Soul will have the same faculties at the Resurrection that it hath now in this mortal state and the Body is only in order to the Soul its parts and members being all purposely contrived into fit instruments for the Soul to work withal These inward faculties therefore continuing still and for ever the same it is highly requisite that at the Resurrection they should be refitted with the same corporeal instruments of action for the Soul is to the Body what the art is to the thing that is formed by the Art and therefore as the thing formed is not perfect so long as it is any way disproportionable to the Art which formed it so neither can the Body be perfect till in all its parts it is every way apportioned unto the faculties of the Soul and how can the matter of this corrupted body be readapted to the natural faculties of a humane Soul unless it be raised again into an humane body and restored to its Primitive figure and proportion For should it be raised with more or fewer parts than those it now consists of it must either be defective or superfluous in its parts or the Soul must have more or fewer faculties to employ them It is true after the Resurrection the Scripture plainly tells us that our Souls shall no longer exercise those their Animal faculties of nourishing and propagation that the Sons of the Resurrection shall neither marry nor be given in marriage but that they shall be equal to the Angels of God Mat. 22.30 and indeed since every individual man will then be raised into an immortal state there will be no need either that they should be nourished themselves or that they should propagate any more individuals to preserve their kind But it doth not hence follow either that the Soul shall be deprived of those Animal faculties or consequently that the Body shall be raised without the Organs by which those Animal operations are performed for though our Saviours Body after the Resurrection had no need of nourishment yet it is plain it was raised again with its natural instruments of eating and drinking which he once actually used to assure his Disciples of the reality of his Resurrection and though now those parts are useless to him as to that particular animal operation yet there is no doubt but his Soul still uses them for other unknown purposes peculiar to his glorified state or if he do not yet since those parts were necessary to the perfection of a humane body and consequently to the redintegration of his humane nature it was requisite he should be raised with them that so he might have corporeal Organs adapted to his animal faculties which it is plain were not extinguished by his Resurrection and since the Resurrection of our Saviours body is in Scripture represented as the pattern of ours for he shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body Philip. 3. Vers. 21. we may hence warrantably conclude that ours shall be raised as his was compleat in all the parts of an humane Body V. And lastly So is the resurrection of the dead i. e. so are these humane bodies to be changed and altered by the resurrection So ver 37. That which thou sowest thou sowest not that body that shall be but bare grain intimating that as the seed when it is sown is nothing but bare seed though when it is quickened it springs up into a long stalk and ear which many times contains in it an hundred grains even so this mortal Body which is only the naked seed of our Resurrection shall be very much altered from what it is and changed into a more compleat and perfect substance For the more clear and distinct explication of which we will first consider the Change that will then be made in the bodies of good men and secondly the change that will be made in the bodies of the wicked First We will consider the Change that will then be made in the bodies of good men which consists of four particulars First They will be changed from base and humble into glorious Bodies Secondly From earthly and fleshly into spiritual and heavenly Bodies Thirdly From weak and passive into active and powerful Bodies Fourthly From mortal and corruptible into immortal and incorruptible Bodies I. The Bodies of good Men will be changed from base and humble into bright and glorious ones so ver 43. It is sown in dishonour it is raised in glory that is when it is sown in the grave it is a base and abject thing not to be indured above ground for its gastly looks and nauseous stink and putrefaction but at its resurrection it shall come forth in a bright and beautiful and venerable form for so our Saviour assures us that after their resurrection the righteous shall shine forth as the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father Mat. 13.43 that is the matter of their bodies shall be refined and exalted into a bright and lucid substance which shall glitter like the Sun and cast forth rays of glory round about them and this perhaps is that inheritance of the Saints in light that is embodied in light which the Apostle speaks of Col. 1.12 for when this dull matter comes to be re-animated with a blessed and glorified Soul it will doubtless derive from it a great deal of beauty and lustre For if now our Soul when it is overjoyed can so transfigure our Bodies fill our eyes with such sprightly flames overspread our countenances with such an amiable air and paint our faces with such a serene and florid aspect what a change will it make in our Resurrection-body which being incomparably more fine and subtil than this will be far more pliable to the motions of the Soul When therefore the happy Soul shall re-enter this softned and liquified matter ravished with unspeakable joy and content how will its delightsom emotions change and transfigure it how will its active joys shine through and overspread it with an amiable Glory especially when with this natural energy of its glorified Soul our Saviour himself shall cooperate to change this vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body according to the mighty working whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself Though now therefore the matter of our bodies is vile and sordid and such as seems altogether incapable of such a glorious change yet according to the best Philosophy there is no specifick difference in matter and if the vilest and most ignoble matter may by mere motion not only be Crystallized but transformed into a flaming brightness as we are sure it may if in lighting of a Candle that is newly blown out by applying another to the ascending smoke this dark and stinking substance may in the twinkling of an eye be changed into a bright and glorious flame into what a refulgent substance may the matter of this mortal body be changed by the concurrence of an
easie and convenient as well as glorious habitation wherein it shall for ever forget those dismal Cries O my Head my Heart my Bowels and enjoy everlasting rest and freedom Now she is in a travelling condition and the Inn she lodges at is mean and inconvenient her Provision is course her Bed hard and her Rest continually interrupted with noise and tumult but when she is once got home to her own House her house not made with hands eternal in the Heavens she shall there live in perfect ease and pleasure free from all the annoyances of flesh and blood from all the disturbances of pain and sickness and from all the toil and fatigue the noise and hurry of this mortal condition and with splendid State delicious fare soft and quiet repose recompence her self a thousand fold for all her present travel and weariness IV. And lastly The Bodies of good men will be changed from corruptible and mortal into incorruptible and immortal So ver 42.53 it is sown in corruption it is raised in incorruption and this corruptible must put on incorruption this mortal must put on immortality i. e. Whereas this body which we lay down hath in the very constitution of it the seeds of mortality and corruption at the Resurrection it shall spring up into an incorruptible and immortal substance perfectly refined from all mortal and corruptible principles for so our Saviour pronounces of those who shall be accounted worthy to attain to this blessed Resurrection that they cannot die any more Luke 20.36 which is a plain argument that our mortal body shall not be merely varnished and gilded over with an external glory and beauty but that all inward principles of corruption shall be utterly purged out of its nature so that it shall not be preserved immortal merely by the force of an external cause but be so far immortal in it self as not to have any tendency to death in its nature and constitution For either it will be so liquid that should its parts be separated by any external violence like the divided Aether they will immediately close again or else so firm and compact that no external violence will be able to divide them and thus having no alloy of corrupt principles in its nature no quarrels or discords between contrary qualities and being perpetually acted by a most happy sprightly and vivacious soul which will every moment diffuse a vast plenty of life and vigour throughout all its parts it will be also secure from all inward tendencies to mortality and being thus fortified both within and without against all attempts towards a dissolution what should hinder it from living for ever and flourishing in immortal youth And thus I have endeavoured to give an account of the happy Changes which good mens Bodies will undergo in the general Resurrection But though they shall all of them be raised with unspeakable advantages and improvements yet it is apparent from this 1 Cor. 15. that they shall vastly differ in the degrees of their glory so ver 41. There is one glory of the Sun and another glory of the Moon and another glory of the stars for one star differeth from another star in glory so also is the resurrection of the dead i. e. As the Sun is more glorious than the Moon the Moon than the stars and one star than another so shall our bodies at the Resurrection be arrayed with different degrees of glory and doubtless these differences of Glory in our raised bodies will arise from those different degrees of perfection to which their respective Souls have arrived for the more perfect those souls are the more improved and accomplished bodies they will require because according as they rise in degrees of perfection their powers will be enlarged and their faculties rendered more active and consequently will require bodies more active and powerful And therefore since at the Resurrection God will accommodate every soul with a body sutable to it in its utmost exaltations and improvements we may reasonably conclude that the several bodies that are raised shall be more or less glorious as the several souls to which they appertain are more or less advanced in degrees of perfection For the fitness and congruity of souls to glorified bodies consists in their moral perfection and if upon an impossible supposition a wicked soul should be mistaken for a pious one and thrust into a glorified body it would not know what to do with or how to behave it self in it but like a Swine in a Palace would soon be weary of its habitation and impatiently long to be restored to its beloved stye and mire For a glorified body is an Instrument proper only for a glorified soul to act and work with It is purposely framed and composed for contemplation and love for joy and praise and Adoration and what should a vicious soul do with such a body to whom those heavenly exercises it was designed for are unnatural 'T is piety and vertue that fits and disposeth a Soul to animate and act in a glorified body and therefore I am apt to think that as the animal disposition of our soul doth now co-operate with the divine Providence in the forming its animal body in the womb so that divine and spiritual disposition which the Soul doth contract before and improve after its separation from the body will co-operate with the Almighty Power of our Saviour in the forming its new body at the Resurrection and that as by the Animal Plastick power of our souls God did first form our Animal bodies so by this spiritual Plastick power of it which is nothing but its moral perfection he will hereafter form our spiritual bodies and if so then the more of that perfection the Soul arrives to at the Resurrection the more it will spiritualize and glorifie its body and so still the more perfect it grows the more it will improve its glorified body in beauty lustre and activity so that as through a transparent Glass we plainly discern the size and colour of the substance contained in it so perhaps through the still encreasing degrees of the bodies glory the degree and size of the Souls perfection will appear But whether this be true or no which I confess is only my conjecture thus much is certain that the bodies of men will be raised with different degrees of glory and therefore since we are assured that the great end of the last judgment will be to distribute to every one according to his Works we have sufficient reason to conclude that the bodies will be glorified more or less in proportion to the perfection of their Souls And thus I have endeavoured to give a brief account of those happy changes which good mens bodies must undergo at the Resurrection I proceed therefore in the next place to shew the woful change that will then also be made in the bodies of wicked men In which I shall be very brief because we have but a very short
fourfold first from base and humble into glorious bodies 511. secondly from earthly and fleshly into spiritual and Heavenly 513. thirdly from weak and passive into active and powerful 514. fourthly from corruptible and mortal into incorruptible and immortal 517. They will differ in degrees of Glory proportionably as they differ in degrees of perfection 518. Of the woful change which the bodies of the wicked will undergo 521. The third and last of these regal Acts of Christ is his judging the World where first the thing is proved that he shall judg the world 523. Secondly an account is given of the signs and fore-runners of his coming to judgment 524. Thirdly the manner and circumstances of his coming 526. as first the place from whence he is to come ibid. 527. secondly the State wherein he is to come 528. thirdly the Carriage on which he is to come 530. fourthly the train and equipage with which he is to come 533. fifthly the place to which he is to come 536. Fourthly the process of this judgment 538. And first of the judgment of the righteous wherein is implied first their citation or summons 539. secondly their personal appearance 540. thirdly their trial 54â— fourthly their sentence 543. fifthly their assumption into the clouds of heaven 545. The Iudgment of the wicked implies also first their citation 547. secondly their personal appearance 548. thirdly their trial 549. fourthly their sentence 551. fifthly their execution 552. SECT XII Concerning Christs surrendring his Kingdom Christ hath a twofold Kingdom viz. His Essential Kingdom which is co-eternal with him and can never be surrendred and his Mediatorial Kingdom which is founded upon a solemn compact and agreement with the Father and this is the Kingdom which shall be surrendred p. 556 c. At the conclusion of the day of Iudgment the whole Mediation will cease the end of it being fully accomplished 557. An account of the cessation of the Mediatorial Kingdom from 1 Cor. 15.24 25 26 27 28 558. the whole passage resolved into five propositions ibid. First that the Kingdom there spoken of was committed to him by God the Father 559. secondly that he is to possess this Kingdom so long and no longer as till all things are actually subdued unto him 560. thirdly that during his possession of this Kingdom he is in a state of subjection to the Father 561. fourthly that when he hath delivered it up to the Father he will be otherwise subject to him than he is now 562. fifthly that he being thus subjected to the Father all Power and Dominion shall be thenceforth immediately exercised by the Deity 565. SECT XIII Of the Reason and Wisdom of this Method of Gods governing sinful men by his own Eternal Son in our Nature Five reasons of this Method assigned First that he might govern us in a way more accommodate to this degenerate state of our nature 567 c. secondly that he might the more effectually cure and prevent the spreading contagion of Idolatry 573 c. thirdly that thereby he might give us the more powerful encouragement to Obedience 582. fourthly that he might the more powerfully excite our Gratitude and Ingenuity 585. fifthly that he might thereby give us the more ample assurance of our future Reward 588. SECT XIV That Jesus is this Mediator of whom we have been treating Three ways by which God hath testified that Iesus is the true Mediator First by Prophesie secondly by Voice from Heaven thirdly by Miracles 591. The last of these only insisted on as being that to which our Saviour most commonly appeals 592. This together with the goodness of his Doctrine a most certain evidence of his being the Mediator ibid. The Miracle of his Resurrection was that which both our Saviour and his Apostles most insisted on 594. The reality of this attestation capable of being proved only by credible Testimony 596. The Testimony of our Saviours Resurrection accompanied with all the most credible circumstances which are six 597. First they who testified it were most certainly informed whether it were true or no 598. secondly there was a concurrence of several Witnesses to the truth of the Fact 600. thirdly there was no visible reason to suspect their honesty and integrity 603. fourthly there was no apparent motive to induce them to testifie falsly 609. fifthly they gave the greatest security for the truth of what they testified 612. sixthly they gave certain signs and tokens that what they testified was true 614. What a most convincing argument this of Miracles and particularly of Christs miraculous Resurrection was of the truth of his being the Mediator shewn in four particulars First that it was the most proper and convenient Evidence 622. secondly that it was the most certain and infallible Evidence 625. thirdly that it was the plainest and most popular Evidence 629. fourthly that it was the shortest and most compendious Evidence 631. OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE PART II. VOL. II. CHAP. VII Of the necessity of acknowledging Jesus Christ to be the one and only Mediator between God and Man in order to our Leading a Truly Christian Life HITHERTO we have treated of the common Principles of Religion in General but as for this last it is the great Principle of Christian Religion strictly so called as it is distinguished from the Religion of Nature and as such is properly the Religion of the Mediator as containing only the Doctrines which concern the Mediator and the Duties which result from those Doctrines and owe their Obligations to them both which being taken away all the remaining Religion is purely Natural and Moral So that this Principle we are now treating of contains in it all that Religion which is strictly Christian without believing of which and practising upon it we cannot be truly said to lead a Christian Life how well soever we may live For there is no doubt but upon the Motives and Principles of natural Religion a man to whom Christianity was never sufficiently proposed may upon due consideration and a hearty endeavour reclaim himself to a very pious and vertuous life as it is apparent many of the Heathen Philosophers did but no man can be pious or vertuous in the Christian sence who is not so upon the Christian Obligations for the Principles from and by which we act are the very life and soul of our Religion and therefore as it is the Rational Soul that specifies the Man a Rational Animal so it is our Christian Principles that specifie our Religion Christian Religion Wherefore though the Piety and Vertue of an Heathen may be materially the same with that of a Christian yet it is impossible it should be formally Christian unless it be animated and acted with the belief of Christianity So that if we leave out this and practise only upon the above-named Principles we are at best but wise and honest Heathens and there is nothing in all our Religion but the simple Dictates of mere natural reason 'T is
no sorts of objects do so vigorously impress and affect him as those which strike immediately on his senses and hence it is that he so greedily prefers carnal before rational and sensitive before spiritual goods notwithstanding the later are in themselves infinitely greater and more eligible and that in his conceptions of spiritual objects he is so prone to blend and intermix them with carnal and Corporeal Phantasms because his mind is so estranged from spiritual objects by its continual intimacy and familiarity with sensual ones that it can hardly frame any Idea of them without disguising them into some bodily semblance God therefore being a spiritual and invisible Essence and upon this account far removed out of the Ken and Prospect of our sense our sensual and depraved minds must either be naturally indisposed to think seriously of and consequently to be duly affected by him which renders us prone to Irreligion or to sophisticate our conceptions of him with corporeal Images and Phantasms which renders us prone to Idolatry to prevent both which God in great condescension to this deplorable weakness of humane minds hath always thought meet to converse with us under some sensible appearance or visible Symbol of his Divine Presence Thus when God conducted his Chosen People through the Red Sea and Wilderness he went before them in a Pillar of Cloud by day and in a Pillar of Fire by night and when afterwards he gave them his Law he descended upon Mount Sinai in a bright and glorious flame overcast with thick and solemn clouds in which illustrious appearance he afterwards made his entrance into the Tabernacle where he made his constant abode and from whence he frequently exhibited himself to the Peoples eyes and senses in a body of visible light and glory which visible light is in holy Scripture very often called the Glory of the Lord. And since God in condescension to the weakness of humane minds thought it meet to present himself to the senses of men in some visible appearance there is the same reason why the Mediator should assume some visible substance to his invisible Godhead that therein he might exhibit himself to our sense and thereby at once affect our minds with a great love and dread of his divine Majesty and by vouchsafing us a visible presence prevent our framing Idols and false Images and Representations of him in our own minds Now of all sensible substance there was none so proper for this end as Humane Nature which is that above all others that we are most intimately acquainted with and most accustomed to love and reverence and obey It is true had his design been to Govern us by terrors and affrightments as he did the Iews it would have been more proper for him to assume that dreadful appearance of a consuming fire in which he was wont to converse with them but his design being to erect his Empire in mens Souls and to captivate their Wills into a free and generous obedience he could not have appeared to us in any visible substance so proper for this end so apt to oblige and aw to indear and terrifie us together as Humane Nature And accordingly as God dwelt of old in the Iewish Tabernacle and thence displayed himself before the Eyes of that People in a visible Glory so the Word as St. Iohn tells was made flesh and tabernacled among us for so the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies i. e. as in condescension to the weakness of the Iews he pitched his Tabernacle among them and thence frequently appeared in a visible Glory to their sense so in condescension to ours he pitched his Tabernacle in our flesh or nature from whence as he proceeds we behold his Glory i. e. at his Baptism and Transfiguration as the glory of the only begotten Son or in which the only begotten Son was wont to display himself from between the Cherubins Iohn 1.14 In short therefore since in Mediating for God with us it was very needful that in compliance with our weakness he should address to our sense in some visible appearance and since there was no visible appearance in which he could so advantagiously address to us as that of Humane Nature it hence evidently appears how requisite it was that he should assume our Nature to his Deity and be Man as well as God. And as it was requisite he should be God-man in order to his Mediating for God with us so was it also no less requisite in order to his Mediating for us with God because as I shall shew hereafter to Mediate for us with God implies first his making an atonement for our sins with his Bloud Secondly his appearing for us as our Advocate in Heaven Now as for the first it was highly requisite that he should be Man that so he might suffer for us his Divinity being wholly impassible and this reason the Apostle himself assigns Heb. 2.14 Forasmuch then as the Children are partakers of flesh and bloud he also himself speaking of Christ took part of the same that through death he might destroy him who hath the power of death and seeing he was to assume another Nature to his Divinity that so he might suffer for us it was most fit and proper that he should assume ours rather than any other For since God in mercy had consented to accept of another person's suffering for our sins it was very requisite that what he suffered for us should come as near to our own personal suffering as it was possible that so it might be more exemplary to us and more nearly affect us with dread and horrour for our sins and next to our own personal suffering is the suffering of our Nature and therefore since the punishment of our sins was to be transferred from our Persons it was highly fit it should be inflicted on our Nature which it could not have been had not he been Man who endured it And as it was requisite that he should be Man that so he might suffer and that so the Nature at least that had sinned might suffer so it was no less requisite that he should be God-man in one and the same person to render his sufferings a valuable Consideration for all that Punishment that was due to God upon the score of the infinite sins of an infinite number of sinners For how could the bloud of one man though never so innocent or excellent have amounted to a valuable commutation for the forfeited lives and souls of a world of guilty sinners Or what less than the bloud of God-man could have been any way equivalent to that Eternal Punishment that was due to God from the whole Race of Mankind And yet that it should be in some measure equivalent was highly requisite as I shall shew hereafter both to satisfie the divine Iustice for what is past and to secure the divine Authority for the future and accordingly we are said to be purchased with the bloud of God Acts
edifie our understandings and therefore for this reason among others Christ thought meet to assume our natures that so he might treat with us in such a way as is most accommodate thereunto and deliver his divine Doctrines to us in a humane form and voice that so being conveyed to us in the most natural and familiar manner they might not so alarm our dread as to confound our attention but might instruct our minds instead of scaring and amusing them And therefore he did not only qualifie the terrour and dreadfulness of his divine Majesty by putting on our nature but together with it he put on all the condescensions and sweetnesses of a most familiar and endearing conversation and conversed among men in such a generous friendly and courteous manner as charmed and enamoured all ingenuous minds and thereby attracted their attention to his Doctrine So that as Christ was the Son of God he perfectly understood his Father's Will and as he was the Son of Man he was perfectly fitted to reveal and declare it to Mankind And as by being God-man he was most perfectly accomplished to declare God's Will to us so he was also to give us a perfect Example of Obedience to it which as I shall shew hereafter was a necessary part of his Prophetick Office. For without assuming humane Nature he could never have been an example of humane Vertue which consists in acting sutably to the nature of a Man who is a Compound of Spirit and Matter Reason and Sense Angel and Brute from which contrary Principles there arise in him contrary inclinations and affections in the good or bad government whereof all humane Vertue and Vice consists How then could he have practised those vertues which consist in the dominion of spiritual and rational faculties over brutal and sensitive such as Temperance Chastity Equanimity and the like had he not assumed that nature which is compounded of both How could he have shewn us by his own example how to govern the Passions and conduct our selves in the Circumstances of men had he not communicated with us in the Passions and Circumstances of humane Nature He might have come down from the Heavens to us inrobed with splendor and light or have preached his Gospel to the World in the midst of a Choir of Angels from some bright Throne in the Clouds and it would have been more convenient for himself to have done so because more sutable to the natural Dignity and Majesty of his Person but he consulted not so much his own convenience as ours he knew well enough that his appearance among us in such an illustrious equipage would have been more apt to astonish than to instruct us to have amused our thoughts into a profound admiration of his glories than to have directed our steps in the paths of Piety and Vertue and that it would be much more for our interest that he should conduct us by his example than amaze us by his appearance and therefore he rather chose to appear to us in our own nature that so by going before us as a man he might shew us by his example what became men to do and trace out to us the way to our happiness with the print of his own footsteps So that his coming among us in our own nature was of vast moment to his Prophetick Office both in declaring his Father's Will to us and setting us an example of obedience to it III. And lastly It is farther to be considered that as he came down immediately from the Father to Prophesie to us in our own natures so while he abode among us he was always endued with the Holy Ghost the Spirit of the Lord from whom all Prophetick Inspiration proceeds rested on him and made its constant residence and abode in his humane nature So that whereas it descended upon other Prophets only at certain times and upon certain occasions by reason of which it was not in their power to Prophesie when they pleased but they were fain to attend the arbitrary motions of the Holy Ghost and like dead Organ Pipes were mute and silent as oft as he withdrew and ceased to breath into them his divine Enthusiasms our blessed Saviour had the Prophetick Influx at command and could Prophesie whensoever he pleased For the Holy Ghost resided in his mind and like an assisting Form or Genius was always present with his Understanding and being as was shewed before subordinate to him both by personal Property and Agreement with the Father it operated in him whensoever howsoever and whatsoever he pleased and was as intirely at his disposal as his own most voluntary motions So that whensoever he had occasion for a Revelation he no sooner willed it but the Holy Ghost immediately inspired it into him and whensoever he wanted a Miracle to confirm a Revelation he no sooner called for it but the Holy Ghost immediately exerted it by him For as I shewed before he did both Prophesie and effect his Miracles by the Holy Ghost that was in him and that was so entirely subject to him through the whole course of his Ministry that he could Prophesie and do Miracles by him whensoever he pleased and hence he is said to be anointed with the Holy Ghost and with power Acts 10.38 that is to be consecrated to the Prophetick Office by the descent of the Holy Ghost upon him by whom he was impowered to Prophesie and to confirm his Prophecy by Miracles for so it follows He went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed with the Devil for God was with him and accordingly at his Baptism he was solemnly consecrated the great Prophet of God by a visible Vnction of the Holy Ghost who as St. Luke tells us descended on him in a bodily form or appearance Chap. 3. ver 22. which St. Matthew thus expresses the Spirit of God descended like a Dove and light upon him Chap. 3. ver 16. not as if he descended in the form of a Dove but as it seems most probable he assumed a body of light or fire and therein came down from above just as a Dove with its Wings spread forth is observed to do and gathering about our Saviour's head crowned it with a visible Glory For so in the Nazaren Gospel as Grotius observes it is said that upon this descent of the Holy Ghost 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. there immediately shone a great light round about the place and Iustin Martyr tells us that when Christ was Baptized 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that there was a fire lighted in the River Iordan that is by the reflection of that bright and flaming appearance in which the Holy Ghost descended the River seemed to be all on fire So that as God did signalize his presence in the Old Tabernacle by a visible Light or Glory so the Holy Ghost by descending on our Saviour in this shining appearance declared him to be the Tabernacle of his divine Presence wherein he meant from
Gideon Judg. 6.22 and the Children of Israel Exod. 20.19 and Moses himself Exod. 3.6 So that among the Ancients it seems it was a received opinion that the appearance of this illustrious one did commonly abode death unto those that beheld him Since therefore the Prophet had the same dreadful apprehension upon his vision of God in the Temple that all men had before him upon the appearance of this Angel Iehovah to them it is at least very probable that that God and this Angel were the same divine person Fourthly That this divine Person was not the most High God the Father For besides that our Saviour tells the Jews that they had not heard the Father's voice at any time nor seen his shape or appearance John 5.37 which is a plain evidence that that divine Person who spake and appeared to their Fathers in a humane voice or shape was not God the Father of whom the same Apostle tells us that no man hath seen God at any time John 1.18 whereas it is expresly said of Moses and Aaron Nadab and Abihu and the seventy Elders of Israel that they saw the God of Israel viz. upon Mount Sinai and as it is evident from the Text it was in a humane shape that they saw him for there was under his feet as it were a paved work of Saphir stone Exod. 24.9 10. and if he appeared to them with feet it is reasonable to suppose that he appeared with all the other parts of a humane body for though Moses tells the People that they saw no similitude on the Mount but only heard a voice Deut. 4.12 yet this doth not at all hinder but that Moses and the seventy Elders with him might and did for so when Moses desired to see the glory of God upon the Mount God tells him thou art not able to see my face i. e. by reason of the glory and lustre of it for no man shall see my face and live i. e. no man can endure without great hazard of his life the brightness and splendor of my countenance and from this passage in all probability sprang that common opinion in mens minds that they should surely die whenever they saw God or the Angel Iehovah and then God proceeds and tells Moses that he would place him in the Clift of the Rock and cover him with his hand whilst he passed by and that when he was passed by he would take away his hand and permit him to see his back parts Exod. 33.20 21 22 23. by all which it seems evident that this Apparition of God upon the Mount which Moses and the Elders saw was in a humane form since it had not only feet but face and hands and back parts which is not only a farther Evidence that this God was the same divine Person with that Angel Iehovah who appeared so often in humane shape but also a plain argument that he was not God the Father who as S. Iohn tells us was never seen in any shape or appearance whatsoever besides all which I say how can the Father who is the first and supreme person in the holy Trinity from whom both the Son and holy Spirit are sent be in any sence stiled as this divine Person of whom we are treating is the Angel of Iehovah For the word Angel which imports a Messenger implies some kind of Inferiority to him whose Angel or Messenger he is therefore can in no sence be truly and properly applied to the most high God and Father Fifthly and lastly That this divine Person was God the Son. For First that it was he who appeared to the Patriarchs and particularly to Abraham those words of our Saviour plainly imply in Ioh. 8.56 Your Father Abraham rejoyced to see my day and he saw it and was glad where by Abraham's seeing of Christ's day must necessarily be meant his real and actual and personal sight of Christ himself for so the Jews understood it Thou art not yet say they in the following verse fifty years old and hast thou seen Abraham As much as if they should have said How is it possible that ever thou shouldest personally and actually see Abraham or he thee as thy words do import when as yet thou art not fifty years old and it is many Ages since that Abraham died If therefore the Jews did not mistake Christ's sence it is plain that by seeing his day he meant personally and actually seeing himself but that they did not mistake him is evident because if they â—ad Christ ought to have corrected them by explaining himself into some other sence and not suffer them to run away with such a gross mistake in a matter of such mighty moment instead of which he plainly allows and câ—untenances their sence in the Answer which he gave them verse 58. Verily verily I say unto you before Abraham was I am as much as if he had said it is no such impossible matter as you imagine that Abraham should see me and I hâ—m because I have a fix'd and eternal existence and therefore was in being before ever he was boâ—n So that either the Jews apprehended Christ aright and if so Abraham really and actually saw him or Christ in his Answer prevaricated with them and meerly plaid upon their mistake and if Abraham personally saw Christ it is certain that Christ must be that divine Person that appeared to him But then Secondly That it was he also that brought Israel out of Aegypt and descended upon Mount Sinai at the giâ—ing the Law to them i. e. who declared himself to be the Lord their God that brought them out of the Land of Aegypt is apparent from Heb. 12.26 where it is expresly affirmed that it was Christ's voice which then did shake the Earth i. e. when the Law was delivered in Thunder from Mount Sinai which is a plain argument that Christ was that Iehovah who came down upon Mount Sinai and whose voice caused the whole Mount to quake greatly Exod. 19.18 the same also is evident from Eph. 4.8 Wherefore he saith i. e. the Psalmist Psalm 68.18 when he i. e. Christ of whom he had been speaking just before verse 7. ascended up on high he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men so that either Christ must be the Person of whom the Psalmist speaks or the Apostle must grosly mis-quote and mis-apply him and if he be the same Person then from that Psalm it is evident First That it was he that went before the People and marched with them through the Wilderness verse 7. to 15. Secondly That it was he that was among the thousands of Angels in Sinai in the holy place and by their Ministry promulgated the Law from thence verse 17. Thirdly That it was he who was the God and King whose goings were seen in the Sanctuary ver 24. Fourthly That it was he who was the God of the Temple at Ierusalem vers 29. For all these things are expresly spoken of him that
Females and Proselytes and which was much more acceptable to the Gentiles as not being at all offensive to them as Circumcision was it being one of their own Religious Ceremonies and much less painful in its own nature But though this was of a quite different nature from Circumcision yet it was instituted by our Saviour to supply its room and to serve its religious ends and purposes viz. to transact and seal and ratifie the new Covenant between God and us For in Baptism the Party Baptized makes a solemn Vow and Profession by himself or his Sponsor of fidelity and Allegiance to God through Jesus Christ and hence Baptism is called the answer or promise of a good Conscience 1 Pet. 3.21 For in the Apostolick Age as Origâ—n tells us in Num. Homil. 5. there were certain questions proposed by the Minister to the Person to be Baptized which St. Cyprian calls Interrogatio Baptismi the Interrogation of Baptism Now the questions proposed were first 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wilt thou renounce the Devil To which the Party answered 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I do renounce then he was asked again 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dost thou consent to resign thy self to Christ To which he answered 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I do consent and this answer or promise being made with a sincere intention was that in all Probability which the Apostle here calls the answer of a good Conscience and if so it is certain that these words do imply our formal Covenanting with God in Baptism Of the truth of which we have a large account in Rom. 6.3 4 5. Know ye not that so many as were baptized into Iesus Christ were baptized into his death therefore we are buried with him by Baptism into death that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father even so we also should walk in newness of life for if we have been planted together into the likeness of his death we shall be also into the likeness of his Resurrection where it is plain that those Phrases buried with Christ and risen with Christ are only the sense and signification of that Eastern custom in Baptism viz. of Plunging the Baptized person under water and raising him up again which being Sacramental actions must be supposed to have a peculiar import and significancy and the significancy of them the Apostle here plainly tells us wholly refers to the Death and Burial and Resurrection of Christ and therefore the plunging under water must necessarily refer to Christ's Death and Burial and the raising up again to his Resurrection The true import therefore of these Baptismal actions must be First a solemn profession of our belief that as we are buried under water and raised up again so Christ died and was buried and raised up from the dead which being the principal Articles of Christianity do include all the rest Secondly They also import a solemn engagement of the Party baptized to die to and endeavour utterly to extinguish all his sinful lusts and affections even as Christ died and was buried and to rise from the spiritual death of sin into newness of life even as Christ rose from his natural death to live for ever Since therefore in their Baptism they did by the same actions signifie their belief of the Death and Burial and Resurrection of Christ together with their own resolution of dying to sin and rising to righteousness they might very well be said to dye with Christ in those actions to be buried with Christ and to rise with Christ since what is represented as done together is representatively done together and it is usual in Sacraments to call the representing signs by the names of the things which they represent For so the Paschal Lamb is called the Passover and the Bread and Wine in the Lord's Supper the Body and Bloud of Christ and for the same reason the plunging under water and raising up again in Baptism is here called dying with Christ and rising with Christ because in the same actions Christ's natural Death and Resurrection and our spiritual Death and Resurrection are represented together The meaning therefore of the above cited passage is plainly this You cannot be ignorant that when you were baptized into Jesus Christ you made a solemn Profession that you would conform your selves to his Death in dying to sin even as he died for it so that in your Baptismal immersion you were representatively buried with him that so as Christ was raised from the dead so you in conformity thereto might live a new regenerate life for if we conform to his Death in dying to sin as we promised to do in our immersion we shall be sure to conform to his Resurrection also in living to Righteousness as we promised to do in our rising out of the water again By which it is evident that Baptism is on our part a solemn engagement of our selves to perform the conditions of the New Covenant And indeed the very phrase Baptized into Iesus Christ can import no less than a solemn resignation of our selves to Christ in Baptism For so the phrase Baptized into Moses 1 Cor. 10.2 plainly denotes the Jews giving up themselves to him to be governed by him as the Minister of God. And accordingly the Apostle tells us that so many as have been Baptized into Christ have put on Christ Gal. 3.27 and putting on Christ is opposed by the Apostle to making no provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof Rom. 13.14 and therefore must necessarily denote an ingagement of our selves to a strict observance of the Laws of Christian purity or which is the same thing a promise or stipulation on our part of universal obedience to his Laws By all which it is evident that in this solemnity of Baptism we put our selves under Christ as our Head and Covenant with him to be ruled by him in our Faith and Manners And as in this Ceremony of Initiation we strike Covenant with him so doth he with us For in this sacred Action the Minister is the authorized Proxy of Jesus Christ and therefore his giving the holy Sign is Christ's own action and doth to all intents and purposes as much oblige him as if he did it in his own Person For since Christ is not upon Earth and so cannot transact the New Covenant with us in his own Person it is necessary he should do it by Authorized Proxies impowered by himself to do it in his Name which Proxies being thus Authorized by him do as effectually oblige him by those federal Rites which they perform in his Name as if he himself had performed them in his own Person For he doth what they do by his Authority and is as effectually obliged by what he doth by them mediately as by what he doth by himself immediately For thus his Commission runs by which he Authorized them and their Successors to the end of the World Go teach all Nations baptizing
infinite power with the vigorous activity of a glorified Soul II. The Bodies of good Men will be changed from earthly and fleshly into spiritual and heavenly So ver 44. It is sown saith he a natural body it is raised a spiritual body where those words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we render a natural body may perhaps be better translated an animal Body i. e. a body suted and adapted to this animal life which the beasts that perish enjoy in common with us a body that is sustained by animal operations and recreated with animal pleasures and which by reason of its gross substance doth continually crave to be supplied with suitable nourishment and treated with gross and carnal pleasures which is the very thing that renders it so great a Cumber to the immortal Spirit that animates it But at the Resurrection it will be improved into a spiritual body not that it will be converted into a spiritual substance for the Apostle's own words do assure us that it will still remain a body but the spirituality of it will consist in this that being wrought into a purer and finer substance it will no longer need or crave these animal nourishments and pleasures but be perectly fitted for and contemper'd to the soul and intirely resigned to its use and service for it will then be refined from all those animal appetites of eating drinking and carnality which do now too often not only render it unserviceable to the soul but also hurtful and injurious so that then it will be in intire subjection to the mind and all its members will be devoted Instruments to the service of Righteousness so that now there will be no longer any Law in its members to wage war against the Law in the mind but the mind will govern and the body obey without any contest or reluctancy and as the body will be wholly obedient to the mind so it will be perfectly adapted to its service for whereas now by reason of its gross consistency it is an unwieldy Luggage to the Soul and doth very much clog and incumber her in her operations it will then be wrought into so fine and tenuious a substance as that instead of a clog it will be a wing to the Soul for its consistence will be subtil as the finest Aether and active as the purest flame it will have nothing that is gross or burdensom in it to retard or weary it in its flights to rebate its vigour or slacken its motion but it will be all life and spirit and wing and like a perpetual motion be carried on with unwearied swiftness by its own internal springs and being freed from all that weight which now renders it so slow and heavy it will be able to move like a thought and to keep pace with the most nimble wishes of the Soul so that what Hierocles saith of his spiritual Body 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. that it is such a body as is every way fitted to the intellectual perfections of the Soul will be true of this resurrection body which will be perfectly attempered to a perfect mind and fashioned into a most convenient Organ for it whereby to exert its purest and most spiritual operations III. The Bodies of good Men will be changed from weak and passive into active and powerful Bodies so ver 43. It is sown in weakness it is raised in power that is whereas the body which we sow in the grave is exceeding weak and infirm liable to infinite passions and diseases and can do but little but suffers much it shall be raised with a temperament so pure and just so hail and vigorous that no disease or infirmity shall ever find any place in it or be able to cramp it in its operations For besides that its elementary qualities if any such remain in it shall be turned into such an exquisit temper that they shall never jar or disagree with each other it shall be so spirited and invigorated by the blessed Soul that animates it that nothing shall be able to impair its health or discompose its Harmony So that it shall live for ever without decay move for ever without weariness fast for ever without hunger and wake for ever without either need or desire of refreshment And indeed considering for what purpose our Bodies shall be raised they have need to be very strong and vigorous for they shall be raised on purpose to be the Organs and Instruments of the operations of our glorified Souls which being exceeding active as they are spirits but exceedingly more active as they are glorified spirits will require bodies suitably strong and vigorous such as can support their joys express their activities and keep pace with their raptutous emotions to do which will require a mighty firmness and vigour of temper Since therefore at the Resurrection God will fit and adapt our bodies to the utmost activity of our glorified spirits they must necessarily be supposed to be endued with unspeakable strength and agility upon which account they are called by the ancient Hebrews Eagles wings upon which they suppose our glorified Souls shall be able to fly as fast and as far as they please and this I am apt to think is intimated in that passage of S. Paul 1 Thes. 4.17 And they that are alive and whose bodies are changed in the state of the resurrection shall be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air the meaning of which is not that they shall be snatched up from the Earth by any external cause of Agent but that their Bodies being changed into pure aetherial flame they shall of their own accords ascend in them as in so many fiery Chariots to the Throne of their Redeemer in the Clouds and from thence when the judgment is concluded shall as nimbly ascend with him through all those spacious Fields of Air and Aether that lie between that and the eternal Paradise of Blessedness For that they shall be caught up by Angels as some imagin I see no reason to think since our Saviour himself assures us that at the Resurrection they shall be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and therefore shall not need their help in this angelified state either to waft them up into the Air or from thence into the Heaven of Heavens and if by their own activity they shall be able to perform so vast a flight as 't is from the earth into the uppermost Region of the Air and from thence into the supreme Region of everlasting glory we may from thence collect what a vast power they will be endued with at their Resurrection But this is most certain that then they shall be perfectly released from all dolorous passion and continue in perfect strength and health and vigour for ever So that whereas now our Bodies are exceeding weak and passive a kind of walking Hospitals of pains infirmities and diseases the time will come when our soul shall be accommodated with a much more
beams of Majesty and its face displaying a most beautiful lustre and its whole substance shedding forth from every part a dazling glory round about it and this I conceive is that which he himself calls his own glory Luke 9.26 When he i. e. the Son of man shall come in his own glory that is the glory of that illustrious heavenly Body wherein he is now arrayed besides which bright and luminous Robe in which like a meridian Sun he shall visibly shine over all the World the aforecited Text tells us that he shall also come in the glory of his Father by which I conceive is meant that which the Hebrews call the Shechinah and the Scripture the glory of the Lord viz. a body of bright shining fire in which the Lord was especially present and with which as the Psalmist expresseth it he covered himself as with a Garment Psalm 104.2 for in 2 Thess. 1.8 we are told that he shall be revealed from heaven with flaming fire and so he descended on the Mount in fire Exod. 19.18 and that fire is called the Glory of the Lord Exod. 24.17 That fire therefore in which our Saviour shall be revealed from Heaven seems to be of the same nature with that fiery Shechinah or visible glory of the Lord in which he descended on Mount Sinai though doubtless it will be far more glorious as being designed to adorn a far more glorious solemnity And this Glory being added to the natural brightness and splendor of his glorified Body will cause him to outshine the Sun and drown all the lights of heaven in the conquering brightness of his appearance So that when he comes forth from his aetherial Palace and appears upon the Eastern heaven that immense Sphere of visible glory which will then surround him will in the twinkling of an eye spread and diffuse it self over all the Creation and cause both the Heavens and the Earth to glitter like a flaming fire III. Thirdly We will consider the Carriage on which he is to come which as the Scripture tells us shall be a Cloud so Acts 1.11 the Angels tell his Disciples who stood gazing after him as he was ascending into Heaven the same Iesus which is taken from you into Heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into Heaven Now if you would know how that was the 9th Verse will inform you where it 's said that he was taken up and a Cloud received him out of sight and therefore as he ascended into Heaven on a Cloud so in like manner he shall from thence descend upon a Cloud also and accordingly our Saviour himself declares that we shall see the Son of man coming on the Clouds of Heaven in power and great glory Mat. 24.30 So also Mat. 26.64 Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of Power and coming in the Clouds of Heaven and in this very manner do the Iews expect the coming of their Messias as appears by that gloss of one of their ancient Masters on Dan. 7.10 si meruerint Iudaei veniet in nubibus Coeli which Raimund Pug. fid thus explains If ever the Jews deserve that the Messias should come he shall come gloriously according to the Prophet Daniel that is in the Clouds of Heaven And then he tells us farther ideo moderni Iudaei dicunt Messiam non venisse quia non viderunt eum venire in nubibus coeli therefore do the modern Jews say that the Messias is not yet come because they never saw him coming in the clouds of Heaven and it seems very probable that the great offence which the high Priest took at our Saviours saying that they should hereafter see him coming in the clouds of Heaven Mat. 26.64 65. was this that it was a tradition among them that the Messias should so come and that therefore he look'd upon that saying of our Saviour as a blasphemous pretence to his being the Messias as much as if he should have said though I have done enough already to convince you that I am the Messias yet you shall hereafter see that very sign of my being the Messias upon which you so much depend and without which you will not believe viz. my coming in the clouds of Heaven which therefore I am apt to think is the sign of the Son of man in Heaven of which our Saviour speaks Mat. 24.30 For so not only the Iews do Character their Messias but also the Heathen their Gods cloathed in a Cloud Thus Homer Iliad lib. 5. represents God coming to Diomedes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with his shoulders wrap'd in a Cloud and so also Virgil represents Iupiter coming to assist Aeneas Aen. 7 Radiis ardentem lucis auro ipse manu quatiens ostendit ab aethere nubem i. e. shewing him a Cloud from Heaven flaming with rays of light and Gold. So that to appear in Clouds it seems was looked upon both by Iews and Gentiles as a divine sign and Character and accordingly this sign was given by our Saviour to the Iews in that glorious representation of a Captain with his Legions issuing out of the Clouds a little before the destruction of Ierusalem recorded at large both in Iosephus and Tacitus and will hereafter be given to the whole World in a far more glorious manner at the opening of the day of Iudgment for then as the Psalmist expresses it he will make the Clouds his Chariots and ride down from the Heavens on them in a triumphal procession shining with unspeakable Glory and Majesty So that as when he ascended a bright and Radiant Cloud was prepared to receive and carry him up to the Seat of the blessed so when he descends there will be a vast sheet of condensed aethâ—r in the form of a radiant Cloud and such it 's probable was that on which he ascended prepared to receive him and to waft him down from above to the place appointed for the general Asâ—izes and this very Cloud or bright aetherial substance on which he shall come will perhaps be that Throne of Glory in Matth. 25.31 on which he shall sit whilest he is administring judgment to the World for this substance being not only naturally luminous but also accidentally illuminated from the Sun of Righteousness whom it bears will to be sure be sufficiently Glorious to deserve the name of A Throne of Glory IV. Fourthly We will consider the Retinue and Equipage with which he shall come which as the Scripture tells us will consist of innumerable myriads of Saints and Angels for immediately upon the notice that he is going down to solemnize the general Judgment all those blessed spirits of just men made perfect whom he hath redeemed and glorified from the beginning of the World shall forsake their mansions of glory to attend him in his progress for so Enoch prophesied of old behold the Lord comes with ten thousand of his Saints to execute judgment on the ungodly Jude
14.15 and that by these ten Thousand he means the whole body of the Church Triumphant is evident by that passage of S. Paul 1 Thess. 3.13 where he prays that they might be established in their Christian course till the coming of the Lord Iesus with all his Saints and indeed since they are all to re-assume their bodies and to be made partakers of the Glorious Resurrection it 's necessary that they should all come down along with him and return to this earth where the old matter of those bodies lies wherein they are to be reinvested and to this illustrious retinue of glorified Saints shall be joyned the heavenly hosts of the holy Angels for so Christ himself tells us that he shall come in his own glory and in his Fathers and of his holy Angels Luke 9.26 and that he shall come in his glory and all his holy Angels with him Mat. 25.31 And S. Paul tells us that he shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty Angels 2 Thess. 1.2 And as the Angels shall come down along with him so in all probability they shall come in a glorious appearance cloathed in bright aetherial bodies in which to adorn the triumphs of that glorious day they shall be conspicuous to all the Inhabitants of the Earth Neither shall their coming with him be only for shew and pomp but the Scripture plainly tells us that they shall minister to him in that great transaction For at his issuing forth from the heaven of heavens these mighty hosts of Angels shall march before him with the Archangel in the head of them who with a mighty voice or sound like that of a Trumpet shall send forth an awakening summons to all the Inhabitants of the grave to come forth and appear before the Judgment Seat at which Tremendous voice which with an all-enlivening power shall be reverberated through all the vault of heaven and penetrate the most secret repositories of the Earth the dead shall rise and the living shall be changed and transfigured and all shall be set before the dread Tribunal to undergo their Trial and receive their doom For so 1 Thess. 4.16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the Archangel and the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first and in 1 Cor. 15.52 the resurrection of the dead is made the consequence of the sounding this Trumpet for the Trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible And so also Mat. 24.31 our Saviour tells us that at his coming on the clouds of Heaven he will send his Angels with a great sound of a Trumpet and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds from whence it is evident that the Angels then minister to him to raising the dead and assembling them to Judgment and hence that which is called the voice of the Archangel in the above cited 1 Thess. 4.10 is elsewhere called the voice of the Son of God John 5.25 because as it will be animated by his power so it will be pronounced by his authority and as they shall minister to him in raising the dead to be judged so shall they also in executing his Sentence and Judgment for so Mat. 13.41 42. He tells us the Son of man 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 there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth From whence it 's evident that when he hath pronounced sentence on the workers of iniquity he will by the ministry of his Angels chase them into that everlasting fire whereunto he hath doomed and devoted them Thus when he comes to judg the World all his holy Angels shall come with him and that not only to contribute to the glory and splendor of his Circuit but also to minister to him in his Judgment so that his retinue shall consist of all the Inhabitants of heaven who shall all come forth together with him and bear him company in this his Triumphant progress through the skies by which we may easily imagine what an amazing spectacle his coming down from heaven will be to the Inhabitants of the earth when they shall see him descend from his Imperial Seat far above the starry Skies with all the Train-bands of heaven about him the Captain of the Angelical Host in the front of innumerable Angels marching before him and with his mighty Trump ringing a peal of Thunder through the Universe and with ten thousand thousands of the Spirits of just men made perfect following after him with Crowns of glory on their heads and Songs and Halelujahs in their moâ—ths O blessed Jesuâ— how will this glorious and dreadful sight confound thy Enemies and ravish thy Friends make those that hate thee tremble and gnash their teeth and those that love thee lift up their heads and shout for joy V. And lastly We will consider the place to which he is to come concerning which all that is certain from Scripture is this that when he comes down from Heâ—ven he will fix his Throne or Judgment Seat in the Air at such a convenient distance from the Earth as shall render him visible to all its Inhabitants For so 1 Thess. 4.17 it is said of the righteous that after their being raised or changed they shall be caught up in the Clouds to meet the Lord in the Air which is a plain argument that the Lord will sit in judgment on them in the Air since thither they will be caught up to him after they are raised and judged Thus in that very Air which is now the seat of the Devils Empire shall Christ fix his Throne to manifest to all the World the consummation of his Victory over the Powers of darkness There shall he sit in Majesty and Glory where now the Devil and his Angels reign and in the publick view of the World shall even in their own dominion spoil those Hellish Principalities and Powers and having chained them at his Chariot Wheels make a shew of them openly triumphing over them there where they now domineer and tyrannize over this wretched World shall he set his foot upon their necks and from thence shall he tread them down into everlasting darkness and despair Thus that he may expose himself to the more publick view and the Devil to the more publick shame and confusion he will choose to keep his general Assizes in the Air. Being therefore arrived into the airy Regions after a long and glorious progress from the highest heaven there he shall sit down upon the Throne of his glory as some think over against Mount Olivet the place from whence he ascended whither all People Nations and Languages shall be gathered before him to receive their everlasting Doom And now let us imagine with our selves in what a glorious and tremendous Majesty he will appear to the World from his
judgment seat whence every Eye shall see him shine in his own his Fathers and his Angels glory who in a bright Corona shall sit round about him like so many Stars about a Sun and where as the Prophet Daniel describes him Chap. 7. ver 9 10. he shall exhibit himself to publick view cloathed in garments as white as snow with the hair of his head like the pure wooll sitting on a Throne like the fiery flame and its Wheels as burning fire with a fiery stream issuing out from before him and a thousand thousands ministring unto him and ten thousand times ten thousand standing before him whilst the Iudgment is set and the Books are opened And thus I have given a brief account from Scripture of the manner and circumstances of his coming from whence I proceed to the IV. And last general I proposed to treat of viz. to explain the whole Process of this Iudgment And that we may proceed herein the more distinctly we will consider it with respect to those twofold objects viz. the Righteous and the Wicked about which it is to be exercised for it is plain from Scripture that they are not to be judged promiscuously one among another as they come but the Sheep are to be separated from the Goats the Good from the Bad and to be tried and sentenced apart from one another Mat. 25.32 33. And he i. e. the Son of Man shall separate them from one another as a Shepherd divideth his Sheep from the Goats and he shall set the Sheep on his Right hand and the Goats on the left in which separation the precedency will be given to the Sheep or Righteous who are to be judged first for so the Scripture assures us that the dead in Christ are to rise first and that after they have undergone their Iudgment they are immediately to be wasted up into the Air there to meet the Lord and to sit as Assessors with him in that Judgment which he shall afterwards pass upon the wicked vid. 1 Thes. 4.15 16 17. compared with 1 Cor. 6.2 In explaining therefore the Process of this Iudgment we will treat of it in the same order wherein it will be transacted beginning first with the Iudgment of the Righteous in which according to the Scripture-account of it there are these five things implied 1. Their Citation or Summons 2. Their personal Appearance before the Judgment Seat. 3. Their Trial. 4. Their Sentence 5. Their Assumption into the clouds of heaven I. This Judgment of the Righteous includes their Citation or Summons which as was observed before is to be performed by the Voice or Trump of the Archangel i. e. by an Audible shout or noise made by the Prince of Angels and sounding throughout the Universe like the mighty blast of a Trumpet For as it was anciently the manner of Nations to gather their Assemblies by the sound of a Trumpet so by the same sound the Scripture tells us God will assemble the world of men to judgment and that this shall be a real Audible sound like that of a Trumpet though proceeding from no other instrument than that of the Archangels mouth I see no reason to doubt because with such a noise we read God did descend upon Mount Sinai Exod. 19.16 and why may we not as well understand the one in a literal sense as the other it being no more improper in the nature of the thing for God to proclaim by such a sound his coming to judge the World than it was his coming to give Laws to Israel But then together with this mighty Voice or Trump of the Archangel there shall proceed from Christ a divine power even his holy Spirit by which he raised himself from the dead by whose omnipotent Agency all those holy Reliques of the bodies of his Saints which are now scattered about the world shall be gathered up reunited and reorganized into glorious bodies for so the Apostle attributes the Resurrection of our bodies to the Holy Ghost Rom. 8.11 For if the Spirit of him that raised up Iesus from the dead dwell in us he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken our mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in us and the old materials of their bodies being thus reunited and reformed by the powerful energy of the Holy Ghost accompanying the sound of the Archangels Trump those Saintly Spirits which anciently inhabited them and which are now come down from heaven with their Saviour shall every one re-enter its own proper body and animate it with immortal vigour and activity and whilst the dead Saints are thus arising those who shall then be living and have not tasted death shall by the same Almighty Power be changed transformed and glorified in the twinkling of an eye 1 Cor. 15.51 52. which being transacted they shall all be gathered together by the Ministry of the holy Angels from all parts of the Earth before the judgment Seat of Christ Mat. 13.27 For II. This Iudgment of the Righteous doth also include their personal Appearance before the Judgment Seat. What this Iudgment Seat will be hath been briefly hinted before viz. a vast body of luminous aether condensed into the form of a bright and radiant Cloud and placed in the Region of the Air at a convenient distance from the Earth streaming with light from every part and casting forth an unspeakable glory for which cause it is called the Throne of his glory and is described by S Iohn to be a great white or refulgent Throne Rev. 20.11 out of which Lightnings and Thunders are said to proceed Rev. 4.5 which implies that it will be a Cloud it being from Clouds that Thunders and Lightnings do proceed And before this glorious Tribunal or bright Iudgment-Seat shall all the Assembly of the Righteous appear to undergo a merciful Trial and receive a happy Doom Here shall the glorious company of the Apostles the goodly fellowship of the Prophets the noble Army of Martyrs the holy Church throughout all the World both Militant and Triumphant meet and in one entire body present themselves before their blessed Redeemer who looking down from his exalted Throne shall at one view see all the Congregation of his Saints before him and with infinite complacency surveigh the fruit of the travel of his Soul and the mighty purchase of his precious bloud for so the Apostle tells us that we must all stand before his Iudgment Seat. Rom. 14.10 III. This Iudgment of the Righteous doth also include their Trial for so the Apostle assures us We must all appear i. e. we Righteous as well as others before the Iudgment-Seat of Christ that every one may receive the things done in his body 2 Cor. 5.10 which plainly implies that even the Righteous shall undergo an impartial trial of their deeds that so they may receive a reward proportionable to them and more expresly Rom. 14.12 he tells us that we must every one of us give an account
the Tabernacle where he fixed his abode between the Cherubins and from whence he frequently displayed himself before the whole Congregation in the beams of that visible Glory which he there assumed as the Symbol of his special presence and by thus doing he took a most wise and effectual course not only to raise and excite their devotion but also to restrain and confine it within its proper bounds and limits for while men are under the government of sense there is nothing hath that prevalence with them to excite their affections and fix their thoughts as material Phantasms so that God by exhibiting to them a visible presence of himself and thereby impressing their imaginations with a material Phantasm of his presence and Glory did at once both spur their affections and bridle their fancies from roving into wild similitudes of him and thereby take an effectual course to prevent the worshiping him by those outward Images which they exemplified from the similitudes which they framed of him in their own fancies and having this visible glory to entertain their fancies they had the less temptation from their sense to hunt after sensible similitudes and representations of him that outward Shechinah which they sometimes saw being a sufficient help to raise up their groveling minds and carnal affections to the contemplation and worship of his invisible glory and that that outward visible glory in which he appeared to them was intended for this purpose seems plainly implied in Deut. 4.12 where Moses tells them that when God spake to them out of the midst of the fire they heard the voice of the words but saw no similitude and so again ver 15. from whence he infers Take ye therefore good heed unto your selves left ye corrupt your selves and make ye a graven Image the similitude of any figure the likeness of Male or Female c. ver 16.17 where by their seeing no similitude is not meant that they saw nothing for God himself had promised Moses that the third day he would come down in the sight of all the people on Mount Sinai Exod. 19.11 and therefore in all probability they saw the fire or visible glory in which he descended for it is expresly said they saw it afterwards Exod. 24.17 but this fire shining without any determinate form or shape they might very well be said to see no similitude for by similitude it is evident he means a determinate shape ver 16. where he bids them beware of making the similitude of any figure so that the People saw God only in an unfigured flame or visible glory that was cast into no determinate shape though within that it is probable as was shewn before God appeared to Moses and the seventy Elders in a glorious humane shape And this it seems God deemed a sufficient help to inable them to fix their thoughts on and determine their worship to himself and therefore he strictly charges them to content themselves with this and not let their fancies rove as they were too prone to do after formed similitudes and Images of him lest those Images should create in their minds false and opprobrious notions of him and cause them to imagine the immense Godhead as the Heathen did to be like unto Gold or Silver or Stone graven by Art and mans device Acts 17.29 Thus men being degenerated into a life of sense and thereby rendered extremely propence to Idolatry to worship God by Images and thereupon to form blasphemous notions of him as if he were such a one in himself as those Images represented him God was pleased to exhibit to them a sensible presence of himself that thereby he might the more effectually excite their awe and reverence and at the same time restrain their imaginations from debauching their minds with unbecoming similitudes of his infinite Being and Perfections And for the same reason that God under the Old Law appeared to the Iews in a visible glory he afterwards appeared to this lower World and doth still continue to appear to the upper personally united to a humane body and soul for so S. Iohn represents Christs assuming of humane nature who before he assumed it was that God who appeared to the Iews from their Tabernacle in that Shechinah of visible Glory to be only a removing out of one Tabernacle into another out of the Tabernacle of the Law into the Tabernacle of humane nature John 1.14 The word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his Glory the Glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of Grace and truth where instead of he dwelt among us in the Greek it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. he Tabernacled or dwelt as in the Tabernacle among us he removed his abode out of the old Tabernacle and took a new Habitation in humane nature for that this is the Apostles meaning is evident from what follows and we beheld his Glory which plainly refers to that Glorious Light or flaming substance called the Glory of the Lord in which of old he was wont to display himself before the Congregation of Israel from between the Cherubins and in this very Glory S. Iohn says he beheld him viz. at his Baptism and Transfiguration at both which times he was seen by them shining in the very same Glory wherein of old he was wont to shine out of the Old Tabernacle and therefore it is added that this Glory wherein S. Iohn beheld him was the Glory as of the only begotten of the Father i. e. it was the very same Glory with that wherein the only begotten was heretofore wont to display himself from the Tabernacle of Moses so that the meaning of the words seems at least to be this He dwelt among us in our nature just as heretofore he did in the Mosaick Tabernacle and in this Tabernacle of our Nature we Twice beheld him shining forth with the same Glory wherein he was wont to shine out of that Old Tabernacle from between the Cherubins Since therefore Christ dwelt in our nature in the same manner and therein appeared in the same visible Glory that he formerly did in the Old Tabernacle there is no doubt but he did it for the same ends and purposes and therefore since one of the ends of his dwelling in that Tabernacle was to restrain men from running into Idolatry there is no doubt but among others he intended this end also in assuming our natures than which there can be no visible appearance in nature more proper to excite our sluggish and to determine our roving devotions upon him for since in this life of sense which we now lead we need a sensible presence of God to raise up our minds and affections to him in what presence could he have appeared to us more proper for this end than that of our own nature a presence which is not confused like that of the Old Tabernacle which was only a mixture of shapeless lights and shadows but distinct and determinate
the Tribulation of those days in that prodigious irruption of Vesuvius in Campania the woful effects whereof were felt not only in Rome and Italy but in a great part of Africa in Syria Constantinople and in all the adjoyning Countries Vid. Dion Cass. lib. 66.68 but it is apparent that our Saviour here prophesies of the Judgment of Ierusalem as it was a Type and Representation of the general Judgment so that though his Prophesie respects Ierusalems doom immediately yet through this it looks forward to the final Doom of the World and therefore as in foretelling the former he prefigures the later so in foretelling the foregoing signs of the former he prefigures the foregoing signs of the later And since he here intended the signs of Ierusalems dooms-day only for Types and Figures of those signs which shall forerun the dooms-day of the World and seeing that Types have always less in them than are in the things which they typifie and prefigure there is no doubt but those signs which shall forerun the last judgment will be much more eminent and illustrious than those of Ierusalems judgment which were intended only to Typifie and prefigure them and accordingly St. Ierom tells us of an ancient Tradition of the Jewish Doctors to which our Saviour in this Prediction seems plainly to refer that for fifteen days together before the general judgment there shall be transacted upon the Stage of Nature a continued Scene of fearful Signs and Wonders the Sea shall swell to a prodigious height and make a fearful noise with its tumbling Waves the Heavens shall crack day and night with loud and roaring Thunders the Earth shall groan under hideous Convulsions and be shaken with quotidian Earthquakes the Moon shall shed forth purple streams of discoloured light the Sun shall be cloathed in a dismal darkness and the Stars shall shrink in their light and twinkle like expiring Candles in the Socket the Air shall blaze with Portentous Comets and the whole frame of nature like a funeral Room shall be all hung round with mourning and with Ensigns of horrour and when these fatal symptoms appear upon the face of the Universe then shall the Inhabitants of the earth mourn and the Sinners in Sion shall be horribly afraid being loudly forewarned by these astonishing Portents of the near approach of their everlasting Doom Having thus briefly shewn what shall be the Signs of our Saviours coming to Judgment I proceed to the III. The Third general which was to shew the manner and circumstances of his coming and here we will first consider the place from whence he is to come Secondly the State in which he is to come Thirdly the Carriage on which he is to come Fourthly the Equipage with which he is to come Fifthly the place to which he is to come I. The place from which he is to come which is no other than the Highest Heavens where he now lives and reigns in his exalted and glorified Humanity for him must the Heavens receive till the time of the Restitution of all things Acts 3.21 in that bright Region of eternal day that Kingdom of Angels and of spirits of just men made perfect he is to reign in Person till the last and terrible day and from thence he is to begin his Circuit when he comes to keep his general Assizes upon earth for he is to be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels 2 Thess. 1.7 and to descend from Heaven with a shout 1 Thess. 4.16 so that in the close of those dreadful Alarms which he will give the World by the preceding signs of his coming he will arise from his imperial Seat at his Fathers right hand and descend in person from those high habitations of inaccessible light and every eye shall see him as he comes shooting like a Star from his Orb and the sight of him shall affect the whole World with unspeakable joy or consternation the righteous when they see him shall lift up their heads and rejoyce because they know he is their Friend and brings the day of their redemption with him they shall congratulate his Arrival and welcome him from Heaven with Songs of Triumph and deliverance but as for the wicked they shall shreik and lament at the sight of him as being conscious to themselves that by a thousand provocations they have render'd him their implacable Enemy the sense of which will cause them to exclaim in the bitter Agonies of their souls O yonder comes he whose mercies we have spurned whose Authority we have despised whose Laws we have trampled on and all the methods of whose love we have utterly baffled and defeated and now forlorn and miserable that we are how shall we abide his appearance or whither shall we flee from his presence O that some Rock would fall upon us or that some Mountain would be so pitiful as to swallow us up and bury us from his sight for ever But wo are we within these few moments the Rocks and Mountains will be gone the Heavens and Earth will melt away and nothing will be left besides our selves for his fiery indignation to prey on Thus shall the sight of the son of man descending from his Throne in the Heavens to judge the World inspire his friends with unspeakable joy and strike his enemies with terrour and confusion II. We will consider the State in which he is to come which shall be far different from that in which he came sixteen hundred years ago Then he came in an humble and despicable condition clouded with poverty and grief and oppressed with all the innocent infirmities of humane nature but at the last day he shall come in his glorified state cloathed in that Celestial Body which he now wears at the Right hand of God. For so Acts 1.11 the Angel assures his Disciples This same Iesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven that is he shall return to Judgment in that self-same glorified Body wherein you now see him ascend and what a glorious one that is we may partly learn from that majestick description of it Rev. 1.13 14 15 16. In the midst of the seven Candlesticks was one like the Son of man his head and his hair were white as wool as white as snow his eyes were as a flame of fire and his countenance was as the Sun shining in its strength And partly from his transfiguration on the Mount which was but a short essay and specimen of his Glorification for it 's said that his face did shine as the Sun and that his Raiment was white as the light white with those beams of Glory which from his transfigured Body shone through all his Apparel Mat. 17.2 When therefore he descends from Heaven to judg the World it shall be with this glorified Body this Body of pure and immaculate splendor with its hair shining like threds of light its eyes sparkling with