Christs personall reigne on earth, one thousand yeares with his saints the manner, beginning, and continuation of his reigne clearly proved by many plain texts of Scripture, and the chiefe objections against it fully answered, explaining the 20 Revelations and all other Scripture-prophecies that treat of it : containing a full reply to Mr. Alexander Petrie ... who wrote against ... Israels redemption / by Robert Maton.

M^r Petrie's Answer.

1 All these prophecies are to the same purpose, and therefore it was needlesse to have rehearsed so many of them, unlesse he had a minde to muster them all. But number prevaileth not in this case. 2. None saith, that these prophecies were onely accomplished at the same time of the plagues: but wee deny that the plagues were continued, seeing the Christians have their

owne times of joy, as well as of mourning, and the woman is cloathed with the Sun, bowbeit at other periods she be forced to flee into the wil∣dernesse: and therefore both the appeale at the beginning, and the suppositi∣on in the closure of this marginal note, is a vaine bragge. Why should one appeale in this manner to the consciences of all, seeing interpters from the beginning of the Christian Church (except a few Millenaries) till this time have exponed these texts not of the Jews onely, but of the Christian Church? and it may be easily understood that these have written according to their consciences: and therefore if these be Judges, this authour hath lost the cause.

Reply.

1. Had not these prophecies been to the same purpose, you might well have thought, that I had had as little regard what sense I wrested the Scriptures to, as you your selfe have. And seeing they are all to the same purpose, you had the lesse reason to quarrell at the number of them. But it was a great eye-soare unto you, to see such, and so many witnesses together, all maintaining the truth we hold, and you oppose. And because you could not reply unto them, by any credible interpretation in your allegorical way; you slide from them, with no more, nor weightier words then these [but number prevaileth not in this case.] Surely it is a poore case, that you, who have laboured all this while to perswade the reader that we can bring no plaine proofes for what we say, should now be affraid to let him heare what God hath said for us, and what you could answer for your selfe. But you saw very well, that these prophecies were too cleare to be obscured with the vaile of a figura∣tive sense: and too eminent to be put on the roll of conditionall prophecies: because many of them doe as well containe spiritual blessings, as temporal blessings: and there can be no doubt of their doing God's will, to whom that Spirit, and those graces are promi∣sed, by which alone men are inabled to doe it. And for a taste of what I have said, take the prophecy of Jeremiah chap. 32. at the 37. ver. Behold I will gather them out of all countries whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my sury, and in great wrath, and I will bring them againe unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely. Here is an outward and temporal promise. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God, and I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may feare me for ever, for the good of them, and their children

after them. And I will make an everlasting Covenant with them, that I will not turne away from them to doe them good, but I will put my feare into their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. Here is an inward and spiritual promise; after which it follows, yea I will rejoyce over them, to doe them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly, with my whole heart, and with my whole soule. For thus saith the Lord; like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them, all the good that I have promised &c. And the like prophecy is in the 33. chap. of Jer. at the 6. ver. &c. and in the 36. chap. of Ezek. at the 24. ver. &c. and in the 39. chap. at the 25. ver. &c. And in the 36. chap. at the 8. ver. this prophecy is made to the Mountaines of Israel. O yee mountaines of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yeeld your fruit to my people of Israel, for they are at hand to come: for be∣hold I am for you, and I will turne unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sow∣en, and I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel even all of it, and the Cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded; and I will multiply upon you man and beast, and they shall increase and bring fruit, and I will setle you after your old estates: and I will doe better for you, then at your beginning, and ye shall know that I am the Lord. Yea I will cause men to walke upon you, even my people Israel, and they shall possesse thee, and thou shalt be their inheritance, and thou shalt no more benceforth bereave them of men &c. Now as none of the former pro∣phecies will beare the title of conditional prophecies, so neither will this; for the land it selfe could neither doe any thing, for which God should make such a promise unto it, nor for which he should refuse to fulfill unto it, what he hath promised. And I am per∣swaded, that he who will deny, that these prophecies are to be understood of the prosperity and happinesse of the Jews onely: that will deny I say, that they are properly and historically to be taken; or that they are as yet to be fulfilled, will not sticke to say any thing.

2. If they affirme, that these prophecies were partly, though not onely accomplisht in the time of the plagues; that, I say, their ac∣complishment did continue as well then, as at other times; they affirme that which is altogether inconsistent with the uninter∣rupted prosperity of these prophecies, which shew, that none of the people of whom they are spoken, shall be left in captivity a∣mong the Heathen, or be a prey any more to the Heathen; but that

they shall dwell safely in their owne land, without feare and with∣out sorrow. And that they shall have such increase of cattle, corne, and other fruits of the earth, that there shall come no more famine upon them. And who seeth not by this that these prophecies can∣not possibly belong to the troublesome and distressed state and con∣dition of the Christian Church? or to any other people but the Jews. who alone live dispersed in captivity? But you [deny that the plagues spoken of in the Rev. were to be continued plagues.] you should then have shewed what intervalls of joy the Church hath had from the time that the Dragon began to persecute the woman which brought forth the man child. And went to make warre with the remnant of her seed. Rev. 12.13.17. For doubtlesse persecution hath bin a constant attendant on the servants of God ever fince the first preaching of the Gospel. Tis true indeed that the Gospel at the first made a great conquest on the Gentiles; but how was it done? surely not by the contentious hearts, & bloody hands of the Apostles and their successours, but by a constant lifting up of their hearts and hands in prayer, and by an undanted offering up of their lives in persecution. And it is hard to say when all Christian Churches together have had rest from open persecution. But grant that there had bin no such persecution at all in any Christian Kingdome unto this time, yet doubtlesse that maxime of St. Paul in the 2 Tim. at the 12. ver. Yea and all they that will live godly in Christ Iesus shall suf∣fer persecution, had stood firme, and passed still for an undoubted truth. For the servants of God might neverthelesse have bin mockt, reviled, hated, and opprest, albeit they had not bin haled to prisons, tortures, and death it self, and yet let that Hell on earth, the devillish Inquisition witnesse, whether this also might not have bin effected, in a more cruell & barbarous manner in a secret, then in an open per∣secution. You say next that [all interpreters from the beginning of the Christian Church (except a few Millenaries) till this time, have exponed these texts, not of the Jews only, but of the Christian Church:] which is as if you had said, that all interpreters doe write for you, besides those that write against you. And doe you not remember what you said before (even of the scriptures themselves) that number prevaileth not? why then doe you urge us now with the greater number of inter∣preters? I am sure you will not be content, that the triall of the truth shall be put to most voices betwixt Protestants and Papists; if

not, why would you have it so here? But were the prophers thus in∣terpreted from the beginning of the Christian Church? no, it could not be, for we have learned from the Dialogue betwixt Tripho, and Justine Martyr, that then no other Christians weree steemed ortho∣doxe, but those of the Millenarian faith; & therefore it may easily be conceived how the Prophets were expounded in those days; and that they then began to interpret the scriptures mystically, when errour had taken hold, not onely on the most, but the most powerfull pa∣trons in the Church also: on such who by their place and authority, could force the truth either wholly to hide it selfe, or to be knowne no otherwise then by the ignominious name of an heresie: which was not till some ages after the Apostles dayes, as you your self con∣fesse in your Preface. But you say that [these Interpreters have writ∣ten according to their consciences.] And so our Saviour told the Disci∣ples, that they should be put out of the Synagogues, yea that they should be kild, by such as should thinke that they did God service, Joh. 16.2. and St. Paul was mov'd by his conscience to raise a very tyrannous persecution against the Saints, as he confesseth Acts 26.9. I verily thought with my selfe, saith he, that I ought to doe many things contrary to the Name of Jesus of Nazareth, which thing also I did, &c. and so although he went not against his conscience, yet he went against the truth, for his conscience was a blind and ignorant conscience, as he saith in the 1 Tim. 1.13, but I obtained mercy, because I did it ig∣norantly in unbeleefe. And such consciences, no doubt, were the con∣sciences of many (if not of all) of these Interpreters in relation to the truth in controversie; who had they first made diligent search after this truth of the Jewes generall conversion and returne; and of our Saviours personall reigne on earth; they would never, I pre∣some, have spent their time and paines in such Expositions. But these Interpreters are dead for the most part long agoe, and there is scarcely one of them now living; and we appeale not to the dead, but to the living, who are or may be acquainted with what is said on both sides, and therefore cannot passe sentence against us out of ignorance, although they may out of prejudice, and so not accor∣ding to conscience. And who ever heard till now, that it is a [vaine bragge] to appeale to mens consciences in giving their judgement a∣bout a truth? certainely he that feares to appeale unto this Judge, doth feare the uprightnesse of his owne cause; for what saith Saint

Paul in the 2 Cor. chap. 4. ver. 2. We have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftinesse, nor handling the Word of God de∣ceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth, commending our selves to every mans conscience in the sight of God.