to the lively hope of he tells us in the words following it is to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that fadeth not away it is safe and in sure hands it is reserved in heaven for believers they are kept by the power of God through faith for that great salvation ready to be revealed and it is kept for them and shall be brought unto them they shall not need to go to fetch it but when will it be at the revelation of Jesus Christ 1. Pet. 1. 3. 4. 5. He wills the servants of God to hope on for that great grace that shall be brought unto them at the revelation of Iesus Christ vers 13. Then will Abraham and Isaack and Iacob be chief among the holy ones as it is said many shall come from the east and from the west and shall sit down with Abraham Isaack and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven Math. 8. 11. This seemeth to eye that in Isa 25. 6. The feast the Lord will make unto all people in his holy mountain a feast of fat things and wine well refined full of marrow and fat things see the place it eyeth in a likely way as to its full fulfilling such a time when Abraham and Isaack and Iacob and the holy prophets and Apostles c. shall feast together in the kingdom of Christ It looketh beyond the spiritual feast of the gospel to a time as vers 8. When death shall be swallowed up in victory Which the Apostle Paul 1 Cor. 15. 54. Relateth to a very far time for the making of it good and fulfilling of it even the time of the kingdom of the Lord Christ in the world to come When corruption shall have put on incorruption and mortality immortalitie And as it followeth agreeing with and speaking out that to be the time all tears will the Lord wipe away from the faces of his people and the rebuke of his people shall be taken away from off all the earth This world will not as to the full fulfilling of it afford such a happy day the waited for salvation of the people of God shall then be fully enjoyed and great shall be their joy and rejoycing Redemption from the captivity of sin and satan from death and the grave sore enemies and cruel tyrants believers have redemption from them all in the bloud of Christ and may reckon and account themselves virtually ransomed and delivered by their redeemer the Lord Jesus Christ and that they are redemed ones by the price of his most precious bloud but this is only virtually and in the first fruits in the sure promise in the earnest to wit the spirit the redeemer shall fully come to Sion then shall the great redemption and deliverance take place Rom. 11. 26. the deliverer shall come to Sion and shall turn away ungodlynesse from Iacob or as holy Isaiah expresseth it the redeemer shall come to Sion and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob. It is good and true in both readings those believers that have turned to God by faith and repentance he shall come to them and coming he shall take their iniquities quite away I conceive by chainging them in a moment in the twinkling of an eye putting off their corruption and putting on incorruption so he shall come to the turned and likewise turn away their iniquitie The redemption of the body shall be then from the prison and power of the grave Rom. 8. 23. A great thing which believers have in the promise and in the earnest to wit the spirit they shall have then in the enjoyment of it the whole man Body and spirit with all the parts and faculties of both united in one full and perfect and it will be eternal redemption which the redeemer the Lord Christ hath obtained for his Heb. 9. 12. No more slavery then to sin or death or the grave Christ our blessed redeemer hath fully subdued it then and will set us fully free so as instead of saying as sometime holy Paul did who shall deliver us from this sinful body of death to wit subject to sin death and the grave those great tyrants we by faith may say according to our present interest and hope what shall then be sayd and sung aloud in the full posession and enjoyment of it by way of praise to their redeemer Rev. 5. 9. Thou art worthy c. For thou wast slain and hast redeemeed us by thy bloud out of every kinred and tongue and people and nation and hast made us unto our God kings and Priests and we shall reign on the earth then followeth that great thanksgiving of that great number in the three following verses in praise of the redeemer The time this relateth unto when it will be made good and fulfilled it is very likely it will be then when our Lord cometh the second time when the raised from the dead and the then living changed shall take place when they shall meet the Lord Christ and come with him to the new earth where he will fully set up his kingdom and throne then will that be fully made good Isa 35. 10. Isa 51. 11. The ransomed of the Lord or the redeemed shall come to Sion with joy and songs and everlasting joy shall be on their heads they shall obtain gladness and joy and sorrow and mourning shall flee away Their rejoycing and felicitie then shall not be of the length of a kings reign as to instance in Solomon in whose dayes there was great felicity but it lasted not beyond his dayes but this shall be everlasting as long as the sun and moon endureth Psal 72. 7. This world affords it not nor never will it is likely as to the fulness of it Trouble and sorrow and disquiet hath been and is at the present the portion and lot of the righteous here in this world our Lord hath told us so Ioh. 16. 20. Ye to wit the righteous shall weep and lament that is their condition here for a season what shall the men of the world do but the world shall rejoyce it is their day ye namely the righteous shall be sorrowful oh but when that time comes they shall then rejoyce your sorrow shall be turned into joy and their joy shall none take from them As to the fulnes of it it 's the time when sorrow and tears and pain and death shall be no more we know what time that is it is Jerusalems happy day in the new earth in the world to come then it will be so and all made good and fulfilled in the fulness and length of time Of neere affinity with redemption is salvation or being saved which we shall dilate on a little Not after the way of a theam or common place but only as salvation by Jesus Christ the blessed saviour of such as believe in him The beginning of it and first fruits here in regeneration in this world and the full harvest and perfection in the world to come at that
be given to the saints for they shall reign with him Rev. 20. 4. 6. of which more after But to proceed in a gradual way and take knowledge of what the holy scripture holds forth as relating to and eyeing that happy time before mentioned we may take knowledge of father Jacobs blessing of Judah his son Gen. 49. 8. His hand should be on the neck of his enemies his fathers children should bow before him Vers. 10. The scepter shall not depart from Judah c. We may also take notice of Balaams prophecy Numb 24. 7. 8. see the place the height and fulness is like to be then see like wise vers 17. 18. 19. All held forth which I forbear to set down relateth to a time afarr off and not nigh Vers. 17. Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have the dominion a wonderfull time it relateth unto for as vers 23. Who shall live when God doth this he will he will do it Then in the dayes of the dominion and reign of the Lord Christ shall that be fulfilled Psal 15. acknowledged and stiled a Psalm of Christs kingdom vers 14. In stead of thy fathers thou shalt have or there shall be children whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth to wit fully so in the new earth I will make thy name to be remembred in all generations therefore shall the people praise thee for ever and ever Psal 49. 14. Eyeing the resurrection when death feedeth on the wicked in the grave the righteous shall arise and have the day the dominion in that very morning likewise will that be made good then Psal 149. 9. To have power to execute the vengeance that is written it is sayd this honour have all the saints to share with the Lord Christ their blessed saviour and redeemer their king and governor sure enough to be true and made good then In the next place take we knowledge of what holy Isaiah sayth Isa 60. 12. The nation and kingdom that will not serve thee to wit Isrnel shall perish yea those nations shall be utterly wasted vers 14. The sons of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet and shall call thee the city of the Lord. That this relateth to the time of Christ and his kingdom few deny We shall proceed to that eminent place Dan. 7. It is after the fourth kingdom or monarchy see what is sayd vers 18. But the saints of the most high to wit the Israelites especially shall take and possesse the kingdom for ever even for ever and ever very great durations not yet begun it is likely but will fully be fulfilled at the restoration when our Lord Christ shall be sent the second time then the saints shall fully take and possesse the kingdom Vers. 22. And the ancient of days came and judgement was given to the saints of the most high And the time came that the Paints possessed the kingdom Some build the fifth Monarchy or kingdom of the stone on this and other the like scriptures apprehending it will be in this world before the restoration and change we have treated of which I leave to the day to declare whether it will be so or no but what holy Daniel hath foretold will surely be made good even that vers 27. 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 that is their governour There can be nothing more full and plain only the time is to be waited for and very like it will be fully fulfilled when our Lord Christ fully takes to him his power and reigns at the happy restoration of all things I shall mention no more out of the old testament Our Lord Christ in the new hath told us that his kingdom is not of this world Joh. 18. 36. neither as I apprehend is or to be in this world save in a spiritual consideration as the gospel and gospel dispensations as the spirit and word and the fruits of the spirit righteousness peace and joy with faith and love c. though some apprehend from those words in the latter part of that verse but now is my kingdom not from hence or then to be set up in this world the emphasis of the words as they conceive lying in the word but now that his kingdom will begin to be set up in this world before his personal coming but I leave it as not being the subject matter of this discourse but that is clear another thing that we are treating of from his kingdom in a spiritual consideration only It is dominion kingdom and power outward and visible which our treaty is of this our Lord hath not taken to him as yet he hath not taken to him his great power and kingdom he is gone to fetch it when he comes he will bring it with him Luk. 19. 12. 15. 2. Tim. 4. 7. And then he will fully set it up and reign gloriously in the midst of his enemies It is much in my apprehension that any should think the saints of the most high should reign and have kingdom and power and dominion before the Lord Christ that would answer the prophecyes in the holy Scriptures and be a fulfilling of them but I conceive though some so think and say yet most of them that judge Christs kingdom will begin to be set up in this world before his personal coming do not apprehend that the prophecyes on that account will have their full fulfilling therein nor will be so fulfilled till he so comes Our Lord Christ tels his followers that continued with him in his temptations Luk. 22. 28 29. 30. And I appoint unto you a kingdom as my father hath appointed unto me that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom when it comes and he reigns in it and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel Minde we that in Math. 25. 24. come ye blessed of my father inherit the kingdom prepared for you c. When will this be when he shall come in his glory and all the holy Angels with him and shall fit on the throne of his glory it will be then that the Saints of the most high God will be so advanced and dignified so impowered to judge know ye not saith the Apostle 1. Cor. 6. 2. that the Saints shall judge the world yea and Angels also vers 3. the world have judged and wrongfully many times condemned them and they have been for Christs sake killed all the day long Rom. 8. 36. it will be otherwise then they shall judge them that injuriously condemned them then the Saints shall have the day and what Daniell hath told shall come to passe that the dominion and greatness of the kingdom under the
all as our Apostle hath declared A very high thing a great secret of which the Scriptures seem most silent and to say little at least the understanding and insight into this great mistery or secret seemeth little in this age holy Paul hints something God shall be all in all then By way of assay we shall propose to consideration some thing that the holy Scripture seemeth to hold forth of that glorious state that shall succeed the surrender of the kingdom of the Lord Christ unto God the father that he may be all in all That God may be all in all seemeth to have much comprehended in it What is not included in all With reference to any matter or thing it seemeth to eye that before spoken of the sovereignty rule and power of the Lord Christ in his kingdom and his giving of it up when he had put down all rule authority and power whatsoever and become subject himself unto the father that gave him that power and put all things under his feet then will God the father be all in all No medium then nor no deligating of power or dominion to any seemeth to be then but God the father to be all in all in power rule and dominion This all in all seemeth a great thing and to contain much but not much seemeth to be revealed at least we understand little for the present but are much in the dark herein More it may be is held forth in the Scriptures then we as yet discern that there shall be such a time and state when God shall be all in all shall have the kingdom of the Lord Christ delivered up to him and the Lord Christ become subject to the Father that he may be all in all that such a state such a kingdom there shall be after the kingdom of our Lord Christ is ended the Apostle Paul seemeth to hold forth as is mentioned before and something there is that seemeth to look that way and to import something of such a state and kingdom of God the father as the last and most glorious By way of assay we shall propose something and leave it to the judgment of the wise in heart That there shall be such a glorious state and kingdom of the father exceeding in glory the kingdom of our Lord Christ wherein as hath been said will be great glory and is the glory that he requested his father that those that he had given him might be with him that they might behold his glory Job 17. 24. and Col. 3. 4. partake of his glory and Rom. 8. 17. be glorified together which glory will be very great but in the kingdom of the father when God shall be all in all then there will be higher and greater glory CHAP. VII Of a higher degree of glory in the kingdom of the father and higher attainers for the Saints then THat in the kingdom of the father when he is all in all then there will be higher and greater glory that of our Lord Math. 13. 43. seemeth to speak out Then shall the righteous shine as the Sunn where In the kingdom of their father It seemeth to hold forth that the father will have a kingdom and that the righteous will shine forth in glory then and there of which we shall dilate a little Our Lord a little before had spoken of his own kingdom he shall send forth his Angels and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend and them which do iniquity and shall cast them into a furnace of fire c. He seemeth to wave the further speaking of his own kingdom which will be very neer the end then and speaketh of the kingdom of the father neer at hand and sayeth thus then shall the righteous shine forth in greater luster of glory as the sun the most glorious of all the creatures where shall this be in the kingdom of their father They were glorious before in the kingdom of the son the Lord Christ but then in the kingdom of their father they shall be more glorious then and there for as sayeth our Lord Christ they shall then shine forth as the sun very gloriously In the kingdom of the Lord Christ they shall be very glorious sharing with the Lord Christ and being like him far beyond the glory of the Saints in their highest attainer here or elswhere before that time they shall shine forth and appear with the Lord Christ in glory then holy Daniel Dan. 12. 3. tells us that then they that be wise or have been wise in their day shall shine as the brightness of the Firmament very ferene and they that turn or have turned many to righteousness shall shine as the starrs for ever and ever very bright and shining there will be great glory in the kingdom of Christ But in the kingdom of their father they shall shine forth as the sun the glory of the sun is far greater then that of the starrs or Firmament so faith the Apostle 1. Cor. 15. 41. there is one glory of the sun another of the Moon and another glory of the starrs for one starr differeth from another in glory degrees there are and will be the glory of the sun is the greatest In the kingdom of the Son will be great glory the righteous will shine there as the stars but in the kingdom of the father they shine forth as the sun more gloriously By way of illustration the eye is able to behold the light of the Firmament and the brightness of the stars in their light and brightness but what eye is able to behold the sun in the full glory and brightness of it As the glory of the sun surmounts the glory of the stars and Firmament so will the glory of the kingdom of the father and the attainer of the righteous then and there exceed that of the righteous their attainer in the kingdom of the Lord Christ In the kingdom of the father they shall shine forth as the sun It may be looked upon as a very great thing for raised Saints newly raised out of their graves and reunited body and soul in one again and the changed Saints then in a moment in the twinkling of an eye as it is written in that great mistery shewed by the Apostle vers 51. of the aforesaid 1. Cor. 15. for them to take on and be clothed with immortality and the glory of that happy estate and great glory and not be over-sett over-powerd with it but to take on the glory of the sun in the the kingdom of the father how high a thing is that The wisdom of God the father did foresee and order for that cause it may be a gradual way of proceed from glory to glory from a lesser to a greater and the greatest and highest of all last like the great and good master that kept the greatest and best till last that so the Saints might with the more facility take on the glory of the kingdom
and the kingdom of Christ given him of the father to hold or say that these are all one and the same seemeth to reflect on the spirit by which the holy scriptures were written All scripture being given by inspiration of God 2 Tim. 3. 16. Holy men of God of old spake as they were moved by the holy spirit 2. Pet. 1. 21. Christ our Lord will drink of the fruit of the vine in his fathers kingdom As to that of difference and distinctnes betweeen the kingdoms forenamed that in Ephes. 5. 5. seemeth to hold forth something the Apostle there speaking of several sorts of sinners sayeth know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God 1 Cor. 6. 9. In like manner that before Ephes. 5. 5. He saith we know that no whoremonger nor unclean person nor covetous man that is an Idolater hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God to wit God the father's kingdom such wicked sinners they have no part or Inheritance in the kingdom of the Lord Christ they shall in no wise enter there or dwell there Rev. 21. 27. Rev. 22. 15. There will be no way found or entrance provided for them into the Everlasting kingdom of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ 2. Pet. 1. 11. In like manner they shall have nothing to do in the kingdom of God the father more high and glorious when God shall be all in all no wicked sinners shall ascend thither or dwell there this know as it is said the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God the father it will be too high and too glorious In the kingdom of God the creator they have lived and do live as somtime rich Dives did and had his share and part of good things The case will be otherwise then when the kingdom of the father takes place where God shall be all in all that of the psalmist being very prophetical and spoken prayer-wise may be minded as that which will be made good Psal 104. 35. Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth and let the wicked be no more c. The sinners will be consumed out of the earth in the time of the kingdom of Christ in the new earth and before his kingdom be ended See Rev. 19. 17. 18. 21. Rev. 20. 9. see the places and others of the like import but when the kingdom of the father takes place and God the father be all in all then the wicked will be no more Halelujah Our Lord Christ will drink of the fruit of the Vine there and the righteous will shine as the sun there where those wicked sinners shall not come nor be no more then for ever The kingdom of God as the creator of Heaven and earth of which the holy Scriptures speak very much It is a subject so high and comprehensive and so much spoken of it in the holy Scriptures as that I shall only speak a few things in a General way and that by way of essay This kingdom began with the creation wherein soveranity was delegated to Adam and it lasted till the floud when all flesh perished Then from the floud it hath been carried and will be carried on to the great burning to come 2. Pet. 3 6. 7. of the world that now is when the world to come shall take place and the blessed kingdom and Power and dominion of our Lord Christ shall take place and begin he then a king will take to himself his great power and reign and all rule authority and power rest in him Rev. 11. 17. all power and rule being given unto him both in heaven and in earth Math. 28. 18. of the great Jehovah the maker of heaven and earth This kingdom of God the creator as it hath so it shall rule over all Psal 10. 3. 19. he hath set up and pulled down as he pleased and so he doth and will do while this world lasteth as it was said by Daniell to Nebuchadnezzar Dan. 4. 32. Till thou know that the most high ruleth in the kingdom of men and giveth it to whomsoever he will as before he had said in vers 25. and says in vers 24. this is the decree of the most high which is come upon my Lord the King By him or under him kings reign and have ruled been set up and pulled down his ordering is so high and of such extent and largness in order to all things as that a sparrow falls not to the ground without his Providence and the very hairs of our head are numbred Math. 10. 29. 30. we may say with the psalmist Psal 8. 9. O Lord our Lord our King our governor how excellent is thy name thy sovereignty and power in all the earth And shall end with that of the Apostle Rom. 11. 33. O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God c. and as in vers 36. for of him and through him and to him are all things to whom be glory for ever Amen Of the kingdom rule and government of the Lord Jehovah the maker of heaven and earth we may mind it as from the floud how he ruled and gave power to rule under him in his kingdom from Noah to Abraham and the Patriarchs to Moses Joshua and the judges unto the time of Samuel Acts. 13. 20. then they desired a king and God gave them a king Saul of the tribe of Benjamin a goodly person and some way eminent but in that their desire which was condescended to of God God said to Samuel they have not rejected thee but they have rejected me that I should not reign over them 1. Sam. 8. 7. Saul's reign lasted not but for his disobedience to the king of heaven he was put down and God the great Jehovah and ruler over all chose David and his seed a type of our Lord Christ Touching David it is said the Lord hath found a man after his own heart 1. Sam. 13. 14. and his race according to Gods promise continued Solomon that eminent one for wisdom continued after him and he advanced the kingdom to the greatest height of glory that ever Israel attained unto A breach was made in that kingdom and state not only in the division but in the departing of the Scepter as it hath been for a long time The kingdoms of this world out of the line of Abraham and David in a more general way they have been ordered according to his pleasure The rulers and sovereigns have been set up and taken down according to the pleasure of the great Jehovah from the beginning it hath been so And to particularize a few Those great monarchs and monarchies the Assyrians the Babylonians the Persians the Graecians and the Romans and all others under them and not under them as the ethnich potentates they have been at the ordering of God Almighty maker of heaven and earth though it may be some of them have said and may say as Pharaoh said
them in a moment for the Lord dwelleth in Sion and his tabernacle will then be with men Rev. 21. 3. And he will dwell with men In the next place see what the prophet Micha sayth also in the matter Mich. 4. 1. It shall come to passe in the last dayes not yet made good that the mountain of the Lords house shall be exalted and established c see the place vers 3. And he to wit the Lord Christ when he cometh especially shall rebuke strong nations and judge many people And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning-hooks nation shall not lift up a sword against nation neither learn war any more a blessed peaceable time then Vers. 4. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his figtree and none shall make them afraid though they have no defensive arms for there will be no need of them sure enough to be made true and good for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it Then at that day will be the peaceable kingdom of the Lord Christ and he as vers 7. The Lord shall reign over them in mount Sion from henceforth and for ever See what the prophet Zechariah sayth also Zech. 3. 9. 10. And I will remove the iniquity of that land to wit the land of Canaan chiefly in one day namely the day of the restoration and when it shall be so then they shall call every one his neighbor under the vine and under the figtree The prophet Malachy speaketh of the blessedness of that day even upon the same account Mal. 3. 12. And ye shall be a delightfull land sayth the Lord God There are other high prophecyes in Isaiah as that Isa 49. from vers 5. to vers 13. and from thence to vers 24. See what great things of like importance are said which I shall forbear to dilate on So Isa 52. Isa 54. Isa 55. 11. 12. There are prophecyes in the holy scriptures that speak of inheritances and possessions of Lot and sharing by Lot that seem as to their full fulfilling to relate to that happy day of the restoration and the new earth promised taking place As some time of old the land of Canaan was by promise given Israel for an inheritance by the Lord was after a long time divided to them by Lot and accordingly possessed by them in a way of particular propriety for they had not only a general light in the whole land as so given them of God but they had a particular interest in a part of it as it fell unto them by Lot where the Lord himself was the determiner as Solomon sayth Prov. 16. 33. The Lot is cast into the lap but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord whither that land so promised and after a long time possessed and divided by Lot was not a type of the new earth promised and expected and of some higher division and sharing at the restoration of all things may be considered and the rather because of what Ezekiel hath declared which will have its fulfilling and making good though as yet we understand it not it is very probable it is not yet fulfilled but will sure enough which the day will declare fully though to us it is dark and we understand little Every tribe as well as the whole people will have their share and Lot and the strangers will share with them where his dwelling is with them then Ezek. 47. 22. 23. very considerable The twelve tribes they are to have every one their share or Lot and the prince his and he must not take any of the peoples share from them to drive them out of their possession see Ezek. 46. 18. The twelve tribes will have interest in the city and every one a gate called by their name and the name of the city from that day very probable to be the day of the restoration will be the Lord is there He will be so in the new earth Rev. 21. 3. The prophet Obadiah hath something to the same effect vers 17. But in mount Sion there shall be deliverance and there shall be holyness and the house of Jacob shall possesse their possessions Vers. 19. And they of the south shall possesse the mount of Esau and they of the plain the philistins and they shall possesse the feilds of Ephraim and the feilds of Samaria and Benjamin shall possesse Gilead vers 20. And the captivitie of the host of Israel shall possesse that of the Canaanites even unto Zarephath and the captivity of Jerusalem which is in Sepharad shall possesse the cities of the south Vers. 21. And saviours or judges and disposers shall come upon the mount Sion to judge the mount of Esau And this it will be when the kingdom shall be the Lords for as yet it hath not been nor is it likely so fully to be till that happy time takes place The rather is that considerable because of what the new testament holds forth this way Eph. 1. 10. In the fulnes of times in the Lord Christ he should gather together in one the things in heaven and the things in the earth even in him restore them make them new all good and holy as at first Vers. 11. In whom we have obtained an inheritance or Lot Vers. 13. 14. The spirit of promise is sayd to be the earnest of our inheritance to wit of our interest and right unto it and that we shall in time possesse it we have for the present the earnest we shall have in the appointed time the full purchase it will be redeemed and settled on those it is redeemed and purchased for to the praise of the glory of him that hath done it for his Ephes. 5. 5. It is spoken of by the Apostle as a known thing that no wicked unclean person hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ or of God to wit in that kingdom to come Col. 1. 12. the Apostle speaketh of giving thanks unto the father which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light The saints will then have inheritance given unto them at that time when Jerusalems light is come and the glory of the Lord riseth upon her Isa 60. 1. when she will sine gloriously holy Peter in like manner 1. Pet. 1. 4. blesseth God for the lively hope the servants of God are begotten again unto by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance the description of it suiteth with the restoration and change it is incorruptible and undefiled it will be so when it falls in with that time when the iniquity of that land is removed and the curse taken from the earth and it made new in the inheritance then and there then will be no corruption or defilement for there shall in no wise enter any that defileth Rev. 21. 27. it is said further that it fadeth not away as many times in this world mens inheritances do but it will
of the creation nor the throne of the beast or Antichrist but the throne of God and of the lamb shall be in it and his servants shall serve him to the fulfilling of Rev. 22. 3. There are some general notions and common sayings amongst persons religious and professing much love to the Lord Christ and desire of the advancement of his glory both here and hereafter and yet they do greatly obstruct and hinder the advance of the knowledge of his coming The first obstruction we mention is a decrying of it as a thing not orthodox but a thing newly started up or revived the Milleniant Tenent which they that are orthodox meddle not with it is much to hear any that professe love to the Lord Jesus to speak so at this time of the day and to fright themselves and others with such a bugbear and thereby to hinder themselves and others from searching or making enquiry into the scriptures concerning the good things to come whenas some have outlived the notions and wayes they counted orthodox and have closed with and adhered unto in notion and practice the things they counted heterodox and it may be they may do so again This fallacie of being orthodox is but an aiery notion a name only the religious tenents and practises setled by power in any nation or countrey are orthodox there where they are so setled and all other dissonant tenents to the establishment are counted heterodox though they be never so right tenents the Papists will so decry the Protestants of all kinds the Protestants do the like and will when they are setled by power decry as heterodox the Papist and every different party amongst all sorts of Christians are apt to baptize their own opinion as orthodox and all dissenters as heterodox and the dissenter will do the like back again so as in effect this bugbear signifieth nothing at all but is as a shaddow Another thing obstructing is a common notion and speaking inconsideratly of the world to come of which the holy scriptures speaks Heb. 2. 5. As that which sball take place when this world sball give place be burned and be no more which by many is quite overlooked and by some counted as heaven above as if nothing was to be here below after the burning and end of this world but heaven and being in heaven Nay in common speaking some tell of going to heaven before this world have an end not taking notice of the world to come at all and very hardly admitting it to be any other thing then heaven above as was said before by which notion and speaking they make void insignificant much of the holy scriptures and the sayings of the Lord Christ the Apostles and prophets therein as concerning things to come And to help in the case they adventure to allegorize and put spiritual meanings on plain prophecyes prophesying thereby themselves instead of believing and receiving the sayings of the prophets though the prophets declared nothing but what God commanded them to speak and declare And in like manner they do by the holy visions of John and others declared and set forth in the holy scriptures whereby the minds of persons are diverted and taken off from searching into the prophecies and looking out after the good things to come and from the believing of them any otherwise then they conceive they will sute with heaven and the state of heaven above So as the coming again of our Lord Christ the coming of his kingdom and his will done on earth as in heaven which himself hath so greatly foretold witnessed to and exhorted his servants to pray for Math. 6. 10. The blessed restoration of all things when he shall be sent again spoken of by Peter Acts. 3. 19. 20. 21. The creatures deliverance from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God called the adoption or redemption of the body which they who have the first-fruits of the spirit viz. the hints of the glory thereof upon their spirits and the whole creation by a secret instinct are said to groan travel in pain and wait to be delivered into Rom. 8. 21. 22. 23. The new heaven and new earth and all things made new the true and faithful sayings which our Lord Christ sent and signified by his Angel to his servant John The reading hearing keeping whereof hath the promise of a blessing annexed to it equal with if not beyond any other part of the holy scriptures Rev. 1. 1. 3. with very many things more that might be mentioned will signifie little or nothing but as they are made by some to hold forth some attainer or enjoyment in heaven above Another hindrance of the knowledge and looking out after the great good things to come and which takes the mindes of persons from searching and looking out after them is a narrow notion received and held forth upon little ground but tradition namely that the Lord Christ will come at the day of judgement to judge the quick and the dead according to that short summary in the Creed and in and under this is by some wrapped up all the things spoken of in the scriptures concerning the ends of his coming again without taking any notice of them at all so as if you speak of Christ our Lord coming in glory to take unto him his great power and to set up his kingdom and to reign in the midst of his enemies and to break them in peices as a potters vessel Psal 2. 9. Rev. 2. 26. 27. And his being admired at by and in them that believe when they see his glory 2. Thes. 1. 10. Rom. 8. 17. 18. As the disciples that our Lord told of the sufferings he was to accomplish at Jerusalem Luk. 18. 31. to 34. It is sayd they understood none of those things and those sayings were hid from them so in like manner speak now of the great things that will take place when the Lord Christ shall come again in his glory and they understand none of these things and these things are hid from them and they understand nothing but Christ our Lord his coming to judgement and that they seem to minde as a transcient thing and not a set solemn and formal thing a real judicature and incline to think it will be in heaven rather then here below on earth speaking as if they thought that the Lord Christ will but come to the Clouds and then return again to heaven Thus as the former notion concerning the world to come so these in their notions do make insignificant much of the holy Scriptures as if written in vain unlesse allegorized or making them speak out some spiritual meaning which is put upon them with the which some please and content themselves without further enquiry or looking out after our Lords coming and the good things that shall attend the same otherwise then heaven above as is said before Whereas if the Scriptures be well minded and considered it will
plainly appear that many if not most of the exhortations in the new testament to believe to repent to add to faith vertue c. To grow in grace and so all other duties towards God and man are from the consideration of the great glory and happiness that is to be brought to and enjoyed by the saints at the fore mentioned glorious coming and kingdom of Christ here upon earth and not so much from the consideration of the glory of heaven above save only as it is in the last place comprehended therein and to be enjoyed by them to wit after the last judgement here upon the earth is ended and our Lord Christ hath delivered up the kingdom to God the father There are yet other hindrances of which briefly Some say it is a controversie and they do not care to meddle with controversies what doth this signifie at our Lords first coming it was a controversie among the people whether he was the Christ or no some said he was others denied it and said he was a deceiver and those deceived that did own him have any of the rulers or pharises belived on him but this people who know not the law are cursed Joh. 7. 48. 49. John sent to him to know art thou he that should come or do we look for another Indeed so great a thing and of so high concernment as the coming of the Saviour vailed and so much opposed should make men to search and seek into it the more lest haply they be found at a losse when be comes And yet further some say and upon that account look not after it but let it alone namely That the ancient fathers and some add the modern Divines were not for it but rather against our Lord Christ his coming to set up his kingdom and reign here on earth this is taken for granted though very questionable and not likely to be true which if it were what doth it signifie little or nothing at all the high Preist and elders were against Christ and the Gospel do any of the Priests or rulers believe on him They did not then and if they do not now or have not done what doth it avail But notwithstanding all before said of the obstructions the knowledge of it increaseth and is very likely so to do till that be made good that the Gospel of the kingdom and coming again of the Lord Christ to reign be preached to all nations then shall the end come Math. 24. 14. great things will attend that great day and though now it is dark and hidden it will come to be preached on the house top and received and entertained more and more as it begins to be being as the present truth of the day and that which is much on the spirits of many of the good servants of the Lord who look for the return of their Lord and are in great expectation like good old Simeon who waited for the consolation of Israel and was glad and greatly satisfied when he had seen the Saviour as those blessed expectants now will be with the signes of his coming and much more when they shall see him come in the clouds of heaven when they will be changed in a moment and caught up to meet him when he cometh when he cometh Fully to take unto him his great power and to reign at which the nations will then be fully angry Rev. 11. 17. 18. when he cometh to judge the world in righteousness and the people with his truth Psal 96. 13. when he cometh to be glorified in his Saints and to be admired in and by all them that believe 2. Thess 1. 10. when he cometh in flaming fire to render vengeance c. as in vers 8. when he cometh to make inquisition for blood Psal 9. 12. to wit the blood of the righteous from Abel to that day shed by cruel and envious ones and wicked oppressers on the earth Rev. 16. 6. Rev. 18. 24. that cry will be a sad tone to the wicked and will make them shake and tremble Psal 96. 13. for he cometh for he cometh to judge the world with righteousness c. as on the other hand it will be gladsom to the Saints they may lift up their heads and hearts with joy for their redeemer their redemption and full blessedness is at the very door If these proposalls and essays come into the hands of the learned their favourable censure is desired and that they would overlook any failer if in want of art and well dressing the matter or over often mentioning of of things called tautologie which could not well be avoided the things relating to Christ his kingdom and coming having so many great things and various attending of them And besides those for whom this principally was intended and made common may not have that acuteness but what they may want that way they have in love and affection in zeal and readiness to receive and embrace the truth at all times In the time of our Lord Christs being here they owned him the poor then received the Gospel when those of higher rank stood at a distance and rather made opposition The Apostles were men of low rank fisher-men and the like yea the women were very forward in the then owning our Lord Christ and great lovers of him and such as our Lord Christ being risen first appeared unto and made them messengers to the Apostles to inform them of that great truth of his being risen again from the dead his way is so to make men humble that they might learn not to dispise the day of small beginnings or things Consult the holy histories and the histories down and since the histories of France Germany the Waldenses and others and it is likely as it hath been so it will be found still not but that sometimes God annoints persons of higher rank and maketh known his mind unto them and makes use of them but it seemeth not to be his ordinary method but the contrary If any advantage by the things proposed come to any either for the furthering of their knowledge or their being encouraged to believe hope and wait for their fulfilling the proposer of them will think himself well appaied read and consider well of what thou readest nothing is imposed on thee try all things hold fast that which is good Farewell P. G. B. CHAP. I. Of the Resurrection in general 1 Cor. 15. THe great doctrine of the resurrection of the dead was a thing that holy Paul the great Apostle of the gentiles had a great insight into as he had also in many other high mysteries which were revealed and made known unto him the which he imparted for the benefit and profit of others That truth looking forward eyeing a future time when it shall be made good but in all times necessary to be made known and believed by all the servants of God whose hope is not in this world This of rising again after death in his proceed on
evil 2. Cor. 5. 10. all must be judged and be either acquited or else condemned the whole race and posterity of Adam in whom all dyed CHAP. II. Containing something concerning the order of rising again and the Lord Christ the first in that order BUt now to prevent mistakes lest any should think that all shall rise together to wit the just and unjust to give information touching the thing in hand the Apostle discovereth a great thing of which very little had been declared before in the holy Scripture though much had been said touching the resurrection he in vers 23. tells of an order in which all these shall rise but every man in his own order This order is very considerable a great thing a great discovery first in regard of the persons rising secondly in regard of the time when they shall rise for all shall not rise at one and the same time and together but every one in his own time according to order it is by the Apostle laid down thus first Christ the Lord that was over and past then those that are Christs when at his coming that 's their turn or order and also is the time of their judgment blotting out of their sins pronouncing them blessed and holy and their inheriting the kingdom Acts. 3. 19. Rev. 20. 6. Math. 25. 34. Then after the thousand years Reign is ended in the interval between that and coming of the end to wit of his kingdom and his delivering of it up to God the father the unjust shall arise to judgment that 's their turn or order and the time of their judgment for they shall not live again untill the end of the thousand years Rev. 23. 5. and then shall be the resurrection and judgment of the unjust Rev. 20. 12. 13. of which more hereafter An order there is and will be so the Apostle hath declared but every man in his own order they shall arise and stand forth as it was said to Daniell thou shalt stand up in thy lot or order at the end of the days Dan. 12. 13. when Christ who is our life shall appear then shall we also appear with him in Glory Col. 3. 4. that's our lot or order Touching this of order our Lord Christ was the first the leading and preheminence it did belong to him he arose and was the first fruits of those that rose from sleep so in vers 20. of this 1. Cor. 15. He did rise again according te the Scriptures Two Angells told the women that prepared spices and oyntment and went to the Sepulchre to look for him He is not here but is risen Luk. 24. 6. 7. being risen he was seen of many first of the women then of Peter after of the two Disciples going to Emaus Luk. 24. he was seen of five hundred brethren at once then of James then of all the Apostles after of Paul himself 1. Cor. 15. 5. to 8. who though he spake low of himself was a high a great witnesse and asserter of this truth of Christ being risen It is a part of the Gospel a great truth Preached and witnessed by many faithfull witnesses and accordingly believed by the servants of God in the ages since to this day and were it not so the servants of God and more especially the Martyrs and great sufferers for Christ were of all men the most miserable but Christ is risen and is the first fruits of them that rise and it was his order The next order or lot declared by the Apostle it is to the just as it is said afterwards they that are Christs they shall be raised and shall enjoy the redemption of the body from the power of the grave it shall no longer have dominion over them they shall come forth to the resurrection and judgment of life and as in the first place it relates to them is the true understanding of what is spoken on that account in Joh. 5. 28 29. So sure as Christ the Lord is risen and ascended so surely shall they rise in their order and time they with Daniell shall stand up in their lott together all the servants of God that have fallen asleep in the several ages of the world and have for a long time slept in Jesus they shall awake arise and meet the Lord when he cometh 1. Thes 4. 14. 16. 17. God that raised up the Lord Jesus will raise us up also by Jesus 2. Cor. 4. 14. he will raise us by his own power 1. Cor. 6. 14. and an exceeding great and mighty power it is worthy our knowledge and our desire to know Eph. 1. 19. 20. The dead in Christ shall rise first it is their order their lot next after the Lord Christ 1. Thes 4. 16. the Lord Christ is risen and ascended sitteth at the right hand of God it is now sixteen hundred seventy four years since he will come again to them that look for him he will appear the second time without sin unto salvation Heb. 9. 28. and then at his coming shall their order and turn be when the Lord Jesus shall descend from heaven with a shout and with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first 1. Thes 4. 16. at his coming the Apostle tells us it will be two great things will then concur and be together Christ our Lord his coming and the righteous their rising again and meeting with him The next order or lott is to the wicked or unjust of which the Apostle saith little only then cometh the end not hereby meaning that Christs kingdom would be at an end and delivered up to God the father presently upon his coming and raising the just for there are many and great things to be done before he therefore therein secretly comprehends and includes the resurrection of the unjust to wit between the resurrection of the just and coming of the end of his kingdom when he is to deliver it up and before the same then shall the unjust arise in their order and turn a thousand years after the rising of the just touching whom it is said Rev. 20. 4. and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years vers 5. but the rest of the dead to wit the unjust or wicked dead they lived not again untill the thousand years were finished In the blessed morning of the resurrection the just will have the dominion they will have the preheminence then Psal 49. 14. A rising again of the unjust there will be so the Scripture holdeth forth it was the confession and belief of holy Paul Acts. 24. 15. and have hope towards God that there shall be a resurrection both of the just and unjust But as to the time or order of raising the unjust he saith no more but then cometh the end strongly implying that towards the end of Christs kingdom and before he delivers it up they also shall arise and come to judgment Christ our Lord
his right hand This is done by the Lord Christ he reigning on earth and being come the second time unto the earth and having taken to himself his great power and reign Rev. 11. 17. And he must reign till his enemies be made his footstool That 's but enemies in a general way of expression and may refer to and be meant only of some enemies but this here is of all enemies even the last even death it self That of the 110. Psalm seemeth to be an investing of the Lord Christ with power and a deligating to him soveraigntie or rule over all things in heaven and earth as it is said 1 Pet. 3. 22. Angels authorities and powers being made subject unto him But this of the Apostle here is of acting and exercising that power and putting it in execution putting down and under him all rule authoritie and power and his enemies under his feet actually Lastly That in the 110 Psalm so often mentioned in the holy scriptures is of a prophetical promisary nature and was made good unto our Lord Christ by God the father when he had performed his so low humiliation then and therefore God hath highly exalted him and given him a name above every name Phil. 2. 9 10 11. That at the name to wit the soveraigntie and power of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord to the glory of God the father that so highly exalted Jesus our Lord. He is exalted far above all principallitie and power and might and dominion and every name that is named to wit of dignity honor and power he hath a name above all whether in this world or that which is to come and hath put all things under his feet c. Ephes. 1. 21. 22. God the father hath advanced our Lord Jesus above them all and put all things under his feet Our Lord Christ he is above above them all higher and greater and over them all And they all below and under his feet the Apostle Peter sayth he is gone into heaven and is on the right hand of God Angels and authorities and powers being made subject to him 1 Pet. 3. 22. So as upon the whole to say no more there is no need of our Lord his stay in heaven upon that account his enemies not being made his footstool and subjected under him that being done already he need not stay but to the appointed time As in the appointed time or the fullness of time Gal. 4. 4. he came before in the state of humiliation so he will in the appointed time come the second time in power and great glory then he will take unto him his great power and rule in the middest of his enemies when he taketh to him his great power and reign then all nations shall serve and obey him and all kings shall fall down before him Psalm 72. 11. And his kingdom and reign shall be outward and visible on earth as his converse and humiliation was in the days of his being here on earth when he shall come the second time in power and great glory The holy Apostle seemeth fully to speak unto that before declared Heb. 2. 8. Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet for in that he put all things under him he left nothing that is not put in subjection under him c. And this according to his soveraignty and greatness of power so he is highly advanced over all But according to his dominion kingdom and reign he hath not entred upon it yet he hath not yet taken unto him his great power he hath not yet subjected and put down all rule authority and power as the Apostle tells us and we may say as he said we see not yet all things put under him When he comes he must reign till he hath put them under his feet even death that great and last enemie to be destroyed as then when the Apostle did write he did not then see all things subdued under him so now we may say the great and opposite powers and rulers they remain in dignity and power The Ethnick and Infidell Monarchs and Potentates the Mahumetans the antichristians do yet keep up their authoritie with other enemies not a few And sin and the last enemy death all these remaining doth speak out this fully we see not yet all things put under him the Lord Christ Though we see the Lord Christ that was made low by the suffering of death highly advanced and crowned with honour and glory in which the promise Psalm 110. which is prophetical is fully made good by the father and as before was said is no lett of his coming the second time till his enemies be made his footstool first So as that untill Psalm 110. and the rest differ from this untill the one relating to the time of his taking upon him his great power and reign as a mighty monarch here on earth unto whom all shall stoop serve and obey and till then he must reign even till death it self the last enemy be conquered subdued and destroyed by him that mighty conquerer that shall cause death to be swallowed up in victory vers 54. that triumphing may be made O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victory vers 55. and thanks given to God for the same vers 57. thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ that great and mighty conqueror Further there will be enemies in the time of Christ our Lord his reign on earth which he must subdue and put down all rule authority and power wherein there is enmity gog and magog with all their confederates and company whose numbers will be as the sand of the sea Rev. 20. 8. and these enemies must by him be all destroyed before the end of Christ our Lord his kingdom and reign for that death also that last enemy must likewise be destroyed as it is written Rev. 20. 14. and death and hell or the grave were cast into the lake of fire gog and magog and all other enemies must be first destroyed for that the last enemy that is to be destroyed is death Vers. 26. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death of death being the last enemy somthing hath by occasion been often said it shall therefore be waved here but death as an enemy we shall minde a little Death it is an old and common enemie an enemie to all the sons of Adam an enemy to the Lord Christ himself an enemy to those that are Christs to the promised seed few have escaped him death as an enemy it seized on the Lord Christ and had power over him but could not keep it for it was not possible that he should be holden of it Acts. 2. 24. He tryumphed over it on the Cross and by death overcame him that had the power of death
Heb. 2. 14. Enemies there will be in the time of the reign of our Lord Christ to be put down and to be destroyed by him but the last enemie to be destroyed will be death Rev. 20. 14. it is said death hell or the grave were cast into the lake of fire and then presently followeth the end of Christ his kingdom and reign here on earth and a delivering up all to God the father Vers. 27. For he hath put all things under his feet he to wit God the father hath so put all things under the feet of our Lord Christ He hath highly advanced him over all far above all principalities and powers and mights and dominions and every name that is named to wit of power and dignities all God the father put under the feet of Christ as before is more largly held forth But here the Apostle comes in with a caution or reserve for God the father in putting all things under him namely the son he did not subject or put under himself there 's an exception in that there 's a but there so saith the Apostle in the words that follow but when he saith all things are put under him it is manifest he is excepted he is not meant or intended he is not comprehended in this all things but the contrary God that put all things under it is manifest he is excepted so the Apostle that did put all things under him the sum of all seemeth to be this that God the father in the high advance of the Lord Christ did not subject or make lower himself for saith the Apostle it is manifest he is excepted Vers. 28. He goeth on further saying and when all things shall be subdued unto him by the way the words subduing subjecting putting under putting under feet are all of like import and tendenoy when the Lord Christ in the time of his reign hath subdued and actually put down all authority and power when all enemies are put under his feet and the last enemy death destroyed for till then he must reign then shall the son himself be subject unto him namely the father that put all things under him that God may be all in all When the Lord Christ that great and mighty monarch king of kings and Lord of Lords shall have finished his reign and done what he had to do here on earth then shall he deliver up the kingdom to the father of whom he did receive it God the father that so highly advanced him and put all things under him shall have all surrendred and delivered up to him and be all in all An end a final end of that happy kingdom of our Lord Christ here on earth and of our living and reigning with him therein a 1000 years and all the time of the last Session of judgment following the same which is the last and most glorious administration of his kingdom and as worthy Mr. Archer apprehends will last neer a thousand years more which I leave to the day to declare all which is comprehended in Christ's and the Saints reigning together therein though not so particularly expressed and also a mentioning of one to succeed to wit the kingdom of the father Of which something after These being very high and great misteries CHAP. IV. Containing something of the beginning and end of Christ our Lord his kingdom and of such things as will be at the beginning and end of the same TO dilate a little concerning the beginning and end of the kingdom of our Lord Christ so often mentioned to be a thousand years the beginning and end have a medium or middle time to make up the whole so as to suppose if a hundred or if fifty years be reckoned to the beginning in a general way and a like number to the end then the middle or body of the time will be eight or nine hundred years the Apostle speaketh of the beginning at our Lord Christ his coming when will be also the resurrection of the just mentioned Luk. 14. 14. he mentions the end when the Lord hath reigned his time and done or finished his reign what he had to do therein and had received that honour he was to have done him on earth he saith then cometh the end but he speaks little expresly touching the middle time and what shall be done therein only inclusively he saith he must reign till the end untill he hath put down all rule authority and power till his enemies be made his footstool and death the last enemy destroyed But as to the Beginning and likewise as to the end he speaketh of very high and great things that will fall in with and be done in both the one and the other of which we shall dilate a little and first of the things that concur with the beginning First then will be the coming of the Lord Christ in the glory of his father and of all the holy Angells Math. 25. 31. then when he appeareth we shall appear with him in glory Col. 3. 4. When Christ who is our life shall appear then shall ye also appear with him in glory then will he fit on the throne of his glory and before him will both the good and the bad the saved and the unsaved nations that are then living be gathered the righteous will have the preheminence then they will be set on the right hand vers 33. then will be the resurrection of the just Luk. 14. 14. to live again and to reign with the Lord Christ a thousand years upon the earth Rev. 20. 4. Rev. 5. 10. no mention is made of the wicked dead rising at that time then will be the redemption of the body and an entertaining again of the soul or spirit Rom. 8. 23. A great thing a high misterie then will actually be made good that great misterie the holy Apostle hath told us of vers 5. We shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye and be caught up with the raised saints to meet the Lord Christ together 1 Thes. 14. 17. Then will be the time of our being unclothed and clothed upon when corruption shall put on incorruption and mortallitie put on immortalitie 2. Cor. 5. 4. 1 Cor. 15. 53. Then shall be the refreshing from the presence of the Lord and the restitution or restoration of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began Acts. 3. 19. 20 21. Then shall the new heavens and the new earth wherein righteousness will dwell take place according to the promise of God the father 2. Pet. 3. 13. Then will the new Jerusalem come down from heaven and the bride the lambs wife be richly adorned and exceeding glorious Then will be also the mariage supper of the lamb Rev. 21. 2. 10. Then shall all things be made new as at the beginning For these sayings are faithful and true Rev. 22. 6. then God shall wipe
away all teares from the eyes of his then will no more be death nor sorrow nor crying nor pain there to the servants of God for ever Rev. 21. 4. Then shall sathan be bound or chained that he hinder not the saved nations in their great felicity Rev. 20. 2. To say no more although much more might be mentioned relating to the beginning and first coming of the Lord Christ into the kingdom and reign on earth We shall in the next place take notice of some things relating to and contemporizing with the end First of all soon after the end of the thousand years reign and some short time before the last session of judgement beginneth will sathan be let loose for a little season and will deceive the unsaved of the nations who had been chained up with him till then to their total ruine and destruction then will Gag and Magog and their number as the sand of the sea gather together and compasse the camp of the saints about and the beloved city then will fire come down from God out of heaven and destroy them Rev. 20. 7. 8. 9. Then shall the devil that deceived them be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and false prophet as being more wicked and abominable in the sight of God then he had been cast whilest alive above a thousand years before Rev. 20. 10. Rev. 19. 20. Soon after then will be the resurrection of the unjust and wicked sinners they shall then arise to judgment for then will be the second and last great session of judicature to that end mentioned Rev. 20. 11. 12. Then shall they be judged condemned and cast into the lake of fire called the second death Rev. 20. 12. 13. 15. Which as it is the last time or concluding act of the saints judging the world 1 Cor. 6. 2. So there being nothing as to the time mentioned before and they being reserved to the judgment of that great day and to be judged by the saints so is it also the time of their judging of Angels 1 Cor. 6. 3. 2. Pet. 2. 4. Jude vers 6. Then the last enemie death and hell or the grave shall be cast into the lake of fire Rev. 20. 14. Death the last enemie will be then destroyed All enemies will then be totally subdued and destroyed and put under his feet actually to the through fulfilling of 1 Cor. 15. 16. Then shall be an end of all rule authoritie and power then will the Lord Christ deliver up the kingdom unto God the father of whom he received it then will he become subject himself unto the father and God even the father become all in all these are some of the great things that will attend the end We may here in a general way a little take notice what will be in the middle or body of that time of the thousand years of Christ his kingdom and reign on earth according to what the scriptures hold forth as to the great blessedness of the servants of God and their long continuance in that happines and high enjoyments for ever once begun ever continued Those great things mentioned as relating to the beginning are not many of them to be minded exclusively but inclusively as continuing to the very end The things the righteous shall enjoy and be made partakers of the eye hath not seen the ear hath not heard neither hath it entred into the heart of man to conceive The psalmist admires it as may we Psal 31. 19. Oh how great is thy goodnesse which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men It is said in 1 Joh. 3. 2. Now are we the sons of God a great thing and it doth not yet appear what we shall be to wit how happy how blessed and glorious but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him and see him as he is A great thing indeed And we shall be for ever with him and never severed from him more 1 Thes. 4. 17. And in his presence will be fulnes of joy at his right hand there are pleasures for evermore Psal 16. 11. The holy scriptures of the old and new testament speak much of the happines of that day to the righteous in particular holy Peter Paul and John The psalmist David Psal 72. 7. speaking of Solomon in the tipe but of our Solomon in the antitype the Lord Jesus sayth in his dayes to wit in the time of his kingdom and reign the righteous shall flourish and abundance of peace shall be in the earth so long as the Moon endureth This will be and continue the whole thousand years reign and also all the time of the last session of judgment which as hath been said before is the last and most glorious part and administration of Christs kingdom and as some apprehend will last neer a thousand years more until he deliver up the kingdom to God the father and God the father become all in all That gathering of Gog and Magog at the end of the thousand years Rev. 20. 8. will be little or none interruption thereunto for it will be very short and is only to give the Lord an opportunity to destroy all the wicked that are left in order to the speedy resurrection of the whole that had been dead from Cain to that time to come to judgment and is to usher in the same which kingdom of our Lord Christ in all the parts and administrations thereof being ended and delivered up by him to God the father and God the father become all in all the Saints shall then receive and enjoy higher and greater glory and shall go and be with the Lord Christ for ever in the kingdom of the father a particular setting down of things we shall forbear for fear of tiring the reader CHAP. V. Of the great wisdom and understanding of the Apostle Paul and his high knowledge in the heavenly misteries and the many revelations he had IN the next place upon the whole of those verses forenamed we may minde the great wisdom and understanding that holy Paul was endued withall the many revelations he had and the high misteries that were unfolded and made known unto him which he hath declared for the good and benefit of others being made an instrument in the hand of God for that purpose He had high discoveries and an abundance of revelations and yet was kept humble Gods grace being sufficient 2. Cor. 12. 7. 9. holy Paul had much made known unto him of very high and great secrets he had a great insight into the high misteries of Christ Ephes 3. 3. 4. they were declared by him such high misteries as are not declared and held forth so particularly by any other as namely the order that will be in the resurrection and when the just shall arise in their order and when the unjust The resurrection is a great
thing purely Gospel the order mentioned is a great thing also not so mentioned by any other he hath declared unto us the concurrents of the resurrection of the just with Christ our Lord his first appearing and likewise he hath very plainly told us of the end of Christs kingdom and reign He hath given us some short hints but very plain of another time and state that will succeed that of Christs kingdom and reign on earth namely that of the kingdom of the father when God the father shall be all in all He hath shewed a great mistery not mentioned but by him vers 51. Behold I shew you a mistery we shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye c. to wit all those Saints that shall be alive at the coming of the Lord Christ he hath declared the mode or manner of it a great secret this corruptible shall put on incorruption and this mortal shall put on immortality vers 53. a blessed change a putting off old clothing and a putting on of new very rich and of great worth By him was declared the groaning of the creature by reason of the burdens they are under with also their expectation of freedom from them Rom. 8. 19. 21. 22. and how they shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God Unto him the great Apostle of the Gentiles it was revealed that great mistery that was not known in former ages but was hid in God from the beginning of the world Ephes 3. 5. 9. The matter of which mistery was the taking on of the Gentiles great strangers and aliens into onenesse and fellowship with the Jews making them fellow-citizens and of the houshold of God Ephes 2. 19. that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs and of the same body and partakers of his promise in Christ by the Gospel And likewise the rejection of the Jewes the breaking of them off and grafting the Gentiles on the same stock Rom. 11. a very high matter a great mistery holding forth very rich grace and mercy at which the Apostle very greatly admired and cryed out vers 33. O the depth of the riches both of the wisedom and knowledge of God c The Apostle Peter was a man of great knowledge he had visions and revelations He had by a vision made known to him the breaking down of the partition-wall between the Jew and the Gentle Acts. 10. which when he understood he said in vers 34. of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons c. But Paul had the full of the mistery revealed unto him as before is declared Peter had great insight into that great thing of the pouring out of the spirit Acts. 2. and of the holy spirit come down from heaven which things to wit the great things of the Gospel the Angels desire to look into 1. Pet. 1. 12. He had made known unto him the great burning of the world that now is and likewise the new heavens and the new earth that shall be according to the Lords promise wherein dwelleth righteousness 2. Pet. 3. 7. 12. 13. Unto him was made known the times of refreshing that shall be when God shall send again Jesus as likewise the times of the restitution or restoration of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy Prophets since the world began Acts. 3. 19. 20. 21. Blessed Stephen the first martyr for Jesus he had wonderfull sight or vision Acts. 7. 55. 56. he saw heaven opened and Jesus standing at the right hand of God the which he declared and was stoned for so doing vers 58. That good servant of Jesus holy John he had visions and revelations great secrets and misteries declared unto him for him to make known unto the Churches Rev. 1. 1. his book beareth record hereof and is stiled the revelation of Jesus Christ which he sent and signified by his Angel to his servant John Wherein he hath declared many things that were to come and some things concerning the resurrection of the just and the unjust Rev. 20. 4. 5. 6. 12. 13. And the kingdom of Christ and the new Jerusalem state and the Saints reigning with him therein Rev 20. 4. 6. Rev. 21. 1. 2. 3. Rev. 22. 3. 4. 5. And the first and last session of judgement c. Rev. 20. 4. 6. 11. 12. 13. Which are true and faithfull sayings Rev. 21. 5 But the Apostle Paul seemeth to have exceeded in the number and nature of the things that were revealed to him and declared by him he had an abundance of revelations and was the man that was taken up into paradise into the third heaven and heard unspeakable words not lawfull to be uttered to fallen mortalls which he did not speak of till after fourteen years 2. Cor. 12. 2. 3. 4. He hath declared the manner and order and time of the just and unjust their rising again very plainly in express words first Christ then those that are Christs at his coming Only the just that are Christs are then to be raised compared with Luk. 14. 14. Rev. 20. 6. not the unjust then but in an after time according as hath been mentioned before Rev. 20. 5. 13. Where do we find the like He hath made known likewise the beginning and in special the end of the kingdom and reign of our Lord Christ on earth and the delivering up of the kingdom to God the father and becoming subject himself He hath given us some short hints but very full and plain of a state succeeding very glorious where and when God the father shall be all in all and that we may further take knowledge of from the close of those verses of which we shall dilate a little by way of enquirie and essay CHAP. VI. Of the Lord Christ delivering up his kingdom to his father and of God the father becoming all in all where will be a more glorious state ALL things that have a beginning and are measured by time they have had and will have an end only the great Jehovah that hath no beginning nor end but is from everlasting to everlasting and is not measured by time There are many ends mentioned in holy Scripture of which we shall forbear the mentioning This world that now is will have an end and be destroyed by fire as the world before was by water When this world shall have an end then will take place and begin the world to come when will begin and take place that happy time and state of the kingdom and reign of our Lord Christ on earth for a thousand years and after that all the time of the last session of judgment which as hath been mentioned before some apprehend will last neer a thousand years more that also will have an end when the Lord Christ shall deliver up the kingdom to the father that God the father may be all in
of the father having been a long while before in the kingdom of the son the Lord Christ there enjoying that great glory they with the more facility may take on that greater and higher glory of shining as the sun in the kingdom of the father Our Lord addeth in that verse he that hath an ear to hear let him hear not with the hearing of the outward ear of the body only but with the ear of the minde and understanding by conceiving and understanding the greatness of the thing a high thing a great mistery which few do understand or are able to apprehend or conceive of I know the Lord Christ in Isaiah 9. 6. is called the everlasting father and so minded as he is God coequal with the father God blessed for ever in the unity of the three in one and so he and the father are one Joh. 10. 30. Joh. 17. 22. I and my father are one weigh but the places and the difference between father and son will appear CHAP. VIII Of the mistery of God and the father and of Christ so in like manner the kingdom of God the kingdom of Christ and the kingdom of the father BUt there is also a different count and consideration and likewise a different denomination betwixt God the father the creator of all things and God the son the redeemer the mighty God sent of the father sent of the father the first time in the state of humiliation and will be sent again the second time in power and great glory Great is the mistery of God manifested in the flesh the consideration of minding the matter so is so necessary as to deny it or decry it as an errour hath very ill consequences attending of it of which more hereafter Here I say only this let the context be minded and the close be weighed that of the Lord Christ the son delivering up his kingdom that God the father may be all in all the righteous shining as the stars in the kingdom of the son and shining as the sun in the kingdom of the father succeeding the delivering up of the kingdom of the son to the father that so the father may be all in all I say let it be minded and see if it doth not hold forth the distinction as betwixt the father and the son so betwix that of the kingdom of the son and that of the father succeeding that God the father may be all in all And it may be taken notice of that the Lord Christ speaketh very often of the father and of his father and ours but no where doth he call himself father but stiles himself the son of man very often and sometimes the son of God also Many in a general way seem without any distinction at all or putting any difference between the kingdom of God the creator of heaven and earth the kingdom of Christ and the kingdom of God the father and accordingly they speak and apply but how rightly they do in so understanding and applying the Scriptures so may be considered Further in the 26th of Mathew we have something that seems to look that way our Lord Christ having eat and drank with his disciples says to them in vers 29. I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine untill that day when I drink it new with you in my fathers kingdom The father will have a kingdom as the son will have a kingdom these seem to be distinctly spoken of in the holy scriptures The son will have a kingdom in the which he will reign and which he will deliver up to the father and the father become all in all the end of the one to wit that of the sons being the beginning of the fathers when he shall be all in all As there is the kingdom of Christ spoken of very plainly expressed and the righteous there shining as the stars so there is the kingdom of God the father spoken of and the righteous there shining as the sun as is before set forth and these seem to be very distinctly set forth in the scriptures As the son is not the father nor the father is the son even so it seemeth to be in regard of the kingdom of the son given him of the father and the kingdom of the father When he shall be all in all The son will have a kingdom which the father hath appointed him Luke 22. 29. And he is gone to receive it Luk. 19. 12. He will come again and his kingdom will come with him vers 15. 2. Tim. 4. 1. In his kingdom he will reign to the end and then deliver it up to the Father and the Father be all in all In his kingdom when and where our Lord Christ will drink with his of the fruit of the vine in his fathers kingdom Our Lord Christ Luk. 22. 30. speaketh of eating and drinking in his own kingdom in expresse words and very distinctly that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom c. But in the 26th of Mathew he saith I will not henceforth drink of this fruit of the vine till I drink it now with you in my fathers kingdom We reade of the father and the son and take them distinctly and do not take them as on Ephes 5. 5. This we know that no whoremonger c. hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God to wit God the father and not that the kingdom of Christ and of God there is all one kingdom as some apprehend We cannot without offering losse to the scripture and counting it a kind of tautologie but count them as distinct kingdoms We read Col. 2. 2. The Apostles prayer unto God in the behalf of the Colossians was that the eyes of their understanding might be opened to the acknowledgment of what of the mystery of God and the father and of Christ Very distinct the three in one is a great mystery the three distinct are three great mysteries The mystery of God to wit the creator of heaven and earth a great mysterie the mysterie of God the father reconciling the world unto himself to believers by Jesus Christ our blessed redeemer and Saviour 2 Cor. 5. 9. a great mysterie the mystery also of God manifested in the flesh 1 Tim. 3. 16. is a great mysterie As we reade of the mysterie of God the father and of Christ so we reade of the kingdom of God and of the father and of Christ very distinctly held forth in the holy scriptures and to be able to understand them aright seemeth a great attayner To take them and make them all one and the same seemeth to be an offering of loss to the holy scriptures as if they had spoken in vain To say that the mysterie of God and the mysterie of the father and the mysterie of Christ are one and the same thing without any difference at all and so in like manner to say the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the father
of old who is the Lord And as it hath been so it will be his kingdom will rule over all and he shall give the power and dominion to whom he pleaseth for he is God over all blessed for ever Untill the time come that the kingdom of the Lord Christ take place and his dominion and rule begin when he shall take to him his great power and reign and after deliver it to God the father so as God the creator of heaven and earth will be first in kingdom and rule The great Alpha and will be the last in kingdom rule and power the great Omega The middle it will be to the Lord Christ when he takes it on all power in heaven and earth being given unto him and he must reign till the end and then deliver up and God the father be all in all the Alpha and Omega In the kingdom of God Almighty there hath been two great Mediums or two that have been eminent between God and man besides others namely Moses a great Prophet raised up of God of great authority and rule and the Lord Christ sent of the father first to suffer and then to be highly advanced and to reign but I shall forbear to dilate further In the next place we propose that direction of our Lord Christ about prayer Math. 6. from vers 6. to vers 15. which seemeth to speak to the same matter to wit the kingdom of the father and his being all in all after this manner saith our Lord pray ye our father which art in heaven c. thy kingdom come the kingdom of the father we are to pray that it may come implying it was not then come and likewise that it was not that kingdom which had been since the creation then was and now is and also shall be till the kingdom of our Lord Christ takes place but a kingdom that was to come when our Lord Christ shall resign and God the father be all in all and his kingdom shall come and take place and wonderfull shall be the glory of it beyond all conceiving This kingdom we are to pray that it may come I do not here intend the excluding of the kingdom of grace or glory to be comprehended within this desire or prayer the further advance of the kingdom of grace in the increase of the number and the advance of the intrest of God and Christ here may be included in it and likewise the coming of the kingdom of our Lord Christ when he and his kingdom shall appear and come in power and great glory Whatever of God and Christ hath not yet had its time and highest attainer we may pray that it may come as included in this direction of our Lord thy kingdom come But in special as that which was mostly intended by our Lord Christ in this direction was that the kingdom of God the father that it may come being the last and highest in glory when God the father will be all in all in kingdom sovereignty and rule the great Omega This being that it is likely which the voge and spirits of the servants of God in their desires and wishes go out after and that which their dayly expressions are of as the sum of all blessedness to wit heaven and glory and to be with their heavenly father in glory in his kingdom as the uttermost of all their desires The close of our Lords prayer hath much in this his attest for thine is the kingdom the Power and the glory for ever and ever Amen all in all He had in the times and ages of the world delegated and given kingdoms and authorities and powers to others he hath given unto the Lord Christ kingdom power and authority he hath made and appointed him to be king of kings and Lord of Lords 1. Tim. 6. 15 and he shall come and take to him his great power and all nations serve and obey him but when the end of his kingdom is come he will deliver up all unto his father and be subject unto him himself and the father shall take all into his own power and be all in all for thine is the kingdom the power and the glory for ever and ever Amen It will be so in an eminent manner then God the father his will be the kingdom and the power and the glory and all in all Holy Paul hath a like close he having spoken of the rejection of the Jewes and taking on the Gentils and the restoring of the Jewes again by the coming of the deliverer out of Sion when all Israel shall be saved high mysteries which he admired and cryed out O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his Judgements and his ways past finding out Rom. 11. 33. he closes thus in vers 36. for of him and through him or by him and to him are all things to his glory to him be glory for ever Amen for his is the kingdom the power and the glory for ever and he shall be all in all I further propose as worthy our consideration that consolatory speech of our Lord Christ to his disciples in Joh. 14. 1. 2. 3. they being much troubled at the thoughts of his departure from them he saith to them let not your hearts be troubled ye believe in God to wit the father so is the Creed I believe in God the father Almighty c. believe also in me God the son that he spake of God the father the words following show in my fathers house he doth not say in his own house or kingdom but in his fathers house Whether by house here be meant the new heaven and new earth wherein will be several degrees of glory Luk. 19. 15. to 19. 1. Cor. 15. 41 or whether heaven only or whether both together to wit the kingdom of the son and the kingdom of the father so it may seem to be it being a blessed estate they are to be in after Christ at his coming hath received them to himself or whether it be a borrowed way of speaking I shall not determine but leave it to consideration The tendencie is consolatory to the Disciples in my fathers house are many mansion places places of great contentment happy repose and much blessedness I shall not venture to allegorise this saying of our Lord but rather believe it as it is spoken for that our Lord doth attest it saying If it were not so I would have told you There is such provision such blessednes in my fathers house and I go to prepare a place for you A place our Lord tells his disciples he goeth to prepare for them not expressing where it shall be happily in his fathers house very great and spacious like the master of it the great Jehovah I go to prepare a place for you hapily in his own house or kingdom which he is one to receive Luk 19. 12. 15. in the new heaven and the new earth where he will
dwell and reside with his for a thousand years Rev. 20. 6. Further he saith if I go or though I go and prepare a place for you I will come again good newes and comfortable the Lord Christ gone into heaven will come again and receive you to my self that where I am there ye may be also Very comfortable and gladding to all his that love him and are sad for the absence of him but shall abundantly rejoyce when they shall see him again Joh. 16. 22. They shall be with him in his kingdom they shall never be severed from him or deprived of his presence any more but be for ever with him 1. Thes. 4. 17. with the which the servants of the Lord Jesus may comfort themselves and one another as the Apostle Paul bids them to do with the considerations of those sayings But where will our Lord Christ be then to wit when he is come from heaven may some ask answer he will be in his kingdom for he is the noble man that is gone into a far countrey to receive for himself a kingdom and to return Luk. 19. 12. And being returned and come again he will send and gather all his elect to himself and they shall then be with him where he is he prayed so to his father afore-hand Joh. 17. 24. Father I will that those that thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my glory which is the same with those words aforemontioned Joh. 14. 3. I will come again and receive you to my self that where I am there ye may be also If it yet be asked where our Lord Christ will be then to wit at his coming we say as before in his kingdom in the new earth where those that are his shall live and reign with him a thousand years Rev. 20. 6. The Lord Christ hath made those that are his kings and Preists unto God the father and they shall reign on the earth Rev. 5. 10. he the Lord Christ when he hath received his kingdom must reign till the end and then deliver up to the father While he stays they stay with him when he goes they go with him a higher and greater attayner of glory they shall proceed unto then they shall have mansion places prepared they shall shine as the sun on the fathers kingdom they shall be still with Christ they shall drink of the fruit of the vine with him in the fathers kingdom be it in heaven or wherever it shall be The father and great Lord of the house that good householder will keep the highest and best enjoyments till the last and so great it will be as the eye hath not seen nor ear heard nor hath it entred into the heart of man the things which God to wit the father hath prepared for them that love him which they then shall enjoy in his kingdom when they shall shine forth as the sun for ever It is true in respect of the kingdom of the Lord Christ also and the saints enjoyments there it is not manifest what we shall be for happines and blessednes then and there 1. Joh. 3. 2. But higher and greater shall the saints enjoy and be made partakers of in the kingdom of the father when God is all in all This distinction of kingdoms and gradual way of proceed from glory to glory or to higher and higher glory may hapily seem strange to some that think of nothing but stepping into heaven presently when they leave this world but I shall forbear CHAP. IX Something held forth concerning a mixed or interwoven way of speaking in the holy scriptures when the kingdom of God and of the Lord Christ are spoken of FOr the better minding and taking knowledge of this matter I propose how that in sundry prophecies and high sayings in the old and new Testament concerning kingdom and glory to come there seemeth to be an interwoven or mixed way of speaking some part of the matter relating to the Lord Christ his kingdom and glory and some part relating to the kingdom of the father and the high soveraignty and glory when he shall be all in all the matter warily minded it may hapily appear to be so in way of instance we shall propose a place or two That in the 1 Epistle to Timothy Chap. 6. 15. 16. seemeth to be so Paul having layd a charge on Timothy vers 13. as likewise he had done before chap. 5. 21. And this charge it being as is set forth before God or in the sight of God who quickneth all things and before Jesus Christ who before Pontius Pilat witnessed a good confession that thou keep this commandement c. How long it might be asked he answers until the appearing of Jesus Christ vers 15. Which in his times he shall shew to wit them himself in his glory for that is a sure word and shall be made good the Lord Christ shall be manifested and shewn forth in his times to be the only potentate the king of kings and the Lord of Lords the words are Who is the blessed and only potentate the king of kings and Lord of Lords That hath all power in heaven and in earth given unto him of the father Math. 28. 18. He being highly advanced far above all principallitie and power and might and dominion and every name that is named to wit of power and dignity not only in this world but also in that which is to come Ephes. 1. 21. In the world to come will his kingdom and reign be for that will not be subjected to the Angels Heb. 2. 5. but to the Lord Christ and those he shall authorize to rule with him over ten cities and over five cities Luk. 19. 15. 17. 19. When that blessed time shall take place when the kingdom of the Lord Christ shall be come then the Lord Jesus that great potentate king of kings shall rule and reign in his kingdom before his antients groriously Isa 24. 23. That this thus far is spoken of the Lord there is I conceive little doubt or question to be made of it But that which followeth in vers 16. seemeth to be spoken of God the father who in vers 13. of this 1. Tim. 6. is named the quickner of all things who only hath immortallitie c. The Lord Christ he had no Immortality the scriptures do not attribute that to him he dyed he suffered according to the design of heaven he redeemed and purchased the Church with his own bloud Acts. 20. 28. He was humbled to death even the death of the Crosse Phil. 2. 8. and was afterward advanced highly by God the father It followeth dwelling in the light which no man can approch unto whom no man hath seen or can see this seemeth to be spoken of God the father and is true in him and is not applicable to the Lord Christ touching whom it is said we saw his glory as the glory of the only begotten son of the father
tells us so Heb. 2. 5. as the other were but it will be under the power of the Lord Christ and the saints Then their noble rulers will be of themselves and from among themselves Jer. 30. 21. This and much more that might be mentioned seemeth very plainly to speak forth that that the new heaven and the new earth wherein shall dwell righteousnes and the world to come are much the same and there is very little if any difference at all both beginning and taking place together at the coming of the Lord Christ and both concurring in time with the resurrection of the just and the changing in a moment the then living servants of God and other great things that will be the attendants of that happy day Then will these so raised and changed be caught up together to meet the Lord and they will be for ever with him in the world to come and never severed from him any more When the wicked shall be put from him and bid depart When the righteous shall enjoy great blessednes and felicity then according to that which is a righteous thing with God the wicked shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power even when he shall be glorified in his saints and admired in all them that believe 2. Thes. 1. 6. 9. 10. In the world to come wherein the righteous will be so happy and blessed and the wicked so unhappy and accursed we may a little take notice what the world sayeth and we may begin with that of our Lord Math. 12. 31. 32. where he tells us that blasphemy against the holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven neither in this world nor in that which is come such wicked sinners as despite the spirit of grace here in this world they shall not be forgiven there is no more sacrifice for them Such wicked sinners as shall blaspheme the spirit and being under wrath and punishment blaspeme the God of heaven whose judgments are all just they shall not be forgiven then in the world to come The evangelist Mark chap. 10. 30. He declareth the great reward the loosers for Christ sake here shall receive then in the world to come as they shall also in this present world in the world to come they shall have everlasting life they shall have it with all the good things and great happines that attend that life The evangelist Luke he tells us the same Luk. 18. 30. The Lord Christ will be high then his name highly advanced in the world to come where he will set up his kingdom and reign fully even here below on earth in the new earth among the righteous who shall also reign with him then and there as it is written Rev. 5. 10. And hath made us unto our God kings and Priests and we shall reign on the earth And this when the wicked and unsaved of the nations shall be sent away and bid depart to their doleful places of aboad Mat. 25. 41. 46. That will be made good in the world to come which is mentioned by our Lord in the parable concerning Dives and Lazarus Luk. 16. 19. 20. 22. 25. The wicked for the most part with Dives have their good things in this world and the righteous with poor Lazarus they have affliction and sorrow evill things but then in the world to come it will be otherwise the righteous will have the good things the blessednes and the felicity and the wicked will have then in the world to come the evill things as it is sayd son remember that thou in thy life time received thy good things and likewise Lazarus evill things now he is comforted and thou art tormented The world to come where the righteous shall receive and enjoy everlasting life it will not be in heaven above but it will be here below on earth as the other world The old world was so and so is this present world and so will be the world to come in the earth in the new earth where our Lord Christ will be with his saints when he cometh the second time from heaven where he now is and will be till the times of restitution or restoration of all things Acts. 3. 20. 21. and the new heavens and earth take place and all things made new when and where our Lord Christ will be with his saints reigning with them a thousand years Rev. 20. 4. 6. The new Jerusalem will come down from heaven then and the tabernacle of God as of old will be with men where men will dwell then and God himself will be with them and be their God Rev. 21. 2. 3. and shall afterward be with him in the second and last great session of judgment concluding their judging of wicked men and be judging of Angels Rev. 20. 1. 12. 13. 2. Pet. 2. 9. Jud. ver 6. 1 Cor. 6. 2. 3. as is mentioned before All this and very much more that might be set forth will be in the world to come To understand as some do that by the world to come is meant heaven above sayd in holy scripture to be the residence of the great Jehovah seemeth to be a miss-understanding and a wrong applying of it and the scriptures in all things relating to the world to come To cry heaven heaven as some seem to do in all cases and concerns relating to the world to come as when men dye and are no more here in this world it seemeth very much to dazel and darken the right understanding of the scriptures in order to those blessed promises and prophecys that relate to the future happy condition of the servants of God in the world to come and to be the means of raising an Idea or unknown thing in the mindes of men as if in the world to come men should be Angels or little deities and not men and women as was Adam and Eve and as many should have been if he had continued in his first estate and as men they will be and so converse together in the habitable world to come To make all future things in order to the happyness and blessedness of men in the world to come or new earth then to be either in heaven or hell and so to be meant especially taken properly and restrictively so seemeth to be far from the drift and intent of the scriptures rendring many things in them declared insignificant which do well agree with the habitable world to come but not with heaven properly so understood The world to come of which we have been speaking it will be new peopled with the raised and changed saints wherein Israel the seed of Abraham a nation born in one day will have the preheminence being Gods nation and the gentile saved nations shall walk in their light to wit the light of the new Jerusalem Rev. 21. 24. And then will that be fully fulfilled in Rom. 11. 26. And so all Israel shall be saved as it is
himself a kingdom and to come again Luk. 19. 12. There are many virgins that wait with oyl in their lamps for the bridegrooms coming Math. 25. To them that look for him the second time he will appear to their great joy and consolation the spirit and the bride say come O come Lord Jesus come quickly Further in the new covenant spoken of by holy Ieremiah it is said I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sins no more so forgiven and so forgotten as never before no further need of an advocate then in case of sin for that will be fully made good then in Ier 50. 20. In those dayes and at that time the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for and there shall be none and the sins of Iudah and they shall not be found c. Then will be the time when the Church will be presented glorious without spot or blemish or wrinckle or any such thing Ephes. 5. 27. And that true really without imputation Thou art fair thou art fair my love and there is no spot in thee Cant. 4. 1. 7. Lastly in this new covenant or testament as that which makes good all it is said and I will be their God and they shall be my people In a very high and eminent wise it will be so then beyond what before a very great and blessed thing this is still mentioned as the close to have God in a special wise to be their God and for a people to be so related to God as to be his people in a peculiar way is a great thing and that which renders them considerable and happy and blessed indeed Psal 144. 15. Those sealed ones having their fathers name written on their foreheads I conceive comporting in time and being the same with those Rev. 22. 4. His servants shall serve him and see his face and his name shall be in their foreheads He that sitteth on the throne sayeth these words are true and faithful that it relates to that blessed time in order to the high and full fulfilling of it we may minde that in Rev. 21. where the new heaven and the new earth is spoken of as vers 1. Iohn saw a new heaven and a new earth Vers. 2. He saw the new Jerusalem come down from heaven very glorious As he saw so he heard also vers 3. A great voice out of heaven it is with a behold the Tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people and God himself shall be with them and be their God And as vers 4. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes all sorrow and pain and death it self shall be done away and be no more and all things shall be made new and Iohn is bidden to write for that these sayings are faithful and true vers 5. In Ier. 32. vers 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. The prophet speaketh again of the Lord his gathering of them out of all countryes and bringing them again comporting as to the full fulfilling of it with the Angels gathering the elect from the four windes Math. 24. 31. And making an everlasting covenant with them and doing great things for them and that he will be their God and they shall be his people And that he will plant them in their own land assuredly and do it with his whole heart and soul as before he spake of the fureness of his covenant as sure as the ordinances of heaven their abiding stable to wit the sun and moon and the stars See the places at large I shall adde a few testimonies out of the following prophets that are of the like import and tendency with what hath been held forth before and shall begin with Daniel chap. 12. 1. At that time shall Michael stand up the great prince very likely to be the Lord Christ the prince of peace when he appeareth again great things will take place he will stand for Daniels people the Israelites the seed of Abraham unto whom he came before but they received him not at that time there will be such trouble as never was before and at that time Daniels people shall be delivered they shall be delivered by the great deliverer when he shall come to Sion Rom. 11. 26. As before is mentioned The Lord Christ sball send forth his Angels and they shall gather his elect from the four windes Math. 24. 31. They shall be delivered every one of them not one left behinde of those that shall be found written in the book of life it is like it is meant The lamb the Lord Christ hath a book of life wherein is written the names of his from the foundation of the world Rev. 17. 8. Much comporting with the promise Rev. 3. 5. 12. To those that are overcommers And it shews further what time this relates unto Rev. 22. 3. 4. It will be when there shall be no more curse but the throne of God and of the lamb and his servants shall serve him and see his face and his name shall be in their foreheads when they shall reign for ever vers 5. At that time when the Lord Christ cometh and the dead are raised and the living saints changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye it shall be fully made good and it is likely not before Further in vers 2. of this Dan. 12. He speaketh of the resurrection saying many that sleep in the dust to wit in their graves shall arise some to everlasting life to wit of felicity and enjoying God and Christ c. their names being in the book of life and some to shame and everlasting contempt As it is said elsewhere To everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord into everlasting punishment everlasting there is in order to both according to that of the Apostle 1. Cor. 15. Then will be great glory and happyness to the just and great woe and misery to the wicked The parable of Dives and Lazarus speaks forth this very plainly the righteous will then shine gloriously though now they are made black with reproach Good Daniel was inquisitive about this and the time when it should be he is bidden as in the last verse by the Angel to go his way till the end I conceive of this world as if he should have said then it shall be and in a promissary way it is said thou shalt rest to wit in his grave as in a bed and stand up in thy lot to wit be raised again in the end of the days to enjoy his lot or share of glory then much the same with that in 1. Cor. 15. 23. 24. Every man in his own order first Christ then those that are Christs at his coming The wicked dead in their order or time a thousand years after In the next place take we notice what the prophet Hosea sayth Hosea 1. 7. where the Lord sayeth he will save Iudah not by bow or sword c. but by
be made good in its time The testimony of holy Peter 2. Pet. 1. 16. Is very considerable he tells us that the things concerning the kingdom and coming of the Lord Christ are no cunning devised fables but true and real things first that they were eye witnesses of his majesty to wit of the Lord Christs shewn forth at the transfiguration on the holy mount Math. 17. 1. What honor and glory he received when there came a voice to him from that excellent glory this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased This voice they heard from heaven namely Peter James and John being with him in the holy mount where Moses and Elias were also present Here were three good and authentique witnesses that both heard and saw themselves against the validness of their testimony no exception could be made They had it not by hear-say but saw and heard themselves yet he good humble servant of Jesus Christ prefers prophecy before it Pet. 1. 19 We have a more sure word of prophecy to the which we shall do well to take heed A very high and blessed testimony in the behalf of what the holy prophets have spoken concerning the power and coming of the Lord Christ and he encourageth the servants of God to take heed unto it as to a light that shineth in a dark place But it may be asked how long are we so to do He tells us until the day dawn and the day-star arise in your hearts The blessed day when Jerusalems light shall be fully come and the day-star arise in the heart and to the heart when there will be light within and without great light as the light of seven dayes put together When all the prophecyes which concern Christ our Lord his coming in power and great glory and the coming of his kingdom with all the things relating to that happy day shall have their full fulfilling and making good as those former promises relating to his first coming and the day of his humiliation and sufferings had then their fulfilling and making good Of which we shall speak a little in a paralel way with much assurance that it will be even so without any the least failer at all There is mention in the holy Evangelists of many prophecyes fulfilled at the first coming of our Lord Christ observed and written and not in vain God he is the same and his word is the same and the promises relating to his coming again his second coming will have the same fulfilling and making good whether we believe it or not They are all true and faithful they are all yea and Amen touching those in his humiliation there were some of them at his very first coming and some of them were fulfilled at the end and finishing of his suffering In like manner there be prophecyes and high sayings relating to the beginning of his coming in power and great glory and the coming of his kingdom and the things relating thereunto And some prophecyes relating to the latter end of his kingdom and reign which will accordingly take place and be accomplished Take we knowledge of those relating to our Lord Christ his first coming the very beginning thereof Math. 1. 22. His incarnation is sayd to be on that account that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet to wit Ifaiah chap. 7. 14 behold a virgin shall conceive and bring forth a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel A very unlikely thing and hard to be believed if reason had been consulted yet was fulfilled and made good Our Lord Christ was born in Bethleem so it was written Mich. 5. 2. see Math. 2. 5. Herods enquirie where Christ should be born our Lord Christ being carryed into Egypt and brought thence was that it might be fulfilled which was written Out of Egypt have I called my son Hos 11. 1. This had been fulfilled before in Israel's being brought out of Egyps so the prophet speaketh of it yet it had an eye to annother fulfilling which it had here in our Lord Christ Math. 2. 15. Vers. 17. Herods cruel murthering the innocent children was the fulfilling of a prophecy then was fulfilled that of Jeremie the prophet Jer. 31. 15. In Rama was a voice heard Lamentation and bitter weeping Rachel weeping for her children c. When our Lord came out of Egypt he went and dwelt in a citie called Nazareth that it might be fulfilled that was spoken by the prophet he shall be called a Nazarene Our Lord leaving Nazareth came and dwelt in Capernaum in the border of Zebulon and Napthalie Math. 4. 13. 14. 15. That it might be fulfilled Isa 9. 1. The Land of Zebulon c. The people that sate in darknes have seen great light c. See the places and consider them At the latter end also when he was finishing his sufferings and humiliation Judas his taking of money thirty peeces of silver of the chief preists to betray his master Matth. 27. 9. was the fulfilling of a prophecy then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Zechariah the ptophet Zech. 11. 12. 13. Likewise the parting of his garments and casting lots for his vesture Math. 27. 35. It was that it might be fulfilled that is written Psal 22. 18. His crucifying between two theives was that the scripture might be fulfilled that sayth He was numbred with the transgressors Isa 53. 12. Mark 15. 28. That very remarkable place we may see in Joh. 19. 28. 29. 30. When his suffering was neer over he being then in the very last part of it and knowing that all things were accomplished only one little thing as some might be apt to think that the scriptures Psal 69. 21. might be fulfilled he sayd I thirst and they filled a spunge with vinegar and put it upon hysop and put it to his mouth which when he had received the vinegar he said it was finished to wit fully that being the very last thing and he bowed his head and gave up the ghost So as we see what great stresse lay upon it our Lord could not die till it was done and then he sayd it was finished and gave up the ghost The like stresse was on those other things before mentioned as the parting of his rayment and casting lots for his vesture his going to Nazareth and Capernaum and the like recorded and fulfilled in the very letter of the scripture without any allegorie or spiritual meaning which many are apt to be putting on prophecyes Besides these there are many more recorded in the holy scriptures and are not written in vain which for brevity I forbear to set down In like manner and in way of proportion and paralel we may reckon account and believe that all the prophecyes and sayings of the holy prophets and of our Lord Christ himself and the holy Apostles written by inspiration by the holy pen-men and writers of the holy scriptures relating to Christ our Lord his coming again in power and great glory
and the coming of his kingdom and reign and all those great things that shall contemporize fall in and take place then of which we have spoken before and are too many to be here set down they shall all have their fulfilling and making good then these of the holy psalmists of Isaiah Ieremiah and Ezekiel of Daniel and the rest of the prophets relating to that time shall then in like manner be fulfilled as they are written We shall particularize a few out of the new testament and draw to a close First that of our Lord Math. 25. 31. With all that followeth to the end of the chapter as it is setdown when the son of man shall come in his glory and all his holy Angels with him then will he sit on the throne of his glory likewise the gathering the nations the setting them on the right hand and on the left the saying as is their spoken and judging and sentencing of them will be fulfilled according as it is written in all the particulars of it As also that Luk. 21. 27. and then shall ye see the son of man come in the clouds with power and great glory Every eye shall see him Rev. 1. 7. As sure as the wise men saw his star and afterwards himself lying in the manger or as they in the time of his humiliation saw him ride on an asse and on a colt the foal of an asse as it was written Zech. 9. 9. Math. 21. 4. 5. Tell ye the daughter of Sion behold thy king cometh unto thee meek and sitting on an asse c. So as sure then when he comes again he shall come in the clouds of heaven in great power and glory and every eye shall see him That Acts. 1. 10. 11. Which the two men in white apparrel to wit Angels told the disciples looking after our Lord being ascended this Jesus whom ye have seen go up into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven it shall then be fulfilled As likewise that Heb. 9. 28. To them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation Then will be fulfilled that which holy Peter and others have told concerning the burning of this world and the taking place of the new a new heaven and a new earth according to the promise of God with tho raising of the dead in Christ out of their graves and the changing of those saints then alive in a moment The restoration of all things spoken by the mouth of all the holy Prophets will be fulfilled as sure as those things spoken by them were formerly when he came before Then will that be fulfilled written by holy Paul Rom. 8. concerning the waited for adoption the redemption of the body and the creatures also delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God Then shall Daniel as was told by the Angel stand up in his lot And Abraham and Isaack and Jacob and all the Prophets sit together in the kingdom of God as it is written That which holy Isaiah chap. 60. hath foretold and holy John hath shewed Rev. 21. Rev. 22. concerning Jerusalems glory coming down from heaven and shining gloriously with the pure river of water of life and the trees bearing fruit every moneth which he hath attested to be the true sayings of Almighty God And also that concerning the righteous then that they shall hunger no more nor thirst any more nor suffer pain or death any more for ever nor no more curse the sayings being true and faithfull and will be fulfilled then the righteous shall see the vengence that is written fully made good against their wicked oppressors their wrongs righted their faith and patience rewarded the righteous proceedings of God manifested in punishing them with everlasting destruction from his presence such as sorely afflicted them when they shall have rest together it will be all fulfilled as it is written Great terror and fear will attend the wicked then and they will according as it is written be found saying to the mountains fall on us and to the hills cover us from the presence of him that sitteth on the throne And Gog and Magog the beast and false Prophet the captains and mighty men and all their great numbers be destroyed And the devill that deceived them and death also and the grave or Hell be cast into the lake of sire for ever with very many things of the like kinde which in a prophetical way by way of threatning against the wicked are written it shall then be fulfilled and made good from the faithfulness of the Lord Iehovah that is engaged in it Why should any that believe the the power and faihfulness of God doubt of it why should any think that the things spoken of in the holy Scriptures relating to the Lord Christ his second coming in power and great glory declared by the prophets and holy penmen of the Scriptures that those should not as well be fulfilled and made good as those were fulfilled at his first coming in the state of humiliation and suffering why should any go about to advance unbelief and weak reason into the room and place of faith and conclude that those things of Christs coming and kingdom are divised fables or things impossible ever to come to passe Holy Peter strong in faith and lively in hope saith 2. Pet. 3. 12. seeing so great things are to be done as burning and dissolving this old heaven and earth with the works therein in order to the coming in of the new in the room thereof we should be looking for and hastning to the day of their performance Vers. 13. we according to his promise look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dweleth righteousnes And again vers 14. seeing that ye look for such things be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace c. unto those that look for him the second time he will appear Heb. 9. 28. Great good things will attend the righteous hereafter a great change for the better will come when they shall enjoy a flourishing condition and abundance of peace and felicity The blessed morning will come when they will come to have the preheminence The day hasteneth when they as Lazarus had will have the good things and be comforted when the wicked will sadly suffer the righteous being in the height of their enjoyments of blessedness enjoying the presence of God and being for ever with the Lord Christ and having fellowship with just men throughly made perfect and shall live and reign with Christ a thousand years as it is written and will be fulfilled It is impossible that any thing thereof should fail or come short I shall forbear to enlarge The reason and scope of the whole is to infor from what is written as fulfilled of the prophecyes at Christ our Lord his first coming to shew what we may look for and expect at his second coming in like manner remembring holy Peter hath told us we have a more sure word of Prophecy unto which we do well to taken ed Hope we stedfastly therefore for the great grace and blessedness that shall be brought unto us at the revelation of Iesus Christ O come Lord Iesus come quickly Errata PAge line 7. for on reade gone p. 32. l. 2. for on r. in p. 33. l. 27. for had no r. had not l. 22. r. Lord Jesus p. 43. l. 30. for Psalm r. Esa p. 44. for psal r. phil l. 33. for his r. this p. 52. l. 15. for preceher r. preached p. 55. l. 17. for changed r. raised p. 57. l. 36. for world r. word l. 30. r. is come dole which is to come p. 59. l. 22. for many r. man p. 78. l. 13. r. that will attend p. 83. l. 16. for as our Christ r. as our Lord Christ l. 11. r. the regeneration p. 87. l. 12. for must r. might l. 31. for as so great r. is so great p. 91. l. 12. for thee r. him p. 102. dele for a time p. 105. l. 23. for light r. right p. 107. for be r he p. 109. l. 17. for must r. may l. 24. dele save In p. 13. at the close of the 3. chap. some thing intended to have been left out was casually left in concerning a long time after a 1000. years said to be Mr. Archors judgement also p. 16. towards the end these words and as some apprehend will be a 1000 years more Which not being the judgement of the Authour is here intimated FINIS
the first fruits then a long time since not yet come after those that are Christs expresly declared to be at his coming then cometh the end implying as before neer that time they shall arise and not before towards the end a little before the last session neer a thousand years after the rising of the just as before Then cometh the end the end of time or of a state it may be considered as in a more General way as holding out the latter end of a state or of time as a day year or years neer accomplished is said to be the end of that day year or years as was said by the Lord himself to Noah Gen. 6 13. the end of all flesb is come c. It is at hand It is but a little while and the floud will come and sweep away all it only stays while Noah builds the Ark but the end was come Yet further when the floud was come all were not drowned presently haply some might live twenty thirty or forty days after the floud was come and begun and it is said that the end of all flesh was come But secondly the end may be taken strictly for the utter end of time or being of a thing as the utter end of a day year or years the filling or full finishing thereof nothing remaining an end an utter end According to such an end as was come upon the old world when the floud was at hand so it may be minded and taken here as in order to the rising of the unjust and wicked to judgment towards the end of Christs kingdom and reign on earth a little before he resigns before the utter end be come shall the rising of the unjust and wicked be to judgment And as in the last place it relates to them is the true understanding of what is spoken on that account in John 5. 28. 29. for sutable to the several resurrection both of the just and unjust so also is their judgment to be and also what is spoken in Math. 25 34. concerning the judgment and salvation of the just and in vers 41. of the judgment and destruction of the unjust is thus to be understood and will be found to be truth in the day thereof CHAP. III. Containing sundry things of the reign of our Lord Christ of his putting down all his enemies and how long his reign will be THe Apostle in his proceed seemeth to make a digression from the matter in hand namely the resurrection which he returns unto and speaks largely of afterward but here having mentioned the coming of the end he falls on speaking of very high and great things that shall attend the end in order to our Lord Christ his kingdom and reign and having put down all enemies his then delivering up his kingdom and God the father becoming all in all he waves the mentioning of the resurrection of the unjust and speaks no otherwise then thus then cometh the end and so takes on another thing that shall be at the end also Vers. 24 Then cometh the end when he shall have put down all rule and all Authority and power that which is first set down is the last thing that will be done at the utmost end when all things relating to the reign and dominion are finished then he shall deliver up the kingdom to God the father when all power and authorities are put down all enemies under his feet then he shall deliver up the kingdom to God the father of whom he received it Then all that are under our Lord Christ then shall give up their power also and God the father shall be all in all When he shall have put down all rule and authority and power Great kings and monarchs use to have all rule authority and power derived from them by all that are under them and what they meet with in their dominions that is not so derived they put down and suppresse Our Lord Christ a mighty king and monarch then will do in like manner put down all rule and authority not derived from him all that make opposition his enemies that would not have him reign over them that will not subject themselves the princes and rulers of the unsaved Nations Gog and Magog and the captains and mighty men with all that excercise rule and power they will then by our Lord Christ he utterly dispossessed of their power and put down The prophecy of Malachi will then in the reign of our Lord Christ be made good to the life they shall be so burnt up as there shall be left neither root nor branch there will be none to succeed them to take their dominions and thrones after them as now the son succeeding the father but it will not be so then their places will be no more sound for ever All authoritie and power and rule in the time of the kingdom and reign of our Lord Jesus in the thousand yeers he will subject and put down all that have enmity in them sooner or later he will put them under his feet This is one of the great things to be done before the utter end come the putting down all rule authoritie and power in an active visible way and until then he must reign and his kingdome continue for so it is said expresly in vers 25. He must reign until he himself hath put all his enemies under his feet All his enemies great and small high and low one and all by what name or title soever they be named or called he shall subdue them and as a mighty mighty Monarch shall subject them under his feet and put them down all that have enmity in them against him sin and death and the grave they shall all be destroyed by him the last enemy that shall be destroyed will be death as after is exprest the Apostle layes great stresse upon it he must he must reign until then This until seemeth not to be the same with that in the 110. Psalm mentioned by our Lord Math. 22. 44. Also by the Apostle Heb. 1. 13. Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool Which scriptures some urge against the personal coming of our Lord Christ the second time and his reigning here on earth saying thus he must stay in heaven until all be done here his enemies made his footstool So as if all the scriptures that speak of his kingdome and reign shall be made good in a virtual way and that 's all To dilate the matter a little First that in the 110. Psalm and the other alledged scriptures is done by God the father himself he said to the son the Lord Christ as those places do shew but this is done by the Lord Christ himself he must reign until he hath made c. Again that 's done by God the father in heaven this is done by the Lord Christ himself on earth That 's done by the father in heaven where the Lord Christ is sitting at
goeth on vers 4. I will build thee and thou shalt be built O virgin of Israel vers 6. there shall be a day wherein it shall be said arise ye and let us go up to Sion to the Lord our God vers 7. the Lord saith sing with gladness for Jacob. vers 8. behold I will bring them from the north and gather them from the coasts of the Earth vers 10. he that scattered Israel will gather him and keep him as a shepheard doth his sheep or flock vers 11. the Lord hath redeemed Jacob. vers 12. therefore shall they come and sing in the height of Sion for Sion will be very high indeed then and shine forth very gloriously this is much the same with that of holy Isaiah chap. 2. 2. When it shall come to passe in the last days the very time we are treating of that the mountain of the Lords house shall be established in the top of the mountains and shall be exalted above the hills and all nations shall flow unto it He goeth on and speaketh of great things that shall be done for Israel Gods people At vers 31. He speaketh of a new covenant God will make after those days with the house of Israel and Iudah Reade the matter at large What it is he declares vers 33. of Ier. 31. Namely he will put his law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts and he will be their God and they shall be his people There is much of grace in it in that he undertakes to do it without any condition vers 34. Seemeth to look further and to eye another time then that of grace and the state of regeneration as to its full fulfilling it is said they shall teach no more every man his neighbour and every man his brother saying know the Lord the reason is For they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest of them saith the Lord. This new covenant it seemeth not only to eye the day of grace but the day of glory Not only the day of Christs first coming when he confirmed it with his bloud Heb. 9. The comfort and blessed fruit whereof all the servants of God in all ages since have enjoyed and yet do and still shall enjoy till that happy time come when they shall enjoy the high and full enjoyment of it in that blessed world to come when the great fruit and blessedness of it shall then be made partakers of so as was never attained unto or enjoyed before in that happy time that is coming it will have its full fulfilling and be made good in every particular That in vers 34. of this Ier. 31. which seemeth to eye another time in order thereunto for in the day of grace whilest this world lasteth there will be need of teaching and exhorting one another as it is commanded Heb. 3. 13. But exhort one another dayly whilest it is called to day whilest the day of grace lasteth so chap. 10. 25. But exhort one another and so much the more as we see the day approacheth wherein there will be no need of doing it Here in the state of regeneration there will be but knowledge in part but then in that happy state and time there will be the full vision and knowledge of God that man will be capable of the greatest according to the greatness and the least according to their littleness every vessel bigg or little will be brim-full that it can receive no more The earth to wit the new earth will be full of the knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea Isa 11. 9. Holy Paul semeth to eye this of not teaching one another 1 Cor. 13. 9. we know but in part we prophesy in part so was it at the present but there was another time to come when it would not be so Vers. 10. When that which is perfect is come that blessed time that perfect state takes place as it will do when the raised and changed ones shall appear with the Lord Christ then an end of things in part and of teaching also For prophesying or teaching as to them will then cease Here we are but as children then as perfect men here we see but as through a glasse darkly but then we shall see face to face clearly and fully we now know but in part but then we shall know as we are known for God will fully take away the face of the covering and vail that lets and hinders Isa 25. 7. when there shall be a changing so that vail will be done away Very high knowledge of God then our Lord will shew us plainly of the father and in him we shall behold his glory In the eighth and ninth chapters of the epistle to the Hebrews this is treated of by the Apostle under the term of a new testament A covenant and a testament differ something strictly minded though in substance they may be the same There were many covenants made by Almighty God as with Noah and Abraham Isaack and Iacob with the Israelites with David and with Levi c. But he made but two testaments a first by Moses confirmed by the bloud of Bulls and Goats A second by the Lord Christ confirmed by his own bloud or death as a testament must be else it is of no force but a covenant is of force whilest a person liveth and is otherwise confirmed The new testament as a testament of the Lord Christ he is the blessed mediator or surety of it as Moses was of the first It relates chiefly to the time of grace and the estate of regeneration in this world and is of high concern and great fruit and benefit to all believers much of the mistery of godlines and of the Gospel being contained in it but as a covenant it seemeth to eye and look at a further time not yet come and a covenant that shall then be made good when they shall not teach for there will be no need of it they shall know as much as they shall be capable of knowing for such fullness they shall enjoy as nothing can be added to it No great question but the Apostle had this in his thoughts in order to that blessed time to come the last verse seemeth to speak out so much to them that look for him to wit the Lord Christ shall he appear the second time as he appeared the first without sin to wit the imputation of sin in a low condition in the form of a servant so the first time but the second time in power and great glory without sin unto salvation Heb. 9. 28. to wit to full and perfect salvation of body and spirit united in one at that happy day There are many blessed expectants that look for the Lord Christ his appearing this second time as good old Simeon Hannah did the first time there are blessed servants that look for their Lord his return from a far country whither he is gone to receive for