in the flesh CHAP. III. 2. THe second appearance of Christ will be in Glory at the last day when the world shall come to an end this is the appearance we are treating of and therefore I shall speak of it more largely and show 1. The manner of this appearance 2. The end and transactions at this appearance 1. Concerning the manner of Christs second appearance what tongue of Men or Angels is able to set it forth what heart can conceive the splendour thereof Something the Scripture doth reveale and taking the Scripture for my guide I shall assay to speak something of it See Luke 21. 27. Then shall they see the Son of man coming in a Cloud with Power and great Glory 1. Christ at his second appearance will come with Power with great power he hath all power put into his hands in Heaven and in Earth now and doth exercise it more secretly then he will exercise it more visibly and apparently in the sight of the whole world To give instance 1. He will come with power over Death Death hath had great power since the Fall and is the greatest Conquerour in the world Death hath made an universal Conquest over all the sons and daughters of Adam Enoch and Elias only excepted which lived in former generations and hath led them captive binding their faces in secret chaining their hands and their feet and clapping them up close prisoners in the grave and none have been able to make resistance yea Death did assail the Lord of Life himself and got the victory for a while and shut him up in prison but he got loose before three daies were at an end broke open the doors and gave Death a deep wound as it were and an abolishing stroke in his Resurrection 2 Tim. 1. 10. presaging the compleat victory which afterward he would obtain over this enemy of man-kind Now when Christ makes his second appearance in the world at the last day he will exercise his power over death he will lead captivity captive he will lay his first Hands on Death and tread this Conquerour under his feet and strip him of all his force and spoils which he hath been treasuring up for so many years he will snatch the keys of the grave out of the hand of Death and open the prison doors and let forth all his captives he will loosen all the bonds of Death and knock off his chains and bring out all his prisoners into freedom and enlargment as it is said Hos. 13. 14. I will ransom them from the power of the grave I will redeem them from Death O Death I will be thy Plagues O Grave I will be thy destruction And it is said 1 Cor. 15. 25 26. that all enemies shall be put under the feet of Jesus Christ and the last enemy which he shall destray is Death And v. 54. When this mortall shall put on immortality then Death shall be swallowed up in victory And surely Christ must needs come with great power to get victory over such a potent enemy 2. He will come with power over Men and Devils he will have power over all his enemies which have rebelled against him over all the Principalities and Powers on the Earth that exercise Lordship and dominion in the World he will bring the Kings of the Earth down from their seats and pluck off the robes of Princes he will take the staff and the sword out of their hand and divest them of all their royalty and greatness and they who have employed their borrowed power against him how will they quake and tremble before him See Rev. 11. 15 16 17 18. When the seventh Angel sounded there were great voices in Heaven saying the Kingdomes of the World are become the Kingdomes of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign for ever and ever And the four and twenty Angels fell on their faces saying we give thee thanks O Lord God all-mighty which art and wast and art to come because thou hast taken to thee thy great power and hast reigned And the Nations were angry and thy wrath is come and the time of the dead that they should be judged and that thou shouldst give reward unto thy servants the Prophets and to thy Saints and them that fear thy name small and great and shouldst destroy them which destroy the Earth The Kings of the Earth and great Potentates will be angry when they are dis-throned and the wicked of the Earth will be troubled when the Lord Jesus shall come down from Heaven to call them to Judgment If all the Powers of wicked Men and Devils too who are greater in power than Men could they would make head and resist the Lord Jesus Christ and pull him from his Throne and put him to death as the Iewes did at his first appearance if they had but any hopes of making their party good against him how would they call their forces and gather their Armies and wage War with this great King especially when all the wicked shall be raised up and the ancient Rebels the Giants of the old World shall come forth of their dust and the Prison of Hell where some of them have been tormented by him many years O how would they combine their strength and so many millions of them together rush upon him with rage and violence and endeavour to avenge themselves upon him at least defend themselves against him when he comes to torment them but Christ will come with so great power that he will be able to deale with the whole wicked world of men together when they are raised and united in one body and have obtained more strength of body and are filled with more rage and spight of minde than here they had and are out of all hopes of making any peace with him and have the whole flock of all the Devils in Hell to joyn in to their company I say Christ will come with sufficiency of strength to binde them all in Chains and so to hold them all down that they shall not be able to make the least resistance he that hath power to raise the wicked from the dead will have power to keep all his Enemies from Rebellion he will come with Power 2. Christ will come at his second appearance with great glory At his first appearance he came like a Servant yea like a Servant of Servants at his second appearance he will come like a Lord yea like a Lord of Lords like the great Lord of glory at his first appearance he was â—loathed with dishonour and a chain of contempt was put about him but at his second appearance he will be cloathed with glory and honour and most excellent Majesty will be put upon him at his first appearance his Deity was vailed his beauty was masked with infirm flesh his brightness was under a Cloud though sometimes some beams did break forth with such a dazling lustre as made Peter fall at his feet saying Depart
shall live and ye shall know that I am the Lord. So I prophesied as I was commanded and as I prophesied there was a noise and behold a shaking and the bones camè together bone to his bone And when I beheld â—o the sinews and flesh came upon them and the skin covered them above but there was no breath in them Then said he unto me Prophesie unto the Winds Prophesie Son of man and say to the Winds Thus saith the Lord God come from the four Winds O breath and breathe upon these slain that they may live So I prophesied as he commanded me and the breath came into them and they lived and stood upon their feet an exceeding great Army Something like this will the Resurrection be at the last day Now the bones and bodies of all former generations are scattered up and down in the valley of the shadow of death some are sunk into the deep others are buried in the earth the flesh is consumed and resolved into its first elements and the bones of some remain of other are mouldred into earth now when the Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God shall come down from Mount Sion which is above into the valley of this inferiour World he will Prophesie over all the bodies and bones of all the children of men that are dead and speak unto them to live he will say unto them whilst they lie rotting in their graves Live he will say Awake ye that sleep in the dust and O what a noise and shaking will there be then in the ground what a clattering of bones together in the coming of bone to his bone If the body hath been quartered and buried part in one place and part in another as the Levites concubine who was divided into twelve parts and sent to the twelve Tribes of Israel and it is likely buried in twelve distinct places the bones will fly through the air out of all those places and meet together in one body O what a great part of the air water and earth will there run into conjunction by the command of Christ and be turned into those very bodies which were resolved into them by death and the corruption of the Pit but with the addition of such new qualities as shall sublimate spiritualize and refine them from all that dreggishness and ill humour that shall be the foundation of any sickness or death for ever then the bones will come together and be made like stones for strength then the sinews will be as it were Iron sinews and the flesh brasse such strength will be put into them as I conceive is not to be found in the strongest creatures which hitherto God hath made that they might be fitted the bodâ—es of the righteous for an eternal life of happiness and bearing the glory of Heaven the bodies of the wicked for an eternal life of misery and bearing the torments of Hell either of which the body now as it is would sink under Then the Sea will give up her dead and the Earth will give up her dead Rev. 20. 13. As the Whale cast Ionah upon the shore after he had lain three daies in his belly so the Sea will cast up all the dead that for so many years have been buried in its bowels but what a stâ—rring will there be in the earth those which are alive will wonder to see such a strange metamorphosis of the ground to feel men and women stirring and moving under their feet arising and crouding for room amongst them Then will the Lord bring down all the souls of the righteous which have been in Paradise with him many years and they shall finde out their own bodies and he will open the prison of Hell and let out the souls of the wicked for a while that they also may finde out their own bodies which shall be prepared for both that they might both be prepared for the last judgment of which more when I come to the particular judgment of the righteous and wicked Thus Christ will raise up all the dead out of their graves 2. Christ at his second appearance will gather all Nations before his Iudgment seat Rev. 20. 11 12. I saw a great white throne and him that sate on it And I saw the dead small and great stand before God 2 Cor. 5. 10. We must all appear before the Iudgment seat of Christ. And Matth. 25. 31 32. When the Son of man shall sit on his throne all Nations shall be gathered before him O what a vast number will there be when so many hundred generations of people shall be alive together and gathered together into one place if so be the multitude of the righteous will be so great when they are got together into one body that no man can number them Rev. 7. 9. After I beheld and lo a great multitude which no man could number of all Nations and Kindreds and People and Tongues stood before the Throne and before the Lamb cloathed with white Robes and Palms in their hands What then will the multitude of the wicked be when they are gathered together in comparison with whom the righteous are but few All Nations shall be gathered before Christs Judgment seat 3. Christ at his second appearance will separate the righteous from the wicked the Chaff shall be purged from the Wheat Matth. 3. 12. the Tares shall be gathered from the good Corn. Matth. 13. 30. the bad Fish shall be divided from the good v. 48. The Goats shall be separated from the Sheep Matth. 25. 32. By the Chaff Tares bad Fish Goats we are to understand the wicked by the good Corn good Fish Sheep we are to understand the righteous who will be separated one from another however they are now in some places mingled and linked together the elect shall be gathered together into one company from the four winds Matth. 24. 31. and they shall stand on the right hand of Christ and the reprobate wicked shall stand on the left Mat. 25. 33. In which gathering and separation there shall be no mistake as there may be now Many close hypocrites may in this world pass for true children of God they may live together and hear together and pray together and receive the Sacrament together and make the same profession of Religion yea some hypocrites may as to ourward appearance seem to outgo some of Gods own children in zeal and forwardness the lamps of the foolish Virgins may seem to shine with a greater blaze than some of the lamps of the wise when they have not the least dram of the oyl of true grace in the vessel of their hearts Matth. 25. at the beginning yea some of Gods own children may here be mistaken for hypocrites their chiefest life being secret and out of view by them which are uncharitable and they may also mistake themselves through the temptations of the devil and the doubtings of their mis-giving unbelieving hearts but at the last day there will
is come and who shall be able to stand Then profane and wicked Kings who would not submit unto the Government of Christ but brake his bands asunder and cast away his cords from them shall see this King of Kings and Lord of Lords come down from heaven to judge them and O with what fear would they then run and hide themselves in Dens or under some great Rocks and Mountains if they could from the face of him who will then sit upon the Throne of Judgment and with what trembling will they stand amongst the meanest of their subjects devested of all their power and dignity then the Nobles and great Men of the Earth who having been lifted up above the ordinary degree of men have lifted up their hearts also with pride and haughtiness beyond measure and let loose the reigns unto licentiousness and wallowed in filthy delights and pleasures shall see the Son of Man coming in the Clouds and O how will their proud hearts then be brought down and their haughtiness laid low and their sweet sinful delights be turned into bitter gall and wormwood then they will cry to the Rocks to cover them and the Mountains to hide them if they can finde any such place to receive them in this terrible day Then the chief Captains and mighty Men who employed their force and strength under the banner of the Devil and endeavoured to promote the interest of his Kingdome in the World and rebelled against the Lord of Hosts shall see the Heavens opened and this mighty Captain come down with the Armies of Heaven attending upon him in white to execute vengeance upon them and then their courage will fail them and the wrath of the Lamb will make them tremble and they would creep into a Rock or any hole to hide them then the rich men who have placed their hearts and confidence in their riches especially those who have heaped up riches by injustice and unrighteous practises shall see the Son of Man coming against them and weep and howl for the miseries which are coming upon them and their riches will be so far from profiting them in the day of wrath that they will be witnesses to accuse them aâ—d aggravate their condemnation Then every Bond-man and every Free-man that are slaves to the Devil and their own lusts shall see the Son of Man coming to judge them and be in the number of the mourners crying to the Mountains to fall on them Then there will be distress upon all Nations and great perplexity Sea waves roaring and Mens hearts failing them for fear when they are looking up into the Clouds and see the Son of Man is come down and his Throne is prepared for judgment The Heathen Nations will mourn to see him especially the wicked who have had the name of Christians upon them and have sat under the light of the Gospel O how will their faces be filled with shame and confusion and their hearts with terrour and astonishment when they behold the face of the Lord Jesus Christ shining with such beauty and glory but looking on them with anger and disdain And is this glorious King that Iesus Christ whom we heard so much spoken of when we lived upon the Earth Was he indeed so great whose commands we disobeyed whose threatnings we slighted whose grace we abused and whose wrath we dis-regarded Was it so excellent a person who was described and set forth to us by Ministers in such superlative expressions all which he exceeds and yet could we see no form nor comeliness in him nothing for which we should desire him Was this the Saviour that was preached to us and proffered to us This the Iesus Christ that we were pressed so frequently and so earnestly to get an interest in with so many powerfull arguments and yet could not be moved and perswaded Was it this Person that did call us and stretch forth his hand all the day long to us that did wooe us and intreat us by his messengers to accept of parden and grace and salvation and knock at the door of our hearts again and again by his Word and Spirit for entertainment and did we shut our ear and our heart against him and refuse all his gracious tenders which were made unto us What did we hearken to the Devil when he tempted us to sin that he might destroy us and not hearken to Christ who would have perswaded us to faith and obedience that he might save us Could we harbour base lusts which were like so many vipers in our bosoms and give no entertainment to Iesus Christ who would have brought riches and glory with him O what fools mad men and women have we been How have our cursed hearts deceived us and the devil deluded us How have we been bewitched to prefer the vâ—nities of the World and the satisfaction of the desires of our flesh before an interest in such a Saviour Wo wo wo be unto us for now the great day of the Lord is come and who is able to stand This is the fifth Antecedent to the judgment of the wicked they shall see the Lord Jesus coming in the clouds and be summoned to the bar and plaeed at his left hand of which before 6. The sixth Antecedent will be their seeing the Iudgment and hearing the Sentence of the righteous Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the World And oh how will they grind and gnash their teeth and their hearts be ready even to burst with envy and indignation to see those poor mean Christians whom some of them have separated from their company and accounted as the offâ—scouring of the earth and not worthy to set with the dogs of their flock exalted to such dignity shining in such glory and adjudged to such happiness when themselves are lookt upon with such contempt and stand waiting for their judgment and final Doom to Torments and eternal misery These are the Antecedents of the Judgment of the wicked CHAP. VIII 2. COncerning the Judgment of the wicked it self I shall here speak of 1. The Iudge 2. The Assessors 3. The Malefactors 4. The Crime 5. The Accusers and Winesses 6. The Conviction 7. The Sentence â— The Iudge of the wicked as of the righteous will be the Lord Iesus Christ. It is said Rom. 3. 6. God shall judge the World but it will be God in Christ and God by Christ Act. 17. 31. God was in Christ reconciling the world of the elect unto himself 2 Cor. 5. 19. and God in Christ will judge and condemn the world of the Reprobates The Father hath committed all judgment unto the Son Joh. 5. 22. and he hath given him authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of Man v. 27. The same Jesus whom the wicked would not submit unto and take for their King to rule over them they must submit unto and have for their Judge to examine and condemn them