resurrection Secondly it was the time that God did solemnly declare pardon of sinne for all the elect Repent yee therefore and be converted that your Sinnes may bee blotted out Thirdly it is said of which all the Prophets doe beare witnesse those that doe plead for Christs personall Reigne a thousand yeares upon the Earth they cannot say that all the Prophets did speake this for Moses Daniel and others nay none of the Prophets speake of Christs Reigne a thousand yeares upon the Earth therefore this cannot have a reference to Christs Reigne for a thousand yeares upon the Earth A second Scripture is in Psal 110. 1. The Lord said unto my Lord sit thou at my right Hand untill I make thine Enemies thy Foot-stoole That Scripture tells you that Jesus Christ who is ascended into Heaven and sits at Gods right Hand there shall so sit till hee hath made all his Enemies his Foote-stoole That the Apostles tells you that all Christs Enemies are to be made his Foot-stoole cannot bee till Christ coming at the last time will you marke that Scripture where the Apostle telleth you directly 1 Cor. 15. 23 24 25 26. But every man in his owne Order Christ the first Fruits afterwards they that are Christs at his coming Then cometh the end when hee shall have delivered up the Kingdome to God even the Father when hee shall put down all rule and all authority and all power For hee must reigne till he hath put all his enemies under his Feet The last enemie that shall bee destroyed is Death Here is the coming of Christ that hath reference to all the Just and Unjust Marke now Christ therefore must reigne in Heaven till all enemies bee under his Feet now these thousand years all enemies are not under his Feet why because death will bee then death is not to be destroyed then when the end comes hee must give up his Kingdome to his Father what is more clear then this that the Heavens must keep Christ till all things be restored and that cannot be till the day of Judgement Againe Christ must reigne so long till the end of the world The third Scripture is in the 1 Cor. 15. 23 24. But every Man in his own Order Christ the first fruits afterwards they that are Christs at his coming Then cometh the end when hee shall have delivered up the Kingdome to God even the Father when hee shall have put down all rule and all authority and all power This Scripture telleth you that when Christ cometh out of Heaven upon Christs coming three things must bee done First every man must rise vers 23. Now that cannot bee at the thousand yeares because they themselves hold this that there shall onely be a Resurrection of the Martyrs and here the Scripture saith that every man shall rise which cannot bee till the day of Judgement Secondly when Christ comes then comes the end the Apostle tells us of his coming and the end of the world to note that Christs coming and the end of the world shall be together Thirdly hee delivers his Kingdome up to his Father whereas if Christ should reigne a thousand years here it could not bee said to bee the giving up of a Kingdome but the taking of a Kingdome into possession hee must resigne all to God the Father When the Scripture is so expresse it is a wonder that men can receive such fantasticall thoughts that Christ must come as an Earthly Monarch to reign here a thousand yeares A fourth Scripture is in Heb. 9. 28. So Christ was once offered to beare the sâ—nt of many and unto them that looke for him shall be appeare the second time without sin unto Salvation From that Scripture I will argue against Christs coming to reign upon the Earth for a thousand yeares First it is expresly in the Scripture that Christs coming there spoken of referres to the day of Judgement in v. 27. And as it is appointed unto all men once to dye but after this the judgement There Christs second coming it doth referâ—e unto the day of Judgement Now if the Scripture doth 〈◊〉 that the second coming which is his coming to judgement Then Christ cannot come before that time to reigne upon the Earth for if hee should come to reigne upon the Earth then the Apostle must call that his third coming there hath been but one coming which was from Heaven to the wombe of the Virgin and there is no other coming to follow but a second coming that is to judgement Secondly it is said Christ shall come the second time to our Salvation it cannot bee said to our Salvation if his coming were to reigne a thousand yeares upon the Earth that were onely some temporall good but Christs coming must referre to the last and great coming wherein the world shall bee judged and the soules of the Elect shall bee saved Beloved these Scriptures are very clear unto mee The reasons are two that Christ shall not come personally out of Heaven to reigne upon the Earth for a thousand yeares First because the Scripture doth manifest that when Christ comes personally out of Heaven there are such Concomitants of his coming that can bee referred to no other time then his last coming to judge the world First when Christ is said to come out of Heaven the Scripture telleth you this concomitant that the Saints shall come along with him Jude 14. And Enoch also the seventh from Adam Prophesied of these saying Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his Saints So that when Christ comes from Heaven he must come with his Saints with him nay he must come with his Angels 2 Thess 1. 7. And to you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus Christ shall bee revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels Put these two Scriptures together Christ must come with his Saints and Angels But those that fancy Christs coming a thousand yeares they cannot prove that Christ shall come with his Saints and Angels for the scripture that seemes to carry it that way doth not speak of Angels Saints coming Secondly it is said when Christs comes from Heaven that good and bad shall bee gathered together and all shall bee judged by Jesus Christ now this cannot bee of Christs personall reigne on the Earth this you have in 2 Thess 2. 9. Now wee beseech you Brethren by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto him So that the coming of our Lord and our gathering together to bee judged by Christ they are both coupled together because when the Lords coming is then is our gathering time Mat. 25. 31. 32. When the Son of Man shall come in his glory and all the holy Angels with him then shall hee sit upon the Throne of his glory And before him shall bee gathered all Nations and hee shall separate them one from another as a Shepheard divideth his sheepe from the Goats And in 2 Tim. 4. 1. I
your determinations about the time of Christs coming nor about the place where for neither is revealed in Scripture Christ did deny his Disciples when they asked him where hee should come Luk. 17. 37. And they answered and said where Lord And hee said unto them where the body is thither will the Eagles bee gathered together Christ told them of the destruction of Jerusalem and of the end of the Woâ—ld then said the Disciples but where Lord wilt thou come Christ onely gives them this answer that where the carcasse is thither will the Eagles flee that is where Christ is all the Elect shall bee gathered as Birds of prey flock together after a carcasset o feed upon so that Christ would neither tell the place where nor the time when and this should bee a check and a controle to mens curious pryings about that which the Scripture is silent in Lastly take heed of bold and adventurous conjectures about the manner of Christs coming to judge the World by vaine and carnall corruptions of a temporall Kingdome of Christ Many are very peremptory about it and there bee strange Books at least in their own expressions that they can descry the very maner of his coming that Christ shall come from heaven and dwell a thousand yeares upon the Earth and the Dead shall rise and live in the World but these are such things which the Scripture doth never take notice of I am to handle on this promise of Christ but I will come again A perplexed Quere which is this whether Christ Jesus in promising to his Disciples to come again did meane to come to Reigne upon the Earth here a thousand years or whether it bee to bee meant of Christs last coming to judge the world this Scripture and others are made use of and brought to prove that Christ shall come from heaven in person and live upon the Earth for a whole thousand years they fancy that Jesus Christ when hee shall come to this personall Reigne then hee shall raise all the Martyrs that have lost their Lives in his cause and the Divell shall bee bound up that hee shall tempt Men to sinne no more and wicked Men shall be ty'd up that they shall not persecute the Church of God this is an Antient Opinion and almost since the Apostles dayes Before I shall come to give you my thoughts from the words touching Christs coming as they pretend to Reigne a thousand years upon the Earth I shall shew you the rise of this Opinion First from Eusebius and others they give us the rise of this Opinion from Cerinthus which had it who lived in the time of John This Cerinthus who was a pestiâ—ent Heretick in those times who held that Christ was borne by the conjunction of a man and a woman Christum ex congressu maritali genitum esse and not born by a Virgin and was borne as others are and so must be a sinner Hee was the Man that was the first author from whom this Opinion had any life or being Eusebius saith Papias Bishop of Hieropolis did also hold this Opinion but not in so grosse a way as Cerinthus did but rather spiritually and there was some spice of this in the Apostles for they did dream of a temporal Kingdome therfore they askt Christ when hee was going to Heaven Lord when wilt thou restore the Kingdome unto Israel there was in the time of the Apostle a fancy that Christ must bee an Earthly Monarch and destroy all the Kings of the Earth and all the Enemies of the world and must come here to Rule and Reigne a thousand yeares upon the Earth it was brought over into Germany and there was taken hold on by John of Leydon in westphalia and handed over to us in England by men of late Now for the confutation First I shall quote expresse Scriptures that Christ shall not come in person out of heaven till his last coming to judge the world Secondly I shall give you some reasons from the Scripture why Christ cannot come out of Heaven Bodily and in person to Reigne a thousand yeares upon the Earth Thirdly I shall shew you some absurdities and incongruities that would follow if Christ should come to Reign a thousand yeares upon the Earth First for expresse Scriptures which are four the first scripture Act. 3. 21. Whom the Heavens must receive untill the times of restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy Prophets since the world began There the Apostle telleth you directly that the Heaven must receive and keep Jesus Christ how long till the restitution of all things The Millenaries hold that the restitution of all things may be at the time of Christ Personall Reigne but I shall shew you that this restitution of all things cannot be til Christs judging the world First there cannot be a totall abolition of sin in the world at the thousand yeares end there shall bee a number of men and wicked during the thousand yeares all things cannot bee restored for sinne bringeth the creature under a curse it is apparent that it cannot bee till Christs last coming to judge the world because other Scriptures tell you that the time of restitution cannot bee till our bodies bee raised from the Dead Rom. 8. 23. And not onely they but our selves also which have the fruits of the spirit even wee our selves groane within our selves waiting for the Adoption to wit the redemption of our body That is the creatures doe as it were groane being used by man as an instrument to Gods dishonour so that till the bodies of all the Elect bee redeemed and glorified till that time the creature lies under a curse by reason of mans sinnes and mans abuse And they themselves that plead fâ—r Christs personal reigne a thousand yeares upon the Earth though they doe hold that the martyrs shall bee raised at at that time yet doe not hold that all the Elect shall bee raised at that time therefore the Apostle saith expresly that the Heavens must keepe the person of Christ till the restitution of all things 〈◊〉 the bodies of the Elect come to bee raised from the Dead Again it is apparant from the context in Acts 3. That the restitution of all things can intend no other time then the time of Christs coming to judgement First because it is said that the time here spoken of is when the Jewes were to bee refreshed from the Lords presence vers 19 20 21. Repent yee therefore and bee converted that your sinnes may bee bloted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. And hee shall send Jesus Christ which before was preached unto you Whom the Heaven must receive untill the times of restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy Prophets since the world began And they cannot bee refreshed by the Lords presence till Christs coming to Judgement and their
charge thee therfore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who shall judge the Quick and the Dead at his appearing and his Kingdome The Scripture telleth you that when Christ appeares to judge the world hee shall have this concomitant of his coming he shal gather all together to judge both the good and the bad Those that pretend that Christ shall come to reigne a thousand yeares upon the Earth they cannot prove that then all shall bee gathered together they onely plead for the Matryrs and none else therefore it cannot be referred to his coming to reigne a thousand yeares Thirdly when Christ comes then the end of the world is a period is put to this world 1 Cor. 15. 24. Then cometh the end when he shall have delivered up the Kingdome to God even the Father c. When Christ comes then comes the end now those who hold for Christs personall reign they hold that the end of the world shal not be till a thousand yeares after because Christ must Reigne a thousand yeares Fourthly the resurrection both of the just and the unjust is a concomitant of Christs coming 1 Cor. 15. 23. But every man in his owne Order Christ the first fruits afterwards they that are Christs at his coming So that at Christs coming the generall resurrection of the just and unjust is to be Lastly there is to bee the Salvation of the Soules of all the Elect that is a fifth concomitant of Christs coming Heb. 9. 28. Christ was once offered to beare the sinnes of many and unto them that looke for him shall hee appeare the second time without sinne unto Salvation This cannot be referred to Christs Personal coming upon the earth to reign a thousand years because he doth not come then to save the soules of all the Elect that is the first reason why Christ cannot come to reigne upon the Earth because when the Scripture speaks of Christs coming out of heaven it doth annex five concomitants with it which belong not to any coming of Christ upon the Earth but to come to judge the world A second reason is this that Christ cannot come to reigne upon the Earth because if it should bee so it would bee worse for Christ and it would bee worse for us then now it is it would be worse for Christ for to leave Heaven and come to the Earth for Christ to leave Saints and Angels and Heaven for to live upon the Earth among the wicked and the good for they themselves confesse that wicked men shall live upon the Earth then Then besides they fancy Earthly delights that the fruit of the Vineyard shall not fade as now it doth yet they would lessen Christs Glory because hee sits this day at his Fathers right Hand againe for to fancy this that Christ must come to reigne upon the Earth it would bee a great losse to all the Elect for wee have the benefit of Christs everlasting Intercession and were Christ upon the Earth wee should lose that benefit Heb. 8. 4. For if hee were on the Earth hee should not bee a Priest seeing that there are Priests that offer gifts according to the Law So that if hee were upon the Earth wee should lose the benefit of his Priest-hood therefore it would it bee a great wrong to us to have Christ here on the Earth because the benefit of his Priestly Office would not bee so availeable to us as it is in Heaven Thus I have laid down scripture and given you reasons why Christ cannot come before his last coming Now there be eight Incongruities and Absurdities that would follow in case you should grant that Christ should come to Reigne a thousand yeares upon the Earth First by those mens Principles this inconvenience will follow that people may exactly know the punctuall time of Christs last coming to judge the world for those who hold Christs personall Reigne they doe as well hold the time as the thing they doe as well maintaine when this Reigne shall begin Therefore some have maintained that Christ should come to Reigne on the Earth in the year 1650. One saith if it shall not be in the yeare 1650 it shall bee in the yeare 1694. They that go furthest guess at that time if so bee they hold the thing and maintaine the time also when it shall begin then of necessity wee must know exactly when the day shal be that Christ shall come to judge the world for they grant it shall be immediately after the thousand yeares Now beloved that Opinion that carries this absurdity to know the day of Christs coming to judge the world which Christ saith none in the world can tell of that houre and day knoweth no man Mark 13. 32. But of that day and houre knoweth no man no not the Angells which are in heaven neither the Son but the Father is a false Opinion Secondly this incongruity will also follow that it will bee a great disadvantage to Christ in coming to reigne a thousand yeares on the Earth to leave his Father and Heaven and come and onely possesse Earth Now Christ hath more happinesse in the immediate enjoyment of his Father in Heaven then hee can have here upon the Earth Then it will bee a losse to us that wee should lose the benefit of his Priestly Office but Christ the Sonne of righteousnesse being in Heaven is more available to Beleevers then if he were upon the Earth Thirdly observe this that if Christ should come on the Earth for a thousand yeares then Christ would leave the Church after that thousand yeares for a while in a worse condition then hee found it and I draw it from that Text which they pretend to bee the strength of their Argument Revel 20. 5 7 8. But the rest of the Dead lived not again untill the thousand years were finished This is the first resurrection and when the thousand yeares are expired Satan shall bee loosed out of his Prison And shall go out to deceive the Nations which are in the four quarters of the Earth Gâ—g and Magog to gather them together to Battell the number of whom is as the Sand of the sea So that after the thousand yeares the Devill shall bee let loose again and there shall bee an innumerable company of enemies and they shall destroy multitudes of the godly Therefore Christ would leave his Church in a worse condition then hee found them if this were true that Christ should reigne a thousand yeares upon the Earth Fourthly if Christ should come to reigne a thousand yeares upon the Earth then this incongruity will follow that there must bee three personall comings of Jesus Christ for his first coming was his Incarnation Second coming to these thousand yeares And his third coming must bee to judge the world that is the last coming but the Scripture makes but two comings of Christ First his coming from heaven when hee was borne his second coming when he comes to judge the world again