〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for so it should be rendred and not Face to Face i. plainly without any thing interposed to hinder the Vision But these beamings forth of Divine glory shall be much more conspicuous and discernible hereafter in the humane Nature of Christ and equally exposed to the view of beholders For the very same person whom in the days of his Humilation and Abasement in bearing the sins of Mankind Men did abhorr him hereafter Kings shall see and arise in token of reverence and worship Isa 49.7 And as many formerly were astonied at his Visage so then in sign of their Awe and submission They shall shut their Mouths at him Isay 52.13 14 15. Of which reverence and submission to be paid by all unto the Soveraignty of Christ when he comes to Reign the Psalmist likewise prophecies Ps 72.15.17 4. This is gathered also from Isay 62 11. Isay 62.11 opened Where God calleth upon his Ministers from the vtmost ends of the Earth to proclaim unto Sion Behold thy salvation or rather thy Saviour or thy Jesus cometh behold his reward is with him which last words are used by our Saviour himself when he foretells the suddenness of his second coming Rev. 22.12 Which though it be indeed to destroy his Enemies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet the principal end is to save and to deliver his people by reigning with and among them Of which time Obadiah speaks v. 21. Saviours i. the supream and most excellent Saviour who is also called Wisdoms Prov. 9.1 as being most wise shall come upon Mount Sion to judge the Mount of Esau i. e. To punish all the enemies of his People who with reference to the enmity of Esau against Jacob are frequently called Edomites as Isa 34 5 6 8 and 63.1 4 c. and i. after that Judgement executed upon those Enemies the Kingdom i. the supream Dominion and Soveraignty of which Obadiah here prophecies shall be the Lords Lastly All those places wherein mention is made of Gods raising up David in the latter days to be King among and over his people cannot be meant of any else then of the Lord Christ who according to the Flesh was of the posterity and race of David and who in order to the fulfilling of all those Scriptures and for the solace of his faithful subjects as well as terror of his Enemies must hereafter Reign in as Visible and apparent a manner as ever David did Thus God by Ezekiel speaks expresly I will save my flock and I will set up one Shepherd over them and he shall seed them even my Servant David he shall feed them and he shall be their Shepherd and I the Lord will be their God and my servant David a prince among them Ezek. 34.23 24. so cap. 37.24.25 David my Servant shall be King over them and they shall all have one Shepherd and they shall dwell in the Land that I have given unto Jacob and my Servant David shall be their Prince for ever Of him and his personal Reign upon Earth it is that God speaks by Jeremy I will raise up unto David a righ eous Branch and a King shall reign i. e. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He as a King shall reign and shall prosper or shall deal wisely as the Word is Translated in a Prophecy of the same Person and to the same purpose Isay 52.13 And shall execute Judgement and righteousness in the Earth in his days Judah shall he saved and Israel shall dwell safely and this is his Name whereby they shall call him Jehovah our righteousness Jer. 23.4.5 6. And then as he speaks in another place they shall serve the Lord their God and David their King Jer. 30 9. Of which time also the Prophet Hosea speaks in that excellent and clear Prophecy Hos 3.4 5 All which places are so full and plain for the Personal Residence and Reign of our Lord Christ upon Earth that without great violence and wrestling they cannot possibly be otherwise understood That all these Prophecies of Scripture with many more of the same Nature and Tendency must be literally interpreted as really and plainly meaning the things they speak of besides the evidence of the words themselves which have nothing in them of Darkness or Ambiquity there are these reasons which may serve farther to evince it Reason 1. First Because God is very exact and careful in the fulfilling of his Promises for this end they were written that they might be everlasting records of Gods goodness which his people might always plead in Prayer with him and wait in Hope for their full accomplishment Jer. 30 2 3. And for this end we are commanded to read them because none of those things shall sail of being effectually performed which are prophecied of Isa 34.16 And our Saviour hath given such a Testimony to this purpose as nothing can be more express Heaven and Earth saith he shall pass away before one jot or title of the Law i Of the writings of Moses and the Prophets whether we consider their precepts or their Predictions shall fail till all things be done i. Till every thing be exactly fulfilled which they have written for Gods Truth and Faithfulness which he magnifies above all his Name as the most glorious of his attributes Psal 138 2. doth engage him to the performance of the least and most minate circumstance which can from his word be rightly gathered as a discovery of his future intentions but if all their places with many more that may be quoted concerning the Personal Reign of Christ upon earth before the last and Universal Judgement may be eluded by Mistical Interpretations a very great and considerate portion of Scripture Prophecy will be utterly lost and made useless nay seem to be written to no other purpose but to beget in true Believers vain hopes which far be it from any so much as to imagine since God as he doth not Tempt James 1.14.15 so neither will he Deceive any but rather ruine this admirble frame of the Universe then not employ his whole power to effect and that to the uttermost what ever any of his servants in his Name and by his Spirit have foretold Secondly Another Reason may be taken from the litteral fulfiling Reason 2. already of other Prophecies which were much difficult in the accomplishing and some of them not tending so visibly to illustrate the glory of God and of his Christ as this I am now insisting upon among these I shall mention only two which in their several kinds are truly admirable 1. Concerning the Birth and sufferings of Christ 2. Concerning the Rise and Reign of Anti-Christ 1. The first remarkable Prophecy which hath been literally fulfilled is that concerning the Birth and sufferings of Christ that the eternal So of God should become a mortal Man that He who made the World should subject himself to the penury and want of a Calamitous life and after that so far empty
THE Doctrine OF THE KINGDOM And Personal Reign of CHRIST Asserted and Explained IN An Exposition upon Zach. 14.5.9 By Ed. Bagshaw Printed in the Year 1669. The Preface I Am not Ignorant Christian Reader that the Doctrine of the Personal Reign of Christ with his Saints upon Earth which thou wilt find asserted in the following Treatise is commonly entertained with very great prejudice the Scriptures which in plain terms affirm this and which I have indeavoured to restore unto their true meaning being ordinarily interpreted in a sense quite contrary to their literal import and significancy Which kind of exposition under the notion of being Misterious and Spiritual having held for many Ages and been embraced without any further enquiry by men of the greatest eminence for Holiness and Learning even among those of the Reformed Religion together with the Tragical Disorders occasioned in Germany by such who in words asserted the Reign of Christ but indeed under that pretence indeavoured to set up and establish their own this hath ever since made the True meaning of the Scripture Prophecies in this matter to be suspected either of Novelty or else of some Design to subvert all civil Government which men out of their impatience of subjection being naturally apt to throw off they may be supposed much more easily ready to be incited to it if they shall be brought to think that they do hereby God and his Christ good service in attempting to set up his Kingdom exalting themselves as the Robbers in the Jewish Nation did Dan. 11.14 to establish the Vision In answer to all these exceptions and prejudices which it is not strange that the truth is attended and received with no more then that the Sun doth ordinarily arise in a cloud I have this to say briefly that neither Prescription of time nor authority of Persons nor the Error of unstable Men should so far prepossess and fill our minds as to make us shut them up against the impression and entrance of Divine truth which like the Light shines sometimes more sometimes less according as it receives fainter or more vigorous influences from the Spirit of God its Fountain and it can be nothing at last but a resolved and peremptory Love of Darkness which will deny it admittan e by what imperfect Medium soever it be conveighed The first inquiry therefore by persons sincerely desirous of true knowledge should be to learn whether this state of things which I have undertaken from the Scriptures to demonstrate be indeed Revealed by God or not for then his words in this as well as in other Misteries must be received according to their plainest sense in spight both of our own and others pretendedly rational Contradictions And whoever are impartial and Unbiassed in this enquiry reading the Scriptures in their own Light and evidence and not viewing them thorough the false Perspectives which customary expositions have made for them I believe they will be forced to confess that they are not capable of any other Interpretation but what the Prophets and Godly Jews before the Disciples in and the Primitive Church for above 300 years after our Saviours time did understand them in What that is I have here faithfully and plainly delivered and as to myself I can say with the Apostle I believed therefore I spake so as to others I thought the truth to be of that importance and withal the time of its accomplishment so near that I was easily prevailed with by Publishing this small Treatise to do my duty in stirring up others to a more severe and strict examining and study of the Scriptures then commonly they are accustomed to I have no more to add but to recommend it to the blessing of God who can make shall and contemptible means instrumental for the effecting of the greatest Works 6th M. 6 1669. THE Doctrine of the Kingdom c. Zech. 14. v. 5. And the Lord my God shall come and all the Saints with thee or as it is in the Greek with him v. 9. And the Lord shall be King over all the earth in that day the Lord shall be One and his Name One. IN the beginning of this Chapter there is a Prophecy that Jerusalem after it is Rebuilt and the People of the Jews restored to it as is promised c. 1. 16. and c. 8. 3 4 5. shall by their enemies be besieged and taken v. 1. Presently after which Desolation the Lord himself will come down from Heaven and destroy those Nations v. 3. and 5. Jehovah of the Lord whose coming is here spoken of is no other then the Lord Christ or God Man the second Person in the Godhead who is called The Branch c. 6. 12. 13. so named either because he sprung from the stock of Jesse as a Branch doth from the Root of a Tree which is intimated Isa 11.1.10 Jer. 23.5 and so used by our Saviour Rev. 22 16. or else the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here translated Branch may be rendred as it is by the Greek Interpreters 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Morning rise or Day-spring which very word is used by Zechary in his Prophetick Song concerning our Saviour Luke 1.78 with allusion to which Phrase the Apostle saith Heb. 7.14 It is manifest our Lord sprang Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Arose as light out of Judah To Christ in both these capacities for he is not only The Branch of Righteousness Jer. 33.15 but also The Sun of Righteousness as he is stiled Mal. 4.2 There is a Throne and supreme Dominion promised both in that 6th of Zechary and more expressly in Dan. 7.13 14. Where he is called The Son of Man which Name as I think principally with reference to that Prophecy of Daniel was by our Saviour all the while he convessed upon Earth most commonly used And that we might not doubt but is the same Person who suffered then that is spoken of to come and to Reign here mention is made v. 4. of his descent upon Mount Olivet which was a place where our Saviour whilst he was upon earth did much converse Upon the Mount of Olives He sate when he foretold the Destruction of Jerusalem and his own coming which was to follow after the Dispersion of the Jews was fully accomplished Mark 13.3 Upon this Mount he began his sufferings feeling here that Anguish and Grief of Spirit which made him sweat drops of blood Luke 22.39 From hence he ascended up to Heaven Acts 1.9.12 and hither according to the Angels promise is he to come down in the same manner v. 11. The fulfilling of which Promise and the Glory which shall follow upon it is in this place of Zechary prophecyed of Two observations are clear in the words First That the Lord Christ will come in Person and take to himself the Monarchy or Soveraign Dominion over the whole earth Secondly That when the Lord Christ comes to reign upon Earth all his Saints shall come with him
Obs 1. The first Observation is That the Lord Christ shall come in Person and take to himself the Monarchy or Soveraign Dominion over the whole Earth This coming of Christ which is His coming to Reign upon Earth however it is now decryed and spoken against by many yet as I shall anon prove it was the firm and constant belief of almost all the Primitive Church for above three hundred years together after our Saviours time and it is evidently prophecied of not only in this but in several other Scriptures As Isay 9.6.7 opened 1. Isay 9.6.7 The Son who is there said to be given to us i. e. to the Jews The Government likewise is said to be laid upon his Shoulder of which Government there is to be no end and the exercise thereof is to be in a visible way of Administration upon the Throne of David to order and to establish it Which is in effect to say that the Son there prophecied of shall become a King and rule his subjects in a visible manner as David did Unto which Prophecy the Angel in express words alludes Luke 1.32.33 And this was so understood as I have explained it by all those who acknowledg Christ to be the Son of David or The King of Israel as our Saviour is called John 1 49. And that confession of Nathaniel is owned by our Saviour to be an effect of his Faith v. 50. And when our Saviour went up to Jerusalem that solemn acclamation signified no less when the multitude cryed out Blessed is the Kingdom which cometh in the Name of the Lord the Kingdom of our Father David Mark 11.10 whereby they plainly intimate that they did then at that time expect and the Evangelist Luke doth in express words declare so much Luke 19.11 That the Kingdom of God 1. The Kingdom which God had promised to one of the Posterity of David should appear or be made manifest i. be then set up and visibly administred in its Glory which though as to the time it was not so suddenly to be established as they expected yet as to the thing it self they were not at all mistaken for our Saviour doth there intimate that he would come again in person and destroy his enemies Luke 19 27. Which is the first preparatory work to the setting up of his Kingdom and afterwards the Evangelist John doth in a vision see the actual completion of this when upon the sounding of the seventh Trumpet he heard loud voices in Heaven saying the Kingdoms of the World are become the Kingdomes of the Lord and of his Christ and he shall Reign for ever and ever Rev. 11.15 which place comparing it with Rev. 10.7 showes that this was nothing else but a finishing of that Mistery of God which in all the Proceeding Ages he had declared by his Servants the Prophets Hence it is that after his victorious and final subduing of his Enemies John sees the Lord Christ attired with a Tryumphant Robe and upon it this Regal Inscription King of Kings and Lord of Lords Rev. 19.16 which is the name that was given to Nebuchadnezzar the Head of the First Monarchy Dan. 2.37 and is afterwards upon a much better Title given to Christ when he hath actually made himself the visible Head of the Fifth and last for which reason it is called a New Name Rev. 3.12 2. Another place wherein the Visible and Personal Reign of Christ Isay 11. is prophecied of is Isay 11. from v 1. to v. 10. Where Christ is called a Rod out of the stemm of Jesse and of him it is said that he should bear Rule over the Nations unto whom they should seek or submit themselves according to that in Gen. 49.10 Unto him shall the obedience of the Nations be The Graces wherewith he should be indued for Government are mentioned v. 2.3 together with his actual Ruling Judging and Governing according to them v. 4. where to smite the earth with the Sword of his Mouth is not as it is commonly understood barely to convince the World by Preaching but to conquer it by Power as it is particularly expressed Rev. 19 13 14 15. Which likewise is principally intended in that excellent Song Ps 45.3.4.5 The Riding Girding on the Sword conquering and subduing of enemies there spoken of being only the Preparatory work unto the setting up of the Kingdom of Christ whereupon it follows v 6. Thy Throne O God is for ever and ever the Scepter of thy Kingdom is a Right Scepter or a Scepter of Equity 1. Ruling in Righteousness which as it was spoken of Christ so it is by the Apostle applyed to him Heb. 1.8.9 Suitable to who it is that Prophecy Is 2.4 He shall judge among the Nations and shall rebuke many people 3. Another Prophecy concerning the reign of Christ is Isa 35 4. Isa 35.4 opened Behold your God shall come with vengeance God with a recompence i. e. Recompensing that mischief which the enemies did his people by returning the same upon them themselves as si threatned Joel 3.4 and he will save you by coming there that a visible Appearance of the Lord himself in Person is meant appears from v. 2. where it is said Carmel and Sharon i. e. All the places of Judea which of old were famous but at that time shall be enriched with an extraordinary fruitfulness as follows in this chapter of Zachary v. 10 11. compared with Is 51.3 and Ezek. 36.35.36 They shall see the Glory of the Lord i. the Lord Christ who is so stiled Is 40.5 and whom to see in his Beauty i. e. when he appears the second time in the lustre of his Majesty without sin i. without the imputation of sin which before did cloud and eclipse his Beauty to see him then it is reckoned as the sum and perfect on of that happiness which is promised unto those who walk uprightly Isay 33.17 Whereupon Sion is earnestly called upon to behold her God Isa 40 9.10 11. For as the Lord Christ according as is there prophecied came once to save his people by caring and laying down his life for them as a shepherd so shall he hereafter come again and that in the same nature to rule them as a Prince and to deliver them from their enemies And then in the Prophets words how beautiful shall be the Feet of those that can bring such tidings to Sion as to say unto her Thy God Reigneth Then shall the Watchmen lift up the voice and sing for joy of so glorious a spectacle for this shall not be an obscure and hidden thing but eye shall see to eye when God brings back Sion Isay 52.7 8. That Phrase of seeing Eye to Eye is very remarkable it being used but once before and that in Numb 14 14 concerning Gods manifesting of his glory to the Israelites in a cloud and fire that rested upon the Tabernacle and the beholding of this is called a seeing of God Eye to Eye 〈◊〉
Heathen Magistrates and made a publick Edict to destroy the worshiy of all False Gods and their Temples then as many understand it was fulfilled that joyful acclamation now is the Salvation Rev. 12.10 and the Power and the Kingdome of our God and the Authority of his Christ and in part it might truly be said to have been so for wherever the true Religon is set up and the professors of it encouraged there indeed God reigns as he did in Judea in the time of David and Eusebius making mention of the glorious Churches that were then founded the great revenues that were setled the singular honour that was given to the Bishops and Ministers of the Gospel by Constantine we did saith he in this see an Embleme of the Reign of Christ but this peace and security purchased by Constantine degenerated presently into a love of ease aand worldly prosperity which made the Christians generally careless of looking after a better state to be injoyed in the first resurrection which sloath and remisneis of theirs gave advantage to the Bishop of Rome to wrest the Dominion out of the Emperours hands and by degrees to challenge unto himself the exercise of their Royalty he boasting himself to be the Vicar of Christ and the person appointed to bear rule in his stead the greatness of whose Dominion all records bear witness to that it did fully answer the extent of that Prophecy wherein it is said that the World wondered after the Beast Rev. 13.3.4 and all the Inhabitants of the earth except a few whose names were written in the book of life did worship him during whose Universal Reign and Tyranny for I am content to allow such an Universality to the Beast of Rome it is no wonder if the true kingdome of Christ was not so much as thought of as when Theives have taken possession and by force keep the house it is no wonder if the Friends and Neighbors forbear to put in any claim for the right Heir Lastly When the Anti-christian yoke was by the gracious working of the power and mercy of God in very weak and contemptible instruments thrown off in many Countries and scripture light which before was forcibly deteined and imprisoned in darkness began to recover its luster then amongst the Primitive truths this doctrine of the kingdome of Christ did in many places revive and was by several learned men at the very first reformation asserted but by the seditious attempts of some mistaken men and the horrid practises of those in Munster this opinion became generally Nauseous to the most sober and learned of our antient Protestant writers and particularly to the judicious and truly worthy Mr. Calvin whose deserved esteem in the Church of Christ hath prevailed to keep this great Scripture truth from being so much as inquired into but with due submission and reverence to the memory of so many famous men I do conceive that in this particular they were swayed too much by their prejudices and notwithstanding their authority we ought to make for our selves a more severe and impartial enquiry for every truth is of a divine original and ought no more to be denyed then the Scriptures from whence it is taken suppressed because unlearned and unstable men do wrest it both to their own and to others destruction It was indeed a great Error to say no more of those mistaken though I hope as to many of them well meaning men who thought themselves cal ed to fight up Christ into his Throne for his Kingdome is yet in Patience Rev 1.9 and will not be fully over all the world in power till he himself doth come from Heaven to establish it for he is then to abolish every Authority and Dominion besides his own 1 Cor. 15.24 That stone which Nebuchadnezer saw in his Vision to become a Mountain and to dash in peices all former powers is the Lord Christ himself and not his Saints as some suppose for it is he who was cut out without hands Dan. 2.44.45 and in the Prophets is often stiled a stone because of those saving and ruining effects which follow upon those who receive or refuse him compare Is 28.12 with Is 8.13.14 Zach. 3.9 As at the building of the Temple it was not by might or power that so difficult a work was effected but by the spirit of the Lord so will it be when our Lord erects his kingdome he alone shall be exalted in that day the sighes and groans of his oppressed people shall call him down from Heaven and in compassion not of his persecuting and smiting but of his persecuted and suffering servants he will come and save them and destroy their Enemies for them Is 35.4 They which teach otherwise do erre not knowing the Seriptures whose mistakes howevever ought not to have been looked upon to be of so dangerous and infectious a Nature as that for them the truth it self should be rejected which is not at all guilty of those consequences which rash men do unwarily strive to draw from it and so much for the first Observation The second Observation was this When the Lord Christ shall come Ob. 2. from Heaven to set up his kingdom upon earth all his Saints shall come with him whereby Saints may be meant either Angels as Mat. 16.27 and 24 30 31. who are called the Angels of his strength 2 Thes 1.7 and the mighty ones who are to descend with him as the executioners of his vengeance against all ungodly men according to Exoch s prophecy Jude v. 14.15 but I doe not take the Angels to be principally meant in this place for hereafter their office will be rather to Minister as they are described standing like an out Guard about the Elders and the living Creatures Rev. 5.11 and 7.11 Whereas the Prophet Zachary speaks of those Saints that were to Reign with Christ and to share with him in his Soveraignty And therefore by Saints here I understand Holy Men who lived before this t me and died in the Faith of Christ of whom the Apostle Paul is to be understood 1 Thes 3.13 and 2. Thes 1.10 and describing of the order of the Resurrection Choist saith he shall rise the first fruits then they that are Christs at his coming where by coming 1 Cor. 15.22.25 explained that the Apostle means his coming to reign which he calls his appearance and Kingdom 2 Tim. 4.1 is plain from that which follows then is the end when he shall deliver up the Kingdom unto the Father when he shall have abolished all Dominion and all authorety and power For he must reign till all his Enemies be put under his Feet 1 Cor. 15.23.25 From which words it appears clearly 1. That when Christ comes those that are his i. e. Saints or Believers shall come with him 2. That between this coming of Christ and the end i. e. the final destruction of the World and consumation of all things there shall be interposed the
the Doctrine I undertook to deliver but because one Argument commonly urged against it is a supposal that this Doctrine hath little or no influence upon our present Practice but rather tends to unsettle the World which was the Outcry raised against it of old Luke 23 2 5. and Acts 17.6 7. Then to build up any in true Holiness I shall therefore briefly insist upon a few practical inferences wh ch follow hence and so conclude Use 1. First This Doctrine concerning the Kingdom of Christ upon earth serves to inform us what we should continually pray unto God for and make one of our most earnest and importunate Petitions namely this Thy Kingdom come That God in mercy to his People and in zeal for his own Glory would hasten the time of setting up this Kingdom that so the wickedness of the wicked Psal 7.9 and the sufferings of the righteous may come to a full end For when God reigns the wicked shall be destroyed out of â—â—s earth Psal 10.16 comp Ps 104.35 and thus as our Saviour himself speaks in the Parable The Son of Man shall send his Angels and they shall gather all the scandals and such as commit iniquity out of his Kingdom Mat. 13.41 But to bring this to pass it must be the work of Fervent prayer God the Father did not promise to give the Nations for the inheritance of his son but upon the condition of his asking it ask of me saith he and I will give the Nations for thine Inheritance Psal 2 7 8. So when God by the Prophet Ezekiel had promised the people of Israel that he would not only pardon their sins but put his Spirit into them and then give them a lasting and peaceable possession of their Land he adds yet for this I will be inquired of by the House of Israel to do it for them Ezek. 36 37. For Gods Promises though never so absolute in the letter and expression of them yet are so far from excluding Prayer that they are given as Motives to quicken us in it since in them God hath graciously afforded us so many Arguments by which our Faith may be supported and incouraged to plead with him Thus our Saviour having foretold the coming of his Kingdom for of that he speaks Luke 21.31 And given several signs that were to be the Tokens and Fore-runners of its approach he concludes Watch ye therefore and pray always v. 36. For the performance of which duty besides the command obliging to it we have this great incouragement That the more the Hearts of Gods people are drawn out in earnest expectation of-and vehement longing for the Kingdom of Christ they may be assured the nearer it is Thus the Psalmist praying that God would restore his people concludes confidently Psal 112 13 14. Thou wil arise thou wilt have mercy upon Zion for the time to favour her yea the set time of which God had spoken Isa 60.22 I the Lord will hasten it in its time is come Of which peremptory assertion he gives this Reason For thy people take pleasure in her stones and they favour the dust thereof As if he had said the desires of thy people are now more then ordinarily raised up and carried out in hope of a sudden restauration notwithstanding the present visible difficulties which may hinder such an expectation by seeing the Rubbish and Ruines of Sion and therefore I conclude that the time of her deliverance is nigh For this we must take for granted that a Spirit of Prayer which is the Spirit of God in Believers Rom. 8 14.26 27. is never given out but there is a willingness and propensity in the Heart of God at that time to grant the very thing which he is prayed to for Thus the Psalmist Psal 10.17 joyns together Gods preparing the Heart of his People and the inclining of his own ear to hear Thus it was in the Church of the Jews at our Saviours first coming there was then almost a general expectation raised of him Joseph of Arimathea is said to be one of those that waited for the Kingdom of God Mark 15 43. Simeon Anna and many others did look for the consolation and redemption of Israel as the coming of the Messiah is called Luke 2 25 28. And not only they but even the generality of the Jews were then expecting that Christ should come Luke 3.15 And as they expected and believed so it was indeed though the mean appearance which our Saviour then manifested himself in kept the greatest part of them from believing in him What the Church of God did at our Saviours first we should think it our duty to do in reference to his Second coming namely Be expecting and hastning it as Peters expression is 2 Pet. 3.12 i. e. By heads lifted up 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be looking intently for it and by arms stretched out in Prayer be earnestly requesting it For if the Virgins slumber it is no wonder if the Bridegroom tarries And if his people do not desire him to hasten how can we expect but our Lord will delay his coming This therefore we should with all manner of religious importunity incessanly beg for and offer a kind of Holy violence to God giving him do rest as the expression is Isa 62.1 6 7 Till he doth establish his word and send us our Promised Lord and King from Heaven that we may be Kings and Priests with him and share in all his Royal Glories Use 2. Secondly we may learn from hence as to pray so to wait with patience for our Lords coming For he hath onely withdrawn his residence from earth for a time till all things be made fit for his return and then he will not delay when a few changes more are past he will come from Heaven and by bringing in everlasting righteousness the effect of which is stability and peace he will put a full end to all future Mutation We should therefore as our Saviour advised his Apostles Luk. 21.19 In patience possess our souls that is as James speaks Let patience have its perfect work in us Jam. 1.4 that we may be perfect and intire wanting nothing or in nothing a little patience and for a little time will not serve our turn for Christian patience hath no bound to it but is to be terminated only in the coming of Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 therefore the exhortation runs Be ye patient Brethren unto the com ng of our Lord Jam. 5.7 8. This grace is requisite in all the actions which we do as Christians in Heaâ—ing to retain the Seed and to br ng forth answerable Fruit which is brought forth with patience Luke 8.15 In Praying that we be not dicouraged and for want of a present answer be tempted to give it over Luke 18 1. In sufferings that we faint not but resolutely hold out our Race Heb. 12.1 And therefore the Gospel which so much enjoyns and requires it is called the Word