered. History and common life, it is agreed, abound in such in- stancesj* and I shall even make no scruple to produce one of each sort ; as much, at least, to the purpose of these objectors, as any of those, which they have produced for themselves. Nothing is more famous in the annals of an- cient Rome, than the story of Romulus, and his TWELVE VULTURES ; an 07nen this, on which the auspicious name of the rising city, and the fortune of its founder, were, at once established.! What • Permultorum exemplorum et nostra plena est respublica, et «mnia regna, omnesque populi, cunctaeque g-entes, augurum prac- dictis multa incredibiliter veracecidisse. Cic. de Leg. I. ii. p.23T- I Certabant, urbem Romam, Remoramne vocarent Omnibu' cura viris, uter esset indupcrator. Cedunt de Coelo ter quatuor corpora sancta 84 THE GENERAL ARGUMENT further construction was then put on this prodigy, doth not appear : but as the science of augury ad- vanced in succeeding times, a very momentous and striking prophecy was grounded upon it. For we have it affirmed,* on the high authority of M. T. Varro, that Vettius Valens, an augur of distin- guished name in those days, took occasion from this circumstance (and in the hearing of Varro himself) to fix the duration of the Roman empire. The TWELVE VULTURES, hc Said, which appeared to Romulus, portended^ that the sovereignty of that state and city, whose foundations he was then laying, should continue for the space of twelve HUNDRED YEARS. It is of uo momcnt to inqiiirc, on what principles of his art the learned augur pro- ceeded, in this calculation. The truth is, that the event corresponded, in a surprizing manner, to the conjecture ; and that the majesty of the wes- tern empire (of which Rome was the capital) did^ Avium, prsepetibus sese, pulchrisque locis dant. Conspicit inde sibi data Romulus esse priora, Auspicio regni stabilita scamna solumque. Cic. de Div. 1. i. c. 48, * Quot ssecula urbi Romse debeantur, dicere meum non est : sed, quid apud Varronem legerim, non tacebo. Qiii libro Antiquitatum duodevicesimo ait, fuisse Vettium Romse in augurio non ignobilem, ingenio magno, culvis docto in disceptando parem ; eum se audisse dicentem : Si ita esset, ut traderent historici, de Romuli urbis condendae auguriis, ac duodecim vulturibus ; quoniam cxx annos in- columis praeteriisset populus Romanus, ad inille et ducentos \ier\en- turura. Censorjnus de die natali, c. xvii, p. 97. Cantab. 1695. \ FROM PROPHECY. 85 indeed, expire under the merciless hands of the Goths, about tlie time limited by this augural prophet. It should, further, be observed that this pre- diction was of such credit and notorietv, as to take the attention of the later Romans themselves,* who looked with anxiety for the accomplishment of it : and that it was delivered by Valens, at least Jive hundred years before the event ; when there was not the least appearance, that this catastrophe would befal, what was called, the eternal city, within tliat period. This is an instance of divination from augury. The OTHER, I am about to give, is a prophecy, in full form ; respecting a still more important sub- ject, and equally accomplished in the event. A poet, in the ideas of paganism, was a prophet, too. * Hence Sidomus,in personating the city of Rome, makes her ask — Qiiid, rogo, bis seno mihi mtlture Tliuscus aruspex Portendit? Sidon. Carm. vii. 55. And again, addressing himself to the same city. Jam prope fata tui bissenas vulturis alas Complebant (scis namque tuos, scis, Roma, labores.) lb. ver. 35S. And, before him, Claudian, to the same purpose — Tunc reputant annos, interceptoque volutu Vulturis, incidunt properatis sscula metis. B. G. ver. 262.- 85 THE GENERAL ARGUMENT And Seneca* hath left us, in proof of the inspira- tion to which, in his double capacity, he might pretend, the following oracle ; -venient annis Secula seris, quibus Oceanus Vincula rerum laxet, et ingens Pateat tellus, Tiphysque novos Detegat orbes ; nee sit terris Ultima Thule. This prediction was made in the reign of Nero ; and, for more than fourteen hundred years, might only pass for one of those sallies of imagina- tion, in which poetry so much delights. But, when, at length, in the close of the fifteenth cen- tury, the discoveries of Columbus had realized this vision : when that enterprizing navigator had forced the barriers of the vast Atlantic ocean ; had loosened^ what the poet calls, the chains of things ; and in these later ages,^ as was expressly signifi- ed, had set at liberty an immense continent, shut up before in surrounding seas from the commerce and acquaintance of our world ; when this event, I say, so important and so unexpected, came to pass, it might almost surprize one into the belief, that the prediction was something more than a " Medea, ver. 574. ^^ Annis seris. I FROM PROPHECY. 87 poetical fancy ; and that Heaven had, indeed, re- vealed to one favoured Spaniard, what it had de- creed, in due time, to accomplish by another. Th e s e two instances of casual conjecture, con- verted by time and accident into prophecies, I shall take for granted, are as remarkable, as any other that can be alledged. Cicero, in his first book of DivinationSy where he laboured to assert the reality of such a power in the pagan ^vorld, was able to produce nothing equal, or comparable to them. We have the fullest evidence, that these two predictions were delivered by the persons, to whom they are ascribed; and in the time, in which they are said to have been delivered, that is, many hundred years before the event. They, both of them, respect events of the greatest digni- ty and importance : one of them, the downfal of the mightiest empire^ that hath hitherto subsisted on the face of the earth ; and the other, the discov- ery of a new world. Both, express the time, when these extraordinar}^ events were to happen : the latte?', by a general description, indeed, yet not more general, than is frequent in the scriptural prophets ; but the former, in the most precise and limited terms. In a word, both these predic- tions are authentic, important, circumstantial : they foretel events, which no human sagacity could have foreseen; and they have been strictly and properly fulfilled. 88 THE GENERAL ARGUMENT Now, if such coincidencies, as these, do not in- fer divine inspiration ; if, notwithstanding all ap- pearances to the contrary, it must still be allowed (as it will, on all sides) that they were simply for^ tuitous^ or what we call the effects of hazard and pure chance, by what characters shall we distin- guish genuine, from pretended, prophecies ; or in what way shall it be discovered, that the scriptural prophets spake by the Spirit of God^ when these pagan diviners could thus prophecy, by their own spirit ? To this objection, put with all the force which I am able to give to it, I reply directly. That the distinction so importunately demanded, may very easily and clearly be assigned. If one or two such prophecies, ojily^ had occur- red in our scriptures ; if even several such had oc- curred in the whole extent of those writings, and in the large compass of time they take up, with- out descending to a greater detail than is express- ed in these pagan oracles ; nay, if a greater num- ber still of supposed predictions, thus generally de- livered in the sacred writings, had been applicable only to single, independent events, dispersed indif- ferently through the several ages of the world : In all these cases, I should freely admit, that the ar- gument from prophecy was very precaiious and 1 oW FROM PROPIIFXY. 89 unsatisfactory : I could even suppose, with the de- riders of this argument, that so many, and such prophecies, so directed, might not improbably be accounted for, from some odd conjuncture of cir- cumstances ; and that the accomplishment of them did by no means infer a certainty of inspiration. But, if now, on the other hand, it be indisputa- ble, That a vast variety of predictions are to be found in the scriptures of the Old and New Testa- ment ; That a gi^eat part of these predictions are delivered with the utmost degree of minuteness and particularity ; and, lastly, that all of them, whether general or particular, respect one com- mon subject, and profess to have, or to expect, their completion in one connected scheme of things, and, upon the matter, in one single person : On this latter supposition, I must still think, that there is great reason to admit the divine inspira- tion of such prophecies, when seen to be fulfilled. To convert this supposition into a proofs is not within tlie scope and purpose of this Lecture. The work hath been undertaken and discharged by many others : or, it may be sufficient, in so clear a point, to refer you directly to the scriptures themselves ; ^vhich no man can read without see- ing, that the prophecies, contained in them, are extremely numerous — that many of these prophe- 12 90 THE GENERAL ARGUMENT cies are minutely circumstantial — and that one person, whoever he be, is the principal object of them all. My concern, at present, is only to shew, that, if the supposition itself be well founded, the inference y just now mentioned, is rightly made. 1. First, then, if the prophecies in the Old and New Testament be very numerous, and if those prophecies, so many of them, I mean, as are al- leged in this controversy with unbelievers, have had a reasonable completion (and I have a right to make this last supposition, when the question is concerning the account to be given of such a fact : ) If, I say, we argue from these two assumptions, it must appear highly credible and probable, that so numerous prophecies, so fulfilled, had not their origin from human conjecture, nor their ac- complishment from what we call, Chance. For mere conjecture is not usually so happy; nor chance, so constant.* Further still ; if the scrip- * Cam, inquis. Itane vero quicquam potest esse casj. factum, quod omnes habet in se numeros veritatis ? Qiiatuor tali jacti, cas^ Venei-eum efficiuut. Num etiam centum Venereos, si cccc talos jeceris, casu futuros putas ? De Div. I. i. p. 259, Lutet. 1565 ■ Had the supposed case been fairly applied to the subject, there had been an end of tlie dispute ; as may appear from the pitiful answer, made in the next book to this reasoning dixisti multa de casu .• ut. Venereum jaci posse casu, quatuor talis jactis : quad- ringentis, centum Venereos non posse casu consistere. Primum^ r^Escio, CUR, NON Possij«jT. Was tliis, like a philosopher ' FROiM PROPHECY. 91 tural prophecies have been completed in numer- ous instances, and if in no instance whatsoever can it be clearly shewn that they have failed in the event, the presumption is still stronger, that such coincidence could not be fortuitous ; and a mate- rial difference between scriptural prophecy, and Pa- gan divination is, at the same time, pointed out. For, that, in the multitude of pretended oracles in the days of paganism, some few only should come to pass, while the generality of them fell to the ground, may well be the sport ol fortune.'^ But, that very many prophecies, recorded in our scrip- tures, have had an evident completion, when not one of all those, there recorded, can be convicted of imposture, must surely be the work oi design* The argument cannot be denied to have real weight, though the expression of 92 THE GENERAL ARGUMENT 2. Secondly, that the accomplishment of proph-- ccies, so circumstantially defined, can still less be imputed to mere chance. Without doubt, if all the ptophecies concern- ing the Messiah had been penned in the style of the first — that the seed of the woman should bruise the serperifs head — though even then there might be reason for applying them, exclusively, to the person of Christ, yet, the evidence, that they were intended to be so applied, w^ould have been much obscured by the mode of expression; the wide cover of which might seem to afford room for other applications. But when, to this general prophecy, the theme of all succeeding ones, it is further added. That this seed of the woman, should be the seed of Abraham ; of the tribe of Juda ; of the family of David ; that he should be born at Bethlehem ; that he shoi^ld appear in the world at a time, limited by certain events, and even precisely determined to a certain period : — when, after a particular description of his life and office, it is said of him, that he should be betrayed by an intimate friend ; and sold for a price, exact- ly specified ; that he should suffer a particular kind of death; should have his hands and feet pierced ; should have vinegar given him to drink; and should be buried in the sepulchre of a rich mail — with innumerable other particularities of FROM PROPHECY. 93 the like nature* — When all this, I say, is consid- ered, the improbability, that these specific charac- ters should meet in the same person by chance^ is so great, that a reasonable man will scarce ven- ture on so hazardous a position. 3. Still this is not all. Were we at liberty to apply even numerous^ and circumstantial prophecies, to any person, indifferentl}', whom they might suit, and to a7iy events indiscriminately, to which they might correspond, sought out at large in the history of mankind, the force of the argument for design in such prophecies, might in good measure be eluded. But, when we reflect on what, in part, hath appeared under the last article, that all the scriptural predictions profess to respect one certain scheme of things ; run in the line of one people ; and point ultimately at one person, whose country, and family, and age, and birth-place are exactly defined ; the application of them is so limited and restrained, that, if they suit at all, there is scarce a possibili- ty of excluding actual foresight, and intention . • See the ancient apologists, who are frequent and large on this subject ; and, of the moderns, see especially Huetii Dem. Evaiig. Prop. IX. — Bishop Kidder's Don. of the Messias, c. ii. p. 17, 18. London, 1726, fol. — Dr. Clarke's Evidences of Nat- and Hev. Relig- ion — Pemees de M. Pascal, p, 108, 94 THE GENERAL ARGUMENT Let me, further, observe, that, as, upon this idea of a confined, connected, and dependent scheme, in the prophecies, the detection of imposture, if there be any, is much facihtated ; so, on the other hand, if the prophecies can be fairly apphed in this way, not only the presumption, that they were given to be so applied, is much increased, but a clearer insight into the scope and meaning of them, is obtained. For, in a system of prophecy, direct- ed to one and the same general end, preceding prophecies prepare the way for interpreting those that follow, and every succeeding prophecy reflects some light on those that went before. Thus, the general evidence, arising from this species of ar- gument, is, in all ways, augmented ; while we see, that less room is left to chance in verifying the more clear and direct prophecies, and that fresh light is let in upon such as are more ambiguous or obscure. It is said, that many passages in the prophets are applied to Jesus, on very slight grounds. This would be true, if the prophetic scriptures, like the Pagan oracles, had no determinate scheme in view, and had, for their object, only detached and un- connected events. But, on this scriptural princi- ple, that one common purpose is in the contempla- tion of that divine Spirit, which dictated all those Avritings, That is expressed, which is barely inti- FROM PROPHFXY. 95 mated; and every applicable prophecy is rightly applied : whence it is, that even secondary proph- ecies have, in the system of revelation, all the light and force of the primary ; as, in a former discourse, hath been observed. This assertion, I know, may startle such per- sons, as have not attended to the genius of the pro- phetic wTitings, or to that general harmony of de- sign and destination, which makes their distinctive character : but it may be rendered familiar to us by reflecting on the manner^ in which we interpret otlier writings, somewhat similar to these. It is generally supposed, and on good grounds, that Virgil wrote his iEneid with the view of do- ing honour to the person and government of Augustus. But, the subject of his work being taken from a former age, this was either to be done, by introducing his encomiums under the form o{ prophecies^ or by conveying them indirectly in allusive descriptions and what we call, secondary applications. The poet hath employed both these methods, with success. The purpose of his pre- dictions is clear ; for in them the emperor is ex- pressly named : and the ablest critics make no scru- ple of applying to Augustus all those passages in this poem, which, however they may respect, im- mediately, other persons, are yet clearly seen to be apphcable to Him. 96 THE GENERAL ARGUMENT We have another instance of the same sort, at home. Our Spenser wrote his famous poem, to iUustrate the virtues and reign of queen Ehzabeth, This we know from himself. Though his scene, therefore, be laid in Fairy Land, yet, whenever we find his fictions agreeing to the history of that princess, or the characters of his knights expres- sive of those virtues, which distinguished the great persons of her court, we make no doubt of apply- ing them in that way, or of the poet's intending that they should be so applied. These applica- tions would not be equally justifiable 'mother works of fancy, written in that time ; but the knowledge, we have the of author's general purpose in writing, makes them reasonable in this. It may appear from these examples,* that^ whenever a general scheme is known to be pursu- ed by a writer, whose real or assumed character gives him a riglit to deal in secondary senses and prophetic anticipations, that scheme becomes the true key, in the hands of his reader, for unlocking the meaning of particular parts; of many parts, which would otherwise not be seen clearly and distinctly to refer to such scheme. The observa- * I take these examples to be more in point, than those given by bishop Butler in liis Analogy, P. ii. c. vii. p. 386. Lond. 1740 ; not Init those, too, U.ive their weig-ht. FROM PROPHECY. 97 tion applies to the inspired writers, in all its force. We understand, that tlicy had one common and predominant scheme in view, which was to bear> testimony to Jesus. Their writings are, then, to be inteq^reted in conformity to that scheme. Not on- ly the more direct prophecies require this inteq^re- tation ; but, if we will judge in this, as we do in other similar instances, whatever passages occur in those writings, which bear an apt and easy resem- blance to the history of Jesus, may, or rather ynust^ in all reasonable construction, be applied to him. Whence we see (to mention it, by the way) that, if no prophecy in the Old Testament had ap- plied to Christ directly in its primary sense, Chris- tianity might, yet, support itself on the evidence of prophecy. For the evidence, arising from a sec- ondary sense of prophecies, is real evidence ; and was certainly admitted, as such, by that great man,^' whose mistakes on this subject have offered the occasion of so much vain triumph to infidelity. Fancy, no doubt, may grow wanton in this sort of applications. It may find, in the prophet or poet, what was never designed by either : but, in the circumstances supposed, the severest reader will not deny, that much was probably designed by • Gxotixis- 13 98 THE GENERAL ARGUMENT both. It is impossible to lay down general rules, that shall prevent all abuse in the interpretation of such writings. But good sense will easily see, in particular cases, where this liberty of interpreting is, m fact J abused. It is obvious to remark, that this use of proph- ecy doth not commence, till the corresponding facts can be produced : that is, till the prophecies are seen to be fulfilled. But this circumstance is no discredit to the prophetic system ; which pretends not to give immediate conviction, but to lay in, be- forehand, the means of conviction to such as shall be in a condition to compare, in due time, the pre- diction with the event. Till then, prophecy serves only to raise a general expectation of the event predicted ; that is, it serves to make men attentive and inquisitive, and to prepare them for that full conviction, which it finally hath in view. And this service, the prophecies of the Old Testament actually did the Jews, who were led by them to expect the Messiah, when he, in fact, appeared among them. And, had they pursued this reason- able method of interpreting the prophecies, not by their prejudices, but by corresponding events, they must have been further led to acknowledge his mission, as being evidently attested by predic- tions, so fulfilled. But their capital mistake lay in supposing, that their prophecies were sufficiently FROM PROPHECY. 99 cleai*, without the help of any comment from suc- ceeding events ; and thus, what they could not see beforehand, they ivould not acknowledge, when these events came to pass. It follows from what hath been said, that the obscurity of the Jewish prophecies concludes noth- ing against the use of those WTitings, or against the application of them, which Christians now make. Their declared use is posterior to the facts, they adumbrate ; whence the intervening obscurity of those writings is no just ground of complaint : and the application of them to Jesus, now that his- tory hath taught us to understand them better, is made on principles, to which no sober man can object. On the whole, the general evidence for the truth of Christianity, as resulting from the scrip- tural prophecies, though possibly not that, which some may vi^ish or expect, is yet apparently very considerable. Some coincidencies might fall out, by accident ; and more might be imagined. But when so many, and such prophecies are brought together, and compared with their corresponding events, it becomes ridiculous (because the effect is, in no degree, proportioned to the cause) to say of such coincidencies, that they arc the creatures oi fancy, or could have been the work of chance. 100 THE GENERAL ARGUMENT, &c. The text supplies the only just account of such a phenomenon : and the spirit of God, methinks, calls aloud to us, in the language of his Son— These things have I told you before they come^ that tuhen they come topass^ ye may believe ^ that I am He. SERMON V. PROPHECIES CONCERNING CHRIST'S FIRST COMING. Isaiah xlii. 9. Behold^ the former things are come to pass^ and 7iew things do I declare : before they spring Jorth, I tell you of them, X HE preceding discourses were designed, to open the general idea of prophecy ; and to enforce the general argument from it, in proof of our holy rehgion. The way being thus far cleared, we now ad- vance a step farther, and take a nearer view of THE PROPHECIES THEMSELVES. These prophecies may be considered under two heads. They either respect, the person and character and office of the Messiah; or, the fate and fortunes oftJrnt kingdom^ which he came to establish in the world. 102 PROPHECIES CONCERNING Divines call \ht former of these, Prophecies of his FIRST coming: and the othtr^ Prophecies of his SECOND. Only, it maybe proper to observe, That the 5f?«f Jews, that is, the Jews in the time of Christ, must have been better qualifiedjthan we now are, to interpret the prophecies, the language, they spoke, being only a dialect of that in which the prophecies are written ;" the answer is already given under the last article : to which we may further add, that Christianity being much better understood now than it was then, the force of the prophetic language concerning it (if, indeed, the prophecies have any such thing in view) must be more distinctly apprehended, in many instances, by Christians at this day, than it could be by the CHRIST'S FIRST COMING. 119 Jews, even when they spoke a dialect of the He- brew language. So that still I do not sec, upon the whole, what advantage the Jews, whether of ancient or modern times, can be diought to have over us, in explaining the prophetic scriptures. And ii\cn 2. As to the completion of the prophecies, the same histories are in the hands of both : and if they do not apply them, as we do, the appeal is open to common sense. Every man is left at lib- erty to judge for himself, which side is best sup- ported in the application of them. The prejudice might, indeed, be thought equal on both sides, if it were not decided by their own scriptures, that no prejudice of any people upon earth was ever so in- vincible, as that of the Jews. 3. Lastly, on both heads, there is a peculiar presumption, that they, and not we, ai'e misled by prejudice : It is this : They were led by their prophecies, as interpreted by themselves, to ex- pect that they would be completed at the time, in which, we say, they were completed ; and it wa?5 not till after the coming of Christ that they began to interpret them differently, and to look out for another completion of them. Judge then, if they, or we, are likely to have erred most, through pre- judice, in expounding and applying the prophecies. 120 PROPHECIES CONCERNING The natural and proper sense will be thought to be that, in which we take them ; for that sense occurred first to themselves, and was, in truth, their sense, before we adopted it. "When I say — their sense — I mean, especially, in respect to the time, which they had fixed for the accomplishment of the prophecies concerning the Messiah : for, as to their giving a temporal sense to some prophecies, in which we find a spir- itual, that is another matter, concerning which, as I said, the appeal lies to every competent and dis- passionate inquirer. In die mean time, it must be thought some presumption in favour of the Chris- tian interpretation, that, whereas the Jews, in re- jecting a spiritual or mystical sense of those proph- ecies (which yet is admitted by them, without scruple, on other occasions, and is well suited to the genius of their whole religion) are driven to the necessity of supposing a txuo-fold Messias — a new conceit, taken up without warrant from their scriptures, and against their own former ideas and expectations — We, on the contrary, by the help of that spiritual sense, are able to explain all the prophecies of one and the same Messias, conforma- bly to the event, and even to the time which the Jews themselves had prefixed for the completion of them. CHRIST'S FIRST COMING. 121 Now, when, of two interpretations, one has apparently all the marks of shift, constraint, and distress in it, and the other comes out easy, uni- form, and consistent : we may guess beforehand, as I said, which of them is likely to be well founded. III. Still it is pretended, " that the argument from prophecy is properly addressed to those only who admit the divinity of the Jewish scriptures, as the Jews have invariably done ; and that it hath no force, but on that previous supposition. Why then is the argument pressed on others, who do not believe the divine authority of those scriptures ? And how should it prevail widi ant/^ whether believ- ers or not, when the Jews themselves, who of all men most firmly believe that authority, are not convmced by it ?" The latter part of the difficulty which respects the incredulity of the Jews, hath been already removed ; so far, I mean, as it is founded on their prejudices. As for the assertion^ " That the ai-gu- ment from prophecy presupposes the truth and divinity of the Jewish scriptures, and must therefore have most weight with the Jews, or rather hath no weight at all, but with them, or with others, who admit that common principle," though something, 16 X22 PROPHECIES CONCERNING like this, may have been said, I take it to be wholly unsupported as well hy fact, as hy m\y good reason, 1. I argue against this assumption from^cc^ ; that is, from the method, taken by the early Chris- tians to convert the Gentile world, and from the success of that method. If we look into the history of the gospel, we shall find the apostle Peter, pressing this argu- ment from prophecy on the Gentile Cornelius ;* and the apostle Paul, urging it with effect, on the Jews indeed first, but also on the Asiatic Gentiles.f If we turn to the Christian apologists, we shall find them addressing this topic to Gentile unbelievers, nay, as venturing the whole cause of Christianity on this single argument.^ Justin Mar- tyr makes as free use of it in his Apology to the Antonines, as in his Dialogues with Trypho. We know, too, the success of this argument, thus employed in many instances : and therefore see, as well the Jittiess of the argument to produce this • Acts i. t'Acts xiii. 42, 48. I T/v/ y«5 av hoyc^ uyhpiairc^ guvpu^ivli i'X&^6[}.i^u, QTi 'B^iiclorov.^ Tw ayi-jv'/iTU igi, nui etxAog ri^v vtf/V/v t« Tsavlog, av6fWTf/8 yivag laoiyiaelut, & /xi^ fjiu^lv^iec, tj^iv iX^iiv uvrov uv^^uxov yfvo/xfvov, neyi\^^vy(ji,evx Tse^t uxjtS sCpofJi.6Vy K«2 HTug yev6i/.evcc d^ w/xev ; Justin Martyr, Apol- i. c. 88. CHRIST'S FIRST COMING. 125 effect, as the judgment of the apostles and primi' tive Cliristians concerning its fitness. But to come 2. To the reason of the thing. The Jews, who professed to believe, and did, in fact, believe, the divine inspiration of their sacred oracles, were, doubtless, bound by their own prin- ciples, to expect with assurance the due comple- tion of them. The Gentiles, who did not previ- ously respect those oracles, as of divine authority, but regarded them only in the light of human con- jectures, yet saw that such passages, whether we call them oracular or conjectural, did, in truth, occur in the Jewish scriptures ; and were obliged to admit, on the faith of historical testimony, that those scriptures were composed by the persons, whose names they bear, and at the times fixed for the composition of them. What then is the differ- ence of the two cases ? Only this : the Jews believed that their oracles would be fulfilled, be- cause they held them to be divine ; the Gentiles had to wait till those oracles were fulfilled, before they acknowledged their divinity. In either case, the argument is independent of the belief, or the expectation, and turns on the completion only. Then, indeed, the Jew sees that his belief was well founded, and the Gentile admits tiiat the prediction was divine. 124 PROPHECIES CONCERNING The mistake would be equal, on the other hand, to conceive, that the argument from proph- ecy presupposes the divine inspiration of the New Testament. It presupposes only the historical truth of that book. Admit this, and compare the events recorded in that history, with the prophe- cies, to which they correspond, and the divinity of both Testaments is proved. For then, the pre- tensions of Jesus are made good, by the completion of the prophecies; and the inspiration of the prophets is concluded, from the delivery of them. In both cases (let me repeat it) it is not the au- thority of the books containing the prophecies, nor of the books recording the facts, in which they are fulfilled, but simply the completion of the prophe- cies in those facts, seen and acknowledged, which infers the divinity of either Testament. Even the Jew would retract his high opinion of the proph- ecies, if he did not admit or expect the accom- plishment of them ; and the Christian would re- nounce his faith in Jes.us, if his history did not accord to the prophecies, alledged. 'Tis true, that, with either, the argument would gain more attention^ than with such as pro- fessed no previous belief in the divinity of ihe Old or New Testament. But its force is really the sunxe, on both suppositions. It lies merely in CHRIST'S FIRST COMING. 125 the conviction, which one hath from the evidence produced, that certain prophetic passages were dehvered in the Old Testament, and have been ful- filled by certain corresponding events, related in the Neiv. On the whole, there is no reason to conclude, that we are not as good judges of the argument from prophecy, as the Jews were ; or, that this ar- gument ought to have the less weight with us, be- cause the Jews were not convinced by it. For the argument doth, in no degree, depend on faith^ but is calculated to produce it. It is equally strong, or equally weak, to a Christian, or Jew, or even to an unbeliever : the sole point in question being this, Whether such things, as were prophetically de- livered, appear to hjve been fulfilled : a point on which common sense and common honesty will equally decide, on every supposition. I know, indeed, that, unless we suppose the inspiration of the prophets, some passages delivered by them, will not so probably be thought to intend Christ, as they will be, if we acknowledge that principle : and, on the other hand, that there are some circumstances in the history of Jesus, which will not be so readily seen to refer to preceding prophecies, if the inspiration of Jesus and his apos- tles be not previously admitted. But I do not ar- 1^6 PROPHECIES CONCERNING gue, at present, from either of these topics. There are passages enough, clearly predictive of the Mes- siah, and clearly accomplished in him, to afford a solid foundation for the argument from prophecy, as here instituted, without looking out for any other of more nice and ambiguous interpretation. Hence we see the dangerous mistake of those, who contend that the argument from prophecy hath not, of itself, the nature of a direct, positive proof, of our religion. Prophecies fulfilled, I mean such prophecies as those in question, prove invinc- ibly the divine inspiration of the prophets. But, if the prophets were inspired, the divine mission of him, in whom the predicted marks of the Mes- siah meet, must needs be acknowledged. And what more is required to prove the truth of Chris- tianity ? Not even the evidence of miracles, per- formed by Christ, if the prophecies had not made them one mark of his character. The truth is, Prophecies and Miracles are, in themselves, two dis- tinct, positive proofs. Either proof is direct, and would have been sufficient, if the other had not been given. But the divine goodness, for our more abundant satisfaction, and to leave infidelity without excuse, hath made the one proof depen- dent on the other : so that neither the argument from prophecy is complete, without the miracles ; nor the argument from miracles, as applied to CHRIST'S FIRST COMING. 127 Christ, unless he likewise appear to have fulfilled the prophecies. Can we desire a stronger proof, that neither they^ who predicted the miracles^ were Jalse prophets; nor he, who claimed to him- self the application of ALL the prophecies^ was a Jaise Messiah ? The reflections, on the method and order of the prophecies, of those especially concerning Christ's FIRST coming; together with what has been said on the independency of this argument on Jewish or Christian concessions ; may serve to convince us. That we shall do well to suspend our conclusions concerning the evidence of prophecy, till we have examined the whole subject. In the mean time, this part of the subject, thus far opened and explained, leads us, wiih advantage, to the consideration of that^ which is yet behind and is the peculiar object of this Lecture, I mean, the prophecies concerning Christ^s second coming. SERMON VI. PROPHECIES CONCERNING CHRIST'S SECOND COMING. Isaiah xlii. 9. Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare : before they spritig forth, J tell you of them, \T must strike the most careless reader of the prophecies to observe, that the general subject of them all was announced from the earliest time, and was only drawn out more distinctly by succeeding prophets : that, of the two ages, into which the world of God, I mean his religious world, is divided in holy scripture, the former, which abounds most in prophecy, was plainly made subservient to the latter : that not only the events of that preceding age are foretold by its own prophets, but that the fortunes of the last and very remote age, are occasionally revealed by them ; and that the same wacles which attest the frst coming of Christ, as if 17 130 PROPHECIES CONCERNINa impatient to be confined to so narrow bounds, over- flow, as it were, into the future age, and expatiate on the principal facts and circumstances of his second coming. By this divine artifice, if I may so speak, the two dispensations, the Jewish and Christian, are closely tied together, or rather compacted into one intire, harmonious system; such, as we might expect, if it were indeed formed, and conducted by him, to whom are known all his works from the beginning.^ So that, in respect of the fortunes, which were to befall the Christian church, even in the lattei" days, we may still ask, in the triumphant terms of the Jewish prophet — Have ye not known ? Have ye not heard ? Hath it not been told you from the be- ginning? Have ye not understood from the founda- tion of the earth ?\ But, though this subject was opened by the old prophets, so far as seemed expedient in that age and clearly enough, to shew the integrity and continuity of the whole system, it was more illus- triously, because more distinctly, displayed by the evangelical prophets. * Acts XV. 18, + Isaiah xl. 21. CHRIST'S SECOND COMING. 131 And here, again, the same provision of wis- dom and goodness meets us, as before. The Christian prophets, like the Jewish, bespeak our attention to what they reveal of the greater and more distant events in their dispensation, by other less momentous prophecies, which were speedily to be accomplished ;* thus impressing upon us an awful sense of their divine foresight, and procur- ing an easy credit from us to their subsequent pre- dictions : while the events, ivhich both these pro- phetic schemes point out, are so distributed through all timCy as to furnish, successively, to the several ages of the world, the means of a fresh and still growing conviction.\ As THE ORDER of thcsc Discourscs, now, leads me to exemplify this last observation, I shall do it in THREE remarkable prophecies concerning the Christian church ; I mean those, which respect .1. The destruction of Jerusalem. 2. The DISPERSION OF THE Jews. And 3. The con- version of the Gentiles, • We see this desi^ very plainly, In the prophecies of Jesus concerning his own death and resurrection ; concerninj^ the descent of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost ; concerning' events, that viere to befall his disciples ; and in oilier instances. ■f La plus grande des preuves de Jesus Christ, ce sont les propheties. C'est aussi a quoi Dieu a la plus pourvu ; carl'evene- jnent, qui les a remplies, est un miracle subsistant depuis la njussance de I'Eglise jusqu' a la fin. M. Pascal. 132 PROPHECIES CONCERNING I refer to these prophecies, as well known. They are in the number of those, which, in part, were delivered by the Jewish prophets ; and after- wards, more distinctly revealed by the Christian. I. The destruction of the Jewish city AND temple, is an event of the utmost moment in the view of revealed religion. It accomplished a great number of prophecies, and vindicated the honour of Jesus, by a signal vengeance on his murderers. It answered, besides, other important purposes of divine Providence ; by putting a visi- ble and necessary end to the Jewish economy, which was now to give way to the dispensation of the Messiah ; and by dispersing the Jews into all lands, for many wise and admirable reasons. Hence, of all the prophecies, delivered by Christ himself (who was a prophet, though indeed much more than a prophet) This alone is displayed by him, at large, and in all its circumstances. If any man, unacquainted with these matters, bhould doubt, whether this prophecy of Jesus, as re- corded in three of the four Gospels, were not de- livered, that isyjbrged, after the event, I might re- fer him to the numerous ^vriters on that subject. But I hold it sufficient to say, 1, On the faith of all antiquity, that these Gospels were not only writ- ten, but published to the world, before the de- CHRIST'S SECOND COMING. 13a struction of Jerusalem — 2, That tlie early date of their composition is apparent from many internal characters, dispersed tlirough these writings — 3, That no interpolation of this prophecy could after- wards take place, because the prophecy is inter- woven with the general thread of the history — and 4, lastly, That no unbeliever of the primitive times, whether Jew or Gentile, when pressed, as both fre- quently were, by this prophecy, appears to have had recourse to the charge, either of forgery, or interpolation*. The authenticity and early date of the prophecy is, then, on these grounds, assumed. I will, further, suppose (because the history of Josephus invincibly proves it) that all the particu- lars, mentioned in this prophecy, concurred in the event, " But this, you will say, might well be : for what more uniform, than the characters of distress in a great city, forced and desolated by a superior enemy ? And what more probable, than that, some time or other, such should be the fate of every great city ?" • For these particulars, see Dr. Jortin's Ran. on Eccleaioiticai History, vol. i. p. 20—89. 134 PROPHECIES CONCERNING It may further be insinuated, " That, if ever Jerusalem was to be destroyed, the obstinate hu- mour of its inhabitants, and the nature of the place, would probably draw this destruction up- on it, in the way it actually happened, in the way of siege :^ that, then, all the miseries, en- dured by the Jews, would naturally fall on a des- perate people from an irritated and successful con- queror; above all, in ancient times, when con- quest and clemency were little acquainted with each other : that, as for the preceding wars, fam^ ineSf pestilences, and eartliquakes (which are men- tioned, in the prophecy, as signs of the approaching desolation) these, are such usual things in the course of the world, as may be safely made the prognostics of any predicted event whatsoever : that Jesus, therefore, as any other wise man, might form his prediction on these principles ; and trust to time, and the passions of mankind, for the com= pletion of it." Now, let all this be allowed (and skepticism itself will hardly make other or greater demands upon us) still, the honour of Jesus stands secure ; and this fine fabric of suspicion is overturned at • An event, it must be owaied, the more likely to happen, as the Jews had always been disposed to trust to their high and fenced walls ; which yet could never defend them from their enemies, as their history shews, and, as Moseshad distinctly foretold, Deut. xxviii. 52. CHRIST'S SECOND COMING. 135 once, if we reflect on two or three circumstances, unluckily, and, if the prophet be not divine, unne- cessarily wrought into the texture of this famous prophecy. Firsts I observe, that this destruction was to come from the hands of the Romans ;* and with- out doubt, if it were to happen in any reasonable time, it could not so probably be expected to come from any other quarter. But, then, was it likely that Judea, at that time a Roman province, should be thus desolated by its own masters ? Was it to be presumed^ that so small a province should dare to engage in a formal contest with Rome, the mis- stress of the world, as well as of Judea ? with Rome, then in the zenith of her power, and irre- • Matth. xxiv. 28. and compare Luke xvii. S^. ""Ots yko exv vl rb Tsluy^d, eneT (XVVtt.%^v\GOvlcii ol ualoi. Meaning by en- gles, the standards of the Roman army — Some writers of name have, indeed, observed, that this is only a proverbial erpression. True : but proverbial prophecies are often fulfilled in the strict, literal sense of the expression ; as Grotius well observes on Matth. xxvi. 23. — hie quoque accidit, quod in multis aliis vaticiniis, ut verba — noa tantum secundum proverbialem loquendi modum, sed etiam secun- dum exactisshnam verborum significationem implerentur. — If the reader calls to mind the prediction of our Lord, as it is elsewhere expressed, without a figure — luhen ye shall see yerusalem covipassei tuith ARMIES [Luke xxi. 20 — 3 ^^^ compares it with the event, he will hardly make a doubt whether eagles, in those figurative pre- dictions, which respect the same subject, namely, the destruction of Jerusalem, were not ii^tended, by our Lord to denote, the Romak armies. 136 PROPHECIES CONCERNING sistible to all nations ? Was it conceivable^ if any future distraction of that mighty empire should tempt the Jews to oppose their feeble efforts to its high fortune, that a vengeance so signal, so com- plete, should be taken upon them ? that nothing less than a total extermination should be proposed, and effected ? The ruin of the temple of Jerusa- lem was to be so entire, that one stone should not be left upon another. Allow for the exaggerated terms of a prophetic description ; still, was it zVwc^- inable, that the Romans should, in any proper sense of the words, execute this denunciation? Was it their way, as it was afterwards that of the Goths, to wage war with stones ? Was it a principle with them^ to beat down the pride of buildings, as well as of men ?* Would even their policy, or their pride, have suffered them to blot out an ancient, a renowned, an illustrious temple, the chief ornament of their province, the glory of the east, and the trophy of their own conquests ? Such an event was very improbable, in contem- plation : and history shews, that it did not come to pass in any ordinary way. For the instrument, in the hands of heaven, of this exterminating ven- geance, was a man, the most unlikely of all others, to inflict it ; a man,who by nature abhorred such * — debellare super bos. Vrrg'. CHRIST'S SECOND COMING. 137 extremities ; who, in foct,did his utmost to prevent this dreadful catastrophe, and could not ^ prevent it.* — Still, a more unmanageable circumstance, than this, occurs in the prophecy. For, Secondly^ it is implied that o n e of our Lord's disciples should survive this desolation :f and it is expressly asserted, that the then subsisting genera- tion should not pass away, before all these th.ngs were accomplished.X They were accomplished, within forty years from the date of the prophecy, and before the death of that disciple. The fact is certain and undeniable : I leave the rest to your own reflections. Thirdly^ warning is given in this prophecy to the disciples of Jesus, to fly from this impending ruin ; and a signal is held out to them, for that purpose.^ It is further predicted, that they should avail themselves of this signal ; and so entirely escape the snare, in which the rest of their countrymen should be taken, that not a hair of their heads should * Assuredly this prophecy was not in the number of those, of which it hath been said — The prophecy is not occasioned by the event, hut the event by the prophecy — L^evenement n*est pas predit parce qu'iL *rrivera ; tnais il arrive parce qu'il a ete predit. Rousseau, Nouv. Hel. t. iv. p. 314. n. Neuf. 1764. y Matth. xvi. 28. * Matth. xxiv. 34 § tttk* uu. 2©. jii! 138 PROPHECIES CONCERNING n, perish.^ And this part of the prophecy was, it f I seems, completed, f I; Lastly, this prophecy was incumbered with ! another strange event, needlessly incumbered with "' it, if the whole were an imposture. It is said, that the gospel should be preached in all the worlds for a witness unto all nations, before it should be fulfilled. Was it not enough to say, that the prophecy should be acomplished in the time of that genera- tion, and in the life-time of St. John, without adding so unlikely a circumstance, as that a gene- ral promulgation of the gospel, by a few unlettered and unfriended fishermen, should precede the accomplishment of it ? — I know, that this part of the prophecy admits a secondary sense : but, in the primary sense, it was so far fulfilled, as to astonish us with the divine foresight of its author. I omit other considerations, that might be alleged. But you see that, setting aside such par- ticulars in the prophecy, as skeptical men may think themselves able to draw within the sphere of human conjecture, there are several things expressed in it, so strange to all apprehension, so unlikely to happen, so impossible for any natural sagacity to * Luke xxi. 18. Acts ii. 21. Mark xiii. 20. I See the learned bishop Newton's Dissertations on the Prophr- oes, voi. ii./>. 268. n. CHRIST'S SECOND COMING. 139 foresee, and yet so certainly and punctually fulfilled, that nothing shoit of divine inspiration can possibly account for them. The prophecy, in all its parts, is divine : but in thest\ its divinity is clear and incontestable. II. The dispersion of the Jews, is anoth- er event, which deserves your consideration. Moses himself had predicted this circumstance of their fortune, in terms of the greatest energy. He had told them — that they should be removed into all the kijigdonis of the earthy and timt they should be scattered amorig all people from one end of the earth even unto the other — that, among the nations, into which they should be driven, they should find no ease, nor rest, and that they should he only oppressed and crushed alway — that they should become an astonishment, a proverb, and a hy-ivord among all nations — and that their plagues shoidd be wonderful, and of long continuance j^ These prophecies had been, to a certain degree, fulfilled in other pai'ts of their history : but there was to be a time, when the wrath of God should come upon them to the uttermost. \ This time was now come, when their city was destroyed, and their land desolated, by the arms of Titus. Then, as Jesus prophesied of them, were the days of ven- * Dent, xxviii 1 1 Thess. ii. 16. 140 PROPHECIES CONCERNING geance^ that all things^ which were writtetiy should be fulfilled : then, were they to be led away captive into all nations : and thenceforth, was Jerusalem to be trodden down of the Gentiles^ until the times OF THE Gentiles should be fulfilled.* Nor say, that this last prophecy is indefinite : for the times of the Gentiles is a period, well known in the prophetic writings ; a period, of long dura- tion indeed, as the event hath shewn ; yet a period, marked out by other prophecies (which may come, in turn, to be considered in this Lecture) no less distinctly, than their other captivities had been. For, to all these predictions there must be ad- ded one more, which expressly asserts the return of this people, in some future age, from their long and wretched dispersion : for blindness^ in part, on- ly, hath happened to Israel ; and that again, till the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.\ This, St. Paul terms a mystery : and yet the ancient prophets had a glimpse of it, when they foretold, that the Lord would not make a full end of them,\ and that a remnant of them should remain, and should return in the latter days.) Moses himself, who had denounc- ed such heavy judgments upon them, and of so * Luke xxi. 22. 24. f Rom. xi. 25. \ Jer. xlvi. 28. $ Isa. x. 21. Ezek. vi. Q.- CHRIST'S SECOND COMING. 141 hng cowf/7/w^;/ce, during their dispersion, had ming- led, with his woes, this one note of mercy — Jnd yet for all that, tvheii they lie in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them aivai/, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly and to break my covenant with them.^ Consider these predictions, and compare them with the present and past state of this people for seventeen hundred years ; and see, if there be noth- ing to take your attention, or, rather, your astonish- ment, in the compleiion of them. Why is this dreadful vengeance, singular in its circumstances, and never yet experienced by any other people on the face of the e.irth, why is this peculiai* vengeance executed on the Jews ? — Or, whatever the cause may be, is not the Jacty such as was predicted ? "The predictions, you will say, have the ap- pearance of being fulfilled. But where is the won- der, that a people, distinguished by a singular re- ligion, and above measure addicted to it, should continue to exist under that distinction, and should be every where known by it ? That a people, on account of their profession, more than commonly obnoxious to the other religious sects, among whom 142 PROPHECIES CONCERNING the earth hath been chiefly parcelled out — to the Heathen^ for their unconquerable aversion to idol- atry — to the Christians^ for the atrocious murder of their Founder — to the Mahometans^ for the con- stant rejection of their prophet — should be the scorn and outcast of all tliree ; and that, being ex- cluded from the only country to which they have any attachment, they should be vagabonds on the earth, and should disperse themselves indifferently through every quarter of it, as caprice, or interest, or convenience, invites them ? That, lastly, being thus distinguished from all men, and thus at en- mity with all, they should never be suffered to en- ter into any other civil community, or to establish a distinct community of their own ?" But the wonder doth not lie, altogether, where these questions seem to place it. That the Jews, while they profess themselves such, should be thus treated, may be natural enough: but that they should continue^ for so many ages, under such treatment ; every where and always spurned, revil- ed, oppressed ; yet neither worn out by this usage ; nor induced by it to renounce their offensive pro- fession, and take refuge in the mass of people, among whom they live ; that neither time, nor cus- tom, nor suffering, should get the better of their bigotry or patience ; but that they should still sub- sist a numerous, a distinct, a wretched people, as they do, to this day — all this hath something pro- CHRIST'S SECOND COMINO. 143 digious in it, which the common principles of hu- man nature will not easily explain.* We, who admit the divine origin of their re- ligion ; and adore, with them, the extraordinary providence, by which tlieir polity was so long ad- ministered and upheld; can better, than any others, explain this difficulty. For, what so likely to pro- duce an invincible attachment to their law, as the abundant evidence, they had of its authority ? But neither will this account of the matter be found satisfactory. For, as if on purpose to discredit this solution, their history informs us. That ten of the twelve tribes, which originally composed their na- tion, did, in fact, disappear under their last captiv- ity, and were, in a good measure at least, absorb- ed in it. If such, then, was the fate of Israel in its dispej^ion, within the compass of not many generations, and yet the relics of Judah are still preserved in all countries to this day, what better or other reason can we assign for this difference of fortune in two branches of the same people, equally attached to the same divine law, than that iho: former were left to the natural consequences • Hear the profound and reflecting' M. Paschal — L'etat pu I'du Toitles Juifs est une grande preuve de la religion. Car c'est une chose etonnante de voir ce peuple subsister depuis tant d'annees, et de le voir toujours oniserablc — et, quoique il soit contraire, d'etre MISERABLE, etDKsi'BsisTER,ilsubsisteneanmoinstoujoursmal^e sa misere. Pensees, p. 115. 144 PROPHECIES CONCERNING of a dispersion, and that the hitter were purposely kept from being affected by them, as the proph= ecies had distinctly foretold ? If it be still said, " That there is nothing more extraordinary in this continuance of the Jews, un- der their dispersion, than of other religionists in like circumstances ; of the Christians for instance, under the Turkish dominion ;" the cases (to say nothing of the difference in point of time) are, in many respects, entirely unlike. The Asiatic Christians derive a confidence, and some degree of protection, from the many flourishing Christian empires, which subsist in other quarters of the world. They, can perform all the duties of their re- ligion, as perfectly in the countries, where they re- side, as in any other. They, have the future hopes of the gospel, the proper sanction of their law, to support them in all the distresses, to which their Christian pro- fession may, at present, expose them. What is it to them, as St. Austin well observed in a like case, that they suffer for a season in a strange land : when even in their own^ that is, a Chris- tian country, they are still obliged, by the princi- CHRIST'S SECOND COMING. 145 pies of their religion, to consider themselves, as strangers and pilgrims on the earth ?* The condition of the Jews, on the other hand, is widely different. They, profess a religion, founded on temporal promises, only : and how miserably these have failed them, the experience of many ages hath now shewn. The Jews, are shut out from the only country in the world, where the several rites and ordi- nances of their religion can be regularly and law- fully observed. The Jews, have, besides, the sensible mortifi- cation of knowing, that all their brethren of the dispersion are every where in equal distress with themselves ; and that there is not one Jewish state or sovereignty subsisting on the face of the whole earth. It follows, that in the Jews, we find nothing but their destiny^ so plainly read to them by their ovn\ prophets, as well as ours, to account for their long continuance in their present dispersion i whereas, the Asiatic Christians have many re^ • — Multo minus nomen criminandum, In captlvitate sacratorum suorum, qui supernam patriam vei'aci fide expectantce, etiam in ?vis sedibus percfrinQ-% se esse novernnt. Aug', Dc Civ. Dei, 1, i. c 15. 19 146 PROPHECIES CONCERNING sources of comfort within themselves ; and may subsist, in Mahometan countries, on the same ijeneral motives and inducements, which sustain the courage of other unhappy men. Yet, notwithstanding the advantages, here point- ed out, on the side of the Asiatic Christians, the fact is, that they are reduced to a very small num- ber, and are insensibly melting away under the oppressions of their Ottoman masters ; so that in no long time, if that enormous tyranny should be permitted to continue, they may, not improbably, quite vanish out of those countries, where they had formerly so many and flourishing churches : where- as, the Jews continue every where to abound in great numbers ; they thrive under their oppres- sions ; and seem to multiply amidst their dis- tresses ; as if the order of things were reversed in regard to them, and the same causes operated to the conservation of this people, which tend so nat- urally to the waste and destruction of every other. Still, I have another reflection, or two, to make on this interesting subject. 1. It deserves to be considered, that i!^iversal prevalence CHRIST'S SECOND COMING. 161 But every one knows, that they had recourse to no arms, but those of the spirit : they took no advantage of distracted times, to raise commotions in behalf of the ne^v religion, or to suppress the old one : a bruised reed did they not breaks and smoking flax did they not quench : yet with meekness, and patience, and suffering ; by piety, by reason, by the secret influence of a divine blessing attending on these feeble efforts, the doctrine of the cross insen- sibly gained ground, spread itself far and wide, and in the end became victorious over all the rage, and power, and sophistry of an unbelieving world. * of the Christian faitli from the same spiritual arms only, which wer<* first employed with such success in the propagation of it. • An eminent writer, with the view, indeed, of disgracing the Reformation, hath set this matter in a very just light : " Qiie nos freres," says he, "ouvrent done les yeux; qu'ils les jeitent sur I'an- cienne Eglise, qui diu-ant tant de siecles d'une persecution si cru- elle ne s'est jamais echapee, ni un seul moment, ni dans un seul homme, et qu'on a vue aussi soumise sous Diocletien, et meme sous Julien I'apostat, lorsqu=^elle rempUssoit deja toute la terre, que sous Neron et sous Domitien, lorsqu'elle ne faisoit que de naitre ; c'est-la q_u'on voit veritablement i,e doigt de Diev." Hist, des Variations, I. x. c. 53. The finger of God, as tixe learned writer says, was indeed cou- ^icuous in tliis conduct of the primitive Christians, because it ful- filled the prophecies (so unlikely to be fulfilled) concerning the ■manner in which Christianity was to obtain an establislnnent in the world. If tlie conduct of the re/orme J had not this merit, it was because the prophecies did not extend to the reformation of Cliris- tian religion, but to the introduction and first settlement of it The agents, in this last work of Providence, were therefore left to the natural influence of tlieir passions, and they acted too frequently as those passions impelletl them. 21 162 PROPHECIES CONCERNING That this victory hath not been, hitherto, so complete, as to answer the promise of an absolute universality^ we readily acknowledge ; but are in no pain for the event ;* as the same oracles, which have thus far been verified, suppose the present condition of things ; and, what is more, assure us of a time to come, when the fulness of the Gentiles shall come in. One word more, and I have done. If it be now thought, that these three prophecies — concerning the destruction of Jerusalem — the dispersion of the Jews — and the call of the Gentiles — have been clearly accomplished ; and yet were of that nature, that no human foresight could deliver them, nor any probable conjuncture of human affairs account for the accomplishment of them, you will conclude that they were truly divine, and that we do not For the vest, how far the general precepts of the gospel require a passive submission and non-resistance to outrageous intolerance, whether absolutely, and in all cases, is a point of nice discussion; in which I take no part, at present, because I am not now making the apology of the reformed, but shewing the completion of the prophecies concerning- the propagators of Christianity : and the wonder to see them so punctually completed, is not lessened, but increased, by supposing, that the precepts of the gospel leave man- kind to the free use of their natural rights, in the case of extreme violence and injustice. * The vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie : though it tarry, lu ait for it, because it shall surely cotne, it Kill not tarry. Habakkuk, ii. 3- CHRIST'S SECOND COMING. 163 abuse your credulity in alleging such prophecies, in proof of our holy religion. You will see and acknowledge that tliere are prophecies, recorded in scripture, concenung the Christian church: and that these prophecies, in particular, concerning it, have been remarkably fulfilled. Ye will, therefore, the less wonder to find, that there are still other prophecies, rehitivc to the kingdom of Christ, as administered m this world ; and will, of course, be disposed to consider, with less prevention, M'hat may further be said in support of them. SERMON VII. PROPHECIES CONCERNING ANTICHRIST. I Ep. John ii. 18. — Ye have heard that Antichrist sJiall come — Among the more remarkable prophecies con- cerning the Christian church, there are several, which describe the rise, progress, and downfal of a certain Power, represented under various sym- bols or images, and distinguished by many appel- lations ; but more especially known by the name of Antichrist. These prophecies come now, in the order of this Lecture, to be considered. The subject is, in a high degree, curious and important ; but of no easy discussion : not so much on the account of any peculiar difficulty in the prophecies themselves, as from the prejudice of party in explaining them. 166 PROPHECIES CONCERNING ANTICHRIST. and still more, from the general prejudice that lies against every attempt to explain them. To make my way through all these obstruc- tions, I shall begin with laying before you a clear "Hand distinct state of the question itself, which is chiefly agitated by inquirers mto these prophecies. It is admitted, that many predictions in the Old and New Testament, particularly in the book of Daniel, in St. Paul's Epistles, and in the Revelations of St. John, clearly point out a very extraordinary power, which was to manifest itself in the latter times, that is, in the times subsequent to the intro- duction of Christianity. The characters, by which this power (acknowledged by all under the name of Antichrist) is chiefly distinguished, ai'e those of Tyranny,* Idolatry, and Intolerance. And, to abridge our trouble in searching after this three- headed monster, we are directed by the prophets to look for him within the boundaiies of what was * By the word Tyranny, here and elsewhere in these discourses, us applied to the pope, I would be understood to mean, that super' eminent dominion, which he exercised, or claimed a r/^A^ of exer- cising, over the princes and states of his communion, in all affaii-s both temporal and spiritual. — I use the word (somewhat improp- erly, perhaps) for the sake of brevity, as I know of no otlier sintcl"- l^rrn, that so well expresses my meaning'. PROPHECIES CONCERNING ANTICHRIST. 167 properly called, the Roman empire, and even in the city of Rome itself. Thus fi\r there is no dispute. Tlie only ques- tion is, To what Roman power, exhibiting those characters, the prophecies are to be applied. And even this question is reduced within narrow limits. For TWO powers only have subsisted in Rome, from the Christian era to the present times (within which period we are, agaui, allowed to expect the reign of Antichrist ; ) the Roman emperor, in the first place; and, afterwards, the Roman Pontifs. So that, on the whole, the single point in debate is tnerely this, Whetlier imperial, or papal Rome , be that Antichristian power, which the prophets fore- told. The church of Rome holds, for obvious rea- sons, that the imperial power is the object of the prophecies : the Protestants have, on the contrary, their reasons for maintaining, that papal Rome is that power, which the prophecies had in view, and in which alone they are truly and properly verified- This, then, is the meaning of that famous in- quiry concerning Antichrist: and I must desire you to keep your attention steadily fixed on the question, as here stated ; while I endeavour to furnish you with the proper means of deciding upon it. 168 PROPHECIES CONCERNING ANTICHRIST. The obvious method of dohig this, would be, To lay before you, directly, the prophecies them- selves, and to examine them by the Ijght of sober criticism, and authentic history. But, because it is no new or difficult thing to misrepresent facts and to misinterpret scripture^ to pervert, in short, these two instruments of truth to any ends, which prejudice hath in view ; and because I know how natural it is for you to suspect such management in the present case, where the zeal of party is sup- posed, on eitlier side, to exclude, or over-power, the love of truth ; for these reasons, it may be con- venient to take a larger compass, and, by a previ- ous historical deduction of this controversy, to let you see in what light it has been regarded, through the several ages of the Christian church. , I. The first AccouNT,we meet with in scrip- ture, of the power in question, I mean, under his proper name of Antichrist^ is in the First Epistle of St. John, from which the text is taken. The whole passage runs thus — Little children^ it is the last time : And^ as ye have heard that Antichrist shall come^ even now there are many Antichrists ; where- by we know that it is the last time. To understand these words, we must call to mind what hath been already, more than once, observed concerning the scriptural division of time PROPHECIES CONCERNING ANTICHRIST. 169 into two great portions, The former and latter times. By \\\c former ^ is meant the times preced- ing the Christian era ; by the latter^ the times subsequent to it. Correspondent to this partition of time, is the double advent of Christ, of which I before gave a distinct idea. His Jirst advent w^as, when he came in the flesli at Jerusalem : his second advent is to be understood of his coming in his kingdom, through all the ages of the Christian church. But though the latter tbnesy in the general sense of scripture, be thus comprehensive, they are further subdivided into other constituent por- tions, in which some particular state of Christ's kingdom is administered, and within which it is completed. In reference to this subordinate di- vision of time in the Christian dispensation, the coming of Christ is, also, proportionably multipli- ed. He comes in each division ; that is, as oft as he thinks fit to interpose by any signal act of his power and providence. The whole period, in which any distinct state of his kingdom is carrying on, is like^vise called the latter time ; and the con- cluding part of that period is distinguished by the name of the last hour : as if the whole of each pe- riod were considered as one day ; and the close of each period, as the end, or last hour, of that day. 22 170 PROPHECIES CONCERNING ANTICHRIST. Thus, the time that elapsed from Christ's ascen- sion to the destruction of Jerusalem, being one of the subdivisions, before mentioned, is called the latter tunes ; and the eve of its destruction, is called the last hour. He was coming through the w^hole time : he came in the end of it. And the like use of these terms is to be made, in other instances. We are to apply them in the same manner to the reign of Antichrist — to the Millenium — to the day of judgment. Each of these states, into which the latter times^ or the times of Christianity, are divid- ed, is likewise spoken of under the idea of the latter times; and the season, in which each is drawing to an end, is the last hour of that state.* Thus much being premised, it is easy to give a just exposition of the text. Little children^ it is the last time, or hour — that is, the destruction of f Jerusalem is at hand ; as indeed it followed very soon after the date of this Epistle. And, as ye have heard that A?itichrist shall come — that, in some future period, called the last ti??ies, an hostile power, which we know by the name of Antichrist, shall arise and prevail in the world, even now, we * What is here said of the scriptviral division of time, with re- gard to the affairs of the church, is enough for my purpose. There is another division of time, in the prophetic scriptures, with regard to the kingdoms of the tuorld ; concerning which the reader may con- sult BISHOP Kidder's Dc-m.ofthe Messiah, Part iii, ch. ix. ; and especially Mr. Mede's Apostasy of the latter times, ch. xi. PROPHECIES CONCERNING ANTICHRIST. 171 may see the commencement of that power ; for, there are viany Antichrists ; many persons, now, appear in the spirit of that future Antichrist, and deserve his name : whereby, indeed, we knonv that it is the last hour : for Christ himself had made the appearance of false Christs and false prophets, that is, of Antichrists, to be one of the signs by which that hour should be distinguished.* The meaning of the whole passage, then, is clearly this : " That the appearance oi false Christs and Jalse Prophets (of which there were mtmy, ac- cording to our Lord's prediction, in St. John's time) indicated the arrival of that hour, that was to be fatal to the Jewish state : and that they were, at the same time, the types and forerunners of a still more dreadful power, which should be fully re- vealed in the latter times, in a future period, when that calamity was past." For the truth of the as- sertion. That such a power should arise, in the Christian church, he appeals to a tradition, then current among the disciples : and his hated name of Antichrist is here applied, by way of anticipa- tion, to the false prophets of that time : as possess- ing much of his character, and acting with his spirit, • Matlh. xxiv. 2i. Mark x'lli. 21. 172 PROPHECIES CONCERNING ANTICHRIS'^'. Hence we see the meaning of the word, Anti- christ ; which stands for a person or power, actu- ated with a spirit opposite to that of Christ. And so indeed the apostle explains himself, in another place of this very Epistle. For, speaking of certain false teachers, who preached up a doctrine, contrary to that of the gospel, he adds — " This is that spirit of Antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come, and even now already is it in the world."* And I lay the greater stress on this observation, because the etymology of the word, Antichrist, makes it capable of two different meanings. For it may either signify one who assumes the place and qfice of Christy or one, who maintains a direct en- mity and opposition to him.\ But the latter, is the sense in which the apostle useth this term ; al- though it be true that, in xht former sense, it very well suits the bishop of Rome, who calls himself the Vicar of Christ, as well as the successor of St. Peter. Nor can there be any difficulty in fixing tlie charge of antichristianism, in the sense of an enmity and opposition to Christ, on the Roman pon- tif (though I know how absurd the attempt seems to the writers on that side ;) for, to merit this charge, it is not necessary that he should formally reject Christ, which undoubtedly he does not, but * 1 Ep. John, iv. 3. '\ ^AvliXQ^^Og avlif in the sense either of pro, or contra. PROPHECIES CONCERNING ANTICHRIST. 173 that he should act in defiance to the true genius and character of Christ's religion: a charge, which may be evidently made good against him. In short, as the word, Christy is frequently used in the apostolic writings for the doctrine of Christ ; in which sense we are said to put on Christy to grow in Christy to learn Christ, and in other in- stances : So Antichrist^ in the abstract, may be taken for a doctrine subversive of the Christian ; and when applied to a particular man, or body of men, it denotes one, who sets himself against the spirit of that doctrine.* • Grotius says, " Sicut Anticxsareon dlcimus qui contra Cxsarera sue Cxs^ai-em vult dici atque Csesar liuberi, sic Auticliristus est qui se vero Cliristo oppoult eo modo ut ipse Cliristus haberi velii." Op. t. iv. p. 490 — The learned commentator did not reflect, that words are not always used according to the strict import of their ctjmologies. False Christs, we will say, ai-e, in the strict sense of the word, A)ttichristi\ But the question is, in vshat sense this word is used of the person called, by way of eminence, The Antichrist. This must be collected from the attributes given to him in the prophe- cies themselves, nofr from the rigorous etymology of the term. The case was plainly this. St. John is speaking of \.\\c false Christs, who had appeared in his time ; and, to disgrace them the more effectu- ally in the minds of those to whom he writes, he brands tliem with the name of Antichrists: not so much respecting the exact sense of the word, as the ideas of aversion, which, he knew, it would excite. For the tradition of the church concerning -,4«^/c/ir/.?r, had made this appellation,of all others,the most opprobrious, and hateful. — Besides, it is not so clear, as Grotius supposes, that the strict sense of the •word, JntichristHs, must be — is, qui se vero Christo opponit eo mqdo ut ipse Christus haberi velit. Cesar, who generally expressed 174 PROPHECIES CONCERNING ANTICHRIST. In this last sense, the word Antichrist is clearly employed by St. John : and from his example, the word grew into general use in the Christian church ; and is so to be understood, whenever mention is made of Antichrist by the primitive fathers, or any other ecclesiastical writers. II. I am now to shew in what manner the prophecies concerning Antichrist^ or a person or power, so called, and, though variously described, always considered under the idea of an adversary to the true doctrine of Christ, have been construed and applied by many eminent members of the Christian church, in all ages. I. When the canon of scripture was formed, and now in the hands of the faithful, the prophe- cies concerning Antichrist were too remarkable not to take their early attention. They accord- ingly cite these prophecies in their apologies and commentaries, or refer to them, very frequently. But one thing is singular. Though Antichrist be every where spoken of in the prophecies as a per- secuting power, and though the Christian church then was, and so continued to be for near three centuries, in a state of persecution under the Roman himself with exact propriety, thought fit, on a certain occasion, to to assume the name and character of Anticato. Was it Cesar's purpose to say, or was it his amhition to pretend, " that he opposed himself, to the true Cato, eo modo ut ipse Cato haberi vellet ,?'* PROPHECIES CONCERNING ANTICHRIST. 175 emperors, yet this opprobrious name was not usually given to their persecutors. I do not say, that none of the early Christian writers ever applied that character to the emperors. Some few of them, in a fit of zeal and resentment, did.* But the most, and the ablest of the Fathers, were clearly of another opinion. It may be thought, that they forbore this appli- cation of so odious a term, out of respect to the government under which they lived, and from pru- dential considerations. These motives had, with- out doubt, their weight with them, and made them more cautious, than they would otherwise have been, in interpreting the prophecies. But, if they had been at liberty to speak out, and declare their full sense, on the subject, it is certain they would not, and could not, consistently with their avowed principles, apply the prophecies concerning Anti- christ to the Roman emperors. For they had learned from tradition, and from the letter of the prophecies, that Antichrist was to be revealed in some distant age ; and they even collected from a remarkable passage in one of St. PauPs Epistles • Eusebius mentions, Judas, H. E. 1. \i. c. 2; and Diony- sius, E. H. /. vii. c. 10.— Others, seemed to expect that Anti- christ would appear as the Messiah of the Jews ; but in the person of a Roman emperor ; as will be explained presently. See tJie ^oxt not»^. 176 PROPHECI£JS CONCERiNirifG ANTIClfRISt. (which will be considered hereafter) that the remov- al of the Roman empire was to make way for his appearance. Hence, they give it as a reason for their ardent prayers to heaven for the preservation of the empire, that the dreaded power of Antichrist could not commence, so long as the Imperial sovereignty subsisted. And it is observable that, of those few writers, who were in different senti- ments, the greater part conceived the time of his coming to be remote ; and were even driven to the strange necessity of supposing that Nero, the / first persecuting emperor, was miraculously kept alive, or would be raised up from the dead, in or- der to be revealed in a future age, as the Antichrist of the prophets, or at least as the precursor of An- tichrist.* In short, the idea, which the early Christians, in general, formed of Antichrist, was that of a pow- er, to be revealed in distimt times, after the dissolu- tion of the Roman empire ; of a power, to arise out of the ruin of that empire. Not to multiply quo- tations, on a point which admits no doubt, Jerom, the ablest of the ancient fathers, and the most esteem- ed, shall speak for the rest. He says expressly, that such was the idea of all the ecclesiastical writ' ers, down to his time, as is here represented.! * See many citations to this purpose in Dr. Lardner's Cred. p. ii. V. p. 210, 11, 12. ■\ Jerom, in Dan. vii. Mede, p. 657. PROPHECIES CONCERNING ANTICHRIST. I77 Now this circumstance ye will surely think not a little remarkable, that they, who lived under the emperors, and felt the whole weight of their ty- rannous persecution, should not apply the prophet- ic notes and characters of Antichrist, to t/iem^ if in- deed the prophecies had been fairly capable of such application. This, I say, is exceedingly remark- able : for men are but too apt even to wrest the scrip- tures to a sense, which favours their own cause, or gratifies their passions ; and to find a comple- tion of prophecy in events, which fall out in their own days and concern themselves (as we see from so many absurd applications of the Apocalypse, justly objected to certain Protestant writers;) though, when such events are past, and impartially considered, no such accomplishment of prophw.^^ ean be discerned in them. When the church of Rome, therefore, now pre- tends, That Antichrist is to be sought in Imperi- al and Pagan Rome, ye will naturally ask how it came to pass, that the ancient fathers, who had the best opportunity of seeing the conformity of the prophecies with the transactions of their times, and. were so much interested in those transactions, should yet overlook such conformity, if it had been real, and fairly marked out by the prophecies, when interpre- ters of these days are so quick-sighted? And to this question, no just and satisfactory ans^ver can be 23 % 178 PROPHECIES CONCERNING ANTICHRIST. given, but that, in the opinion of those fathers, the characters of Antichrist were not suJBiciently appli- , cable to the Roman emperors ; or, if they were, that certain express clauses in the prophecies them- selves forbade that application of them. Either way, their conduct forms a strong presumption, that the Antichrist of the prophets was not, and could not be, the Roman emperor. I know indeed, that, when the empire became Christian, and factions sprang up in the church, the name of Antichrist, as a term of reproach, was not unfrequently bestowed on such of the emperors, as had made themselves obnoxious to the ortho- dox party. But this flippancy of language proves nothing but the passion of the men who indulged themselves in it, unless it be, that this term of re- proach was thought better suited to an ecclesias- tic, than a civil power : for, the emperor being now the head of the Christian church, his persecutions of the faith were deemed the more antichristian^ as they especially disgraced his religious character. And how natural this idea was, I mean the idea of Antichrist^ as intended by the prophets of a re- ligious, not civil power, we may learn from the history of the schisms, which afterwards distracted the church under the papacy; when the antipopes very liberally, and constantly branded each other with the name of Antichrist : as if they had found PROPHECIES CONCERNING ANTICHRIST. 179 a peculiar aptness in the prophetic language to ex- press ecclesiastical tyranny and usurpation. But, whatever use we may make of these facts, it is clear, on all hands, that the Roman emperor, as such, was thought to have no concern in the pre- dictions concerning Antichrist ; at least, that the more intelligent Christian writers of the three first centuries had no idea of his having any such con- cern in them : while, yet, they held very unani- mously, that some future power was to arise in the church, in which those predictions would be com- pleted. II. This, in general, was the state of the con- troversy concerning Antichrist, till the downfal of the Western empire ; when the bishop of Rome reared his head, and by degrees found means, amidst the ruins of that mighty power, to advance himself into the sovereignty of Rome, and, at length, of the Christian world : fixing his resi- dence in the very seat and throne of the Cesars. It remains to see, in what light the reign of Anti- christ was, thenceforth, considered by many emi- nent members of that church, which now called it- self, and was, in a manner, universal. In other words, we are to inquire, now that the Imperial power, which the fathers would not acknowledge to be antichristian, had deserted Rome, whether 180 PROPHECIES CONCERNING ANTICHRIST. the Papal power, which took its place on the seven hillsy did not, in tiie opinion of sober men, fill up all the measures of the prophetic characters, and perfectly correspond to that idea. 1. So early, as about the close of the sixth century, Gregory the First, or, the Great, as he is usually called, the most revered, and in some re- spects not undeservedly so, of all the Roman pon- tifs, in a famous dispute with the bishop of Con- stantinople, who had taken to himself the title of Oecumenicaly or universal bishop, objects to him, the arrogance and presumption of this claim, and treats him, on that account, as the forerunner, at least, of Antichrist. His words are remarkable enough to be here quoted. / affirm it cQiijidently, says he, that whoever calls himself universal bishops or is desirous to be so called, demonstrates himself, by this pride and elation of heart, to be the forerunner of Antichrist,^ And, again. From this presumption of his [in taking the name of the imiversal bishop]} what else can be collected, but that the times of Antichrist are now at hand.\ * Qjusquis se universalem vocat, vel vocari desiderat, in elati- one sua Antichristum prsecurrit. Greg. M. Op. Ep. xxx. /. 6. Par. 1533. I In hac ejus superbia, quid aliud nisi propinqua jam Antichris- ti esse tempora design;itur ? Ep. xxxiv. /. iv. PROPHECIES CONCERNING ANTICHRIST. 181 It is to be observed of this Gregory, that he disclaimed, for himself, the title of Universal Bish- op, as well as refused it to his aspiring brother of Constiintinople. How consistently he did this, when at the same time, he exercised an authority, which can only belong to that exalted character, it is not my business to inquire. Perhaps, he did not advert to the consequence of his own ac- tions : perhaps, like an able man, he meant to se- cure the thing, without troubling himself about the name : perhaps, he was jealous of a rival to this claim of Catholic authority, and would not permit the bishop of Constantinople to decorate himself with a title, which was likely to be favourable to the pretensions of that see, and injurious to his own. Whatever the reasons of his conduct were, the fact is, as I here represent it ; and clearly shews that, in the judgment of this renowned Ro- man bishop, Antichrist had not yet been revealed in the person of the Roman emperor ; and if ever he were to be revealed, that not a civil, but eccle- siastical character, agreed best with the prophetic descriptions of him.* 2. Pope Boniface III,piad not, it seems, the scru- ples, whatever they w^ere, of his predecessor, Greg- * With all his merits, Gregory the Great, it is to be feared, had some antirhvistian marks upon him ; and his adversary of the East 182 PROPHECIES CONCERNING ANTICHRIST. ory. He readily accepted, or rather importunately begged, this proud title of Oecumenical bishop, from the emperor, Phocas ; and transmitted it to all his successors. And now, it might be expected, that the bishop of Rome would be Antichrist, in his turn. But, such was the fortune of that see, or the devotion of the faithful to it, that this charge was not presently brought against him : as if the spirit of dominion, which had so long possessed that city, were a thing of course, and could not misbecome the bishop of Rome, though it looked so ajitichris- fAan in him of Constantinople. Other reasons concurred to save the honour of the the Papal chair. Its authority grew, every day, more absolute : and the tradition of the church (which had hitherto been the chief support of the doctrine concerning Antichrist) gradually sunk under the apprehension of that power, to which alone it could, with any apparent propriety, be applied : while the ignorance of the times became such, that, except perhaps in the minds of some few retainers to the see of Rome, their was scarce light enough left in the Christian world to point out the meaning of the prophecies; if its gross superstition would have might have gone some way towards fixing them upon his grandeur^ if he had but observed, that Antichrist, whoever he was, and when- soever to appear in the world, is clearly marked out in the prophe- cies, as having- his seat in old Rome. PROPHECIES CONCERNING ANTICHRIST. 18S otherwise permitted the application of them to the sacred person of the pope. 3. Under the cover of all these advantages, the Man of sin had a convenient time to display him- self, and to grow up into that full size and stature, in which he could no longer be overlooked, or mis- taken, by those who had any knowledge of the prophecies, or skill in applying them. Accordingly we find that at the synod of Rheims, held in the Xth century,* Aniulphus, bishop of Orleans, appealed to the whole council, whether the bishop of Rome was not the Antichrist of the prophets ; sitting in the temple of God ; and perfectly corresponding to the marks, which St. Paul had given of him. In particular, speaking of John the XVth, who then governed the church of Rome, he apostrophized the assembly in these words — '* What think ye, reverend fathers, of this man, seated on a lofty throne, and shining in purple and gold ? Whom do ye account him to be ? Surely, if destitute of char- ity, and puffed up with the pride of science only. He is Antichrist, sitting in the temple of God, and shewing himself that he is God.^^f * A. 991. I Quidhunc, reverendl patres, in sublimi sollo residentem, veste purpurea et aurea radiantem ; quid liunc, inquam, esse cenaetis t Nimirum, si chsiritate destituitur, solaque scientl* inflatur et extolU- 184 PROPHECIES CONCERNING ANTICHRIST. 4. In the former part of the Xlth century, Ber- engarius, a man of principal note in those days, and distinguished by his free writings concerning the Eucharist, went so far as to call the church of Rome, the seat of Satan (which is but another apocalyptic name of Antichrist ;) and to know from what source he derived this language, we need only reflect, that, in the catalogue of his works, we find a treatise written by him expressly on the book of Revelations.* As this century advanced, the Papal power rose to its height. And all the characters of Anti- christ glared so strongly in the person of Hilde- brand, who took the name of Gregory Vllth, that the Romish historian, Joannes Aventinus, speaks of it as a point, in which the generality of fair ^ candid, tur, Antichristus est, in teniplo Dei seclens, et se ostendens tan- quant sit Deus. Usser. de Christian. Eccl. successione & statu, c. ii.p. 36. Lond. 1613 — Illyrici Cat. Test. Ver. p. 1558. Officin Jacob. Stoer et Jacob. Chouel. — This Arnulph, bishop of Orleans, was esteemed, in his day, the wisest and most eloquent of all the Galli- cian prelates. Arnulphus — de quo sic initio ejus synodi scriptum est — Inter omnes GalUarum episcopos sapientia et eloquentia clarissi- tnus habebatiir. ib. * "Ecciesiam vanitatis, & Sedem SatanjE vocabat." Usser. de Christian. Eccl. succes. & statu, c. 7- s. xxiv. p. 196. — In Apoca- lypsin scripsisse testatur Bostonius Buriensis. Cave, H. L. vol. ii.p. 131. Oxon. 174:3. PROPHECIES CONCERNING ANTICHRIST. 185 and ingenuous writers^ were agreed. That then began the empire of Antichrist.* 5. Pascal II. who had been brought up at the feet of Hildebrand, and sate upon the Papal throne in the beginning of the Xllth century, was treated with as little ceremony, as his master had been ; particularly, by Fluentius, bishop of Florence, and by the whole church of Liege.f St. Bernard, too, the most eminent person of that age, was so struck with the marks of anti- christianism in the church of Rome (to which, however, in other respects, he was enough devot- ed) that he employed all the thunder of his rheto- ric (in which faculty he excelled) against its cor- ruptions ; exclaiming, that the ministers of Christ were become the servants of Antichrist ; and that the beast of the Apocalypse had seated himself in the chair of St. Peter.X * Plerique omnes boni,aperti, justi,ingenui,9impUce3,tum impc- rium Antichrist! coepisse, quod ea quae Christus servator noster tot annos ante nobis cantavit, evenisse eo tempore cemebant, memflriE titerarumprodidere. Amnal. Boioruh, 1. v. p.591. Ingolstad.loSi. t Cave, H. L. vol. ii. p. 258. Cone. Flor. 1104. Usser: De OhrUti Ecd.succ. & state. V. 8. v. p. 109. ^ MiNisTRi Christi sunt, bt serviunt Antichristo [SerTn. sup. Cantic. xxxiii,3 — It is true, by Antichrist, he seems not to mean the pope, but, in general, an evil principle, which then domineered in the church. Yet he refers us to the fanaou* passage* 24 186 PROPHECIES CONCERNING ANTICHRIST. But this charge was, now, so general, and sounded so high, that it reached the ears of others, besides prelates, and churchmen. Historians re- late, that it made an impression on our military king, Richard I. ; who, being at Messina in Sicily, in his way to the holy land, and hearing much of the learned abbot Joachim of Calabria, (a man, famous in those times for his warm invectives against the Roman hierarchy;) had the curiosity to take a lecture from him on this subject. His text was. Antichrist^ and the Apocalypse : which he explained in so pointed and forcible a manner, as was much to the satisfaction, we are told, of his royal auditor.* in the first Epistle to the Thessalonians, ch. ii. And he tells us in his 56th Epistle, that he had heard one Norbert, a man of exem- plary piety, say. That Antichrist would be revealed in that age. Hence it seems probable, that some one person or power was in his eye. After all, he says, that Norbert's reasons did not satisfy him. Yet, in another Epistle, he asserts expressly — Bestia ilia de Apoca- lypsi, cui datum est os loquens blasphemias, et beUum gerere cum Sanctis, Petri cathedram occupat, tanquam leo paratus ad prsedam. Ep. cxxv : which was, in other words, to call the pope.. Antichrist. It is evident that St. Bernard applied the prophecies in the Revelation to the successor of St. Peter. — I mention these things so particularly, to shew, what his sentiments on this head i-eally were ; which have been misrepresented by hasty writers, who transcribe from each other, without examining, themselves, the authorities, they quote. • Cave, H. L. v. ii. p. 278. Rog. de Hoveden. Annal. Pars Post. p. 681. Ed. Franc. 1601.— In this age [Xllth,] was ' PROPHECIES CONCERNING ANTICHRIST. 187 6. The first appearance of the people, called Waldenses or Al'oigenses, was in this age ; but, in the next, the Xlllth century, they prevailed to that degree, that crusades and inquisitions were thought little enough to be employed against them. We may know what the guilt of this people was, when we understand from their books, and from the testimony of the great historian, Thuanus, that a leading principle of their heresy was, To composed a very remarkable tract on the subject of Antichrist, which may be seen in Mede's Works, p. 721. — Mr. Me;de supposes, and seems Indeed to have proved, that the true doctrine of Antichrist was, and was intended to be, a mystery, or secret, till the 12th century. Whence it follows that the testimonies, hitherto alleged, are only passionate or declamatory exagg^eratioiis, or to be esteem- ed, as he says, pro parabolice et HCtT CiV^V\fflV dictis, declamatorunt more. Works, p. 722. I admit the truth of the observation ; but hold, that the use of the deduction, here made, is not in the least affected by it. For my purpose in giving this catalogue of witnesses to the doctrine of An- tichrist, was not to justify that doctrine, in the true, that is, Protes- tant sense of it (for then, not only the preceding testimonies, but even some of the following, would have been omitted) but merely to shew that the general, at least, and confused idea of some such doctrine did, in fact, subsist in the ancient Christian church. That what idea tliey had of this doctrine was founded on the prophecies, is clear from the terms in which they express themselves. And, though the doctrine itself was very imperfectly conceived, and in- consequentially applied by them, still their language shews that they had some notion of a corrupt spiritual power, vjhich was, in their sense of the prophets, to domineer in the church, of J? o me .• whence I draw this conclusion (for the sake of which, this whole deduction is made.) That the present application of the prophecies concerning Anti- christ to papal Rome, is not wholly new and unauthorized ; as the prejudice, I am here combating, supposeth it to be. 188 PROPHECIES CONCERNING ANTICHRIST. treat the pope as Antichrist ; and the church of Rome, as Babylon ; on the authority of the proph- ecies contained in the Revelation.* Otherf testimonies occur in the history of this age. But I must not omit that of our famous his- torian, Matthew Paris ; who hath taken care to inform us, that his contemporary, Robert Grostete, bishop of Lincoln, the most considerable of all the English bishops, and equally renowned for his affection to civil and religious liberty, was so much in earnest in fixing this charge on the see of • Vjtringa In Apoc. p. 747. Amst. 1719. Usser. De Eccl. succ. 8c stat.c. vi. and vili. Thuanus, 1. vi.s.xvi. vol. i. p. 221. Ed. Buckley. •j- See, especially, the famous speech of Everhard, bishop of Saltzbourg, at the assembly of Ratisbonne, in the time of Gregory the IXth ; inserted at large in Aventinus, Ann Boior, I. vn.p. 684. The following extracts from it will be thought curious. Hilde- brandus ante annos centum atque septuaginta primus specie re- ligionis Antichristi imperii fundamenta jecit. p. 684- Flamines illi Babylonice [meaning the bishops of Rome] soli yegnare cupiunt, ferre parem non possunt, non desistent donee om- nia pedibus suis conculcaverint, atque in templo Dei sedeant, extol- lanturque supra omne id, quod colitur. lb. Nova consilia sub pectore volutat, ut proprium sibi constituat im- perium, leges cotnmutat, suas sancit; contaminat, diripit, spoliat, frau- dat, occidit, perditus homo ille fquemAntichristumvocaresolentJ in cujus fronte contumelix nomen scriptum est, " Deus sum, errjire non possum," in tempio Dei sedet, longe lateque dominatur. lb. -—Reges decern par iter existunt — Deeem Cornua—Cornuque parvu- lum — Quid hac prophetia apertius ? p. 685 PROPHECIES CONCERNING ANTICHRIST. 189 Rome, that as it had been the common theme of his meditations during life, so it occupied his dying moments ; the pope, and Antichrist^ being, as he tells us, among the last words of this zealous prelate.* 7. The XlVth century affords many authorities in point; among which the immortal names of Dantef and PetrarchJ are commonly cited. But • Matth. Paris, ad ann. 1253. p. 874. ed. Watts, 1640. t Purgat. 32. t Epistolarum sine titulo Liber. Ep. xvi. p. 130. Basil. 1581. — Many strokes in this Epistle are, to the last degree, severe and caustic. Addressing himself to Rome, " Ilia equidem ipsaes, says he, quam in spiritu sacer vidit Evangelista. — Populi et gentes et linguae, aqux sunt super quasmeretrix sedes ; recognosce habitum. Mulier circumdata purpura, et coccino, et inaurata auro, et lapide pretioso, et margaritis, habens poculum aureum in manu sua, ple- num abominatione et immunditia fomicationis ejus. — Audi reliqua. Et vidi (inquit) mulierum ebriam de sanguine sanctorum, et de san» ^ine martjTum Jesu. Quid siles ? — And so goes on to apply the prophecies of the Revelations to the church of Rome, in terms that furnish out a good comment on the famous verse in one of his poems— Gia Roma, hor Babylonia false e ria — Numberless passages In the writings of Petrarch speak of Rome, under the name of Babylon. But an equal stress is not to be laid on all of these. It should be remembered, that the popes, in Pe- trarch's time, resided at Avignon ; greatly to the disparagement of themselves, as he thought, and especially of Rome ; of which this singular man was little less than idolatrous. The situation of the place, surrounded by waters, and his splenetic concern for the ex- iled church (for under this idea, he painted to himself the pope's migration to the banks of the Avignon) brought to his mind the condition of the Jewish church in the Babylonian captivity. And this parallel was all, perhaps, that lie meant to insinuate in most of 190 PROPHECIES CONCERNING ANTICHRIST. the example of our Wicklif, who adorned that age, is most to our purpose, and may excuse thfe men- tion of any other. This extraordinary man saw far into all the abuses of his time : but he had nothing more at heart, than to expose the antichrist- ianism of the Roman pontif.* 8. Still, as the times grew more enlightened, the controversy concerning Antichrist became more general and important. The writings of Wicklif had great effects both at home, and abroad ; and, with other causes, contributed very much to the cultivation of free inquiry, and to the im- provement of all useful knowledge, in the XVth century. The church of Rome was pushed vigor- ously on all sides ; and, in her turn, on;iitted no means of self-defence. That the worst were not scrupled, may be seen by what passed in England, at that time, as well as by the sanguinary and faithless those passages. But, when he applies the prophecies to Rome, as to the Apocalypt-c Babylon (as he clearly does in the Epistle under consideration) his meaning is not equivocal ; and we do him but justice to give him an honourable place among the Testes Veritatis. * See the catalogue of his works in Cave's Hist. Lit. vol. ii. Ap. p. 63 ; in which is the following book of Dialogues. Dialogorura libri quatuor ; quorum — quartus Rbmanae Ecclesise sacramenta, ejus pestiferam vocationem, Antichristi regnum, fratrum fradu- lentam originem atque eorum hypocrisim, variaque nostro jevo scitu dignissima, perstringit. PROPHECIES CONCERNING ANTICHRIST. 191 proceedings at the council of Constance. Lord Cobham, and the two Bohemian martyrs, were com- mitted to the flames for notliing so much, as for asserting the impious doctrine, ' That the pope was Antichrist.' 9. We now enter on the XVIth century ; dis- tinguished ill the annals of mankind by that great event, The reformation of long oppressed and much adulterated religion. The Christian world had slumbered in its chains, for full ten ages. But liberty came at last — Libertas, quae sera tamen respexit Inertem. This important work was begun, and prose- cuted, on the common principle. That the bishop of Rome was Antichrist : and the great separation from the church of Rome, was every where justified on the idea, That Rome was the Babylon of the Revelations ; and that Christians were bound by an express command in those prophecies, to come out of her communion. Leo X. was thunder-struck with this cry, which resounded on all sides ; and, in the last Late- ran council, gave it in charge to all preachers, that none of them should presume to call the pope, Anti- christ, or to treat this obnoxious subject in their 192 PROPHECIES CONCERNING ANTICHRIST. discourses to the people.* But his edict came too late. The notion had taken deep root in the minds of men ; and the name of Antichrist, as applied to the pope, was current in all quarters. 10. From this time to the present, the charge of antichristianism against the church of Rome is to be regarded, not as the language of private men, or particular synods ; but as the common voice of the whole Protestant world : so that it will be needless to bring down the history of it any lower. This deduction, though made with all pios- sible brevity, hath held us so long, that I have but time for one or two short reflections upon it. 1. Firsts It may seem probable from the gen- eral prevalence of this opinion, in all the periods of" the Christian church, that it must needs have some solid ground in the scriptural prophecies : it not being otherwise conceivable, that it should spread so far, and continue so long ; or that the more enlightened, as well as barbarous ages should concur in the profession of it. * Mandantes omnibus, etc. — tempus quoque prxjixutn futurorum malorum, vel Antichristi adventum — prxdicare, vel asserere, nequaquam prcesumant. Bin. Conc. Lateran. v. sub Leone X. Sess- XI. p. 632. PROPHECIES CONCERNING ANTICHRIST. 193 2. Secondly^ from the catalogue of illustrious names, here produced, and from the singular stress, which all Protestant churches to this day have ever laid on this principle, we may see the impor- tance of the general question. The Papal divines have an evident reason for treating it with con- tempt. The men of thought and inquiry, who specu- late within the Roman communion, may be restrain- ed by considerations of fear or decency, from join- ing* in this invidious charge against the head of their church. But for any, that profess Christian- ity, and call themselves Protestants, to make light of inquiries into the prophecies concerning Anti- christ, and to manifest a scorn of all attempts to apply them in the way, iu which they have so gen- • M. d' Alembert, indeed, goes further. He acquaints us, that this charge is now out of date, and that nobod)', either within or without the Romish communion, makes it any longer.. — For, speaking of a public inscription at Geneva, in which the popt is called Antichrist, he animadverts on this disgiace of that Prot- estant people, and very kindly suggests to them what their improv- ed sentiments and language sliould be on that subject. As for the Catholics (says he, very griively) the pope is regarded by them, as the head of the true church : By sage and moderate Protestants, he is seen in the light of a sovereign prince, luhom they respect, though they do not obey him.- But, in an age like this, he is no longer Anti- christ IN THE OPINION OF ANY BODY. *' POVIT IcS CatholiqUCS le pape est le chef de la veritable eglise ; pour les Protestants sa- g^es etmoderees, c'est un souverein qu'ils respectent comme prince sans luiobeir : vtais dans un siecle tel que notre, il n* est plus /' Anti- christ pour persone." Encyclopedie, Art. Geneve. — If the present age be, here, truly cliaracterized, it was high time, or rather it -ivas too late, to found this Protestant Lecture. 25 194 PROPHECIES CONCERNING ANTICHRIST. erally, and with such effect been applied, is a sort of conduct, which will not so readily find an excuse, much less a justification. 3. Lastly^ whatever becomes of the truth, or importance of the doctrine, the antiquity of it is not •to be disputed. For we are authorized to affirm, on the most certain grounds of history, that a Ro- man power, commonly called Antichrist, was ex- pected to arise in the latter times^ by the primitive Christians ; and that the Imperial, was not deemed to be that power, so long as it subsisted. It is, further, unquestionable that not the emperor, but the bishop or church of Rome, was afterwards thought entitled to the name of Antichrist by ma- ny persons of that communion, for several succes- sive centuries, previous to the era of the Refor- mation. These facts should abate the wonder, at least, which some express at hearing the names of the pope and Antichrist pronounced together. They must surely convince every man, that this language, whatever foundation it may, or may not have, in the prophecies, is not taken up without precedents and authorities : and that the notion, conveyed by it, is not a conceit of yesterday, which sprung out of recent prejudices, and novel interpretations. This, I say, is a conclusion which every man must c PROPHECIES CONCERNING ANTICHRIST. 195 draw from the premises, laid down in this discourse : and this, for the present, is the main use I would request you, to make of those premises. SERMON VIII. PREJUDICES AGAINST THE DOCTRINE OF ANTICHRIST. I Ep. John ii. 18. — Ye have heard, that Antichrist shall come. One of the principal prejudices against the doc- trine of Antichrist, as understood and applied by protestant divines, arises out of a circumstance, which was just touched in the close of my last dis- course, and is of importance enough to be now resumed and more particularly considered. I. It is well known that, when the Reformation was set on foot in the sixteenth century, this great work was every where justified and conducted on the general principle, " That the pope, or at least the church of Rome, was Antichrist." " Now men of sense, who have looked no far- ther into the subject, and yet remember, as they 198 PREJUDICES AGAINST THE easily may, the bitterness, the policy, the fraud, too commonly observable in the conduct of religious (as of other) parties, easily fall into suspicion. That this cry of Antichrist was only an artifice of the time, or at least an extravagance of it ; when the minds of men were intensely heated against each other, and when of course no arms would be refused, that might serve to annoy or distress the enemy. In these circumstances, it was natural enough, it will be said, for angry men to see that in the prophecies which was not contained in them ; or for designing men to feign that which they did not see ; in order the more effectually to carry on the cause in which they had embarked, and to seduce the unwary multitude into their quarrel. In short, the passions of the reformed, it is readily presumed, had, some way or other, conjured up this spectre of Antichrist, as a convenient engine, by which they might either gratify their own spleen, or excite that of the people ; the prophecies all the while being no further concerned in the question, than as they were wrested for these purposes (as they frequently have been, in like cases) from their true and proper meaning." To remove this capital prejudice (which, more than any other, hath, perhaps, diverted serious men from giving a due attention to this argument) was DOCTRINE OF ANTICHRIST. 199 the main puqiose of the preceding discourse ; in which it was clearly shewn from historical testimony, that the question concerning Antichrist had its rise in the earliest times ; that the prophecies concern- ing Antichrist, though imperfectly enough under- stood, and, it may be, passionately applied, had yet been considered, very generally, as referring to some corrupt Christian and even ecclesiastical person or power ; and that many eminent members of the Christian church had even applied those prophecies to the same person or power, to which protestants now apply them, and for the same end which pro- testantshave in view, when they apply them to such person or power, for many successive centuries, before the Reformation began. From all of which it is undeniable, that the reformers did not inno- vate in the interpretation of the prophecies con- cerning Antichrist ; and that their application of them to the see of Rome, was not a contrivance, which sprung out of the passionate resentments, or interested policies of that time. It is true indeed (for the truth should not, and needs not be concealed) that the reformers were forward enough to lay hold on this received sense of the prophecies, and to make their utmost advan- tage of it ; the account of which matter is, briefly, this : The Christian church had now for many ages been held together in a close dependence on the 200 PREJUDICES AGAINST THE chair of St. Peter ; and to secure and perpetuate that dependence, was the principal object and con- cern of the papal court. Various means were employed for this purpose : but the most effectual was thought to be, to inculcate in the strongest terms on the minds of Christians the absolute neces- sity of communicating with the bishop of Rome, as the centre of unity, and, by divine appointment, the supreme visible head of the Christian world. Hence, to renounce in any degree the authority and jurisdiction of Rome, was deemed the most inexpi- able of all sins. The name of Sc h i s m was fastened upon it ; a name, which sounded higher than that of Heresy itself, as implying in it the accumulated guilt of apostacy, and infidelity. The way of heaven was shut against all offenders of this sort ; and, to make their condition as miserable, as it was hopeless, all the engines of persecution, such as racks, fires, gibbets, inquisitions, and even cru- sades, had been employed against them : as was seen in the case of the Albigenses and others, who, at different times, had attempted to withdraw them- selves from the Papal dominion. Such was the state of things, when the bold spirit of Luther resolved, at all adventures, to break through this inveterate servitude,* so dex- * Rompons leurs liens, dit il, et rejeUons leur joug de dessus ijos tetes. ^essuet, H, V. l. \. c. 26. DOCTRINE OF ANTICHRIST. 201 trously imposed on the Christian world, under the pretence, and in the name, of ecclesiastical union. Yet the peril of the attempt was easily foreseen, or was presently felt. And, therefore, the Reformers (to prevent the ill effects which the dreadful name of Sc/iis??i might have on themselves and their cause, and to satisfy at once their own consciences and those of their adherents) not only revived and en- forced the old charge of antichrist ianism against the church of Rome ; but further insisted (on the authority of those prophecies which justified the charge) that Christians were bound in conscience, by the most express command, to break all com- munion with her. The expedient, one sees, was well calculated to serve the purpose in hand : but still the command was truly and pertinently alleg- ed ; for it exists in so many words (however the blindness or the bigotry of former times had over- looked it) in the book of the Revelations."^ So that whoever admitted the charge itself to be well founded, could not reject this consequence of it, That Christ and Antichrist had no fellowship with each other. And on this popular ground, chiefly, the Protestant cause, in those early times, was up- held ; with no small advantage to the patrons of it ; it being now clear, that the invidious imputation of • Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. Rev. sv'ui. 4. 26 202 PREJUDICES AGAINST THE Schism had lost its malignity in the general obli- gation, which lay upon Christians, to renounce all communion with the church of Rome. This being the true account of that zeal, with which the doctrine of Antichrist was asserted in the days of Reformation, let us see how the case stands at present ; and whether any reasonable prejudice lies against the doctrine itself, from the uses, that were then so happily made of it. In the first place, The injunction, to come out of her J was, as I observed, not forged by the Re- formers; nor (admitting that church to be Anti« christian) was it misrepresented by them. Every reader of the prophecies must confess; that the command is clearly delivered, and that the sense of it is not mistaken. How serviceable soever, therefore, this topic was to the cause of Reforma- tion, it is not, on that account, to be the less esteemed by the just and candid inquirer. In the next place, I will freely admit, that the dread, in which most men, if not all men,* of that • II [Luther3 condamnoit les Bohemiens qui s'etoient separez de iiotre communion, et protestoit qu'il ne lui arriveroit jamais de tomber dans un semblable Sckisme. Bossuet, Hist, des Variat. I. ? p. 21. Par' 1740- And again, p. 28 ; Api-es, dit il [Luther,] que i'eus surmonte tous les aigumens qu'on proposoit, il en restoit ur DOCTRINE OF ANTICHRIST. 203 lime, were held, of incurring the imputation of schism, was much greater, than the occasion re- quired, and, upon the whole, a sort of panic terror. For, though a causeless separation from the church would indeed have loaded the reformers with much and real guilt, yet when die abuses of it had risen to that height as to reduce an honest man to the alternative, either of committing sin, or of leaving its communion, they might well have justified them- selves on the evident necessity of the thing, and had no need of a positive command to authorize their separation. All this is, now, clearly seen ; and if the first reformers did not see thus much (as very probably they did not) all that follows, is, That the doctrine of Antichrist, from which that command derived its effect, was less necessary to their cause, than they supposed it to be ; not, that the doctrine itself is without authority, or the com- mand without obligation. Lastly, I observe, that, though the violences of the time might force the reformers to take shelter in this doctrine of Antichrist, and though the pre- dernier qu'a peine je pus surmonter par Ic secours de Jesus Christ avec une extreme difficulte etbeaucoup d'angoisse ; ce^st qu'ilfalloit €couter i*£glise. — One sees for what purpose M. Bossuet quotes these passages, and others of the same kind, from the %vritings of Luther. However, they shew very clearly how deep an impression the idea of schism had made on the mind even of tliis Intrepid re- former. 204 PREJUDICES AGAINST THE judices of the time might induce them to take the advantage, they did, of it ; yet, neither of these considerations affords any just presumption against the doctrine, as it lies in scripture, and is enforced by us at this time out of it ; because we argue, not from their authority, but from the prophecies themselves ; which are much better understood by us, than they were by them ; and are still main- tained to speak the sense, which they put upon them, I mean with respect to the general applica- tion of them to the church of Rome, though wc have nothing to apprehend either from the power of that church, or from the prejudices of the people. Let no man, therefore, rashly conclude, from the free use made of this doctrine by our old re- formers (and there is scarce one of them that has not left behind him a tract or discourse on An- tichrist) that it hath no better or other foundation, than in their interests or passions. A reasonable man sees, that it has no dependance at all upon them. That Luther, indeed, heated in the con- troversy with the church of Rome, and smoking, as I may say, from the recent blast of the Papal thunders, should cry out. Antichrist,* shall pass, if you will, for a sally of rage and desperation.f * Contra Bullain Antichristi — a tract of Luther, so called, against the Bull of Leo X. •J- Luther reconnolt apres la rupture ouverte, que'dans les com- mencemens il etoit comme au desespoir. DOCTRINE OF ANTICHRIST. 205 But that we, at this day, who revolve the prophe- cies at our ease, and are in little more dread of modern Rome, than of ancient Bab}'lon, should still find the resemblance so striking as to fall upon the same idea ; and should even be driven against the strong bias of prejudice (which with us, in England, for above a century past, has dra\vn the other way) to adopt the language of our great re- former ; this, I say, is a consideration of another sort, and will not be put off so slightly.' Still, there are other prejudices, which op- pose themselves to this great Protestant principle, That the pope is Antichrist : and these, it will not be beside the purpose of this Lecture to consider. It may, then, be said, II. " That, although there be not the same ev- ident necessity for bringing this odious charge against the papacy, as there was formerly in the infancy of Reformation, yet obvious reasons are not wanting, which may possibly induce the Protestant churches of our times to repeat and enforce it. So long as the separation is kept up, the parti zans of the cause will not scruple to lay hold on every popular topic, by which it may be promoted. But an ill name, is the readiest of all expedients, and generally the most effectual, for this service. And as heretic is the term in use, when the church 206 PREJUDICES AGAINST THE of Rome would discredit the Reformation ; so, Antichrist serves just as well, in the mouth of a Protestant, to disgrace the Catholic party. Hence, the people are gratified in a low spite against the person of the pope ; the better sort are confirmed in their religious or politic aversion to the church of Rome ; and princes themselves are invited to come in aid of the prophecies, by turning their arms and councils against a godless antichristian tyranny : and all this, to the ruin of public peace, and in defiance of Christian charity." When men declaim, instead of arguing, or, what is worse, when they argue from their suspi- cions only, it may not be easy to give them an answer to their satisfaction. Otherwise, one might reply. First, That the question is not, what use has been, or may be, made of this doctrine concerning Antichrist ; but whether there be reason to believe that such doctrine is really contained in sacred scrip- ture. If there be, it will become us to treat it widi respect, how much soever it may have been mis- applied, or perverted. In the 7iext place, one might observe that no man, who understood the state of this controversy, ever applied the prophecies concerning Antichrist, to the person of the pope, but in general to the DOCTRINE OF ANTICHRIST. 207 church of Rome, or rather to the antichristian spu^it, by which it is governed ; or, if to the pope^ to him only as representing that society, of which he is the head : and so far only, as he acted in the spirit of it. And there is nothing strange or un- usual in tliis use of the term. When Hobbes ^v^ote his famous book, called Leviathan (a word, now at least, of almost as ill sound, as Anti- christ itself) no man supposes, that he meant to apply this character, exclusively, to the person of any prince, then living ; but, in general, to civil government J according to the ideas he had formed of it. And this way of speaking, as I have before observed, is especially familiar to the sacred \vri- ters. Many of the popes are said to have been, and, for any thing I know, 7nay have been, saints, in their private morals : so that when we apply the term, Antichrist, to them, we do not mean to stig- matize ihtiT persons, but merely to express the sense which the prophecies lead us to entertain of the com- munion, over which they preside ; though they may not exemplify in their own conduct, or not in any remarkable degree, the avowed principles of that communion. Conceive, therefore, with more respect of Pro- testant divines, when they explain and vindicate the prophecies concerning Antichrist, than to sup- pose, that they indulge in themselves, or would en 208 PREJUDICES AGAINST THE courage in others, a low spite against the person of the Roman Pontif. Thirdly^ It is to be observed, that, aUhough this prophetic language may tend to confirm Pro- testants in a religious^ oi\ if you will, politic aver- sion to the church of Rome ; yet it is not therefore to be forborn, if the scriptures do, indeed, author- ize the use of it ; nor is there any hurt done, if the principles of that church be not misrepresented; for then, such aversion becomes the wisdom and the duty of all Christians. Besides, this aversion pro- ceeds no farther in well-informed Protestants, than to keep them at distance from the Romish com- munion, and to admonish others of their obligation to forsake it. And, if the members, above all, if the rulers, of that communion would restrain their zeal within tlie same bounds (though they would not, we say, be equally justified in this zeal) neither public peace, nor Christian charity, would suffer by it. Lastly^ It should be remembered, That, when the prophecies foretel the downfal of Antichrist, and even go so far as to point out to us the princes of that communion, as the destined instruments of such catastrophe ; yet neither is hereby any duty imposed on those princes to make war upon the pope, nor any encouragement given to Protes- ( DOCTRINE OF ANTICHRIST. 209 tants themselves to concur in any such measures. For the prophets simply predict an event ; and do not deUver in their prediction, or propose to deUv- er, rules for our conduct. Our Saviour himself, speaking by the spirit, and in the language of prophecy, said — I come not to send peace on earth, but a sword. But will any man suppose that this prediction justifies, or was meant in any degree to justify, that state of things, which it describes, and which the author of it foresaw would too certainly come to pass? Nor think, that the event predicted, I mean, the fall of Antichrist, will not take place, unless our invectives, or hostile attempts, make way for it. If the prediction be divine, there is One, who will see that it be accomplished. Princes and states may have nothing less in view than to fulfil the prophecies of sacred scripture : yet, when the appointed time is come, they will certainly ful- fil them, though they never thought of coming in aid of the prophecies — though we should not en- courage them in any such presumptuous design — nay, though we should do our utmost, as it is our duty to do, to restrain vindictive and ill-advised men from turning their arms even against Anti- christ himself, for the sake of religion. This topic, I know, is much laboured by the advocates of the Papal cause, in order to throw dis- grace on Protestant writers, whom thev consider as 27 210 PREJUDICES AGAINST THE so many incendiaries, wickedly attempting to spread the flames of war through Christian societies. There might be a time when, in the case of some few men^ transported by passion, because outrageously op- pressed, there was, perhaps, some colour for this charge. But to persist in it, as they still do, only shews that they neither conceive with due rever- ence of divine prophecy, nor do justice to that spirit of toleration by which the Protestant churches, at least of our days, are so eminently distinguished. III. " A third prejudice, which operates in the minds of many persons against the principle under consideration, arises from the disagreeing opinions of learned men concerning the sense and application of the prophecies ; while not only the Papal Divines, but many writers of note even among ourselves, have strenuously maintained that the church of Rome is no way concerned in the predictions con- cerning Antichrist." To obviate this prejudice, I observe, 1. That arguments from authority, in all cases where reason and good sense must finally decide, are very little to be regarded. Shew me the question in religion or even in common morals, about which learned men have not disagreed ; nay, shew me a sin- gle text of scripture, though ever so plain and precise. DOCTRINE OF ANTICHRIST. 211 which the perverseness or ingenuity of interpreters has not drawn into different, and often contiary meanings. What then shall we conclude ? That there is no truth in religion, no certainty in morals, no authority in sacred scripture ? If such conclu- sions, as these, be carried to their utmost length, in what else can they terminate, but absolute univer- sal skepticism ? 2. I observe that this authority, after all, whatev- er weight we may, in the general, suppose it to have, is, in the present case, no great matter ; for it is, in effect, but the authority of one man, whose emi- nent worth, however, and lustre of reputation, made it current with some others. The character of Hugo Grotius is well known. He is justly esteemed among the ablest and most learned men of an age, that abounded in ability and learning. Besides his other shining talents, his acquaintance with history was exten- sive ; and his knowledge of scripture, profound. And yet with two such requisites for unlocking the true sense of the prophetic writings, this excellent man undertook to prove in form, That the pope was not Antichrist, The account of the mischance, is as extraordi- nary, as the mischance itself. The moral qualities 212 PREJUDICES AGAINST THE of Grotius were still more admirable, than his intellectual : and in these qualities, we shall find the true spring of his unhappy and misapplied pains on the subject before us. He was in his own nature just, candid, benevo- lent, to a supreme degree ; and the experience of an active, turbulent life had but fortified him the more in a love of these pacific virtues. He was, on prin- ciple, a sincere and zealous Christian ; and conse- quently impressed with a due sense of that exalted charity, which is the characteristic of that religion : but he had seen and felt much of the mischiefs, which proceed from theological quarrels : and thus every thing concurred to make him a friend to peace, and, above all, to peace among Christians. An union of the Catholic and Protestant churches seemed necessary to this end : and the apparent candour, whether real or affected, of some learned persons, whom he had long known and valued in the church of Rome, drew him into the belief, that such a project was not impracticable. Henceforth, it became the ruling object of his life ; and, permitting himself too easily to conclude, that the Protestant doctrine of Antichrist was the sole, or principal obstruction to the union desired, he bent all the efforts of his wit and learning to discredit and overthrow that doctrine. DOCTRINE OF ANTICHRIST. 213 Thus, was this virtuous man betrayed by the wisdom and equity of his own chai'acter ; and I know not if the observation of the moral poet can be so justly applied to any other — Insani sapiens nomen ferat, jcquus iniqui, Ultra quam satis est, vii'tutem si petat ipsam.* The issue of his general scheme was what might easily be foreseen : and of his arguments^ I shall only say thus much, That the Romish writers themselves, for whose use they might seem to be invented, though they continue to object his name to us, ai"e too wise to venture the stress of their cause upon them. To conclude this head of authority, let me just observe, 3. In the last place, that, if any regard be due to it, the advantage will clearly be on our side. For, though the name of Grotius made an impression on some Protestant interpreters of scripture, not incon- siderable for their parts and learning, yet, when the grounds of his opinion came to be examined, the most and the ablest of them have o^enerallv declared against him : and among these, let it be no » Hor. 1. Ep. vi. 15. 214 PREJUDICES AGAINST THE offence to the manes of this great* man, if we par- ticularly mention two, and prefer even to his author- ity that of Newton and Clarke ; the one the ablest philosopher, and the other, the coolest and most rational divine, that any age has produced. IV. " Another, and Jour th prejudice may have been entertained on this subject from observing that many curious persons, who have employed themselves much and long in the study of the proph- ecies, especially of those concerning Antichrist, have been led (on their authority, as they pre- tend) to fix the time and other circumstances of great events, which yet have not fallen out agreeable to their expectations. Whence it is inferred, that no solid information can be derived from the proph- ecies, and that all our reasonings upon them are no better than fancy and conjecture." Now, though the indiscretion of these curious persons, M^ho would needs prophecy when their * Grotius was more tlian a great, he was a fashionable man. No ■wonder therefore that, under the influence of two such prejudices, his opinions should find followers ; which yet they would scarce have found with us, if the political state of 'that time had not been a third prejudice in their favour. See the bishop of Gloucester's, Sermon, On the Rise of Antichrist. DOCTRINE OF ANTICHRIST. 215 business was only to interpret,* be injurious enough their own character, I do not see how it affects that of the prophets ; unless whatever may be abused (as every thing may) be answerable for the abuses made of it. But to reply more directly to this charge. The ill success of men in explaining prophe- cies of events, not yet come to pass, can in no de- gree discredit those prophecies, unless it be essen- tial to this sort of revelation to be so clearly pro- posed, as that it may and must be perfectly under- stood, before those events happen ; the contrary of which I have already she^vn, in a preceding dis- course. The very idea of prophecy is that of a light shining in a dark place : and a place is not dark, if we have light enough to discern distinctly and fully every remote corner of it. But the thing speaks itself. For to what end is the prediction delivered in obscure and enigmatic terms, if the purpose of the inspirer was that the subject of the prediction should be immediately, and in all its circumstances, precisely apprehended ? Why, then, is any distinction made between prophecy, and his- tory ? The mode of WTiting clearly demonstrates, that something, for a time at least, was meant to be • "The folly of interpreters has been, to foretel times and " things by this prophecy, as if God designed to make them proph- " ets." Sir I. Neviton, p. -251. 215 PREJUDICES AGAINST THE concealed from us : and then, if men will attempt, out of season, to penetrate this mystery, what wonder if mistake be the fruit of their presump- tion ? Again : the declared end of prophecy is, not that we may be enabled by it to foresee things before they come to pass, but when they come to pass, that we may acknowledge the divine author of the prophecy.* What dishonour, then, can it be to the prophet, that he is not perfectly understood, till we be expected to make use of his information ? Nay, in the case before us, it would dishonour him, if he was. For, of the proph- ecies concerning Antichrist we are expressly told, that they are shut up and sealed^ till the time of the end; that is, till Time brings the key along with him. So that, if men could open them, by their own wit and sagacity only, they would give the lie to the prophet. And thus we see, that the very mistakes of interpreters attempting prema- turely to unfold the sealed prophecies concerning * " God gave this, and the prophecies of the Old.Testament, not "to gratify men's curiosities by enabling them to foreknow things ; " but that, after they were fulfilled, they might be interpreted by the " event ; and his own providence, not the interpreter's, be then mani- " fested thereby to the world." Sir I. Xeimteji, p. 251- DOCTRINE OF ANTICHRIST. 217 Antichrist, far from subverting, support the credit of those prophecies.* But I have something more to say on this sub- ject. Though we cannot see every thing in the prophecies, which we are impatient to see, it is not to be supposed that we can see nothing in them* If this were the case, we should scarce regard them as prophecies at all ; at least, we should hardly be prevailed upon to read and consider them. For, it is on the supposition that some light is commu- nicated to us, that ^ve are disposed, as well as re- quired, to take heed to it. In short, if we saw nothing, we should expect nothing : such prophe- cies would not engage our curiosity, or so much as take our attention. In one word, they Avould be utterly lost upon us. This seems to have been, in some measure, the case with regard to this very book of the Revela- tions. The early Christians saw so little in this prophecy, that they were led by degrees to neglect the study of it. Otherwise, the little they did see, might have given them a glimpse, at least, of many things, that intimately concerned both their faith and conduct. * *• 'Tis a part of this prophecy, tliat it should not be understood " before the last age of the world ; and therefore it makes for the cred- •' it of the prophecy, that is not yet understood." Sir J. Nevi.p. 251 • 28 218 PREJUDICES AGAINST THE It being then necessary, as I said, that proph- ecy should, from the first, convey some Hght to us, and time having now very much increased that light, it follows, that men may excusably employ themselves in studying and contemplating even un- fulfilled prophecies. They may conjecture modest- ly of points which time has not yet revealed : but they should, in no case, pronounce confidently, or decide dogmatically upon them. It seems therefore to be going too far, to pass an indiscriminate censure on all those, who have proposed their thoughts on the sense of prophecies, not yet completed, though it be ever so clear that a wrong construction has been made of them. Nay, it is worth considering whether they may not even have conjectured right, when they have been thought to mistake the most widely. I say this, chiefly, with regard to the timcy which some wri- ters have beforehand assigned for the accomplish- ment of cei'tain prophecies, and that, on principles apparently contained in those prophecies ; but so unhappily, as to draw much scorn and ridicule upon themselves. I explain myself by a famous instance. Noth- ing has been more censured in Protestant divines, than their temerity in fixing the fall of Antichrist; though there are certain data in the prophecies^ DOCTRINE OF ANTICHRIST. 219 from which very probable conclusions on that sub- ject may be drawn. Experience, it is said, contra- dicts their calculation. But it is not considered, tliat tlie fall of Antichrist, is not a single events to happen all at once ; but a state of things, to con- tinue through a long tract of time, and to be grad- ually accomplished. Hence, the interpretation of the prophecy might be rightly formed, though the expectations of most men are disappointed. It is visible, I suppose, that the Papal power (if we agree to call that, Antichrist J is now on the de- cline ; whensoever that declension began, or how long soever it may be, before it will be finished. And therefore interpreters may have aimed right, though they seemed to others, and perhaps to them- selves, to be mistaken. Suppose, the ruin of the Western empire had been the subject of a prediction, and some had col- lected, beforehand, from the terms of the prophecy, that it would happen at a particular time ; when yet nothing more, in fact, came to pass, than the first irruption of the barbarous nations. Would it be certain that this collection was groundless and ill made, because the empire subsisted in a good degree of vigour for some centuries after ? Might it not be said, that the empire was falling* from • St. Jerom, who lived in this time, speaks in the very temi<5 here supposed. Romanut orbit ruit. Ep. jji. 220 PREJUDICES AGAINST THE that era, or perhaps before ; though, in the event, \\.fell not, till its sovereignty was shaken by the rude hands of Attila, or rather, till it was laid flat by the well directed force of Theodoric ? But we have an instance in point, recorded in sacred scripture. It had been gathered from the old prophecies,* that, in the last times (that is, when the Messiah was come,) a new earth and new heavens should be created. The style is symboli- cal ; but the meaning is, and was so understood to be, that a new law should be given to mankind and prevail over the whole world. This law was accordingly promulged and began to prevail in the days of the apostles. Yet there were some who said, Where is the promise of his coming ? for^ since the fathers Jell asleep^ all things continue as they •were from the creation of the world. It was taken for granted, we see, that this great and glorious work, equivalent to the production of a new world, would take place suddenly and at once ; which not being the case, it seemed to follow, that the proph- ecies were false, or at least ill understood : when yet, surely, they were then fulfilling under the eyes of these scoffers. * Jsai. Ixv. 17.— 2 Pet. iii. 4, 13, DOCTRINE OF ANTICHRIST. 221 It will be considered, how far tliese hints may go towards rescuing some respectable interpreters (for I speak only of such) from that contempt, which has fallen upon them, and, from them, on the prophecies themselves, for some hazardous conclusions, or, (if you will) predictions, formed and given out by them, concerning the reign and fall of Antichrist. My meaning, however, is not to make myself responsible for these conclusions. They may not be rightly drawn from the pre- mises, laid down ; or the premises may be such, that the precise date of those transactions cannot be determined from them, at least, not, till the scene of prophecy be closed, or, in the prophetic language, till the mystery of God be finished.* In the mean time, it is not clear and undeniable that tliere is no ground at all for such conjectures : or, if it were, it would only follow that they, who made them, had been rash and indiscreet in com- menting too minutely and confidently on prophe- cies unfulfilled ; and it would be weak, as we have seen, to contract a prejudice against the sub- ject itself from the mistakes of such commentators. V. After all, the main and master prejudice, I doubt, is, that levity of mind which disposes too many to take their notions on this, and other sub- " Pcv. X r. 222 PREJUDICES, &c. jects of moment, from certain polite and popular, it may be, but frivolous and libertine writers : men, who have no religion, or not enough to ven- erate the prophetic scriptures ; who have no knowledge, or certainly not enough to understand them. But with such cavillers, as these, I have no concern ; this Lecture, and the subject of it, being addressed to men of another character, to fair, can- did, sober, and enlightened inquirers, only : For so the inspired person, who first announced these wonders concerning Antichrist, to mankind, ex^ pressly declares, or rather prophecies — None of the wicked shall understand: but the wise shall understand,* * Dmiel xii. 19= SERMON IX. THE PROPHETIC STYLE CONSIDERED. EzEKIEL XX. 49. — They say of me, Doth he 7iot speak Parables 9 XN recounting the various prejudices, which have diverted many persons from giving a due attention to the prophecies concerning Antichrist, I may be thought to have overlooked one of the most considerable : which ariseth from the peculiar style, in which they are delivered. But this being a subject of larger compass, and nicer inquiry, than the rest, (in which, too, the credit of all the pro- phetic scriptures, as well as those respecting Anti- christ, is concerned) I have purposely reserved it for a distinct and separate examination. Without doubt, a plain man, brought up in our customs and notions, and unacquainted with theological studies, when he first turns himself ta 224 THE PROPHETIC STYLE CONSIDERED. the contemplation of the Jewish and Christian prophecies, will be surprised, perhaps disgusted, to find, that he understands little, or nothing of them. His modesty may incline him to think, that such writings are too myterious for his com- prehension : or, his laziness mid presumption may dispose him to reject them, at once, as perfectly unintelligible; to consider the language of them, as a jargon, to which no ideas are annexed ; or, at least, as a kind of cypher, of so wild and fanat- ical a texture, that no clear and certain construc- tion can be made of it. Now, this prejudice, whichever way it points, will be obviated, if it can be shewn, 1. That the prophetic style was of common and approved use, in the times, when the prophe- cies were delivered, and among the people, to whom they were addressed. And 2. That this style, how dark or fanciful soever it may appear, is yet reducible to rule ; that is, is constructed on such principles, as make it the subject of just criticism and reasonable interpreta- tion ; and, in particular, to us, at this day. For a language is not y«7za^ica:/, that is author- ized by general practice ; nor can it be deemed THE PROPHETIC STYLE CONSIDERED. 225 unmtelligible, when it is capable of having its mean- ing ascertained. I. The proof of these two points will most conveniently be given together, in a deduction of the causes, which produced the character of the prophetic style. That character, I believe, is truly given by those who affirm, That the style of the prophets was only the poetical, and highly figurative style of the eastern nations. But if you go farther and ask, How it came to pass, that the oriental po- etry was so much more figurative than ours, it may not be enough to say, as many others have done, that this difference of character was owing to the influence of the sun, and to tlie superior heat and fervour, which it gave to an eastern im- agination. For I know not whether there be rea- son to tliink, that the sun hath any such effect on the powers of the mind; or that the fancies of men are apter to catch, and blaze out in metaphor, within a warm climate, than a cold one : a figura- tive cast of style being observable in the native po- etry of all countries ; and that, so far as appears from history and experience, in a pretty equal degree. 29 226 THE PROPHETIC STYLE CONSIDERED. Besides, if the fact were allowed, the answer would scarce be sufficient. For, as we shall pres- ently see, the symbolic language of prophecy, is too consistent and uniform, hath too much of art and method in it, to be derived from the casual flights and sallies of the imagination onli/ ; how powerfully soever you suppose it to have operated in the prophets. We then must go much deeper for a true account of the emblematic and highly coloured expression, which glares so strongly in the pro- phetic scriptures : and we shall find it, partly, in the nature of the human mind ; and, partly, in the genius, indeed, of the oriental nations, and especially of the Jews, but as fashioned, not by the influence of their climate, but by the modes of their learning and institution. I must be as brief, as possible, on a subject, which many learned writers* have largely and fully discussed ; and, as the reflections, I have to offer to you upon it, are chiefly taken from them, I may the rather bespeak your attention to what follows. * Mede, More, Daubuz, Vitringa, and, above all, the learnet) founder of this Lecture. THE PROPHETIC STYLE CONSIDERED. 227 1. First, then, let it be observed, that the origi- nallanguage of all nations is extremely imperfect. Their stock of words being small, they explain themselves very much by signs, or representative actions : and their conceptions, in that early state of society, being gross and rude, the few words, tliey have, are replete with material images, and so are what we call highly metaphorical ; and this not from choice or design, or even from any extraor- dinary warmth of fancy, but of necessity, and from the vei*y nature of things. Such is the primitive character of all languages : and it continues long in all, because the figurative manner is thought ornamental, when it is no longer necessary ; and, because the necessity of it is only, if at all, removed by long use and habit in abstract speculation : a degree of refinement, to which the orientals, and the Jews especially, never attained. And therefore in their languages, very long — Manserunt, hodieque manent vestigia ruris. Thus far we may go in accounting for the figured style of the east, from general principles. But this is by no means the whole of the case. For 2. We are to reflect, that, before an alphabet was invented, and what we call literary writing was 228 THE PROPHETIC STYLE CONSIDERED. formed into an art, men had no way to record their conceptions, or to convey them toothers at a distance, but by setting down the figures and shapes of such things, as were the objects of their contemplation. Hence, the way of writing m picture, was as univer- sal, and almost as early, as the way of speaking in metaphor ; and from the same reason, the necessit}'" of the thing. In process of time, and through many successive improvements, this rude and simple mode of pic- ture-writing was succeeded by that of symbols, or was enlarged at least, and enriched by it. By symbols, I mean certain representative marks, rather than express pictures ; or if pictures, such as were at the same time characters, and, besides presenting to the eye the resemblance of a particu- lar object, suggested a general idea to the mind. As, when a horn was made to denote strength, an eye and sceptre, majesty, and in numberless such instances ; where the picture was not drawn to express merely the thing itself, but something else, which was, or was conceived to be, analogous to it. This more complex and ingenious form of picture- writing was much practised by the Egyptians, and is that which we know by the name of hiero- glyphics. THE PROPHETIC STYLE CONSIDERED. 229 Indeed, these symbolic characters were likely, in a course of successive refinements, to pass into char- acters by institution : and have, in fact, undergone that change among the Chinese : and it might be expected that both would be laid aside by any peo- ple that should come to be acquainted with the far more convenient and expeditious method of alpha- betic writing. But the event, in some instances, hath been different. The Chinese adhere to their char- acters., though from their late intercourse with die European nations, one cannot but suppose, that the knowledge o{ letters has been conveyed to them : and the Egyptians, through all the extent of their long subsisting and highly polished empire, retained their hieroglyphics., notwithstanding their invention and use of an alphabet. Their inducement to this practice might be, the pleasure they took in a mode of writing, which gratified their inventive curiosity in looking in- to the natures and andogies of things ; or, it might be a strain of policy in them to secrete by this means, their more important discoveries from the vulgar ; or, vanity might put them on raising the value of their knowledge by wrapping it up in a vehicle, so amusing at the same time, and mysterious. 230 THE PROPHETIC STYLE CONSIDERED, What account soever be given of it, the fact is^ that the Egyptians cultivated the hieroglyphic species of writing, with peculiar diligence ; while the antiquity, the splendor, the fame of that migh- ty kingdom excited a veneration for it, in the rest of the world. Hence it came to pass, that the learning of those times, which was spread from Egypt, as from its centre, took a strong tincture of the hieroglyphic spirit. The East was wholly infected by it ; so that it became the pride of its wise men to try the reach of each other's capacity by questions conceived and proposed in this form. Even the Greeks, in much later ages, caught the manner of symboUzing their conceptions from Egypt ; and either drew their mythology from that quarter, or dressed it out in the old Egyptian garb. But the Israelites, especially, who had their breeding in that country, at the time when the hieroglyphic learning was at its height, carried this treasure with them, among their other spoils^ into the land of Canaan. And, though it be credi- ble that their great Law-giver interdicted the use of hieroglyphic characters, yet the ideas of them were deeply imprinted on their minds, and came out, on every occasion, in those symbols and em- blems, with which, luider the names of riddles^ parables^ and dark sayings^ their writings are sc curiously variegated and embossed. THE PROPHETIC STYLE CONSIDERED. 231 This then is the true and proper account of that peculiar style, which looks so strangely, and, to those, who do not advert to this original of it, perhaps so fantastically, in the writings of the prophets. And what more natural, than that a mode of expression, which was so well known, so commonly practised, and so much revered ; which was effected by the wittiest, nay, by the wisest men of those times ; which was employed in the theology of the Eastern world, in its. poetry, its philosophy, and all the sublimer forms of composi- tion ; What wonder, I day, that this customary, this authorized, this admired strain of language should be that in which the sacred writers convey- ed their highest and most important revelations to mankind ? Nor let any man take offence at the condescen- sion of the divine Inspirer, as though he degraded himself, by this compliance with the humours and fancies of those to whom his inspirations were ad- dressed. For let him reflect, that in what form of words soever it shall please God to communicate himself to man, it must still be in a way, that im- plies the utmost, indeed the same, condescension to our weaknesses and infirmities ; nay, that im- mediate inspiration itself, though coming through no medium of language, is of necessity to be ac- 232 THE PROPHETIC STYLE CONSIDERED. commodated to our methods of perceiving and understanding, how imperfect soever they are. Besides, if external revelation be possible, it must be given in some one mode of speech or writing, in preference to others. And, if we con- sider how ancient, how general, how widely diffus- ed, this symbolic style has been, and still is, in the world ; how necessary it is to rude nations, and how taking with the most refined; how large a proportion of the globe this practice had over-run before, and at the time of writing the prophecies, and what vast regions of the South and East, not yet professing the faith, but hereafter, as we pre- sume, to be enlightened by it, the same practice, at this day, overspreads ; when we consider all this, wc shall cease perhaps to admire, that the style in ques- tion was adopted, rather than any other ; or we shall only admire the divine goodness and wisdom of its Author, who had contrived beforehand, in the very form of this revelation, what may possibly help to bring on and facilitate the reception of it. Certain- ly, it may become us, on such an occasion, to en- large our ideas a little ; and not to conclude hasti- ly and peremptorily that, when a general blessing was mtended by Providence, the mode of convey- ing it should be instituted singly with an eye to our local notions and confined prejudices, and with no regard to the more prevailing sentiments and expectations of mankind. THE PROPHETIC STYLE CONSIDERED. 233 In the mean time, it is past a doubt that the hiero- glyphic style was predominant in the ancient world ; in Judea, particularly, from the time of Moses to the coming of Clirist. There was indeed a degree of obscurity in it, so far at least as to furnish the Jews, who had no mind to listen to their prophets, with a pretence of not understanding them ; (as we see from the complaint brought against the prophet Ezekiel in the text, Doth he not speak parables ?J yet still, it cannot be denied, That this mode of writing was of co7nmon and approved use in the ages, when the prophecies were delivered, and among the people^ to whom they were addressed. Our FIRST proposition is then reasonably made out; and so much of the second, as affirms that tlie prophetic style is constructed on such principles as make it the subject of just criticism and rational interpretation. For it was constructed, ls we have seen, on the symbolic principles of the hiero- glyphics ; which were not vague, uncertain things ; but fixed and constant analogies, determinable in their own nature, or from the steady use that was made of them. And a language, formed on such principles, may be reasonably interpreted upon them. So that what remains is only to shew, that there are means, by which this abstruse language may become intelligible to us, at this day. 30 234 THE PROPHETIC STYLE CONSIDERED. II. That there are such means, you will easily collect, without requiring me to come to a detail on so immense a subject, from the following considerations. 1. Some light may be expected to arise from the study of the prophecies themselves. For the same symbols, or figures, recur frequently in those writings : and, by comparing one passage with another ; the darker prophecies with the more per- spicuous ; the unfulfilled, with such as have been completed ; and those which have their explanation annexed to them, with those that have not ; by this course of inquiry, I say, there is no doubt but some considerable progress may be made in fixing the trjue and proper meaning of this mysterious Ian guage. 2. Very much of the Egyptian hieroglyphics^ on which, as we have seen, the prophetic style was fashioned, may be learned from many ancient records and monuments, still subsisting ; and from innumerable hints and passages, scattered through the Greek antiquaries and historians, which have been carefully collected and compared by learned men. 3. The Pagan superstitions of every form and species, which were either derived from Egypt, or THE PROPHETIC STYLE CONSIDERED. 035 conducted on hieroglyphic notions, have been of singular use in commenting on the Jewish proph- ets. Their omens, augury, and judicial astrology seem to have proceeded on symbolic principles ; the mystery being only this. That such objects, as in the hieroglyphic pictures, were made the sym- bols of certain ideas, were considered as omens of the things themselves. Thus, the figure of a horse^ being the symbol of prosperity and success in arms, when a head of this animal was found in laying the foundations of Carthage, the soothsayers concluded, that the character of that state would be warlike, and its fortune prosperous : or, thus again, because the sun was the common emblem of a king, or supreme governor in any state, an eclipse of this luminary was thought to indicate the ruin, or diminution, at least, of his power and for- tune ; and the superstition is not quite extinct at this day.* But, of all the Pagan superstitions, that which is known by the name of Oneirocritics, or the art of interpreting dreams, is most directly to our purpose. There is a curious treatise on this sub- • Hence the allusion of our great poet, —or from behind the moon In dim eclipse diastrous twilig'ht sheds On half the nations, and ivithjear sf change Perplexes monarchs. — P. L. i. 596. 236 THE PROPHETIC STYLE CONSIDERED, ject, which bears the name of Achmet, an Arabian writer ; and another by Artemidorus, an Ephesian, who lived about the end of the first century.* In the former of these collections (for both works are compiled out of preceding and very ancient writers) the manner of interpreting dreams, accord- ing to the use of the oriental nations, is delivered ; as the rules, which the Grecian diviners followed, are deduced in the other. For, light and frivolous as this art was, it is not to be supposed that it was taken up at hazard, or could be conducted without rule ; an arbitrary or capricious interpretation of dreams, considered as a mode of divination, being too gross an insult on the common sense of man- kind.! But the rules, by which both the Greek and oriental diviners justified their interpreta- tions, appear to have been formed on symbolic principles, that is, on the very same ideas of anal- ogy, by which the Egyptian hieroglyphics (now grown venerable, and even sacred) were explained. So that the prophetic style, which is all over painted with hieroglyphic imagery, receives an evident illustration from these two works. * See these two works, publishedtogether, under the title of Ar- temidori Daidiani et Aehmetis Serehni F. Oneirocritica, by Nicolaus Rigaltius. Lutet. 1603. f Non enim credo nullo percepto aut caeteros ai'tifices versari in suo munere, aut eos, qui divinatione utantur, futura prsedicere, Cic. de Fato, c. 6. THE PROPHETIC STYLE CONSIDERED. 237 I have said, that this superstition was more im- mediately to our purpose, than any other. For some of the more important prophecies are delivered in the way of dreams ; and therefore, without doubt, the rules for interpreting the symbols presented to the mind of the prophet in these inspired dreams, were the very same with those that were laid down in the Gentile Oneirocritics. The conclu- sion, I know, may appear bold and hazardous. But you will reflect that there is really nothing more strange in applying this mode of interpreta- tion to dreams, than to any other species of proph- ecy, to visions, for instance, or parables, or even, in general, to any part of the prophetic style. The compliance, on the part of the Inspirer, is the same on every supposition ; and only shews that, when the Deity thinks fit to reveal himself to men, he does it in a way that is suitable to their ideas and apprehensions. Nor is any sanction, in the mean time, given, by this accommodation of him- self, to the Pagan practice of divining by dreams. For, though the same symbols be interpreted in the same manner, yet the prophecy doth not de- pend on the interpretation, but the inspiration of the dream. A casual dream, thus interpreted, is on- ly a dream still ; the received sense of the sym- bols, represented in it, no way inferring the com- pletion of it. But when the Almighty sends the 238 THE PROPHETIC STYLE CONSIDERED. dream, the symbols are of another consideration,, and not only signify, but predict^ an event. Now, if men will mistake a barely significant emblem, for a prophetic inspiration^ the fault is in themselves, and not in the use of the common em- blems : which may be the vehicle of a true proph- ecy, though craft or superstition take occasion from them to divine lies.* It follows, that the rules which the ancient diviners observed in ex- plaining symbolic dreams, maybe safely and justly applied to the interpretation of symbolic prophe- cies, and especially to such of them as were deliv- ered in the form of dreams. 4. It is lastly to be observed, that not only the Arabic and other oriental writers, but even the Greek and Latin poets may contribute very much to the exposition of the ancient prophets. For these poets abound in strong metaphors and glow- ing images, which were either copied from the symbolic language of the East, or invented on the same principles of analogy as prevailed in the Egyptian hieroglyphics. So that many expres- sions, which seem dark and strange in the writings of the Jewish prophets, may be clearly illustrated * Ezekiel xiii. 9. THE PROPHETIC STYLE CONSIDERED. 239 and familiarized to us, even from classic usage and example. And now from these several sources ; that is, from the scriptures themselves — from the still sub- sisting monuments of Egyptian hieroglyphics — from the Gentile ceremonies and superstitions — and from the greater works of genius and fancy ^ transrnitted to us both from the Eastern and Western poets — such a vocabulary of the prophetic terms and sym- bols may be, nay hath been,* drawn up, as serves to determine the sense of them in the same man- ner, as any common art or language is explained by its own proper key, or dictionary ; and there is, in truth, no more difficulty in fixing the import of the prophetic style, than of any other language or technical phraseology whatsoever. III. But, if the case be so clear, you may now be tempted to ask, "What then becomes of the obscurity, in which the prophecies are said to be involved ; and in particular, how came it to pass, that they may not be as well explained, before the completion, as after it ;t which yet is constantly * See Dr. Lancaster's Symbolical and Alphabetical Dictionary, prefixed to his abridgment of the Commentary on the Revelations* by Mr. Daubuz. f See this objection urged by Mr. Collins in his GrounJs and Seatons, &c. p. 230. Lond 1737. 240 THE PROPHETIC STYLE CONSIDERED. denied by writers on this subject, and, even, by your own principles, cannot be supposed ?" To this objection, I shall not reply by saying, That the style of the prophets, though intelligible, yet requires much practice in the interpreter to un- fold its meaning ; for that is the case of many other arts and sciences, which yet are generally understood : nor, that the symbolic terms are fre- quently capable of several senses, which must needs perplex the interpretation ; for there is no common language, in which the plainest words do not frequently admit the same difference of con- struction, which yet creates no great difficulty to those who attend closely to the scope of a writer : I shall not therefore, I say, amuse you with these evasive answer^ but reply, directly to the purpose of your inquiry, by observing, " That there are several methods, or, if you will, artifices, by which the inspired writers, un- der the cover of a symbolic expression, and some- times even without it, might effectually conceal their meaning, before the completion of a prophe- cy, though the language, in which they write, be clearly explicable on fixed and stated rules." 1. When the prophecy is of remote events, the subject is frequently not announced, or an- THE PROPHETIC STYLE CONSIDERED. 241 nounced only in general terms. Thus, an earth- quake is described — a inountain is said to be thrown down — a star, to fall from heaven ; and so in numberless other instances. Now, an earth- quake, in hieroglyphic language, denotes a rev- olution in govermjient ; a mountain, is the sym- bol of a kingdom or capital city ; a star, of a prince or great man : but of what government, of what kingdom, of what prince, the prophet speaks, we are not told, and are frequently unable to find out, till a full coincidence of all circumstances, in the event, discloses the secret; 2. The prophetic terms are not only figurative;; but sometimes, and in no common degree, hyper- bolical (of which the reason will be given here- after,) so that nothing but the event can determine the true size and value of them. This seems to have been the case of those prophecies in the Old Testament, which describe the tranquillity and fe- licity of Christ's kingdom ; and may possibly be the case of those prophecies in the NeWj v.hich respect the Millennium. 3. It being the genius of the prophetic style to be enigmatical, this cast is sometimes purposely given to it, even when the expression is most plain and direct. Thus Jeremiah prophecies of Zede- kiah, king of Judah, that he should he delivered 31 . M2 THE PROPHETIC STYLE CONSIDERED. into the hands of the king of Babylon, that his eyes should behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and thnt he should go to Babylon.* Ezekiel, prophe- sying of the same prince, says, that he should go t9 Babylon, but that he should not see it, though he should die there. \ Now Josephus tells us, that the apparent inconsistency of these two prophecies determined Zedekiah to believe neither of them. Yet both were strictly and punctually fulfilled. 4. Lastly, the chief difficulty of all lies in a cir- cumstance, not much observed by interpreters, and, from the nature of it, not observable, till after the event ; I mean, in a mixed use of the plain and figured style : so that the prophetic descriptions are sometimes literal, even when they appear most figurative ; and sometimes, again, they are highly figurative, when they appeal* most plain. An in- stance of literal expression, under the mask of fig^ urative, occurs in the prophet Nahum, who pre- dicts the overthrow of Nineveh in these words ff^ith 071 over-running flood he will make an utter end of the place thereof, \_Nahum i. 8.] An over- running flood, is the hieroglyphic symbol o^ desola- tion by a victorious enemy : and in this highly fig- urative sense, an interpreter of the prophecy would, in all likelihood, understand the expression. But * Jeremiah xxxiv. 3. f Ezekiel xii. 13. THE PROPHETIC STYLE CONSIDERED. 243 the event shewed the sense to be literal : that city being taken, as we know from history, by means of an inundatio7i. Of figurative expression, under the form of literal, take the following instance from a prophecy of Christ himself; who says to the Jews, Destroy this temple^ and I will raise it up in three days^ [John'u 19.] It was natural enough for the Jews to understand our Lord as speaking of the temple at Jerusalem ; the rather, as this term had not been, and, I think, could not be, applied to any person, before Jesus : to Him, it might be so applied ; and we know that he spake of the temple of his body, \yer, 21.] The same equivocal use was, sometimes, pur- posely made of proverbial expressions, as learned men have observed.* I omit many other causes of obscurity in the prophecies; such as the seeming incredibility, some- times, of the things predicted — the undefined chro- nology and geography — the intricacy of the method — and many other considerations. But you will collect from these brief hints, respecting the expres- sion only, that, though the symbolic language be reducible to rule, and therefore, in the main, suffi- ciently intelligible, yet that there is room enough * See Grolins on Matth. xxvi. 23. 244 THE PROPHETIC STYLE CONSIDERED. for the introduction of so much obscurity into the prophetic writings, as may answer the ends of the Inspirer, and conceal the full meaning of them from the most sagacious interpreter, till it be revealed^ in due time, by the event. Or, if it be thought that such difficulties as the event removes, are not, in their own nature, invinci- ble, before it happens, it is still to be considered, that the giver of the prophecy is, by supposition, divine ; and as he, therefore, foresaw, in framing the texture of it, that such difficulties would, in fact, be invincible, they served the purpose of a designed concealment just as well, as if, in nature, they were. Whence the conclusion is still the same. That the prophetic style might be the cover of impenetrable obscurities in a prophecy, before its completion, and yet the terms of it be clearly explicable on established rules ; the event only enabling the expositor more skilfully and properly to apply those rules. IV. To conclude this subject ; It will now be acknowledged, that the suspicions which have been taken up against the prophetic way of writing, as if it were vague, illusory, or unintelligible, are utterly without foundation. The style of the prophets was the known, authorized style of their age and country, in all writings especially, of a THE PROPHETIC STYLE CONSIDERED. 231 sacred or solemn character ; and is even yet in use with a great part of mankind. It further appears, that, as it was understood by those to whom it was addressed, so the principles, on which it was form- ed, arc discoverable by many obvious methods, and may be applied, with success, to the interpre- tation of it, at this day. The prophetic style is, then, a sober and reason- able mode of expression. But this is not all. We may, even, discern the expediency, I had almost said, the necessity, of this style, considered as the medium^ or vehicle of prophetic inspiration. For we have seen, that the scheme of scriptural prophecy extends through all time ; and is so con- trived as to adumbrate future and more illustrious events, in preceding and less important transac- tions: a circumstance, Which shews the harmony and connexion of the whole scheme, and is not imitable by any human art, or forethought whatso- ever. But now a figurative style is so proper to that end, that we scarcely conceive how it could be ac- complished by any other. For thus the expression conforms, at once, to the type, and antitype : it is, as it were, a robe of state, for the one ; and only, the ordinary, accustomed dress of the other : as we may see from the prophecies, which immediately respect the restoration of the Jews from their an- 246 THE PROPHETIC STYLE CONSIDERED. cient captivities, and, ultimately, their final trium- phant return from their present dispersion — from the prophecies concerning the destruction of Jeru- salem, which prefigure, at the same time, the day of judgment — from those concerning the first com= ing of Christ, which, also, set forth his reign with the saints on earth, and even the glories of his heavenly kingdom — and in a multitude of other instances. These successive, and so different, schemes of Providence could only be signified together in a mode of language, that contracted, or enlarged it- self, as the occasion required. But such is the sin- gular property of a symbolic style. For none but this, hath fold and drapery enough, if I may so speak, to invest the greater subjects ; while yet (so complying is the texture of this expression) it readily adapts itself to the less considerable y which it ennobles only, and not disfigures. The differ- ence is, that what is a metaphor in the former case, becomes an hyperbole, in the latter. And this double use of the same symbol, is the true account of such figures as are thought most extravagant in the de> scription of the prophets. We see, then, in every view, how reasonable, how expedient, how divine, the symbolic style is, in such writings, as the prophetic. So that if any TUE PROPHETIC STYLE CONSIDERED. 247 be disposed, in our days, to take up the complaint of the text, and to upbraid the prophets by asking. Do they not speak parables? We may now take courage to answer, Yes : but parables, which, as dark as they are accounted to be, may be well un- derstood ; and, what is more, parables , which are so expressed, as to carry an evidence in themselves that they are what they assume to be, of divine in- spiration. SERMON X. THE STYLE AND METHOD OF THE APOCALYPSE. EzEKIEL XX. 49* — They say ofme^ Doth he not speak Parables ? All the prophecies of the Old and New Testa- ment, are written in parables ; that is, in highly fig- urative terms ; which yet, on examination, have appeared to be explicable on certain fixed and rational grounds of criticism. So far, therefore, as any prejudice may have been entertained against the prophecies concern- ing Antichrist, as if the language of them were too abstruse or fanciful to be understood, enough hath been already said to shew, that it is not well founded. 32 i 250 STYLE AND METHOD OF It must, however, be confessed, that the book of Revelations^* which contains the most, and the chief prophecies on the subject of Antichrist, is of a deeper and more mysterious contrivance, than any other of the prophetic writings. Whence, our next step, in this inquiry, must be. To trace the CAUSES of that pecuHar obscurity ; and to suggest, as we go along, the means, by which it hath been, or may be, removed. The causes, are to be sought in the style, and the method, of that book. I say nothing of the subject : for, though the things predicted may * As to the authority o^ this extraordinary book (although the dis- cussion of this point be foreign to my present purpose) it may be proper to acquaint such persons, as have not made the {inquiry for themselves, and are perhaps incapable of making it, with the senti- ments, which our ablest writers have entertained of it. Mr. Mede, a capable inquirer, if there ever was any, says round- ly — " The Apocalypse hath more human (not to speak of divine) " authority,, than any other book of the New Testament besides, *' even from the time it was first delivered." Works, p. 602. — And,to the same purpose. Sir IsaacNewton — "I do not find an}- " other book of the New Testament so strongly attested, or com- " mented upon so early, as this of the Apocalypse." Observa- tions on Daniel, &c. p. 249. Thus, these two incomparable men. What some minute critics have said, or insinuated to the contrary, is not worth mentioning ; farther, than just to observe, that, if the authority of this momen- tous book be indeed questionable, the church of Rome could liardly have ailed long since to make the discovery, or to triumph in it. Hoc Jthacus velit, et magna mercentur Atriddc. THE APOCALYPSE. 251 darken a prophec}% unfulfilled, the event will shew what they are ; and it is not necessary, that we should anxiously inquire into the meaning of a prophecy, till it be accomplished- I. Firsts then, the style of the Revelations ( for I mean not to consider it, with regard to the Greek tongue, in which it is composed, or, to the Hebrew idiom, with which it is coloured) the style, I say, being symbolical, like that of the other prophecies, must, in general, be explained on the same principles, that is, must be equally intelligi- b le, in both. Yet, if we attend nicely to the style of this prophecy, some difference will be found, in the choice of the symbols^ and in the continuity of t/ie symhohc form, 1. To explain my meaning, on the first article, I must observe, That, though the prophetic style abounds in hieroglyphic symbols, properly so call- ed, yet the Israelites, when they adopted that stjle, did not confine themselves to the old Egyptian stock of symbols ; but, working on the same ground of analogy, superadded many others, which their own circumstances and observations suggested to them. Their divine ritual, their civil customs, their marvellous history, and even the face and as- pect of their country, afforded infinite materials for the construction of fresh symbols : and these. 252 STYLE AND METHOD OF when they came mto common use, their prophets freely and largely employed. Thus, incense j from the religious use of it in the Mosaical service, de- notes /jr^y^-r, or mental adoration^ — to tread a wine- pressy from their custom of pressing grapes, signi- fies destructiofi, attended with great slaughter\ — to give water in the wilderness, in allusion to the mi- raculous supply of that element, during the passage of the Israelites through the wilderness to the holy land, is \hQ.cvcih\tm.oi unexpected relief in distress ;% — and, to mention no more, 2i forest, such as Leb- anon, abounding in lofty cedars, represents a great city, with its flourishing ranks of inhabitants ;§ just as, a moufitain, from the situation of the Jewish temple on mount Moria, is made to stand for the Christiaii church.\\ Now, though the symbols of this class be oc- casionally dispersed through the old prophets, yet they are more frequent, and much thicker sown, in the Revelations : so that to a reader, not well vers- ed in the Jewish story and customs, this differ- ence may add something to the obscurity of the book. * Mai. i, 11. t Lament, i. 15. ^ Isaiah xl. 20. § Ezek. XX. 47. || Isaiah ii. 2. THE APOCALYPSE. 253 If you Rsk the reason of this difference, it is plainly this. The scene of the apocalyptic visions is laid, not only in Jiidea, but in the temple at Je- rusalem ; whence the imagery is, of course, taken. It was natural for tlie ^vriter to draw his allusions from Jewish objects, and especially from the cere- monial of the temple-service. Besides, the declar- ed scope of the prophecy being to predict the for- tunes of the Christian church, what so proper as to do this under the cover of Jewish ideas ; the law itself, as we have before seen, and as St. Paul expressly tells us, having been so contrived, as to present the shadoxv of that future dispensation ? This then (and for the reason assigned) is one distinguishing character of the apocalyptic style. But the difficulty of mterpretation, arising from it, cannot be considerable ; or, if it be, may be overcome by an obvious method, by a careful study of the Jewish history and la^v. 2. The OTHER mark of distinction, which I observed in the style of this book, is the contijiuity of the symbolic manner. Parables are frequent, indeed, in the old prophets, but interspersed with many passages of history, and have very often their explanation annexed. This great parable of St. John is, throughout, carried on in its own proper form, without any such interruption, and, except 254 STYLE AND METHOD OF in one instance,* without any express interpreta- tion of the paraboHc terms. Now, the prophecy, no doubt, must be con- siderably obscured by this circumstance. But then let it be considered, that we have proportion- able means of understanding it. For, if the sym- bols be continued, they are still but the sa7ne,-\ as had been before in use with the elder prophets ; whose writings, therefore, are the proper and the certain key of the Revelations. From these distinctive characters, then, of the apocalyptic style,J nothing more can be inferred, than the necessity of studying the Laxu^ and the Prophets^ in order to understand the language of this last and most m ysterious revelation. And what * Chap. xvli. f The learned Bishop Andrews says expressly — " You shall " scarce find a phrase In the Revelations of St. John that is not taken " out of Daniel, or some other prophet." Vix reperias apud Johan- nem phrasin atiquam, nisi -vei ex Daniele, vel ex aliquo propheta desumptam. Resp. ad Bellarni. Apol. p. 234. i An eminent writer gives an exact idea of it, in these words— " The style [of the Revelations] is very prophetical, as to the things " spoken : And very hebraizing, as to the speaking of them. Ex- " ceeding much of the old prophets' language and matter adduced "to intimate new stories: And exceeding much of the Jews' lan- "guage and" allusion to their customs and opinions, thereby to speak " the things more familiarly to be understood." Dr. Lighteoot, ffurm. of the M T. p. 15 A. London, 1655. THE APOCALYPSE. 255 is more natural, nay what can be thought more di- vine, than that, in a system, composed of two de- pendent dispensations, the study of the former should be made necessary to the comprehension of the latter; and that the very uniformity of style and colouring, in the two sets of prophecies, should admonish us of the intimate connexion, which each has with the other, to the end that we might the better conceive the meaning, and fathom the depth, of the divine councils in both ? But, without speculating further on the final purposes of this Judaical and symbolical character, so strongly impressed on the Apocalypse, it must evidently appear that the difficulties of interpreta- tion, occasioned by it, are not invincible ; nay, that, to an attentive and rightly prepared interpre- ter, they will scarce be any difficulties at all.* • I have heard it afErmed on good grounds, that the late Dr. Samuel Clarke, being asked in conversation by a friend, whetlier, as he had taken much pains to interpret the other books of Scripture, he had never attempted any thing on the Revelations, replied, He had not ; but that, notwithstanding, he thought he understood every ivord of it : Not meaning, we may be sure, tliat he knew how to apply every part of that prophecy, but that he understood the, phraseology, in which it was written : which a man, so conversant as he was in the style of scripture, might very well do. — Calvin, indeed, has been commended for making tiie opposite declaration : And, it may be, with good reason : For (not to derogate in any re-, spect from the character of this great man) the language of the Scriptures, and especially of the Prophetical Scriptui-es, vfSiS in no degree so well understood in his time, as it wa-i in that of Dr. S. Clarke. 256 STYLE AND MfriHOD OF I proceed, then, II. To the SECOND, and more considerable cause of the obscurities, found in this prophecy, the Method, in which it is composed. The other prophecies have, doubtless, their difficulties, arising from the abrupt manner, in which, agreeably to the oriental genius, they are delivered : But then, being short and unconnected with each other, the apparent disorder of those prophecies, has rarely any sensible effect in pre- venting the right application of them. The case is different with the prophecies, contained in this book. For, having been all delivered at once, and respecting a series of events, which were to come to pass successively in the history of the Christian church, it is reasonable to expect that some cer- tain and determinable method should be observed in the delivery of them ; and the true secret of that method, whatever it be, must be investigated, before we can, with success, apply any single prophecy to its proper subject. The first, and most obvious expectation of a reader is, that the events predicted in this prophecy should follow each other in the order of the proph- ecy itself, or that the series of the visions should mark out aixl determine the succession of the sub- THE APOCALYPSK. 257 jects, to which they relate. But there is reason to think, on the face of the prophecy, that this method is not observed. A second conclusion would, then, be hastily taken up, that there is no regular method at all in these visions, but that each is to be applied singly, and without any reference to the rest, to such events as it might be found, in some tolerable de- gree, to suit : And then it is plain, that fancy would have too much scope afforded her in the interpretation of these visions, to produce any firm and settled conviction, that they were rightly and properly applied. Yet, as this idea of the Apoca- lypse would favour the laziness, the precipitancy, the presumption, and, very often, the malignity -of the human mind, it is no wonder that it should be readily and eagerly embraced. And, in fact, it was to this pre-conceived notion of a general disorder in the texture of these prophecies, that the little progress, which, for many ages, had been made in the exposition of them, is chiefly to be ascribed. But then, lastly^ if neither the order of the prophecy be that of the events, nor a total disorder in the construction of it can be reasonably allowed, the question is. By what rules was it composed, and on what ideas of method is it to be explained ? 33 258 STYLE AND METHOD OF This question, as obvious as it seems, was not presently asked ; and, when it was asked, not eas- ily answered. The clear light, indeed, which the Reformation had let in on some parts of this prophj ecy, and a spirit of inquiry, which sprung up with the revival of letters, excited a general attention to this mysterious book. But, as each interpreter brought his own hypothesis along with him, the perplexities of it were not lessened, but increased by so many discordant schemes of interpretation : And the issue of much elaborate inquiry was, that the book itself was disgraced by the fruitless efforts of its commentators, and on the point of being given up, as utterly impenetrable, when a sublime genius arose, in the beginning of the last century, and surprised the learned world with that great de- sideratum, A Key to the Revelations. This extraordinary person was, JosephMede: of whose character it may not be improper to give a slight sketch, before I lay before you the sub- stance of his discoveries. He was a candid, sincere man ; disinterested^ and unambitious ; of no faction in religion or gov- ernment, (both which began in his time to be over- run with factions) but solely devoted to the love of truth, and to the investigation of it. His learning was vast, but well chosen and well digested ; and THE APOCALYPSE. 259 liis understanding, in no common degree, strong and capacious. With these qualities of the head and heart, he came to the study of the prophecies, and especially of the Revelations : But, with so little bigotry for the scheme of interpretation concerning Antichrist, that, as he tells us himself, he had even conceived some prejudice against it .•* And, what is stranger still in a man of his inventive genius, with so little enthusiasm in his temper for any scheme of inter- pretation whatsoever, that, when he had made his great discovery, he was in no haste to publish it to the world;! and, when at length he did this, he was still less in haste to apply it, tl:at is, to shew its important use in explaining the apocalyptic vis- ions.J Cool, deliberate, and severe, in forming his judgments, he was so far from being obsequi- ous to the fancies of other men, that he was deter- mined only, by the last degree of evidence, to acquiesce in any conclusions of his own.^ • " As for me, I am conscious of my weakness and un worthiness ; being, when these kind of thoughts first possessed me, looking an- other way with a prejudice incompatible to this." General Pref. to Meiers Works, p. 20, from a MS. Letter. f He printed only a few copies of his Clavis Apocahptica in 1627, at his own expense, and for the use of liis friends. Pref. to his Commentary. i His Commentary, on the principles of his Clavis, did not appear till 1632. § " I am by nature cunctabundus'\x\ all things, but in this [his expo- sition] let no man blame me, if I take more pause than ordinary." 260 STYLE AND METHOD OF In short, with no vanity to indulge, (for he was superior to this last infirmity of ingenious men)* — with no interest in view (for the interest of church- men lay at that time, as he well understood, in a different quarter)! — with no spleen to gratify (for MS. Letter In Gen. Pref. p. 22. And again, in a Letter of reply ad animadversiones Ludovici de Dieu, " Eoingenio sum (delicatulo, an moroso) lit nisi ubi interpretatio commode et absque salebris eat, nunquam mihi satisfacei'e soleam." Works, p. 569. Yet of this sage man, could the bishop of Meaux allow himself to speak thus negligently — // s^est rendu de nos jours celebre en Angleterre par ses DOCTES REVERIES sur /' Apoculypse. Hist, des Var. I. xiii. p 257. But M. de Meaux knew what he did, when he affected this con- tempt of Joseph Made. He was then at liberty to turn himself from the ablest advocate of the Protestant cause, to the nveakest -, I mean, M. Jurieu, whose indiscretions afforded, indeed, ample scope for the raillery of this lively prelate. Mr. Mede was not a man to be confuted in this way, and still less by a fanciful and ill-supported Exposition of the Apocalypse. * As appes^rs from his backwardness to publish his discoveries, and from his unconcern about the reception of them. But see his Letter to Mr. Hartlib, Ep. 96, jb. 881 ; and compare with his an- swer to Dr. Twisse, Ep. 51. p. 811. See also Ep. 98, to Mr. Hart- lib, Aug. 6, 1638, not long before his death, in which are these words : " I have not been very obtrusive unto men, to acquaint them with my notions and conceits — for some of them that are but lately known have lain by me above these twenty years." P. 883. "j" The point oj" the pope's being Antichrist, as a dead Jly, marred the savour oj" THAT ointment — mc.xnlng the merit he had of being known to entertain some opinions, then much cherished by the rul- ing clergy. Ep. 56, p- 818. He says afterwards of himself, in the THE APOCALYPSE. 261 even neglect and solitude could not engender this unmanly vice in him)* — with no oblique purposes, I say, which so often misled the pens of other writ- ers, but with the single, unmixed love of truth, he dedicated his great talents to the study of the pro- phetic scriptures, and was able to unfold, in the MANNER I am now to represent to you, this mysterious prophecy of the Revelations. He had observed, that the miscarriage of for- mer interpreters had been owing, chiefly, to a vain desire of finding their own sense in this prophecy, rather than the sense of the prophet. Laying aside, then, all hypotheses whatsoever, he sate down to the book itself, and resolved to know nothing more of it, than what the frame and texture of its com- position might clearly reveal to him. He consid- same Letter — / thank God, I never made any thing hitherto the caster of my resolution, but reason and evidence, onwhat side soever the advan- tage or disadvantage fell. • His friends speak much of his cheerful disposition. — But I draw this conclusion from the tenour of his life and writings ; and, above all, from that famous declaration which he made in confidence to a friend, that, if he m,ight but obtain a donative sine cura, of so much value as, together viith his fellowship [|of Clirist's CoUeg'c in Cam- bridjje,3 should enable him to keep a horse, for his recreation, he would set up his staff for this world. App. to liis Life, p. 40. — The simplicity of this declaration, makes one confident of its truth. — And a man of so moderate desires, was in no dang-er of having' his temper soured by disappointments. 2&2 STYLE AND METHOD OF ered the whole, as a naked recital of facts, literally- expressed ; and not as a prophetic scheme, mys- tically represented. In this way of inquiry, he dis- cerned, that several parts of the history, whatever their secret and involved meaning might be, were homogeneous y and contemporary ; that is, they re- lated to the same subject, and were comprised within the same period; and this, though they were not connected in the order of the narration, but lay dispersed in different quarters of it. These several sets of historical passages (or, of visions , to speak in the language of the book itself) he care- fully analyzed and compared ; shewed, from cir- cumstances, not imagined, but found, in the his- tory, their mutual relation and correspondency; and established his conclusions, as he went along, not in a loose way of popular conjecture, but in the strictest forms of geometric reasoning. The coincident histories, thus classed and scrutinized, he distinguished by the name of Synchronisms; and gave them to the learned world, in this severe scientific form, without further comment or illus- tration, under the title of Clavis Apocalypti- CA, or A Key to the Revelations. In considering this discovery, which did so much honour to the profound genius and accurate investigation of its author, one clearly perceives how it serves to the end proposed. THE APOCALYPSE, ^.6;> First, it appears that the order of the visions is not tliat of the events; in other words, that the prophecy is not to be so explained, as if the events, predicted in it, followed each other in the same train as the visions. For ihtz facts, which consti- tute the scheme or foble of the prophecy, literally and historically considered, do not succeed to each other in that train ; therefore the events, whatever they may be, which those facts adumbrate, most certainly cannot. Secondly, It appears what the true, or chronolo- gical order of the visions, is ; namely, that, which the nature and connexion of the things transacted in them, points out and declares. So that, if the real time of any one vision can be shewn, the rela- tive time of the rest may be easily settled. For (to quote Mr. Mede's own words) such visions as con- temporate with that already ascertained, are of course to be applied to the same times ; while such as, in the order of the story, precede that vision, are to he referred to preceding events, and those, which follow it, are in like manner to be explained of sub- sequent transactions."^ • Siquidem, quse isti tuo Vatlcinio jam, ut dixi, cognito, Cietera contemporaverint Vaticinia, iisdem procul dubio temporibus sunt applicanda ; quae autem praecedunt, non nisi de precedaneis ; qusc succeclnnt, pariter desnccedaneis eventibus sunt interpretenda. Clavis Aptcal. Works, p. 432. 264 STYLE AND METHOD OF By this means, the whole plan or method of the Apocalypse will be laid down. The several synchronical prophecies will thus fall into their proper places ; and there will be no doubt of the relative situation, which each holds in the general system. Thirdly^ as we now see the true order of the proph- ecies (though for the wisest reasons, no doubt, the order, in which they are delivered, be sometimes different) so it is to be observed, that the knowl- edge of this order is a great restraint on the fancy of an expositor ; who is not now at liberty to apply . tlie prophecies to events of any time, to which they appear to suit, but to events only falling within that time, to which they belong in the course of this pre -determined method. And if to this restriction, which of itself is considerable, we add another^ which arises froiji the necessity applying, not onC; but many prophecies (which are, thus shewn to synchronize with each other) to the same time, we can hardly conceive how an interpretation should keep clear of these impediments, and make its way through so many interfering checks, unless it be the true one. Just as when a lock (to take the author's allusion) is composed of many and intri- cate wards, the key^ that turns easily within them, and opens the lock, can only be that which properly belongs to it. THE APOCALYPSE. 265 After all, it may be difficult, I know, to convey a distinct idea of the uses, to which this synchronal method serves, to those who have not read, and even studied, Mr. Mede's work. But the sum of the matter is this. That the order of the events and of the visions is not the same — that the true order of the events, is to be sought in certain characters, not fancied at pleasure, but inserted, in the visions themselves — and, lastly, that the whole book of the Revelations being thus resolvable into a partic- ular determinate order, in which the several sets of synchronal prophecies regularly succeed to each other, no exposition of this book can be ad' mitted, that does not refer every single prophecy to its true place in the system, and provide at the same time that no violence be done to any other prophecies, which synchronize with it. And thus much concerning the true order of the Apocalypse ; deduced, you see, from no precarious hypothetic reasonings, but from notes and characters, inclosed in that book ; that is, from intrinsic arguments, which have their evidence in themselves, and conclude alike on every supposition. If we \vould know more distinctly what the EXTERIOR FORM of it is ; and how it comes to differ so widely from the plan of a chronological arrangement; here, too, our sagacious expositor 34 266 STYLE AND METHOD OF will give us satisfaction. For, in bringing together and comparing his synchronisms, he found (what had escaped the Lttention of all others) that the main body of the prophecy is made up of two* great parts ; which are, also, synchronical ; so that, setting out from the same goal, and measuring the same space, they both concur in the same end : but with this difference, that the former division more immediately regards the affairs of the empire ; the latter, those of the church* Still, this is not all. Our attentive and pene» trating commentator further discovered. That the two great component parts of this prophecy, though distinct, are very artificially connected, and shewn to harmonize throughout with each other, by making the same concluding event,! once told, the catastrophe of both. Y ox ikv^ former part is purposely, and with express warning given, J left unfinished, till a summary deduction of the latter part down to the same point of time,^ (by way of prelude to the more extended visions of this last part, which follow to the end of the book, and to signify, that both parts are contemporary) furnish- ed the occasion of shutting up the two prophecies * From ch. iv. to the end of ch. ix : And from ch. x. to the end- f The sounding of the serenth trumpet. t Ch. X. 7. § Ch. xi. 15. THE APOCALYPSE. 267 together in one common term : wliich, hoAvever, had the appearance of being misplaced, till the detection of this singuhir contrivance, by means of the synchronisms, pointed out the use and end of the present disposition.*" * Tlie reader may form a distinct Idea of the method, in which the v.'hole book of the Apocalypse is disposed, by observing that it is resolvable into three great parts. The FIRST part, is that of the Epistles to the seven churches, contained in the tlu-ee first chapters, and is not at all considered by Mr. Mede. The SECOND part (with which Mr. Mede begins his commentary) is that of the Sealed Book, from ch. iv. to ch. x ; and contains the fates of the empire, or its civil revolutions, yet, with a reference, * still, to the state and fortune of the Christian church. The THIRD part, is that of the open book, with what follows to the end ; and exhibits, in a more minute aud extended view, the fatet of the Christian church, especially during its apostacy, and after its recovery from it. This THIRD division may, furtlier, be considered as consisting of TWO parts. The tirst contains, in ch. xi, a summary view of what should befall the Christian church, contemix)rary with the events deduced in tlie second part concerning the empire ; and is given in this place, in order to connect the second and third parts, and to shew their correspondence and contemporaneity. See Mr. Mede's Clavis, p. 424 ; and Comment. Apocalypt. p. 476. The second part of the last di\'isIon, from ch. xil. to the end, gives a detailed account of what should befall the Christian church in distinct, and, several of them, synchronical visions. It has been thought by some an objection to Mr Mede's scheme, " That the prophecy of tlie open book, (which contains, according to him, all the remaining visions to the end of the Revelations) is not only, for the subject, more considerable, but, for the size of the vol- ume, larger, than the prophecy of the sealed book ,■ whereas, the name given to it, (iitKu^ihov, or little book, seems very clearly to express the contrarv." 268 STYLE AND METHOD OF Another cause of the seeming perplexity in which this prophecy is involved, is, That, it be- ing expedient to treat the same subject in different If this objection be thought material (for I do not find thatMr. Mede condescends to take anynoticeof itj it ?m^A?, perhaps, be obviated by supposing, That the little book contains the xith cliapter, only, being a compendium of the third division, and inserted in this place to shew the contemporaneity of the tiao last and principal parts ; and that all which follows to the end, is to be regarded as a sort of com- onent on the little book, or larger explication of its contents : As if the design had been to consult our weakness, in presenting us, first, with an abridged viewof a great scheme, and, then, in drawing it out at large, for our more distinct information. But the truer answer to the difficulty I take to be, That the sealed book is represented under the idea of a book, propei'ly so called, which, upon being opened, presents to the eye the several objects and schemes of the prophecy, distinctly delineated on the roll, or volume, when it comes to be unfolded, and which, theirefore, must needs be considered as a large one. The open book, on the other hand, is to be regarded, not as a real, but tnetaphorical book ; and is not produced to be read or contemplated, after a gradual evolu- tion of it, but to be eaten, at once, by the prophet ; like that book, to which it alludes, and from which the imagery is taken, in the visions of Ezekiel Qii. 8. and iii. I, 2, 3.3 — \,o eat a book, he.i\\^,m the hieroglyphics, to meditate upon, and to digest, its contents. So •that this book, to distinguish it from the other, is named a little book : not, that the revelations, conveyed by it, are less considerable, or less numerous, than the other, but that the use, to which it is put, required only that it should be spoken of, as a book simply ; the diminutive form being here suggested in the term ^i^Kupt^iOV, that the metaphor of eating it might seem the easier ; and (because the former sealed book was of an immense size) might, under this idea, present itself the more naturally, and give less offence, to the pagination. THE APOCALYPSE. 269 respects, and to give different views of it, accord- ing as two sets of men, the true worshippers and the false, were affected by the fortunes of the Christ- ian church, this shifting and opposite face of things could not be exhibited together ; but was to be set forth in several and successive, though contem- porary, visions. Hence, the prophecy is thought to proceed, when, in fact, it stands still, and only presents another prospect of the same transactions. But I enter no farther into the mysterious con- texture of this book ; through which, however, the clue of the synchronisms, if well pursued, Avould safely conduct us. It is enough to my purpose to have shewn, That, as the language of the Revelations is intelligible, so the method is not involved in such intricacies, but that, in general, a regular, a consistent, and, what is more, a true^ conception may be formed of it. Whence no sober man needs be discouraged from reading this book ; or will be in danger, I think, of losing either his wits, or his reputation, in the study of it. For . * I am not ignorant tliat many interpreters have tliought other- wise. But possibly they have not enoug-li attended to the advice, which Mr. Mede used to give to such of his friends as did not enter into his ideas — Expende. My meaning is, that, if they had possess- ed the patience, or the sagacity, to understand this great inventor, before they objected to him, tliey would perhaps have seen cause to acquiesce in the method, pointed out by him, instead of attempting in various ways, and to little purpose, to improve upon it. 270 STYLE AND METHOD OF what should hinder a book, though of prophecies, from being understood, when its method may be clearly defined, and its language decyphered? Pro- vided always, that we only interpret a prophecy by the event, and do not take upon us to determine the event by a premature construction of the prophecy- With this apocalyptic key then (of which so much has been said,) this key of knowledge ^ in my hands, it may, now, be expected that I should open this dark parable of the Revelation, by applying so much of it, at least, as respects Antichrist, to apostate Papal Rome. But, besides that there would not, in what remains of this course, be room enough for a detailed account of the prophecies, other reasons restrain me from entering immediately on a task, not less easy perhaps, than amusing. For interpreters, I think, have generally been too much in haste to apply the prophecies, before they had sufficiently prepared the way for their application : So that, leaving many doubts unresolved, which men of thought and inquiry are apt to entertain on this subject, or not laying before them all the reasons and induce- ments, which should engage their attention to it, their clearest expositions are not received, and possibly not considered. THE APOCALYPSE. 271 With regard, then, to the prophecies, concern- ing Antichrist, though the chief obstructions in our way seem fairly removed, and it be now evi- dent that there arc certain grounds, on which the most abstruse of them may be reasonably inter- preted, yet, because the application of them is a work of time and industr)^ many persons, before tliey undertake it, may desire to know. What GENERAL ARGUMENTS thcrc are, which may assure them, beforehand, that their labour will not be misemployed, and that Papal Rome is, in fact, concerned in the tenour of these prophecies : And, when this demand has been made, they may fur- ther wish to be informed. To what ends or uses this whole inquiry serves; of importance enough, I mean, to encourage and reward their vigorous prosecution of it ? These desires and expectations are apparently not unreasonable : And to satisfy them, in the best manner I can, will be the scope and purpose of the. two following Lectures. SERMON XL IPROPHETIC CHARACTERS OF ANTICHRIST. Luke xii. 56. — How is ity that ye do not discern this time ? oO much having been said on the manner^ in which the prophecies, respecting Antichrist, may be in- terpreted ; I imagine that now, at length, ye are disposed to ask. On what general grounds we affirm, that the church of Rome is actually concerned in them. To resolve this question, it will be sufficient to set before you, in few words, some of the more obvious notes^ or characters, by which Antichrist is marked out in the prophecies : such, and so ma- ny of them, as may convince you, that they are iairly applicable to the church of Rome ; and that, taken together, they cannot well admit any other application. Of these prophetic characters, Q5 274 PROPHETIC CHARACTERS 1. The FIRST, I shall mention, is, That we are to look for Antichrist within the proper limits of the Roman empire. On this head, there is no controversy among those who acknowledge the authority of the prophet Daniel, and can be none : For that prophet, in his famous vision of the four kingdoms, says ex- pressly, that, among the ten kingdoms into which 'the fourth, or Roman, shall be divided, another shall arise j"^ thai is, as all interpreters agree, the kingdom of Antichrist. So that this power, what- ever it be, must have its birth and seat within the compass of the ten kingdoms, that is, of the Ro- man empire, when, in some future time from the giving of Daniel's prophecy, it should be so divided. But, to fix the station of the antichristian pow- er more precisely, it is to be observed, that, as the four kingdoms of Daniel, considered in succession to each other, form a prophetic chronology ;f so in another view, they form a prophetic geography, % * Dan. vii. 7, 8. — I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast — had ten horns. I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among' them another little horn — Compare with ver. 24 — The ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings (or kingdoms) that shall arise : and another shall arise after them. f Mede p. 712. + Sir Isaac Newton p. 31. OF ANTICHRIST. 275 being considered, in the eye of prophecy, asco-exist- entf as still alive, and subsisting together, when the dominion of all, but the last, was taken away.* In consequence of this idea, which Daniel gives us of his four kingdoms, so much only is to be reckoned into the description of each kingdom, as is peculiar to each ; the remainder being part of some other kingdom, still supposed to be in being, to wTiich it properly belongs. Thus, the second, or Persian kingdom, does not take in the nations of Chaldea and Assyria, which make the body of the ^r^? kingdom ; nor the third, or Grecian king- dom, the countries of Media and Persia, being the body of the second. In like manner, the f o un t h , or Roman kingdom, does not, in the contempla- tion of the prophet, comprehend those provinces, which make the body of the third, or Grecian king- dom, but such only as constitute its own body, that is, the provinces on this side of Greece : where, therefore, we are to look for the eleventh, or anti- christian kingdom, as being to start up among the ten, into which the Roman kingdom should be divided. • Dan. vii. 11, 12. — Concerning the rest of the beasts, tliey had their dominion taken away : j-et their lives were prolonged for a sea- son and a time. 276 PROPHETIC CHARACTERS We see, then, that, as Antichrist was to arise within the Roman kingdom, so his station is far- ther Umited to the European part of that kingdom, or to the western empire, properly so called. This observation (which is not mine, but Sir Isaac Newton's) is the better worth making, be- cause, in fact, the Papal sovereignty never extend- ed farther than the western provinces; at least, could never gain a firm and permanent footing in the countries, which lie east of the Mediterranean sea. But, whether you admit this interpretation, or not, it is still clear that Antichrist was to arise somewhere within the limits of the Roman empire. In what part of that empire he was to make his appearance, we certainly gather froni II. A SECOND prophetical note or character of this power, which is, That hit seat and throne %vas to he the city of Rome itself. The prophet Daniel acquaints us only that the power we call antichristian, would spring up from among the ruins of the fourth, or Roman kingdom : But St. John, in the Revelations, fixes his residence in the capital city of that kingdom. For, when, in one of his visions, he had been shewn a portentous heast with seven heads and ten horns, and a woman arrayed in purple, riding upon him, an angel is OF ANTICHRIST. 277 made to interpret this symbolic vision in the fol- lowing words — The seven heads are seven moun- tains on which the woman sitteth — and the ten horns y ivhich thou sawest. are ten kin^s — and the woman, xvh'icli thou sawest, is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.* Words cannot be more determinate, than these. The woman, that rides this beast, that is, the fourth empire, in its last state of ten horns, or divided in- to ten kingdoms, is that antichristian power, of which we are now inquirinj^. S'le is seated on seven hills, nay, she is that great city, which reign- eth [that is, in St. John's time which reigned"] over the kingdoins of the earth. Rome, then, is the throrjje of Antichrist, or is that city, which shall one day be antichristian. There is no possibility of evading the force of these terms, It hath been said, that Constantinople, too, was situated on seven hills. It may be so : But Constantinople did not, in the time of this vision, reign over the kings of the earth. Besides, if its dominion had not been mentioned, the city on the seven hills is so characteristic of Rome, that the name itself could not have pointed it out more plainly : As must be evident to all those, who re- ' Rev. xvii. 3, 4, 9, 1?, 18. 278 PROPHETIC CHARACTERS collect, what the Latin writers have said on this subject. The — septem domini monies — of one* poet is well known ; and seems the abridgment of a still more famous line in anotherf — Septem urbs alta jugis, toto quse prxsidet orbi : To which, St. John's idea of a woman^ seated on seven hills ^ and reigning over the kings of the earth, so exactly corresponds, that one sees no difference between the poet and the prophet ; except that the latter personifies his idea, as the genius of the pro- phetic style required. But a passage in Virgil is so much to our pur- pose, that it merits a peculiar attention. This po- et, in the most finished of his works, had been celebrating the praises of a country life, which he makes the source and origin of the Roman greatness. Hanc olim veteres vitam coluere'SabIni ; Banc Remus et frater : sic fortis Etruria crevit : Scilicet et rerum facta est pulcherrima Roma.t * Martial 1. iv. ep. 64. f Propert. 1. iii. ix. 57. ii- Georg. 1. ii. ver. 532. OF ANTICHRIST. 279 The encomium, we see, is made with that grad- ual pomp, which is familiar to Virgil. And the last line (from its majestic simplicity, the noblest, perhaps, in all his writings) one would naturally expect should close the description. Yet he adds, to tlie surprize, and, I believe, to the disappoint- ment of most readers, Septemque una sibi muro clrcumdedit arces. Had we found this passage in any othei- of the Latin poets, we should have been apt to question the judgment of the writer; and to suspect, that, in attempting to rise upon himself, he had fallen, unawares, into an evident anti-climax. But the correct elegance of Virgil's manner, and his singu- lar talent in working up an image, by just de- grees, to the precise point of perfection, may satis- fy us, that he had his reason for going on, where we might expect him to stop; which reason can be no other, than that the seven hills were necessa- ry to complete his description of the imperial city.* To an ancient Roman, the circumstance of its sit- uation was, of all others, the most august and char- acteristic ; and Rome itself was not RomeJ^till it was contemplated under this idea. There was ground enough, then, for saying, *' that the name of Rome could not have pointed • Compare j€n. vi.ver. 77&, Sec. 280 PROPHETIC CHARACTERS out the city more plainly,'*'* But. I go farther, and take upon me to assert, That the periphrasis is even more precise, and less equivocal, than the proper name would have been, if inserted in the prophecy. For Rome^ so called, might have stood, like Sod- om, or Babylon, simply for an idolatrous city. Biit the city, seated on seven hills^ and reigning over the earthy is the city of Rome itself, and excludes, by the peculiarity of these attributes, any other application. Nor is it any objection to the remark, now made, that this city, whatever it be, is described by another circumstance, not peculiar to Rome, in- deed scarce applicable to it, I mean that of its be- ing seated on many waters.* For these waters are not given as a mark of Rome's natural, but political situation : as the prophetic style might lead one to expect, if the sacred writer had not taken care to prevent all mistake by assuring us, in so many words. That the waters, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and na- tions, AND TONGUES. t If it be, further, said, " That the seven hills may, likewise, admit a similar construction from the frequent use o{ hills, as emblems oi power, m * Rev. xvii. 1. f Ibid. ver. 15. OF ANTICHRIST. 281 hieroglyphic writing, and therefore in prophetic de- scription," the remark is very just :^ but then, un- luckily, there is no such explanation of the seven hills, as we have of the waters, from the prophet himself; while yet it could not escape him, that such explanation was more than commonly neces- sary in this case, to prevent the reader from apply- ing the seven fulls to the best-known gity in the world, then subsisting in all its glory, and universally acknowledged by this distinctive character of its situation. Should it, lastly, be alleged, "That the ex- planation IS subjoined to the figure, for that tiie prophet adds immediately in the following verse — ajid there are seven kings — -meaning, that the seven hills, just mentioned, were to be taken as emblems only of seven kings,'*'' I reply, that the seven hills, in the figurative sense of the term, hills, naturally suggested, and elegantly introduce, the sevett kings ; but that \hQ former, nevertheless, are clear- ly to be distinguished from the latter. For it is not said — and the seven hills are seven kings — ^ as it was before said — the seven heads are seven hills — but — AND there are seven kings — plainly advancing a step further in the prophecy, and point- ing out a new characteristic distinction of the seven-hilled city, arising from the different forms of government, through which it had passed. 36 282 PROPHETIC CHARACTERS The truth is (as Mr. Mede well observes^) the seven heads of the beast y2c:t a double type: Jirstf they signify the seven hills, on wiiich the city is placed ; and, then^ the seveti kings, or governments, to which it had been subject : but still on those seven hills, for which reason the same type is made to signify both: But, if the type had been designed to carry ^ single sense, and kings had been that sense, as explicatory of hills, it had been very pre- posterous to give the interpretation of the type, and then to interpret the interpretation, unless the expression had been so guarded as to convey this purpose in the most distinct manner. As it is now put, there are manifestly two senses, and one TYPE.f On the whole, there can be no doubt concern- ing the great city on seven hills. It can be no other, * Septem "Bbstije capita, duplex typus : priino, septem monies seu coUes sunt, super quos uvbs Bestlse metropolis sita est ; deinde, septem quoque, idque in iisdem (quod unitas typi denotat ) Col- libus, Regum seu Dynastarum successivorum ordines. Works, p. 524. ■\ The whole passage in the original stands thus ut e%let ^CCatKeTg ezlct, £hiV of w4iich the following is the literal trans- lation — The SEVEN HEADS are seven hills, where the woman sit- teth upon them, and are seven kings — Every one sees that the con- nective particle, anp, refers to heads, and not to hills. OF ANTICHRIST. 283 than the city of Rome itself: In other words, the antichristian, is a Moman power. Still, this Roman power, for any thing that hath liitherto appeared, may be a Pagan and civil power. But III. The prophecies seem very clearly to point it out to us, as an Ecclesiastical, and, in name and pretence, at least, a Christian power. To begirt again with the prophet, Daniel. He tells us, that the horn which shall arise after ^ and from among^ the ten horns, that is, the antichristian kingdom, as before explained, shall be diverse from the ten kingdoms, out of wliich it shall airise.* " But a kingdom may be diverse from other kingdoms, in various respects." Without doubt. And, therefore, we cannot certainly con- clude from this single text, that the diversity^ men- tioned, will consist in its being a spiritual kingdom. Yet, if ye reflect that this diversity is given, as the characteristic mark of the antichristian kingdom ; that, although there may be other and smaller dif- ferences between kingdoms, the greatest and most signal is that which subsists between a temporal * Dan. vii. 24.— The ten homs out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise ; and another shall arise after them, and He shall be diverse from the first — 284 PROPHETIC CHARACTERS and spiritual power ; nay, that government, as such, is, and can only be, of two sorts, civil and spiritual, as corresponding to the two constituent parts of man, (the subject of all government in this world,) the soul and the body : Taking, I say, these consid- erations along with you, ye cannot esteem it a very harsh and violent interpretation, if, without looking any farther, we incline to think that this diversity of regimen, so emphatically pointed out, respects that great and essential difference in human government, only. At least, it will be admitted, that, if, from other and more express testimonies, the government of Antichrist appear to be a spir- itual government, we shall, then, be authorized to put such a construction on Daniel's prophecy, as will reach the full force and import of his expres- sion. Such a kingdom must be allowed to be emi- nently diverse from secular kingdoms. So that the harmony between the prophets on this subject will be clear and striking, Now, such a testimony we seem to find in the apostle, St, Paul ; who, prophecy ing of the man of sin, or Antichrist, to be revealed in the latter days, makes it a distinguishing pait of his character, That he sitteth in the temple of God.* Consider the force of these words. A power, seat- * 2 Thess. ii. 4. OF ANTICHRIST. 285 ed in the temple of Gody can be nothing but a power suitable to that place, or a spiritual power : just as a power, seated in the throne of Cesar ^ could onl} be interpreted of a civil power. Nor say, because the context runs thus — " that he, AS God, sitteth in the temple of God, shew- ing himself that he is God — that therefore it only means his claiming divine honours: a degree of blasphemy, very applicable to a civil power." This objection has clearly no force : because his sitting in the temple of God was the very means (if wt rightly apply this prophecy) by which the man of sin rose to that abominable pre-eminence. It was by virtue of his spiritual^ that he assumed a divine character. So that the phrase — as God — and that other — shewing himself that he is God — sets before us, indeed, the extravagant height to which the man of sin aspired, and to which he as- cended; but, no way invalidates the conclusion from his sitting in the temple of God — that he was a spiritual power. Rather, we see the propriety of this conclusion : because the text, thus understood, suggests the wai/ in which the man of sin accom- plished his blasphemous purpose : His success arose, frpm his station in the temple. On the other hand, a power sitting in the throne of Cesar, might sit there as God, and might shexu himself that he was God (as many of the Roman emperors did:) So 286 PROPHETIC CHARACTERS that the clause — sitting in the temple of God — has evidently no peculiar fitness, as applied to the usur- pation of divine honours by a civil tyrant ; whereas we see it has that fitness, when applied to a spiritual tyrant. The context therefi^re proves nothing against the interpretation, here proposed and defended. But, what is this temple of God ? The temple at Jerusalem, it will be said ; the only temple, so called, then subsisting in the world.* Admit this to be the literal sense of the words. Yet ye re- member so much of what hath been said concern- ing the prophetic style, as not to think it strange, that the literal sense should involve in it another, a mystical meaning. And this, without any uncertainty whatsoever. For so, the term, Jew^ means a Chris- tian; the term, David, means Christ: the incense of the temple-service, means the prayers of Cliris- tians; plainly and confessedly so, in numberless instances. Agreeably to this analogical use of Jewish terms, in the style of the prophets, the * See Grotlus, on the place : who applies this prophecy to Caius Cesar, and thinks it was fulfilled when that emperor commanded his statue to be placed in the temple of Jerusalem. A strange con- jecture ! which many writers, and very lately an excellent prelate, has well confuted. Bishop Newton's Dis. on the Prophecies, vol. ii. p. 375. OF ANTICHRIST. 287 temple ofGod^ nay the temple of Jerusalem'^ (if that had been the expression) tnust, in all reason, be interpreted of the Christian churchy and could not, in the prophetic langua,sje, be interpreted other- wise. When, therefore, Antichrist is said to sit in the temple of God, it is the same thing as if it had been said of him. That he sitteth, or ruleth, in the church of Christ. No\v, substitute these words — the church of Christ — in the room of those other words — the temple of God; and see, if St. Paul, supposing his purpose had been to express a spiri- tual power in opposition to a civil ; see, I say, if St. Paul could have conveyed that purpose more plainly. Still, we have another, and, if possible, a more de- cisive testimony in the Revelations. For, among the different views, which St. John gives us of Anti- christ, in so many distinct visions, one is set before us in the following manner — And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earthy and he had two horns like a lamb^ and he spake as a dragon.\ Now, if we had known nothing more of these symbols, than what the obvious qualities of the animals them- • Hierosolyma in scriptis prophetarum occurrit ut etnblema alte- rius cujusdam Hierosolymx, mystice sicdicendac ; quae Hierosolyma non potest esse urbs quaedam in montibus Zione & Acra constructa, qualis fuit antiqua ilia ; so J oportet esse rem spiritualevi, in qua at- tribnta antiqucc Hiei-osolymx mystice demonstrentur. ViTRiNGA, Apocalypi. exp. & illu.^tr. p. 762. •j- Rev. :xiii. 11. 288 PROPHETIC CHARACTERS selves suggested to us, we could only have inferred^' that this ruling power (for that is the idea convey- ed by the term, beast J would put on the appear- ance of a gentle and pacific administration : I say, the appearance ; for what its real character was to be, is clearly enough expressed in what follows, that this lamb-like beast spake as a dragon. But, when we further reflect, that horns, in the prophetic style, are the emblems of power ^ and that a Lamb is the peculiar, the appropriated symbol of Christ, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of theworld,^ and is constantly so employed throughout this whole prophecy of the Revelations, we must, of neces- sity, conclude that a beast with the horns of a lamb can only be a state, or person, pretending to such powers, as Christ exercised, and his religion author- izeth ; that is, powers, 7iot of this world, but purely spiritual. The other symbol of a dragon, confirms this con- clusion. For a dragon, in the prophecies, is the known symbol of the old Roman government in its Pagan, persecuting state. When, therefore, it is said that the beast spake as a dragon, the meaning is. That Antichrist should assume the highest tone of civil authority in promoting his tyrannous pur- poses, though he cloaked his fierce pretensions * John i. 29. OF ANTICHRIST. 289 Under the meek semblance of a spiritual character. Taken together, these two symbols speak as plainly, as symbolic terms can speak, That Antichrist was to be a religious person^ acting in the spirit of a secular tyrant. So exactly is he characterized by the poet Mantuan, addressing himself to one of the popes — Ense potens gemtno, cujus vestigia adorant Cxsar et aui'ato vestiti marice reges. On the whole, I leave it to be considered, whether, when the prophecies pronounce of Antichrist, that he should be, a power diverse from all others — that he should sit hi the teinple of God — and that he should have the horns of a Lamb — I leave it, I say, to your consideration, whether it be not plain that this extraordinary power, a Roman power, and residing at Rome, was to be a Christian and Ecclesiastical, and not a Pagan and Civil power. IV. Another obvious character of Antichrist, or rather, complication of characters, is that triple brand, impressed upon him, of a tyrannical, intoler- nnt, and idolatrous, power. The prophets hold him up to us, as reigning, or exercising an oppressive and supereminent do- minion, over the kings of the earth, that is, of thr; 37 290 PROPHETIC CHARACTERS western empire;* as making war with the Lamb ^ and the saints who receive not his mark in their fore- heads^] that is, persecuting good and conscien- tious Christians, who refuse to wear the badge of Antichrist, and to serve under him ; and, as anoth- er Babylon, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earthjX that is, as polluted himself with the grossest idolatry, and as corrupting the nations with the same profane worship. But these marks, it will be said, have been found upon so many powers, which have appeared in the world, that they cannot be given as the distinctive marks of one, that is, of the Papal power. Nay, the bishop of Meaux goes further, and attempts to shew, by a very refined argument, that the very terms of whoredom and for77ication, in which the last of these marks, I mean, idolatry, is set forth by the prophet in the book of Revelations, make it impossible for us to apply that mark to Rome Christian. Let us see, then, frsty wKat force there is in the criticism of this learned prelate. • Dan. vii. 8. 20. Rev. xvu. 1. 16, 17- t Dan. vii. 21. Rev. xvii. 14. ; xiii. 7. li. ^ Rev. xvii. 5. OF ANTiaiRlST. 091 That ivhoredom^ or fornication^ in the language of scripture, means idolatry ^ is agreed on all hands, and cannot be disputed : Whether the figurative use of this term arose from observing,how constantly that pollution attended idolatrous worship ; or how fitly a communication with false gods may be com- pared with that unlawful commerce : Whatever be the ground of the analogy, it is clear to a demon- stration that ivhoredom is but another name for idol- atry, which, under this idea, is very frequently charged upon tlie Jews by the ancient prophets. Sometimes, however, (without doubt, to ag- gravate the charge) the idolatry of the Jews is con- sidered in the light of adultery, that is, of infidelity to the God of Israel ; to whom, as to her proper Lord and Husband, the Jewish nation had, by express stipulation, and in the most solemn man- ner, contracted herself. But, notwithstanding this promiscuous appli- cation of the terms, fornication, and adultery, to the idolatry of the Jews in the ancient prophecies, it hath been remarked by the bishop of Meaux, "That Babylon, or Rome, in the Revelations, is constantly and uniformly spoken of, as a xvhore^ and not as an adulteress: whence he concludes, that this charge is brought against Pagan Rome only, and not Christian Rome. For, why, he asks, 292 PROPHETIC CHARACTERS is so much care taken not to impute adultery to idolatrous Rome, if it had been a Christian city ? when its poUuting itself with this crime, contrary to the most express engagements, which Chris- tians take upon themselves, of fidelity to the only true God, might justly deserve, and, in propriety, may seem to require, this oppro- brious charge, rather than that other lighter one of Jbrnication : whereas, if Pagan Rome be here meant, its idolatry could only be set forth under the idsa. of Jbrnicatiofiy and not of adulter y.^^^ Now, although, as I observed, the idolatrous Jews are frequently treated by their prophets, as * Le saint apotre a bien pris garde de ne pas nommerla prostituee, dont il parle, une adultcre, \l,Ol%a.Zciy ^LOl%aKi^U,, mais une femme pviblique — sans jamais avoir employe le mot d'adultere ; tant il etoit attentif a eviter I'idee d'vme epouse infidelle. — Loin de mar- querla Prostituee, comme une EgUze corruinpue, nous avons monr tre clairement qu'il a pris des idees toutes contraires a celles-la, puis qu'aulieu de produire une Jerusalem infidelle, ou du moins une Samarie, autrefois partie du peuple saint, comme il auroit fait s'il avoit voulu nous representer une eglise corrompiie, il nous propose une Babylone, qui jamais n'a etc nommee dans I'alliance de Dieu. Nous avons aussi remarque qu'il n'avoit jamais donne a la Prosti- tuee le titre d'epouse infidelle ou repudiee : mais que par tout il s'etoit sei'vi du terme de fornication^ et de tous ceux qui revenoient au meme sens. Je seals que ces mots se confondent quelquefois avec celui d'adultere, mais lejort du raisonnement consiste en ceque de propos deltbere Saint Jean evite toujours ce dernier mot qui marque- roit la foi violee, le marriage souille, et I'alliance rompue, &c. — L'A- pocalypse avcc une Explication ; par Messire ^aqxies Benigne Bossuet, Eveque de Meaux. Pref. 26, 29. Apvertisement, p. 321 — 323. Par. 1690, 120. OF ANTICHRIST. 293 fornicators, as well as adulterers, nay, are much more frequently* represented under the former idea, than the latter ; and although it be therefore true, that fornication is not necessarily, and exclu- sively, to be understood of Pagan idolatry, but may well be applied to Christian idolaters, as it was to the Jewish ; yet the force of the learned objector's argument will not be obviated by this observation only. For the stress of it lies in this, " That the idolatry of Rome in the Revelations is every where, that is, purposely, termed fornication (to insinuate to us, that the charge is directed against a Pugan city, and not a Christian church,) and no where, that is, purposely again, called adultery. ^^ The objection is extremely ingenious ; and, so far as I know, hath been, hitherto, unanswered. Yet, if any good reason can be assigned why the prophet should thus studiously prefer the term,yor- nication, to that of adultery, in describing the idola- try of Christian Rome, notwithstanding those terms be used indifferently by the Jewish prophets, when * The reason I take to be, T\\Sitforntcatio7\, that is, vatyue lust, and general prostitution, served best to express the unbridled and indiscriminate passion of the Jews for the demon-worship of their neig^hbours : Whereas the crime of a(/u/fery, though of a blacker die, and, in that view, more proper to expose the malignity of their of- fence, does not convey the same ideas of universal pollution, being usually committed, because it is so criminal, with more distinctioR and restraint. 294 PROPHETIC CHARACTERS they reprove the idolatry of their own countrymen, the bishop of Meaux would himself acknowledge, that his objection falls to the ground. Now such a reason offers itself to us in the em- blem, under which St. John chooses to represent his idolatrous society. This emblem is, Babylott ; a Pagan idolatrous city ; to which the idea of JoT' nidation may be colourably, and hath, in fact, been, applied,* in order to express the transgression of the law of nature, in its idolatrous worship : but to such a city, adultery^ could in no proper sense, be applied ; because, it had never entered into any close engagement, or marriage-contract ^ as it were, with the God of heaven. This being admitted, we see the reason, why Rome Christian is taxed as a whore simply, and not as an adulteress. For what had been improperly said of the tt/pCy cannot, on the principles of deco- rum, be transferred to the ajititype. If Babylon be only a harlot^ she is a harlot still, and nothing more, when she stands for Rome, whether Pagan, or Christian. The concinnity of the figure, and the just correspondence of the thing signified to the sign, demands the observance of this rule ; which cannot be violated without manifest absurd- ity and confusion. * Isaiah xx'iu. 16,17. Nahum iii- 4. GF ANTICHRIST. 295 "But why then, it is asked, was such an emblem employed ? Why was not Jerusalem, or Samaria (of which adultery might be predicated) rather chosen, than Babylon, for the type, or representation of idolatrous Christian Rome j"' The reason, again, is obvious. It was, because Babylon was the first of all idolatrous cities ; and the fittest* to emblematize the enormous guilt, or to set in full light the extensive influence, of idolatrous Rome. For each, in its turn, was the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth ; the former corrupting the heathen world with her fornication, and the latter, the Christian. When therefore for this, or the like reason, Babylon was made the emblem of Christian Rome, the prophet was obliged to retain the idea of forni- cation, only, and not to interpose that of adultery, through the whole tenour of his application. It may, further, be worth observing, that Pagan idolatry is, for the most part, exposed by the an- cient prophets under the notion of lies, or lying • -—For it is the land ofgraixn images, and tliey are mad upon their idols, Jer. 1. 38. Ag'ain : Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord's hand, that m.ade all the earth drunten : the nations have drunken of her v)ine, therefore the nations are m,ad, Jer, U. 7. Compare Rev. xvii — the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk xvitk the wine of her fornicati*n. 296 PROPHETIC CHARACTERS vanities;* and very r^ely, I think in no more than one or two shori passages, under that of for- nication. P'or vague lust was so generally practised in the heathen world, and the law of nature, con- demning that vice, so little known, or respected by it, that the metaphor would not have conveyed to a Pagan idolater the atrocious nature of his crime. The Mosaic law, on the other hand, inter- dicting fornication in the severest terms, and requiring that there should be no whore of the daughters of Israel,^ the guilt of idolatry was very forcibly, as well as naturally, represented to a Jew, under that idea. Accordingly, we find, that the prophets every where, and in whole pages, employ this figure, when they address themselves to Jewish idolaters. Whence it may seem, that, although there be suffi- cient authorities to justify the prophet St. John in considering his emblematic Babylon under the idea of a harlot, yet he would not have prosecuted even this inferior charge of fornication so far as he has done, and in so many parts of his prophecy, if his purpose had not been to apply it to a believing^ and not a Pagan city. If the mystical Babylon be Christian Rome, we see the force and propriety of this representation ; which had clearly been less * Mr. Mede. Works, p. 49. f Deut. xxiii. 17' OF ANTICHRIST. 297 apt, if Pagan Rome, according to the bishop of Mcaux, had been intended by tiie prophet. We see then, in both ways, why Rome is not an adidtress in the Revelations ; and why she is so emphatically, .a liarlot. The type employed for- bad the former charge, though the antitype be Rome Christian: The latter charge had not been so much laboured, if the antitype had been Rome Pagan. » Thus, the edge of this acute objection is en- tirely taken off, and the execution, it was to make on the Protestant system, prevented. To return, now, to the consideration of our three marks. These marks, it is said, agree to so many other powers, besides that of the Papacy, that they cannot be made the peculiar, distinctive characters of Christian Rome. And, without doubt, consider- ed merely in themselves, they cannot. But, having already understood that the po\ver, thus stigmatiz- ed, is a power seated in the seven-hilled cit}-, and that too, an ecclesiastical pc>wer, one sees clearly that, if the prophecies have hitherto received their accomplishment in any degree, these marks can only be sought in Papal Rome, and must be the proper, exclusive characters of that power. I say, one sees this ; but, it must be owned, not without 38 298 PROPHETIC CHARACTERS amazement, That a species of government, calling itself Christian, and professing to model itself on the example of the Lamh^ on the pure and simple principles of the Gospel, should yet be all over stained with those specific vices, which Christian- ity most abhors — the utmost pride of secular dom- ination — -the most relentless zeal against the rights of conscience — and, what is still more incredible, the most blasphemous idolatry. The accumulated infamy of these crimes struck the prophet, St. John, so forcibly, that, on the sight of this portentous monster, exhibited to him in the vision, he wonder- ed^ as himself expresses it, with great admiration.* But, strange as this vision appeared to the sacred prophet, the Papal history is found to realize all the wonders of it : And, backward as we may be to interpret this vision of a church, professedly Christian, that church herself is so little scandaliz- ed at the imputation of these crimes, that she is ready to avow them all ; the two first, directly and openly ; and the last, when set in a certain light, and explained in her own manner. In short, she prides herself in the extent of her sway,-\ and the * Rev. xvii. 6. i^C(.\i\kU.(JCL S«U|X« ^iytl. \ Not held of the civil power, or acknowledg-ed to be so held, but usurped upon it, and insolently directed against it ; as is well known from ecclesiastical history. The pope is not Antichrist .■ God /or bid ! (says the good abb» Fleury, with a zeal becomuig a mem- I OF ANTICHRIST. 299 the fire of her zeal,^ and only quibbles with us about the meaning of the term, idolatry. ber of the Papal communion.) But neither is he impeccable, nor has he an absolute authority in the church over all things both temporal and spiritual — Le pape /I'est pas P Antichrist ; a Dieu neplaise ; mais il n" est pas impeccable, ni monarque absolu dans Pcglise pour le tempo- rel et pour le spirituel t4eme disc, sur I'hist. ecclesiastiquc, p. 173. Par. 1747, 12.o] The pope, he says, is not an absolute monarch in the church over all things tem,poral and spiritual .• That is, he ought not to arrogate to himself the power of an absokite monarch ; for that the pope as- sumes to be such a monarch, and, in fact, exercised this supreme monarchical power in the church, througli many ages, the learned and candid writer had indisputably shewn, in the discourse, whence these words are quoted. But now this vionarchical sovereignty in all things tem,poral, as "well as spiritual, is certainly one prophetical note or character, by which tlie person or power, styled antichristian, is distinguished. Let the pope, then, be wliat he will, we are war- ranted by M. Fleury himself to conclude, that he hatli, at least, this mark of Antichrist. • In the perseoution of heretics ; which M. Bossuet regards as so little dishonorable to his communion, that lie thinks it a point not to be called in question— ca.\\» the use of tlie sword in matters of religion, an undoubted right — and concludes, tliat there is no illusion more dan- gerous than to consider toleration, as am.ark of the true church — r exercise de la puissance du glaive dans les matieres de la religion Cf dc la conscience ; chose, que ne peut etre revoquee en doute — le droit est certain — il n^y a point d* illusion plus dangereuse que de donner la SOUF- FRANCE pour ifn caractere de vraye Eglise- Hist, des Far. 1. x. p. 51, Par. 1740, 12o. Thus, this great doctor of the catholic cluirch, towards the close of the last century. Andjustnow, another eminent '.vriter of that communion very roundly defends the m,urder of the Bohemian mar- tyrs at Constance, and (what is more provoking still) the fraud and ill faith, tlirough wliich the pious and tender-hearted Fathers of that 300 PROPHETIC CHARACTERS To cut the matter shorty then, and to keep clear of those endless debates concerning the worship of Images^ of the Cross, and of the Host in the cele- bration of the Mass; debates, which a dextrous sophist may fmd means to carry on with a shew of argument, and with some degree of plausibility: To set aside, I say, all these topics, let it be ob- served, at once, That idolatry, in the scriptural sense of the word, is of two sorts, and consists either, 1, in giving the honour due to the one true God, as Maker and Governor of the world, to any other supposed, though subordinate god ; Or, 2, in giving the honour due to Christ, as the sole Mediator between God and man, to any othef sup- posed, though subordinate, mediator. ^\\q former, is the idolatry forbidden by the Jewish law, and by the law of nature : The latter, is Christian idol- atry, properly so called, and is the abomination, prohibited and condemned, in so severe terms, by the law of the gospel. Now, whether the former species of idolatry be chargeable on the church of Rome or not ; and whether the crime of that species, may not be council rushed to the perpetration of it. M. Crevier, Hist, de PUni- •oersitc de Paris, t. iii. 1. vj. p. 435, &.c. Par. 1761, 12o. — Can it be worth while to spend words in fixing- this charge of intolerance on the church of Rome, when her ablest advocates, as we see, even in our days, openly triumph in it ? But, then, hath she forgotten who it was that the prophet savi, drunken ivith the blood of the saints, and \ OF ANTICHRIST. 301 incurred by honouring the true object of worship, through the medium of some sensible image : Whatever, I say, be determined on these two points (which, -for the present, shall be set aside,) the otfier species of idolatry is, without all doubt, charge- able on any Christian church that shall adopt or acknowledge, in its religious addresses, another me- diator, besides Christ Jesus. But the church of Rome (I do not say, in the pri- vate writings of her divines, but) in the solemn forms of her ritual, publicly professes^ and, by her canons and councils, authontativtly enjoins^ tha worship of saints and angels, under the idea of me- diators and intercessors : not indeed in exclusion of Christ, as owe, or, if you will, as ^^/jze/" mediator, but in manifest defiance of his claim to be, the sole mediator. This charge is truly and justly brought against that church, as it now stands, and hath stood, for many ages ; and cannot, by any subter- fuge whatsoever, be evaded.* And therefore, to viith the blood of the martyrs ofyesus — Rev. xvii. 6 ! Alas, no : But she wonders, by what figure of speech heretics are called Satnts ; and rebel to the pope, -martyrs ofyesus. * See Vitring'a Apocalyps. Exp. p. 603, and the authors cited by him : But, above all, see Mr. Mede's exquisite and unanswerable discourse, entitled. The apostacy of the latter times. 'Tis true, the bishop of Meaux is pleased to divert himself with one part of this discourse ; I mean, that part, which contains [ch. xvi. and xvii.] the learned writer's interpretation of Daniel's proph- 302 PROPHETIC CHARACTERS the other characters of pride and intolerance, which she takes to herself with much complacency, she must, now, be content (whether she will or no) to have that of Demon-worship, gr anti- CHRisTiAN IDOLATRY, fastened upon her. Nor let the followers of that communion think to elude this charge, by saying, That they only re- quest the saints, as we commonly do any good man, ecy, concerning' the Gods Mahuzziin- He finds something pleas- ant in this idea, or rather in this hard word, which he repeats so often, and in such a way, as if he thought the very sound of Mahuz- *eiim, was enough to expose the comment and commentator to con- tempt. Hist, de^ Var. 1. xiii. p. 260, 261. But, after all, the ingen- ious prelate would have done himself no discredit by being a little more serious in discussing an interpretation, which Sir Isaac New- ton adopts without scruple \_Obs. on the prophecies of Daniel, &c. p. 192 ;3 and which, in mere respect to the prophet, he should, at least, have condescended to replace by some other and more reason- able interpretation. But it is the infirmity of this lively man, to be jocular out of season. Thus, again, he raillies Luther, for an asser- tion of his, delivered, it seems, with some assurance, and, in the form, as he pretends, of a prediction. That the Papal poiier mould speedly decline and come to nothing, in consequence of the Refortnation. The event, he says, has belied the prophet ; the pope still keeps his ground ; and then (in an unlucky parenthesis) laughs to think, hois inany others, besides Luther, will be dashed to pieces against this stone -—bien d'autres, que Luther, se briseront contre cette pierre {Var. 1. xiii. p. 244-3 Now, if the glory of saying a good thing had not in- fatuated this Catholic bishop, could he have helped starting at his own comparison of a stone, as applied to Luther and the Reforma- tion, when it might so naturally have put him in mind of that pro- phetical stone, which shall one day become a ^reat 7noMn»a/», and break in pieces a certain image, and stand for ever [Dan. ii. 35, 44.1 • OF ANTICHRIST. 303 to pray fir them.* False, and disingenuous ! False ; because their breviaries and litanies shew, that they supplicate the saints to befriend them by their own inherent power, or to intercede for them to the throne of God by virtue of their own per- sonal merits, t in blasphemous derogation to the all-atoning and incommunicable intercession of Je- sus. Disingenuous, too ; because they know very well, that the question is concerning unseen and heavenly mediators only, not men like ourselves, such as we live and converse with on earth ; whom we only admonish of their duty, and to whom we only do ours, when we call upon them to exert an act of piety and common charity in praying for their fellow Christians. Our meaning is but that which the apostle well expresses, when he would have us consider one another, to provoke tinto love and to good works ;% and not at all to supplicate our Christian brethren as powerful intercessors, in whose meritorious virtues we confide, and to * L'EgUse, en nousenseignantqu'il est utile de prier les Saints nous enseigne a les prier dans ce meme esprit de charite, et selon cet ordre de societe fraternelle qui nous porte a dcmander le se- cours de nos freres vivans sur la terre ; et ie Catcchisme du Concile de Trente conclut de cette doctrine, que si la qualite de Media- teur, que I'ecriture donne a Jesus Christ, recevoit quelque prejudice de ^intercession des Saints qui regnent avec Dieu, elle n'en rcccv- roit pas moins de I'intercession des fideles qui vivcnt avec nous. M. BossuET, Exposition de la doctrine de CEglite Catholique, p. 17, 18, Paris, 1671. t Vitringa, p. 603, 604. *■. Heb. x. 24. 304 PROPHETIC CHARACTERS whom, as possessing a proper interest in the AI- mighty, by the worth of their own persons, we com- mit our dearest concerns, The forgiveness of our sins, and the salvation of our souls. " But this, it will be said, is a very defective, and even unfair, account of the matter. We do more than admonish our brethren of their duty, when we solicit their prayers for us. We invite them directly, and formally, to intercede for us to the throne of Grace. We are allowed, nay en- couraged, to lay a stress on their intercession ; and, what, is more, we are given to understand that such intercession, especially if it be made by good men, will have weight and influence in heaven. What else is the meaning of the apostle, when he assures us, That the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. James v. 16. ? And, if'the prayer of a righteous man, much more the prayer of glorified saints and angels." I have put the argument, I think,' in all its force, and (because the advocates of the Papal cause affect to thmk it unanswerable) shall examine it, with care. " We apply to good Christians, or to those we esteem such, to intercede for us by their prayers to heaven." We do so ; and are encouraged in OF ANTICHRIST. 305 this application, by tlie example^ and by the direc- tions, of tlie apostles. For I shall not take advan- tage of what so;ne have conceived to be the mean- ing of St. James, in the place alleged, where he attributes so much to the prayer of a right- eous man, That the prayer, there spoken of, is the prayer of faith, or a spiritual gift miracu- lously conferred on the first teachers of the gos- pel, and confined to their ministry : I will not, I say, take advantage of this gloss ; because, what- ever foundation it may seem to have in the context of that epistle, I allow it to be clear from other places of the New Testament,* That the duty of Christians is to pray, that is, to ijitercede, for each other. But then I desire it may be observed, 1. What difference there is between desiring good men to pray for us, in the gospel sense of that duty ; and desiring saints and angels to pray for us, in the sense of the Papal rituals. We request those prayers, only as they shall be offered Up in the name, and through the merits, of the great, and properly speaking, sole Intercessor ; and we look for no effect from them, but on that con- dition. The church of Rome addresses herself to * 1 Thess. V. 25. 1 Tim. i'l. 1. and elsewhere, passim- 39 306 PROPHETIC CHARACTERS saints and angels, as intercessorsy by, what we may call, their own right, by virtue of their own inherent sanctity : Or, rather, she applies to them, directly, as to Saviours^ for their proper and im- mediate help, and expects it from the supposed privilege of their rank, or merits, independently of ihtiv prayers y or, at least, of the manner in which those prayers shall be presented through the name of Jesus. The formal words of their litanies shew, that such is their meaning. But they will say, that this condition of inter- ceding, or saving, through the merits of Christ, is implied, though not expressed. I reply then, 2. That, admitting it to be so, there is, yet, the widest diiference between praying to saints and angels to pray for us, though in the gospel forms of intercession ; and merely requesting good men to pray for us, in those forms. The latter address is made in a way remote from all appearance of idol- atry, and free from the suspicion of it ; The former, is preferred in the place ^ at the thney with the posture^ in the language^ in short, with all the cir- cumstances and formalities of divine worship. 3. I observe, that, when we ask the prayers of men, we know that they hear our address to them : We cannot even suppose thus much of saints and OF ANTICHRIST. 307 angels, without ascribing to them the incommu- nicable attributes of the Almighty. Still, it may be insisted, That prayers, Avhether offered up to God by men, or glorified spirits, are however to be considered in the light of interces- sions ; and that therefore, so far as we combat the practice of saint-worship on that ground, Protes- tants, as well as Papists, when they employ the prayers of others, are guilty of idolatry. This, in truth, is the hinge, on which the ques- tion turns : And, to shew the difference of the two cases, palpably and clearly, I say, Fourthly, and lastly. That the gospel, in per- mitting, or rather in commanding us to ask the prayers of each other, justifies this sort of interces- sion, and absolves it from the blame and guilt of idolatr}% It gives a sanction to this mode of me- diating with God by his saints, on earth ; and does not regard it as a practice that interferes with the mediatorial office of Jesus, in heaven. The same gospel, on the contrary, (I inquire not, for what reasons) says not a word, from which we can infer, that any such address is directed, or per- mitted, to be made to angels or spirits. It even condemns all addresses of this kind, under the 308 PROPHETIC CHARACTERS opprobrious name of unauthorized, or will-wor- ship.* Though we be allowed, then, to have good men, in some sense, for our mediators or intercessors on earth, we are not allowed to have any mediator or intercessor in the tabernacle of heaven, but Jesus, the great high priest of Chris- tians, only. This last sort of intercession, by an- gels and glorified saints, is against the spirit and letter of our religion. It is a practice, which, not being enjoined, is forbidden ; which, being disal- lowed, is reprobated. In a word, it entrenches on the incommunicable honour and prerogatives of the great, the appointed, the sole Mediator in heaven, seated at God's right hand, who ever liveth to make intercession for tts.\ It sets up new mediators, without, and against his leave : It is, then, unchris- tian, and idolatj'ous. Thus at length, I suppose, it appears indis- putably, That we are neither unreasonable, nor un- charitable, in charging idolatry, as well as the other two antichristian vices of pride, and intoler- mice, to the account of Papal Rome, V. The last prophetic mark of Antichrist, which I shall have time to point out to you, and what per- haps you may esteem the most material of all, is, * Coloss. il. 23. t Heb. vii. 25. OF ANTICHRIST. 309 The TIME m which that power is said to make its appearance in the world. It hath been already observed,* that the chro- nology of the prophecies is, for the most part, not defined ^v•ith that exactness, which we expect in historical compositions. It is commonly express- ed in terms that may be interpreted with some latitude ; or, when the date is more precisely divered, we are still at a loss, in some respect or other, before the event, in what manner to form our calculation. However, the expression is not so loose and vague, but that we may clearly apprehend about what time the predicted event will come to pass. Thus, for instance, the season of Christ's coming into the world was fixed by such circumstances as these — that it should be before the total dissolution of the Jewish state — or while the second temple was yet standing : And, when it was determinately fore- told to be after the expiration of seventy weeks, from the going forth of the commandment to return and to build Jerusalem^ still, besides the prophetic and somewhat obscure sense of the word weeks^ we cannot beforehand calculate exactly when these * Sermon viii. p. 218—221. and Sermon ix. p. 243. 310 PROPHETIC CHARACTERS weeks commence,* or in what term they are to her accomplished. Yet, notwithstanding these uncer- tainties, the Jews saw very clearly, and, from them, the rest of the world conceived an expectation, that the person predicted was to appear in that age, or about that time, in which, he did appear, and which, from the tenour of the prophecies, they had computed would be the time of his appearance. In like manner the season of Antichrist's appearance in the world is left to be collected from general intimations ; and, when the duration of his tyranny is limited to twelve hundred and sixty daySy besides that the expression, as before, is enigmati- cal, we have no means of fixing the commence, ment of that period so precisely, but that some doubts may arise about it, till the accomplishment of the prophecy shall give light and certainty to the computation. Yet still, as in the former case, • " Whatsoever time of Messiah's appearing Almighty God *' pointed out byDaniel's Lxxweeks,yet I believe not that any Jew, be - '* fore the event, could infallibly design the time virithout some lati- " tude; because they couldnot know infallibly where to pitch the head " of their accounts, until the event discovered it : yet in some lati- " tude they might." Mede, Works, p. 757. And so in other instances. " I do not believe that the Jews " themselves could certainly tell from which of their three captivities '* to begin that reckoning of lxx yeai's, whose end should bring " their return from Babylon, until the event assured them thereof" Mede, Works, p. 662- OF ANTICHRIST. 311 we have such data to proceed upon in calculating the reign of Antichrist, as may let us see about what time it ^vas to be expected. Thus much being premised, I have now only to remind you of what the prophets expressly declare concerning the rise of Antichrist. The eldest of these, the prophet Dimiel, says it was to be in the time of i\\t fourth kingdom, that is, of the Roman ; which, for the convenience of the prophetic calcu- lations, is considered as subsisting, though in a new form, under the ten kings, among whom it was to be divided. He further tells us, that Anti- christ was to arise from among, and after ^ the ten kings ; that is, we are to look for him then (and not before) when the Roman empire has undergone that change of government.* Next, St. Paul, it seems, had told the Thessa- lonians, what it was that, for a time, prevented the appearance of Antichrist: But that information hath not been transmitted to us. However, he says to them — Ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time : and further adds, h e , ivho now letteth, will let y until he be taken out of the 7vay.-\ * Dan.vii. f 2 Thess. ii. 6, 7- 312 PROPHETIC CHARACTERS Now, by putting these passages together, and by comparing them with the predictions of Daniel, not we of these later times only, before whom the man of sin is supposed to be evidently displayed, but the early fathers of the church, long before the events happened to which these prophetic notices could be applied, clearly saw, or at least generally conjectured, that the impediment, here mentioned* was the then subsisting power of the Cesarean government ; which, they said, was first to be taken away, and then Antichrist would be revealed.* Lastly, the apostle St. John not only con- firms the prophecies of Daniel, that Antichrist should arise out of the ten kings, who were: to have the western empire shared out among them, but adds this remarkable circumstance. That he should RIDE the ten kings;! which implies, that he should co-exist with them : And it further appears, that he was to receive his whole power from them, and was finally to be destroyed by them. Now, turn to the history of the yo?^;tA kingdom, and see how it corresponds to these prophecies. Observe, when the western empire under its Ce- sarean head, was taken away ; how it was, after- 9 * Sermon vli. p. 175 — 177- But see especially Mede's Works, p. 657 f Rev. xvii. 7. ^ OF ANTICHRIST. 313 wards, dismembered by the northern nations ; by what degrees it fell at length, into ten^ that is, ma- ny distinct, independent kingdoms ; at what time this partition was made, or rather fully settled and completed. From this time, and not before, you are to look for Antichrist, now gradually rearing himself up among the ten kings ; and at length, in a condition, by the power, which they gave to him, to ride^ that is, to direct and govern them. From this time, again, compute tlie 1260 years, the predicted period of his government ; and, keep- ing your eye all along on the ecclesiastical and civil state of our western world (the predicted theatre of all these transactions) see, if you can help concluding, I do not say at what precise time, but xibout what time, Antichrist appeared; see, if the commencement of his reign be not so far determin- ed as that you may be certain of its being long since past ; and see, if very much, at least, of that allotted /?6rzo(/, through which his dominion was to continue, according to the prophecies, be not, by the evident attestation of history, now run out* To DRAW, then, what hath been said on the several marks of Antichrist, to a point. Consider, within what part of the world, he was to appear ; in what seat or throne, he was to be established; »>f what kindy his sovereignty was to be ; with what 40 314 PROPHETIC CHARACTERS attributes^ he was to be invested ; in what season^ or about what time^ and for how long a thne, he was to reign and prosper : Consider these five obvi- ous characters of Antichrist, which the prophets have distinctly set forth, and which, from them, I have successively held up to you: And, then, compare them with the correspondent characters, which you find inscribed, by the pen of authentic history, on a certain power, sprung up in the West ; seated in the city of Rome ; callmg himself the vicar of Christ ; yet Jull of names of blasphemy, that is, stigmatized with those crimes, which Christianity, as such, holds most opprobrious, the crimes of tyrannic dominion, of persecution, and even idolatry; and lastly, now subsisting in the world, though with evident symptoms of decay, after a long reign, whose rise and progress can be traced, and whose duration, hitherto, is uncontra- dicted by any prophecy : Put, I say, all these cor- respondent marks together, and see if they do not furnish, if not an absolute demonstration, yet a high degree of probability, that apostate Papal Rome is the very Antichrist foretold. At least, you will admit that these correspon- dencies are signal enough to merit your attention, and even to justify your pains in looking further into so curious and interesting a subject. Ye will say to yourselves, That the prophecies con- 1 OF ANTICHRIST. 315 cerning Antichrist deserve at least to be considered with care, since in so many striking particulars, they appear, on the face of them, to have been completed. This conclusion^ it is presumed, is a reasonable one : And the end of this discourse will be an- swered, if ye are, at length, prevailed upon to draw this conclusion. J SERMON XII. USES OF THIS INQUIRY INTO THE PROPHECIES. Rev. xxii. 7. Behold^ I come quickly : Blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the Prophecy of this book, JjEFORE we engage in a work of time and dif- ficulty, we naturally ask, " Cui bono, to what con- siderable end and purpose, are our labours to be referred ?" Although it may, then, be presumed, that enough hath been said on the prophecies to excite a reasonable desire of looking further into them, and even to produce a general persuasion, that they have been, or may be, understood ; yet, it may quicken your attention to this argument, and support your industry in the prosecution of it, to set before you the uses, which may result from a full and final conviction (if such should be the issue 318 USES OF THIS INQUIRY , of your inquiries,) That these prophecies are not intelligible only, but have, in many instances, been rightly applied, and clearly fulfilled. These uses are very many. I shall collect, only, two or three of the more important, for your consideration. Though every period of prophecy be instruc- tive, that which takes in the great events and rev- olutions, which have come to pass in the Christiatr church, is, for obvious reasons, more especially interesting to us, who live in these latter ages of the world. Of the numerous predictions, contained in either Testament, which, it is presumed, respect these events, the most considerable by far, be- cause the most minute and circumstantial, are those of St. John in the Revelations ; which treat professedly of such things as were to befall the ser- vants of Jesus,* from the prophet's own days, down to that awful period, when all the mysterious councils of God, in regard to the Christian dispen- sation, shall be finally shut up in the day of judg- ment. To these predictions, then, a more partic- ular attention is due, the rather because they have been fulfilling from the time of their delivery — ^ * Rev. i. 1, INTO THE PROPHECIES. 3l§ behold I come quickly — and, above all, because a blessing is pronounced on those, who keep^ that is, who observe, who study and contemplate, the sayings of this book. Assuredly, tlien, this study will be rewarded with signal benefits. And one sees immediately : I. In the first place, that no small benefit must arise to those, who admit the completion of these prophecies, so far, I mean, as the tenour of the book makes it probable that they have been completed, Jrom the awful sense ^ which this conviction must needs give them of the Christian dispensation itself . That this dispensation, ushered in by so long a train of prophecies, should still be attended by oth- ers, through all the stages and periods of it ; that secular empires should rise and fall, unnoticed, as it were, by the Spirit of God, while the kingdom of his Son is so peculiarly distinguished, and its whole history, in a manner, anticipated, by the most ex- press predictions : that Jesus should be, as he says of himself, the Alpha and Omega^ the begin?iing and the e?idy* of all God's religious dispensations to mankind : that his frst comings or personal appear- ance in the flesh, should be signified from the foun- * Rev. ii. 8. ; xxi. 6- 320 USES OF THIS INQUIRY dation of the world, and from time to time more explicitly declared in a variety of successive proph- ecies, till the great event, at length, fulfilled them all : and that, together with this event (the founda- tion of others, still more illustrious) his second com- ings in the future and gradual manifestations of his power (for they were to be gradual) should be dis- tinctly marked out, and duly accomplished, in the fortunes of the Christian church, or of that king- dom, which he came to erect in the world ; while this subject, and no other, engaged the ultimate attention of all the prophets : There is, I say, in this scheme of things, something so astonishingly vast, something so much above and beyond the attention that was ever known to be paid to any other per- son or thing in the compass of universal history, as must strike an awe into the hearts of all men, who consider Christianity in this point of view ; and must compel the most negligent to confess, or sus- pect at least. That such a dispensation is a matter of no light moment, but, indeed, the most impor- tant in the eyes of Providence, and the most in- teresting to mankind, that can be conceived, or expressed. if, then, there be reason, to admit the comple- tion of such prophecies, respecting such a subject, in any considerable number of instances, within that space of time which is already elapsed ; and, there- INTO THE PROPHECIES. 321 fore, to expect that the remaining prophecies will, in like manner, be fulfilled. The conclusion is, that the dispensation of God through Christ is of the last consequence to the inhabitants of this world : And the obvious use of this conclusion will be, that it further obliges all serious men who have thus far profited by a study of the sacred oracles, to put that salutary question to themselves — How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation ?^ Connected with this use of prophecy, II. A second is, That it sets before us, not the importance only, but the truth of Christianity^ in the strongest light. So many illustrious events falling in, one after another, just as the word of prophecy foretold they should, must afford the most convincing proof, That our religion is, as it claims to be, of divine institution : a proof, the more convincing, because it is continually growing upon us ; and, the farther we are removed from the source of our religion, the clearer is the evidence of its truth. Other proofs are supposed to be, and, in some degree, perhaps, are, weakened by a length of time. But .this, from prophecy, as if to make amends for their • Heb, ii. .3. 41 322 USES OF THE INQUIRY defects, hath the peculiar privilege of strengthening by age itself: till hereafter, as we presume, the accumulated force of so much evidence shall over- power all the scruples of infidelity ; and bring about, at length, that general conversion both of Jew and Gentile, which the sacred oracles have so expressly foretold. In both these ways, then, by impressing on the mind the most affecting sense of Christianity ; that is, by giving us, Jirst^ the most awful view o f its pretensions, and then, by producing the Jirmest conviction of its truth, the word of prophecy hath an evident tendency, in proportion as we see its accom- plishment, to promote the great ends, for which it was given, till the earth shall be filled with the knowl- edge of the Lord, and all the inhabitants of the world shall learn righteousness »^ These uses are general, and concern all men : The III. Next, I shall mention, is more especially addressed to thinking 2Lnd inquisitive men. When the view of things, exhibited under the two preceding articles, has raised our admiration, to * Hab. ii. 14. Is. xxvi. 9. INTO THE PROPHECIES. 323 the utmost, of the divine councils in contriving, pre- paring, and at length executing so vast a scheme, as that of Christianity, for the benefit of mankind ; we are led to expect that the effect will correspond to the Tnd'flw^ employed, and that a striking change will, at length, be brought about in the condition of the moral \vorld. But, in surveying the history of this new relig- ion, the theme of so many prophecies, and the great, the favourite object, if I may so speak, of divine Providence, " some are not a little scandaliz- ed to observe that nothing hath come to pass in any degree equivalent to such an expense of forethought and contrivance ; that, for a season, indeed, virtue and piety seemed to triumph, in the exemplary lives of the first converts to this religion, and in the over- throw of Pagan idolatry ; but that this golden age was soon over ; and that, now, for more than four- teen hundred years, the passions of men have kept their usual train, or rather have expatiated with more licence and fury in the Christian world, than in the Pagan ; that idolatry^ in all its forms, has re- vived in the bosom of Christianity ; and, as to private morals^ that this religion has even made men worse than it found them, or, at best, of corrupt sensual- ists, has only made them intolerant and vindictive bigots ; that, in a word, the kingdom of heaven^ as it is called, has, hitherto, neidier served to the glory of God, nor to the good of mankind ; at least, to 324 USES OF THIS INQUIRY neither of these ends, in the c^ie^r/?^, that might have been expected from such high pretensions." The colouring of this picture, we will say, is too strong : but the outline, at least, is fairly given. The corruptions of the Christian world have been notorious and great ; and though they are indeed the corruptionsof men calling themselves Christians, and not the vices of Christianity, yet he who the most dispassionately contemplates so sad a scene, can hardly reconcile appearances to what must have been his natural expectations. Here, then, the prophecies of this book, I mean, of the Apocalypse, come in to our relief. This book contains a detailed account of what would befall mankind under this last and so much magnified dispensation. It foretells all that history has re- corded. It sets before us the corrupt state of the Christian world in almost as strong a light, as that in which our indignant speculatist himself has placed it. But it, likewise, opens better things to our view. It shews, that the end of this dispensation is to promote virtue and happiness ; and that this end shall finally, but through many and long ob- structions, be accomplished. It represents the cause of righteousness, as still maintaining itself in all the conflicts, to which it is exposed ; as gradually gaining ground, and prevailing, through the secret INTO THE PROPTTF,CIF-S. 325 aid of divine Providence, over all opposition, till it obtains a firm and permanent establishment ; till the saints reign (not in a fanatical, but in the sober and evan.£^elical sense of that word, reigii) in the earth ;^ till the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.-\ So far, then, as these prophecies appear to have been completed, they reconcile us to that dis- ordered scene, which hath hitherto been presented to us ; and give repose to the anxious mind, in the assured hope of better things to come. The worst, that has happened^ was foreseen ; and the best, that we conceive, will hereafter come to pass. Thus, the reasonable expectations of men are answered, and the honour of God's government abundantly vindicated. IV. The last use, I shall suggest to you, is that which immediately results from the study of the apocalyptic prophecies concerning Antichrist ; I mean, The support, that is hereby given to Pro- testantism against all the cavils and pretensions of its adversaries. For, if these prophecies are rightly ai)plied to Papal Rome, and have, in part, been signally ac- complished in the history of that church, it is be- Rev. V. to. t Rev. xix. 6. 326 USES OF THIS INQUIRY yond all doubt, that our communion with it is dan- gerous ; nay, that our separation from it is a mat- ter of strict duty. Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye re- ceive not of her plagues'^ — are plain and decisive words, and, if allowed to be spoken of that church, bring the controversy between the Protestant and Papal Christians to a short issue. I know, the advocates of Rome pretend, that, not a sense of duty,'but a spirit of revenge oper- ates in the minds of Protestants, when they affect to lay so great a stress on the apocalyptic proph- ecies. *' Reward her, even as she rewarded you''''\ — is, they say, another of their favourite texts, by which they take themselves to be as much oblig- ed, as by that which they so commonly allege for quitting her communion. It is not, therefore, to cover themselves from the imputation of schism, but, to authorize the vengeance, they meditate against us, that we are stunned with the cry of Antichrist and Babylon. "J To this charge, I can only reply. That, if any Protestant writers have put that sense on the words V * Rev. xviii. 6. f Rev. xviii. 4. 4; M. de Meaux : V Apocalypse avec une explication. Atertisement itux Protestants, p. 303, &c. Par. 1690. INTO THE PROPHFXIES, 327 •^^reward her^ as she rewarded you — they must answer for their own temerity and indiscretion. They, who understand themselves, and the lan- guage of prophecy, disclaim the odious imputation. They say, That they neither admit the lawfulness of persecution in any case, on the account of relig- ion, nor have the least thought of instigating the Christian world to any sanguinary attempts against the Papacy. What the event may be in the coun- cils of Providence, is another consideration : but they neither avow, nor approve those principles, which tend to produce it. They, further, insist, That the two passages under consideration, though, both of them, expressed in the impera- tive form, require a very different construction : That the language of prophecy seems- very often to authorize what it only foretells ; and to com- mand that which it barely permits : that, there- fore, the sense of such passages is to be determin- ed by the circumstances of the case ; that, where obedience is lawful, there the preceptive form may be admitted ; but, where it is not, there nothing more is intended than the certainty of the event : That this distinction is to be made in the present case ; for that Christianity doth not allow vindic- tive retaliations, or holy wars, for the sake of relig- ion, and that offensive arms taken up in the cause of God (how confidently soever some have justi- fied their zeal by the authority of the Jewish Law, ill-applied) are abominable and antichH^f^^ : 328 USES OF THIS INQUIRY Whence we rightly conclude, that — reward her, as she rewarded t/ou — are words not to be taken injunc- tively ; while those other words — come out of her ^ my people — expressing nothing but what it was previously our duty to do, are very clearly to be so taken. Lastly, We say, that the context in the two places alleged, justifies this distinction. Come out of her, my people. Why ? That ye he not par- takers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. The reason is just, and satisfactory. Re- ward her. Why ? No reason is assigned, or could be assigned consistently with the spirit of the Chris- tian religion : It only follows, as she has rewarded you — words, which 'express only the measure, and the equitable grounds of the allotted punishment, not the duty of Christians to inflict it. I return, then, from the confutation of this cavil (the most plausible, however, as well as invidious, which the wit of Rome has started on this subject) to the conclusion, before laid do^vn. That the com- pletion of the apocalyptic prophecies in the Papal apostacy, if seen and confessed, affords an unan^ swerable defence and vindication of the Protestant churches. INTO THE PROPHECIES. 32t) This conclusion, that the pope is Anti- christ, and that other, that the scripture is THE sole rule OF CHRISTIAN FAITH, WCFC thc two great principles, on which the Reformation was originally founded. How the^r^^ of these principles came to be disgraced among ourselves, I have shewn in another discourse.* It may now be worth while to observe, in one word, through what fatal mismanagement the latter principle was even gen- erally disavowed and deserted. When the reformers had thrown off all respect for the Papal chair, and were for regulating the faith of Christians by the sacred scriptures, it still remained a question, On what grounds, those scrip- tures sliould be interpreted. The voice of the church, speaking by her schoolmen, and modern doctors, was universally, and without much cere- mony, rejected. But the fathers of the primitive church were still in great repute among Protestants themselves ; who dreaded nothing so much as the imputation of novelty, which they saw would be fastened on their opinions, and who, besides, thought it too presuming to trust entirely to the dictates of ■what was called the private spirit. The church of Rome availed herself with dexterity, of this preju- dice, and of the distress to which the Protestant • .Sermon viii. 42 330 USES OF THIS INQUIRY party was reduced by it. The authority of these ancient and venerable interpreters was sounded high by the Catholic writers ; and the clamour was so great and so popular, that the Protestants knew not how, consistently with their own principles, or even in mere decency, to decline the appeal which was thus confidently made to that tribunal. The re- formers, too, piqued themselves on their superior skill in ancient literature ; and were ashamed to have it thought that their adversaries could have any advantage against them in a dispute, which was to be carried on in that quarter. Other considera- tions had, perhaps, their weight with particular churches : But, for these reasons, chiefly, all of them forwardly closed in with the proposal of trying their cause at the bar of the ancient church : And, thus, shifting their ground, maintained hence- forth, not that the scriptures were the sole rule of faith, but the scriptures, «* interpreted by the prim- itive Jathet's. When the state of the question was thus changed, it was easy to see what would be the issue of so much indiscretion. The dispute was not only car- ried on in a dark and remote scene, into which the people could not follow their learned champions ; but was rendered infinitely tedious, and, indeed, interminable. For those early writings, now to be considered as of the highest authority, were volumi- INTO THE PROPHECIES. 331 nous in themselves ; and, what was worse, were composed in so loose, so declamatory, and often in so hyperbolical a strain, that no certain sense could be affixed to their doctrines, and imy thing, or ev( ry thing, might, with some plausibility, be proved from them. The inconvenience was sensibly felt by the Protestant world. And, after a prodigious waste of industry and erudition, a learned foreigner,* at length, shewed the inutility and the folly of purr^u- ing the contest any further. In a weli-considtied discourse, on the use of the fathers^ he clearly evinc- ed, that their authority was much less, than was generally supposed, in all points of religious con- troversy ; and that their judgment was especially incompetent in those points, which were agitated by the two parties. He evinced this conclusion by a variety of unanswerable arguments ; and chiefly by shewing that the matters in debate were, for the most part, such as had never entered into the heads of those old writers, being, indeed, of much later growth, and having first sprung up in the barbai-ous ages. They could not, therefore, decide on ques- tions, which they had no occasion to consider, and had, in fact, never considered ; however their care- less or figurative expression might be made to look * M. Daille. 332 USES OF THIS INQUIRY that way, by the dextrous management of the con- troversialists. This discovery had great effects. It opened the eyes of the more candid and inteUigent inquirers : And our incomparable Chillingworth, with some others,"* took the advantage of it to set the contro- versy with the church of Rome, once more, on its proper foot ; and to establish, forever, the old prin- ciple, Th at the Bible, and that only, (interpreted by our best reason) is the Religion of Protes- tants. Thus, ONE of the two pillars, on which the Protestant cause had been established, was happily restored. And, though Mr, Mede, about the same time, succeeded as well in his attempts to replace the OTHER, yet, through many concurring preju- dices, the merit of that service hath not, hitherto, been so generally acknowledged. Whether the pope be the Antichrist of the prophets, is still by some Protestants made a question. Yet, it seems as if it would not continue very long to be so : And it may not be too much to expect, that this institution will, hereafter, contribute to put an end to the dispute. ^ I-ord Falkland, Lord Digby, Dr. Jer, Taylor, Ctc INTO THE PROPHECIES. 333 The Reformation will, then, be secured against the two invidious charges of schism and heresy (for neither of which is there any ground, if the pope be Antichrist^ and if the sole rule of faith to a Christian be the canonical scriptures) and will, tlius, stand immoval)Iy on its ancient and proper foundations. In saying this, I do not, however, mean to as- sert, that the Reformation has no support, but in this principle — that the pope is Antichrist. There are various other considerations, which are decisive in the controversy between us and the Papists. So that, if the prophecies should, after all, be found to suit any other person or power, better than the Roman pontiff, we shall only have one argument the less to urge against his pretensions, and the Protestant cause, in the mean time, stands secure. But, on the supposition that the prophecies are right- ly, and must be exclusively, applied to the church of Rome (of which every man will judge for him- self, from the evidence hereafter to be laid before him) on this supposition, I say, it must be allow- ed that the shortest and best defence of the Protes- tant cause is that which is taken from the authority of those propliecies, because they expressly enjoin a separation from that society, to whicii they arc applied. 334 USES OF THIS INQUIRY, &c. Ye perceive, then, in all views, the utility of studying this prophecy of the Revelations, provided there be reason to admit the completion of it in the history of the Christian church, and pariicuiarly in the history of Papal Rome. The importance and the truth of Christianity will be seen in their full light — The wisdom of the divine councils, in per- mitting the apostasy to take place for a time., will be. acknowledged — And the honour of our common Protestant profession will be effectually maintained. CONCLUSION. THIS Lecture is now brought down to that point, from which, possibly, ye expected me to set out. But, in the entrance on an argument, new to many persons, and misunderstood by most, it seem- ed expedient to take a wide compass. The true scriptural idea of the subject, was to be opened, at large ;* the general argument from prophecy, en- forced;! the me^/zor/ of the prophetic system deduc- ed, and further illustrated in a view of the proph- ecies more immediately respecting the Christian church \X Of those prophecies, those concerning Antichrist^ or the apostasy of Papal Rome^ were to be cleared of all prejudices and objections ;§ and the principles, on which the apocalyptic prophecies, in particular, are to be explained, proposed, and jus- tified :|| It was, further, necessary to bespeak your • Serm. i. li. lii. \ Serm. iv. +■ Serm. v. vi. § Serm. vii. viii. || Serm. ix. x- 336 CONCLUSION. attention to the argument from the apocalyptic prophecies, especially, concerning Antichrist, by shewing the several presumptions there are of its force ;* and by setting before you the uses, to which this whole inquiry may be applied. f This preliminary course, then, though it has been tedious, will not be thought improper, if it may serve, in any degree, to prepare and facilitate the execution of the main design, which is, To in- terpret and apply particular prophecies : A work, of labour indeed ; but not unpleasant in itself; and (if carried on with that diligence and sobriety, which are, in reason, to be supposed) capable, I think, of affording to fair and attentive ininds the fullest satisfaction. The SEASON, I know, may be thought unfa- vourable to such an attempt. For the main stress must be laid on prophecies, about which Christians themselves are not agreed, at a time when the number of those persons is supposed to be very great, and increasing every day, who are not easily brought to acknowledge the reality of any prophecies. * Serm. xi. \ Serm. xii. CONCLUSION. 337 This last would be aii unwelcome consideration, if the fact were certain ; I mean, if the present state of religion were altogether such as some, perhaps, wish, and as others too easily apprehend, it to be. But I hope, and believe, it is not ; the truth of the case, so far as I am able to form a judgment of it, being no more than this. A few fashionable men make a noise in the world ; and this clamour, being echoed on all sides from the shallow circles of their admirers, misleads the unwary into an opinion, that the irreligious spirit is universal and uncontrolable. Whereas, the good and wise, are modest and reserv- ed : having no doubt themselves concerning the foundation of their faith, they pay but little regard to the cavils, which empty or corrupt men throw out against it. They either treat those cavils with a silent contempt ; or, they lament in secret the libertinism of the age, without taking any vigorous measures to check and oppose it. Besides, they rarely come into what is called, free company ; and they are too well employed, and at the same time too well informed, to hearken after every idle publication, on the side of irreligion. For these, and the like reasons, the number of true believers is overlooked ; or thought to be less considerable than, in fact, it is, and would presently be known to be, if a just estimate were taken of them. 338 CONCLUSION. Let me then, under this persuasion, express myself in the spirit, and almost in the words, of an ancient apologist* — " Let no man too hastily " despair of the cause, we are now pleading. When " we stand up in its defence, there are those who '* will lend an ear to us. For, whatever the vain, " or the vicious may pretend, the prophetic writ- •' ings are not fallen so low in the esteem of man- '"' kind, but that there are numberless persons of " good sense and serious dispositions, who wish " to see the truth of the gospel confirmed by them ; '* and are ready to embrace that truth, when fairly " set before them, and supported by the clear ev- *' idence of historical testimony and well-interpreted " scripture." Such is the language, which I am not afraid to hold to the desponding party among us. But should my confidence, or my candour, , transport me too far, should even their apprehensions be ever so well founded, the zeal of those, who preach the the gospel, is not to abate, but to exert itself with new vigour under so discouraging a prospect. If there be a way left to strike conviction into the hearts of unbelievers, it must, probably, be, by press- * Verum non est despcrandum, Fortasse, non canimus sxinlis. Nee enim tarn in malo statu res est, ut desint sanjc mentes, quilnis <"t Veritas placeat, et monstratum sibi rectum iter' et videant et sc- quanttir. Lactant. Dir. Inst. 1. v. p. 317. ed. Spnrlr CONCLUSION. 339 ing this great point of prophetic inspiiation, and by turning their attention on a miracle ^ now wrought, or ready to be wrought before their eyes. Or, let the event be what it will, our duty is to illustrate the word of prophecy, and to enforce it ; to withstand the tor- rent of infidelity with what success we may, and, if it should prevail over all our efforts, to make full proof, at least, of our sincerity and good will. In the mean time, it becomes all others to retain and cultivate in themselves a respect for the prophetic WTitings ; which either are, or, for any thing that has yet appeared, may be divine. To treat them, without the fullest conviction of their falsehood, with neglect and scorn, is plainly inde- cent, and may be highly criminal and dangerous. Josephus tells us, that, in the last dreadful ruin of his unhappy countrymen, it was familiar with them, to make a Jest oj' divine things ^ and to deride ^ as so many setiseless tales arid juggling impostures j the sacred oracles of their prophets ;* though they were then fulfilling before their eyes, and even upon themselves. * 'EyeKaro Je t« ^eTu, kui tsq tuv 'vrftoCPyfJav ^Eo-fj^ag eofl-rep «yug1/x«e Koyoxouxg, e%Afu«?ov. Fl. Joseph. B. J. 1. iv. 6. 340 CONCLUSION. But the case, perhaps, is different ; and we have no concern, in the prophecies concerning Papal Rome, What! Have we no concern in those prophe- cies (supposing, I mean, that they are prophecies at all, and, that there is reason for applying them to the church of Papal Rome) We, who have but just been delivered from the more than Egyptian bondage, which they predict ; and are, therefore, bound by every tie of interest, of gratitude, and of charity, to assert to ourselves, and to communi- cate to others, as far as we are able, the bless- ings of that liberty, wherewith Christ has made us free.* Have we no concern in the several uses, mentioned in this discourse ; and in many oth- ers, which I have not mentioned; it being well known, that all inspired scripture (of which prophecy is so eminent a part) is profitable for doctrine^ for reproof for correction, for instruction in right- eousness ?'\ Or, supposing that we had no direct concern in these prophecies, and supposing, farther, that the divine authority of them was even problemat- ical; still it may deserve to be considered, I mean, by men the most libertine, who have not yet con^ ♦ Gal. X. 1. ' t 2 Tim. iii. \6. CONCLUSION. 341 vinced themselves, by an exact and critical inquiry, of their utter falsehood and insignificancy ; I say, it merits the reflection of all such, That the contempt of the prophecies, under these circumstances, has a natural tendency to corrupt the temper and har- den the heart. And is there no room to question, whether this conduct, plainly an immoral conduct, be adviseable or safe ? Let us then, on a principle of self-lcrve^ if not of piety, keep the sayings of this book^ concerning THE MAN OF SIN. From many appearances, the appointed time for the full completion of them may not be very remote. And it becomes our prudence to take heed that we be not found in the number of those, to whom that awful question is proposed — Honv is it, that ye do not discern the signs of this time ? Nay, there are prophecies, which, in that case, may concern us more nearly, than we think. St. Paul applied one of these, to the unbeliev- ing Jews ; of whose mockery, and of whose fate, ye have heard what their own historian witnesseth : And, if ive equal their obdurate spirit, that prophe- cy may clearly be applied, and no man can say, that it was not intended to be applied, to our- selves. 342 CONCLUSION. Beware therefore, (to sum up all in the tre- mendous words of the apostle*) Beware, lest that come upon you, which is spoken by the Prophets : Behold, ye despisers, and wonder and perish; for I work a work in your days, A work, which ye shall in no wise un- derstand, THOUGH a man DECLARE IT UNTO YOU. * Acts xiii. 40, 41. FINIS. Samuel T. Armstrong, Printer, Charlestoim. i ■2^"ty--, u^n* m v •