_The Proof of a_ Millennium, _or of a blessed Age to come, from
Scripture. A View of the_ Apocalypse, _and of the Prophecies of_
Daniel, _in reference to this Kingdom of Christ and of his Saints._
We have given fair Presumptions, if not Proofs, in the precedent
Chapter, that the Sons of the first Resurrection will be the Persons
that shall inhabit the _new Earth_, or the World to come. But to make
that Proof complete and unexceptionable, I told you, it would be
necessary to take a larger Compass in our Discourse, and to examine what
is meant by _that Reign with Christ a thousand Years_, which is promis’d
to the Sons of the _first Resurrection_, by St. _John_ in the
_Apocalypse_; and in other places of Scripture is usually call’d the
_Kingdom of Christ_, and the Reign of the Saints: And by Ecclesiastical
Authors, in Imitation of St. _John_, it is commonly styled, the
_Millennium_. We shall indifferently use any of these Words or Phrases;
and examine, first, the Truth of the Notion and Opinion, whether, in
Scripture, there be any such an happy State promised to the Saints under
the Conduct of Christ; and then we will proceed to examine the Nature,
Characters, Place and Time of it. And I am in hopes when these Things
are duly discuss’d and stated, you will be satisfied that we have found
out the true Inhabitants of the _new Heavens_ and _new Earth_; and the
true Mystery of that State which is called the _Millennium_, or the
Reign of Christ and of his Saints.
We begin with St. _John_, whose Words in the xxth Chapter of the
_Apocalypse_, ver. 1, 2, 4, 5, 6. are express, both as to the first
Resurrection, and as to the Reign of those Saints that rise with Christ
for a Thousand Years; Satan in the mean Time being bound, or disabled
from doing Mischief, and seducing Mankind. The Words of the Prophet are
these; _And I saw an Angel come down from Heaven, having the Key of the
bottomless Pit, and a great Chain in his Hand. And he laid hold on the
Dragon, that old Serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him a
Thousand Years. And I saw Thrones, and they sat upon them, and Judgment
was given unto them; And I saw the Souls of them that were beheaded for
the Witness of Jesus, and for the Word of God, and which had not
worshipped the Beast, neither his Image, neither had received his Mark
upon their Foreheads, or in their Hands; and they lived and reigned with
Christ a thousand Years. But the rest of the Dead lived not again until
the thousand Years were finished. This is the first Resurrection.
Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first Resurrection; on such
the second Death hath no Power, but they shall be Priests of God, and of
Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand Years_. These Words do fully
express a Resurrection, and a Reign with Christ a thousand Years. As for
that particular Space of Time, of a _Thousand Years_, it is not much
material to our present Purpose: but the Resurrection here spoken of,
and the Reign with Christ, make the Substance of the Controversy, and in
effect prove all that we enquire after at present. This Resurrection,
you see, is call’d the _first Resurrection_, by way of Distinction from
the second and general Resurrection; which is to be placed a Thousand
Years after the first. And both this first Resurrection, and the Reign
of Christ, seem to be appropriated to the Martyrs in this Place: For the
Prophet says, _The Souls of those that were beheaded for the Witness of
Jesus, &c. they lived and reigned with Christ a Thousand Years_. From
which Words, if you please, we will raise this Doctrine; that _those
that have suffer’d for the Sake of Christ, and a good Conscience, shall
be raised from the Dead a Thousand Years before the general
Resurrection, and reign with Christ in an happy State_. This Proposition
seems to be plainly included in the Words of St. _John_, and to be the
intended Sense of this Vision; but you must have Patience a little as to
your Enquiry into Particulars, till, in the Progress of our Discourse,
we have brought all the Parts of this Conclusion into a fuller Light.
In the mean time there is but one Way, that I know of, to evade the
Force of these Words, and of the Conclusion drawn from them; and that
is, by supposing that the _first Resurrection_ here mention’d, is not to
be understood in a literal Sense, but is allegorical and mystical,
signifying only a Resurrection from Sin to a spiritual Life: As we are
said to be _dead in Sin_, and to be _risen with Christ_, by Faith and
Regeneration. This is a manner of Speech which St. _Paul_ does sometimes
use, as _Eph._ ii. 6. and ver. 14, and _Col._ 3. 1. But how can this be
applied to the present Case? Were the Martyrs dead in Sin? ’Tis they
that are here rais’d from the Dead: Or, after they were beheaded for the
Witness of Jesus, naturally dead and laid in their Graves, were they
then regenerate by Faith? There is no Congruity in Allegories so
apply’d. Besides, why should they be said to be regenerate a Thousand
Years before the Day of Judgment? or to reign with Christ, after this
Spiritual Resurrection, such a limited Time, a Thousand Years? Why not
so to Eternity? For in this allegorical Sense of _rising_ and
_reigning_, they will reign with him for everlasting. Then, after a
Thousand Years, must all the Wicked be regenerate, and rise into a
Spiritual Life? ’Tis said here, _the rest of the Dead lived not again,
until the Thousand Years were finished, ver._ 5. That implies, that at
the End of these Thousand Years, the rest of the Dead did live again;
which, according to the Allegory, must be, that, after a Thousand Years,
all the Wicked will be regenerate, and rais’d into Spiritual Life. These
Absurdities arise upon an allegorical Exposition of this Resurrection,
if apply’d to single Persons.
But Dr. _Hammond_, a learned and worthy Divine, (but one that loves to
contract and cramp the Sense of Prophecies) making this first
Resurrection allegorical, applies it not to single Persons, but to the
State of the Church in general: The Christian Church, he says, shall
have a Resurrection for a Thousand Years; that is, shall rise out of
Persecution, be in a prosperous Condition, and an undisturbed Profession
of the true Religion, for so long a Time. But this agrees with the
Prophecy as little as the former; if it be a State of the Church in
general, and of the Church then in being, why is this Resurrection
apply’d to the Martyrs? Why are they said to rise; seeing the State they
liv’d in, was a troublesome State of the Church, and it would be no
Happiness to have that reviv’d again? Then as to the Time of this
Resurrection of the Church, where will you fix it? The Prophet _Daniel_
places this Reign of Christ, at, or after the Dissolution of the fourth
Monarchy; and Saint _John_ places it a Thousand Years before the last
Day of Judgment. How will you adjust the allegorical Resurrection of the
Church to these Limits? Or if, in point of Time, you was free, as to
Prophecy, yet how would you adjust it to History? Where will you take
these Thousand Years of Happiness and Prosperity to the Church? These
Authors suppose them past, and therefore must begin them either from the
first Times of the Gospel, or from the Time of _Constantine_. Under the
first Ages of the Gospel, were, you know, the great Persecutions by the
_Heathen_ Emperors; could those be call’d the Reign of Christ and of his
Saints? Was Satan then bound? Or was this _Epocha_ but a thousand Years
before the Day of Judgment? And if you begin this Resurrection of the
Church from the Days of _Constantine_, when the Empire became Christian,
how will you reckon a thousand Years from that Time, for the Continuance
of the Church in _Peace_ and _Purity_? For the Reign of Christ and of
his Saints must necessarily imply both those Characters. Besides, who
are the _rest of the Dead_, (ver. 5.) that lived after the Expiration of
those thousand Years, if they began at _Constantine_? And why is not the
second Resurrection and the Day of Judgment yet come? Lastly, you ought
to be tender of interpreting the first Resurrection in an allegorical
Sense, lest you expose the second Resurrection to be made an Allegory
also.
To conclude; The Words of the Text are plain and express for a literal
Resurrection, as to the first, as well as the second; and there is no
allegorical Interpretation that I know of, that will hold through all
the Particulars of the Text, consistently with it self and with History.
And when we shall have proved this future Kingdom of Christ from other
Places of the _Apocalypse_, and of Holy Writ, you will the more easily
admit the literal Sense of this Place; which, you know, according to the
receiv’d Rule of Interpreters, is never to be quitted or forsaken,
without Necessity: But when I speak of confirming this Doctrine from
other Passages of Scripture, I do not mean as to that definite Time of a
_Thousand Years_, for that is no where else mention’d in the
_Apocalypse_, or in Scripture, that I know of; and seems to be mention’d
here, in this Close of all Things, to mind us of that Type that was
propos’d in the Beginning of all Things, _of six Days and a Sabbath_;
whereof each Day comprehends a Thousand Years, and the _Sabbath_, which
is the _Millennial State_, hath its Thousand; according to the known
Prophecy of _Elias_, Book III. Ch. v. which, as I told you before, was
not only receiv’d among the _Jews_, but also own’d by very many of the
Christian Fathers.
To proceed therefore to other Parts of St. _John’s_ Prophecies, that set
forth this Kingdom of Christ; the Vision of the _Seven Trumpets_ is one
of the most remarkable in the _Apocalypse_; and the Seventh Trumpet,
which plainly reaches to the End of the World, and the Resurrection of
the Dead, opens the Scene to the _Millennium_; hear the Sound of it, Ch.
xi. 15, 16, 17, 18. _The seventh Angel sounded, and there were great
Voices in Heaven, saying, The Kingdoms of this World are become the
Kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and
ever. And the four and twenty Elders, which sat before God on their
Seats, fell upon their Faces, and worshipped God; saying, we give thee
Thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come;
because thou hast taken to thee thy great Power, and hast reigned. And
the Nations were angry, and thy Wrath is come, and the Time of the Dead,
that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give Reward unto thy
Servants the Prophets, and to the Saints, and them that fear thy Name,
small and great, and shouldest destroy them that destroy the Earth_, &c.
This is manifestly the Kingdom of Christ; and with this is joined the
Resurrection of the Dead, and the rewarding of the suffering Prophets
and Saints, as in the xxth _Chapter_. This is that _Mystery of God that
was to be finished in the Days of the Voice of the seventh Angel_, as is
said in the xxth Chap. ver. 7. _As he hath declared to his Servants the
Prophets_; namely, the Mystery of this Kingdom, which was foretold by
the Prophets of the _Old Testament_, and more especially by _Daniel_, as
we shall see hereafter.
The _new Jerusalem_ (as it is set down, _Apoc._ xxi. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.)
is another Instance or Image of this Kingdom of Christ. And the
_Palm-bearing Company_, Chap. vii. 9, _&c._ are some of the Martyrs that
shall enjoy it. They are plainly describ’d there as Christian Martyrs;
(_ver._ 14.) and their Reward, or the State of Happiness they are to
enjoy, (ver. 15, 16, 17.) is the same with that of the Inhabitants of
the _new Jerusalem_, Ch. xxi. 2, 3, 4, _&c._ as, upon comparing those
two Places, will easily appear. Farthermore, at the Opening of the
_Seals_, Chap. v. which is another principal Vision, and reaches to the
End of the World, there is a Prospect given us of this Kingdom of
Christ, and of that Reward of his Saints. For when they sing the new
Song to the Lamb, (_ver._ 9, 10.) they say, _Thou art worthy to take the
Book, and to open the Seals thereof; for thou wast slain and hast
redeemed us to God, by thy Blood; and hast made us into our God Kings
and Priests, and we shall reign on the Earth._ This must be the same
State, and the same Thousand-Years-Reign mention’d in the xxth _Chap._
where ’tis said, (_Ver._ 6.) the Partakers of it _shall be Priests of
God, and of Christ, and shall reign with him a Thousand Years_.
Another completory Vision, that extends it self to the End of the World,
is that of the _Seven Vials_, Chap. xv. and xvi. And as at the Opening
of the Seals, so at the pouring out the Vials, a triumphal Song is sung,
and ’tis call’d the _Song of Moses and of the Lamb_, Ch. xv. 3. ’Tis
plainly a Song of Thanksgiving for a Deliverance, but I do not look upon
this Deliverance as already wrought, before the pouring out of the
Vials, tho’ it be plac’d before them; as often the grand Design and
Issue of a Vision is plac’d at the Beginning: It is wrought by the Vials
themselves, and by their Effusion, and therefore upon the pouring out of
the last Vial, the Voice came out of the Temple of Heaven, from the
Throne, saying, _Consummatum est_; _It is done_, Ch. xvi. 17. Now the
Deliverance is wrought, now the Work is at an End; or, _the Mystery of
God is finished_, as the Phrase was before, concerning the 7th Trumpet,
_Chap._ x. 7. You see therefore this terminates upon the same Time, and
consequently upon the same State, of the _Millennium_; and that they are
the same Persons that triumph here, and reign there, _Chap._ xx. you may
see by the same Characters given to both of them, _Ch._ xv. 2. Here,
those that triumph, are said _to have gotten the Victory_ over the
Beast, and over his Image, _and over his Mark, and over the Number of
his Name_, Ch. xx. 4. And there, those that reign with Christ, are said
to be those _that had not worshiped the Beast, neither his Image,
neither had received his Mark upon their Foreheads, or in their Hands_.
These are the same Persons therefore, triumphing over the same Enemies,
and enjoying the same Reward.
And you shall seldom find any _Doxology_ or _Hallelujah_ in the
_Apocalypse_, but ’tis in Prospect of the Kingdom of Christ, and the
Millennial State: This is still the Burthen of the sacred Song, the
Complement of every grand Vision, and the Life and Strength of the whole
System of Prophecies in that Book: Even those _Hallelujahs_ that are
sung at the Destruction of _Babylon_, in the xixth Chapter, _ver._ 6, 7.
are rais’d upon the succeeding State, _the Reign of Christ_. For the
Text says, _And I heard as it were a Voice of a great Multitude, and as
the Voice of many Waters, and as the Voice of mighty Thunders, saying,
Hallelujah_: FOR THE LORD GOD OMNIPOTENT REIGNETH. _Let us be glad and
rejoyce, and give Honour to him_: FOR THE MARRIAGE OF THE LAMB IS COME,
AND HIS WIFE HATH MADE HER SELF READY. This appears plainly to be the
_new Jerusalem_, if you consult the 21st _Ch. ver. 2. And I _John_ saw
the Holy City, new _Jerusalem,_ coming down from God out of Heaven_,
PREPARED AS A BRIDE ADORNED FOR HER HUSBAND. ’Tis, no doubt, the same
Bride and Bridegroom, in both Places; the same Marriage or Preparations
for Marriage, which are compleated in the Millennial Bliss, in the
Kingdom of Christ and of his Saints.
I must beg your patience a little longer, in pursuing this Argument
throughout the _Apocalypse_; As towards the latter End of St. _John_’s
Revelation, this Kingdom of Christ shines out in a more full Glory; so
there are the Dawnings of it in the very Beginning and Entrance into his
Prophecies. As at the Beginning of a Poem, we have commonly, in a few
Words, the Design of the Work, in like Manner Ch. i. 5, 6. St. _John_
makes this Preface to his Prophecies, _From Jesus Christ, who is the
faithful Witness, the first begotten of the Dead, and the Prince of the
Kings of the Earth; unto him that loved us, and washed us from our Sins
in his own Blood; and hath made us Kings and Priests unto God and his
Father; to him be Glory and Dominion for ever and ever, Amen. Behold, he
cometh in the Clouds, &c._ In this Prologue the grand Argument is
pointed at, and that happy Catastrophe and last Scene, which is to crown
the Work, the Reign of Christ and of his Saints at his second Coming. He
hath _made us Kings and Priests unto God_; this is always the
Characteristick of those that are to enjoy the Millennial Happiness, as
you may see at the Opening of the Seals, Ch. v. 10. and in the Sons of
the _first Resurrection_, Ch. xx. 6. And this being joined to the Coming
of our Saviour, puts it still more out of Doubt. That Expression also,
of being _washed from our Sins in his Blood_, is repeated again both at
the Opening of the Seals, _chap. v. 9._ and in the _Palm-bearing_
Company, _chap. vii. 14._ both which Places we have cited before, as
referring to the Millennial State.
Give me Leave to add farther, that as in this general Preface, so also
in the introductory Visions of the _seven Churches_, there are, covertly
or expresly, in the Conclusion of each, glances upon the _Millennium_;
as in the first to _Ephesus_, the Prophet concludes, _chap. ii. 7._ _He
that hath an Ear, let him hear, what the Spirit says to the Churches_:
TO HIM THAT OVERCOMETH, WILL I GIVE TO EAT OF THE TREE OF LIFE, WHICH IS
IN THE MIDST OF THE PARADISE OF GOD. This is the Millennial Happiness
which is promised to the Conqueror; as we noted before concerning that
Phrase. In like manner in the second to _Smyrna_, he concludes, _chap.
ii. 11._ _He that overcometh, shall not be hurt of the second Death._
This implies, he shall be Partaker of the _first Resurrection_, for
that’s the Thing understood; as you may see plainly by their being
joyn’d in the _xxth Chapter ver. 6._ _Blessed and holy is he that hath
Part in the first Resurrection; on such the second Death hath no Power,
but they shall be Priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him
a thousand Years._ In the third to _Pergamus_, the Promise is, _chap.
ii. 7._ _To eat of the hidden Manna, to have a white Stone, and a new
Name written in it_: But seeing the Prophet adds, _which no Man knoweth,
saving he that receiveth it_, we will not presume to interpret that new
State, whatsoever it is, _chap. ii. 26, 27._ In _Thyatira_, the Reward
is, _To have Power over the Nations_, and to have the Morning Star;
which is to reign with Christ, who is the Morning Star, in his
Millennial Empire: Both these Phrases being us’d in that Sense in the
Close of this Book, Ch. iii. 5. In Sardis the Promise is, _To be
cloathed in white Raiment, and not to be blotted out of the Book of
Life_. And you see afterwards the _Palme bearing_ Company are cloathed
in _white Robes_, Ch. vii. 9, 14. and those that are admitted into the
_new Jerusalem_, Chap. iii. 12. are such as are _written in the Lamb’s
Book of Life_, Ch. xxi. 27. Then as to Philadelphia, the Reward promised
there does openly mark the Millennial State, by the _City of God_; _new
Jerusalem which cometh down out of Heaven from God_, compar’d with Ch.
xxi. 2. Lastly, to the Church of _Laodicea_ is said, Ch. iii. 21. _To
him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my Throne._ And that
is the usual Phrase to express the Dignity of those that reign with
Christ, in his Millennial Kingdom; as you may see, _Apoc. xx. 4._ _Matt.
xix. 28._ _Dan. vii. 9, 13, 14._ So all these Promises to the Churches
aim at one and the same thing, and terminate upon the same Point: ’Tis
the same Reward express’d in different Ways; and seeing it is still
fix’d upon a Victory, and appropriated to those that overcome, it does
the more easily carry our Thoughts to the _Millennium_, which is the
proper Reward of Victors, that is, of Martyrs and Confessors.
Thus you see how this Notion and Mystery of the Millennial Kingdom of
Christ, does both begin and End the _Apocalypse_, and run thorough all
its Parts, as the Soul of that Body of Prophecies; a Spirit or Ferment
that actuates the whole Mass. And if we could thoroughly understand that
illustrious Scene, at the Opening of this Apocalyptical Theatre in the
ivth and vth _Chapter_, I do not doubt but we should find it a
Representation of the Majesty of our Saviour in the Glory of his future
Kingdom; but I dare not venture upon the Explication of it, there are so
many Things of Difficulty, and dubious Interpretation, coucht under
those Schemes. Wherefore having made these Observations upon the
Prophecies of St. _John_, we will now add to them some Reflections upon
the Prophecies of _Daniel_: that by the Agreement and Concurrence of
these two great Witnesses, the Conclusion we pretend to prove, may be
fully established.
In the Prophecies of _Daniel_ there are two grand Visions, that of the
_Statue_ or Image, _Chap. ii._ and that of the four Beasts, _Chap. vii._
and both these Visions terminate upon the _Millennium_, or the Kingdom
of Christ. In the Vision of the Statue, representing to us the four
great Monarchies of the World successively, whereof by the general
Consent of Interpreters, the _Roman_ is the fourth and last, after the
Dissolution of the last of them, a fifth Monarchy, the Kingdom of
Christ, is openly introduc’d, in these Words: _And in the Days of these
Kingdoms, shall the God of Heaven set up a Kingdom, which shall never be
destroyed; and the Kingdom shall not be left to other People, but it
shall break in Pieces, and consume all those Kingdoms, and it shall
stand for ever, Ch. ii. ver. 44._ This may be verified, in some measure,
by the first coming of our Saviour in the Days of the fourth Kingdom,
when his Religion, from small Beginnings, in a short Time over-spread
the greatest Part of the known World. As the _Stone cut out without
Hands_, became a great _Mountain, and filled the whole Earth, ver. 34,
35._ but the full and final Accomplishment of this Prophecy cannot be
till the second coming of our Saviour. For not till then will he, _Ver.
35_, _break in pieces and consume all those Kingdoms; and that in such a
manner, that they shall become like the Chaff of the Summer-threshing
Floor, carried away by the Wind; so as no Place shall be found for
them_. This, I say, will not be done, nor an everlasting Kingdom erected
in their place, over all the Nations of the Earth, till his second
coming, and his Millennial Reign.
But this Reign is declared more expresly, in the Vision of the four
Beasts, _Ch. vii. ver. 13._ For after the Destruction of the fourth
Beast, the Prophet says, _I saw in the Night Visions, and behold one
like the Son of Man, came with the Clouds of Heaven, and came to the
Antient of Days, and they brought him near before him: And there was
given him Dominion, and Glory, and a Kingdom, that all People, Nations
and Languages should serve him; his Dominion is an everlasting Dominion,
which shall not pass away; and his Kingdom that which shall not be
destroyed_. Accordingly, he says, _Ver. 21, 22._ _The last Beast, and
the little Horn, made war against the Saints, until the Antient of Days
came, and Judgment was given to the Saints of the most High; and the
Time came that the Saints possessed the Kingdom_. And lastly, in Pursuit
still of the same Argument, he concludes to the same Effect in fuller
Words, ver. 26, 27. _But the Judgment shall sit, and they shall take
away his Dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the End. And the
Kingdom and Dominion, and the Greatness of the Kingdom under the whole
Heaven, shall be given to the People of the Saints of the most High;
whose Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom, and all Dominions shall serve
and obey him._
_Here is the End of the Matter_, says the Prophet, Chap. vii. ver. 28.
Chap. xii. ver. 13. Here is the Upshot and Result of all; here terminate
both the Prophecies of _Daniel_ and St. _John_, and all the Affairs of
the terrestrial World. _Daniel_ brings in this Kingdom of Christ, in the
Conclusion of two or three Visions; but St. _John_ hath interwoven it
every where with his Prophecies, from first to last: And you may as well
open a Lock without a Key, as interpret the _Apocalypse_ without the
_Millennium_. But after these two great Witnesses, the one for the _Old
Testament_, the other for the _New_, we must look into the rest of the
sacred Writers; for tho’ every single Author there, is an Oracle, yet
the Concurrence of Oracles is still a farther Demonstration, and takes
away all Remains of Doubt or Incredulity.