the Lord their God and will hear them and they of Ephraim shall bee like a mighty man and their heart shall rejoyce as through wine yea their children shall see it and be glad and their heart shall rejoyce in the Lord I will hisse for them and gather them for I have redeemed them and they shall increase as they have increased and I will sow them among the people and they shall remember mee in farre countries and they shall live with their children and turn again and I will bring them again out of the Land of Egypt and gather them out of Assyria and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and place shall not bee found for them And I will strengthen them in the Lord and they shall wal up and down in his name saith the Lord. Here are cleer promises that they should be brought out of Egypt and Assyria and from the far Countries whither they had bin carried and brought into their owne Land again and there should be strengthned in the Lord and walk up and down in his name that is his name and feare and Spirit should bee upon them all which shall come to passe in his due time And now by these severall witnesses it is evident that the Jewes in particular shall be converted and bee distinct from the Gentiles under that notion of the anciently beloved people of God the seed of Abraham Isaac and Jacob and that they shall possesse their owne land even the land given to their fathers to possesse the which very many other Scriptures do affirme which I forbear to multiply as conceiving it needlesse And thus having made it cleer how that the Jewes shall bee called I should now come to speak more fully of the calling of the yet unconverted Nations of the Gentiles also But there is one remarkable thing which concernes the Jewes which when they are converted shall be done of which a word or two in this place and it is this That when the Jewes shall be converted and returne to their owne Land as the Lord of old when hee wrought deliverances for them caused them to passe through the red Sea Exod. 14. 22. and through that mighty river the river Jordan Josh 3. 17. on dry ground wherein hee gloriously appeared unto them so will hee now also dry up the tongue of the Egyptian sea to make way for them as appears Isa 11. 11 12 c. And it shall come to passe in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left from Assyria and from Egypt and Pathros and from Cush and from Elam and from Shinar and from Hamath and from the Islands of the Sea and hee shall set up an Ensigne for the Nations and shall assemble the out-casts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the foure corners of the earth And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea and with his mighty winde shall shake his hand over the river and shall smite it in the seven streames and make men go over dry-shod and there shall bee an highway for the remnant of his people which shall bee left from Assyria like as it was to Israel in the day that hee came up out of the Land of Egypt Here it is plain that thus the Lord will utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian Sea and smite it in the seven streames for this very end that his people the people of Israel and Judah whom he intends to gather out of the four corners of the earth where they have been scattered may have way made for them at least those of them that must come that way who are in Assyria that they may come into their owne Land again This is plainly asserted likewise in Isa 27. 12 13. And it shall come to passe in that day that the Lord shall beat off from the chanell of the river unto the stream of Egypt and yee shall bee gathered one by one O yee children of Israel and it shall come to passe in that day that the great trumpet shall be blown and they shall come which were ready to perish in the Land of Assyria and the out-casts in the Land of Egypt and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem This is also a cleere Prophesie of the calling of the Children of Israel to the obedience of Christ their Lord and ours and of the bringing of them when they are thus converted into their owne land for which end the river of Egypt is to be beaten off that so clear way may be made for them to go over dry shod for when God will work who shall let it and when he will bring his people to any place it is not vast and great rivers that lying in the way shall hinder it But wee finde that when the Nation of the Jews and all the seed of Jacob shall again be converted unto the Lord that that great worke shall not be too hard for God to do but he will do therein that which shall be too hard for men to beleeve As that a Nation shall be born at once That they shall come to the birth be brought forth in one day And that before Sion travelleth before the Church doth any thing considerable in order to the converting of a Nation to Christ it shall be done * It may bee before any considerable numbers of Gospel Ministers are sent to preach the Gospel to them many thousands may be converted by the preaching of one or few and the the spirit be richly poured out upon them she travelled she brought forth These are things too hard for men to beleeve but not too hard for God to doe for when the Lord undertakes the worke all obstructions shall bee removed and the Lord will suddenly and wonderfully convert these Nations and being converted they must be brought into their own land and if he will have it done who or what shall let it If the river of Egypt even the tongue of the Egyptian sea be in the way he wil beat off from the Chanel of the river unto the stream of Egypt yea he wil utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea and with his mighty winde shall shake his hand over the river and shall smite it in the seven streames and men shall go over dry-shod So that as the red sea and the river Iordan could not hinder the passage of his people that were to passe that way when he brought them out of Egypt so neither shall the river of Egypt hinder his people now from their passage into their own Land But it may bee queried why should the river of Egypt bee dried up to make way for the Israelites comming into their own Land rather then any other river that may lie in their way I answer first That though the Scripture mention not the drying up of any river but the
and having salvation and he shall speak peace unto the heathen and his dominion shall be even from sea to sea and from the river even to the ends of the earth And Zech. 8. 21 22 23. The inhabitants of one city shall go to another saying Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord and to seek the Lord of hosts I will go also Yea many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and pray before the Lord. And in those days men shall take hold out of all languages in the nations even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew saying We will go with you for we have heard that God is with you Thus the Spirit of God in Scripture hath cleerly set forth the conversion of the Gentiles together with the Jews in these several Scriptures that I have mentioned And as it is cleer in these Scriptures so there are several other Scriptures wherein it is as cleer but I shall adde onely one more and it 's a Scripture that speaks of the conversion and turning to God of two particular Nations which at this day are yet Idolaters as well as many others and in the state of gross darkness and unbelief and they are the Egyptians and Assyrians Isa 19. the Prophecy hereof begins at vers 18. In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan and swear to the Lord of hosts one shall be called the city of Heres or of the Sun or of shining glory In that day there shall be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt and a pillar at the border thereof to the Lord and it shall be for a signe and for a witness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt for they shall cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors and he shall send them a Saviour and a great one and he shall deliver them and the Lord shall be known to Egypt and the Egyptians shall know the Lord at that day Yea they shall vow a vow unto the Lord and shall perform it and the Lord shall smite Egypt he shall smite and heal it and they shall return unto the Lord and he shall be entreated of them and shall heal them In that day there shall be a high-way out of Egypt to Assyria and the Assyrians shall come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria even a blessing in the midst of the land whom the Lord of hosts shall bless saying Blessed be Egypt my people and Assyria the work of mine hands and Israel mine inheritance In this Prophecy it is very cleer that there is a time to come wherein the Jews shall again be the beloved people of God for never yet was there a time when Israel Egypt and Assyria were all together at one time acknowledged to be the people of God but the time is coming when it shall be so when not onely the Gentiles alone but the Jews also and not onely the Jews alone but the Gentiles also shall be the people of God and when in particular the Egyptians and the Assyrians which are now so deeply involved in darkness and blindness and have no knowledge of God shall be a people blessed of the Lord. For there are in these verses such expressions as do very plainly and cleerly speak the conversion of these Nations As that the Lord shall be known to the Egyptians and the Egyptians shall know the Lord and that they shall engage themselves to the Lord which is expressed under the terms of swearing to the Lord and vowing to the Lord which do cleerly hold forth the engaging of their hearts to the Lord. And again it is said that the Egyptians being oppressed shall cry unto the Lord but they shall not cry in vain for in answer unto their crying he shall send them a Saviour and a great one and he shall deliver them And besides it is said that the Egyptians being smitten of the Lord shall return even to the Lord and he shall be intreated of them and heal them and that the Egyptians being thus converted they shall then and therein be in fellowship with the Assyrians and the Assyrians with them and they both with Israel And thus now is it cleer in these several Scriptures as well as in many others which I forbear to mention to avoid prolixity that the Gentiles shall be plentifully and abundantly brought in to the obedience of Christ whose dominion must be from sea to sea from the rivers unto the ends of the earth and that not onely some Nations but all Nations shall seek after the Lord And that not onely the mean and inferiour sort of the people of the Nations but some of their Kings and Queens and the greatest among them shall come and see the glory of the Lord and become his servants and be supports under him to his people Kings shall be their nursing fathers and Queens their nursing mothers and bring their forces to their support and they not weak ones but many people and strong Nations saith Zechariah in the place forementioned shall come to seek the Lord of Hosts And now having shown that the preaching of the Gospel to all Nations is to follow upon the Lamb his overcoming the ten Kings and that this will probably be the time of the bringing in of Jews and Gentiles because that by the Lord Jesus his so gloriously appearing for his own people and against that scarlet whore Rome and the beast and all that crew way will be made for the coming in of Jews and Gentiles But this by the way I desire may be taken notice of That as many of the Nations as the preaching of the Gospel shall not prevail with to bring them in to the obedience of Christ for multitudes as I have made it evident must come in that way them shall the sword of Justice subdue both before and at and after the ruine of Rome Those whom the grace of the Gospel the tenders of love and the offers of peace win not them vengeance and wrath shall overtake If they will not listen to that voice of the Spirit that says to the Kings of the earth Be wise now therefore O ye Kings and be instructed ye Judges of the earth kiss the Son lest he be angry and ye perish c. then shall he speak unto them in wrath and vex them in his sore displeasure and he shall break them with a rod of Iron and dash them in pieces like a potters vessel Thus he will do with the ten kings and thus he will afterwards do with the other Nations But if any of these ten kings that yet stand out shall be overcome by his love and by receiving the cleer light of the Gospel for there is no question but those his called
river of Egypt yet it doth not follow but that there may bee other rivers besides this dried up to make way for them if any other rivers shall be in their way although the Scripture be silent in it and mention not particularly any others But secondly the river of Egypt is chiefly mentioned as that it shall be dried up because that lieth in the way in which they must come when they come out of the land of Assyria where its probable that greatest numbers of the Israelites are for though the two Tribes may be scattered and are scattered in all parts of the world yet wee know that the ten Tribes that were first carried captives into the Land of Assyria were never brought forth from thence so that it is probable that there may bee and is a greater number of the Israelites there then in any part of the world besides and that may bee the reason why the Scripture when it mentions any particular places from whence the Children of Israel shall be gathered when they shall bee converted It doth chiefly speak of Assyria as Isa 11. 11. And it shall come to passe that the Lord shall set his hand againe the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left from Assyria and from Egypt and from Pathros and from Cush and from Elam c. Here Assyria is chiefely mentioned and so again in this place Isa 27. 12 13. It is said Ye shall be gathered one by one O ye children of Israel and they shall come which were ready to perish in the Land of Assyria and the out cast in the Land of Egypt and shall worship the Lord in the holy Mount at Jerusalem and so againe in Zach. 10. 10. I wil bring them again out of the Land of Egypt and gather them out of Assyria and will bring them into the Land of Gilead c. In all these places Assyria is especially mentioned from whence the Children of Israel must bee brought And because of the great number which must bee brought out of the Land of Assyria the river of Egypt is to bee dried up to make way for them to come to their owne Land that they may againe inhabite Jerusalem and the Mountaines of Israel according to the many promises which are made unto them to that purpose as Ezek. 36 2 3 c. And Jer 32. 41 42 c. and Zach. 10. 10. And so much shall suffice to bee spoken of the conversion of the Jewes Of the Gentiles conversion ANd thus having discoursed of the conversion of the Jews I now come to describe also the conversion of the Gentiles which about this time are also abundantly to be brought in For so I made it evident before out of the fourteenth of the Revelations that after the Lamb hath overcome the ten Kings or part of them before the fall of Babylon that the everlasting Gospel is to be preached to all Nations and Kinreds and Tongues and People Now as the preaching of the Gospel at that time will be the more effectual upon the Jews because then the wickednesses of Babylon shall be declared against and detested and Jesus Christ shall manifest himself against that wicked crew so also will the preaching of the Gospel be the more effectual upon the Gentiles because then the judgements of God will be so terribly manifested against the Idolatrous sinful and prophane practices of wicked men For mark in that fourteenth of the Revelation where it is said that the everlasting Gospel is to be preached to all Nations which shall teach men to fear God and to give him glory and to turn from Idols and to worship him that made the earth and the sea and the fountains of waters the motive that is given to prevail with men to receive the Gospel is this ver 7. Because the houre of his judgement is come And if we would know what is meant by the hour of his judgement it follows in the eighth verse Babylon is fallen is fallen Herein the judgement of God will be evidently manifested against prophane ungodly men when he comes to ruine that great whore who corrupted all Nations So that the light of the glorious Gospel now shining forth and the judgements of God being evidently manifested against wicked men doubtless the Nations that are yet unconverted shall then also be abundantly brought in to the obedience of Christ And the Scripture everywhere plentifully speaks of this abundant bringing in of all Nations As Isa 2. 2. 3. And it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lords house shall be established in the top of the mountains and what then not onely the Jews nor onely some of the Nations but all nations shall flow unto it and they shall not come in by drops scatteringly one now and another then but they shall come in by multitudes they shall flow unto it That which comes flowing in comes in abundantly Again Isa 60. 1. It is said to the Church Arise shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee This Chapter all along describes the rising and shining glory of the Church I have already quoted it I shall here onely mention those passages in it that speak to this present purpose And vers 3. It is said And the Gentiles shall come to thy light and kings to the brightness of thy rising And vers 5. The abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee and the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee And vers 9 10 11. 14. 15 16. It 's said that the Isles shall wait upon the Lord. And again 't is said that the Kings of the Gentiles and the forces of the Gentiles shall come in to the Church and be ready to serve and minister to it Again Isa 62. 2 3. where the glory of the Church is also described it is said thus to Sion The Gentiles shall see thy righteousness and all kings thy glory and thou shalt be called by a new name which the mouth of the Lord shall name and shalt be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord c. And Isa 49. 23. Kings shall be thy nursing fathers and their Queens thy nursing mothers and they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth And Isa 66. 12. It 's said that the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream shall come into the Church And vers 18 19 20. I will gather all nations and tongues and they shall come and see my glory and I will set a signe among them and I will send those that escape unto the nations to Tarshish Pul and Lud to those that draw the bow to Tubal and Javan to the Isles afar off that have not heard my fame neither have seen my glory and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles And Zech. 9. 9 10. Rejoyce O daughter of Sion behold thy King cometh unto thee he is just
they have been in a mourning and a sad condition wearing sackcloath for a time times and halfe a time Now the high praises of God shall be in their mouths and whereas the heathen viz. profane men have trampled upon them and made them as the filth of the world and as the off-scouring of all things Now they shall have together with the high praises of God in their mouth a two-edged sword in their hands to execute vengeance upon the heathen and punishments upon the people to bind their Kings in Chaines and their Nobles with Fetters of Iron to execute upon them the judgement written This honour have all his Saints Thus Kings and Nobles and mighty men are to be subjected to his Saints This honour have all his Saints The fourth Scripture which I shall produce for the illustrating of this truth shall be that in Isa 51. 21. c. which is a promise to this purpose also in these words Heare now this thou afflicted and drunken but not with wine Thus saith the Lord the Lord and thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people Behold I have taken out of thy hand the cup of trembling even the dregs of the cup of my fury and thou shalt no more drink it again But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee which have said to thy soule bow down that we may go ever and thou hast laid thy body as the ground and as the street to them that went over Here it is expressy said that the cup of trembling and fury should be so taken out of the hand of the Church as they should never any more drink it againe and not only so but that it should be put into the hands of them that afflicted her So that those great and wicked ones that most ragefully and most bitterly have afflicted and destroyed the Saints of God must now drinke off the dregs of that cup both that scarlet Beast the Pope and all those Kings Princes Prelates and inferiour persons that continue implacable enemies of his Saints Another cleare passage to this purpose is in Isa 51. 8 c. in these words Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice with the voice together shall they sing for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord shall bring againe Sion break forth into joy sing together ye wast places of Jerusalem for the Lord hath comforted his people he hath redeemed Jerusalem The Lord hath made bare his holy arme in the eyes of all the Nations and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God Here then its cleare that not only some but all the Nations shall see the glory and all the ends of the earth the Salvation of our God He will make bare his holy arme in the eyes of every Nation and People under heaven and they must all stoope to the Scepter of his Son Another clear confirmation of this truth we have Isa 60. 1 2 3 c. in these words Arise shine for thy light is come for the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee for behold the darknesse shall cover the earth and grosse darkness the people but the Lord shall rise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee and the Gentiles shall come to thy light and Kings to the brightnesle of thy rising Then thou shalt see and flow together and thine heart shall feare and be inlarged because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee They shall bring Gold and Incense and they shall shew forth the praises of the Lord. Surely the Isles shall wait for me and the ships of Tarshish first to bring thy Sons from far their silver and their gold with them unto the name of the Lord thy God and to the holy one of Israel because he hath glorified thee and the Sons of strangers shall build up thy walls and their Kings shall minister unto thee and the Nation and Kingdome that will not serve thee shall perish yea those Nations shall bee utterly wasted The sonnes also 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 they shall call thee the City of the Lord the Sion of the holy one of Israel whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated I will make thee an externall excellency the joy of many generations Thy people also shall be all righteous they shall inherit the Land for ever the branch of my planting that I may bee glorified a little one shall become a thousand and a small one a strong Nation I the Lord will hasten it in his time These words are a Prophesie of the glorious estate which the Church must in these latter daies after all her sufferings be advanced unto And first it is said of the Church that is the saints of the most high that the Light of the Lord shall rise upon them and his glory shall bee seen upon them and that so evidently and cleerly as that the Gentiles i. e. the prophane men of the world shall come to that light And not onely the poore and the mean among the Gentiles but some of their Kings and great ones shall be converted and imbrace the light and come to the brightnesse of the saints rising And secondly as abundance of the heathen shall bee converted so those of them that have formerly afflicted the saints of the most High shall come bending unto them and those that despised them shall bow themselves downe at the soles of their feet and that out of pure love to them because they shall see that they are the people of the Lord and the Sion of the holy one of Israel And thirdly those converted Gentiles shall further manifest their love to the saints of the most High by bringing in their wealth their riches their treasures their silver and their gold to them and by building their wals for them in this also their Kings ministring unto them And fourthly the Church the saints of God seeing these things and being thus favoured and blessed of the Lord shall be in in a sweet frame of spirit being filled with joy and therewith inlarged and heightned and this joy mixed with a holy feare and trembling walking altogether in the paths of righteousnesse And fifthly the Church or saints at this their rising shall grow so potent as that a little or despised one shall become a thousand and a small one a strong nation And sixthly The Nation and Kingdome that will not serve Sion i. e. the saints shall perish yea those nations shall bee utterly wasted And seventhly whereas the saints have been during the time of the prevalency of the Beast a despised and a contemned people they shall now be an eternall excellency and the joy of many generations Thus in this Scripture is this truth most evidently demonstrated That there must be such
people that were the natural Olive branches shall be saved and graffed in againe as it is written There shall come out of Sion a deliverer and he shall turne away ungodlinesse from Jacob for this is my Covenant unto them when I shall take away their sins this promise they had Isa 59. 20. which the Apostle applies particularly to them the naturall seed of Jacob and therefore of them he saies as concerning the Gospell they are now enemies for your sakes but as touching the Election they are beloved for the Fathers sake what more cleere For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance so that saies the Apostle they are an Elect people and they are beloved and the time shall come when they shall be called into the bosome of love for the gifts and calling of God are without repentance And in the 30. 31 32. verses the Apostle doth againe argue it out of all doubt that they shall againe obtaine mercy for saies he for as ye in times past have not beleeved yet have now obtained mercy through their unbeliefe even so have these also now not beleeved that through your mercy they also may obtaine mercy wherein the Apostle saies thus much as your former unbeliefe excluded you not from mercy but through their fall you which once did not beleeve have now obtained mercy so they now being in unbeleefe are in no worse condition than you once were and therefore they through your mercy shall also obtaine mercy and so the Apostle layeth down this conclusion That God hath concluded them all in unbeliefe that he might have mercy upon all and thereupon he breaks out into the admiration of God in these words O the depth of the riches both of the wisdome and knowledge of God how unsearchable are his Judgements and his waies past finding out And thus I thinke is it sufficiently cleered by Paul that the Jewes in particular are to be called and that the fulness of the Gentiles must come in with them but I shall adde of many only two witnesses more to confirme it and the first shall be the Prophet Ezekiel who Chap. 37. under the figure of two stickes united into one clearely declares that the two Tribes and the ten Tribes which were divided in Rehoboams time Judah and Benjamin remaining under Rehoboam the Son of Solomon and the other ten Tribes being rent from them departing unto Jeroboam the Son of Nebat I say Ezekiel declares that the two Tribes and the ten Tribes that were thus divided under two Kings should be againe united under one King even one that should come of the seed of David and being united they should be one Nation in the Land upon the Mountaines of Israel and one King should be King to them all and they should never be divided into two Kingdomes any more at all neither should they defile themselves any more with their Idols and their detestable things nor with any of their transgressions But saies the Lord I will save them out of all their dwelling places where they have sinned and will cleanse them so shall they be my people and I will be their God and my servant David shall be a King unto them and they shall have one shepheard they shall also walke in my Judgements and observe my statntes and do them and they shall dwell in the Land that I have given unto Jacob my servant wherein your fathers have dwelt and they shall dwell therein even they and their children and their childrens children for ever and my servant David shall be their Prince for ever Now the Prophet Ezekiel we know prophesied in the time when the two Tribes were carried Captives into Babylon and began to prophesie in the fifth yeare of Jehotakims Captivity the ten Tribes being carried into Captivity above a hundred and ten yeares before by Shalmanezer the King of Assyria even in the sixth yeare of the reign of Hezekiah over Judah and at this time when they were thus in Captivity doth Ezekiel thus prophesie of their returning againe into their own Land but if it shall be said that so they did returne againe after they had been seventy yeares in Babylon I answer it is true the two Tribes which were carried into Babylon did return againe in Ezra's and Nehemiah's time but we never read of the returning againe of the ten Tribes which were carried into Captivity by the King of Assyria and scattered into far Countries so long before the two Tribes were captivated for there is nothing at all upon record that ever they returned into their own Land againe but here is a promise that the Lord will take the Children of Israel from among the Heathen whither they be gone and will gather them on every side and bring them into their own Land and not only so but they shall never any more be defiled with their Idols and with their detestable things nor with any of their transgressions but I will save them saith the Lord out of all places wherein they have sinned so shall they be my people and I will be their God c. Now though the two Tribes did then return yet was not these promises made good unto them being united with the ten Tribes under one King and so to be for ever nor were those promises that are in this and in the 36 Chapter of dwelling in all prosperity and peace in their own Land without ever being molested and troubled and those promises of a plentifull enjoyment of all spirituall and temporall blessings without being ever any more interrupted therein but we know that though they that were carried Captives to Babylon did returne yet they enjoyed not peace nor had those promises made good unto them in that their returne but were ever and anon interrupted in their peace by their enemies in Ezra and Nehemiah his time and besides we find that they were not so cleansed from their detestable things and their transgressions but the sins of strange wives of Sabbath-breaking and of oppression were found amongst them in that time and they were all the while they possest the land often exercised with much wars and at last were utterly rooted out of their owne Land and of Jerusalem by the Romans in the time of Vespasian the Emperour Therefore certainly these promises being never yet made good to them the time will come as surely as the word of God is true in which these promises shall be made good unto them to the uttermost jot of them Another cleer testimony to this truth is given by the Prophet Zachary Chap. 10. 6 7 8 c. In these words I will strengthen the house of Judah and will save the house of Joseph here the two Tribes and the ten Tribes are also particularly mentioned the house of Judah and the house of Joseph and I will bring them again to place them for I have mercy on them and they shall bee as though I had not cast them off for I am
had seen him go into Heaven and as Angels then attended him so will Angels much more at his appearing attend him and he shall come with power and great glory Now we know that as the Apostle says of the Resurrection of the body that it 's raised spiritual it 's sown a natural body it 's raised a spiritual body it 's sown in corruption it 's raised in incorruption it 's sown in dishonour it 's raised in glory it 's sown in weakness it 's raised in power So we know was the body of Christ after his resurrection it was not a natural body but a spiritual it was not corruptible but an incorruptible it was not mean nor weak but glorious and powerful and being thus a spiritual body and incorruptible c. it was quick in motion upon a sudden appearing to his Disciples and suddenly gone from them again And it was passable to all places it appears to the Disciples when the dores are shut and asccnds up into the Heavens in their sight These things a natural body cannot do but a spiritual and a glorious can And therefore he is said to come as the lightning that quickly shineth from one end of the Heaven to the other so can the body of Christ when he appeareth quickly pass from one end of the Heaven to another to be visibly seen of all his Saints to their joy but to the terrour of their enemies and so he will come in the clouds and every eye shall see him with power and great glory And as the Scriptures speak thus of Christ in his coming so there are Scriptures which speak of the Saints in their appearing with him As Col. 3. 4. When Christ who is our life shall appear then shall we appear with him in glory Thus the Saints then were fully perswaded of the appearing of Jesus Christ and spake often of it and knew that at his appearing as he should appear in power and great glory so they should appear with him in glory And so again 1 Joh. 3. 2. Beloved now are we the sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is And so again Phil. 3. 20 21. For our conversation is in heaven from whence also we look for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself Thus in this manner shall the Saints that come with him appear with him in glory and their bodies being raised shall be fashioned like unto his glorious body And now I shall conclude all that I have said touching this glorious appearing of Christ on earth and the Saints raigning with him on earth with that precious Counsel of our blessed Saviour worthy the dayly observation of all Saints as the use which is to be made of all that which is in Scripture spoken of this appearing and kingdom of Jesus Christ which we have Luke 21. 36. Watch ye therefore and pray always that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and stand before the Son of man Knowing what he hath said Rev. 22. 20. He which testifieth these things saith Surely I come quickly Amen Even so Come Lord Jesus Of the ceasing of wars and the perfect peace and tranquility that shall be enjoyed for a thousand yeers I now proceed in the further description of this new world the new Heavens and the new Earth which is to follow upon that great day we have spoken of And in the next place shall shew how that after this time and during this thousand yeers of the Saints raigning with Christ on earth all wars shall cease All the enemies of the Church being thus gloriously overcome as hath been shewed there shall be no enemy left that shall ever stir so much as to prepare to make war against the Saints any more And this is cleer Micah 4. 3. and Isa 2. 4. Where it is said that in the last days when the mountain of the Lords house shall be established in the top of the mountains that then they shall beat their swords into plow-shares and their spears into pruning-hooks Nation shall not lift up sword against Nation neither shall they learn war any more There shall be such peace and tranquility and this peace so firm and they so certain of the abiding of it as that they shall see that they shall have no need of using swords and spears any more And therefore they shall beat these instruments of war which they shall no more use into instruments of husbandry which they then living in peace shall have occasion to use For they shall sow seed and reap it and plant vineyards and drink the fruit thereof And therefore Micah thus expresses the peace they shall have Mic. 4. 4. They shal sit every man under his vine under his fig-tree and none shall make them afraid They shall have no fear of war none shall make them afraid Such peace shall they have And Isa 33. 20. the Prophet speaking of these peaceful times speaks thus Thine eys shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation a tabernacle that shall not be broken down not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken Which fully manifesteth what security or rather what stability there shall be in these times of peace Again Isa 32. 18. the peace of these times is thus exprest And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation and in sure dwellings and in quiet resting places And Isa 60. 17 18. it is further exprest thus In that day saith the Lord to his Sion I will make thy officers peace and thine exactors righteousness violence shall no more be heard in thy land wasting nor destruction within thy borders thou shalt call thy walls salvation and thy gates praise Thus with full and emphatical expressions is the peace and tranquility of the Church in these times set forth There are many other passages to this purpose but these being sufficient I shall adde no more in this place but proceed Of the binding of Satan for a thousand yeers And the next thing I shall speak of as that which is to be done immediately upon this great day of the overthrow of the Saints enemies and the setling of them in peace shall be this That not onely the external and visible enemies of the Saints shall be subdued and put under the * Mal. 4. feet of Christ and his Saints but that also their internal and invisible enemies shall be chained up for now the Saints wrestle not onely with flesh and blood but with principalities and powers and spiritual wickednesses in high places and now their adversary the devil goeth about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour