9 10. From which words we are to take notice the Lord here declareth the continuance of day and night as also in Psa 89.36 37. And after the Devil is cast into Hell we read of no other than a temporal punishment inflicted on them of the Nations that will not go up to worship the King the Lord of Hosts and keep the feast of Tabernacles Zec 14.16 17. And how many thousand years it will be after Satan is cast into the fire of Hell before the final judgment the Lord best knoweth But by the word it is clear it will be many thousand years For God hath said He will keep Covenant and mercy to a thousand Generations Deut. 7.9 And from Adam to this time we cannot well reckon above a hundred Generations For where St. Luke counts the Genealogy from Adam to Christ he reckons up but about three score Generations Luke 3. And this fore-mentioned Kingdom is the Kingdom of which the Angel told the blessed Virgin that Christ should Reign over the House of Jacob for ever and of his Kingdom there shall be no end Luke 1.33 This ever chiefly includes the ever of the world to come in which time Christ will have his Reigning Power and at the time of the last Judgment when the Heavens and Earth are said to fly away Re. 20.11 The fore-mentioned Book explaineth the meaning thereof fully making it appear by the word there is two sorts of Heavens and Earth whereby it is clearly proved that the Kingdom of Christ will have no end according to the word of the Angel to the Blessed Virgin and according to the word of the Lord in Daniel But the Saints of the most High shall take the Kingdom and possess the Kingdom for ever even for ever and ever Dan. 7.18 And God saith in Isaiah For as the New Heavens and the New Earth which I will make shall remain before me saith the Lord so shall your Seed and your Name remain Isa 66.22 For then it is God will give Israel a place of their own so as they shall move no more 2 Sam. 7.10 But we not apprehending there is three Evers three Times three Generations and three Worlds spoken of in Scripture thereby we have been much in the dark concerning this world to come And this world to come being the time that is chiefly comprehended in Psal 89.2 For I have said mercy shall be built up for ever thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very Heavens I have made a Covenant with my Chosen I have sworn to David my Servant Thy Seed will I establish for ever and build up thy Throne to all Generations Chap. X. The Meaning of the Feast of Tabernacles being again kept NOw in that the feast of Tabernacles is again to be kept when all the other great Feasts are laid aside Zech. 14.16 it doth thereby appear that when Israel and those of the Nations which are saved are first gathered they will then again for some time dwell in booths as Israel did when they came out of Aegypt And therefore this feast to be kept for a remembrance in the ever of the time to come But some may say How can the Nations come up yearly to Jerusalem the Journy being so far distant from some But none need Question but God will make them of ability to do what he requires of them And whereas it is said That every one that is left of all the Nations That is every one of the Nations that were left should go up yearly to Jerusalem but not that it is there meant that every individual person of the Nations will be required to go up year by year unto Jerusalem but some of the heads of the Nations And therefore said in the 18 verse If the Family of Aegypt go not up c. Then a National punishment is threatned Now what we find written in the old and new Testament and nothing therein to contradict the plain meaning thereof that will of certain be fulfilled in the plain and clear way as it is expressed But that is a figurative Speech and not to be taken in the letter of the word where we find other Scriptures in contradiction to it There God hath a secret vail'd in it which he reserves until such time as he will have it revealed But that God commands to be done And what God declares he will have done And what God hath sworn he delights not in And what God hath absolutely promised to do And what God hath sworn he will do These things are to be taken as they are exprest or we are apostatized from the truth And it is at the Restauration of Israel that the Everlasting Covenant will be established as to which time God has sworn to Israel That he will not be wroth with them nor rebuke them any more Isa 54.8 9 10 11 12. For then God will put his fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from him Jer. 32.39 40 41. And concerning that time The Lord hath sworn by his right hand and by the arm of his Strength that he will no more give their Corn to be meat for their enemies neither shall the Sons of Strangers drink the Wine for which they have laboured Isa 62.8 This promise will be fulfilled when Jerusalem is made the praise of the earth as in the 7th ver Which is at the time of the Restitution of all things when the Lord again comes Acts 3.20 21 22 23 24. And then it is There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob Rom. 11.26 Isa 59.20 Then shall the Lord rore out of Zion and utter his voice from Jerusalem and the Heavens and Earth shall shake but the Lord will be the hope of his People and the Strength of the Children of Israel Joel 3.16 This Zion or Jerusalem is meant of the glorious Tabernacles spoken of Heb. 8.2 But we all coming out of the Darkness of Popery have lost the right apprehension of this Kingdom or World to come whereby we are involved in great mistakes so as to think the promised everlasting Covenant is now established and that such as belong to it may fall foully but not finally but when that Covenant is established then it is that God will put his fear into their hearts so as they shall never depart from him Jer. 32.40 But we not understanding aright this Kingdom or World to come which has been the causes of turning the plain word of God in the old Testament into figurative Speeches and thereby made the Oath and Promise of God to Israel void Of which St. Peter exhorts the Church to take heed to the sure Word of Prophecy as unto a light that shineth in a dark place 2 Peter 1.19 Chap. XI Where the Great Glory of the Lord will be when he comes to deliver his people WHEN the Lord again comes to deliver his People his infinite glory will then again be in the Clouds
willing to embrace and improve the opportunity And oh that we would not as they were be found alike guilty and so be made partakers of the more severer vengeance But on the contrary that we would turn from all our evil ways and seek the Lord while he may be found and call upon him while he is near Isa 55.6 7. begging his assistance that we may be able to withstand all our corrupt affections and inclinations and if we are sincere therein God will not be wanting to us But if we have no love to his ways 2 Thes 2.10 nor will not obey him Prov. 1.30 and will not chuse his fear verse 29. then for such there remains no hope For we shall stand or fall according as we chuse or refuse obedience to his will Now we through the mistaking of some of the sayings of St. Paul have made the Oath of God and the general Call and Offer of mercy by Christ to all that will according as it is tendred lay hold of it to be of no effect Notwithstanding St. Peter fairly warns us that in St. Paul's Epistles were some things hard to be understood which some did wrest to their own destruction 2 Pet. 2.16 And could we no otherwise have understood the meaning of St. Paul than in the contradiction of the God of Truth it had been a far less errour to have thought St. Paul might have erred than to have made the Oath of God and the general offer of mercy by Christ void by the misapprehending the words of St. Paul so as to think that none but the Elect could be saved But as the Prophet for believing the old Prophet in the contradiction of what God himself had said therefore was destroyed for a Lion met him and slew him 1 Kings 13.17 18 19 23 24 This being set down for a warning to us that we might not be alike guilty Chap. XIV What the Sign is when God for Sin intends to leave a Nation People or Person And the Kingdom of God in this time and the Kingdom of God in time to come explained VVHen God because of Sin determines to leave a People Nation or Person to destruction he then leaves them to delusion and to blindness of mind like as Pharaoh Exod. 7.13 Ahab 1 Kings 22.20 21. and Israel Psal 81.11 12. And Christ spake to Israel in Parables That by hearing they should hear and not understand and seeing they should see and not perceive Matth. 13.14 For the Jews were then in expectation of the coming of the glorious Kingdom of God which was foretold them by the mouth of all the Prophets and therefore a Pharisee demanded of Christ when the Kingdom of God should come And he answered him and said The Kingdom of God cometh not with observation but more rightly exprest as it is set down in the Margin of your Bibles not with shew neither shall they say lo here or lo there for behold the Kingdom of God is within you Luke 17 20 21. Christ by these words sheweth that in this time he was but to have his ruling-power in the hearts of his People And by this it is clear it is those that he rules in that are his And this being the only visible Kingdom that God has in the time of this World which Kingdom or People is not in shew of this World's greatness and grandeur This answer of the Lord was quite contrary to what the Pharisee expected for he only apprehended the Lord was to come to Reign and restore all things and not that he was first to come to suffer and this proved a stumbling-block to Israel But the Lord said in the following verses to his Disciples of his second coming v. 23 24 25. For as the lightning that lightneth out of the one part under Heaven shineth unto the other part under Heaven so shall also the Son of Man be in his day For the glory of that day will be such as St. Paul terms the then time but night to that approaching day Rom. 13.12 13. And Christ concerning the Parable of his second coming and Kingdom saith Matth. c. 13. v. 41 42 43. The Son of Man shall send forth his Angels and they shall gather out of his Kingdom all things that offend and them that do iniquity And shall cast them into a Furnace of Fire there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth Then shall the righteous shine forth as the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father Here the Lord declareth the time of the end of this World will be when he cometh at which time the Power of this World will be taken from them by his coming and sending his Angels to gather out of his Kingdom all things that offend and them that do iniquity By these words nothing can be more plain than that the Kingdom which will then be Christ's is this material World from which those that offend and do iniquity will then be cast out Now from these words also the Lord leaves himself scope to take in those that are given him of his Father at his second coming the which also will be his Elect which is Israel Rom. 11.28 and other Nations mentioned in the Word which will then be saved and then will the way of the Kings of the East be prepared Rev. 16.12 And the forementioned Book sheweth whom the Lord hath said shall likewise be spared and all these will be brought to a sense of their own unworthiness and so lay hold of mercy before the wicked is destroyed and therefore then they will not be offenders when the wicked are cast out so as the Lord may take in whom he will of the Heathen and God will as well keep faithful to his promise at Christ's second coming in calling in the Jews and others with them Isa 56.8 as he did perform his promise to Christ when he first came in calling in and justifying the sinners of the Gentiles And in that Christ saith to his Disciples in the 43th verse Then shall the righteous shine forth as the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father Here Christ doth not say all the righteous therefore he hath his reference to the raised Saints and the Witnesses that will be caught up in the clouds into those glorious Mansions or Tabernacles which the Lord pitcheth and not Man Isa 4.5 6. Rev. 21.21 From which they shall shine forth as the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father In this portion hath the Disciples their part and when the Kingdoms of this World are become the Kingdoms of our God and of his Christ Rev. 11.15 Then it is that the Kingdom of this World is become the Kingdom of their Father into which they shall thus gloriously shine forth and this is that the Apostle speaks of 1 Cor. 2.9 likewise Isa 64.4 and Ephes 2.6 7. and then they shall have their reigning-power on the Earth Rev. 5.10 next under Christ their Supreme Head Now the Lord all along whilst he
was upon the Earth spake but in Parables as to his second coming and Kingdom Matth. 13.34 by reason Israel being sinful for which it was determined of God they should be left to blindness and that Christ should suffer by them for tho' in other things they sinned wilfully yet they ignorantly crucified the Lord of Life Acts 3.17 And the Lord again speaking of his second coming and of gathering the Nations and by the Parable of setting the Sheep on his right hand and the Goats on his left He saith to them on his right hand come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the World Matth. 25.34 Now from the foundation of the material Heavens and Earth there was no other Kingdom prepared but this World which will be again restored But the Law and Gospel speaking but to those that are under it Rom. 3.19 and chap. 2.12 14. The Lord might therefore have his reference to the foundation of the World that was laid in Israel for the World to come at which foundation Christ was figuratively slain in the Paschal Lamb And then was the Kingdom of Canaan prepared for Israel by their Enemies destruction And the Gentiles that Christ shall find in obedience amongst the Christian Nations at his coming will then be made the Inheritors with Israel of this Kingdom For they were not only to be Heirs with Israel of the promised Everlasting Covenant whereby Eternal Life is secured to the Soul but they were also to have a share with them in their Inheritance For of Japhet it was prophesied that he should dwell in the Tents of Shem and therefore this Kingdom may likewise be said to be prepared for them And also at the restoration of all things it is that Israel will be restored to their own Land Joel 3.16 And then will God make her Wilderness like Eden and her Desart like the Garden of the Lord Isa 51.3 And then it is Christ will have his peaceable Kingdom Isa 11.9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy Mountain for the Earth shall be full of the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the Waters cover the Sea Isa 65.23 24 25. And in that day God will make a Covenant for them with the Beast of the Field and with the Fowls of Heaven and with the creeping things of the ground and he will break the Bow and the Sword and the Battel out of the Earth and will make them lie down safely Hosea 2.18 19. And then will God betroth them unto him for ever in righteousness and in judgment and in loving-kindness and in mercies v. 19. And then this is the Peace the Lord hath declared shall be in the time of his Kingdom But when Christ first came he said he came not to send Peace on Earth but a Sword Matth. 10.34 For in this time them that are the true Followers of Christ the Devil will be still raising them up Enemies And Christ saith to his Disciples That in him they might have peace but in the World they should have tribulation John 16.33 And likewise St. Paul saith That after his departure shall grievous Wolves enter in among them not sparing the Flock And also of their own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away Disciples after them Acts 20.29 30. which accordingly followed Now whereas it is said Prov. 16.7 When a mans ways please the Lord he maketh his Enemies to be at peace with him This King Solomon spake of the natural Seed of Israel which had they continued in the fear of the Lord they had then been the Emblem of that peaceable Kingdom that is now to come And they in this time should have been the Head and not the Tail and above only Deut. 28.13 But there never was any such promise made to the true Churches of Christ in this time but on the contrary they were foretold they should be afflicted persecuted and meet with fiery Tryals neither were they to adorn themselves 1 Pet. 3.3 Chap. XV. The Elect Church discovered And why God suffered the Beast to arise to deceive the Nations Also a twofold being in the Book of Life NOW Christ by his Word declareth that he would have an Elect Church or People throughout this World that should never be deceived by the Beast or false Prophet And that it was to his Disciples which came of the remnant of Israel unto whom Christ promised to be with to the end of the World Matth. 38.20 And that none should pluck them out of his hand And tho' the first Gentile Churches that received the Word from the mouth of the Disciples were likewise also Elected and fore-chosen of God and made partakers of the Holy Ghost yet their succeeding Generations were but raised to that from which Israel fell And God foreseeing that the Gentile Nations that embraced the Gospel would afterward fall away by having no love to the Truth but taking pleasure in unrighteousness as Israel and the People of Old had done Rom. 1.21 22. therefore it was determined of God they should be left to strong delusions to believe a Lye Because they received not the love of the Truth that they might be saved 2 Thes 2.10 11 12. For which cause it was the determination of God that all that dwell upon the Earth should worship the Beast whose names are not written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the World Rev. 13.7 8. That is all the Kindreds and Tongues and Nations that dwell upon all the Earth that the Beast had dominion over should worship him except those whose Names were written in the Book of Life for the Word speaks to them that received it and it was those fell into the snare that had not a love to it but took pleasure in unrighteousness And Luther says that the Beast and false Prophet are generally comprehended under one head And the Lord saith Rev. 17.8 And they that dwell upon the Earth shall wonder whose names were not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the World when they behold the Beast Now I have already proved by the Word in a Treatise concerning Election that there was no Election through the first World of People nor till after the miscarriage of Israel in the Wilderness Then did the Lord secure a certain remnant of them to himself at which time Israel was laid for the foundation of the World to come for all that come in as Heirs to that World come in as the Seed of Abraham and from that foundation Christ was figuratively slain in the Paschal Lamb and from that foundation were the works of those unbelieving Jews finished that fell in the Wilderness when they refused to go to fight for the Land of Canaan And because of Israel's miscarriage the first Gentile Churches were chosen to partake of the Holy Ghost and to bear their Testimony to the Truth the which