discovery that we are in the Gloomy and Dark day which St. Paul terms the Night where he saith ROM 13.12 13 14. The night is far spent the Day is at hand let us therefore cast off the Works of Darkness and let us put on the Armour of Light Let us walk honestly as in the Day not in Rioting and Drunkenness not in Chambering and Wantonness not in Strife and Envy But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no Provision for the Flesh to fulfil the Lust thereof Now the Night which was far spent then is nigh spent now For the Times being divided into three parts Christ's first coming was at the beginning of the last part And therefore the last part must needs now be near expiration and the Day in which Christ will Judge the World in which time will be the Restitution of all things The which Day is now nigh at hand when there will not be disorderly walking But now is the Cloudy and Dark day until the Lord again comes to feed his Sheep himself And then will he gather them out of all Countries and feed them upon the Mountains of Israel And then will the Lord Judge between the Rams and the He-Goats Ezek. 34.11 12 13 14 15 17. Now when the Lord first came it is said he came when the fulness of time was come Gal. 4.4 The which was at the full time that God had appointed for his coming It is also said Heb. 1.2 God hath in these last Days spoken to us by his Son whom he hath appointed heir of all things by whom also he made the Worlds Now in that the Apostle here saith these last days is because there is other last or latter Days spoken of in Scripture in which latter Days it is Israel will receive the promised great and Glorious blessings And he therefore distinguishes these last Days in which the Gospel was establisht from those that are yet to come Isa 2.2 And it shall come to pass in the last days that the Mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the Mountains and shall be exalted above the Hills and all Nations shall flow unto it Mic. 4.1 But in the last days it shall come to pass that the Mountain of the House of the Lord shall be established in the top of the Mountains and it shall be exalted above the Hills and People shall flow unto it Hos 3.5 Afterward shall the Children of Israel return and seek the Lord their God and David their King and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter Days And St. Peter speaking of the Lord's second coming therefore termed these days the last days of the Gospel institution and of the Power of the Principalities of this World and the end of our time of coming in heirs with Israel All this will end upon the beginning of the time of Israel's great and glorious latter Days before quoted but in the latter days of this time Moses Prophesied of their falling away Deut. 31.29 According to which we see they have done but after the latter Days of this time in the time to come which is in the latter Days also and beyond the latter Days of this time the Lord will then be merciful to his Land and to his People And the Nations are then to rejoyce with them Deut. 32.43 At which time God will render vengeance to his Adversaries and restore his People and circumcise their Heart and the Heart of their Seed to love the Lord their God Deut. 30.6 For when the Lord comes to Zion he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob Rom. 11.26 Deut. 30.3.6.8 And that there will be Days and Nights after Christ's second coming is evident For after Christ's second coming Satan is to be bound up for a Thousand Years and after that he is cast into Hell to be tormented Day and Night for ever and for ever Rev. 20.3 10. And according to this it is faid Isa 34.4 8. That when all the Idumean Heaven and their Host shall be dissolved and rolled together a as Scrole the which will be the day of the Lord's vengeance and the Year of Recompences for the Controversie of Sion ver 8. Then part of the Land on which the Curse will fall as in the 9 and 10 Verses The Streams thereof shall be turned into Pitch and the Dust thereof into Brimstone and it shall not be quenched Night nor Day the Smoke thereof shall go up for ever from Generation to Generation it shall lye wast none shall pass through it for ever and ever But the Cormorant and the Bittern and such like shall inhabit it ver 11. And these Heavens and their Host are the Heavens and Elements unto which St. Peter had his reference when he said The Day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night in which the Heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the Elements melt with fervent heat and the Earth and all the works that are therein shall be burnt up 2 Pet. 3.10 For we are to take notice that St. Peter doth not say all the Earth but it is the Earth before spoken of by the Prophet and all the things which are therein which the Anger of the Lord is pronounced against Isa 34. the which will stand as a remark of God's fore displeasure against sin all the time of the world to come as Sodom has done in this time And therefore St. Peter saith at the beginning of the Chapter That he wrote to them to stir up their minds by way of Remembrance that they might be mindful of the Words which were spoken before by the holy Prophets and of the Commands of us the Apostles vers 1 2 3. For they required and commanded that they should be mindful of the words of the Prophets And a great State of People God generally in Scripture calls Heaven and Earth and almost every Prophecy of Scripture hath at least a twofold signication 2 Pet. 1.20 The which we not understanding we have thereby been much in the dark And every Name is a proper Name to that which God gives it And if God will call two things by one Name it as properly belongs to one as to the other And that it is not the Material Heavens and all the Earth that is to be destroyed is evident to all from the words of the Text Because when these Heavens and their Host and the Earth here spoken of are destroyed then Israel will be restored and day and night continued and succeeding Generations Isa 34.4 5 8 9 10. From whence we see the continuance of Day and Night proved both from the Old and New Testament And that it is not the Material Heavens and all the Earth that is to be burnt up at the Day of Judgment is further evident for the Lord saith At the end of this World he will send his Angels and gather out of his Kingdom all things that offend
them that work Iniquity and cast them into a Furnace of Fire Matth. 13.40 41 42. and those are the Heavens and Element that will melt as the fat of Lambs Psal 3.20 But the Elements of Earth Air Fire and Water cannot melt therefore this his Kingdom must be on Earth and the Throne of his Father David according as was foretold by the Angel Luk. 2.31 32 33. For there is nothing that offendeth nor worketh Iniquity in Heaven but the Wicked are to be rooted out of the Earth Psal 37.1 9 10 11 13.20 22 28 29 34 38. And this is to be after the seventh Angel soundeth Then the Kingdoms of this World are become the Kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever Rev. 11.7 Dan. 7. Psal 45.7 For tho' the Disciples and Martyrs of Jesus and them that overcome have in Heaven an Inheritance reserved for them ready to be revealed in the last time 1 Pet. 4 5. For this is the Mansion or Tabernacle which the Lord goes to prepare for them John 14.3 Which when he cometh with his Saints he will then bring with him Rev. 3.12 For then the New Jerusalem will come down out of Heaven which is not only the Bride the Lamb's Wife but the glorious Tabernacle Rev. 21.3 Which will be placed in the Elementary Heavens 2 Cor. 5.1 And so Israel's covert over all her Assemblies Isa 4.5 6. And then 't is the Knowledge of the Glory of the Lord will cover the Earth as the Waters cover the Sea Habba 2.14 But it is the Meek and the Righteous is promised the Earth Matth. 5.5 Psal 37.8 10 11 29. And Israel at the end of this World Isa 62.11 12. Jer. 31.13 Ezek 87.11 12 13. And whereas St. Paul saith Heb. 1.2 God hath appointed Christ heir of all things Thereby he sheweth that what was appointed Christ was not then in his possession And tho' Christ said after he arose from the Dead Mat. 28 19. All power is given unto me in Heaven and Earth Yet the thing given was not then possessed by him for he was to sit at his Fathers right hand until his Enemies be made his Footstool Psal 110.1 The which time of the Lord's second coming St. Peter calls the time of the Restitution of all things Acts 3.21 The which is the Day St. Paul had his reference to and relates to the time spoken of Ezek. 34.17 When the Lord will Judge between the Rams and He-Goats And then as in Ephes 1.10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ both which are in Heaven and which are on the Earth Here it is said the Lord will come in the fulness of times Thereby shewing the time will be compleated both of the Old and this World That is thus the time that was before the Law under the Law and under the Gospel for the Lord hath given three Laws to Man as a rule for him to Steer by First The law of Nature 2dly The moral Law 3dly The Gospel institution The Law of nature is to continue in the time or World to come And so likewise the moral Law for then God will Circumcise the Hearts of his People Deut. 30.6 8. So as they shall keep all the commands of the Lord. And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the Lord and do all his Commandments which I have commanded thee this Day In the Covenant which Moses rehersed to them Deu. 29.14 Chap. 30.8 For then the Lord will magnifie the Law and make it Honourable Isa 42.21 For by establishing the promised New everlasting Covenant there will be given an inherent perfect Righteousness by which their Hearts will be Circumcised as they shall thereby be made perfectly able to keep the Old Covenant As for the Gospel institution the Christians were but to hold that fast till Christ came Rev. 3.10.11 Cor. 11.26 But the Gospel Spirit will be forever and ever required as to have their Wills brought in Subjection unto Christ without which none can be his neither here nor hereafter And at Christ's first coming Luke 1.78 Zacharias faith the Day spring from on high had visited them And a Visit all know is of a short continuance but he is to return again and Build the Tabernacle of David which is fallen and he will set up Acts. 15.15.16 And whereas St. John saith to the Saints unto whom he wrote The Darkness is past and the true Light now Shineth 1 John 2.8 He had here his reference only to them that walked in obedience to God as in the 4th and 5th Verses and love to his Brother ver 9. For all the rest were in Darkness but this Obedience and Love was a Ray of the true Light of that Day which is still to come And likewise then they had the Holy Ghost shed on them abundantly Tit. 3.6 Which was as an earnest of their inheritance in time to come Eph. 1.14 And these were those of whom St. Peter spoke 1 Pet. 2.9 That did then partake of that marvellous Light The which in that Day that is yet to come they will partake and Drink abundantly Cant. 5.1 Isa 60.19 20 21. For then their Sun will no more go down for the Lord will be their everlasting Light and then the days of their Mourning will be ended for then Israel will for evermore Drink of the River of his pleasures Psal 36.8 And know as they are known For then God's People will partake of those exceeding great and precious Promises by which they will be made partakers of the divine Nature having escaped the corruption that is in the World 2 Pet. 1.4 For it is in the time to come the Eternal Life will be given and therefore we are exhorted by good Works to lay up in store a good Foundation against the time to come 1 Tim. 6.18 19. For there is a time to come before Eternity in which the Saints and Israel and the true Believer will be Blessed for these are those that will have their part in the first Resurrection Rev. 20.4 5. The which will be when the Lord comes to Judge the Nations in the Valley of Jehoshaphat Joel 3.2 And restore his People ver 16 17 18.20 21. And then Israel will be the Lord's Elect which he will gather together when the great Trumpet is blown Isa 27.13 Which will be long before the Sea and Hell and Death deliver up their Dead The which which be the last Judgment tho in both Judgments some are Condemned to Eternal Punishment and it is the Sinners under the Gospel that at the first fall under the Eternal Punishment being Condemned thereunto when the Lord cometh but at the last Judgment the Nations are not to be Judged For in time to come Israel will be all righteous they shall inherit the Land for ever and then a little one shall become a Thousand and a small one a strong Nation I the
food by Hunting so this World Hunts and Labours for their food But Jacob was a smooth Man representing the Time or World to come in which time there will be Smoothness and calmness with all serenity and Provision in abundance without Hunting for Concerning the Servitude BUt as for the Servitude the Lord had determined for the Elder World before the Children had done good or evil In that Servitude they will be more Blessed than ever they would have been without it For God promised Abraham that in him all the Families of the Earth should be Blessed Gen. 12.3 Gen. 18.18 Gen. 22.17 18. Gen. 26.4 Which is by Christ and partly made good at Christ's first coming by the publication of the Gospel by which many of the Nations embraced the Faith by laying hold of the common Salvation wich is therein tendred Jude 2. For Christ tasted Death for every Man Heb. 2.9 Heb. 5.9 John 3.16 1 John 2.2 In which common Salvation I neither mean the elect remnant that was chosen from among Israel unto whom Christ promised to be with to the end of the World Nor the People that God at the first visiting the Gentiles did take out from among them for his Name Acts 15.14 The which People then received the Holy Ghost to be in them that they might be a light to the World And that the World through them might believe or know that God had sent Christ John 17.23 That thereby the Nations might take hold of the offered Mercy which accordingly they did Colos 1.6 and so became the Seed of Abraham And whilst they walkt in the stops of the Faith of Abraham Rom. 4.12 They were heirs to Israels promises and that by Christ who was of the Lyon of the Tribe of Judah And set forth as a propitiation through Faith in his Blood for the remission of Sins that are past Rom. 3.25 to all them that then believed according to the tender of his Grace Therefore they then concluded upon the publication of the Gospel or of a Sinners resigning himself to Christ to serve him that a Man was justified by Faith without the deeds of the Law Chap. 3.26 27 28. But in the Faith that they were to believe were included the deeds of the Law For it is required they should walk according to it for they are to be Judged by it Rom. 2.13 For the Lord will render to every Man according to his deeds when Judged Chap. 2.5 6 7 8 9. And Christ is become the Author of eternal Salvation to all them that obey him Heb 5.9 And walk before God with a perfect Heart as Abraham did Gen. 26.5 Gen. 17.1 And like him expect the promised Reward in the way of their obedience And whilst the Gentiles that had embrac'd the Faith walk'd in his steps they were Heirs to the promises and it is such will be partakers of the Glory promised in time to come The which time will be the time of Christ's Kingdom And then all the Families of the Earth will be Blessed in Abraham and his Seed For after the Lord has avenged himself of his Enemies which Enemies are those who regard not the Counsel of the Lord and will have none of his Reproof against these he will spend his Arrows And then God calls to the Nations to rejoyce with his People Deut. 32.42 43. For then all the Nations that are given to be Israel's Servants will have cause to rejoice in that they will then be made blessed thereby when all those of Mount-Seir and Idumea who through unbelief of the Promise made to Israel boast themselves and deny the Time or World to come in which the Lord will make his Promises good And through Covetousness of this present evil world they like Esau sell their Birth-right for this world's Morsel And it is these Edomites shall be made desolate when the whole Earth rejoyceth Ezek. 35.12 13 14 15. Now Esau was but termed Edom upon the desiring the Pottage for which Pottage be sold his Birth-right Gen. 25.31 32 33. As not believing the Promises which God made to Abraham as relating to this time nor that which is to come unto which the promised Blessedness belongs For if he had believed the Promises he would not have said If I dye for Hunger what profit shall this Birth-right do me And it was through Unbelief of a future slate made him unwilling to encounter with Difficulties and therefore sold his Birth-right to which the Blessing was annext For which afterward when he would have inherited the Blessing he was rejected Heb. 12.17 And had not Jacob known the advantage that was to be had by the Birth-right he would not have desired it from him For had not the Blessing gone with the Birth-right Jacob had been in a far better condition without it for then he had purchased the Servitude with the Birth-right But Isaac Rebecca and Jacob well knew that it was the Elder People Nation or World that was to serve the Younger And as Esau through unbelief disinherited himself so the Seed of Jacob by their disobedience and unbelief have in this time disinherited themselves Yet in the time to come the Seed of Jacob will have the promised Blessing with whom the true Believer will come in Heir with And in this time the Covenant which God made with the Seed of Jacob was such that others might take hold of it Strangers as well as Israel Deut. 29.14 15. So that the natural seed of Esau were not excluded from it as many as would come in according to the condition of the Covenant might be Heirs with Israel in time to come And Esau's Seed knowing the Covenant of the Lord and they not joining with Israel in the true Worship they were more inexcusable than the rest of the Nations For the true God was the God of their Fathers But in the time to come the unborn Posterity of Esau then cannot come in Heirs with Israel Neither any of this World can partake of Israel's Promises in time to come but those that come in Heirs with Israel in this time Jacob's Blessing THe Blessing wherewith Isaac blessed Jacob as relating to him and his Seed the which had not only Reference to this Time or World but much more to that which is to come For unto him he pronounced the Words of God to Abraham Gen. 12.3 I will bless them that bless thee and curse him that curseth thee For in the Blessing Isaac said to Jacob Gen. 28.29 God give thee of the Dew of Heaven and the Fatness of the Earth and plenty of Corn and Wine Let People serve thee and Nations bow down to thee be Lord over thy Brethren and let thy Mother's Sons bow down to thee cursed be every one that curseth thee and blessed be he that blesseth thee This Blessing as I said before must needs have its chief reference to the Generations of Israel's Children in time to come Psal 102.18 19. Psal 22.30 31. Psal 24.6 Deut.
Faith when they are so far out as to these Heads All as to some of these Heads and some to all of them yet think like them of Laodicea That they stand in need of nothing not knowing that they are Poor Blind and Naked Rev. 3.17 And if they do not with an humble Heart ask of the Lord Eye-Salve that they may see the great Truth in his Word which he hath now discovered and made plain according to his promise and at his own time Dan. 12.4 The shame of their Nakedness will quickly appear And then all the imaginary Faith of Man's forging will be like so many Fig leaves And all their imagin'd Elections will then stand them in no Stead And others that trust to their Baptismal Covenant tho' they perform not the Conditions of it yet think they shall be saved by it Whereby they do but highten their Condemnation and by which means the Nations are involved in false Oaths both the party Baptized and their Sureties they promising that which they do not neither can perform And the Papist believe in their Priest's Pardons so that most have lost the Grounds of a true Faith by false imaginary fictions And so the Gentile Christians are most of them in a deplorable condition I desire none to be offended because I speak thus plain it is by reason their Souls lye at Stake for when the Lord comes we cannot stand upon a Sandy Foundation but it is he that has done the will of God shall be Rewarded Matt. 7.21 Rev. 22.12 St. Paul's Reference to Sarah and Rebeckah NOw St. Paul in Rom. 9. He having there in his Allusion to Sarah and Rebeckah hath therein his reference to Christ's first and second coming and to the several Elections that were and are to be called in at those times according to the Promise For he saith in vers 6. They are not all Israel which are Israel and in vers 7. Neither because they are the Seed of Abraham are they all Children but in Isaac shall thy Seed be called and Isaac came of the Loins of his Father Abraham according to the Flesh yet his Son according to promise And whereas the Apostle saith vers 8 They which are the Children of the Flesh are not the Children of God but the Children of the promise are accounted for the Seed And all that live not according to the will of the Flesh but according to the Spirit are Heirs according to promise Psal 15. For it is such shall live in his Holy Hill and unto such as obey Christ he will be the Author of Eternal Salvation to them Heb. 5.9 But St. Paul hath here his peculiar reference to them that were and are to be call'd in according to promise at the set time appointed And therefore he first alludeth to Sarah in vers 9. In which he hath a reference to Christ ' first coming which was according to promise at which set time there was some call'd in both of Jew and Gentile by a peculiar calling and that according to promise Joel 2.28 Isa 32.15 Acts 15.14 And that not for any works of Righteousness which they had then done but according to his Mercy he saved them For they were brought out of Idolatry and Heathenism and therefore could not be saved for the works of Righteousness that they had then done But whom God did foreknow he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son Rom. 8.29 For they were not only to believe but to suffer for his Sake And to be examples to all that would lay hold of the offered Mercy and by Faith and Patience in continuance in well doing they might inherit the Promises But the Apostle foreseeing that the Gentiles that came in upon the common Salvation would not long retain this Faith as so to tread in the steps of Abraham as thereby to remain the Children of Abraham And therefore he goes on and saith in the 10 vers Not only this but when Rebeckah had conceived by one even our Father Isaac For the Children being not then Born neither having done good or evil that the purpose of God according to Election might stand not of works but of him that calleth it was said unto her the Elder shall serve the Younger Here the Apostle hath his whole reference to the time or World to come unto which God hath determined the Glory that the Elder People should serve the Younger that the purpose according to the Election might stand That according to promise at the appointed time when the Lord again comes to Sion he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob Rom 11.25 26 27 28. Joel 3.21 Acts 15.16 And it is then the Elder People Nation or World shall serve the Younger The which the foresaid two Brothers were made the Representatives of But St. Paul makes no exposition on the Servitude because it hath it's reference to the Heathen in time to come and it is in the time to come that Israel will inherit the promises though not the Seed according to the Flesh altho they come of the Loyns of their Fathers For then the Lord will circumcise their Hearts and the Heart of their Seed Deut. 30.6 8. So as then they will love and obey the Lord which in this time through the Corruption of the Flesh and Sinful inclinations of the mind they did not obey him But in this time to come then it is their Righteousness is of the Lord when they are made thus perfectly Righteous Isa 54.13 14 17. And whereas the Apostle saith Rom 9.22 As it is written Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated Now the Apostle here having his allusion to the Seed of Jacob in time to come has likewise here his reference to the Seed of Esau in time to come And whereas he saith as it is written therein he includes the Esau or Edom whose Mountains and Heritage will then be laid wast in time to come for the Sins of their Parents for whose disobedience God will have less regard to them than to any other For tho' the Children in time to come are alike Guiltless yet the Lord then will make great difference among them according as he hath declared in his Word Isa 60.12 Joel 3.8 And it is the Mountains of this latter Esau that will then be laid wast for the Dragons of the Wilderness And then it is that God shews more dislike or hatred to their Seed than to any other For then it is God gives their Young off-spring to be Servants to them that are Servants to Israel Joel 3.8 And in time to come because they were the Offspring of the Wicked and for their returning to Build their desolate Places they are callet the Borders of Wickedness And the People against whom the Lord hath indignaiton for ever Mal. 1.4 Which ever is the ever of the time to come This time being reckoned one ever and the time to come another ever And God hath declared that the Wicked