C T O ( L I B R ^ 11 Y tiK I UK Theological Seminary, PRINCETON, N. J. TWELVE SERMONS ON THE PROPHECIES Concerning the CHRISTIAN CHURCH; AND, IN PARTICULAR, Concerning the Church of PAPAL ROME; PREACHED IN LINCOLN'S-INN^CHAPEL, AT THE LECTURE or The Right Reverend WILLIAM WARBURTON Lord Bifhop of Gloucester. By S A M U E L H A L L I F A X, D. D. Chaplain in Ordina;-y to His Majesty. L O N P O N, PRINTED BYW. ?OWYER AND J. NICHOLS: FOR T. CAPELL, IN THE STilAKDt MDCCLXXVI, a JSRgl^AM a.«cyi ^MAI J JIW N PViOMh I '':f HT aHT^ ^s "^tt^ >U ^'^^ To THE RIGHT HONOURABLE WILLIAM, LORD MANSFIELD, LORD CHIEF JUSTICE OF ENGLAND, AND, to the right honourable Sir JOHNEARDLEY WILMOT, Knt. late lord chief justice of the common pleas, , TRUSTEES FOR this lecture, THE FOLLOWING SERMONS ARE MOST HUMBLY INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR, S. HALLIFAX. CAMBRIDGE, MARCH 13, I776* ^ T* t/" '^ T* W A ^ [ vli ] CONTENTS. SERMON I. The Truth of Revealed Religion, in nOv3" c)iqr^{Ui3uqA'^ii3 iO UOulV paying none other things than tBfe, which the Propheis-^did fay Jhould come. p. 328. ' iv^- \ J^d\ ^.^:W «Wi?i.K^c5 E R* r^A, 1?^X\XJ xii CONTENTS. SERMON XIL The Reformation vindicated from the ob- jedions of the Romanifts. Concluiion. Rev. xviii. 4. Come out of her ^ my people ; that ye be not partakers of her fins ^ and nbat ye receive not of ker plagues. p. 363. SER. [ » ] S E R M O N i. The Truth of Revealed Religion, in general, and of the Chriftian, in particular, proved from Prophecy. Rev. iii. 22,; He thdt hath an ear^ let him hear what the Spirit faith unto the Churches^ A Revelation, which claims to serm. jfJL come from God, befides the in- ^» ternal arguments of its divinityj arifing ' from its Doftrines, ought alfo to be ac- companied with the external proofs of Miracles and Prophecies. Of thefe we are to conceive, not as intended for the benefit and conviction of the fame per- B " fons 2 The Truth of Revealed Religion^ Sec, SERM. fons and times, but as providently accom- ^' modated to the wants of different ages, " and given in fuccefiion. On the firll: publication of a new religion, there is an evident necefiity in the nature of the thing, not only that the Doftrines be fuch as, for their reafonablenefs and importance, are worthy of God to communicate, but alfo, that the immediate publifliers of this religion be enabled to atteft the reality of their miffion by Miracles. Neither doftrines alone, nor miracles alone, are a fufficient teftimony, that the revelation containing them is divine. The fy^ng wonders % fabricated In Pagan and even in Chriftian times, to fupport the labour- ing interefts of vice and fuperllition, are an ample proof that the moft fpecious miracles, of themfelves, are no fecurlty from fraud and error. Again, we cannot with certainty infer that doftrines, con- fefledly worthy of God to reveal, did In- deed, In an extraordinary way, defcend from proved from Prophecy- 3 from him; becaiife we know not, with serM. exadnefs, the precife Hmits of the human ^' underftanding, or what truths there may " be, however remote from vulgar appre- henlion, which by a well-dire£led appli- cation of its own powers it is capable of difcovering. But when a perfon, affum- ing to be an infpired meflenger, deli- vers with authority a fyftem of religi-^ ous belief and pradlice, which is plainly calculated to promote the glory of God and the prefent and future good of man- kind ; and, in confirmation of fo fublims a character, is able to arreft and fufpend the laws of nature by the produdlon of that efFedt we call a Miracle ; in fuch a cafe, we may fafely repofe on the vera- city and goodnefs of God, that the won- derful works of one fo circumflanced are neither the artful machinations of wicked men, nor the more dangerous delufions of wicked fpirits ; but were purpofely wrought in order to bear witnefs to his words, and to afford a fenfible demonflra- B a tion. 4 ^he Truth of Revealed Religion, &c. SERM. tioD, that he is indeed a teacher come i» from God\ for no man could do thofe miracles which he does, except God were ivith him ^. The fame reafons, which fhew the ne- ceflity of Miracles on the firft promulga- tion of a new religion, ferve alfo to fhew that, when once this end is anfwered, the power of them (hould be withdrawn. Extraordinary appearances of this kind are never indulged in vain ; and w4ien- ever they have been allowed, it hath al- ways been with a frugal hand, and a par- fimonious liberality. They are fitted by their novelty, as well as by the authority implied in the performers of them, to roufe the attention of mankind for a time : but this attention would be weakened, in proportion as the novelty diminiflied ; when grown to be familiar, and viewed without furprize, thty would be no more regarded than the (landing monuments of divine power, exhibited every day in the works of creation and providence ; be-» ^ John iii. 2. fide^ proved from Prophecy. 5 fides that fo frequent a violation of the serm< courfe of nature, as is iuppofed in the ^• conltant difplay of them, would be incon- fiflent with an eftablifhed order and go- vernment of the world. Nor would any inconvenience be felt by the ceafing of this celeftial gift, if, im- mediately or foon after its fubdu6lion, what was mentioned above as the fecond external proof of Revelation were now introduced, the word of Prophecy. This, which in the age of Miracles was not want- ed, and might therefore well be fpared, is, on the difcontinuance of that fuper- natural endowment, an adequate com- penfation for its lofs. Miracles, after being once wrought, partake fo far of the nature of other paft fafls, as only to be verified on the authority of human tefti- mony ; an authority which, by length of time, is liable to become more and more imperfedl, and fubjed: to continual weak- nefs and decay. But the argument from Prophecy preferves its force through a B 3 courfe 6 ^he T'ruth of Revealed Religion^ &c, SERM. courfc of ages, unimpaired; and like the I. light which gilds the approaches of the morning, fhines with encreafing luftre the further we advance from the time of its difcovery. The reafon is, Prophecies are not, as Miracles, unrelated to and independent of one another ; but are to be confidered as conftituting a Whole or Syftem, whofe parts are mutually con- iiefted, and all refer to one confident de- fign, determined beforehand even to the minuteft circumftance in the counfels of providence, and uniformly purfued through a feries of fucceeding generations, and opened with proportionably greater de- grees of perfpicuity, as the time for its full completion draweth near. Hence it follows, that the fcheme of prophecy is not confined to one age, begun and end- ed, as it were, at once j but diflributed through a long tradt of time, and fulfilled gradually, and after certain intervals : by which Jpringing and germinant accompUfi* ment^ I. proved from Prophecy. 7 menty as Lord Bacon calls it% every fingle SERm, prediclion, when forted with the event, becomes in its turn a new confirmation of the faith ; and the latter ages of the world have as frefli and forcible means of convidlion as the former. Thus thefe two pillars of Revelation, though diftindl in themfelves, and either of them alone fufficient, are made, when difpofed by the plaflic hand of the Almighty Architeft, to contribute to the fupport and ornament of each other; and the traditional and ftill weakening authority of Miracles is upheld by the more fure^ and growing evidence of Prophecy. Each proof, in its way, is peculiarly adapted to the times and perfons, for whofe benefit it was in- tended ; and both together form a com- plete and conclufive argument for the truth of that difpenfation which contains them. To apply what has now been faid on revealed religion, in general, to the « Advancement of Learning, book ii. ^% Pet. i. 19. B 4 Jewifli S The Truth of Revealed Religion^ &c. S E R M. Jewifli and Chriftian religions, in parti- ^' cular. L The Jewish Law, though It had in- deed a relative perfeftion, namely that of attaining its end, which was, to preferve alive among a people, purpofely feparated from the reft of the nations, the doftrine of One living and true God ; carried along with it the moft unequivocal marks, interwoven into its conftitution, that it was never intended by its divine author to be a general law for mankind, nor to be of perpetual obligation even to the Jews. The better to fecure this fepara- tion during the time it was to laft, a form of government was inftituted, fingular in Its nature, and without example among the varying polities of the world, a Theo- cracy ; in which God himfelf con- defcended to be the Magiftrate of this favoured people, and exercifed all thofe afts of fovereignty, which were proper to convince them they were the real and im- mediate fubjefts of his kingdom. From hence proved from Prophecy. ,9 lience it appears, that the interpofition of serm, jthe Supreme Behig, which was vifible for i- fo long a period, in the conduft of the ' civil and religious concerns of the Jews, was but a necellary confequence of the peculiar form of their polity ; or, in other words, that it was of the effence of a go- vernment, like that we are now con* templating, that it fhould be adminiftered by Miracles and Prophecies. Miracles were abfolutely requilite, to execute the temporal rewards and punifliments, an- nexed to the Law : and Prophecy, by de- claring beforehand the fucceffes and cala- mities that were to happen to the Jewifti ftate, were a never-failing fource of truft and confidence, as well to them who heard the predi6tions delivered as to thofe who faw them fulfilled, that all the great affairs of this repubhc were under the direftion of an unerring guide, who de^ clareth the end from the beginnings and from ancient times the things that are not yet done^ I. lo The T'ruth of Revealed Religion, &:c, s E R M. fiyif^gi My counjel JJmll Jland^ and I 'vuill do all my pleafure ^ But Prophecy, in the manner it was imparted to this nation, ferved another and yet fublimer ufe. The religion of Mofes, we have fa id, was to iafl: but for a time, and to prepare the way for a more perfect inftitution, to be delivered by Jefus, which ftould be the completion, or, if you will, the extenfion of that which preceded. There being then this dependency between the two religions, it is reafonable to fuppofe that, previous to fuch an important change of the oeco- nomy, fome intimations fhould be given of its approach. And yet to have done this in a way, that would have led the Jews to look with irreverence on a fyftem, under which not only themfelves but their pofterity were to live, would have been little agreeable to our notions of the divine wifdom. A method there- fore was to be invented, which, whilfl it « If. xlvi. lo. kept proved fnim Prophecy. ii kept the people fincerely acklifted to the serm. Law, (hould difpoi'e them, when the time !• was come, for the reception of a better covenant^ that Ihould be ejlablijijed upon better promifes^. Now the fpirit of Pro- phecy, together with the Language in which that prophecy was conveyed, fully accomplifhed both thefe purpofes. By a contrivance, only to be fuggefted by di- vine prefcience, the fame expreffions, which, in their primary and Hteral mean- ing, were ufed to denote the fortunes and deliverances of the Jews, for the prefent confolatiop of that people, were fo or- dered, as, in a fecondary and figurative fenfe, to adumbrate the fufferings and vidlories of the Meffiah, for the future inftri?6lion of the church of Chrift. Had no expedient of this fort been employed, we fliould have wanted one proof of the connedion between the Mofaic and Chriflian rehgions : on the other hand, ):iad the nature of the Meffiah's kingdom ^ Heb. viii, 6. been 1 2 The Truth of Revealed Religion^ &c. SERM. been plainly defcribed, the defign of the I- national reparation would have been defeated. But when fpiritual bleffings were promifed, under the veil of tem- poral, and in terms f^imiliar to the carnal expeftations of the Jews ; a proper de- gree of refpecl for the old fyftem was preferved, at the fame time that matters were gradually ripening for the introduc- tion of the new ; and the Jhadow of good things^ held forth obfcurely in the Law, prepared them to look forward to that happier day, when the very 'unage ^ itfelf ihould be prefented, in full fplendor, and diftindly defined, in the Goipel. From the delineation here given of the religious oeconomy of the Jews, it ap- pears that their civil regimen, on account of the lingular mode of providence by which it was conduced, had the force of a con- tinued Miracle: and their Law, on accoimt of its fpiritual meaning, partook of the 8 Heb. X, ic nature proved from Prophecy. 13 nature of Prophecy. Nor does this op- serm. poie what was faid before concerning i- thcie two fundamental proofs of Reve- ' lation, that they ihould be raifed in fuc- ceflion : for we are here to obferve that the Miracles, recorded in the Jewifli hif- tory, are of two forts ^ ; the one were wrought to evince the truth and divine original of the Mofaic religion ; the other were incorporated into its frame and ftrufture, to fupport it after its eftablifh- ment, and by w^ay of diftributing the re- wards and punilhments, which confti- tuted the fanftion of the Law : the intent of the former w^as fatisfied, when once the authority of the new religion was confirmed ; the latter were eflentially con- nected with the extraordinary adminiftra- tion, and ceafed together with it, on the ^ See A free and candid Examination of the principles of the Bijhop of Londoris Sermons^ etc. London, 1756. Chap. V. where this diftindion, and the ufes to be ferved by it, are explained at large, with a penetra- tion and acutenefs peculiar to the Examiner. return t4 5^^ Truth of Revealed Religion^ &c. 6ERM» return of the Jews from their captivity. !• So did not Prophecy ; which w^as car- ' ried on, in one unbroken chain, to the end of this republic ; nor ever intermitted of its operation, till it had precilely mark- ed out, what indeed was its principal objeft toafcertain, the advent of that lUuftrious Perfon, whom it uniformly defcribes un- der every difpenfation, though in a manner adapted to the genius of each, as the def- tined reftorer of the human race to that immortality which had been forfeited by the fall, and fore-ordained to become the author of eternal fa hat ion /^ all that obey hhn '\ whether Jews or Gentiles. Nor can any adequate caufe be affigned for what we know to have been an undoubt- ed fa£l, the univerfal expe^ation of fomc great prophet ; which prevailed through- out the Eaft, at the very period, when Jefus appeared in Judjca ; unlefs fuch an expeftation be afcribed to the authority of prophecy, and efpecially to the prophe- > Hcb, V. 9. des proved from Prophecy. i^ cies to be found in the book of Daniel k; serm, in which the coming of the Meffiah is !• foretold to happen, not only in general, " within the times of the fourth, or Roman, kingdom; but more particularly, within a given term of years after the reftoration of the city of Jerufalem, then defolated by the Babylonifli captivity, and before the deftrudion of the Jewifli temple and government. There is not the lead co- lour for afferting, that the numerous pre* didtions of this fort, delivered at different times and by different men, were written after the event ; nor can it be pretended they were, all of them, fulfilled in t o- farjes, The Authority of the Book i?/" Daniel. 39 faries, envious that a ftranger fhould be serm. preferred before them, was expofed to the ^^* moft imminent danger, from which no- thing but the arm of heaven, vifibly ftretched out in defence of its chofen fervant, could have refcued him ". What can better defcribe the ufual workings of inftant terror and inveterate habits, than the conduct of the idolatrous princes of Babylon and Media ; who are reprefented as acknowleging the fuperiority of the God of the Jews, and as it were in hafte to engage his protedlion, when imprefled with the recent fenfe of his power and providence ; and then again, on the re- moval of their firft alarm, returning with equal fpeed to their wonted fuperftitions^? Or what more agreeable to the relations of other hiftorians concerning the uncon- troulable genius of Afiatic defpotifm, than the defcription of the Law of the Medes and Perfans ; that, when once if- fued by the king, it was regarded by his ° Ch. y1. ° Ch. lii. and vi. D 4 fubjefts. 40 The Authority of the Book o/* Daniel, SERM. fubjefls, and even by himfelf, as refiftlefs ^?? as the courfe of nature, and like that in- capable of change and alteration ^P In a word, the ftile and turn of the whole per- formance accord to exaftly with the fituar tion of the fuppofed author ; his cha- ra6lers are fo well preferved ; the cuftoms alluded to, whether of Jews or Pagans, correfpond fo juftly with the times ; and each mcident is fo peculiarly accommo- dated to the occafion that brought it forth ; as, all together, to amount to a very high degree of prefumptive evidence, in favour of the authenticity of this facred compofition. If there be any circumftance, in which |:he veracity of the writer feems to labour, it is that which refpeds the names of the Kings, whom he affirms to have reigned in Babylon and Perfia. But out of four pientioned by him, in the firft and the laft, Nebuchadnezzar and Cyrus % it is cou- P Dan. vi. 8. 12. 15, * Ch, i. I. 21. vi, 28, felled, ^he Authority of the Book ^^Z" Daniel. 4X feflt^d, there is no miftake. The fecond, serm, BelJ}jaz%ar\ is indeed denominated other- ^^* wife by the Greek Hiftorians ; who yet are obferyed to differ from one another .as much as they do from Daniel ; Hero- dotus caUing hini by one name, Megaf- thenes by another, Berofus by a third, Tofephus by a fourth. It was a common pradice in the Eaft, as we learn from facred and profane hiftory, for the more celebrated of their perfonages to be dif- tinguidied by a multitude of appellations: even to Daniel and his three companions new names are faid to have been affigned by the chief of the eunuchs, who be- longed to Nebuchadnezzar % The pro- phet, who refided in the courts of Baby- lon and Perfia, could not be ignorant of the names of any of his royal mafters; nor would the author, had he lived fo late ^s is pretended, have hazarded his credit ' Dan. V. I, 30. vii. i, « Ch. i. 7. iv. 8. V. 12, by 42 The Authority of the Book of Daniel. SERM. by inferting the name of a king, which ^^- was known to no hiftorian but himfelf. But the greateft difficulty of all is in the third king, faid here to be Darius the Mede^. It is certain, no prince of this name or nation, between the times of Nebuchadnezzar and Cyrus, is to be found in the feries of the Babylonian and Perfian dynafties, whether fetched from the canon of Ptolemy, or the fragments of Berofus; and, on the firft view, it appears no eafy matter to account for fuch an omifiion, fo as to fave the honour of the infpired penman. Among the many expedients, invented with this defign, there is one which hath been followed by the ableft of our chronologers, and feems every way qualified for the purpofe, which is this ; that the Darius of Daniel, and the Cya- xares of Xenophon, are one and the fame perfon. This prince, the fecond of his name, was uncle, and afterwards father- in-law, to Cyrus the king of Perfia \ and ' Vc 31. vi. 28. ix. I. fon ne Authority of the Book of Daniel. 43 fon to Aftyages, vvhotn he fucceeded In serm; the throne of Media. The better to af- ^^' certain his identity with Darius, it is fuppofed, that after the city of Babylon was taken by Cyrus, and with all the circumftances foretold, with fuch afto- nlfhing particularity, by Ifaiah and Jere- miah ", the nominal fovereignty of that kingdom, by permiflion of the conqueror, was vefted in Cyaxares, for the remainder of his life ; and that it was not till the event of his death, which happened two years afterwards^ that the whole command devolved entirely on Cyrus. This hy- pothefis, which is probable in itfelf, is not incompatible with the received chrono- logy, and confents, in perfeft concord, with the book of Daniel : where we read, that Darius the Median was about three- fcore and two years old^ when he took the kingdom of Babylon ^, on the death of Behhazzar; and where officious pains are " If. ch. xiii. xiv. xlvi. xlvii. Jer. ch. I. li. y" Dan. y. 31. ufed 44 ^he Authority of the Book ^Daniel. SERM. ufed to mark the dates of the prophetical ^^» vifions, fome of them as feen in the fiijl year of Darius, and others in the thWd year of Cyrus king of Perfia''. As to the filence of the Greek writers, who make Cyrus the immediate fucceflbr to Aftyages in the kingdom of Media, with- out the intervention of any fuch perfon ei- ther as Darius or Cyaxares \ the Perfians, from whom the Greeks had their relation, would naturally be difpofed to afcribe the whole merit of fo important a conqueft to their countryman ; and, it being on all hands agreed that the liege of Babylon was chiefly effefted by him, during the abfence of Cyaxares, the fame of the Median prince might eafily be loft in the reputation of his royal nephew. How- ever, Jofephus, forfaking in this inftance his oracle Berofus, whom in other refpefls he is prone to follow, expreffly aflerts, not only that Babylon was deftroyed by the forces of Cyrus and Darius in con- ^ Dan. ix, I. xi. i. x. i, junftion^ The Authority of the Book of Daniel. 45 junftion, but alfo, that this Darius was serm, the Ion of Aftyages, and that the Greeks ^^' called him by another name: and what this other name^ given by the Greeks to the fon and fucceffor of Aftyages was,' we learn from Xenophon, who tells us, it was Cyaxares. Nor is it any legitimate objeilion to fuch evidence, that the book, in which Cyaxares is mentioned by this polite and learned Athenian, is, on the confeffion of the exadeft judges of com- pofition, a ficlion, and not a true hiftory. For granting this, and that it was the defign of the author, who was no lefs a Philofophcr than a' Soldier, not fo much to defcribe the life of Cyrus, as to make ufe of fuch a pretext to convey, with greater addrefs, his own moral - and po- litical inftruftions ; ftill we contend that in a ftory, then fo recent, and of a prince, in whofe family he afterwards ferved, the ground-plot of the whole, and the names and aflions of the leading charafters, would yet be real. One fo judicious as Xeno- 46 The Authority of the Book of Danie^L. SERM. Xenophon, it can hardly be fuppoled, i^- would negleft fo obvious a rule of de- corum : and a great confirmation, that he did adlually advert to it, is, that his ac- count is fupported by the teftimony of Scripture, and leads to a commodious w^ay of removing the apparent inconfiftency between the author of the book of Daniel and the profane hiftorians. II. Having advanced thus far in our defence of the flicred writer, confidered as an Hijiorian^ let us now proceed to exa- mine into his pretenfions, confidered as a Prophet', and try, if we cannot difcover as many notes of genuinenefs, when he takes upon him to foretell future events, as when he profeffes to relate thofe which were paft. The firft, who called in quef- tion his prophetical abilities, was Por- phyry ; a Philofopher of the third cen- tury, and famous for his writings againft the Chriftian religion ; all of which, by the ill-judged zeal of the Emperor Con- ftantine, were ordered to be fupprefled. He ne Authority of the Book of Daniel. 47 He maintained, that the book of Daniel serm. could not be compofed by the perfon of ^^* that name, who flourilhed in the reigns of Nebuchadnezzar and Cyrus, between five and fix hundred years before Chrift ; but was the work of one, who lived al- moft four centuries later, about the age of Antiochus Epiphanes ; becaufe, as low as that period, the predi£lions there re- corded have in them all the clearnefs and precifion of hiftory ; but beyond it, are wrapped up in obfcure and general expreflions, on purpofe, as (hould feem, that they might be adapted to any events, to which a willing expofitor might be de- firous of applying them. This opinion, which, at the firft view, appears to be not altogether defl:itute of probability, was effeclually difproved in a learned com- mentary, ftill extant, by the celebrated Jerom ; who very fagacioufly obferves, that fuch a method of impugning pro- phecy, from its having been punctually fulfilled, inftead of affording room to doubt QX 48 The Authority of the Book of Daniel. SERM. or deny its authenticity, is the ftrongeft !!• teftimony of its truths The next, who laboured in the fame fruitlefs caufe with Porphyry, was the noted author of the Scheme of Literal Prophecy conjidered ^ i he too, in imitation of his predeceiTor, has colle£i:ed whatever he could find, to derogate from the merit of Daniel's book, and with much feeming complacency has afferted, that it was compofed in the days of the Maccabees. But here again, the mifchief apprehended from a work, de-* fignedly calculated to difhonour the reli- gion of Chrift, was happily the occafioii of exciting two ftrenuous champions % of the fame name and profeflion, to engage y Cujus impugnatio tellimonium veritatis efl. Tan- ta enim didtomm fides fuit, ut proplieta incredulis hominibus non videatur futura dixifle, fed narralTc prseterita. Hieron. Pra^f. inDanielem, v« iii. p. 1072. Ed. Benedia. ^ Collins. » Bp. Chandler : See his Defenee and Vindication of his Defence of Chriftianity. And Sam. Chandler : See his Vindication of the Antiquity and Authority of Daniel's Prophecies. in The Authority of the Book of DaniEL* 49 in its defence: by whom the fraud and serm. fophiftry, which deform the whole of this ^^" difingenuous performance, were unanfwer- ably confuted and expofed ; and on its ruins was erefted a firm and folid Vindi- cation of the Jewifh prophet ; unaffiilable by all the attacks of fucceeding Infidels ; and a lafting monument, to perpetuate their own glory and the difgrace of their opponent. But it becomes us to be more particular in our enquiries into the arguments, by which the genuinenefs and antiquity of the prophecies of Daniel may be proved. Not that it is to be expefted, that we be able to produce an unbroken chain of writers, from whofe atteflation it may appear, that the prophecies in queftion, previous to their accomplifhment, and foon after their publication, were generally divulged among the Jews ; as if nothing lefs than this were fufficient to fhew they were of divine original. Evidence of this fort, where it can be had, is doubt- E lefs 50 The Authority of the Book g/* Daniel. SE R M. lefs of all the moft defireable ; but is hard- !!• ly indulged to us on any matters, that are the fubjefts of human cognizance; and there are peculiar reafons, why to crea- tures, in a ftate of moral probation, it (liould not be indulged, on the fubjeft of Religion. The truth and authenticity of any ancient writing will then be efta- bliflied on fufficient grounds, if it be fup- ported on evidence, which, though not the ftrongeft poffible that may be con- ceived, is yet, as far as it goes, real evi- dence ; if it be not confronted by oppolite authorities on the other fide ; and if at a time, when no teftimony of any kind is to be found for it, at the fame time there be none, that can be brought again/1 it. And fuch evidence we certainly have for the book of Daniel. Allowing then that for the firfl 200 years after the age, in v^^hich the prophet is fuppofed to have lived, there are not extant any records of contemporary hif- torians, from which the exiflence either of The Authority oftheBookofDAiiiEL. 51 of Daniel or his predidions may be pro- serm< ved ^ ; and it being allowed on the other ^^• hand, that neither are there any, from " which the contrary can be fhewn: there are, who think an authentic document is ftill remaining, that the book was in high eftimation, at leaft 300 years before Chrift, froiTi a fingular circumftance re- corded by Jofephus concerning Alexan- der ; that when that prince was at Je- rufalem, the prophecies of Daniel, re- fpefting himfelf and his conquefts over the Perfians, were pointed out to him by - Jaddus the high-prieft. This account, it ought not to be diffembled has by fome been rejefted as fabulous, as incon- fiftent with chronology, and as depending folely on the credit of one hiftorian, and him, a Jew. But it ought alfo to be re- membered, there are others, who have ** " There muft liave been external evidence con- ^* cernlng the book of Daniel, more than is come *' down to us." Bp. Butler, Analog}^ Part ii. ch. vl. E 2 not 52 The Authority of the Book of Daniel. SERM. not fcrupled, after a long and accurate ^^' examination, to affert its veracity. Let it fuffice to mention two, and thofe equal to a multitude of inferior writers ; the illuftrious author of the Connedlion of the Hijlory of the Old and New Tefament^ and the learned Prelate alluded to above : the former of whom has defended the chro- nological part of this curious incident *^, and the latter has vindicated the hiftori- cal ^ fo as fully to evince there is nothing incredible or improbable in the whole. At the beginning of the Jewifh trou- bles under Antiochus Epiphanes, and near 200 years before the Chriftian sera, lived Mattathias, father of the Macca- bees : of him we read that, being at the point of death, he encouraged his (bns to truft in God, from the many « Prldeaux, part i. book vii. <» Bp. Chandler in the Vindication of his Defence of Chriftianity, chap. ii. § i. See alfo Sam. Chand- ler's Vindication, &c. of Daniel's prophecies, p. 76— 82. And Bp. Newton's DiiTertations on the Pro- phecies, V. ii. p. 16 — 27. exam- The Authority of the Booh o/Dai^iel. 5^ examples in Scripture of deliverance af- serm. forded to good men, of whom Daniel is ^^• exprefsly named as one ; and, in exa£t conformity to what had been foretold by that prophet, declared to them his own affiance in the divine promifes, that the boafted glory of their perfecutor fhould come to nothing ^ In the fame book, where this ftory is recorded, the author, among other inflances of fury committed by Antlochus, relates, that he Jet up the abom'mation of deflation upon the altar ^ ; an expreflion fo peculiar to Daniel, as to be particularly noticed by our Lord s, and a convincing argument of the general belief of the prophecies at this period. From the age of Antlochus to that of Chrlft, there is not the fmalleft in- terval, in which a book of this fort could polTibly be forged. The Scriptures * 1 Mace. li. 49 — 70. Dan, vlii. 25. comp. with 2 Mace. ii. 62, 63. ' I Mace. i. 54. Dan. Ix. 27. xi. 31. xli. ii. f ^Utth. xxiv. 15. E 3 of 54 ^f^^ Authority of the Book of Daniel. SERM. of the Old Teftament were now in the ^^' hands of feveral, who regarded them as their deareft treafure, and fled with them to places of fecurity, when it was death not to dehver them up ^. The calamities fufFered by the Jews from their heathen adverfaries were no fooner over, than they fplit into feCls and parties among them- felves; and as formerly the Jews and Samaritans, from their mutual diflenfions in matters of religion, were checks on each other, fo as to preferve the purity of the Law ; fo now the difputes between the Pharifees and Sadducees ferved equally to prevent any interpolation in the wri- tings of the Prophets : to which muft be added, that about this time, the reading of the Prophets, as well as of the Law, was iiitroduced into the fynagogues, on every fabbath day; which alone would contribute to render the corruption of ei- ther (till more difficult, and lefs praftica- ble, than it was before. ^ I Mace. 1. 565 57, 58. The The Authority of the Book of Daniel. 55 The Chriftian epoch afFords the fuUeft serm evidence, that the book of Daniel was ^^* then reputed an eflential part of cano- nical Scripture : as appears from the phrafes of the Kingdom of God and of Heaven^ and the names of Meffiah and Soji of Man^ all confeffedly taken from this author, and none of them firft ufed bv our Saviour; although, in compliance with the language of his time, adopted by him, as fitly applicable to himfelf, and iignihcative of that fpiritual kingdom, which he came to eftablifh K Nor ought we here to forget, what has been men- tioned once already, and what to Chriftians is decifive on this point ; that the autho- rity of Daniel is folemnly acknowledged by our Lord, and by two of his Apoftles ; who all either cite or refer to his words, as the fayings of one of thofe holy men of old^ wht> fpake as they were moved by the Holy GhoJlK * See Mr. Mede*s Works, b. i. p. 103. Land, 1672, ^ 2 Pet/i. 21. E 4 It 56 The Authority of the Book of Daniel. SERM. It would be needlefs to puriue the ^^* hiftory of the reception of this prophecy any lower; but from an unwillingnefs to omit the teftimony of Jofephus, who pub- lifhed his Antiquities towards the end of the firft century after Chrift, and with ■whom this dedu6lion fliall be clofed. Nothing can be more honourable than the charafter afcribed to Daniel by this cele- brated hifiorian : he repeatedly mentions him as one of the greateft of prophets, who had converfe wnth God, and was emi- nent for his knowledoe of futurity ^ ; and he exprefl'es not fo much his own fenfe i\s that of his nation, at that time and before it, when he aflerts that his writings made one of the twenty-two facred books,^ y.at fxcv'xi nr'j) 0£.'^ «yKJpi,ua.. j^nt. 'Jud^ 1. X. c. xi. § 2, ufKP? xa/aAsXoiTTfv, avixyrrOOffiiiTOci cap, rif/iv £Ti xai whicl:^ SERM. II. Tke Authority of the Book of Daniel. 57 which completed the colleflion of the Jewifh Scriptures "". To fuch evidence nothing can be op- pofed, unlefs it (hould appear from the internal ftrudlurc of the Prophecies them- lelves, that they were written after the event. And is not the very clear nefs^ with which thefe prophecies are delivered, fome may (liy, and as Porphyry is known to have objeded fifteen hundred years ago, a ftrong prefumption, that this was in- deed the cafe ? Does not the author of the book of Daniel appear to be too minutely •" EiVt z3-«^' rp-iv — "lliQ [Moi/x -crpQi T0T5 «xo(ri |3i€x»a,* — xai Tara'v TSivli fxiv In rx MwuVeo;;'— aVo ^l tuc Mm(Tr,v ■G;po(prirou ra, year* aJr«j -crpot^^ivlx (raui'yp*vj'ai» iv rpio-i xai ^ii^a. piCx/o*?* ocl J'e AoiTrai TwWapfj ufxvs; *j; Tcv ©£oj/ zsrepii^aciv, Contra Jpion. 1. i. § 8. Jolcplms does not here relate the names of the Pro- phets; but his number of thirteen cannot be com- pleted, unlefs Daniel be reckoned one. And in another place he exprefsly includes the book of Daniel amongft the facred writings. UTra^xo-uTU} re jSt^x/cv avayvcovoM ra Aavi»}X8' Evpnc»i $vvoc<7uoCf Secondly, 8o Prophecies of Daniel s E R M, Secondly, If the kingdoms, poffeficd by i^i* the four princes who fucceeded to Alex- ander, be efteerned as different from and independent of his ; no good reafon can be afligned, why they (liould not alfo be efteerned as different from and indepen- dent of one ci^iother : inllead therefore of compofing, all together, one kingdom, by way of diftindion from that of Alexander, as is pretended ; they ought, in this way of conceiving of them, to be reckoned as compofing four. VTrip^olXiTo roii Trpo avrvi;' X>^c>vov o£ b-Jc ccvrr, zFoKxiu »i^9u(rfi/, olX\»y (XSTO, TYiv *AA£^avJ*ps TfAfurr/^, tTTi t9 ytrpov rip^aro (pEpia^oci* ^laCTracGfTcro- yxp eiq zroXX^i -nye^ouoc; fu0u? aVo tccv ^lOiSo^^uv^ v.oa fxsr Unvag oc^^i a\jTn $i' iauTrjs lyli/sro, xat TiXvjTcacra, vtto 'Pwfxaiwv T^(ptxMn» Antiq. Rom. lib. I. Imperium verb Mace- donicum, fia£lis Perfarum opibus, in principio, im- perii amplitudine omnia quotquot ante fuerant fu- peravit: fed ne ipfum quidem diu floruit, at poll Alexandri obitum in pejus coepit mere. Statim enim in multos principes a fuccelToribus diflraflum, et poll illos adfecandam ufque tertiamve aetatem pro- greflum, ipfum per fe debilitatum ell, tandemque a. Romanis deletum. Thirdly, concerning the Four Empires. 8i Thirdly, In both the prophecies we serm, are here contemphitiug, the Four King- ^^^• doms are uniformly reprefented by as many feparate fymbols. Thefe, in the vifion of Nebuchadnezzar, are four Metals, which occupy four different parts of a great Image ; in that feen by Daniel, they are four JVild Beajls : or, in other words, to every one of the four empires is ap- propriated ; in the former vifion, one Metal, and one part of the Image , and in the latter vifion, one Wild Beaft. Now the Beaft, whicli {lands for the third or Grecian empire, is a Leopard^ having four JVings ajid four Heads a : the double pair of IFings may be allowed to denote the rapidity, with which the conquefts of Alexander, the founder of that kingdom, were completed : but Heads, in the lan- guage of prophecy, fignify Kings or Co- ver n7ne?2ts ; and four Heads muft mean four Kings or four Governments, into which number the Macedonian Empire * Dan. vii. 6. G was 82 Prophecies of Daniel SERM. was aftually divided, after the death of ^^^* its firft monarch. But the Leopard, or third Beaft, is made up neither of the Heads alone, nor of the Body alone, but of both jointly : that is, the very in- tegrity of the fymbol requires not only the kingdom of Alexander, but that of his Succeffors alfo, to be taken in, to con- ftitute one Beaft; which is a decifive proof, that in the Prophecies they were fuppofed to conftitute but one Kingdom. This argum.ent is ftrengthened by what we read In the 8th chapter of Daniel; where the angel, explaining to the pro- phet the vifion of the Ram and the He- Goat, interprets the latter part of it thus. The rough Goat is the king of Grecia ; and the Gr-eat Horn, that is betwixt his eyes, is the First King, or Alexander. Now that being broken, or the Fir ft King being dead ; whereas four Horns flood up for it^ four Kingdoms f, mil f and up out of the nation^ but not in His power ^ ; or not \ ^ Dan. viii. 2i, 22. fo concernhig the Four Empires, S-* 3 fo powerful, as when the whole com- serm. mand was united under one governour. ^^^* Here again it is plain, that Alexander and his Succeflbrs are both adumbrated by Horns belonging to the fame Bead, or Goat ; and therefore in this vifion, as in the foregoing, they are confidered as Kings that ruled over the fame Kingdom. Laftly, the Hiftory of the governments of Alexander's fuccelTors in general, and of the Seleucidas and LagidaD in parti- cular, is utterly irreconciieable with the defcription of the Fourth Kingdom, in the book of Daniel. Of that kingdom it is faid, tha^ it (hould at firft be ftronger than the preceding three ; that afterw^ards it fhould be fplit into ten parts ; and that from among thefe an Eleventh State or Polity (hould arife, whofe duration (hould be for many days, even to a period not yet^ arrived, the coming of the Son of Man i?i the clouds of heaven "". None of the(e marks, in any tolerable way of explaining ^ Dan. vll. 13, G 2 them, 84 Prophecies of Daniel SERM. them, can be made to fuit the kingdom ^^^' of the Greeks, either before or after its partition: which, from the demife of its founder at leaft, grew gradually weaker, and in lefs than an hundred years loft great part of what originally belonged to it ; which was indeed divided into four kingdoms, and afterwards into two, but never into ten ; and far from having any portion ftill fubfifting, was entirely de- ftroyed many centuries ago, and is now as completely come to an end, as if it had never been. 4. From thefe confiderations we may at length be permitted to conclude, that the third ov Greek kingdom, from its rife un- der Alexander, to the time when all that remained of its dominions was loft, by the total defeat of Perfeus king of Mace- don, was one ; and confequently, that the next, which followed it in the prophetical Quaternion, was the Roman. And with the Roman the characters, afcribed to the fourth kingdom in the Prophecies, exadlly agree. 3 concerning the Four Empires, 85 agree. In its firil or flourifhlng ftate, it serm, was, as it is there reprefented to be, ftrong ^^^' as irofi ; breakitig in pieces ^ what was left of the Grecian empire, and by that means pofleHing itfelf of great part of the Per- fian, together with fome ihare of the Ba- bylonian. Its fecond or enfeebled ftate (which began to be difcernible towards the middle of the fourth century after Chrifl) is emblematized, fi-rft by the feet of the Image, which wtxt part of iron and part of clay ^ ; and then again, more parti- cularly, by the properties of the fourth Beaji. But here it is neceflary to obferve, that by the body of that Beaft, no portion of the Greek Empire feated at Confianti- nople, that is, none of the countries to the Eaji of Italy, are to be underftood, in the Intention of this prophecy ; thefe being already employed in making up the body of the third Beaji ; which is fup- pofed to be ftill alive, though its power ^ Dan. li. 40. ^ ^ Dan. ii. 41. G 3 t>e 86 Prcphecies of Daniel s E R M. be taken away : but under that denomina- i^i' tion is Included fo much only of the Ro- man territories, as had not been compre- hended in any former reckoning; that is, the countries on this fide of Greece, or what is called the Latin or Weftern Em- pire f. Now the fteps, by which this divi- lionof the Roman kingdom went to decay, may be diftinftly traced. Its firft advance to ruin may be iaid to have been, when it was over-run by the northern nations : its fall was accelerated^ when Rome was taken by Alaric the Goth ; and it was only not completed, when that Imperial city was conquered a fecond time by the arms of Genferic the Vandal. A natural efFedl of the irruption of fuch barbarians was, that its provinces were difmembered and torn in pieces by degrees ; and various Gothic and coexifling governments were erefted, which were at laft increafed to the juft number of /^;/. The names of tliefe ten *" Sir If. Newton's Obfervatlons on Daniel, Cli. iv. p. 28-32. kingdoms concer?iJng the. Four Rmpires. 87 kingdoms have been enumerated by wri- serm, ters of the mofl: refpe£table authority; i^^- and the few variations in their accounts may be readily explained from the con- fufion and uncertainty of the times, of which they wrote s. It is enough for us, and an illufLrious verification of the pro- phecies of holy Scripture, that fuch a par- tition was noticed long before by Daniel; and that, among other particularities men- tioned by that prophet, as incident to the fourth Beaft, this, of 'Ten Horns fpringf ing all together from its head, was re- corded as one ; and that thefe Horiis were exprefsly interpreted to mean Ten Kings "^ or Kingdoms ^, This expofition of the Ten Horns^ co- eval with one another, will facilitate our fearch into the meaning of another dif- tindlive mark of the fame Beafi, which is s See the Diflertations on the Propliccies, by Bp. Newton. Vol. i. p. 460 — 464 I' Dan. vii, 24. G 4 fignified 88 Prophecies ef Daniel SERM. fignified by the Little Hor?i, They, who ^^^' contend that the fourth Beaft is the Gre- cian kingdom of the Seleiicidae and La- gidce, fix on Antiochus Epiphanes for this Little Horn -, and would have all that is related in this part of the predidion to prefigure the cruelties exercifed by that perfecutor on the Jews. But whatever be faid of other prophecies in the book of Daniel, there are internal proofs that in ihis^ which contains the vifion of the four Beafls, the perfon of Antiochus was not in the leaft concerned, or fo much as in the mind of the infpired penman. This Horn is defcribed, as growing up after and among the Ten Horns, that were on the head of the laft Beaft ' ; thefe Ten Horns, we have feen, are the Ten King- doms of the Latin or VVeftern empire ; among thefe therefore we are direfted, by the fpirit of prophecy itfelf, to look for the Little Horn. But Antiochus Epi- phanes was king of Syria; and inftead of * Dan. vil. 8. 24. pofle fling concerning the Four Empires, 89 pofleffing any part of the Weftern empire serm, of Rome, died above 500 years before the ^^^• divifion of that emph'e took place : to ' Ibppofe therefore he is adumbrated here by the Little Horn, would be incompatible with hiftoric truth. Another and ftrongcr argument is this. Of the power denoted by the Little Horn it is affirmed, that he (hall mtih war with the faints and prevail againji them^ until the Ancient of Days fjall come^ and judgement be given io the faints of the mofi High^ vohofe kingdom is an ever-* Icifiing kingdom^ and all dominions fo all ferve and obey him ^, Thefe words, we (liall fee hereafter, are to be underftood of the kingdom of the Meffiah : but the wars of Antiochus with the Jews could lafl no longer than his life, which was ended at leaft 160 years before the kingdom of the Meffiah was begun : he could not there- fore perfecute the faints, until the time came that the faints pojfefjed the kingdom ', ^ Dan. vii. 21, 22. 27. ^ Dan. vii, 22. or. 90 Prophecies of Daniel SERM. or, as it is otherwife expreffed, until the ^^i' ■ coming of the Son of man in the clouds of ' "" heaven ""^ : he could not therefore in this prophecy be fignified by the Little Horn. But if the Little Horn be not meant of AntiochusEpiphanes, of whom or of what is it meant ? And w^ere the queftion to be decided by authority, the anfwer would be eafy ; that by this Horn is intended the kingdom of Antichriil. So the Fa- thers, from the earlieft times, were wont to interpret it : to which interpretation they were led, not only from a careful examination of this prophecy, but from what they had collefted befides from a paflase in St. Paul's Epiftles, that Anti- chrift fliould not be revealed, till the So- vereignty of Imperial Rome wTre removed. Gn this account it was that Jerom, who lived when the Empire was drawing to its conclufion, as foon as he heard that the city of Rome was burnt by Alaric, imme- diately expefted the manifeflation of Anti- ^ Dan. vii. 13, 14. chrift. c oncer fling the Four Empires. 91 chrift, as then at hand. He who hindered^ s e r M". fays he, is taken out of the way \ and we ^^^' conjider not^ that Antichrijl is approaching ". And in commenting on the 7th chapter of Daniel, he fpeaks of it as the received opinion of all the Church Hiftorians, that this tyrannical, or, as he calls it, this Satanic^ power was certainly to appear, whenever the Roman kingdom fhould be diflblved. Therefore^ fiys the fame learned Father, let us affirm^ what all eccle/iajlical writers have delivered ; that in the conjum^ mat ion of the worlds when the Roman Em* pi re is to be deftroyed^ there fljall be Ten Kings ^ who floall fjare the Roman world between them ; and that an Eleventh Jljall arife, a Little King, in ivhotn Satan floall wholly inhabit bodily °. But " Qui tenebat, de medio fit; et non intelligimus Antichriftnm appropinquare. Ad Gcrontiam, de Monogamia. ° Ergo dicamus, quod omnes fcriptores ecclefiaftlci tradiderunt, in confummatione mundi, quando reg- num deftruendum eft Romanorum, decern futures reges, qui orbcm Romanum inter fe dividant ; et undecimmn 9 2 Prophecies of Daniel SERM. But we are not neceffitated to have re- in* courfe to authority alone, to determine the queflion afked above ; the prophecy itfelf, attentively confidered, may convince us, to whom the charafter of the Little Horn does of right belong. We have (ttn already, that this Horn was not to arife, till after the Roman Empire had been broken into many independent fovereign- ties : and it is an undoubted fa£l, notori- ous in hiftory, that no fooner had that government, by means of the fierce and free nations of the north, experienced this fatal change, than the Roman Church, taking advantage of fuch diftraftions, be- gan to rear its head, and grow up to the full fize and ftature of the man of Jin^ fo graphically depided in other parts of the facred writings. Of the fame Horn it is faid, that he fhall be diverfe from the reft ; that he (hall have a mouth fpeaking great undecimum furrefturum effe Regem Parvulum, in quo totus Satanas habitaturus litcorporaliter. Com. in Dan. cap. vii. things^ concerning the Four Empires, 93 thifigSy even great "words againjl the mojl serm, High', and that he ihall make war with ^"• the faints^ and wear them out^ and prevail """■""""" againji thein ; but that at length, when the deftined period of his reign (hall be com- pleted, the judgement pall Jit ^ and theyjhall take away his dominion^ to confume it and to deftroy it for ever^. In which words the features and lineaments of Papal Rome are fo exactly defcribed, as now^ that is, after their meaning has been opened by the event, to be difcernible by a common rea- der. For to what power, in the European or Weftern world, may we not aflc in our turn, can fuch difcriminative notes be applied, but to that Apoftate Church ; which, under the pretended title of God's Vicegerent upon earth, exerts and main- tains an empire over men's minds, not lefs rigorous and opprcffive than that, formerly exercifed by ancient Rome over their per- fons ? which, rejedling with fcorn the ufual homage of earthly princes, proudly P Dan, vii. 23. 20. 25. 21. 25. 26. arrogates III. 5^4 Prophecies of Daniel fiERM. arrogates to Itfelf divine names and ho- nours : which, not content with debafing the ofFice of the only mediator between God and man "^ by the introduction of unallow- ed, and therefore, forbidden, interceflbrs ofitsown, has authorized, by its princi- ples as well as praftices, the moft infernal butcheries of his true difciples: and, in a word, in open violation both of the Law and the Gofpel, hath filled up the mea- fures of its fpiritual tyranny, by polluting the pure and peaceable dodrines of Jefus with the accumulated ftains of Idolatry and Perfecution. The explanation here given might be confirmed, by comparing the prophecy of Daniel wath what is revealed in the Apo- calypfe, concerning a fimilar ufurpation in the Chriffian Church ; from whence it would immediately appear, that the Little Horn of the legal prophet, and the Anti- chrijl of the evangelical, are fignificative of the fame perfon or power. But fuch a ^ I Tim. ii. 5. comparifoii concerning the Four Empires. 95 comparifon will be Inftituted with greater serm, advantage in another place : in the mean ^*^» while, from the evidence of Daniel alone thus much may be collefted, that Pro- teftants have fomething more to urge than furmife and conje£lure, when they main- tain that the corruptions of the Church of Rome are foretold in the infpired writings ; and that, with whatever levity or con- tempt fuch an opinion may be treated by the diflblute'and the gay, there is enough of probability in it to excite the attention of ferious men, at leaft to encourage them to liften to what is hereafter to be ad- vanced, in the profecution of fo mo- mentous a fubjeft. 5. I flay not now to prove, that the everlajllng kingdom \ mentioned in the clofe of both the prediclions of Daniel, and or- dained to be fet up, before the fucceffion of Gentile governments fliould expire % is the kingdom of the Mefliah. If what has "■ Dan. il. 44. vii. 27. been * Dan. ii. 44. g6 Prophecfes of Daniel SERM. been offered to {hew, that tht fourth of i^^- thofe governments is the Roman, be ad- mitted ; the confequence is unavoidable, that the y7//y6, or, as it is denominated, the Kingdom of Heaven \ cai:i be no other than the fplritual empire ereded by Jefus. In- deed the defcription itfelf, together with the extreme futihty, I had almoft faid the abfurdity, of the contrary opinion, fuper- fedes the neceifity of formal arguments to juftify fuch an interpretation. One cir- cumftance ought not to be pafled by un- noticed; namely, the menaces of certain vengeance to be hereafter inflided on the enemies of the true religion, intimated by the deftru£lion of the body of the fourth Bead: "; and fubfequent to that, the ; promife of the univerfal eftablifhment of the reign ofChrift; when the Stone^ cut out of the ?7iountain without hands ^ fhall fir Ike and break to pieces the hnage on its feety and become a great Mountain and fill ^ Dan. ii. 44. " Dan, vii. 1 1. the concerning the Pour Empires. 97 the whole earth''. This part of the pro- serm, pheeies is yet unfulfilled ; nor is it for us ^^^* to afcertaia the manner, in which fb im- portant a revolution in the religious world will be eftedled : the ufe intended by the obfervation here, is from the fym- ptoms of decline, which are now dif- cernible in the fyftem of Papal power, to point out to you the prefijmption that arifes in favour of the truth of the pro- phetical denunciations ; and from the concuffions which have already fliook the tottering throne of fuperflition, to learn to expeft, in God's good time, its full and final demolition. To end therefore as we begun ; the ■two prediftions we have now confidered^ and whofe completion may be feen, in |)art, in the hiftories of the nations all around us, afford a memorable inftance of what was before remarked, that the ftate and condition of the Empires of this world have all been regulated with a ^ Dan. ii. 45. 3$. H view 98 Prophecies of Daniel, &c. SERM. view to one great event, ever prefent in i^i« the intentions of providence, the Reve- '^ lation of Jcfus Chriil:. Thefe all arifing according to a pre-detennined plan, and each at the period, which the fovereign arbiter has appointed,' are made, both by their duration and decline, to lubferve the interefts of that Eternal Kingdom, whofe fortunes conftitute the main objecl of Scrip- tural prophecy, and which is never to be fucceeded or deftroyed by anv other : till the time (hall come, fo m.agnlficently de- Icribed in our facred oracles, when Chrift {hall have put down all rule and all au- thority and power ; and death, the lajl enemy, being now fubdued, the mediato- rial oecouomy of God fhall be finifhed ; and then Jl)all the Son deliver up the King- Join, and be [ubjeB to the Father^ who put all things under him ; and God (Imll he all in alh^ J" I Cor. XV. S4. 26. 28. SER- [ 99 ] SERMON IV. Prophecies of Daniel concerning Antiochus Epiphanes and And- chrift. Daniel xii. 8, 9* T'hen faid /, my Lord ^ What JImll be the Knd of thefe things f And he faid. Go thy vjay^ Daniel; for the words are clofedup andfealed^ till the time of the End. BESIDES the Prophecies, in the serm. book of Daniel, concerning the four "^^^ Empires, in which the Church of God was fucceffively to fojourn, fromi the time of the Jewifli captivity to that of the final eftablifhment of the reign of Jefus ; H a there 100 Prophecies o/" Daniel concerning SERM. there are others, in which the hiftory of ^^'^ the fecond and third of thofe kingdoms is * " refumed ; and which, fo far as they are connefted with the fubje£l of this Ledure, it (hall be our prefent bufinefs to explain. I. In the 2d and 7th chapters, the Perlian aiKl Grecian Monarchies were delineated, firft by the parts of Silver and Brafs in the Metallic Image, and then by a Bear and a Leopard in the vifion of Wild Beads. In the 8th and i ith chap- ters they are again defcribed ; firfl: em- blematically, and in general, by a Ram and a He-Goat'; and afterwards more clearly, and in the way of narrative, by an heavenly meffenger, purpolely com- miffioned to difclofe to Daniel, the be- loved prophet of God, the things noted in the Scripture of truth ^. That by the Ram with two Horns, in the former of thefe prophecies, is meant the kingdom founded by Cyrus, and com- pofed of the united powers of Media ^ Dan. X. 21. and Antiochiis Eplphmies and Antlchr'ijl. loi and Perfia: and that by the Goat with serm. the notable Horri between his eves^ with ^^' which the Ram was imitten and con- quered, and which itfelf was afterwards broken, and followed hy four other Horns that came up in its place ; is fignified the kingdom of the Greeks erefted by Alex- ander, by whom the Perfian empire was routed and fubdued, and whofe domi- nions after his death were (hared among yiwrofhis principal captains, and parted into fo many diftinft governments : is put beyond the poffibihty of doubt, from the interpretation of this myfterious vi- fion, made to Daniel by an Angel ^ The fame events are recited, and with greater variety of circumftance, in the latter of thefe predidions : in which the expe- dition of Xerxes into Greece, the coii- queft of that country by Alexander, its fubfequent diyifion into four parts, and of thofe four the fates and fortunes of two, Egypt and Syria (called, from their fitua- l Dan. viii. 3. 5. 7, 8, 20, 21, 22. H 3 tion I02 Prophecies of Daniel concerning §ERM. tion with refpedl to Judaea, the kingdoms ^v. of xht South and North)^ in a regular feries * ' from the death of Alexander to the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes, are minutely defcribed ^ Of this laft monarch, ia^ famous for his perfecutions of the Jews, the life and adions are recorded at large : his obtaining the government of Syria by flatteries, his expeditions into Egypt, his defigns upon that country and upon Ptolemy Philometor its young King, and his being obliged to defift from further hoftilities againft it and him, by the in- terpofition of the Romans ; are all ex- prefsly mentioned, or plainly alluded to, in this facred prophecy. But befides the wars of Antiochus with the Egyptians, the oppreffions and cruelties exercifed by the fame perfon towards the Jewifli na- tion ; his depofing and banifhing of Qnias, their High Prieft ; his rage and fury, twice repeated, againft the city and in- habitants of Jerufalem, after his return •» Chap« xi. 2—21. from Antiochus Epiphanes and Ant'ichnJ}, 103 from two unfuccefsful attempts on the serm, kingdom of the South; together with his i^'» profaning of the Temple, and cauling the worfliip of God in that holy place to ceafe ; thefe and other particulars are re- lated with an exadlnefs and truth, not to be found in any known Hifliorian of thofe times ^ And thus far, in the ex- poiition of both the Prophecies under con- iideration, all Interpreters, that is, all of name and credit, are univerfally agreed. II. After the account given in the 8th chapter of the fourfold partition of the kingdom of Alexander, prefigured, as above, by four Horns on the head of the GodX ; it is immediately added, that out oi one of thofe four a hittle Horn fliould arife,, whofe -marks and properties are enume- r-ated through the remaining part of this prediction ^. Now that the Little Horn in /^/j chapter cannot poffibly be the c Chap. xl. 21 — 31. See Pridcaux's Conns£^ion, 6cc. Part II. Books the 2d and 3d, paj[im. ^ Dan. viil. 9 — 13. 23 — 27. H 4 fame I04 Prophecies of Daniel concerning SERM. fame with that before defcribed in chapter ^^' the j/5'i;^;7//5, IS exceeding plain; not only becaufe the difcriminative notes of each ajre totally unhke, but becaufe they arc evidently fpoken of as appertaining to dif- ferent kingdoms; the one, as coming up from among the ten Horns of the fourth Beaft, which^ we have feen, reprefented the Roman Empire \ and the other, as arifiiig out of one of the four Horns of the He-Goat, which, we are told in fo many words, exhibited the Grecian Em- pire. There is another diftindion be- tween the Little Horns in thofe tvi^q places, which, for its importance, will require to be particularly attended to, la the vifion of the Beads, it has been proved, by that expreflion was fingly de- noted the kingdom of Antichrift, and that the perfon of Antiochus Epiphines was not in the leaft concerned : but in the vifion before us, though we may per- haps find reafon to admit that, in a re- mote and fecondary fenfe, the kingdom of ^ntlochus Epiphanes and Antlchrljl. 105 jof Antichrift is to be underftood, yet, serm, iji the obvious and primary meaniug of ^'^• thofe words, we fhall, if I miftake not, ' ' ^ have equal reaion to conclude, that the power predicted by that appellation muft of neceffity be reftrained to AntiochuS Epiphanes, and to him only. And firft, the tlme^ in which this Little Horn was to arljey and during which it was to continue^ accords exactly to that of Antiochus, and to no other. It was tofpring from one of the four families, that were to govern the divided power of the Greeks^; and fo Antiochus Epi- phanes certainly did ; and in the latter- end of their kingdom^ when the tranfgrejjors were come io tljc full^. The latter end of the Greek kingdom was, when Ma- cedonia, from wdience that empire began^ with the reft of Greece, was fubjefted to the Romans : and at this period, the tranfgreflTors were indeed come to the full ; the legal fanftuary being profaned, * Dau. viii. 9. ' Vcr. 23, and 1 06 Vrophccies of Daniel covxenilng seRM. and the ftatue of Jupiter Olymplus, de- IV. noted here by the tranfgrejfion of defola- **"" ilon s, being Tet up by this very Antiochus in the temple at Jeruialem, within lefs than three months after Perfeus king of Macedon had been defeated by Emilius the Conful. The cont'muance of the Little. Horn is exprefied, not, as in other plaices of the book of Daniel, by a definite, number of Times or Days^ by which; words, in the language of prophecy, would have been fignified fo many years; but by two thoujlmd three hundred Eve.-- NiNGS AND Mornings''; this fingqlar phrafe being undoubtedly chofen to in- form us, that in this computation ■comrt vion or natural days were intended. Two. thoufand three hundred natural days are Six Years and fomething more ; fo long therefore the calamity of the Jews was to laft, from the beginning to the end ofi it: now though we^ niay not be abJ<^; precifely to fay, from what part of the s Dan. viii. 13. !* Vcr. 13, 14... * hiftory AnliQchus Epiphanes and Anikhrijl. 107 hiftory of Antiochus the date of thefe S£rm< years is to commence^ yet from the autho- ^^* rity of the firil book of Maccabees we know, that the fanduary, was cleanfed, and the perfecution of that monarch was Jini/JjecU about the loth or nth year of his reign •. Again, the atiions^ afcribed to the Little Horn, are fuch as may with eafe be adapted to the perfon of the fame An- tiochus. The cruelty and fubtlety of his dilpofition arewell exprefled, by his being called a King of fierce countenance and un^ derjianding dark fentences ^: his mean and obfcure original, by the phrafes of the Little Horn^ and by his becoming mighty but not by his own power ^ : and his ex- tended conquefts in Egypt and Perfia and Judaea, by his waxing exceeding great to^ "Wards the South, and towards the Eajl^ and towards the pleajant land '". His op- preffion of the Jewi(h ftate in general, * I Mace. i. 10. iv. 52. ^ Dan. viii. 23. I Ver. 24. ^ Vcr. 9. and xc8 Prophecies of Daniel concerning €ERM. and of the Priefts and Levites in par- i^« ticular, are reprefented, in the ufual fub- * limity of eailern metaphors, by his wax^ ing great even, to the hoji of heaven^ and fampyng upon the Stars'": his abolishing of the Temple worfliip, by taking away the daily facrifce, and cajling down the truth to the ground'' : and laft of all, his fudden and miferable extinction, not by the force of arms, but by a diforder di- vinely inflifted, and which ^iffefted not more his body than his mind, is pointed out in the words, that he fhould be broken without hand ^, The feveral circumftances here mentioned agree fo well with this noted perfecutor of the people of God, and can fo ill be accommodated to any other perfon or power, that I cannot help being perfuaded, notwithftanding a great authority on \ht other fide % that the '* Dan. viii. lo, ° Ver. 1 1, 12. p Ver. 25. *i Sir Ifaac Newton : See his Obfervations on the jProphecies of Daniel, chap. ix. The faiii^ interpreta- tion is adopted by Bp. Newton, in his DiiTertations on the Prophecies, vol. ii. p. 30 — 61. gene* Antlochus Epipharus and Antlchrijl. 109 generality both of Jewiih and Chriftlan serm, commentators were not quite fo injudi- ^^* cious as has been aflerted, when they maintained, that in the prophecy of the eighth chapter of Daniel concerning the Little Horn, Antiochus Epiphanes is the very charafter defcribed. If now we turn to the eleventh chapter, and compare with the account here given what is further fubjoined concerning the fame Antiochus, from verfes 31 ft to 56th, as thofe verfes are illuftrated by the comment of the learned Grotius ; where the feveral degrees of impiety, fuccef- fively praftifed by this abandoned tyrant, together with the exploits of Mattathias, the father of the Maccabees, and of his fons, by whom the worfhip of God was at length reftored, are exhibited in detail > and with which, as I conceive, the pro- phecy concerning the Kings of the South and North, or of the 3d or Grecian Em- pire, ends : no further proof will be wanting, that in both predidlions the fame no Prophecies of Daniel concerning SERM. fame perfon and events were prefent to ^V' the prophet's eye; and that the difference between the two relations is no more than this ; that the chara6ler of Antio- chus Epiphanes in one is fimply nar- rated by an Angel, and in the other it is unfolded in the way of vifion, by the emblem of the Little Horn ^ Still it is not to be denied, that the language^ in which the properties of the ' Little Horn, thus interpreted of An- tiochus Epiphanes, are recited, feems to have been purpofely fo contrived, as to admit of another and higher meaning than the . literal. And from a view of this higher meaning, I fuppofe, it was, that Jeroni and the ancient Fathers, at the fame time that they expounded the Little ^ It fhould here be remarked, that Sir Ifaac, and after himBifhop, Newton, interpret ver. 31 — 36 of Chap. xi. of the Romans, and of the ftate of the primi- tive Chriflians after the defl:ru6lion of Jerufalem ; and not, as Giotius explains them, of Antiochus Epi- phanes. SecObfervations on the Prophecies of Daniel, chap. ix. xii. And Diliertatlons on the Prophecies, vol, ii. p. 132—147. Horn Aniiochus Epiphancs and Anttchr'ijl, iic Horn in \.\\c eighth chapter of Antlochus, serm, were wont to conlider that oppreflbr hun- ^^* felt as typical of another and more dan- gerous power, diftinguifhed by the nanae of Antichrift. Nor will fuch an idea to thofe, who are acquainted with the dependency between the Jevvifh and Chriftian religions, and in confequence of that with the doftrine of Types and Double Senfes, appear abfurd or new ; provided there be enough in the con- texture of the prophecy itfelf to evince, that fuch double meaning was intend- ed. The fame divine Spirit, which by the prophet Joel had defcribed, in one and the fame prediilion, tht- near event of an army of locufls, and th^ fiihfiqiient invafion of a foreign enemy ^; which had ■inftrufl:ed Ifaiari, at the lame time' that he gave to Ahaz a fign oi fpeedy deliver- ance from his two adverfaries, the kings •of Samaria and Damafcus, to convey -to th.e hotife of David the notice of a more ^ Joel, Chap. 1. and ii. -' • .- • • ' ' di/iarn 112 Prophecies of Daniel concernirig SERM. dijlant as well as more important deliver- ^^'- ance, to be effeded by Chrift ' ; and which laftly is feen to operate in fo confpi- cuous a manner in the predidion of Jefus, where he comprehends, in the fame defcription and under the fame ideas, his firft and fecond coming to Judgment, at ' the deftruftion of Jerufalem and at the end of the world " -, might alfo be the occafion that Daniel, when bufied in fore- telling the perfecution then impending ou the yewJJh Church, fhould do it, though unknown to himfelf, in terms, w^hich were ultimately applicable to a yet greater perfecution that was to defolate the Church of Chr'ifi. Such a converfion of the fubjeds, far from being difhonourable or mjurious to the Scriptural idea of pro* phecy, has by thoughtful men been efteemed as one proof of its divinity ^ : and * If. vli. " Matth. xxlv. Mark xiii. Luke xxi. ^ He, who would fee the Propriety and Reafon-^ ablenefs of Types and Secondary Prophecies de- uionftrated at large, ought by all means to confult ' I the Ahtiochtis Eplphanes and Antlchrijl, Uj and when, with this double fenfe upon serm. Our minds, we contemplate the predldion ^^* of Daniel anew, it is impoffible not to feel the moft lively impreffions of that AntichriHian Tyranny, which from fmall beginnings hath waxed greats even to the hojl of heaven '', and hath Jlood up agawjl the Prince of Princes y, the Meffiah him- felf, and cafl down the truth to the ground^ ; and which, from other prophecies as well as this, we are taught to hope, fliall finally , be broken without hand""^ by an extraor- dmary exertion of divine power. In this mode of interpretation, the Little Horn, wherever it is ufed, fuftains one uniform and confiftent charader, that of a Per'- fecutor of the fervarits of the true God : iii the fecond Volume of the Dlv. Leg, Book VI. Se£l, 6. See allb The Argummt of the D. L. fairly flaUd^ p. 125 — 143. The fame opimon is wejl fup- ported and explained by Blfliop LoAVth, in his ele- gant PreleSiioris on the Hebrew Poetry, See Prale^, xL xxxi. "^ Dan. viil. 10. > Vcr. 2 c. ' Ver. 12. Ver. 25. 25' th^ M4 Prophecies ^Daniel concermng SERM. the vifion of the four Beafts, it is em* ^^* ployed fingly to prefigure the fpiritual dominion of Papal Rome : in this of the Ram and He-Goat, befides expreffing the fame notion in a fecondary fenfe, we are to conceive of it as primarily intended to denote the oppreffions inflidted on the Jevvifli church and nation by Antiochus Epiphanes, king of Syria. III. But however we may determine concerning the meaning of the vifion in the eighth chapter, and its double rela- tion to Antiochus and Antichrift ; what yet remains to be confidered, from the Angelical narrative continued in the eleventh chapter, will, when attentively examined, it is hoped, be liable to no uncertainty and doubt. For now the heavenly meffenger, having brought down his hiftory of the perfecution under An- tiochus to the time of the end\ that is, the end of the third or Grecian kingdom, which after this comes no more into account ^ Dan. xi. 35« among Antiochus Uptphanes afid Antlchrifl4 1 1 J among the Prophetic Tetrarchies ; in the serm* 36th and following verfes, enters on the ^^• defcription of the fourth or Ronman Empire, ^ which by the confeffion of their own writers began foon after their conquefi: of Macedon, and whofe fortunes from this period are recorded here. 'Then^ that is^ towards the end of the reign of Antio- chus, a King Jljall do according to his wilk and Jhall exalt and magnify himfelf above every God^, By a King we are to under- ftand, as in other places of Daniel, a State or Kingdom, under whatever form it may happen to be adminiftered; and tht particular Kingdom meant muft needs be that, which followed next in order to the Greeks, or, in other words, the Roman. By exalting and magnifying himfelf above^ every God may poffibly be fignified the unparalleled fuccefs, which attended the Roman arms, or the amazing extent of dominion, to which the Roman nation arrived, from the firfl reduction of Ma- • Dan. xi. 36. I 2 cedonia IVi ii6 Prophecies of Daniel concerning SERM. cedonia to the times of Auguftus : to conquer a nation^ in the phrafeology of Scripture, being the fame as to conquer the Godsy who, in the fyftem of Pagan Theology, were fuppofed to protefl: that nation ; and the Romans having befides a cuflom of their own, of evoking the Deities from the cities which they be- fieged, and inviting them to transfer their patronage from their old retainers to themfelves. In the fubfequent words, we have the character of the fame kingdom, from the reign of Auguftus to the abolifliing of Gentilifm in tlie days of Conflantine ; during which interval, the Redeemer of mankind, called here the God ofGods^ ap- peared upon earth, and was not only himfelf crucified under Pilate, the Roman governour, but his faithful difciples alfo for a long courfe of years were barba- roufly perfecuted, till the appointed period of their fufferings was completed. This is exprefled thus : a?id aga'mjl the God of Gods Ariitochus Epiphanes and Jlntlchri/l, 117 Gods he f jail /peak marvellous things \ and seRxM, Jhall pro/per till the indignation be accom- ^^' pliJJjed ; for that^ that is determined^ Jljall bt done ; or, as the latter words may be rendered, for the determined time fid all be fulfilled K The next verfe contains an account of the Empire, after it had become Chriftlan, and of the corruptions which iniinuated themfelves but too foon into the new religion. For, not content with forfaking the Gods of their Fathers^ the Idol-Deities, fuch as Jupiter and Mars, whom their anceftors had worfhiped ; a principle of miftaken piety, chiefly foftered by the intemperate zeal of the Emperor Con- ftantine, led them, under the fond pre- tence of exalting, to debafe the purity of Chriftian Morals : an extraordinary fanQity was annexed to the obfervance of CeUbacy ; the laws of ancient Rome, enafted for the encouragement of Mar- riage, were repealed : connubial love, the ^ Dan. xl. 36. I ^ virtuous J 1 8 Prophecies of Daniel concerning SERM. virtuous fource of all the charities which IV. knit map to rnan, was defamed as impure ; * and in the end, through the policy of the Roman Pontiff, now cpenly afpiring to Ecclcfiaftical Sovereignty, the firft law of nature, which God himlelf commands io fome^ leaves free to all^ was iiTipioufly jnterdided both the Monks and Clergy, 'Then he Jloall not regard the Gods of his Fathers: Neither Jhall he regard the PESIRE OF WoryiEN ; no^ nor any God% hut he Jhall magnify himfelf above all % But * Dan. xi. 37. Houbigantj in his note on this verfe, ridicules the interpretation of Grotius, qui in- telligit, Antiochum non curaturum feminas amabiles 5 atque in hanc rem allegat caedes, ut hominum^ ita ct mulierum, ab Antiocho Jevolblymas fa£las. On which Houb;gant obfervesj and pertinently enpugh^ perinde quali non pofTet Antiochns, mulieres inter- ficiens, unam aliquam aut vero plures refervare, qua- rum forma ipfi placeret :■ — Pra^terea con flat, impudi- ciffimum fuiffe Antiochum Epiphanem. In the mean time, the expofition of this learned Father himfelf will hardly efcape cenlure ; who, to accommodate the words of Daniel to the fame Antiochus, take§ away, without any authority, the particle mc ; and ^ranflates the palTage thus, non curahii Deos . . . propter amor m feminar urn : deo§ fc. patrum fuorum, quia per mulieres Antlochm Eplphanes and Antkhrljl. 1 19 But there are other and more lament- serm. able inftances of Apoftafy yet behind. ^^• For having thus contumelioufly violated ""^"^^ the natural rights of humanity by unjuft reftriclions upon Marriage, the next ftep, which we are informed this kingdom fhould take, in its proclivity from bad to worfe, fhould be to contaminate the re- ligious homage, appropriated to the one Mediator between God and man, by ido- latrous addreffes to fubordinate and un- authorized Interceflbrs of its own ; af- cribing to them divine names and titles, invoking them as Champions and Towers of Defenfe againft their enemies, and decorating their (hrines and images with the mod: fplendid and coftly ornaments. So it is, that the fpirit of prophecy de- fcribes this dreadful defedion from the mulieres alienigenas, quas deperlbit, avertetur a cultu Deoxum fuorum patriorum ad alios Deos. If fuch a licence of altering the facred text be allowed, it will be eafy to derive whatever fenfe we pleafe from any paflage of Scripture. I 4 Faith, 1 20 Prophecies of Daniel concerntng ? F R M. Faith. For together with God in his feat^ i^* or temple, he pall honour Mahuzzims " (that is, Saints and Angels, whom he (hall apply to for aid and affiftance) ; even to^ gether with that God, whpm his Fa^ 1 HERS KNEW NOT, f Jail he honour them ; with gold and witkjiher and with precious Jlones and with p leaf ant things ^ The God whom his Fathers knew not^ in this vcrfe, and the Foreign or Strange God, in the following one s,' as Mr. Mede with his: ufual fagacity has remarked ^, is Chrift : to the Jews, who worfliiped the true Jchov^ih, every foreign or flrange God mull: be a falfe one ; but to the Gentiles^ whofe adoration was wholly paid to Idols, a foreign God mud of necelfity be the true. And it is of this true God, or Chriftj that we muft underfland what i§ further mentioned in the 39th verfe 5 where we are told, that notwithftanding the extraordinary veneration with which *■ Dan. xi. 38. s Ver. 39. Mede's Works, p. 667 — 674. 903, 904, the Antlochus Eptphanes and Aniichriji. 121 the Roman people (hould affeft to ap- serm, proach him, they fhould yet defile the ^^* honour due unto his name, by dedicating ""' Temples in common to him and to their own fallb Mediators; whom, in the pro- grei's of their fu perdition, they ihould appoint as the Tutelary and Local Divi- nities of particular regions and provinces, i and (hould caufe them to rule over many^ and even dtftribute the earth among them for a reward. The remaining part of the prediftion is taken up with relating the punlfhment, which fhould befall this Apoftate Church, at the cnd'\ or declpnfion, of the Roman Empire ; with other circumftances, not yet fufficiently ilhiminated by the event, and which therefore it will be our wii- dom not raflily to prefume to interpret. In conclufion is added, as the proper point, to which all the diicoveries of the divine will were intended to direft us, and as the pmplction of God's moral difpenfations * Dan. xi. 40. to 122 Prophecies of Dauiel concerning SERM. to mankind, an account of the general IV. Refurreftion, and laft Judgment : when, ' the enemies of the truth being now fub- dued, all who Jleep in the diijl of the earth (hall awake \fome to everlafling Ife^ and fome to fjame and everlafling contempt ; and they that he wife fhall foine as the hrightnefs of the firmament^ and they that turn many to right eoufnefs^ as thejlarsfor ever and ever ^. And with this admoni- tion, ^ Dan. xii. 2, 3. The expreffions here ufed arc much too lublime to have their meaning reftrained to a temporal deliverance and a temporal affliftion only ; and the evident aUufion there is to them by our Lord, [Matt. xiii. 43. Then Jhall the righteous Jhine forth as the furiy tn the kingdom of their Father : and John v. 28, 29. J^ll that are in the grave Jhall hear his voice and come forth ; they that have done goody unto the refurre^ion of life ; and they that have done evily unto the refurre6fion of damnation^ is a ftrong intimation that they ought to be interpreted of the final diftri- bution of rewards and puniihments at the laft day, Houbigant, as was to be expected, explains them, in his note on the place, of the times of the Machabees : lUi multiy qui dormient in terra pulveris, funt Judaeo- rum magna multitudo, qui, faevi'entibus Antiochi pr^fedis^ diffugerunt in locos Judxae & Arabian de- fer tos Antiochin Epiphams and Antlchriji. 12^ tion, thus awfully inforced, Daniel is serm, commanded to Jhut up the wordsj and iv, fed fertos et arenofos, & condiderunt fe in fpeliincis :— . intelligendi etiam funt multi de illis fceleratis homi- nibus, qui ab religione defecerant, contulerantque fefo ad cultum Graecorum, qiios Machabaei, ficubi re- periebant, morte ple6^ebant; "ut ipii etiam cogerentur fugere in fpeluncas, quia non jam eis praelidio efTe poterant Perfas, debellati a Machabasis. Tangi utrof- que in vocabulo inult't liquet ex eo, quod, confefto bello, alii fie recreantur, ut in gloria verfentur ; alii contra, ut in ignominia. His arguments are two, I. vocabulum ipfum multi ^ quod de hominum magno numero ufurpatur, non de omnibus ; nam omnes, non tantum multt^ refurre£luri funt. 2. haec verba, dor mire in terra piilveris^ nufquam repcriuntur, ut lig- nificent flatum mortuorum. But to tliefe it is anfwered 1, the word many may here be put for all, juft as it is in the Epiftle to the Romans (v. 15. 19.) ; where St. Paul, fpeaking of the efFe£ls of Adam's tranf- greflion, oblerves, that through the offunce and the djfobedience of oney Many, i. e. all, are dead, and Many^ i. e. all, are made Jinners; and again, that by the obe- dience of one, Many, or, all, Jhall be made righteous, 2. the phrafe of fleeping in the dufl is certainly- found to lignify the ftate of the dead, in two paf- fages of the book of Job [vii. 21. and xx. ii.], and may therefore have the fame fenfe here. And 3. although it be true that men in afflidlion arc fomc- ^imes reprefented as fitting or dwelling in the dufl, it cannot 124 Prophecies of DAniEi. coneerning SER M. feal the book^ even to the time of the end^ ; ly? and the Angelical narration oi that which h noted In the Scripture of truth "^ is clofed. IV. The prophecies of Daniel, ex- plainecj i^ this and a proceeding Le^^ure, furnifh matter for various reflexions ; of which the following are none of the leafl: confidepble, Firft then it appears, that the Gbjeftion^ originally ftarted by Porphyry, and rer yived by Collins, againft the authenticity cannot with any propriety be affirmed of perfons reftored from mifery to profperity, that they awake to, everlqfiing life. Indeed this learned man himfelf, when zeal for the interelh of his communion docs jiot draw him afide, can ufe a different lan- guage : thus in another place, he fpeaks of the pre- diftions concerning the Meffiah as, many of them, requiring a long fer^es of ages for theif completion, and among thofc, which have not yet received their accompliflnnent, he exprefsly includes fome pf the prophecies of Daniel. See his addrefs to the reader of the Prophets, prefixed to the 4t]i vol. of his valuable edition gf the Hebrevy 3ible, p. xlix, L 1;, lii. * Dan. xii. 4. ^•- Pan. X. 2?. I of Antlochus Epiphanes and Antkhrj/f. 125 of the book of Daniel, on account of tl:ke seriv?. clearnefs of its predidion-s as far as the ^^^ times of Antiochus Epiphanes, and their obfcurity beyond that period, is both ir- rational and falfe. For beiides that it becomes not us to determine^ how far, or with what degrees, whether of light or (hade, the author of prophecy ought to communicate the knowledge of futu- rity ; the fail itfelf, alleged in the ob- jedlion, is untrue : the feveral occurrences concerning the Roman Empire, all of which refer to times below the age of Antiochus, being foretold as plainly as thofe which relate to the Perfian or Ma- cedonian Kingdoms, fo far as the pro- phetical intimations are already accom- plifhed : and for the refl, they have no greater ambiguity than aj:iy other pre- diction, yet unfulfilled ; of which the completion alone will afford the beft and jufteft interpretation. Secondly, the opinion of Grotius, and of the Cath©lic writers, who would ex- plain J 26 Prophecies of Daniel concerning SERM. plain the whole' deventh chapter of Da- ^v. niel of the hiftory of AntFochus Epi- ' phanes, and will allow no part of it to have the mod diflant refpe£t to the affairs of the Romans, is without foundation. For not only the circumftances of An- tiochus' life are utterly irreconcileable with fuch an opinion, of whom it can never with any colour of veriiimilitude be af- firmed, that he dijregarded either the Gods of his Fathers or the dejire of Women ", who is known to have compelled even the Jews to worfliip the Grecian Idols, and who was infamous for his impure and libidinous difpolition ; the feries of events themfelves enumerated here, which reaches from the reign of Cyrus quite down to the confummation of all things, at the day of Judgement, forbids us to admit of fo vaft a chafm as is interpofed between the times of Antiochus and the end of the world ; without the fmalleft notice taken of that great people, which *» Dan. xi. 37, figures Anikchus Epipha?2es and Antichriji. 12 j figures in fo diftinguifhed a manner among serm. the nations of mankind, with which the ^^' interefts of God's church and family were and are fo intimately connefted, and under whofe government both Jews and Chrillians have experienced fo many furprizing viciffitudes of profperous and adverfe fortune. A chain of prophecy, fo broken and disjointed as this, is incom- patible with all our ideas of continuity and integrity, which are in equity ta be prefumed in a divine revelation ; and, in the inftance before us, is not more re- pugnant to fober criticifm than it is con- trary to hiftoric truth. Thirdly, from what was formerly ob- ferved of the reafon, why the four Em- pires, whofe revolutions are recorded in the book of Daniel, were particularly feleiled to conftitute the fubjeft of facred prophecy, we may difcern whence it was, that the life and adions of Antiochus Epiphanes were thought worthy to be fo minutely recorded. He it was, who w^as JV. 128 Prophecks of Daniel concerning SERM. was fore-ordained to be the inftrument of chaftifement to the people of Godj during the latter times of the Grecian Monarchy ; under whom the Jews were to be reduced to the very crifis of their fate^ and on the point of being either ut- terly exterminated, or compelled to feme other Gods^ wood and f one'' i^ indirect vio- lation of their law. When therefore this^ calamity arrived, when this haughty tyrant a£lually appeared, to defile their altar, and defecrate their fanduary, and, mad with rage and difappointment, fhould even dare to meditate the extindlion of their name and nation ; what elfe could have been efFe£lual to preferve them from defpair, or excite them to a vigorous application to the means of defence and fafety, than the feafonable reflexion that the fame pro- phet, who had forewarned them of this diftrefs, had been careful alfo to announce their deliverance from it ; that notwith- {tanding all the tokens of anger and dif- ® Deut. xxviii, 36. pleafure, Antlochus Epiphanes and Antichr'iJ},' 129 pleafure, which were viiible on every serm, fide, God had not for got ten to be gracious^', ^^' that the vifion of the Evening and Morning would flill be found to be true "^ ; and that yet a Httle while, and their Almighty avenger was at hand, and would not tarry ? There is another reafon, why the deftiny of Antiochus (hould be here in- fifted on : he, we have feen, was intended to be a figure of him, who has lorded it, now fo long, over the flock of Chrifl, under the denomination of the Pope or Church of Rome : whenever therefore the prophecy fliould appear to be com- l| pleted in the type, this would create an afliirance that it would hereafter be ve- rified in the antitype; however obfcure, and even dark, at the time the prophecy was given, that antitype might be, as well to the apprehenfions of the Jews, as to thofe of the prophet himfelf. Thus the angel, having revealed to Daniel, p Pf. Ixxvii. 9. '^ Dan, viii. 26. K in 130 Prophecies of Daniel concerning SER M. ill the cleareft and plaineft manner, what' IV. was foon to happen in the near event, {hews him from far, and as it were in confufion, what was afterwards to take place in the remote one : juft as a painter, having expreffed in the livelieft and brighteft colours the principal and leading ' parts of his defign, throws into fhade, or touches in a faint and languid way, the fubjeds which feem to him but dif- tantly related to it. Laftlj, the expofition of the prophecies of Daniel, which hath now been made, and by the only certain method, that of comparing and forting them with fuc- ceeding events, will greatly facilitate our fearch into thofe, which yet remain to be unfolded in the writings of St. Paul and St. John. When Daniel firft publifhed his own vifions, he plainly confeffed he did not comprehend their meaning: his imk was to he Jhiit up and fealed^ till the time of the end \ and before they fhould be at all, or at leaft fully, underftood., many Aniiochus Eplphanes and Antkhrifl. 131 many were to run to andfro^ and hiowledge s e r m. was to be encreafed\ Accordingly in ^^ ' thefe latter ages of the world it has hap- pened, that much of the obfcurity, com- plained of in what is here foretold, has been adually removed by the comple- tion : and what to Daniel was reprefented as a book that was sealed, by St. John, in allufion, and, as (hould feem, by way of oppolition, to that expreffion, is called the Revelation, which God hath fiewed unto his ferv ants of things that miift Jhortly come to pafs \ Such therefore of the vifions of the legal prophet, as have been already fulfilled, may be ufed as a di- reftion to inftrudl us in the meaning of, what we are next to attempt to illuftrate, the evangelical predi6lions. And now, under the aufpices of fuch a guide, we may hope to advance fecurely in our proje£led work ; and to have the pleafure ' Dan. xii. 4. • Rev. i. I. K 2 of i 132 Prophecies of Daniel, &c. SERM. of thofe, who, after long travelling in a ^Y' dreary night, perceive at laft the dark- ' ' nefs to dimipi(h, and the reddening ftreaks of the morning betokening to them that the day is at hand. SER. t 133 ] SERMON V. Prophecy of St. Paul concerning the Man of Sin, 2 Thess, ii. 3. Let no man deceive you by any means : for That Day Jloall not come^ except there come a falling away firjl, and that Man of Sin be revealed, the Son of Perdition, WHEN It is objefted to the Serm« Chriftlan Religion, that, inftead ^* of promoting piety and virtue, peace and happinefs, among mankind, it has been abufed to the purpofes of enthufiafm and fuperftition, and made the inftrument of tyranny and perfecution to a confiderable K 3 part 134 Prophecy of St. Favl SERM. part of thofe who have embraced It; wc '^' think we oppofe a fatlsfaftory anfwer, ' when we reply, That the defign of the gofpel is not yet completed ; that we are now but in the midft of a fcheme, of whofe end no probable conjeftures can be formed from the unpromifing appear- ances accompanying its beginning ; that nothing has come to p'Jtfs, refpe£l:ing either the paft or prefent condition of Chriftianity, which was not foretold ; and that what- ever has happened has been of fuch a nature, as no Impoftor could have fore- feen, and no Enthufiaft would have be- lieved : that therefore the Faft and the Prophecy compared together, far from af- fordu}g matter of juft objeftion to our holy religion, do indeed confpire to fur- nifh a very confiderable argument for its truth; and are admirably calculated to a ThciT. il. 5, 6, 7, 8, L 4 ' of 152 Prophecy of St, Paul SERM. of Rome, even to fuppofe that her Im- V* perial Sovereignty fhould ever come to a^ ' end, or be difpoffeffed by a power yet more oppreffive and rigorous than her own. And it is worthy to be remarked, that the learned Apologift Tertullian,, who flouriflied towards the end of the fecond century, is at pains to vindicate the Ghriftians from the charge of being ill-afFe£led to the ftate, and gives it as one reafon, among others, why in their public Liturgies they couftantly prayed for the fafety of the Caefarean Empire, from the perfuafion then generally held, and profefledly founded on the authority of this text, that Antichrift could not be revealed, fo long as that Empire ihould continue, and that the greateft calamity, which- ever threatened the world, wac; only delayed by its prefervation \ * Ed' et alia major ncccfliUs nobis orandi pro Imperatoribiis, etiain pro omni liatu Imperii, — qni vim maximam, uiiiverfo orbi immincntem,— K.ouiarj imperii commjaiu fcimus rcrardari. Apol, c. 3^ See iXio c. 30. And ad Scan. c. 2. They V. CQftverning the Man of Sin* 153 They, who have fearched Into the thnes ser m. fubfequent to thofe of the Apoftles, or to the demoHtion of the Jewifh government, in hopes of finduig either a,n individual perfon, or an order and fuccefiion of per- fons, in whom the prophecy of St. Paul might appear to be completed, have, feme of them, imagined, that the man of fin was Mahomet, the author of the religion ftill fubfifting and called by his name, fie, we know, was a confeffed Impoftor^ and took advantage of the corruptions then introduced into Ghriflianity, to ob- trude his revelations on mankind ; his do6lrines, as immoral and fenfual as his life, fully juftify his being filled t/je wicked one and the fon of perdition-, and, what i? more than all, he found means to eftablifn his religion foon after the declcnfion of the Roman Empire. But however exadly the Man of Sin and Mahomet may feerr> in fome inftances to agree, there are other particulars, ftill more efTential, in which the two characters are totally incompati- ble i^^ Prophecy of St. Paul SERM. blc with each other. The iniquity of ^' the Man of Sin was operating in the times - ' of Su Paul : but Mahometanifm was a hafty fcheme, fuddenly formed and exe- cuted by an entcrprifing adventurer, for the purpofes of worldly dominion ; nor can any footfteps of it be traced back- ward to the Apoftolic age, or many cen- turies after it. Of the man of fin it is recorded, that his coming fliould be after the working of Satan^ with fgns and lying wonders^ and with (ill deceivablenefs of un^ righteoufnefs : but the authority of Ma- homet was not fupported, nor attempted to be fupported, by miracles, but by the fword. The man of fin was to be a Chriftian power ; but Mahomet, though he acknowledged the truth of the Na- zarite's commiffion, was utterly averfe to the Chriftian name ; and his do£lrincs are as irreconcileable with thole of Jefus, as light with darknefs. Laftly, from the predidions of Daniel already explained it has been feen, that Antichrift or the Mm V. concerning the Man cf Sln» 155 Man of Sin was to be a Roman power; serm. and from what is yet to be explained of the Apocalypfe of St. John it will be further feen, that his place of refidence was to be the city of Rome : now thefe are circuniflances, which by no fubtlety of interpretation can be made to quadrate with the perfon of Mahomet, and exclude him from any the mod diftant concern iu the prophecy under examination. It is fcarce worth while to mention the fophifm of the Catholics, who by the Apoflafy here defcribed affedl to un- derftand the feparation of the Proteftants from the church of Rome: becaufe, with whatever art this calumny may have been m'ged by the writers of that communion, in hopes of faftening on the Reformers the imputation of Schifm, by way of re- taliation for charging them with the guilt of Idolatry ; it is fo entirely deflltute of truth, that one can hardly conceive it is feriouily believed even by themfelves : and till it can be proved, that it ever wasf the 1 56 Prophecy of St, Paul SERM. the wont of the Reformed Churches to V- vindicate their feceilion by Miracles, or fliewn under what common Mafter, favc Chrlft, they profefs to be united, it will not be thought, with fober men, to de- ferve the honour of a confutation, III. Hitherto we have done no more, than fimply point out, who the Man of Sin is not : it will now be expedled, that we indicate by certain marks, who hs feally is ; meaning by that expreffion, not any fngle perfoji (for with this idea both tht work affigned, and the time required to compleat it, are wholly inconfiftent), but ^fuccejjion cf men, pofleffing the fame flation and charader, and a£luated by the fame fpirit of antichriftian policy an4 fraud: juft as, in other places of Scripture, a King reprefents a fuccefiion of Kings over the fame nation, a Beaft is ufed for a whole Empire, and the Falfe Prophet in the book of the Revelations, by the con- feffion of the Bifliop of Meaux himfelf, for a corrupt communion and fq-? ciet^, cojicernlng the Man of Sin. x^y clety"*. Now it is moft undeniable, that serm. in the ages following that of the Apoftles, '^* a power did aftually arife, and within the *" bofom of the Chriftian Church, fo like to that which is here predifted, that, if it be not the fame, it has at leaft the ef- fential notes of it ; nor is any circum- flance wanting to an entire refemblance, but the cataflrophe or deftrudlion to which the power is doomed ; an event, which is yet future, and wrapt up in the venerable gloom in which all unfulfilled prophecies without exception are involved. You will doubtlefs apprehend, that the power here alluded to can be no other ?han that now exercifed by Him, who "fills the chair of St. Peter under the de* nomination of the Pope or Biflhop of Rome. The rudiments of fpiritual ty- ranny, by which this grand deceiver of the Chriftian world was hereafter to be- " See L'Apocalypfe, avec iin Explication, par J. B. Boffuct, Eveque de Meaux; and particularly the Notes on Gh. xiii, ver. 1 1 — 18. come 1^8 Prophecy of St. Paul SERM. come confpicuons, were laid, even in the V' Apoftolic times ; as appeared but too ' plainly in thofe dreadful figns of i\pofl:afy, fo juftly reprehended by St. Paul and St. John ; the worfhiping of angels ^'j ob- ferving the Jewifh diflinftions of days and meats s adulterating the word of God with the principles of Gentile philofophy y, allegorizing the doftrine of the refur- redion ^', and denying that Chrift wa^ come in the flefh \ Thefe errors were not likely to dimini(h, w^ien, the extra* ordinary afiiftances, afforded to the rifing church, being now withdrawn, the facred oracles were committed to the cuftody and interpretation of fallible men, difpofed enough of themfelves to extravagate into the baleful exceffes of fanaticifm and fu- perftition. Accordingly it is a lament- able truth, that no fooner had the per- ^ ColofT. II. 1 8. "" CololT. ii. 1 6. Gal» iv. lO. y Coloff. li. 8. "^ 2 Tim. ii. i8. * I John iv. 3. fecutionj concerning the Man of Sin, 159 fecutions ceafed, and the Empire become serm. Chriftian under the patronage of Con- ^* ftantuie, than a fruitful crop of herefies and rank opinions fuddenly fprang up, that choked the heavenly plant which the Father had planted, and were equally prejudicial to the interefts of Faith and Virtue. Thefe were chiefly {eei\ in the enthufiaftic veneration paid to the me- ' mories and tombs of dead faints and mar-' I tyrs ; in pilgrimages to Paleftine and the i holy city; voluntary poverty, and mace- ; rations of the body by faftings and foil- I tude (whence the origin of the Monaftic i Difcipline); the celibacy of priefts, and the general idea of the fuperior purity of a (ingle life. The maUgnity of fuch evils from within was not a little encreafed by the crafty politics of the Roman Pontiff from without : whofe natural pre-emi- nence of ftation, as preliding in the Me- tropolis of the Weftern world, furnifhed him with an eafy pretext to arbitrate in the many dilputcs, principally fomented by 1 60 Prophecy of St. Paul SERM. by himfelf, among other members of the V. Epiicopal order ; an advantage, which he " failed not dihgently to improve, and which contributed not a little to exalt him to that fummit of facerdotal ambition, to which he afterwards attained, as fupreme lawgiver in the Church of Chrift. Such in general was the wretched ftate of things, when the Caellirean Government, by means of the Gothic depredations, was brought to its end: and the Imperial power, or that which Letted^ being thus taken out of the way ^, the Papal advanced itfelf in its (lead; and perfeftly corref* ponded to the charader of the Man of Sky delineated in the facred writings. The iifurped dominion, exercifed by this haughty Prelate over the fiates and princes of his communion, his infolent and illegal claims to depofe and murder Kings, and conftraining the greateft monarchs to re- ceive their crowns from his hands, are. denoted by oppofmg and exalting^ himfelf I ^ aThcir. ii. 7, , above concerning the Man of Sin. i6i ahonye all that is called God^ or that is wor^ ser m, Jhiped^: his impious pretences to infaU ^' libility, and to exercife the prerogative, belonging to God alone, of forgiving and retaining fins, are reprefented by ft- ting as God in the Temple of God, and /hewing himfelf that he is God^i and, laftly, his diabolical artifices to delude a credulous and abandoned world, by the pious frauds of juggling impoftors, ard prefigured by coming after the working cf Sat^n, with power andfigns and lying won- ders, and with all deceivablenefi of un- righteoufnefs in them that perifh % Thus accurately are the origin and pro- grefs of this amazing fyftem of fpiritual domination foretold ; a fyftem begun in the corruption of all that is good and valuable, whether refpeding piety or vir- tue, and propagated and fuftained by the wicked arts of idolatry and oppreffion. Nothing remains to finifli the defcription, ^ 2 Their, ii. 4. «* Vcr. 4. « Ver. 9, lO. M but 1 62 Prophecy of St. Paul SERM. but what is added by St. Paul, namely, ^' the vengeance of offended heaven on ' this enemy of all righteoufnefs ^ \ whom the Lord pall confume with the fpirit of his mouthy and deflroy with the brightnefs of his coming ^. This has been in part efFefted already, by the fuccefsful oppo- fition to the doftrines and pra£lices of Papal Rome, at the times of the Refor- mation : nor need we doubt but, in God's good time, his gracious promifes fhall have their full completion ; when every adverfary of the truth (hall be finally fub- dued, and the Church of Chrift, no longer militant but triumphant upon earth, fhall once again fhine forth in its native purity and fplendor. IV. By way of conclufion we may ob- ferve, that from the memorable predi£lion, whofe interpretation has been attempted here, may be derived a clear and decifive proof of the reality of the prophetic fpirit *" A£ls xili. 10. 5 2 Their, ii. 8. with 1 concerning the Man of Sin. 163 \vith which the Apoftles were infpif^d, serm, and, in confequence of that, of the truth ^' of the Chriftian rehgion. At the time this prophecy was written by St. Paul, there was not, and had not been, the llendereft veftige of a power refembhng that foretold, in any part of the known world; and, judging from appearances only, there was not the leaft likelihood that any fuch fhould arife ; much lefs that it fhould originate in a Church fo averfe to worldly grandeur, as that of Chriit^ Yet that a power of this fort now exiftSj and has long exifted, in the Roman Hie- rarchy, is a matter of fa£l:, that is not to be difputed ; nor can any words convey a jufter idea of its nature, than thofe de- livered by the Apoftle, fo many ages before its arrival. Thefe are things, which cannot be accounted for on any principles of human fagacity or contri- vance \ and can only be explained on the fuppofition, that the holy men, to whom it was given thus to develope the fecrets M 2 of V 1 64 Prophecy of St. Paul SERM. of futurity, and bring forward its hidden myfteries into day, were inftin£t with fupernatural communications from the divine Spirit, ^ndfpake as they were moved by the Holy Ghojl \ If the prophets of the New Teftament were really infpired, it follows, that the Chriftian religion is true. For though prophecies unfulfilled may perhaps by fome be confidered as doubtful authorities ; yet fuch as have already had their ac- complifhment, and can be undeniably proved to have been recorded before the event, and are plainly beyond the reach of human forefight or conje£lure to have invented ; thefe furely muft be allowed by every candid and ingenuous mind to adminifter one of the ftrongeft arguments, that can well be defired, that the religion, in proof of which thofe prophecies were afforded, is from God ; lince Infinite Wifdom itfelf cannot be conceived to !» 2 Pet. i. 21. c have concerning the Man of Sin. 165 have contrived a more effe£lual way to serm. authenticate its own declarations ; and ^* hifinite Goodnefs cannot fuffer its rational "~ creatures to be thrown into circumftances, where impofture fhould be permitted to wear fuch evident marks of truth, and where error could neithe/ be prevented nor cured. M 5 S E R. f 166 ] SERMON VI. Prophecy of St. Paul concerning the Apoftafy of the Latter Times. I Tl MOTHY iv. I, Now the Spirit fpeaketh exprefsly, that in the Latter "Times Jome Jhall depart from the Faith ; giviftg heed to f educing fpirits^ and Do&rines of Devils. THE declared end of the Jewifli Law being to perpetuate the know- ledge of the true God, till the tinmes of the Meffiah, in the midft of a world fa- tally over-run with fuperftition and po- lytheifm ; and the appointed means, by which that end was to be efFeded^ being the Prophecy of St. Paul, &c. 167 the (eparation of one people from the serm, reft ; it became necefiary, in order to ^^* fecure the beneficial purpofes of fuch a feleftlon, that thofe, who were the ob- jects of it, (hould be guarded by the fe- verity of penal laws from the contagion of Idolatry. Yet, whether it were from the inveterate prejudices then generally entertained concerning local and tutelary deities, or from the fondnefs contrafted in the houfe of bondage for Egyptian manners, or, what was perhaps a more alluring motive than either of the two, the voluptuous and immoral rites of Hea- thenifm ; fo it was, that, from the very firft inftitution of their Law to the time of their puniftiment by a feventy-years captivity, this people were for ever re- volting from the God of their fathers, and polluting the fanclity of their own re- ligion by the unholy mixture of Pagan impurities. But we fhall conceive a very wrong idea of Jewiih Idolatry, if we fuppofe M ^ that 1 68 Prophecy of St. Paul concerning S£RM. that it confifted in a total rejeclion of the ^'J- true Jehovah, as if they denied his being, " or doubted of his power : for it appears, as well from the feries of their hiftory, as from the rebukes and exhortations of their prophets, that they flill looked up to Him as the Creator of the Univerfe, and on all occafions, whether of diilrefs or vidory, were ready to own his fove- reign right of dominion. But the per- verfity, objefted to this unhappy people, %vas this ; that they did not confiqe their religious homage to the God of Ifrael, but contaminated the fcrvice, due to him alone, with foreign worfhip, adopted from their Gentile neighbours : either adoring other gods bcfdes him, as the Hofl of Heaven, or the fouls of dead men, which was the peculiar Impiety of their two kings, Ahab and A4c^naiTeh ' ; or offering prayers and praifes. to their own God, through the medium of hnages ; as in the inftance of the golden calves, at Dan and I Kings xvi. qi. 32. 33. 1 Kings xxi. 5, 6. Beth-el, VI. the Apojlajy of the Latter Times. 169 Beth-el, politically erefted, to prevent the serm, re-union of the kingdom of Ifrael with that of Judah, by Jeroboa?n the Jon of Nel?at^ whe made Ifrael tofn ^, Chriftians, as well as Jews, are under the moll folemn obligations, and have the authority of an exprefs command, to acknowledge, as firft and principally, One God, the Father, of whom are all things^ and to whom our pious fervices are to be direfted ; fo alfo One Lord, Jefus Chrifl, by whom are all things, and through whom we have accefs with cQnfidence to the divine Majefty ^ And as, during the times of the Mofaic difpenfation, none but the -High Prieft could enter into the Holy of Holies, there to ofter incenfe, and make atonement for the fins of the people, with the hlood of others ; fo Jefus, the High Prieft of Chriftians, is the only one, who has entered Into the Holy place, not made ^ I Kings xii. 28, 29. xvi. 26. See D. L. Book V. Sea. 2. ^ I Cor. viii. 6. Ephef, il. 18. iii. 12, with 176 Prophecy of St. Paul concerning SERM. With hands^ with power to appear in the "^'i* frefence of God ^ there to offer the fpirltual ' * incenfe, which is the prayers of the Saints "", after having, with his own bloody obtained eternal redemption for us "". Yet, whether through an affeftation of humility^ and a ifear of approaching too nigh to God ; or through a miftaken apprehenfion that they Were not compleat "^ in Clirifl:, but had need of other patrons and helpers befides him ; there have been Chriftians, who have made to themfelves gods many and lords many p ; not holding the head^ from which all the body hath effedual nouriJJo- ment fuppHed 1 ; and transferring the ho- nour, appropriated to Chrift alone, to An- gels and to Saints ; whom they have -vainly addrelTed as the givers of fpiritual grace and comfort, and whofe power they have invoked in all the forms and lan- guage of devotion* "> Rev. V. 8. " Heb. ix. ir, 12. 24, 25. ^ ColofT. ii. 18. 10. P I Cor. viii. 5. *> ColofT. il. 19. But. the Apojlafy of the Latter Times. 171 But here again we (hall do well to ob- serm, ferve, that as the Ifraelites, even in their ^^' moft corrupt ftate, never wholly with- drew their allegiance from the true God, but only w^orfhiped Him together with the falfe J^ods of the nations round about them, or under the reprefentation of Calves and Images; fo Chriftians, who are charged with thus detracting from the merits of Chrift, are not fuppofed to have incurred fo great a guilt, by a total renunciation of his religion ; but by fet- ting up other IntercefTors befides, and in conjundion with, Him : in dire6l repug- nance to that precept of fcripture, which teaches, that as there is but one God, fo there is alfo but one Mediator between God and man "■ ; whofe incommunicable prero- gative it is, to receive and prefent the requefts and thankfgivings of pious perfons to His Father and Our Father, and who is able to fave to the uttermoji them that f I Tim. ii. 5. come 172 Prophecy of St. Paul concerning s E R M. come unto God by Him, feeing He ever Uveth VI, to make intercejfionfor us\ ' Hence it follows, that as the perfeclion of Jevvifh Worfhip confifted in having none other Gods but one, and the effence of Jewifh Idolatry in acknowledging a plurality; fo the perfedlion of Chriftiau Worfhip confifts in having none other Mediator but Chrift, and the effence of what may fitly be called Chriflian Ido- latry in owning other Mediators betides him. And as the Jews were guilty of violating the law of Mofes, not only when they prayed to a multitude of gods, but alfo when they prayed to the true God under any fenfible likenefs or fymbol ; fo Chriftians offend againft the law of Chrift, not only when they have recourfe to other Mediators, but alfo when they offer their fupplication? to Him, by an image or vi- fible reprefentation. This account of the nature of Jewifl^ ai)d Chriflian VVorfiiip and Idolatry will ^ Keb. vil. 25. open VI. the Apojiafy of the hatter Times. 175 open the way to the elucidation of what serm. is now to engage our attention, the prophecy, recorded in the text ; in which St. Paul, predifting, as in a former Epiftle, that great defeftion of the Chriftian world, which was to happen in the latter times^ foretells that it (hould be accompanied, as with other fuperftitious obfervances, fuch as forbidding to marry^ and cominanding to ahjlain from meats (both which had begun to infinuate them- felves even in the Apoftollc age), fo chiefly with the revival of the ancient and ex- ploded worftiip of Demons ; exprefled here by giving heed to feducing fpirits and doc* trines of Devils^, But befides this cha- radleriftic mark, by which fo folemn a revolt fhould be difcriminated from all others, two other notes of diftinilion are alfo fubjoined ; one, that it (hould be that very departing from the faiths of which the Church had been already forewarned by an exprefs revelation from the divine * I Tim, iv. I. 3. Spirit ; 174 Prophecy of St, Paul concerning SERM. Spirit ; the other, that its arrival was not VI* to be expefted till the latter times. In enlarging on each of thefe particu- lars, and in the order they have now been mentioned, we (hall be furniflied, as we go along, with the mofl undoubted proofs of the completion of this prophecy in the Apoftafy of Papal Rome ^ from whence will appear the truth and juftice of that accufation, fo frequently infifted on by Proteftants, when they impugn the efta- blifhed worfliip of that communion, as Idolatrous and Antichriftian* I. Firft then let it be remarked, that it was a confelTed principle of Pagan The- ology, that the Sovereign of the Univerfe was of too fuhlime a nature to humble' himfelf to behold what was going forward in fo obfcure and fordid a corner as this^ earth; as well as too pure to be imme- diately approached by a creature, degraded to fo low a rank in the fcale of beings as Man. The care and government of the world, it was believed, was delegated to* the the ^pojldjy of the hatter Times. 175 the vicegerency of inferior agents, better serm* known by the name of Demons; a fort ^^* of demi-gods, or fubaltern divinities, by ^ whofe miniftry the whole intercourfe be* tween gods and men, fuch as the recipro- cation of prayers and benefits, petitions and fuppHes, was managed and carried on. It were eafy to fupport the pofition here advanced by a tedious heap of quotations, from the writings of the Platonifts (which to bring together would be but to abufe your patience ") : it is of more importance to obferve, that the Demons, into whofe original w-e are now enquiring, were of two kinds ; one, of a higher order, who had never been imprifoned or hnkt with a human body, fuch as Angels are con- ceived by us ; the other, of an inferior clafs, the fouls of departed heroes, who, during their abode on earth, had been the Founders and Benefadors of human fo- ciety, and were now exalted to heaven, " See the very learned Treatife of Mr. Mede, of the Jpojlafy of the Latter Times \ particularly ch. 3 — 7. S'.>e ahb D. L, B. HI. Sea. 4. 3 and 176 Prophecy of St. Paul concerning SER M. and canonized after the manner of Romifh 'V'l* Saints. Of thefe Demons it was that the Athenians, who of all the Greeks were moft addided to the cuftom of adopting foreign gods, imagined St. Paul to fpeak, when he preached to them JefuSi and his refurredlion "^ from the dead : and to the fame idol-deities there is an allufion in the firft Epiftle to the Corinthians -, where it is faid, that the things which the Gentiles facrificed^ they Jacrijiced to "Demons^ not to God ; and that Chriftians could not par^ take^ at one and the fame time, of the table and cup of the Lord^ and of the table and cup of Demons \ When therefore we find the great Apoftle of the Gentiles, whofe extenfive learning muft have introduced him to the moft intimate acquaintance with the religious rites of Paganifm, ex- prefsly declaring, that the Apoftafy of the latter times fhould be principally dif- tinguifhed by giving heed to dodlrines con^" -^ Aas xvli. 18. Sec D. L. B. II. Sea. 6. " I Cor. X. 20, 21. cerning the Apojlafy of the Latter Tmeu 177 cernifjg Demons (for fo the words had bet- serm. ter have been tranflated), of whofe office "^i* we have ittn it was, to mediate and in- tercede between the gods and mortals ; and then compare with this predidlion the avowed principles of the Church of Rome, according to which Angels and Saints are both invoked under the fame charafter of mediators and interceflTors, ijotthout^ and therefore againji, the authority, expreffed or impliedj of God's word ; Ilo entire a con- formity in the thing annihilates any tri- fling difference in the name, and from the perfeft likenefs in the copy we are forbid. to hefitate in pronouncing about the Original. But it is not only in the obje^s of wot- fhip, that this fimilitude between the De- monology of the Gentries and that of modern Rome is dtifcernible, but alfo in the mode in which ibch worfhip is per* formed. The Pagan adoration of Demons was externally paid to material Images and Columns, animated, as was fuppofed, N by 178 Prophecy of St. Paul concerning SERM. by an intelligence, communicated by the ^^' god in whofe honour they were eredted, ' and there confined, as within a facred in- clofure, from whence there was no efcape. And the fame refped was {hewn to the Remains and Sepulchres of Demons, as to their Statues and Pillars. Now who fees not, that to thefe ceremonies, the cuftoms prefcribed and praftifed among the vota- ries of Papal Rome, fuch as the proftra- tions made to Images, to the Crofs, and iat the elevation of the Hoft, together Vvith the fuperftltious regard to the Relics and Tombs of Martyrs, exadly correfpond ? In vain the advocates of that corrupted church endeavour to elude the crime of Idolatry, fo juftly charged upon them on account of fuch obfer- vances, by pleading here, that thefe out- ward memorials are only honoured with a relative worfhip ; that it is not the fub- ilance or matter, of which they are com- pofed, but the perfons, of whom they bear the impreffion; or fugged tliQ remem- brance, VI. the Apojiafy of the hatter Times. 179 brance, to which their reverential regards serm, are really paid : bccaufe, with whatever plaufibility, or even truths this argument may be urged, as to the wifer and more informed part of that communion, the vulgar worfliipers, we affirm, will never make, or will never retain, any fuch dif- tin£tion ; the adoration, which is diredled by them to a fenfible objefl;, will termi- nate in that objed, and look no farther ; and the fign or fymbol, which was em- ployed at firft as the mea?is of devotion, will foon be refted and confided in, as an end. The Jews w^ere forbidden, in the moft folemn manner, to make any fimi- litude of God, under any form: and if the Angel, who appeared to St. John, rejected the homage of that Apoftle offered to himfelf, when prefent, and in perfon, in terms of abhorrence ; — See thou do it not ; / am thy fellow -ferv ant ; worfoip Gody ; — the fame homage, paid to his re- prefentation, when abfent, it may be pre- ' Rev* xxii. 8, 9, N ^ fum^d^ VI, 1 80 Prophecy of Si, Paul concerning SERM. fumed, would have been ftill more d if- pleafing. No command, or even permif- fion, concerning the praying to Images, whether meant as memorials of Chrift or of his Saints, is fo much as pretended to be found in fcripture: and in the follow- ing words of Mofes, which, though ori- ginally fpoken with refpeft to the Supreme Being, are not without their force, when applied to any other objed of worfliip, mray be difcovercd no flight tokens of a divine prohibition : Take good heed unto yourfelvesy for ye faw no ftmlhiide, on the day that the Lord fpake to you in Horei, out of the midji of the fire ; lefi ye corrupt yourfelves, and make the fimilitude of any figure ; lefi ye forget the covenant of the Lord your God^ an-d make you a graven image ^ or the likenefs of any thing which the Lord thy God hath forbidden thee : for the Lord thy God is a confufning fire^ even a jealous God^, ^ Dcut. iv, 15, 1^. J3, 24i Whether the ^'^poJJnfy of the Latter Times. i8x Whether the conformity between Pa- serm. gan and Popifli Worfliip, which has been ^^• here infided on, were owing to direft imitation^ or arofe from the natural work- ings of fuperftition, which in fimilar fituations produces fimilar efFefts, has been matter of difpute*. They, who contend that the religion of Chriftian Rome is immediately derived from that of the heathen city, have, it muft be allowed, alleged a variety of inftances, in wdiieh the rites and ceremonies are the fame in both : but it muft alfo be acknowledged, that from this circumftance alone no de^ cifive proof can be drawn, that one was formed on the plan, and modelled after the pattern, of the other ; becaufe there are feveral examples of conformity to be found among nations, between whom, we are fure, there i>ever was the fmalleft intercourfe or comrnunication, where * See the Letter from Rome, by Dr. Middletpn ; and the Remarks on that Letter by Bp. Warburton, D. L. Book IV. Sea 6. at the end. N 3 there- iSz Prophecy of St. Paul concerning SERM. therefore there cannot be the fhadow of ^^' a rcafon to aflert, that their common "~ cuftoms were traduflive from each other. Many of the gods of the ancient Gauls and Suevi, and thofe of the later Greeks and Romans, have been remarked to dif- fer only in name ; whence fame writers, mifled by this refemblance, have pofitively declared for their identity : yet more learned and accurate inveftigators of an- tiquity have fully expofed the fallacy of this opinion ; which had never any other fupport than on the attributes, afcribed to the divinities of thofe feveral coun- tries; which attributes, on account of the rife of the gods thcmfelves from humanity, were, and could not but be, the fame ^. A like correfpondency has been obferved by a fine critic between the manners of the fabulous Greeks, as de- lineated in the well-known poems of Homer, and thofe of the Feudal Barons, as reprefented in the works of the Gothic ^ See D. L. Book IV. Seft. 5. roman^ the Apojiajy of the Latter Times. 1 83 romance! s'^: yet he, who (hould fay that serm. the latter of thefe were copied from the ^^* former, would undoubtedly fall into a grofs miftake ; fince the agreement be- tween them may fo naturally be ac- counted for, from the fimilarity of the political ftates of Greece and Europe, at the two periods defcribed, which gave an unity of characler to both, though at the fame time both were equally originals. But, not to dwell any longer on a con- troverfy, which after all is not of the moft important kind ; let it be remem- bered, that which ever way this difpute be determined, the fa^ itfelf, of the aflual revival of the Gentile Demonology in the Church of Chrift, (lands clear of any ob- jeftions that may be brought againft either hypothefis : and the fa6l is all, that a believer, or an interpreter, of prophecy need be concerned for. II. The fccond mark, by which the dcfe«?fion of Chriftians is defcribcd in the c See the Letters oq Chivalry and Romance; Leitcv is\ N 4. text^, 1S4 Prophecy of St. Paul concerning SERM. text, is this; that it was to be the fame yu departing from the fait h^ of which the Spirit " had exprefsly fpoken before ; where by ex- frefsly can only be meanf, that it had been .mentioned in exprefs words. Now it is certain that St. Paul was himfelf enabled, by a fupernatural revelation, to foretell the falling away, of which h^ forewarns his fon Timothy here, when he wrote his fecond Epiftle to the Thef- falonians ^ : and there are who think, it is that Epiftle, to which he alludes in this place. But a better opinion is, that the predicSlion meant is that contained in the eleventh chapter of the book of Daniel, and explained in a former Ledlure ; where the corruptions of the Chriflian Church, which were hereafter to be oc- cafioned by the Roman Hierarchy, are made to confift in the fame unnatural union of the worfliip of Demons, or tu- telary gods, with that of Chrift, accom- panied too with the fame prohibition of * Z ThefT. ii. 3, mar« the Apojlafy of the Latter Times. 185 marriage, as is recorded in this Epiftle ' ; s e r m. ^o that the fubftance 18, SER. [ 193 3 SERMON VII. The Authority of the Apocalypfe, and the Time when it was written. Rev. i. 3. ^ Blejfed is he that readethy and they that hear^ the words of this prophecy y and keep thofe things which are written therein ; fo?' the time is at hand, THE prediaions concerning the rife s^^-^^* VII and fall of Antlchrift, fo far as [_ thefe are to he found in the book of Daniel and the Epiftles of St. Paul, hav^- ing been already coniidered in the pre- ceding Lcclures; it now remains that, O accord- 194 ^^f Authority of the Apocalypfe^ SERM. according to our propofed plan, we pro- "^^^^ ceed to others yet more important, which are recorded, for the confolation of the faithful, in the Revelation of St. John. On the moft curfory view of this pro- phecy it is obvious, that, as well on ac- count of its matter and method, as of the iymbolical charafter that pervades the whole, it is of a xnuch more myflerious and dark complexion than any other, .either of the Old or New Teftament. In- deed fo myflerious and fo dark, that, as modern fceptics would have us believe, we can never hope to fee any clear and confiftent fyftem deduced from it : for a proof of which we are referred to the various, fchemes of interpretation, invented by Chriftians of oppofite communions, all of whom have been fond to^ find their own caufe and fortunes foretold in it; wJiofe difcordant opinions are therefore" by the wifer few to be regarded as nothing better^ than the whimfies of a warm or dift^mpered imagination ; vifionary . and -:.:.*., . illufive. and the Time when it was "Written.- J^S illufive, like the figures feen \w th$ cloii^s^ s E r m. which appear under different forrris, aC- ^■^^• cording to the fancy and difpofition of the beholder. But to reprefs the libertlnifm of fuch fcorners, or yet to expofe the indifcre- tions of former interpreters, is none of our concern. Our bufinefs, with refpecf to this extraordinary book, is of a more interefting kind ^ to lay before you the evidences of its authority, to point out the way in which the obfcurity, peculiar to it, may be removed, to unfold its general fcope and defign, and laftly to examine whether, and how far, the event has correfponded to the whole, or any part, of the prediction. And to foher and ferious inquirers, to thofe who to a cool- nefs and feverlty of judgment, capable of penetrating the reafons of this fingular fpecies of compofition, have added, what is a yet more elfential qualification in a reader of God*s word, a fincere and teacha- ble and humble mind, fuch a mode of O 2 invefti* 1.96 The Authority of the Apocalypfe^ SERM. inveftigation may, it is hoped, adminifter ^^^* fome degree of fatisfaftion. For thefe ' are the perions to whom, it muft be fup- pofed, the promifed blejji?ig in the text -is principally addrefied ; whofe charaders are emphatically defcribcd by our Lor-d, when, rapt in the contemplation of the counfels of providence in ottering the gofpel to the poor, he thus expreffes his own acknowledgment of the wifdom as well as goodnefs of fuch a procedure : / ihaJik thee^ O Father, Lor J of heaven and earthy becaufe thou haf hid thefe things from the "usfe and prudent^ a/id haft revealed them mito babes. Even fo^ Father ! for fo it feemed good in thy fght ^, I. FirH: then, as it will be in vain to bufy ourfelves about the manner of in- terpreting this prophetical book, unlefs we be previoufly convinced that it is the j^enuine production of him, whofe name Jj: bears,; it will be neccffary, before we ^,pj;(i)^ejd to any other inquiry, to bring -^di tor. 1 M uli. xi. 25, 26. ..rJ together { and the Time when h wjj written. 197 to2:ether tlie ars^uments which have been serm. advanced, and which feem to be conclu- "^^^^ five, in favour of its authenticity. I. Now here it is a remarkable cir- cumftance, and what perhaps diftinguifhes the Apocalypfe from every other portion of the New Teftament, that it was uni- verfcilly received, as the work of John the EvangehU:, by thofe who lived neareft tlie times of its publication, without a fingte perfon appearing to queftion its authority. The date of this book, which, as we fhall fee hereafter, does not com- mence till near the end of the firft century after Chrift, fufficiently accounts for the iilence of the earlieft of the Fathers con- cerning it. Two of the mod lUuftrious, among thofe who firft mention it, are Juftin the Martyr, converted to the futh within thirty years after it was written, and Iren^us, the conftant hearer of Poly- carp, who was himfelf a difci43le of St. John. Both agree in pofitively afcribing the Apocalypfe to this Apoftle ; and the O 3 * latter 1 93 'The -Authority of the Apocalypfe^ SERM. latter in particular was curious to fearch ^"^'^- into all the. approved copies, in order to " latisfy himfelf concerning a dubious paf- fage, the true reading of which, he relates, was alfo confirmed to him by thofe, wh^ knew the author face to face. Other teifli- nlonies may be added from Clemens of Alexandria, the Latin Father Tertullian, and the famous Origen ; all living within 120 years from the death of the Evan- gclirt, and by whom, though fituated in different and diftant regions, the book was uniformly numbered among the Apo- ftolic writings, without the fmailefl: doubt and hefitation. Nor let it be urged, as of weight to enervate the evidence of thefe venerable men, that fome, or perhaps all, were known to adopt opinions on other points, •allowed to be falfe or frivolous ''. For ^ Sec a thing called Diflionnaire Philofopliique Fortatlf, Art. Apocalypfc ; where this objection is let off with all the falfe colourings that the moft difin- gcnuous of writers could lay, upon it. 2 however end the ^hne. when it was written, 1 99 however this objedlion may afFedt fuch of seRM, their aflertions as relate to matters of fpe- vii. culation, where the fiacerity of thofe who embrace them is indeed no proof of their truth ; it can have no influence in weaken- ing their atteftations to a matter of fadt, concerning which they had every oppor- tunity of informuig themfelves, and which they concur to affirm, with all the marks of artleffnefs and fimpJicity. 2. Such was the ftate of credit in which the ApocaJypfe was generally held, during the two firfl ages of the Chriftian Church ; when at the beginning of the third, or towards the end of the pre- ceding century, its canonical authority began to be doubted, and on the follow- ing occafion. An opinion was propa- gated at Rome, by one Proculus, a Mon- tanift, and founded, as fhould feem, on what had formerly been taught by the heretic Cerinthus, concerning the reign of Chrift with the faints on earth ; the ^vhole period of which, as that impoftor O 4 had aoo The Authority of the Apocalypfe^ SERM. had laboured to inculcate, was to be em- V\ii. ployed in nuptial entertainments and car- nal indulgences. Many other notions .were efpoufed by the fame Cerinthus^, utterly repugnant to the doftrines of the Apocalypfe; ai]d even his ideas of the Millennium, it might eafily have been A^ivn, were not thofe of this facred book. H'O'vever as Proculus, to fuppol-t hiis favourite delufion, had availed himfelf cJf 'tlie prophecies^ recorded there ; Caius, a •Prefbyter of Rome, as the moll: effedlual metbiod of filericing his adverfary at oncd, took upon him to controvert the genuine^ nefs of the book itfelf '3 the writer filf wdiich, he maintained, v^as no other than Cerinthus, who was certainly contemf- porary with St. John, and who had art- fully afilimed the name of that Apoftle, by way of fecuring the reputation of his work. ' See t'le Credibiliry of the Gofpel Hiflory, ^ the laborious Dr. larduer : Part II. Vol. III. p. 31 -in35. :and A'bl. JV. p.'687— 699. ' /..:. -x. This ^?id the'fime"whtn it zvus writ fen. 201 --^3. This imprutlence of Caius was not serm. fingle ill its kind, but was followed by vii. another, which happened, on much the ' laQ:ie occalion, in the Eart. Nepos, an Egyptian Bi(hop towards the middle of the third century, had revived the licen- tious errors of Cerinthus, which had been lately patronized at Rome, and publifhed ■ia treatife, entitled a Confutation of the Ah kgorijis^ in which he had ridiculed the interpretations of thofe, who were for ex- plaining the Millennium in a figurative fenfe. As, fbme how or other, this tfea- tlfe of Nepos came into vogue, Dionyfius, 'Bifhop of Alexandria, undertook to give it a formrfl ahfwer, in two books Con- ceming the Promifes; in which, not con- tent with refuting what Nepos' had af- ferted in defence of the Chiliads, he went ^ far as to fhake the credit of the Apo- calypfe, on which all the reafoning, fuch as it was, of the Millenarians was built. But here we are to note, for the honour of the Alexandrian Prelate, tliat he had fomc- 202 ^he Authority of the Apocalypfe^ SERM* fomething more both of fenfe and mo- Vfl» 4efty than the Roman Preibyter : for he * ventures not to deny that the book was written by a perfon infpircd, or that fuch perfon was called John; but he contends, it was not John, the fon of Zebedee and brother of James, the writer of the Gof» pel and of the three Epiftles, but another of the fa,me age and name, who hved g,t Ephefus in the lefler Afia. As the arguments of Dionyfius are in fubftance not unUke to what later writers have adduced, in proof of the fame opir nipn ; it will not be inexpedient to lay them briefly before you, and then to fubjoin fp much of what has been offered in reply to them, as feems to be folid aiid fatisfa£lory/. •. . . He tells us then, firfl: of all, that there is a ftriklng difference between the Gofpd * The arguments here mentioned are preferved in a fragment of Eufebius, (Hiflor. Ecdef. Lib. VII, c. 24, 25) and are tranllated into Englifl-J, in thp ^th Vol. of the 2d Part of Lardner's Credibility, he, in the' Hiftory of Dionyfius of Alexandria, and iht Time: wJotn it ^was 'written. 203 and Epiftles, univerfally afcrlbcd to John seum. the fon of Zebedee, and the Apocalypfe, ^'^^* which alone creates a fufpicion that all the ]three were not compofed by the fame perfon ; the author of the former having never once in any of thofe writings in- ferted his name ; but the author of the latter not only prefixing his name to the beginning of his book, but repeating it in other places more than once. This fufpicion is ftrengthencd from obferving tb^t the John, who is fo careful to record his name in the Revelation, has not anv one of thofe charaderiftic marks, which diftinguifh the perfon of the Evangelift; fuch as being the difciple "whom Jefus loveJ^ who leaned on his.breaji at /upper , and one of them who Jaw and heard the Lord\ all jLvhich circumftances are related, or re- jfepred to, both in the Gofpcl and the Epifiles. Again, between thefe Ja^l there is a manifeft conformity, in the fentiment, and in the exprefl^on ; which plainly (hews that both proceeded from the fan-xe author ; S£04 ^ ^be Authority of theApocalypfi^ SERM. author; but the Revelation is altogether VH. different from them, and bears not the lead affinity or refemblance to either. Nor is there the moft diftant allufioh in th'C Revelation to the Gofpel or Epiftlec; nor in thefe to the Revelation ; which in works of the fame' perfon was to be €xpe£led. And lallly, there ^re many ihi j^ccnracles and idiotifrhs of language in the Apocalypfe ; none of which are to "be found in the acknowledged prodadtibhs of John^ the brother of James.\ '^^^^'^'^^^^^^ ■• Bii't the anfwer to thcfe obje6Hons 'is eafy. The argument drawn from the name of the author being' often inferted ^in the Revelation, and always omitted iii the Gofpel and Epilll'es, is overthrown, by remarking' that other Evangelifts be- lidss St. John ha:\^e negleded to add their ' names to the Gofpels which they pub« liflied ; and as to the Epiftles, they^ to whom they were addrcfied, could not be ignorant from whence they came. With r^fpecl:; -to the Apocalypft: the cafe was . .'"'•" different: and the Slme- 'when k was wrltle}?, 205 clliSjrent : this is neither a Gofpel, nor serm, yf^, wholly, ail occafional Epifilc, but a ^^^• ipecies of writing didinft from both, or, in other words> a Prophecy : here there- fore, after the example of the old Pro- phets, and efpecially of Daniel, whofe manner he profefledly imitates, it became him to prefix and to repeat his name ; in order to give credence to his prediclions, and that pofterity might know to whom they were indebted for fo wonderful a difcovery of the fortunes of the church of Chrift. This remark will help to fiiew the futility of what Dionyfius further urges, that none of the incidents of the Evan- gelift's life are told In the Revelation: for, befides that fuch an enumeration wvls now unnecefliary from the mention already made by the writer of his name, he has actually faid enough to point out, with- out any uncertainty, who he was, by directing part of his book to the feveu churches of the proconfular Afia, over which 206 The Authority of the Apocaiypfe^ SERM. which St. John is known to have pre- vn« fided ; and by defcribing himfelf as hav- ving been banifhed to Patmos, for the fake of his religion ; a calamity, which, by the confent of all the ecclefiaftical hif- torians, confefledly happened to our Evan- gelift. As to the diverfity of phrafe and fentiment, in the Revelation and the other writings of St. John, it has been fatif- faftorily proved that this difference is not near fo great as Dionyfius would re- prefent it ; no greater than what may fairly be accounted for from the difference of fubjefl:; and particular inftances have been alleged, in which there is a re- markable coincidence both of ideas and words, which are peculiar to this Apor file, and no where ufed, by any other writer of the New Te (lament. ? . That the Revebtibn does not allude to: the Gofpel or Epiftles^ nor thefe again; to. the Revelation, can. be of littJa mo- ment,^, when we refleil, that though it be .not unufual for one who writes to: the fame and th ^hne when it was wr-itten. 207 fame perfons more than once, to take serm, notice of former letters addreffed to them^ ^^^' yet in other treatifes, direded to different perfons, on different occafions, and at diftant times, fuch alluiions are not only- rare, but would alfo in mod cafes be un- intelligible. And laftly, with regard to the inaccuracies of language, vvhicb, it is faid, abound in the Apocalypfe, it may be queftioned whether thcfe are fo numer- ous as has been pretended ; nor Ihould it be forgotten that fome of the ableft in- terpreters have vindicated, as faultlefs, and even as beauties of compofition, what by Others, lefs judicious or lefs informed, have been condemned as barbarous and ungrammatical folecifms. 4. Still we ought not to omit to men- tion, that the fame of two fuch perfons as Caius and Dionyfius contributed but too much, among the Greek Fathers more efpecially, to leflen the eilimation of this prophecy ; and that in fome cata- logues of the books of Scripture that wer« VIL 208 ne Authority of the Apocalypfe^ SE R M. were publifhed in the fourth and fifth cen- turies, particularly the catalogue of the council of Laodicea, the Revelation is not found. But here it may be of ufe to recoUeft, that the opinions of thofe, who lived at fo late a period, can never fuper- fede the teflimony of others, who flou- rifhed near the very times when the Apo- calyptical vifions were firft committed to wTiting. Nor will the omiffion of this book in certain lifts of canonical Scripture occafion any difficulty, when you are told that the exprefs defign of thofe lifts was to enumerate fuch parts of the facred code as were proper to be read in public, for the edification of Chriftian aflemblies; for which the general ob- fcurity of the Apocalypfe, and the fmall concern it feemed to have with the ftate of the church in thofe days, rendered it unfit. It were eafy alfo to reckon up a number of perfons, of unfufpeded in- tegrity, who, during this period,' fet tHeir feal to the Revelation, as the legitimate prod ud ion dnd the Time when it was written. %0() produflion of St. John: but, not to mul- serm. tiply names, the declaration of Sulpiclus ^^^* Severus, an hiftorian of credit at the be- ginning of the fifth century, (hall ferve inftead of all the reft 5 to whom the ar- guments for the truth and divinity of this important portion of Scripture were fo convincing, that he hefitates not to tax thofe who did not retain it as guilty of the double offence of folly and impiety ""^ 5. As we defcend lower down to the fixth and following centuries, a different face of things prefents itfelf: only one writer among the Latins, and a very few among the Greeks, are recorded, as hav- ing any remaining doubts either of the writer or the authority of the Apocalypfe ; and after the tenth century, the whole " Iiiterjc£lo deinde tempore, Domltlanus, Vef- pafiani filius, perfecutus eft Chriftianos : quo tempore Johanncm Apoftolum atque Evangeliftam in Path- mum infulam relegavit ; ubi ille, arcanis iibi myfteriis revelatis, librum facrae ApOcalypfeos, qui quidem a .plerifque ?.Mt/?uIte aut impie non recipitur, confcrip- tum edidit. Hift. Sacr. 1. ii. cap. 31. P contro- 210 The Authority of the Apocalypfe^ seRm. controverfy was dropt. What is more ^^^' extraordinary ftill, the book itfelf, whe- ther on account of the darknefs of its fubjeft, or of the wild and fa^iciful at- tempts that had been made to explain it, gradually funk into oblivion: and in this ftate it was likely to have continued, had not th^ revival of letters at the Refor- mation, together with the accompli(hment of fome of the prediftions concerning Antichrift, which that event had deve- loped, brought this prophecy again into view, and occafioned a more accurate ftudy of it by divines both of the Proteftant and Papal parties. Yet even in thefe latter times, there are not wanting fome, and thofe among the moft rcfpe£lable of either communion, who have recalled the ancient fcruples about its authenticity. It will be enough to fpecify two, Erafmus, and Martin Luther. But the former of thefe profefles in the ftrongeft terms his belief that the book was written by one divinely and the Time when it was wrlfteMi 2 1 1 divinely aflifted '" : and the latter, though, s e R M* with the ufual bluntnefs of his temper, "^^^• he at firft rejeded the Apocalypfe entirely, " as neither apoftolical nor prophetical, yet afterwards grew more fober and moderate on this head ; and all his uncertainty, like that of Erafmus, was confined to the perfon of the author ''. ^^ De Apocalypfi diu dubitatum eft, non dico ab " haeretlcis, fed ab orthodoxls viris; qui fcriptum ta- men ut a Spiritu San£lo profe£lum ampleftebantur, de Scriptoris nomine incerti. Erafmi Opera, Tom« ix. p. 867. Edit. Cleric. Dubitamus de auflorelibri Job, et librorum Regum ; nee ob id vacillat illorum au^loritas* Dubitamus de auftore Evangelii fecundum Marcum ; nihilo lecius eft illius facrofan£la apud omnes au£loritas. — De Apocalypfi jam decies refpondi. Commembro — diver- foriim lententias, fed ingenue fateor me fiibmittere fenfum meum judicio Ecclefiae j cujus auftoritas nifi me moveret, plane confirmarem illud opus non efie Joannis Evangelifta;. Ibid. p. 1170. * In libro Apocalypfeos patior quemque uti ju- dicio fuo, nee mese fententiae quenquam adftridum ,volo : tantum dicam quod fentio ; non una eft ratio qua; me coegir, ut neque Ajxjftolicum rieque pro- jpllcticum iibrum effe crederem. Vide Prolegomena Weftenii in N. T. p. l8i» P 2 Oa 211 The j^uthority of the Apocalypfe, «ERM. On the whole, if the nniverfiil and un- ^^^* controverted admiflion of any book, foon after its delivery, and its fuhfequent re- ception by the Chriftian church, when doubts and difficulties had now been raifed concerning it, are of any ufe in fixing its authority ; we have all this and more to induce us to retain the Apoca- lypfe, not only as a genuine portion of holy writ, but alfo as the peculiar corn- pofition of that Apoflle and Evangelifl-, w^hofe name it bears. It has been no un- common cafe for men, warmly addidled to a fet of notions, to venture to fet afide the moft unqueftionable parts of Scripture, which could not be made to quadrate with their preconceived opinions. Who knows not that the fame Luther, who decided fo ra(hly of the Revelation, and other Antinomians aft^r him, difcarded the Epiftle of St. James, becaufe they could not reconcile his doftrlne of Juji'i' f cation by Faith with what was taught on I end the ^ime zvhen it zvas writ /en. 213 on that important fubjeft by St. Paul? The serm, like obfervation may be made with refpe£l ^^^* to the Epiftle to the Hebrews, the Gofpel of St. Matthew, and even the Gofpel of St. John. In the mean while, the ad- vocates of the Church of Rome may do well to remember, that whatever ob- jeftions on this matter may be darted by Chridians of other perfuafions, they at lealT: have no caufe to triumph ; fince it is an article of faith with them that the Revelation of St, John conftitutes an ef- fential part of the facred canon ; and the only difpute between them and us is con- cerning the defign and objeft of this mo- mentous prophecy. II. As a proper conclufion of this <]if- courfe, I w^ill here add a few rcfledions on the Time in which the Apocalypfe was written. This queftion is of no fmall confequence to the right underftanding of the book itfelf. If, as Grotius and Sir liiiac Newton maintain, it was compofed in the times of Claudius or Nero, that P3 is, 214 ^h^ Authority of the Apodalypfe^ SERM. is, before xht deftrudion of Jerufalem by VII. the Romans ; it is natural to expect that **" " fuch a memorable conyerfion of human afFairs, as that event brought along with it, would not be unnoticed in this pre- didlion : on the contrary, if, as the truer opinion feems to be, its date be deter- inined to the reign of Domitian, that is, after the Jewifh wars w^ere over, then the conclufion is, that the explanation of the prophetic vifions muft be fetched from the hiftory of later ages y. Now if the moft ancient tradition of the Chriftian Church be of any ufe in fettling a matter of this fort, the controverfy may be decided very fpeedily. The ear- lieft of thofe, who mention the Time of writing the Revelation, is Irenaeus ; and iie declares, in the moft precife and peremptory terms, that it was '' feen no 7 See Lardner's Credibility, Vol. XIII. p. 354— ;7 7. Wolfii Curae Philological, Tom. V. 373 — 384. "Vitringa in Apoc. (cap. i. ver. 2.) p. 6 — 9, Daubvjz on the R^ev. p. 80, 8i, " long and the Turn when It was written. 2 1 5 *« long time agoe, and almoft in his own age, serm, *' at theend ofthereignofDomitian." One '^^^• cannot llifpedl this venerable Father of a defigned falfhood, in a caufe where he was under no temptation to prevaricate, and in a fa£l where it is morally inipof- fible he fhould be deceived ; as, v.rhatever computation we follow, the event of its publication cannot be removed to any great diftance from his own time, and he muft have had frequent opportunities of know^ing the truth from the contem- poraries of St. John himfelf. With the teftimony of Irenaeus that of Eufebius, both in his Chronicle and Hiflory, of Jerom, of Sulpicius Severus, and many others, agrees. The only perfon, who differs from them, is Epiphanius ; a wri- ter at the expiration of the fourth cen- tury, who is far from exact on other oc- cafions in reporting the fentiments of thofe that lived before him, and particu- larly inaccurate in diftinguifhing dates and times. Yet what will not the love' P4 pf 21 6 The Authority of the jpocalypfe^, SERM. of fyflem effefl:? It is on his fingle af- '^n. fertion, unfupported by the fmalled de- ' gree of proof, and oppofed by the united evidence of ev^ry author of reputation in that period, that Grotius chufes to rely, in fixing the Apocalyptic epoch to th6 reign of Claudius. But Grotius, as if himfelf not fatisfied with the b^re word of Epiphanius, en^ deavours to confirm it with reafqning of his own ; and with this view quotes a paflage from Scripture, in which we are told, that Claudius commanded all Jews to depart from Rome ^. Under the appella- tion of Jews, he thinks that Chriftians alfo were comprehended ; and the exam- ple of the Emperor at Rome would un-- douhedly^ fb Grotius ftys, be followed by many governours of the Provinces. But all hiftory is unanimous in affirming, that the firft Roman Emperor, who perfecuted the Chriftians, was Nero. Claudius, his predeceffor, did indeed, as we learn from » Afts xyiifi. 2« the and ttefhicr %vlfen it was ioi'lftcn. iif the Ads of the Apoftles, by his Imperial serm. Edift order the Jews to leave the city of ^^'^* Rome ; and perhaps the Chriflians too tfjight be removed together with them : but from the fame Ads it appears, that fe the Provinces both Jews and Chriftlans tvere permitted to live without any mo- kftation. Thus Paul and Silas are faid to hav"e dwelt quietly at Corinth, and to have attended the Jewifli Synagogue there ^: and the fame tranquillity is ob- ferved to reign among the Church at Ephefus ^ Nor is there the flighted vef- tige in the monuments of antiquity froni whence it can be traced, that fo much as a (ingle Chriftian, who lived cut of RomOj was baniflied by Claudius, and much lefs baniflied for the fake of his religion. But the opinion of the early date of the Apocalypfe has found a more iiluf- trious patron than eveii the learned Gro- ^ Ai^s xviii, 1.4. > Afts xix. I. 8. 10, tius : 21 8 The Authority of the Apocalypfe^ SERM. tius. The incomparable Sir Ifaac New- ^^^* ton "" has been at the pains of compofing a laboured argument to prove, that the banifliment of St. John into Patmos, and confequently his writing of the Revela- tion, happened in the time of Nero. And it is but treating this great author with the reverence that is due to him, not to difmifs his hypothefis without fome con- fideration. Firft then Sir Ifaac obferves, that al- though " Eufebius, in his Chronicle and " Ecclefiaftical Hiftory, follows Irenasus, *' yet afterwards in his Evangelical De- " monftrations he joins the banifhment *' of John into Patmos, as does alfo Ter- *' tullian, with the deaths of Peter and " Paul." But here this excellent man forgot, that the Evangelical Demonftra- tions of Eufebius were compofed before his Ecclefiailical Hiftory, as is evident from that Hiftory itfelf. Nor does it ap- e Obfervations on the Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypfe, Part II. Ch, i. p. 235—246. pear. end the Time when it was written.. 21^ pear, from confuUing the places referred serm, to, that either Eufebius or Tertullian iiir ^^^' tended to fix the exaft time of the fuf- fering and deaths of thefe three perfons ; or that their feveral calamities overtook »them during the hfe of one and the fame Emperor. Peter and Paul might fufFer rpartyrdom at the end of the reign of Nero, and St. John be baniflied at the end of that of Domitian, in perfect con- fiftency with all that is related by thofe two Fathers. Sir Ifaac goes on — ^' The fame Eufebius ** mentions a ftory from Clemens Alexan- *' drinus concerning a youth, whom John, ^' after his return from banifliment, com- ** mitted to the care of a bifhop of a certain ^' city; with Qther particulars which could ^' not be tranfafted but in many years, and ** require that John (hould have returned *' from Patmos rather at the death of ** Nero than at that of Domitian." But here again, in the original account of this matter, if indeed the flory be any; thing more 220 The Authority of the Apocalypfe^ SERM. more than a moral apologue, the Apoftlc ^^^' is faid to have been at the time far ad- * vanced in age; and fuppofing him only to have lived two or three years after he came from Patmos, there will be room enough for all the events of Clemens' nar- ration to have their full completion. I pafs over what this refpeftable writer adduces from fuch hiftorians as Pfeudo-. Prochorus, and the inventer of the fable that John was put by Nero into a veffel of hot oil and came out unhurt; and alfo from Arethas, a commentator of the fixth century ; the two former as deferving of no credit, and the latter as coming too late to be admitted a competent judge of this queftion : and I proceed to what he alleges next concerning *' the tradition of «* the churches of Syria, preferved in the «< title of the Syriac verfion of the Apo- " calypfe ; which title fets forth, that the ^^ Revelation was made to John in Pat- ^» mos, where he was baniftied by Nero « the Caefar." Now to this it may be replied. and the Time when it was written. 221 replied, firft, that the age of the Syriac ver- s e r m. fion is very uncertain ; iecondly, that in that ^^^ veriion there are many errors, with refpeft ^ to the titles of the books of the New Tefta- nient ; and thirdly, that the tradition of tlie churches of Syria can be of no ufe, becaufe they did not generally acknowledge the Apocalypfe for canonical fcripture. Thq laft argument of this celebrated perfon, and on which, as peculiarly his own, he lays the greateft ftrefs, is this : " The Apocalypfe is alluded to ia ** the Epiftles of Peter and in that to the ** Hebrews; and therefore muft hav« " been written before them." And al- lowing thefe allufions to be real, and to have been intended, there can be no doubt, not only that the reafoning of tliis great man would be conclufive, but alio that a new proof would arife for the au- thority of the Revelation ; as other Apo^ files muft then be acknowledged to have referred to it in their writings. But the phrafes, feledled from the Epiftle to the Hebrews i222 The Authority of the Apocalypfiy SERM. Hebrews and the fiifl: of St. Peter, are^ vii« by the confeffioii of Sir Ifaac himfelf, at "" the bed obfcure ; feme not at all corre- fponduig in fenfe to thofc of the Revela- tion, others plainly taken from the pro- phecies of the Old Teftament, from whence the Apocalyptical expreffions are alfo borrowed. With regard to the fecond Epiftle of Peter in particular, which, it is faid, feems to be throughout a con- tinued commentary on the Apocalypfe ; I cannot but be of opinion, that, if any allufions to this work had been defigned, both the author and his book would have been mentioned with the fame clearnefs that is ufed in the cafe of St. Paul, whofe name St. Peter formally quotes, and whofe writings he ferioufly recommends, at \ht end of this very Epiftle. Laftly, it remains to be obferved, that be- fides the external arguments from tradi- tion, there are alfo internal proofs in the Revelation itfelf, that it could not make its firfl appearance during the reigns of Claudius vri, and the Time when it was written. 2 23 Claudius or Nero, but at a later period, serm. At the time of writing the Apocalypfe, Churches had not only been eftabliflied in the moft confiderable places of the lefler Afia, but feveral of them had undergone a variety of changes and revolutions, which do not arife but after a long tradl: of time. The Church of Ephefus had degenerated from \itx Jirji love^\ that of Laodicea had become lukewarm^ and knew not that Ihe was miferable and poor and naked ^. Now St. Paul is fuppofed to have 'written his Epiftle to the Ephefians about the ninth year of the reign of Nero ; and in that Epiflle, fo far from reproaching them for the want of love or charity, he commends both their charity and their faith ^ : nor are there any marks of the Laodiceans, of whom the fame Apoftle fpeaks in his Letter to the Coloffians s, having relaxed into that ftate of indifFer* ** Rev. ii. 4. c Rev. iii. 16, 17* ^ Ephef. i. 15. « CololT. iv. 13. 15, 16. encc, 2Z^ Tie 4^thgnly of the Apccalypje^ SERM. ence, complained of in the Apocalypft* ^i^' Again, from the Epiftles direded to the **'"' Afiatic Churches it is evident,, that th^ Chrifti^ns had been harrafled with long and grievous troubles : the tribulation and poverty of the Church of Smyrn,a ^ is ^j recorded ; and honourable mention is mad/3 of Antipas, a faithful Martyr, who was put to death at Pergamos '\ Thefe things could, none of them, have place in thfC times of Claudius or Nero ; the former of whom never molefted the Chriftians at all, and the cruelty of the latter was confined to the metropolis of the Empire. The next perfccutor, after Nero, was Domitian; and his barbarities, we ar^ certain, were indifcriminately exercifed at Rome and in the Provinces : by his order therefore it muft have been, that St. John was banifhed to Patmos, for the word of Gad and for the tejiimony of J efui Chrifi^ % ** Rev. ii. 9. * Rev. ii. 13. ^ Rev. i. 9. where and the Time when it was written. 2:^5 where he was illuminated with the divine SERM* Spirit, and favoured with thofe heavenly vii. virions, the defign and meaning of which """""-*' to attempt to unfold, (hall be the bufiaefs of the three following Leftures. S£R< [ 226 ] SERM. VIII. SERMON VIIL The Order and Connexion of the Vifions of the Apocalypfe. Re V. i. 19. Write the things which thou haji feen^ and the things which Are, and the things which Shall Be Hereafter. IN order to attain right conceptions of the conftitution of Nature, as laid be- fore us in the volume of Creation, we are not to affume hypothefes and notions of our own, and from them, as from efta- blifhed principles, to account for the feveral pha^nomena that occur ; but we Tire to begin with the efFeds themfelves. \ The Order and Connexion^ &c. 227 atid from thefe, diligently collected in a serm, variety of well-choien experiment?, to viii. inveftigate the caufes which produce them. "^ By fuch a method, directed and improved by the helps of a fublime geometry, we may reafonably hope to arrive at cer- tainty in our phyfical enquiries, and on I the bafis of fad and demonftration may I ered a fyftem of the world, that fhall ^! be true, and w^orthy of its author. Where- as, by purfuing a contrary path, our con- jedures at the beft will be precarious and doubtful ; nor can we ever be fure that 1 the moft ingenious theories we can frame I are any thing more than a well-invented and confident fable. With the fame caution we are to pro* ceed in examining the conftitution of Grace, as unfolded to our view in the volume of Redemption. Here alfo we are not to excogitate conceits and fancies ^four own, and then diftort the expref- 'I'lions of holy writ, to favour our mif^ ''I Ihapen imaginations ; but we are firft to iT ^ Q 2 advert nz8 ?|^%# ^# ^^^ the 5E,RM. advert to what God has aftually made "^^^^» known of himfelf in the declarations'of his Word ; and from this, carefully in- 'iterpreted by the rules of found criticifm and logical dedudlion, to elicit the ge- ..iiuine doftrines of revelation. By fuch '' an '-''exertion of our intelledlual powers, affifted and enlightened by the aids which ^uman literature is capable of furnifliing, "We may advance with eafe and fafety in our knowledge of the divine difpenfations, "and on tlie rock of fcripture may build a fyftem of Religion, that (hall approve itfelf to our moft enlarged underftandings, and be equally fecured from the injuries and infults of enthufiafts and unbelievers. "'■' On the other hand, previouflyto deter- mine from our own reafon what it is fit ?fifbt a- being of infinite Avifdom to do, and - from that pretended fitnefs to infer that he has : really, done it, is a mode pf pro- jtK cedure that is little fuited to the. imbe- gjr:;cillity of pur meji talc faculties, and ftill •73'|eftj d^^jcylated^ t^^ ^^MuS^ ^8 ^V^.^^^>%^^^^ Vijtons of the Apocalypfe. 229 comprehenfion of the will or works of serm. heaven. viii. If this fober and modeft fpirit be ne- cefl'ary, when we are engaged in the ftudy of the infpired writings in general, it is yet more neceflary to be cultivated, when employed in the contemplation of the prophetic writings in particular. The misfortune, or rather f^iult, of moft per- fons here has been, not fo much to ex- plore, from an attentive perufal of thefc myfterious oracles, what the mind of the prophet muft be, as to colled, in con- fequence of certain data laid down before- hand, what may confirm and juftify their own conceits. To this caufe it is to be attributed, that every new in- terpreter has ufually provided hlmfelf with a new hypothelis ; which, being founded, like thofe of his predeceflbrs, on no better fupport than the art and addrefs of the contriver, has in its turn been quickly fuperfeded or overthrown by the abilities of more expert, though per- Q 5 haps 230 ^^^^ Order and Connexion of the SERM. haps equally prelumptuous, adventurers. VIII. Whereas the only way, which prudence and good judgement recommend to be obferved on this fubject, is to diveft our- lelves of all prejudices and pre-conceptions whatfoever; to find, if we can, from in- ternal marks, what is the purpofe and fcheme and method of the predi£lion^ we would examine, and on thefe, now at length difcovered, to fix the root and bottom of our interpretation. By this means, our explanations, be they what they may, not being built on principles arbitrarily taken up at pleafure, but de- rived from the nature and conftitution of the work explained, will have in them all the foundnefs and ftability of fcience ; from which no fubfequent expofitor will have a right to depart, unlefs he can fhew, from intrinfic evidence, either that the principles affumed are falfe, or not fairly deducible from the conilrudion of the prophecies* To VIII, l^yiom of the Apocalypje. 231 To' apply thefe refleilions to tfe cafe serm. of the Apocalypfe, to the confideration of which the courfe of this Left u re hath carried us. Who has not heard of th^ various and oppofite contrivances that have been formed, to unravel the intri- t:acies of this faered book? ahuoft all of which, however finely imagined or (kil- jfully executed, have neverthelefs by men of true difcernment been rejefted, as no- thing more than amufing and entertain- ing fictions. And the reafon is plain: almoft all the authors of thefe different opinions have gone on one common er- ror ; bringing along with them an inter-r . pretation already prepared, and on that fuppofed interpretation attempting to afr- certain the meaning of the feveral parts ; Linftead of being at the pains of learning, xifrom obfervation and enquiry, in what irnethod, and by what kind of argumen- :tatioa, that meaning muft, if ever, be fatif- 1. faftprily difclofed. It was not thus t;hat the illuftrious Jofeph Mede proceeded. ^3^ 7he Order and Connexion of iht §er:m. when he attempted to penetrate the veil v^iJ- that till his time had enveloped this ve- nerable predidlion. He faw the extrava- gance and folly of former qritics ; and that it was neceflary in the firft place, renouncing all conjectures and hypothefes, to confult the Revelation itfelf, and to try if from that he could not trace fufr ficlent tokens, purpofely inferted by the holy Spirit, by which the feries and con- nexion of the Apocalyptic vilion^ might be found* He would admit of no ob- jeflions to this fcheme, but fuch as arofe from the frame and ftrudure of the pro- phecy, and not from any pre-fuppofed w-ay of expounding it : he would let no- thing pafs for demonftration, but what was undeniably proved to be fuch from iindoubted notes, included in the worda and letter of the compofition : he had the lequifite patience as well as fagacity ^ and by a fteady adherence to this fevere and rigorous plan, he obtained, after paany difficulties and delays, the knpw-:, ledge V Vljioni of the Apocalypfe. ^33 ledge he was hi fearch of, and cf- serm. fe.ftually fecured his own inventions ^^^^* againft the difgrace of being difproved or weakened by the labours of future com- mentators. J propofe, in what follows of this dif- courfe, to lay before you, as fuccindly and yet as clearly as I can, the manner of opening the book of the Revelation, as it is explained at large by this great author in what he calls his Apocalyptic }Cey ^ ; and to point out, in a regular pro- greffion, the Iteps, by which, as is pro- bable, he was led to this important dis- covery. I. Firft then It appears, from the moft fuperficial view of the Apocalypfe, that it is made up of Two component parts ; one of which contains the Epiilles to the Seven Churches of Afia, and is comprized within the three firft chapters ; the other foretells, as we fay, the fortunes of Chriftianity, through the fcveral periods \ See Mr. Mede's Works, B, III. p. ^19—432. of ^34 Tk^ Order and Connexion of the of its primitive, degenerate, and reformed ftates, to its perfe6i: confummation in glory, from chapter the fourth to the end. The former of thefe, being wholly relative to the condition of the Chriftiaii Church at the time of the viiion, or, as the text exprefles it, defcribing the things WHICH ARE, falls not within our prefent fubjeft : only it may be of ufe to remark in paffing, that there are, who, not fatif- fied with the literal acceptation of thefe Epiftles, have fuppofed them alfo to have a myjlical meaning, and as well the names' of the feven Churches, as the Churches themfelves, to be typical of fo many epochas, fucceflive one to the other, ih like manner as the Seals and Trumpets, afterwards defcribed in this book. It would be eafy to (hew, from the moft convincing arguments, that this opinion, which was firft only hinted, in the way of query, by Mr. Mede "', and was after- wards purfued at large by the ingenious ^ Sec his V/orks^ p. 905. Henry Vlfons of the Apocalypfe^ 235 Henry More ", is deftltate of all folid foundation: and I mention it to (hew, viii, that it is one inftance in which the fcheme of this learned man has been pufbed too far by fome of his zealous admirers, who, as is ufual with men of warm imagina- tions, have here indulged to their own fancies, without any proper fupport frora Scripture, II. Leaving then all that relates to the Afiatic churches, as foreign to the bud- nefs of this Lecture ; I go on to obferve hi the next place, that the Second Divi- fion of the Apocalypfe, which is wholly prophetical, or, in the words of the text, defcriptive of the things which shall BE HEREAFTER, may itfclf be reiolved " See his Theological Works, tranilated into Latin ; among which is what he calls Expolitio Pro- phetica Septem Epillolarum ad Septem Ecclefias Afia- ticas, p. 781 — 824. For a confutation of this Ex- pofition, the reader iiiay confalt the very lenn.ecj Commentary on the hook of the Revelation by Mr. Paubuz ; note D. on Ch. i. ii. note B. on Ch- i. J9. note C. on Ch. ii. lo. Or the Dililriiaiions or; the Prophecies by Cp. Newton, vol. iii. p. 26, 27. nito 236 ^^^ Order and Connexion of the 6ERM. into two feparate Tomes or Volumes; VIII. Qne of which may be called the Pro- ' phecy of the Sealed Book, and extends from the 4th chapter to very near the conclufion of the loth; and the other may be called the Prophecy of the Lit- tle or Open Book, and reaches from the 8th verfe of the loth chapter to the end. That thefe are two complete and entire prophecies, may be proved from this circumftance ; that the beginnings of both, as alfo that of the Vifion of the Seven Churches, are fet out by a peculiar phrafe, never elfewhere repeated, of a voice from heaven as it were of a trumpet talking with St. John ° : the holy Spirit plainly intending by this token to dif- tinguifh thefe vifions from all the others, which are nothing more than members or conftituent parts of the Three Prin- cipal onesj that form the body of thq hook. * Compare Rev. 1, xo. with iv. i. ^nd x. ?. Ill I. Having Vll Vifons of the Apocalypje. 337 III. I. Having thus determined the be- serm. ginnings and endhigs of thefe two lead- ing prophecies of the Revelation, let us now fee, what are the Contents of each. And here it is evident, that the prophecy of the Sealed Book confifts of it'^tw dif- tinft periods, expreffed by feven Seals, opened at feven different times, to every one of which is afcribed a character of its own. The charafler of the firft Seal is Vidory p; that of the fecond is Slaughter 'J; that of the third is a Balance ' ; of the fourth is Death ' ; of the fifth is an Altar, having under it the fouls of them that were flaln for the word of God^; and of tlae fixth is a great Earthquake \ After the defcription of the fixth Seal fhould re- gularly follow that of the feventh; but between thefe two is interwoven, epifo- dically as it were, a vifion of a hundred and forty four thoufand out of all the tribes of Ifraelf who were to ht fealed in their P Rev. vi. I — 3. *! Ver. 4, ' Ver. 5, 6. *Vcr. 7, 8, ;Vcr. 9— 12. «Ver. 12— 17^ fore- 1 ^3^ TZ't^ Order and Connexion of the ^'E'RVi* foreheads^ or prcferved from amidft the ^^^^* ruins, now ready to take place under the Lift, or feventh, Seal '^ This feventh Seal is of much longer duration han any of the reft ; and is diftributed into feven parts, marked by the founding of feven Trumpets *. At the founding of the firft Trumpet, Hail is caft upon the Earth ^ ; at the founding of the fecond, a burning Mountain is caft into the Sea ^ ; at the founding of the third, a Star falls upon the Rivers*; the fourth Trumpet is at- tended with an Eclipfe of the Sun, Moon, and Stars ^ j the fifth is followed by Locufts coming out of the bottomlefs pit ' ; the fixth by four Horfemen loofed from Euphrates ^ ; and at the feventh, or laft, Trumpet, the kingdoms of this world become the hijigdoms of our Lord and of his Chri/i^, at which time the myjiery of vv Rev, Ch. vii, * Ch. viii. 2* y Ch* viii. 7. z Ch. viii. 8, 9. ^ Ver. 10, 11. *> Ver. 12, 13. c Ch. ix. i^ — 12. ^ Ch. ix. 13 — 2X» * Clx, xi. 15, Cod Vifom of the Apocalypfe. ii^^ Go J will ie Jini/bedy as he hath declared serm to his fervants the prophets K This is, in ^^^^* fliort, a detail of the particulars, which conftitute the prophecy of the Seals, the liidden meaning of which we are not now concerned to enquire into : only it will be of ufe to have it remembered here, that the feries of this prophecy, and the feries of the things predided in it, is one and the fame; that is, the things fore* told are to follow one another in the fame train as the Seals and Trumpets do ; or, in other words, the events defcribed, whatever thofe events may be, are, not concurrent, but fucceflive. 2. We now proceed to examine the contents of the fecond great prophefy of the Revelation, namely that of the Little or Open Book s^ confidering it, at prefent, as an entire work of itfelf, without any dependance on the Book of the Seals, And here a very different face of things appears, from what was difcernible on a ^ Ch. X. 7, « Ver. 8— II. I view ^4^ ^^^ Order and Connexion of the SFRM. view of the former volume: a number ^^^^' of vifions, reprefented under various and *"~~^ (hifting fymbols, is recorded, without any certain and determinate order, like that of the Seven Seals and Seven Trumpets ; and which of them are antecedent or confequent, and which, if any, are col- lateral to the other, in point of time, is by no means evident at firft fight. Here therefore our chief care muft be to dif- cover, from innate characters, whether any, and which, of the vifions are of fuch a texture as, although difperfed (as was not poflible to be avoided) in different parts of the prophecy, are yet really to be confidered as coincident, or, in the language of Mr, Mede, fynchronical: and when once the vifions of this fort have been previoufly afcertained, it will then be no difficult matter, from the circum- ftances and progreflSon of the hiftory, to tifiign the order of the reft, according as they are feen to precede or follow thofe, whofe Fifons of the Apdcalypfc. ' - tJ[X Whofe times and places have been already ser m. fettled. vin. Now in this Little or Open Book there are Four Vifions, which, it plainly ap- pears, mud all be tranfadled in eciudl times ; and on examination it will ap- pear, that thefe equal times miift alfo be the fame. The Vifiohs alluded to are, The Treading or Profaning of the Outer Court of the Temple and of the Holy City by the Gentiles, for forty-two Months ^ ; the Beaft with Seven Heads and Ten Horns, which hath power given it for the fame number of Months'; the Prophefying of Two WitnefTes in Sack- cloth, for a thoufand two hundred and fixty Days^; and the continuance of the Woman in the Wildernefs, during the fame number of Days ^, or, as it is elfe- where exprelfed, during a T^ime and Tim^s and haf a T'lme'^. All thefe feveral in- ^ Rev. Ch. xi. I, 2. » Ch. xiii. I — ^, *^Ch. xi. 3—19. i Ch. xii. i~6. '^.Ch. xii. 14. R terval: 242 ^he Order and Connexion of the s E R M. tervals are equal to each other ; for a Tirne VII ^* and Times and half a Time, that is, as the phrafe is explained, three Years and a half", make forty- two Months; and forty-two Months make 1260 Days, fup- pofing the Year to confift of 360 days. But as the equality of times does not neceffarily infer their famenefs^ or does not hinder but that fome of the times may be prior or pofterior to the other ; this point may be demonftrated thus. The times of Profaning the Outer Court and City, and of the Prophefying of the Witnefles, are not only equal, but coin- cident, as is clear from the Revelation itfelf, and is confeffed by all ^ : now thp time of the Witnefles is coincident with " Rev. xii. 6. 14. • Qi, xi. 2 J 3, compared with ver. 18, 19 ; where the fame Gentiles, or Nations^ who profane the Outer Court of the Temple, ver. 2, are defcribed as atigry, when the two JVilneJjh have finij})ed their izjlimonyy at the end of the fixth Trumpet, or fecond woe, ver. 7. 14, as being then expelled from their poirelhom of the Temple. 2 that P'ijions of the Apocdhpfe-*. 243 that of the Ten-horned Beaft ; and the s E r m. time of the Ten-Horned Beaft is coin- ^^^^' cident with that of the Woman's abode in the Wildernefs ; as fliall immediately be proved : but times, coincident with any thirdj are coincident with one ano- ther : therefore all the four times, of Profaning the Outer Court, of the Two Witneffes, of the Ten-Horned Beaft, and of the Woman in the Wildernefs, are alfo coincident ; that is> the four Vifions are all fynchronical, or contemporize throughout. That the times of the Wit- nefles and of the Ten-Horned Beaft, and thofe of the Ten-Horned Beaft and of the Woman in the Wildernefs, are the fame^ may be fhewn thus. Equal times, which begin and end together, muft of neceflity be the fame times : the times of the Witneftes and of the Ten-Horned Beaft tnd together, namely, at the end of the fixth Trumpet p ; therefore, being equal p When the Witneffes finlfli their teftimony, tlie Beaft makes war againfl them and kills them. R 2 times, 244 5"/6^ Order and Connexion of the SERM. times, they muft begin together. Again, vin. the times of the Ten-Horned Beaft and of the Woman in the wildernefs begin together, namely, after the vidory of Michael over the red Dragon ^ ; therefore, as before, being equal thnes, they muft end together alfo. Having cleared our way thus far, wc may advance a flep farther, and fee whe- ther there be not other vifions in the prophecy of the Little Book, which xi. 7. But they revive again, ver. 11, and aicend up to heaven in a cloud, ver. 12 ; and in the fa?ne hour an earthquake dellroys the tenth part of the City, ver. 2. 13. On the arrival of this event, the fecond woe, or the fixth Trumpet, is reprefented as pajf^ ver. 14; the fevcnth Trumpet founds; and the king- doms of this world, now no longer fubje£l to the dominion of the Beaft, become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Chrift, ver. 15. ^ The Dragon being caft out of heaven by Michael, ^:ii. 7, 8, 9, the Woman flies into the Wildernefs, ver. 6» 14 ; where the Dragon makes war with the -remnant of her {^td, ver. 17, and gives his power and his feat and great authority to the Beaft having feven heads and tea horns, that rifeth out of the fea, xiii. i, 2, ought Vljions of the Apocalypfe. 245 ought to be included in the fame general serm. Synchronifm with the four mentioned ^^^^* above. Befides the Beaft with Ten Horns, which is faid to emerge out of the Sea, another with Two Horns is defcribed, as at the fame time coming out of the Earth ' ; which gives life to the Ten- Horned Beaft, who is called its Image ^', and is afterwards apprehended, and de- ftroyed, together with it, both being cajl alive into a lake burning with hrimjlone ^ : thefe two Beafts therefore, being infe- parable one from the other, in their rife and in their extinflion, muft of courfe be confidered as contemporaries. Again of the Ten-Horned Beaft we are told, that its employment is to carry a Woman arrayed in purple^ whofe name is Myjtery and Babylon the Great " : confequently this fame Beaft, and the Babylonifti Woman ' Rev, xiii. 1 1. • Ch. xiii. 15. xiv. 9. II. xv. 2. xvi. 2, ' Ch. xix. 20. compared with xiii. 13, 14, 15, 16. " Ch. xvii. 3, 4, 5. 7. R 3 who 24-6 7he Order and Connexion of the s B R-M. who rides it, muft be contemporaries al"fe^ vHi. Laftly, collateral with the Babylonllh """'' ^ Woman, is a Virgin-company of a hun-^ dred and forty- four thoufand, whofe office it is to denounce the future ruin of Ba^ bylon, and who are commended for pre- ferving their fidelity to the Lamb at ^ time when the other ii,ihabitants of thei world had deferted to the fervice of the Beaft '^. As therefore the Virgin-com^^ pany of one hundred and forty-four, thou- fand fynchronifes with the Babylonifh Woman, the Babylonifh Woman with the T,en« Horned Beaft, #nd the Ten- Horned Beaft with the Beaft with Xwo Horns.; ?J1 four muft fynchronize with one ano- ther. But we have feen, that the Ten- Horned Beaft is alfo fynchronical with the Profaning of the Outer Court of the Tlemple, with the prophefying of the Two Witneffes, and with the abode of the Wonian in the Wildernefs, Froo^ ^ Rev. xiv. 1.4. 8. xvii, 2. 14* xviil. 3. whence FlJio?2S of the Apocalypfe. 247 whence we come at this conclufion, that serm, every one of the Seven Vifions, that have ^^i^* been here related, are fynchronical^ or ' muft all be comprehended within the flime period of 42 Months, or 1260 Days. And now, having eftablifhed the fyn- chronifm of thefe Seven Vifions, the places of thofe that remain will be deter- mined very fpeedily. Of thefe there are TWO, namely, the Inner Court of the Temple, which St. John is ordered to meafure % and the Battle of Michael and the Dragon concerning the Woman ready to be delivered y, which, it appears from the narration, are the immediate antece* dents of two of the Seven contemporary vifions ; — the Inner Court, for inftance, immediately precedes, in fituation and ftruclure, the Outer, or ends where that begins ; and the Battle of Michael and the Dragon concerning the Woman im- * Rev. xi. I, 2. ^ Ch, xii. 3, 4. 7, 8. 13, 14. R 4 mediately 248 7he Order and Connexion of the SEUM, mediately precedes the flight and abode v^ii? of that Woman in the wildernefs ^ ; — and ' therefore mud be contemporary them- felves. Again there are other two, which the fequel of the ftory flievvs to be plainly Jubfeque?it to the Seven Vifions, before defcribed ; nor only fubfequent to them, but coincident with eaqh other. Thefe are the effufion of the feven Vials % and the now impending falls of the Beaft and cf Babylon ^ For it is aflerted in fo many words, that the defign of the fevers Vials was by fo m.any fucceffive plagues to punifh the worfliipers of the Beaft ^ ; and at the pouring out of the feventh, or laft. Vial, Babylon is deftroyed ^. After the overthrow of the Beaft an4 Babylon, the Dragon himfelf, who at the beginning of this Book was fald to lye in wait for the Woman about to be delivered, 2^ Rev. xii. 4, 5, 6. 13, 14. ^ Ch. XV, b Ch. xvi, c Ch. XV. I, 2, 3. xvi. 2, 10^ <* Ch, xvi. 1/9 19, an4 Vijions of the Apocalypfe, 249 and, to have occafioned her flight into the serm. deferts is fhut up in confinement for a ^^^^* thoufand years ^, during which interval the Saints live and reign with Chrifte; and, coincident with this event, the New Jerufalem, in w^hofe light the nations that are faved are to walk, comes down from heaven^. The Millenary ftate being expired, the Dragon, or Satan, is loofed froiTi his prifon ; and, having exercifed his fury againji the Saint $ and the beloved City for a feafon, he is at length call into utter perdition, by being thrown into the lake of fire and brimflone, where the Beajl and the falfe Prophet are '. All the enemies of God and the Lamb being thus removed, nothing remains to finifh the hillory of the Chriftian Church, but an account of the General Refurredion and Judg- ment of mankind, and the end of the c Rev. xii. 4, *" Cli. xx. i, 2, 3, e Ch. XX. 4. ^ Ch, xxi. 2. lO. ^4. ^ Ch, XX. 7. 9, IQ, World: 250" 216^ Order and Conne'xidfi' of the s^R'M. World k: and with this awful cataftrophe, ^m* announced with the greateft" fublimity of figures and majefty of defcription, the Prophecy of the Little Book concludes. IV. But we are not yet arrived at the full view of Mr. Mede's difcoveries : for not content' with inveftigating the true order and feries of thefe Two Prophecies of the Revelation, confidered apart, he pro- ceeded, in the fame fpirit of caution, to examine' them together: nor was it long' before his penetrating genius difcerned, that the latter predidion was indeed a regular repetition of v/hat had been al- ready delivered in the former, though in a different way; that both began from one common term, and, running over the liime period of time, met again at one common ending ; and confequently that each was commenfurate with, and fo of admirable ufe to explain and illuftrate, the other. To this thought he feems to have been led from the words of the •'Rev. %x, 11, T2. xxii. 3, 4, 5. Angeh Fijions of the Apocalyffe. 251- Angel, on delivering the Little or Open serm. Book to St. John, TChou mujl prophefy ^^^'• A'GAIN before many peoples and nations and tongues and kings ^ : and by following this hint, and fetting the prophecies as it were fide bv fide, he was enabled to trace the mutual habitudes and relations between the two, in the fame way of fynchronifm, which he had applied with fo much fuc- cefs to the latter, taken alone. In confidering the Two Prophecies of the Revelation with this view, it is ob- vious there is one vifion, which is ihcfa^ne in both ; namely, the company of one hundred and forty-four thoufand, who are defcribed as followers of the Lamb. In the Sealed Book, this vifion is Inferted immediately after the fixth Seal"^; and therefore mufi: belong to, and begin 'vinth^ the feal next in order, or the feventh, con- fifting of i^'^tn Trumpets'": in the Open * Rev. X. IT. ^ Ch. vil. Compare vl. 12. vili. i, P Ch. viii. 1, 2, Book, 252 The Order and Connexion of the SERM. Book, it is one of the feven contemporary vjii. vifions, which make a part of that pro- '^' phecy °. Now by the help of this mid- dle term we are able to prove, that the Seven contemporary Vifions, in the Open Book, and the Six firft Trumpets of the feventh Seal, in the Sealed Book, muft of neceffity be fynchronical. For firft, the beginning of thofe Seven Vifions, and the beginning of the Six Trumpets, is the fame : for all the i^wtn contemporary vifions muft needs begin together; and one of thefe vifions is the company of one hundred and forty-four thoufand; and the beginning of that vifion, we have juft now feen, coincides with the beginning of the feventh Seal, which Seal is divided into feven fucceflUve Trumpets p. Secondly, the end of thofe Seven Vifions, and the end of the Six Trumpets, is the fame : for one of thofe vifions i^ the Prophefying of the Two Witnelles ^ ; and that the time of ° Ch. xiv. p Compare vii. i, 2. with vili. I, 2, -. ^ Ch, xi. their Vijlom of the ApocaJypfe. '^53 their prophefying and the time of the serm. Sixth Trumpet end together, is plain from ^^^^' the exprefs words of the Revelation ; where after the death and refurredion of thofe witneffcs it is fubjoined, that the fecond IVoe^ that is, the Sixth Trumpet, (the three laft Trumpets being called IVoe-^ ■ "Trumpets) is pajl^ and the third Woe^ or the feventh Trumpet, cometh quickly. Here then we may take occafion to ad- mire the divine art and contrivance of this myfterious compofition: for no reafon can be affigned, why the viiion of one hundred and forty-four thoufand was fufFered to dif- turb the courfe of the Sealed prophecy at all, by being inferted between the fixth and feventh Seals 'j or why the account, of the ending of the fixth Trumpet and beginning of the feventh ', which fliould ' Rev. xi. 7. 12. 14, 15. ' The llxth feal ends with ch. vi. the feventh feal, with its {QS<:LVi trumpets, begins ch, viii. Between thefe two is interpofed the vifion of one hundred and forty-four thoufand, ch. vii, ^ Rev, xi. 14, 15. regularly 254 The Order and Connexion of the SERM. regularly have been given at the conclu* ^^^^* fion of the former prophecy, was yet re- ' ferved for the latter, to which it feems not properly to belong ; unlefs the Holy Spirit, intending to point out the connexion of the Two Predidions, defignedly difpofed the two correfponding vifions, of the com-^ pany of one hundred and forty- four thou- fand " and of the prophefying of the Wit-* neffes '% in fuch a way, that they might ferve as hinges, by which the Open Book fliould be hung, as it were, on the book of the Seals. For it is obfervable, that the founding of the feventh Trumpet, which (hould have made the clofe of the Sealed Book, w^here the Trumpets are all contained, is only intimated there, by in- forming us, that whenever that founding Jhould be, the myjlery of God would be fnijljed"^. But in the Open Book it is related in form ; and related too in that very place, where in the order of the nar- ^ Rev. vii and xiv. ^ Ch, xi, 3 — 14< * Chap. x. 7. ratioa Vifions of the Apocalypfe. 255 ration we fhould naturally expeft to find s e r m. it; namely, after a fuccind hiftory of ^^^^' events, from the beginning of Apocalyp- tical time down to the period collateral with that where the prophefy of the Sealed Book was feen to end y. This cardinal fynchronifm being fettled, the coincidence of the remaining parts of the Two Prophecies may be eafily (hewn. For from hence it follows, that the vifions of the Inner Court and of the vidory of Michael over the Dragon, which im- mediately precede the feven contempo- rary vifions in the Open Bool: ^, and the Six Firft Seals, which immediately pre- cede the Seventh, or, what is the fame thing, the Six firft Trumpets of the Seventh, in the Sealed Book % muft like- wife coincide. Again, the effufion of the Seven Vials, by which are reprefented io many degrees of the fall of the Beaft, in y Rev. xi. 15-^19. « Ch. 3d. I. and xii. 3. 7, 8, 9. 13, 14, • Ch, vi, the 256 The Order and Connexion of the SERM. the latter prophecy^, muft coincide with vin. x\\t Sixth Trumpet, with which the power of that Beaft comes to an end, in the former ^ Laftly, the founding of the Seventh Trumpet, in one predidlion **, muft correfpond with the Millennium and the new Jerufalem, in the other "=; thefe two fets of vifions being the im- mediate fubfequents to other correfponding fets ; and both being related as coming before the General Refurredtion \ which conftitutes the end of the book of the Revelation, and of the World. V. After fo long a detail of the con- ftituent parts of the Apocalypfe, and of the fubdlvifions and contents of each; I have only time to make two or three Ihort refleftions. I. Firft then it has been feen, that notvv'ithfianding the apparent diforder and ^ Rev. XV, xvi. *= Ch. xi. 14. See the Note f", p. 243. ^ Ch. X. 7. and xi. 15. ^ Ch; XX. I — 4. and ch. xxi. * Ch. XX. II — 15. and ch. xxii. confufic7ii Fljions of the /iMcalfpfei 257 cdnfufion of ^his book, there are yet fuf- serm, ficient marks, not difficult to be dircerned viik by thofe who ftudy it with a pure mind, "" " by which the feries and connexion of the vifions may be known* without and even againft the fuppofal of any pre-determined interpretation. It has been further feen, that many of thefe vifions bear about them internal characters of contempora- neity ; but that, as in a Hiltory, where various particulars are to be defcribed, which really happened at one and the fiime time, it is yet impoflible to relate them all together, but fome mud un- avoidably be written down before the other; fo in this Prophecy, where various vifions are to be recorded, which clearly refpeft one and the fame period, they are neverthelefs tranfcribed in the book itfelfj as if they were to be fulfilled in progreflion. Hence we have this conclufion, that all fuch interpretations, as are founded on the notion that the events foretold are to fucceed one another S in 25S ^he Order and Connexion of the SERM. in the fame order as the viiions, muft be ^i^^» totally erroneous and falfe. * 2. Secondly, As that part of the Reve- lation, which contauis the future fortunes of the Church of Chrift, confifts of two diftin£l and feparate prophecies^ conneded together by a peculiar artifice, that of Synchronifm; whatever principle is af- fumed in order to explain thefe prophe- cies, it muft bear the expofition quite through, and folve all the feeming con- tradidtions purpofely thrown in to obfcure them, as the true key of a riddle always does; otherwife the principle itfelf^ and the interpretation built upon it, will be fallacious and unfafe. Particular fymbols and pafl'ages may be expounded by partial commentators with great plaufibility, and even femblance of truth ; but nothing fhort of an univerfal principle will clear up the whole of this prophetical enigma, or produce a full convidlion in which the mind of a fagacious enquirer may ac- quiefce, 3* Thirdly, Vijtons of the Apocalypfe. 259 3. Thirdly, if among the feveral Apo- serm. calyptic vifions here dehileated we fhould viii, haply be able to find the meaning of any one\ we may, by the help of that one, together with the right application of the fynchronifms already demonftrated, in- veftigate the hidden fenfe of the reft. For all the villous, that have been proved to contemporize with that, w^hofe meaning we have now difcovered, mufl of necef- lity be interpreted of contemporaneous events; the vifions, preceding that one vifion, mufl: be referred to preceding events ; and the vifions, fubfequent to ir, muft relate to other events that are to follow it. 4. Laflly, it remains to obferve, that one fuch vifion is aftually explained to us by the Angel himfelf, who communicated the Revelation to St. John : and that is, the vifion of the Babylonifli Woman, riding on the Bead with /even heads : by \\'\\\c\\ feven heads^ we are told, are meant [even mountains^ and by the JVoman is re- S 2 prefented 56o The Order and Connexion, &c. s E R M. frefented that great City which, in the times VIII. of the Apoftle, reigned over the kings of ' the earth s* Here then let us fix the ground and principle of our future dif- quifitions ; and having the word of God, like another pillar of fire, for our guide, let us try to explore our way through the obfcure and dreary places of this great wildernefs : not doubting but the Father of lights, from whom cometh every good and perfect gift^, will teach us by his Spirit to difcern and embrace the truth ; that we may underjland a proverb, and the interpretation, the words of the wife and their dark fay ings k % Rev. xvii. 3. 9. 18. ** James i. 17, _ - * PrOY. i. 6. SER- [ 26l J SERMON IX. Vifion of the Apocalypfe concerning the Babyloniih Woman. Rev. xvii. i8. J he Woman ^ which thou fawejly is that Great City which reigneth over the kings of the earth, YO U may have feen an optical ex- s e r m, perlment, of the followhig kind. ^^* A painted board is produced, befmeared with colours, thrown together, as it were, at random, and in w^hich are difcernible no obvious marks of figure or defign. When the fpedator has furveyed, for fome time, and not without difguft, thi? S 3 unmean- 262 Vijlon of the Apocalypfe concerning SERM. unmeaning mixture of difcordant tints; ^x. a cylindrical mirror is placed on the """" " board, in a certain pofition; whell behold, the difperfed and diflocated parts inftan- taneeufly arraege themf^lves into an en- tire and perfeft whole, and an elegant form is reflcfted from the burniflied fteel^ corapofed with niceft fymmetry and art, and fet off wnth all the gr^ee and har- mony of colouring. The book of the Revelation to an un- fkilful or carelefs reader appears to lie in a fiate like that of the painted board ; from which it feems impoffible to extra6t any regular or connefted fyftem. But by applying to this myfterious volume, in the manner already explained, the con- trivance, diftinguifhed by the name of Synchronifm, an efteft is experienced fimi- lar to that from the polifhed mirror : the diforder, which was thought to predo- minate throughout, immediately vaniflies; the feveral disjointed vifions are judicioufly ^ifpofcd, fo as to conftitute an unity of fubje<5t; 6 the Babylonijh Wonnxn, 263 fubjefl: I and this fubjcft is profecuted, serm. from end to end, according to a conftant ^^* and pre-eftablifiied plan, which is never ^ more curious and artificial, than when lead fufpefted by an ignorant or inat- tentive reader. But the difcovery of the true fcheme and method, purfued in the Apocalypfe, would have been of little ufe, had not the fame divine Spirit, who imparted thefe wonders to St. John, been pleafed yet further to furnifli him, and us, with a fure and unerring clue, by which we might be conduced, as through the windings of a labyrinth, to the right interpretation of this extraordinary com- pofition. Such a clue we find in the chapter, of which the text is a part : for thus the Angel, after having exhibited to the aftoniihed Apoflle the vifion of a Woman^ whofe name^ written on her fore- head^ was Myjiery^ Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots^ and riding upon a Beajl S ^ vvul> 2j54 ViJtQn of the Apocalypfe concerning SERM. v^ixX^ Jcven heads and ten horns ^y unfolds ^^'' to hiin the meaning of this amazing "~ (\ghc\ The SEVEN Heads are seven Mountains on which the Woman Jitteth ; and the Woman, which thou fawejl, is that Great City which reigneth over the kings of the earthy. Let us pre fume then, but with religious awe, to develope the kvut concealed under this fublime oracle, and draw out its fecrets mto open day : nor need we fear the attempt will be cenfared as profane, when we proceed under the aufpices of an heavenly guide, who has condefcended to perform him- ielf the office of Hierophant, and to give us, in part at leaft, his own explanation of "this venerable Myftery. L Now that by the City here repre- fcnted, after the manner of the ancient prophets, under the fymbol of a Woman, and diftinguiflied by the appellation of Babylon, is to be underftoodRoME, is put ^ P.cv. xvii. I. 3. 5o * Ch, xvii. 9. 180 bp-yond ihe Babyhwjh JFoman. 26 r beyond all manner of doubt, not only from s e r m, what is faid of the fituation of this city, ^^• that it was built on /even hills ™, but from ^ what is mentioned befides, that, at the time when St. John lived, it reigned, or had fupreme dominion, over the kings of the earth \ For thefe two circumftances, taken together, are fuch appropriate and difcriminative charafters of the Metro- polis of the Roman Empire, that they confefledly belong to it, and cannot both be fhewn to belong to any other. Hence Papifts, as well as Proteftants, have been among the foremoft to acknowledge, that this is indeed the place foretold. II. Taking it then for granted, as we fafely may, that the Babylon here de- fcribed is no other than Rome ; an im- portant queftion arifes, to what particular period of the exiftence of this city the prophecy before us refers? Now there i;re but two opinions, which can poffibly have claim tp our attention, in the folu- •" Ver. 9, ^ Ver, 18. tlon ^66 Vifon of the Apocalypfe concerning 6ERM. tion of this difficulty. One is of thofe, ^^* who contend that Pagan or Idolatrous ^'^^ * Rome, fuch as obtained many ages ago, during the government of the perfecuting Emperors, is folely intended here : of •which fentiment are the Papifts almoft univerfally, and fome few among the Pro- teflants. The other is of thofe, who, though they do not exclude Rome Hea- then from all concern in the Apocalypfe, yet maintain that its principal objedl is fp predict the innovations, gradually in- troduced into the religion of Jefus, by Rome Chriftian and degenerate, fuch ag it is feen at prefent under the government of the perfecuting Popes. This is the fentiment generally entertained by Pro- teftants : and it will be our bufinefs, in the fequel, to point out to you the rea- fons, v/hich they are able to produce, in vindication of their perfuafion. Now it is certainly a drong prefimiption, that the antitype pf Babylon is not Hea- then Rome, that none of the Chriftians, who the BabylomJJj Woman, 267 who lived and fufFered under the oppref- serm. fions of the Heathen Emperors, and who, ^^• one would think, would have been the quickeft at difcerning the refemblance, if there was any, between the prediftion and its accomplifhment, feem to have had the flighteft fufpicions, that themfelves and their own fortunes were at all particu- larly interefted in the fayings of this book : on the contrary, it is an hiftorical fa£l, that they did not look for the ty- rannical power, whofe perfon and conduft are fo minutely delineated by St. Paul and St. John, till the Roman Empire fliould come to its diflblution, and for this caufe were frequent in their prayers to heaven, that fuch dillplution might be delayed. This, I fay, is a violent prefumption, againft the validity of the former opinion related above, and in favour of the latter. However, as it may be replied, that the ancient Fathers might perhaps be aware of the true meaning of the prophecies, and yet, from motives of prudence, might chufe 268 Fifion of the Apocalypfe concerning SERM. chnfe to appear referved.on a fubjeft fo IX. delicate as that of the ruin of Eternal " ^ Rome : or even admitting they were ig- norant of this matter, that a very natural account may be given of fuch their ig- norancej their minds being too much engaged in the contemplation of their own misfortunes, to advert with accuracy to fo obfcure a part of fcripture as the Apocalypfe : nor is there any better ground for averting that the Antichriftian fovereignty, whofe feat is allowed to be Rome, did not receive its completion in the peifccuting Roman Emperors, becaufe the Chriftians of thofe days did not fee and own that completion ; than there is for affirming that Jefus was not the ex- pefted Meffiah, becaufe the Jews, before %vhofe eyes he was evidently fet forth and cructfed°^ did not acknowledge him as fuch P : for thefe reafons, I am not willing to lay greater ftrefs on this obfervation ° Gal.iii. I. p Preface fur L' Apocalyple, par BolTuet, Eveque tic M-CaUX, § 21, 2 2, than the Babyloni/fj Woman. 269 than it will bear; and am content to con- serm, lider it as producing only a high degree ^x. of probability, that Babylon and Pagan " Rome are not the fame. But now, if encouragedj, not impeded.; by this prehminary remark, we proceed to infped, with care, the prophecy it- felf ; we fhall, if I miftake not, be no longer at a lofs for arguments, to convert this high degree of probability mlo proof. I. And the firll thing which takes our notice is the name of Babylon ^, by which the holy Spirit hath diftinguiflied the my- ftical Woman mentioned in the text. This city was undoubtedly feledted, be- caufe known in the Jewifli ftory as the author and fupporter of Idolatry in the Heathen world, and ther'efore the fitteft to typify the place, from whence the fame corruption fhould originate in the Chriftian. But from this expreflion alone, it is granted, we cannot infer, that the ob- ject in view is Chriftian Rome. < Rev. xvii. 5. Another 270 Vifion of the Apocalypfe concernifjg s E R M. Another name of the Woman, yet more IX. infamous than the firft, is that oi Whore^ * with whom the kings of the earth have committed Fornication '. It is hardly ne- ceflary to remind you here, that the words ivhoredom, fornicatian^ and the like, are the ufual language of the old prophets, to denote the fpecific fin of idolatry : and though they be fometimes applied to Geri-^ tile cities, which had never entered into covenant with the one Creator of heaven and earth, their proper force confifts in this, that the perfons or nation, of whom they are predicated, had once engaged themfelves, as it were by a marriage-con- traft, to the fervice of the true God, and had afterwards revolted to foreign deities ^ But neither will this appellation perhaps, though lefs equivocal than the former, be thought by all perfons to be decifive, that the prophet's rebuke is levelled againft r Rev, xvii. I, 2. 5. * See the xxxift Prele£tion on tlie facred Poetry of tlie Hebrews by the learned Bifhop of Oxford. a cor- the BabyloJiiJJj JVoJiian. 2yt a corrupted Church, rather than a Pagan serm^ city. i^* What follows, it is prcfumed, will "" ' not be liable to any ambiguity. For, not content with branding the Woman %vith the title of Whore, the Angel in- forms St. John, that the turpitude im- plied in fuch a charafter would be aggra- vated yet further by her endeavouring to promote the fame fcandalous commerce in others ; fo that, over and above the guilt of being a Harlot herfelf, fhe would defer ve to be called the Mother of Har- lots and ahominations of the e'arth ^ This part of the defcription can with no pro- priety be accommodated to Rome, before it had embraced the faith of Chrift ; be- caufe, however addifted to the worfhip of idols that city may itfelf have been, du- ring its unconverted ftate, it cannot judly be charged with labouring to fpread the fame infedtion among others. The very abfurdities of Pagan theology rendered all * Rev. xvii. 5, attempts 272 Vifwn of the Apocalypfe conterning SERM. attempts of this fort impradicable: for a? IX. every nation had a fet of rites and cere- ' monies of its own, without the leaft in- terference with thofe of any other, the confequence was, an unHmited toleration among the different fyftems of Heathen- ifm; each allowing the truth of the others pretenfions, and none affuming a right to ered itfelf on the ruin of the reft. \h the mean time it will not be denied, that Papal or Chriflian Rome is feduloufiy bent on nothing more, than on extending its religion with the fame zeal the ancient Romans did their arms, and by the fame methods too, even thofe of violence and perfecution towards all oppofers. This genius and difpofition. is emphatically marked in the phrafe, Mother of Harlots and Abominatiom of the earth. The term of Adulterefs^ v/hich, it is pretended, would here have been ufed, had Chriftian Rome been really fignified, would have been inadequate to the occaiion ; nor would have expreffed, with fufficient pre- cifioKj the BabylonijJj Woman* 2'7^ cifion, the idea of that particular fpecies serm* of impurity^ here meant to be conveyed ; ^^' which is not fo much that of a Hbidlnous Wife, who violates her plighted faith to her own hufband, as of a Woman, whofe bufinefs and profeflion it is to foliciC others to afts of uncleannefs; who keeps as it were a public brothel, open to all comers, where ihe fits, with the attire and look of an Harlot, ftretching out her golden ctipy full of abominations and fit hi* nefs of her fornication "^y and praftifing her meretricious arts, to feditce the unwary pallenger to his deftrudion. 2. The argument here advanced is ftrengthened not a little by what is after- wards remarked concerning the fame Wo- man, that (he was drunken with the blood of the faints^ and with the blood of the mar- tyrs of Jefus ; on beholding which, the Apoftle WONDERED with great admira- tion '^ Now it could have been no mat- ter of wonder to St. John, who faw and ^ Rev. xvil* 4. * Vcr» 6. T felt 2 74 Vifion of the Apocalypje concerning SERM. felt the barbarities exercifed by the Em- IX* perors Nero and Domitian, that Babylon ^ fhould appear to him in the vifion as Pagan Rome did to his bodily eyes. Nor can it now be matter of wonder to us, that the firft difciples of Chrift, who con- demned the publick religion, eftabhflied at Rome, of impiety, nor would confent to throw fo much as a grain of incenfe on any of its altars, Ihould for fuch in- flexible obftinacy, as it was called, ex- perience the edge of the fevereft fufFerings. But that Chriftian Rome, a city profef- fing fubjedion to the gofpel of Jefus, which is averfe to all the modes of com- pulfion and force, and wills only to gain admittance by the lenient arts of reafon and perfuafion; that fuch a city fhould fo far forget or miftake the tendency of its own religious principles, as to become ^ drunken, with blood, with Chriftian blood, ivith the blood of the Saints and Martyrs of Jefus ; this argues fuch accumulated and prodigious guilt, as accounts for the the Babylonjfj JVomatu 275 the admiration of the Apoflle, and may serm. well excite the aXlonlfhmenc of man- ^^'' kind. "" 3. But the charadler of the Woman in the text will be ftill better elucidated, by attending to what is faid of the fame perfon, in another part of the pro- phecy. In the 1 2th chapter we have a dcfcrlption of the Chriflian Church, in its purity; reprefented, as here, in a female form, but decorated with or- naments of a very fuperior kind : for fhe is clothed with thefun""^ encircled with the glorious light of the gofpel of Chrifl-, who is called the fun of rlghteoufnefs r having the moon under her feet, trampling on the rudiments of this world, jewifh feftivals and Gentile fuperftltions ; and upon her head a crown of twelve far s^ ad- hering ftedfaflly to the dodrine of the twelve Apoftles. In this her primitive and heavenly ftate, whilfl her pious labours * Rev. xii, I. ' Malachi iv. 2. , T 2 are 2176 Vifion-of the Apocalypje concerning SERM. are direfled to advance the kingdom of ' Chrift, fhe has to ftruggle with dangers on every fide, and is compafled about ivlth enemies, who are ever on the watch to deftroy her : which circwmftances are typified by her travailing in birth and being pained to be delivered ^^y and by the red Dragon, or the perfecuting Roman Em- f\vtyfa7idiftg before her^ to devour her child as foon as born \ However, through the controul of an over-ruHng providence, the deligns of thefe her firfl adverfaries are at length defeated ; her pains, or the cruelties of the Pagan Emperors, are hap- pily ended by her becoming the mother of a man-child^ ^ Or by the gaining of a church from among the Gentiles: which child, or Gentile Church, being caught ttp unto God and to his throne^ or being fafely lodged under the prote6lion of the Roman Empire, now become Chriftian, (he herfelf, like another Ifrael, makes her efcape into z Rev. xii. 2, * Ver. 3, 4. k Vcr. 5. 13. the the Babylowjfi JFcvian. 277 the Wlldernefs\ there to fojourn, for a serm- limited number of years, and to be af- * failed with new troubles : with which account her hiftory, in this chapter, ends. In the chapter of the text, we meet with the fame Woman again ; and, to prevent all fcruples concerning her identity, in the fame place^ where the conclufion of the above narration had left her, namely, in tho Wildernefs ^ \ — But oh ! how fall'n ! how chang'cl From her, who in the happy realms of light, Cloth'd with tranfcendent brightnefs, did outfhinc Myriads, tho' bright ' ! For here we find her no longer clad, as when firft feen in heaven ^ with the na- tive glories of the celeftial luminaries ; but, ixiftead of them, arrayed in purple and fcarlet colour ^ and deched with gold and preciousjlones and pearls s, or glittering with the tinfel of worldly grandeur ; and in c Rev. xii. 6. 14. ^ Ver. xvii. 3, ^ Milton, P. L. Bock I. ver. 84, cVc. ^ Ver. xii, i, ^ Rev. xvii. 4. T 3 this IX. 278 Vifion of the Apocalypje concerning SERM. this condition, like another Babylon, ex- erting the mod illegal ails both of civil and ecclefiaftic tyranny, and even glutting herfelf with the blood of thofe, who dare to reclame agalnft her enormous ulurpations. Nothing can more ftrongly prove, that the Woman, in this lad chap- ter, is the emblem of an apoflate or cor- rupted Church, than the evidence which arifes from the comparifon of tbefe two vifions : the fame perfon, it is obvious, is the fubjedl of both: in one fhe is de- fcribed, as pure and undefiled, fuch as befitted a religion, coming down from the Father of lights ^ ; in the other, fhe ap- pears in a depraved and degenerate ftate, fuch as was to be expe£led in a Church, which had left her firf love '\ and had con- taminated herfelf with the double crimes of Idolatry and Perfecution, 4. If now we turn from the character of the Woman to that of the Beaft, on ^ James i. i;. * Rev. il. 4, which the BabylonlJJj Woman^ 279 which (he is faid to rlde^^ the fame con- ser m. clufion will meet us, though by a dif- ^^* ferent way. The Woman herfelf having ' been already proved to be Rome, the Beafl, that carries her, can be no other than the Roman kingdom. Indeed the properties attributed to this Beaft, com- pared with thofe of the fourth Beajl in the book of Daniel ^ (by which fourth Beaft, we have feen, is fignified thie Roman government), are enough to fliew, that the fame government muft alfo be denoted here. One of thefe properties, you may remember, is the having of ten horns ^ ; which ten horns, we are told, are to be underftood as fignifying fo many kings'", and as a further explanation, it is added by St. John, that thefe kings had received no kingdom as yet % or, at the time of the ^ Rev. xvli. 3. 7. * Dan. ch. vli. " Dan. vii. 7. 20, " Ver. 24. ^ Rev. xvii. 12. T 4 vifion, iZp^ P^i/ioji of the ApQcalypfe concerning SERM. vifion, were not in exlftence. Now it is ix. notorious that the Latin or Weftern Eni'^ pire was not difmembered, or broken into feparate fovereignties, that is, the Bead was not poflefled of its ten Horns, and con- fequently the Woman could not ride it in that ftate, till fome confiderable time after Rome had become Chriftian : whence^ ariies this concliiiion, impoffible to be evaded by any fophiftic interpretation whatfoever, that neither the Beaft nor th>e Woman, in thi^ part of the prophecy, can have any relation to Pagan Rome. 5. Laftly (for I am unwilling to prefs you with all the arguments that might be brought on this fruitful tlieme) the fame pcrfecuting power, which is rcpre- icntcd here under the figure of a Beaft with ten horns, is pourtrayed, elfewher^, under the image of another Beaft, con- temporary with the firft, wdiich had /q, x:redited, the worft infli<5lions of this Emperor feem pot to have extended beyond banifliment; apd, whatever they were, they certainly did not continue j^r/jy-Zif^? months Yy the time pr^fcribed for the reign of the Beaft ; even allowing to this learned man, that theft months are to be underftood in their IJteral acceptation only. iZ. The latt^er of the two expofitors, fpoken of above, was too fagacio\as not to perceive the faults, infeparable from ^ Tentavcrat et Domitianus, portio Neronis de ■Ci'iiffelitate, fed qua- et homo facile coeptum repreffit, .reftitrutis etiam q\ios r^legaverat. Apol. Cap. v. ^ Quam diutiilime tutufquc regnavit (Domitiatius), 'donee impias' manus adverfus Dominum tenderet, Poftquam v6ro ad perfequcndum juftum populum in- ,ftin6l-Ur Dajmpnum incitatus eft, tunc traditus in manus jnimicorum luit poenas. Dc Mort. Pei fee. cap. iii. ^ Rev. xiii. 4, 5. the IX, the Babylonijh JFoman. ' ^85 the fyftcm of Gfotius ; and was there- serm. fore compelled to vmdicate the honour of his Church in another, and, to do him juftice, a much more plaufible way. He maintains, that the taking of Rome by Alaric the Goth, and, in confequence of that, the fall of Idolatry, is the one great fubjecl of the Revelation : and that in order to realize the charader of the Beaft, we muft have recourfe to the reign of Diocletian, towards the conclufion of the third century ; when the Roman Empire made its laft and cruelleft effort to ex- tirpate the religion of Chrift ^. And fo far muft be granted, that no perfecution, during the Pagan times, was carried 011 with greater feverity, or has a better claim, on account of its continuance as weH as barbarity, to be rememberedj than this. But, as we have had occafion to obferve on this argument before, it is not a fpe- cious refemblance that may be found be- 2 Explication du Chapitre xiii de UApocalypfe, par BolTuct, 6 tweeii 286 Vijion of the Apocalypfe concerning SERM. tween one or two fymbols and a few bifr ^x- torical fads, which will fatisfy a judicious ■' reader of this book ; but the difcovery of fome general and leading principle, that pervades, and is able to remove the difficulties of, the whole. Now to this the explication of the Catholic Bifliop is plainly unequal. To give two inftances, out of many. The ruin of the Beaft is announced in thefe magnificent terms ; Babylon the Great is fallen^ is fallen^ and is become the habitation of devils^ and the hold of every foul fpirit^ and a cage of every un- clean and hateful bird^. The expreffions are taken from the Jewifli prophets, in which the. overthrow of the old Babylon is foretold ; and, if words can convey any meaning, they can only be meant of fuch a deftruftion as is extreme and without remedy. And yet the Bifhpp of Meaux can fuppofe, that the force of this em- blem is fufficiently exhaufted in the fhock, which the city of Pagan Rome received * Rev. xviii..^. from tht Babylonijh PFoman. 287 from the ravages of the Goths ; though s e r m, it be certain that city fupported itfelf, and ^^* in tolerable vigour, after that event, under " feveral fucceffive Emperors. Again, at the founding of the feventh Trumpet we are told, the myjiery of God will be finljljed^ and the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Chrifl ^ ; which prediction, according to the opinion of the fame Prelate, was accompliflied, in the converfion of the nations to Chrifti- anity, and the downfall of Heathenifm, at the facking of Rome by Alaric : though here alfo it be notorious, that Idolatry fublifted, in its full ftrength, in many countries then in alliance with Rome; and within no long time after, the im- poftor Mahomet arofe, and difFufed his errors far and wide, in avowed oppofition to the gofpel of Chrift. Such interpre- tations rebel againft common fenfe no lefs than againft the evidence of authentic hlftory ; and are indeed proofs of nothing ^ Rev. X. 7. xi. 15. but 4t88 Vjjion of the Apocalypfe concerning SERM. i)ut the weaknefs of the caufe they are ^^* brought to ferve. 3. Laftly, Admitting the explanation of the vifion in the 17th chapter, which has here been given, to be true, we are hence furniflied with a certain method, by which the obfcurities of the remaining vifions, fuch I mean as have been already ful- filled, may be commodioufly cleared. Thus, granting that the Babylonifli Wo* man is rightly conceived to denote the €ity of Papal Rorne ; then the vifions^ which fynchronize with this, muft all be interpreted of fuch events, as are found in hiftory to correfpond with the times of Rome Chriftianj and the contem- porary vifions, antecedent to thefci, muft all be illuftrated from the hiftory of the ^ges preceding, or falling in with the em- pire of Rome Pagan, Much has been dond in this way by many commentators on thd Apocalypfe, who have appeared fince the times of the Reformation ; but by none^ with greater gaution and fuceefs, than by the the BhbylonlJJj Woman. 289 the incomparable Jofeph Made. And serm, though even in him, fuch are the Ihiilrs ix. prelcribed to the moft comprehenfive hu- ' man underftandings ! there may perhaps have been difcovered by later critics fom^ few (light fpecks of natural infirmity, yet in the general principle on which he fets out, and the flrid rules of demonftration by which he all along proceeds, he is fo entirely without a flaw, that all who, under the notion of corre£ling, have pre- fumed to differ from him here — I except not Sir Ifaac Newton himfelf — feem more or lefs to have deviated from the truth, as they have more or lefs departed from his plan ; and all that they have effeded hath been only this, the doing of an un- uefigned honour to his difcoveries. SER. [ 29° ] S E R M O N X. General Defign of the remaining Vifions of the Apocalypfe. Rev. xxii. 6. 7Jdefe fayings are faithful and true ; and the Lord God of the holy prophets fent his Angela to Jloew unto his fervants the things which mujl Jhortly be done. $ERM. rTTIHERE are two ways, which wc ^* JL may legitimately purfue in our refearches after natural knowledge : one is, from the qualities, which are found really to exift in bodies, to inveftigate the caufes which produce them; from particular caufes to afcend to general, till our enquiries arrive at the moft general dnd General Dejign^ ^c. 291 and terminate in firft principles: the other serm. is, to begin with thefe firft principles ^' themfelves, and, defcending from them by a regular feries of proofs, to explain the obvious appearances of thfngs. Of thefe methods it is evident that the for- mer, which is founded on fad and ob- fervation, is to be firft employed; and when by this kind of difquifition we have gained a fufficient number of truths, we may then, and not till then, fecurely have recourfe to the latter. Thus Sir Ifaac Newton, having demonftrated, firft of all, that the power of gravity was diffufed through every particle of matter on which experiments could be made, that it afted, according to an invariable law, on all bodies on and near the fur- face of the earth, that it extended to the moon, to the other planets, and to the fdn ftfelf 3 proceeded afterwards, in a re- verfe order, to illuftrate, from the fup- pofition of this principle, the vifible fy- ftem of the world, and to ihew that, al- U 2 lowing 292 General Dejtgn of the rema/mng SERM. lowing fuch a force as gravity, the feveral ^' phaenomena of nature could not be other- wife than they are. In like manner there are two ways, which w^e may fafely follow in the pro- fecution of religious knowledge : one is, from internal charafters, difcernible in any given portion of God's written word, to try if haply we can find the general fcheme and purpofe of the writer: the other is, from that fcheme and purpofe, fo difcovered, to fix the ilgnification of particular parts. It was thus, that Mr. Mede conduced himfelf in his endeavours to elucidate that obfcurefl of the pro- phetical volumes, the Revelation of St. John : having firft, from the frame and texture of the work, eftabliflied, ana- lytically, the connexion and coincidence of the Apocalyptic vifions, he afterwards perceived, that the meaning of one had been communicated by an heavenly mef- fenger to the Apoftle, and was by him inferted in his book: encouraged by this hint, X. rifion^ of the ApocaJypfe. 293 hint, he next adventured on the fy nthetic serm. mode of reafonhig, and fetting out from that one vifion, {o interpreted, he at- tempted, and was enabled, to evolve the lenfe, which lay concealed under the reft. It fhall" the bufiiiefs of the prefent Leclure to lay before you a fuccinft ac- count of the feveral progreflive fleps, by which the celebrated writer now men- tioned advanced, in order to remove the obfcurity of the remaining parts of this prophecy, the order and arrangement of which he had previoufly fettled. Such a view of the whole of Mr. Mede's inven- tions, with regard to this important por- tion of holy writ, w^ill complete what is yet to be faid on the fubjeft of the Apocalypfe ; and will prepare you for hearing without furprize, what many even among believers have fomc.imes fcrupled to admit, that the Revelation of St. John is indeed the moft methodical book of Scripture. U 3 The 294 General Dejign of the remamng SERM. The vifion, alluded to above, is that ^' of the Babylonifli Woman ; by which we have learnt, and from no lefs authority than that of an Angel, is prefigured the city of Chriftian Rome, now fallen from her primitive ftate of gofpel pu- rity, and defiled with the fouleft ftains of fuperftition and idolatry. Every vifion therefore in the book, as has been al- ready remarked, which may be clearly proved to contemporize with this of the Babylonifh Woman, muft of rie- ceffity be explained from the hiftory of fads contemporary with Papal Rome. By this fimple propofition it is, that all our future fpeculations muft be regulated. Here then let us take our ftand; and having gained the advantage of this ri- fing 2;rouhd, let us try if from hence, as from ah eminence, we may not be able to furvey the yet unknown region of the Apocalypfe: not without firft imploring the aid of that divine Spirir, of whofc office X. Vjjions of the Apocalypfe. 295 office it is to guide us Into all truth «*, that s erm. he would open the eyes of our under- ftandings, that we may behold wondrous things out of his law \ 1. It may be of ufe to remind you, that the Second great Prediftion of the Revelation, which we have called the Prophecy of the Little or Open Book, contains, beiides the vifion of the Woman of Babylon, fix other vifions, coincident with it, in refpe£l of time ; namely, thofe of the Bead with feven heads and ten horns, the Beaft with two horns like a Lamb, the profaning of the Outer Court of the Temple by the Gentiles ; the pro- phefying of two Witneffes in fackcloth, the Virgin company of a hundred and forty-four thoufand, and the flight and ^bode of the Woman in the wildernefs ^ Of thefe the firft, or that of the ten- ^ John xvl. 13, * Pf. cxix. 18. [ See page 241 — 247, U 4 horned 1^^ General Dejtgn of the remaining SEH^M* borned Beafl^, it has been intimated to x^ you in a former Ledlure^ is plainly de- "•'--—- fcriptive of the Roman Kingdom : this is evident, as well from the known ufe of the general term Beajl in th^ language of prophecy, which invariably denotes an idolatrous ftate or government, as from the particular properties afcribed to this Beafl here ; which are fo exadly fmiilar to thofe attributed to the fourth Bead in th^^; feventh chapter of Daniels as to evince beyond a doubt, that in both pro- phets one and the fame power was, inr tended. As little difpute need there be concerning the meaning of the fecond Bead, having two horns like a Lamb, but /peaking as a Dragon K ■ The Lamb, we have feen ^, is the; conflant fyrobol of Chri^l;. and this B^eaft being alfo deno- -nrix 0: ... s Rev. xiu. I — lO. xviu 9 — 15. ^ See page 279. ' See page 84—87. ^ Rev. xiii. 1 1. ^ See page 281, n^iinated Vifions of the Apocalypje. 297 minated a falfe prophet "^^ and his afts serm^ being all of them calculated to promote ^• the interefts of a falfe religion (fuch as caufing an image to be made to the firft Bead, working miracles to feduce men to the worfliip of him, and even killing thofe who refufe to conform to his arbitrary decrees n) • we are led to confider the power ifi qneftion as partaking more of an ec- clefiaftical than civil nature, and corre- fponding in kind to that which we know to be aftually exercifed by the Roman Pontiff. Thus it appears that the vifions of the Babylonifh Woman and of the two Beafts" were defigned to exhibit, in fuc- ceffion, the fevcral parts and members of that kingdom of Apoftafy, whofe rife and progrefs and decline arc here fore- told. Babylon, the mother of harlots, is the City of Rome, confidered as the feat or metropolis of Antichrift ; the Ten- jiorned Beaft is the Roman Empire, after "^ Rev. xvi. 13. xix. 20. xx. 10. ^- Rev. xiii. 13, ij., 15. ?' it 298^ General Dejign of the remaining SERM. it was divided into ten feparate fovereign- X. ties, all fubordinate to the capital city ; '"^^ and the Two-horned Beaft is the prefiding King^ or Magiftrate of this degenerate fociety, invefted with the habit of a fe^ cular tyrant, in virtue of his temporal acquifition of the patrimony of St. Peter, but effentially diftinguifhed from every other earthly monarch, on account of his claims to fpiritual doniinion, and his ufurped authority over tho niinds no lefs than the bodies of his deluded fubje£ts. Before we can explain the vifiou. next in order, the profaning of the Outer Court of the Temple by the Gentiles \ we muft premife, that throughout the Revelation the fates of the Chriftian Church are recorded in words and phrafes peculiar to the religion of the Jews, and particularly fuch as were appropriated tQ the ritual of the Temple-fervice at Je- rufalem. Thus the Jews, or fynagogue of the Ifraelites, who in the times of the " Rev. xi. ^. Mofaic Vifions of the Apocalypfe, 199 Mofaic difpenfation were the only peo- SERMt pie that retained the knowledge of One x. God, are employed in this prophecy to ^' ' perfonate the congregation of faithful followers of Chrift, or thofe who are Ghriftians indeed ^ ; as the Gentiles, on the other hand, who in the days of Mofes and the Law had univerfally relapfed into idolatry, fuftain here the charafter of apo- ftates, or thofe who have polluted the worfhip of the one Mediator between God and man w^ith imaginary interceflbrs of their own. When therefore St. John w^as prefented with a fight of the Out- ward, that is, the greater, Court of the Jewifli Temple, which he was com- manded not to meajure^ as he had the Inner or lefs Court, becaufe it \v2i% given unto the Gentiles^ who were to profane it iox forty and two months \ we are autho- rized from the received application of thefe fymbols to interpret them as de- scribing the condition of the vifible Church p Rev. ii. g. 4 Ot 300 General Dejtgn of the remaining SERM. of Chrift, now given for a certain time ^' to be pofleffed by Gentiles^ or made up, as to the larger part, of fuch as were Chriftians only in name, unworthy of regard in the divine eftimation, and for this reafon forbidden to be comprehended within the facred inclofure, marked out by the reed"^ or meafure of St. John. The vifions hitherto adduced have all been objedlive to the corrupt or idola- trous ftate of Chriftianity ; the three, which are yet behind, were granted with a contrary defign, to depidl the circum- ftanccs of the chofen few, who (hould retain their integrity amidft the general depravity of their brethren. And the firft that demands our atten- tion is the Prophefying of Two Wit- neffes in fackcloth for 1260 days ^ By thefe we are to underftand the fincere difciples of Chrift, who adhere unfhakcn to the pure word of God, and conftaiitly withftand the reigning fuperftitions, du^* 1 Rev. xi. I. f Rev. xi. 3. ring Vijions of the Apocalypfe, 301 ring the whole period in which they are serm, fufFered to prevail. They are Hvo in x. number, in allufion to the feveral pairs "" of the fervants of God in the Old Tefla- ment, to whom they are compared ; for, like Mofes and Aaron in Egypt and in the wildernefs, they Jhute t.je earth with plagues^ and fend fire out of their month to devour their enemies \ ov denounce the anger of God agalnft the oppofers of the true religion ; like Elijah and Elifhah, who protefted againft the idolatry of Baal, they have power tofhut heaven^ that it rain not in the days of their prophecy \ or to withhold the bleflings of providence from fuch as refill: their teftimony ; and like Zorobabel and Jofhua in the Baby- lon i(h captivity, they are the two olive- trees^ and the two candle/licks fianding be- fore the God of the earth ", or the great teachers and luminaries of the Church. * Rev. xi. 5, 6. Exod. vii, viii, ix, x. Numb, xvi. 35. ^ Rev. xi. 6. i Kings xvii. i, • Rev. xi. 4. Zech. iv. 2, 3. And 3©2 General Dejtgn of the remaining SERM. And they prophefy, or preach, in fack-^ X* cloth', becaufe their office is to lament " the defertion of their fellow Chriftians, and to exhort them to repentance ; and becaufe they themfelves, when about to JiniJIj their tejiimony^ are to be perfecuted and overcome of the Beaji, the Roman power already defcribed^ and to be Jlai?i by it ^^5 till at length almighty truth (hall prevail, and genuine Chriftianity (hall revive and be exalted, or, as it is ex- prefled in the metaphorical language of this book, their dead bodies (hall be raifed, and they (hall afcend up to heaven, in the (ight of their enemies, in a cloud"". The fame perfons, who are here called WitnefTes, are adumbrated anew in the vifion of a hundred and forty-four thou- sand, feleded out of the twelve tribes of the children of Ifrael"" ; the tribes of Ifrael denoting, as in other places of the Revelation, the fociety of real Chriftians : ■ Rev.xi. 7. ^ Ver. 8. ii, la- .' Rev. xly. I. vil. 3? 4. . - for Vijions of the Apocalypfe. 3O3 for thefe are charailerlzed as virgins, serm. that is, untainted with idolatry, which, ^• in a figurative fenfe, is fornication ; as rc^ deejned from among men^ not carried away with the general degeneracy; and foU lowers of the Lamb wherefoever he goeth ^, perfevering ftedfaftly in the dodrine of Chrift, whilft the reft of the Chriftian world are enllaved to the worfhip of the Beaft. Laftly, the forlorn condition of the Church, during the dominion of the Man of Sin, which had been defcribed in the two foregoing vifions, is again exprefled by the flight and abode of the Woman iu the Wildernefs ^ The Woman, in this vifion, reprefents the Church of Chrift in its purity ^ ; and as the Ifraelites, after they had been delivered from the bon- dage of the houfe of Egypt, were carried into the Wildernefs, and there miracu- ^ Rev. xiv. 4. * Rev. xii. I, 2. 5,' 6. 13, 14, I See page 275, 276. loufly X. 3^4 General Dejign of the remaining SERM. loufly fupported; fo the Chriftian Ifrael, after (he had efcaped the rage of her firft enemy, the Dragon, or the perfecutmg Pagan Emperors, was permitted to make her efcape into a fimilar place of refuge; where Ihe is to be nourjjhed for a time and times and half a time^^x.\\^ti% for three years and a half, or forty-two months, or 1260 days, the period limited by pro- vidence for the prevalence of her ad- verfaries. Having thus difcovered the general fignification of the Seven Contemporary Vifions of the prophecy of the Open Book; the fecret purpofe of the two that immediately precede, namely the Inner Court of the Temple, which St. John is ordered to meafure% and the battle of Michael and the Dragon concerning the Woman ready to be delivered \ w^ili be eafily afcertained. The Inner Court of the Jewlfh Temple, as oppofed to the ^ Rev. xii. 6. 14. ^ Rev. xl. i. f.^Hev. xii- 3, 4, 5. 7, 85 9. See page 247- Outer, Vlfms of the Apocalypfe. 305 Outer, was appropriated to the Priefts skrm. and Levites ; and Chriftians under the ^* nev/ covenant being faid to be Priejis to God^^ this Inner Court, meafurcd by the reed or rule of the Apoftle, muft mean the primitive Church, yet unadulterated by human ordinances, and in all refpe(5ts conformable to the divine word. Not that, even in thefe times of fimplicity, the Chriftians were totally exempt from troubles ; as is fhadovved out in the other fynchronical vifion, in which Michael^ the tutelar Angel of the Jews ^', and now the protector of the Chriftians, contends with and fubdues the Dragon, or Hea- then Emperors of Rome ; after which, the Woman, or Chriftian Church, is deHvered of a man-childj or gains a civil eftabliihment among the Gentiles under the protefkion of Conftantine '\ Befides the Two Vlfions, which are the immediate antecedents of the Seven g Pet. ii. 5. 9, Rev. i. 6. v. 10. xx. 6. ^ Dam. X. 21. xU. i. '- Seepages 1.276,277. X before-* 3c6 General Dejtgn of the remaining SERM. befcrementioned, there are other Two, ^' which are the immediate lubfequents of the fame ; the cfFuiioii of the vials, and the falls of the Beaft and of Babylon K It is plain from the text itfelf, that by the pourmg out of the Vials in general is fignified the ruin of the antichriftian Beaft; and that the feven Vials in par- ticular are fo many fucceffive degrees of that ruin. But as this part of the Open Book, as well as that which follows, is not yet fufticiently cleared by the com- pletion, 1 forbear all conjectures concern- ing it. Our buiinefs, in the examina- tion of this obfcure volume, is, not to prophefy, but to interpret ; not to fore- tell things before they are fulfilled, but, after they are fulfilled, to illuftrate the predidion from the event. From what we now difcern of tlie defign and pur- j)ofe of the Apocalypfe, we fee enough to direft our pradice, and confirm our ^- Rev, xvi. See page 248. "faith: V'ljhns of the ApocaJypfe. 307 faith: for the reft, we prefume not to serm. intrude into the fecret things which belong x. unto the Lord our God ^5 or to penetrate ^ the myfleries of the divine counfels, which he himfelf has thought fit to en- velop, for the prefent, in thick clouds and darhiefs ^. 11. But the Revelation of St. John in- 1 eludes, together with the Open Book, another volume, containing the prophecy of the Sealed Book " ; both tomes being fynchronical to one another '^, and, as we (hall now fee, no otherwife differ- ing, than that the one is chiefly con- cerned in delineating the affairs of the Cliriftian Church, and the other in' defcribing the revolutions of the Roman En^pire. With refpedi to this latter predl-flion, it has l;)een obferved to you once before <', that its contents are not related, like » Deut, xxix. 29. "" Pi', xcvii. 2. " Seepages 236. — 250. 256. "" See page 239. --^^ X 2 " thole 3o8 General Defign of the remalmng SERM. thofe of the open book, in different fets "^' of contemporaneous vifions, but follow one another in an exaft and regular fuc- ceiTion; and confequently, that the events foretold are to come to pafs in the fame train as the feveral parts Of the prophecy are recorded in the book itfelf. By ex* amining therefore, and in the order they lie, the conftituent portions of this vo- lume, and comparing them, as we go along, with thofe vifions of the little tome, to which they correfpond ; we lliall obtain a general view of the vary- ing fortunes of the Church and Empire, from the firft foundation of Chriftianity , to the prefent times. The Sealed prophecy is divided into feven periods, denoted by fevcn Seals. Now it has been proved, that the Six fn-ft Seals, in this Book, and the Two Vifions of the Inner Court and of the vidlory of Michael over the Dragon, in the Open Book, are comprehended in one Fljions of the Apocalypje. 309 one and the fame lynchronifm •». But the s e r m. Two Vifions in the Open book, it hath ^• been alfo ihewn % are both to be inter- ^ preted of the Chriftian Church, whiKl free from idolatrous rites, and ftiugghng with the perfecutions of the Pagan Em- perors : whence it follows, that, in order to elucidate the Six firft Seals in the Sealed book, we are of neceffity confined to fuch fads in hiftory, as are to be found in the three firft centuries of the Chriftian aera, or concur with the times of Rome Pagan. Now it is certain, from undoubted monuments of antiquity, that within the period here afligned there was a feries of events that befell the Roman Em- pire, which anfwers with great pro- priety to the charafters attributed to thefe Six Seals. What can better defcribe the genius of the Chriftian religion, triumphing over the idol-divinities of Heathenifm, and fpreading itfelf, through ^ See page 255, » In the prefent Lcflure : Sec pages 304, 305. X 3 tho 3IO General Dejtgn of the remaining SERM. the miniftry of the Apoftles, to the re- ^' moteft corners of the world, than the reprefentation of the perfon and dignity of Chrift, which is given in the firft Seal? who is pourtrayed with a how^ and riding on a white horfe^ the ufual enfigns of war and vidory, and a crown was given unto him^ and he went forth con^ quering and to conquer ^ What can more fitly denote the wars between the Jews and Romans, in the reigns of Trajan and Adrian, and the misfortunes which over- took thefe two inveterate enemies of the crofs of Chrift, than the fymbols of the fecond Seal, which is diftinguifhed by llaughter and the taking of peace from the earth ^ ? Or what more jftriftly correfpond to the want and famine that prevailed through the Roman provinces under the family of the Antonines, and to the me- thods by which this great evil was mi- tigated, if not removed, by the care of Septimius Severus, eminent in ftory for '^ Rev. vi. I5 2. • Ver. 3, 4. the Vijions of the jipocalypfe. 311 the equitable adminiftratioii of his go- serm, vernment; than the figure of the perfoii ^• in the third Seal, who is feea riding on a black horfe, the known colour for dif- trefs, and holding in his hands a Balance^ with which to weigh out to his fubjecls, in fcanty but juft proportion, the necef- faries of life " ? The next affiiflion, that befell the Empire, was the united miferies of war and ficknefs, in the times of Decius, Gallus, and Valerian : and thefe are fignified in the fourth Seal, where Death is perfonified, riding on a pale horfe, and preceded by his four harbin- gers, or, as they are called by Ezekiel % the four fore judgments of God, the fword and the famine and the no fame beajl a?id the pejlilence -\ To this calamity was fub- fequent a new and barbarous perfecution, which befell the Chriftians by the order of Diocletian ; of which, as might be expeded, we are forewarned in the fifth " Rev. vi, 5, 6. ^' E'4ck,. xiv. 2^. '■ Rev. vi. 7, 8. X 4 Seal, X. jiz General Dejign of the remaining SERM. Seal, whofe diftinguifhing note is an Altar ^ having under it the fouls of them that were fain for the word of God\ Within no long time after this trouble, the Roman government itfelf underwent a change, yet more extraordinary than any before related ; the nature of which is with wonderful exadnefs declared, in the fixth Seal, by the fymbol o( a great earth- quake z, the conftant figure, both in the Old Teftament and the New, to denote the ruin of kingdoms, and revolutions of ftates ; and therefore the fitteft to re- prefent the commotions that happened in the Empire in the days of Conftan- tine the Great, by whom Paganifm was finally aboliflied, and the Chriftian re- ligion erefted in its place. From the account here given it ap- pears, that the Six firft Seals of this pro- phecy were intended to mark fo many notable events of the Roman Empire, in its Pagan or unconverted ftate ; ac- y Rev. vi. 9, xo, ij. l Ver. 12 — i^yi cording Vlfwm of the Apocalypfe. 313 cording as thefe were permitted to promote s e r m« en^retard the interefts of the Chrifl'faa ^* religion, then juft beginning to illuminate *" a benighted world. In the mean while, a way was prepared, through the care of providence, for the gradual publica- tion of the gofpel ; which, after being long nurtured in the fchool of perfecu- tion, was enabled by the fuperior power of its truth to conciliate and convert its oppofers, and at length, under the au- fpices of Conftantine, to eftablifli itfelf, in profperity and purity, throughout the provinces of the Roman Empire, But the days of reftored tranquillity were foon obfcured by new clouds of forrow. For the Church, fecurc of a flable fettlement in the Empire, now become Chriftian, and having no longer to contend with enemies from without, began, according to the ufual tendency of human affairs when deftitute of a di- vine direftion, to teerr; with diforders from within. And although in thefe times 314 General Dejign of the remaining SERM. times of degeneracy there were never ^' wanting a few upright Chriftians, who like living embers kept the dying a(hes from being quite extinguifhed (as is in- timated in the vifion, interpofed between the fixth and feventh Seals, of the Virgin- company of a hundred and forty-four thoufand ^) ; yet the greater part, but too vifibly, departed foon and wide from the original terms of the gofpel-covenant, and deflefled from the ftrait way that leadeth unto life into the oblique paths of idolatry and fuperftition. This mifer- able ftate is foretold in a variety of ap- pofite and affefting emblems in the Seven Contemporary Vifions, fo often mention- ed, of the Open Book : and the fame unhappy appearance of things, together w^ith the calamities which at the fame period of time were fuffered to defolate the Roman government both in the Eaft and Weft, is again deUneated in that part » Rev. ch. vii. of Fijions of tht Apocalypfe. 31^ of the Sealed Book we are now to con- serm. lider, the Seventh, or laft, Seal. ^• That Seventh Seal, we muft here re- peat, is diftributed into ieven portions, each noted by the founding of a Trumpet ^; ' and fix of thofe Trumpets contemporize with the Seven Synchronical Vifions, before enumerated, of the Open Book"": but the Seven Vifions, as has been al- ready proved, are all to be explained of events falling within the times of Papal or Antichriftian Rome ^ and therefore the Six Trumpets muft alfo be interpreted of events coincident with the fame times. Now here again, by examining with at- tention thofe parts of the Roman hiftory, which immediately followed the great revolution in religion, mentioned above ; we fhall find a fuflScient variety of well- attefted fa6ls, that correfpond to the pro- phetical defcriptions, comprehended in the remaining part of this fealed volume. • See page 238, ^ See page 252, 253. 4 The 3 1 6 General Dejign of the remaining SERM. The chief and memorable afflidion, with X. which the Romans were vifited after the ' reign of Conftantine, was the irruption of the Goths and Vandals and other bar- barians into the Latin or Weftern Empire : and the moft ftriking circum* fiances, with which this amazing de- lolation was accompanied, from the be- ginning to the end of it, are recorded in the Four firfl: Trumpets of the Seventh Seal. The founding of the Firft Trum- pet is followed widi Hail and Fire caft upon the Earth ^: which has been explained of the fir't incurfion of the Northern nations, v ho fell at once like a hail-florm on the mod fertile qf the Roman territories, fpreading ruin and de- ftruftion as they came, towards the end of the fourth century, after the death of Theodofius the Great. At the founding ,of the Second Trumpet a burning Moun-* tain is caft into the Sea ' : preluding, as is fuppofed, to the befieging and burning r^ Rev. viii. 6, 7. * Ver. 8, 9. of Flfions of the Apocalypfe. - 317 of Rome by Alaric, general of the Goths, s e r m, When the Third Trumpet founds, a Star ^* falls upon the Rivers ^ : and this type was verified, when Genferic, the Vandal, invaded the Roman provinces, and the great body of the Empire was fhared into ten feparate kingdoms, according to the exprefs predictions of Daniel and St. John. In the Fourth Trumpet the hif- tory of the Latin Empire is carried on to its extinftion : this is prefigured by an EcUpfe of the Sun^ Moon^ and Stars ^ darkening the Roman firmament 2; and was then fulfilled, when all remaining authority at Rome was fubverted, and the Imperial City, no longer the Queen of Nations and Miftrefs of the World, was reduced to an inferior dukedom, and fubjefted to the new Exarchate, erefted at Ravenna. By thefe fteps the Latin or C^farean government, or that which letted^ was { Rev, viii, xo, ii* s Ver. 12. tahn X, 21 8 General Dejign of the remamng SERM. talzen out of the way^ -, and what is of more importance to remark, by the fame degrees as the Imperial power thus funk to its depreffion, the Papal found means to rife to the oppofite point of exaltation. But our prefent employment is not fo jnuch to advert to the methods by which the Roman Pontiff advanced to domi- iiion, as to purfue the fequel of calami- ties, which, after the fall of the Wefterri Empire, defolated the Eaftern, or that of ^he Greeks. And for a defcription oi thefe, we muft have recourfe to the-fol- layving Trumpets, diftinguiflied, on ac- count of the duration and kind of thofe .calamities, by the name of Woes K The mofi: remarkable event, fubfequent to the demolition of the Weflern go- vernment, was the fudden rife of the Arabians or Saracens ^ who, feduced by the great impoftor Mahomet, over-ran and iiarraffed the Roman territories in the Eaft. And to thefe ravagers the charaders of > 2 Their, ii. 7. ' Rev. viii. 13. th€ Vljions of the Apocalypfe: 319 the Fifth Trumpet, or fir ft Woe •", have serm< been (hewn to aiifwer. The flihe pro- ^* phet himfelf is typified by a Star fallen from heaven ^ : the key of the bottomlefs pit^ where Satan and his evil angels are bound "^, is given to him ; which pit being opened by this grand deceiver, a fmoke^ or falfe religion, ifliies from it ; and out oftht fmoke Locufts come upon the earth \ This fpecies of animals is em- pjoyed in the Old Teftament to fignify the people, who invaded the Ifraelites from the Eaft°3 and is therefore fitly ufed in this place for the Saracens, who attacked the Romans in the fame quarter of the globe. They have power to tor» ment mankind for a certain feafon, but not to kill themp; which was literally the cafe with the Arabian conquefts here foretold : and their victories are afcribed ^ Rev. ix, I — 13. ^ Rev. Ix, i. "^ Rev. XX. I, 2, 3, ^ Rev. ix. 2, 3. ! J^ -^i J^jirV'^iV^ 26. ' I Cor. X. II. ;;r:7. the the Corruptions of Popery, j^^ the greater part, have, at this very time, s e r m- received their completion, ^^* Now of the charafters, recorded in * Scripture as the undoubted marks of Antichrift, many at kaft have been ihewn to belong, exclufively, to the ty- ranny now exifting in Papal Rome. For, firft of all, this power is certainly a Roman one; fecondly, it is confined to the limits of the Latin or Weft- ern Empire ; thirdly, it arofe among the ten kingdoms, into which that Empire was parted by the northern barbarians; fourthly, its throne or feat is in the city" of Rome ; fifthly, it is a Chriftian power; and, fixthly, it is difcriminated from all others, by being of the Ipiritual or eccle- fiaftic kind ^ Thefe are circumftances fo plainly realized in that part of Chriften- dom which is fubjeft to the Roman pon- ^' Set the ■ eleventh of Bifhop Kurd's Sermons on the Prophecies ; Where the prophetic chara6ters of An 'chrift, above defcribed, are fhewn, and in a very- fa -^.ory way, to be fairly applicable to the C:,:;: :h of Rome. tiff. X. 3j4 Hi/lorical View of SERM. tlfF, that it is not poffible, by any art of fubtlety of our adverfaries, they can be evaded or denied. But the grand and decifive argument to demonftrate, that the Apoftafy of Papal Rome is indeed foretold in the facred ora- cles, is derived from the correfpondence between the feveral acls of power af- cribed to Antichrift in the prophecies^ and thofe claimed and exercifed by the ruling head of the Roman Communion. Thefe therefore it will be our care to draw out at length, and, without adhering to the ftri£l order of time, to fpecify the corruptions, in do^rine and worihip? avowedly introduced by Popery into the fyftem of Chriftianity, by which the fim- pleft and pureft of all religions has been difhonoured, and the falutary purpofes, in great meafure, obftruded, for which it was granted by an all-gracious provi- dence to mankind. I. In the primitive Church, the parity of Bifliops was admitted without excep- 4 tion, the Corruption of Popery. n^^ tlon, and no one had any pre-emuience serm. over the reft, but what arofe from the ^i* dignity of the See to which he was ' elefted. On this account the Bifliops of Rome, which had fo long been the feat of government and the Metropohs of the Weftern world, were entitled to fome de- gree of refpe£l over and above what was due to prelates of inferior dlftri£ts; and the fame honour was paid to the Bifliops of Antioch and Alexandria, as rulers of the earlleft of the Chriftian churches, and afterwards to the Bifhops of Conftanti- nople, when the Imperial refidence was transferred to that city. But the dif- tinition of rank and precedence, thus tacitly allowed to thefe four prelates, was not thought to imply a diftindion of power and authority : They, with others of their brethren, were equally bound by the laws and edi6ls of the Emperors ; all were alike fuppofed to have received their funftion from the appointment of Chrift alone, and not from any conceffions of the fucceifcr XI. 3j6 Hljlorlcal View of SERM. fucceffor of St. Peter; and when, fo early as the third century, the Roman pontiff prefumed to domineer above his fellows, the attempt was treated by Cyprian, Bi- fhop of Carthage, with the utmoft fcorn and indignation. It fortuned, towards the clofe of the following century ", that a law was pro- pofed by Valentin ian, and accepted by the unwary prelates in terms of approbation, that all difputes, which might happen to arife among the members of the Epifco- pal order, (hould be referved for the hear- ing of the Bifhop of Rome : the reafon affigned was, that religious differences might not be carried before profane or fecular judges ; and probably, the law it- felf was merely temporary, at leaft was never defigned to extend beyond the fub-* urbicarian provinces, the only ones with- in the jurifdidion of the Romifh See. ^ About the year 372. See Mofheim's Eccle- fiaftical Hiftory, tranilated into Englifl-i by Archibald Maclaine, D. D. vol. I. p. 287. note «. From the Corruptions of Popery. ^^H PvoTCi this circumftance we may date .the serm. origin of that fpiritual defpQtifm, which xi. the Popes found means to eroS, and to *— ~"~^ vvhich all Europe was induced to con- form with an unlimited obedience. It is curious to trace the fteps, by which {o w^onderful an influence over the minds of men was efFefted. After the pafRng of the above law, it became no unufual thing for fubordinate prelates, when invaded in their rights, to have recourfe for affiftance to the Roman pontiff; who, far froni difpleafed at fuch sin application, and always deciding for thofe who fled to him for protection, took iin,eafy occafion from thence to increafe his ow^n authority. The declining ftate. of the Emperors in the Weft, added to their abfence from the Imperial cit}% w^as ^ a new opportunity offered to the Popes to govern there without controiil : and the quarrels, fo famous in hiftory, between the bifhops of Rome and Conftantinople^ the one aiming at fupremacy, the other Z more 338 Hijloncal View of SERM. more modeftly labouring to prefcrve his '^^' independence, and which did not end but ~ with the total feparation of the Latin and Greek Churches, are an ample proof that the fame endeavours to gain an afcendance were not wanting in the Eaft. But the acceffions of power, hitherto acquired, were much too fcanty to fatisfy the grow- ing ambition of thefe ghoftly rulers. Not content with the advantages, fo fraudu- lently obtained, over their brethren of the hierarchy, they afferted next that, as vifible heads of the churchy their autho-* rity was Jfuperior to that of ail fynods and councils, whether provincial or general % none of which, it was pretended, could legally be convened, but by their per- miffion ; and whofe determinations were of no validity, unlefs inforced and ratified by their fentenee. It was an eafy ftep after this to proceed to whatever higher degrees of arrogance they pleafed ; to . aflame the difpofal of ecclefiaftical offices «and honours of every kind; to demand an the Corruptions of Popery. 339 an exemption, for themfelves, and for all s e r m, the orders of the clergy, from fecular ^^' juftice ; to promote appeals to their own courts ; to exalt their own decifions, and thofe of the canons, above the injundions of Scripture ; and, in a word, to afl: In all refpedls as divinely-appointed Mo- harcbs of the Church of Chrift. Nothing remained to render the fyftem of tyranny complete, but to exert the fame tranfcen- dent prerogative over princes and fover- eigns, as they already exercifed over the bifhops and clergy ; from the ceremony- permitted to them of crowning to infer the right of making kings, of abfolving fubjefls from their allegiance, of trying, condemning and dethroning refradlory monarchsj and transferring their fceptrcs to new mafters more fubfervient to their will : Nor was it long before the ill-judged munificence of the Emperors, on whom till now they had been dependent, enabled them to reach this fublimeft pinnacle of Z 2 prieftly !:46 Hijioncal View of SERM. prieftly pride, and, in confequence of it ^^- power derived to them from Jefus Chrift, to degrade to the lowell aels of humilia-^ tion, to excomnnunicate, and to depofe their benefactors. The execution of this laft impiety, which had often been me- ditated before, was kept for the times of the profligate Hlldebrand, better Known by the name of Gregory VII; whofe po- litical difcerhment and intrepid temper, unchecked by any reftrahits from moral principles, qualified him in an eminent manner to advance the Papal fupfeiiiaCy to its greateft height. And to this new fpecies of opprefllon, wdiich was hereaftel- to have place in the Chriflian Church, the prophets are thought to prelude * Vvhen they hold out to us x^ntichrift, as having a mouth /peaking great things^ a?jd a took more Jlont than his fellcws^ and think- ing to chafige times and laws ^ ; as oppojing and magnifying himfef above all that h ^ Dan. vii. ao. 2jj. £al/fd the Ccrrtiptions of Popery. 341 called God or that is worjhiped ' \ and as serm. caufjig ally both fmall and greats rich and ^^' poor^ free a?id bond, to receive his tnark in ' their foreheads \ * 2 ThefT. ii. 4. ^ Rev. xiii. i6.-- Among other appellations, afTumed by the Bifliop of Rome, that of Vicar of God h one \ hy which hath been ufually undcrftood his unwarrant- able claim to exercife all thofe a£\s of fpiritual fove- rcignty, which are the peculiar province of the Supreme Being. I rather conceive that this title was originally intended, not as fignificative of honour, but of humility. The term is borrowed from the Roman Law. Slaves, out of the little peculium they vyere allowed to have of their own, very frequently bought another Have, who was fubje£l to them, as they themfelves were fubje£l to their proper mafters. Such a flave of a flave, or fervus fervi^ was called f^iiarius : fo the word is ufed by Horace, *' Sive VicARius eft, qui fervo paret, utl mos *' Vefter ait, feu Confer vus." 2 Serm. VII. 28. and by Martial, '^^** Effe fat eft Scrvum; jam nolo Vicarius efTe." ^Ai^\^Aa Lib. II. Epig. 18. and^ in allufion to this fenfe, the Pope fometimes con- dcfcends to ftilc himfelf Vicarius, and at other times, $ervus Servorum, Dei fc. Both expreftions are fyno- fjymous, and one of them explains the other. Z 3 2; The 342 Hljlorical View of SERM. 2. The Redeemer of mankind, before ^^^- he afcended to heaven from whence eom- " paffion to a miferable world had brought him down, delivered to his difciples a Rule of Faith, which was by them com- mitted to writing in the New Teftament, and by which the moft ordinary capa- city may be furnifhed with that wifdoni that will make him wife unto falvation z. To this rule, which in the ftrifteft fenfe may be called infallible, we Proteftants profefs folely to adhere ; fo that whatever propofition is not, either exprefsly, or by fair and logical confequence, deduced from it, ought not of neceffity to be made an article of a Chriflian's creed. But a rule, fo direct as this, was but little fuitcd to the crooked politics of the church of Rome : which therefore, in defiance of a pofitive cornmand % has added to the doc- trines of Qod's book a long lift of others, handed down, as is alleged, by Tradition, ^- 2 Tim. iii. 15. * Dent, xii. 32. Rev, xxii. 18, 19. through the Corruptions of Popery. o^j through a conrfe of feventeen hundred serm. years, and to be received with the fame xi. reverence as holy Scripture. If it be ~ alked, how are we to know that thefe traditional doftrines have, none of them, been changed or mutilated, in paffing through fo many hands ; we are anfwered, they have always been admitted as ge- nuine by the judgement of the Catholic Church, and that judgement, in matters of faith at leaft, is intaliible. If we go on to afk, in what part of the Catholic Church this fame infallibility refides ; fome of their writers tell us, it is in the Pope, others in a general council, a third fort, in the Pope and a general council together ; whilft others maintain, that it is difFufed through all the members of the Romifh communion, and others again, that it exifts in the colleftive body of Chriftians, wherever fituated in the world. When Proteftants are urged for a reajon of the hope that is in them^^ they refer with \ I Pet. ill. 15. Z 4 confidence 244 Hijlor'ical View of ^ERM. confidence to the written word, which ^^ is the only authorized ftandard of theo- ^ ' logical truth, and comprehends whatever is required from a Cliriilian either to be- lieve or do. V\ hen Papifts to this on^ ginal and all-fufficient ruie would add another, derived from Tradition, which they reGo\Timend to us as more complete, and alfo as infallible ; w^e reply, that all Tradition is uncertain in its nature ; and on the boafled quality of infallibility we can have no rehance, fince the very Church, which claims to be in poffeffion of it, has never yet been able to deter- mine where it is to be found. If the Church of Rome be thus cul- pable in arrogating to itfelf Infallibility, It is equally to be blamed for affuming another divine attribute, the Forgivenefs of Sins. The conditions, on v^hich this invaluable privilege was granted to thofe, who were converted from a ftate of hea- thenlfm to Chriftianlty, were Repentance toivard Gody and Faith toward our herd the Corruptions of Popery. ,^ 24 c jefus Chrijl' y as to fuch as are already ^erm^ profefled Chriftians, and through infirmity xi, or furprize haye fliUen from their inter ' ^ grity, they are Faith and renewed Obe- dience for the future. To publifh thefe offers of mercy to an unbeheving and guilty world, was the great bufinefs of the Apollles' miniftry ; when, in virtue of a commiffion from their Lord and Mafter, they went forth, preaching peace by Jefus Chrifl ^, and proclamed to Jew and Gentile the glad tidings of that religion, according to the terms of which, as then declared by them on earthy every man's fentence, whether of acquittal or con- demnation, would be finally decided in heaven ^. Fu rther power of abfolving and retaining fins the Apoftles themfelves had pot ; ^nd w^3 have no reafon to conclude that greater authority in fo important a point is conferred on their lefs enlightened fucceflbrs. Yet the Church of Rome, <= Afts XX. 21. ^ A6ts X. 36. f Matth. xvi. ^g. Jp^n xx« a 3. with 346 Hljlortcal View cf 8 ER M. with a boldnefs that is beyond conception, XI. has dared to alter the original conditions; """"""""""^ of acceptance promulged in the New Teftament, and to impofe others of its own, of which it is hard to fay whether they be more repugnant to fenfe or ho- nefty. Inftead of that pious forrow, which flows from the love of God and worketh repentance tofalvatioh not to be re- fented of^ they have fubflituted what they iCall Attrition, or the fervile fear of pu- nifhment, accompanied with Abfolution, if it can be had, as fuificient for the re« •miffion of the greateft guilt, Inftead of -that amendment of life, which both 'Scripture and reafon affirm is the one thing needful to regain the favour of our -offended maker, they teach that Confef- fion to a Priefl, together with an arbi- trary penance injoined by him, is of am- ple merit to atone for the breaches of the -moral law. In derogation of the puri- fying efficacy of the blood ofChriJl^ which, ^ 2 Cor. vii. 10. the Corruptions of Popery, 347 as the Apoftle fpeaks, ckanjeth us from all serm, fin^^ and difcharges all its flains, they xi. pretend that fouls in a feparate ftate are ' purged from the defilements contrafted here, by the fire of a fibulous Purgatory. And by the fcandalous dodlrine, that par- don for. every iniquity, whether com- mitted or defigned, may be purchafed for money, and the more fcandalous pradtice of expofing Indulgences to open fale, they have evacuated the obligations to that holinefs^ without which no man fhall fee the Lord^, Who now that refleds on fuch an impious invafion of the preroga- tive belonging to God alone, and at the fame time remembers what is faid in the fure word of prophecy ' of the great cor- ruption which was to happen in after- times in the Church of Chrift, can help being perfuaded that the inflances now adduced were principally in the minds of the infpired penmen, when they defcribe 8 I John i. 7. ^ Heb. xii, 14, [ 2 Pet. i. 190 Anti 34? Hlflorical f'iezv of sERM. Antlchrlft as /peaking marvellous things ^?« agalnjl the God of Gods^ ; fiting as god '^ in the Temple ofGod^ Jhewing himfelf that he is god ^ ; and opening his mouth in blaf- phemy againjl God^ to blafpheme his name ^ ? 3. No fooner had the Chriftians emer- ged from a ftate of perfecution under the Heathen Emperors, than con^paring, as was natural, their prefent and paft con- ditions, they were led to contemplate ^ with an uncommon degree of approbation the charaders of thofe holy men, who by the purity of their Hves and the conftancy of their fufFerings even unto death had given the moft honourable atteftation to the truth and excellence of their religion, and had been the inftruments of procuring for them much of the peace and fecurity they now enjoyed. Gratitude, affeclion, every virtuous movement of the mind, concurred to promote fo jufi: an efteem for perfons fo hidily deferving ; and many ^ Dan. xi. 36, '2 Their, ii, 4. ^ JlcVo xiii. 6. were the Corrupt ms of Popery^ 34^ Vvere incited to emulate fuch glorious ex- s e r m. amples, and to 6e followers of them who ^i. through faith and patience inherited the pro- ' Piifes"". But the confines of right and wrong, like thofe of light and (hade, are feparated by narrow and almoft imper-* ceptible limits ; and from a due regard to an extravagant veneration the tranfition was too eafy. The Fathers of the fourth century, inflead of moderating this grow- ing evil, inflamed it by their indifcretions. The tombs of the primitive Chriftians were chofen, as fit places for the ex- ercifes of devotion : the graves, where their bodies had been depofited, were fought with an over-curious diligence: viiions and revelations were called in to its the objedllons of the Romanifts. 369 Its divine original. But when he found, serm, by a careful comparifon of fafts and pro- ^^^• phecies, that the corruptions, then adual- " \y exifting in the Church of Rome, were the very fame with thofe declared in the infpired oracles ; and refleded alfo, that the warning voice, which had proclaimed thefe delufions of Antichrift, had com- manded the faithful people of God to renounce the fociety of this impollor«; the conclufion was unavoidable, that all perfons, who wefe perfuaded that Papal Rome was indeed concerned in the fa- cred predidlions, had not only the choice, in point of right, but were obliged, iii point of duty, to feparate themfelves from a Church, whofe communication was infeftious, and in which they could no longer continue, without partaking of its fim ^ On this ground then, that the Pope was Antichrift, the great feceffion of Pro- * Rev. xviii. 4. B b teftants 370 The JlefGrmation vindicated from seiIm. teftants was begun; and on this ground ^^^' the lawfulnefs of fuch a *feceffion may be clearly fliewn. For although to forfake the external communion of a ' Church, where there is no urgent neceffity for fuch a procedure, be without exc^fc ; '"^et, when a feparation muft either be made, or we rcmll participate with other* ?n matters which appear to us to be fiii- tul/ iw reafonable man can have any fcnrples,- as -to the part he ought to take. !Not every feparation then from the Church, but a caufelefs feparation only, is to be condemned : and the tr^c oreafon, ' whv Proteftants hold theralelves bound to leave the fociety of Papifls, is not lib • anuch becaufe the latter are knovvjia to ^teaintain erroi-^ in doftrine and to have ^^fetroduced corruptions in worfliip, which ^•^the former difavow ; but becaufe they im- ■ fofe thefe errors and corruptions upon others, and hiave fo ordered the term? of ^ Church-fellowfhip, that, we muft join etJfioiujjD . . with ^^^ the objeSiions of the Rgmafiljih 371 '/,With them in thefe things, or in no* serm. ;thing. This it is, which fixes the mark ^^^* of Antichrift on the Church of Rome, and renders it unfafe and unallowable for Chriftian$ of other denominations to unife with it in matters of religion. The im- putation of fchlfm therefore, fall it where it will, lights not juftly upon us : the danger and the punifliment, annexed to fuch a crime, it becomes them more par- ticularly to confider, who have made it imprafticable for others to affoclate with them, by requiring unlawful conditions of communion. Still however it may be faid, as it hath been faid, that although to depart from the Romifli Church might not, ftriaiy fpeaking, be fchifmatical, to have continued in it would at leaft have been the fafer way. For both Proteftants and Papifts are agreed, that falvation may be had in the Church of Rome ; but Pro- teftants only allow it may be had in the B b 2 Churches 37lib 2l51(j[i::^ 3111 .riOlt I Sam. xvi. 7. K,fh ^8V5 f f. cxlv. 9. '?! } ^ knowledge the ohjeEitom of the Romanijls, ^jc knowledge a poflibility of falvation In the &erm, ^hurch of Rome, and one fide only ac^ xil. knowledges that poffibility in the Churches ^ of the reformed ; the conclufion, intend- ed to be drawn from it, that therefore it is fiifer to be a Papift than a Proteftant, is demonftrably falfe. For that mud cer- tainly be the fafefl: way to falvation, in which there is the greateft fccurity from fin. Now in the controverted points be- tween the Papifts and ns, it is not even pretended that for many of them there is^ any authority in Scripture ; on the con- trary, if what we fay be true, they arc pofitively forbidden and unlawful. By adhering then to the religion of Pro- teflants, w^e keep within the letter of the written rule, and fo far are upon fafe ground ; and by conforming to the in- junctions of Popery, it is a queftionable point; at leaft, whether we do not violate the €xprefs directions of the divine word. Hence it follows, that the fecurity from finning mull be lefs, and confequently the Jy/onJ B b 4 difficulty 376 The Reformation vindicated from SERM. difficulty of obtaining falvation muft be ^1^* greater, in the comn:iunion of Papifls, tliaa in that of Proteftants. •'' ^i./ ; But the emiflaries of the Church ,\of Rome, not fatisfied with decrying the Rc- forniation itfelf, have endeavoured in the fame fallacious train of reafoning to blacken the charaders of thofe, who efFeded it ; moll of whom, it has been alleged, were neither influenced by motives, nor adorn- ed with manners, at all agreeable to the •caufe they undertook to ferve. And fo Jar it is to be lamented, that, with re- ,lpe be accomplifhed at once, but requires a confiderable time in order ^tQ.rits completion; and many of the de- feds, which attended it in its beginnings, ji^ve . been gradually remedied in its , ad- vai^ceaien^ the obje^iions of the Romanijis, 379 vancement to maturity. The kingdom oi s e R M, Antlchrift, whofe ufurpations it has uni-» ^^^^ formly oppofed, hath already been fhaken to its centre ; and, if any conje(5lure3 of what is future may be formed from what h paft, even fetting afide the expeflations tb be derived from prophecy, the powef of the Roman pontiff is now upon the \va}n> ahd will fill its orb no more. »'vf, )«> '^Ujc^ ^Conclusion. ^f' The Plan, which I had formed at the entrance on the prefent courfe, is now brought to its conclufion : in the profe- cution of which I have not confined my- felf to the minute examination of any fingle prophet or prophecy, but have laid before you the reafons, from which it may be concluded in general, that there are predictions both of the Old and New Teftamcnt, which have been rightly fup-? pofed to refer to the defection of Chriftiaa Rome. An inquiry of this fort feemed »ot improperly to piecede the accurate and q3o conclusion. SERM. and critical inveftigation of each particular ^•i^- prophecy ; a labour, which may well be hoped to engage the attention of future Lefturers, and is indeed the principal ob- jeft- of an Inftitution, which, more than any other, is calculated to fupport the caufe of Reformed Religion, and which de- ferves, and will have, the grateful ac- knowledgments of Proteftants, of every community, in the prefent and in fuc- ceeding ages. I have only to add a few ihort refieftions, which may not be with- out their ufe to thofe, to whom they are addreffed. And firft, the fober and candid Deift, who has not together with the renuncia- tion of revealed religion thrown off all regards for that which is called natural, may be taught the danger of lightly re- jecting a fyftem of faith and pradice, fuch as is propofed by Chriftianity, and whicli is recommended by fo many circumftanc^ of verihmllitude at leaii, if not of truthv Nothing, hurnauly i'peakiag, could be CaNCLUSlON. 381 more improbable, than that a religion, fo serm. pure and fimpie as the Chriftian, lb ab- ^"' horrent from the views of worldly do- minion, and fo friendly to the liberties of mankind, (honld become fubfervient to the worft and moil diabolical artifices of ecclefiaftlc tyranny ; unlefs it be, that, af- ter fuch a tyranny had been once eflabliili- ed, and interwoven in the frame and tex- ture of civil governments, it fhould again recover its primitive integrity. Yet thefe are fads fo obvious and incontrovertible, as ,to force themfelves on the moft in- curious obferver ; and at the fiime time are fo utterly unlike what has^ happened in the ufual courfe of things, as vyell as fo impoffible to be forefeen by the keeneft eye of unaffifted human fagacity, that the fuppofition of their making part of a plan, originally fettled by the great parent of the univerfe, and in confequence of that foretold by the mouth of his holy prophets ^^ is,,th^ir.beft,4nd mofl rational folutio^n. • - Si'--. Secondly, 382 CONCLUSION, »£RM- Secondly, from hence too the Papift ^^^' may be convinced that we are not acr '"^^' tuated by unworthy motives of real or political averiion, when we refufe to join in communion with the Ghurcli of Rome ; but by a ferioius regard to what we conceive to be the will of God, which hath called his peo^I^ out of this ipixitual Babylon, that they be not p/ir* takers of her Jtns^ md receive not of her plagues "\ Much Jefs aped he apprehend, that the revival of a ftudy, which natu- rally calls to mind the pernicious tendency pf the Papal dodrines, has any the moft .remote intention to .awaken the feverity of thofe penal laws, which the exigencies pf government and a juft regard Xo owr own fafety have (bmetimes .made neceflary, but which ,have been JLO Jitjtle put in ex- ecution, :as rather to expofe the legiflature iQ th^ charge of imprudent trifling than pf wanton cruelty. J^he weapons of ow %v0rfarf^ like thofe employed by the (firft "* ,Rcr. xviii* 4. \!i^\'^r champions CONCLUSION. 382 Jihanapions of Chriftiauitj, arc not carnaJ^'i s e H M", aiiid thtj only arms we wifli to employ xii. againft hi^"J^ ^^^ arguments, propofed in ^ the fpirit of love and meeknefs, and found- ed on the authority of the fame Scrip- tures, which he holds in common with ourfelves. Laftly, Proteftants are above ail others concerned to regard with becoming fe- rioufnefs the prophecies concerning An- tkhrift, and their completion: as it is on the evidence ariiing from them, that their own religious principles have been ^chiefly vindicated, and on which they may be beft maintained. But in vain do we exprefs our thankfulnefs for deliver- ance from the yoke of Popery, if it be not attended with deliverance from an- other yoke, not lefs oppreffive and more ignominious, fubje£lioh to our vices* A return to the follies of fuperftition, ia thefe times of improved knowledge, is not much to be feared : our darker now " 2 Cor. X. 4. jirifes 384 CONCLUSION. SERM, arifes from the oppofite extreme, from ^^^' licentious principles and degenerate man- ners ; which have well nigh deftroyed the reverence that w^as wont to be paid to civil government as well as to revealed religion, and have given the moft fe- rious alarms to every real lover of his country. Whether the ftate of pur mo- rals be fo far corrupted, as to render us unfit to be longer entrufted with thofe ad- vantages, which we have fo much abufed, is a matter that ought to be well con- fidered by all, who have in any degree contributed to the general depravity. Other nations, like our own, have en- joyed the light of Chriftianity, and again xelapfed into pagan darknefs. Such was the cafe of the Afiatic Churches, to whom St. John addreffes the former part of his Revelation ; all of whom were once in- ftrufted in the faving truths of the gofpel, but have fince become the fynagogue of Saian^'y the patrons and promoters of ^ Rev. ii. 9. '** ■ ' vice CONCLUSION. 385 vice and error. The exhortations and serm, threatenings, which were direfted by the ^^^* Spirit of God to them, were meant as warnings to Chriftians in all ages, who may be in the fame or fimilar circum- ftances ; and the admonition, which was given to the Church of Sardis in parti- cular, IS, with equal propriety, applicable to ourfelves : / know thy works, that thou hajl a name^ that thou llveft, and art dead. Be watchful, and Jlrengthen the things which remain that are ready to die ; for I have not found thy works perfect bc" fore God. Remember therefore how thou baji received and heard, and hold faf, and repent. If therefore thou fh alt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief and thou fhalt not know what hour I will come upon thee ?• p Rev. iii. I5 2, 3. THE END, C c Lately piihUJhed by the fame Author ; and fold hy T. Cadell, in The Strand, I. 'T^ H R E E Sermons before the Univerfity of Cam- bridge, occaijoned by an Attempt to abolifli Sub- fcription lo the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion, and publifhed at the Requeft of the Vice-chancellor and Heads of Colleges. The Third Edition. IL A Sermon before the Honourable Houfe of Com- mons, on January 30, 1769. IIL A Sermon before the Governors of Addenbrook's Hofpital in Cambridge, June 28, 1770. IV. An Analyfis of the Romrai Civil Law ; in which a Comparifon is, occaiionaliy, made betweei^ the Roman Laws, and thofe of Endand : bein? the Heads of a Courfe of Le^lures, publickly read in the Uni- veriity of Cambridge. The Second Edition. Lately publijhed by T. Cad ell, TWELVE SERMONS, introduaory to the Study of the Prophecies ; being the First Course preached in Lincoln's-Inn Chapel, at the Bifliop of Gloucefter's Lecture on this Subje6l. By Richard Hurd, D, D. Preacher to the Honourable Society of Lincoln's-Inn ; and now Lord Bifliop of LiclificlJ and Coventry. 1/ ■#i^ "^Ht^^l ■#£ n.