21, 22.

Principalities, and Powers in Heaven, togetherwith their beauteous Companies of inferiour Angels acknowledg'd him to be their Lord. Then were all People,Nations, and Kingdoms of theEarth commanded to obey him; yea, every Knee of things in Heaven, and things in Earth, and things under the Earth, to bow before him. m 1 Ep. 3. Chrift is gone into Heaven, m fays St. Peter, and is at the right Hand of God, Angels and Authorities, and Powers being made fubject unto him. And St. Paul, God rais'd him from the Dead, and set him at his own Right Hand in the Heavenly Places, far above all Principalities, and Powers, and Might and Dominion, and every Name that is nam'd, not only in this World, but also in that which is to come, and hath put all things under his Feet, and given him to be Head over all things to the Church. And the cap. 7. v. n Prophet Daniel, I faw in the Night Vi13, 14 fions, and behold, one like the Son of Man came with the Clouds of Heaven, and came to the Ancient 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 fhould ferve him.

,,,

Divine

I am not infenfible, that because this Son of Man (by whom all Commentators, except Grotius, understand our Lord) is faid to come with the Clouds of Heaven; fome Learned Expofitors are of Opinion, that this Vision relates not to our Lord's Afcenfion, but to his coming to Judgment, of which o St. Rev. 1.7 John faith, Behold, he cometh with Clouds. But the difficulties that attend this Interpretation, induce me to be of another Mind. For (as a Learned P Author p Dr. Gre obferves) our Lord is here faid to come gory in his to the Ancient of Days, and to be Antidote, brought near before him: Whereas at p. 185. the Day of Judgment he will be fent down from the Ancient of Days, for he is already with him. 'Tis here faid, There was given him Dominion, and Glory, and a Kingdom: But that's already done, and long before the Day of Judgment. 'Tis here faid, That all People, Nations and Languages should ferve him: But that Service here on Earth, which (I conceive) this Text intends, at the Day of Judgment, will be over. Nay, the circumstances of this Vision, as they are related by the Prophets, are so very agreeable to the circumftances of our Lord's Afcenfion, as the Evangelifts

have

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have defcrib'd them, that they seem to put our Interpretations of it beyond all doubt. The Prophet faith, One like the Son of Man came to the Ancient of Days, i. e. to God the Father: And in the 9 Fukn 16.9 Evangelift, when our Lord was near to his Afcenfion, he faid, I leave the World, and go to the Father. The Prophet faith, He came with the Clouds of Heaven; accordingly to at our Lord's A. 1. 9. Afcenfion, the Evangelist faith, A Cloud received him. The Prophet faith, They brought him near before him. But who were they that did fo? 'Tis anfwer'd, The Angels that were about him ; A.1.10. accordingly the Evangelift tells us, That when our Lord afcended, the Angels attended him, and, no doubt, waited upon him into his Father's more immediate Prefence. The Prophet faith, There was given him Dominion, and Glory, Matt. 28 and a Kingdom; accordingly, our Lord immediately before his Afcenfion, All Power is given unto me, both in Heaven and Earth: And immediately after his Mark 16, Afcenfion, the u Evangelift tells us, He fat down at the Right Hand of God, which is an Expreffion of the highest Glory. These Confiderations (I fay) oblige me to believe that this Vifion of

18.

19.

.

the

the Prophet refers not to our Lord's coming to Judgment, but to his Afcenfion, when he is particularly faid to have led Captivity Captive, and to have given Gifts unto Men, because then (as you have feen) he was fully invested with his Royal Dignity, and most solemnly entred upon the Poffeffion of his Kingdom.

2. Our Lord is particularly faid to have led Captivity Captive, and to have given Gifts unto Men, when he afcended up on high, becaufe tho' he vanquifh'd and fpoil'd his Enemies at his Death and Refurrection, yet he did not make a fhew of them openly till his Afcenfion. Then efpecially did he travel before Men and Angels in the greatnefs of his Strength, and moft gloriously trample upon the Principalities and Powers of the Kingdom of Darkness. Then did he drag them fhackled and unarm'd at the Wheels of his Triumphant Chariot, hail their Captive Legions with Shouts and Acclamations to the Gates of Heaven, and thence caft them down a fecond time into the lowest Abyss of Ignomy and Contempt. This the primitive Heroes and first Champions of the

Faith made publickly difcernable to all

x See the the World. For how ( as I have dif Doctrine of cours'd at large in another place) did Providence he arm them with an abfolute and unvindicated controulable Power over thefe unclean

a God and

and affert-Spirits?

ed.

Spirits? They had for many Ages ufurp'd his Dominions, and imperiously fway'd most of the Nations of the Earth; yet, no fooner did these Men difplay the Triumphant Banners of their exalted Saviour, but they were difpoffefs'd of their ftrong Holds,thrown out of their Fortreffes, and conftrain'd to leave the Temples, wherein they had fo long dwelt. Nay, he vouchfaf'd this Honour not only to the Learned and y Lib. 7. Experienc'd, but alfo (as y Origen tells Contra Cel- Celfus) to the meaneft of his Difciples: Edit. Can- The very Babes in Chrift triumph'd and tab. infulted over thefe Hell-Hounds,whereever they met them, in the Name of their Mafter they forc'd them out of their Lodgings, and compell'd them even in the prefence of their greatest Worshippers and moft bigotted Ador* In tracta-ers, to confefs plainly what they were, Bu ad De-O fi audire eos velles, & videre, fays2 St. met, p.191 Cyprian to the ftubborn and prejudic'd Edit.Oxon. Proconful of Africa, Videbis fub manu

jam, p.334

noftra ftare vinetos, & tremere Captivos,

auos