the Second Death is a State Given as Removed from all Appearance Psal 73. all along Rev. 20. last So that there must be such a peculiar State of Appearance under Wrath according to all Scripture Q. Is not This a Curiosity only of Speculation or of what Practical Force is it A. Surely of very Great seeing nothing is so suited to moving to Repentance and to perswade us to Holiness as this Terror of the Lord that is so suited to men Knowing and understanding Themselves as here in Bodies And which is so written in Nature that Any Instances of it in this World either of Gods Crowning Holy Persons and their Actions with Honour or his Judgments on wicked Men made Examples here do above All other Things exceedingly Affect us 2 Cor. 5. 10. 11. Psal 64. 7. 8. 9. And the Contrary is by Solomon Accounted the Great Cause of Impenitency Eccles 8. 11. Q. How comes it then to pass the Resurrection hath been no more thus Explain'd and press'd A. Because the darkness of the Apostasie and Love of this present World as if the Glory of it were Given to Antichrist as the Vicar of Christ is that Word which the Apostle says hath Eaten as it were a Gangrene as if the Resurrection were now already or as if there were no Resurrection in such a State of Glory and of Visible Appearance in contempt but a sudden Translation into Eternity with God or in the Lake 1 Cor. 15. 12. 2 Tim. 2. 17. 18. Q. Give Account of a Second Scripture Ground of this Visible Glory and Kingdom of Christ and of the Subjection of his Enemies A. Without such a State of the Kingdom of Christ in the Creation restor'd or in a Restitution of All Things the Redemption of Christ were not Perfect and Compleat For whatever the First Adam desolated the Second Adam was to Restore and to Bring again into order There must be therefore a Deliverance of the Creature from the Bondage of Corruption and from all their mutual Enmities So that the Wolf and the Lamb may dwell together c. And on this very Account There must be a Generation of Saints below as Adam and his Seed should have been in Paradise and the Saints dead in Christ in a Restored State in the Heaven above which Evil Spirits now Inhabit and from thence They behold the Glory and Happiness of the Humane nature in the Remaining Saints here below and the whole Creation of God as Renewed and Restored by the Mediator and by Him set out in Glory according to Psal 8. which is by Heb. 2. 5. c. Applyed to the World to come whereof we speak and to Jesus Christ Adoninu or Lord in our Nature or the Second Adam Q. But is there any proof that this State of Restitution pertains not only to the Glory but to the essential perfection of the Redemption A. I Account the Apostle hath given us the proof of this in the Resurrection the greatest Instance of the Restitution So that by a Parallel with that the whole Restitution will be prov'd also to pertain to the essential Perfection of this Redemption Q. What is that proof A. It is 1 Cor. 15. 12. and so forward Q. How do you draw out the proof of what you are upon according to that Scripture A. In these Four Things 1. That whatever Adam lost and whatever was a Part of the Death Threatned upon Adam's Fall must be Restor'd by the Second Adam the Mediator For so saith the Apostle v. 21. 22. and he Brings it in by way of Argument For since by Man came Death by Man came also the Resurrection of the Dead And as in Adam All Dye so in Christ shall All be made Alive By Agreement of Reason since by Man came the Curse on the Creation of God by Man came also the Restitution and if there be Argument in one It must be also in the other 2. A Future State of Happy Spirits might be supposed without a Resurrection as well as a State of Spirits in misery without a Resurrection Now the Apostle supposes a State of Spirits in Misery though there be no Resurrection of the Dead For Those words v. 17. You are yet in your Sins suppose a State of Future Misery of Spirits without a Resurrection Therefore There might be a State of Christ in the Glory of Spirits and so of his Saints though no Resurrection But this according to the Apostle's Argument will not suffice the very essential perfection of the Redemption without a Resurrection Proportionably the Curse upon the Creation being a part of Adam's Death as appears Gen. 3. 18. 19. That must be taken off as necessary to the essential Perfection of the Redemption And a Happy State of Eternity in a dissolved Creation can no more suffice then a Happy State of Spirits without a Resurrection 3. The Vnjust Arise and are yet in Their Sins for They Rise to Condemnation So that a Resurrection without a State of this Restitution wherein that Resurrection shall be Happy is a Death and not a Resurrection in general Scripture Account Therefore Resurrection is to Glory all along this Chapter 4. To the Compleating of this parallel betwixt the First Adam's death and the Second Adams Life There must be a Wee of Saints who shall not dye but be Changed making up the All the Full number of Saints viz. Those who are Dead in Christ and Those who are Changed For in the State of Restitution There can be no Death to the Seed of the Second Adam And if It be in this World It must be a World in a State of Restitution And because such a State on Earth had been if Adam had not sinn'd It must be now by the Second Adam Q. Is there yet any Further Account of the Kingdom of Christ from Scripture Reason A. There is yet the Highest Scripture Reason for the Kingdom of Jesus Christ that is that His Saints may be Fitted to be deliver'd up with the Kingdom to God and to the Father that He may be All in All which is the ultimate End and Last Result of All Things The Apostle therefore discourses of the Kingdom of Christ as in an Immediate Conjunction with and Subordination to that Eternal Kingdom of the Father God All in All. 1 Cor. 15. 28. Q. Why do you call this the Highest Scripture Account of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ A. Because That which is the Highest and last means to the Highest and Last End which Highest and Last end gives value and Reason to All means Receives the Highest Reason and the most Absolute necessity for it self from that Last End now It is most evident and certain from the Apostles discourse The Kingdom of Christ is the Highest and Last means to the Last and Highest End It is the Highest because It Alone is thought worthy to Touch and Attain that End And It is the Last because no other comes between it and that End For when in
other Light God and the Lamb are the Temple of it that cannot be defiled The City hath the Tree of Life Bearing Twelve several kinds of Fruit viz. an universality and perfection of Life and a River of Life Clear as Chrystal Proceeding from the Throne Heb. 12. 25. Rev. c. 20. c. 21. c. 22. Q. But how does so Great a State and the so High Expressions of it work as to the Delivery up of the Kingdom to God All in All and to Christ as the Bond of union A. These Two ways First That the State of Delivery up of the Kingdom to God All in All cannot be better expounded to us then in those so divine words of our Lord in his Mediatory Prayer John 17. 21. That They All may be one as Thou Father art in me And I in Thee That They also may be one in us that the World may Believe that Thou hast sent me And the Glory which Thou gavest me Have I given Them that They may be one as we are one I in Them and Thou in me That they may be made perfect in one and that the World may Believe that Thou hast sent me and hast loved Them as Thou hast loved me Father I will that Those which Thou hast given me may be with me where I am and may Behold my Glory which Thou hast given me For Thou loved'st me before the Foundation of the World Oh! Righteous Father The World hath not known Thee But I have known Thee And These have known that Thou hast sent me And I have declared to them Thy Name and will declare it that the Love wherewith Thou hast loved me may be in Them and I in Them Q What Arises from these words to our present purpose A. First That so High Expressions can fit no State but of God All in All even as He was before the Foundation of the World All in All and to which State Our Lord's words so much Refer when All the Saints are thus one with God in Christ then is He thus All in All as before the World began Secondly That as this State Requires the Highest Purification of which the Purification of the Virgins for the Royal Bed of Ahasuerus is but a dark Emblem so no Expressions of such a preparatory Purification but as before Represented in the New Jerusalem and Kingdom of Christ can be parallel to such a Purification But They Reach it and Admirably Reach it The present State of Sanctification is much too Low for it The Purity of the Bride the Lambs Wife and of the Saints in this Kingdom Rises to it Thirdly All this Preparation and this Eternal Vnion is in the Eternal word who was with the Father and One with him and whom the Father loved before the Foundation of the World And He thus prepares his Saints not only in this State though here also but in his Kingdom most Highly Compleatly Perfectly and therefore especially John 17. 24. 26. Q. Give me the second way how so Great a State and so High Expressions of it work to the Delivery up of the Kingdom to God All in All A. In that although this Kingdom of Christ be so Holy so Heavenly so Pure so much of God in it and so Happy and Blessed in Christ and in his Saints yet because It is the Kingdom of the Man Christ Jesus and of his Saints in a visible Created Glory and not the Highest Vnion to God All in All Christ Gives this Last Declaration of the Name that is of the Nature and Glory of God He freely Delivers up this his Kingdom and the Son as in humane Nature suffers most willingly that Glory of Himself and of his Saints to be Swallow'd up by God All in All and unites them with Himself to the Father as He is the Eternal word and so They are with Him for ever Beholding the Glory He had with the Father before the World was which is the Highest Instance of self-denial of all Created Glory and Giving up All to God All in All that could be given John 17. 5. Q. What Signs are there of such a Preparation in the Kingdom of Christ for God All in All A. In Token of this this State is call'd a Sabbatism a Paradise There is a Tree of Life and a River of Life All which Point to the Higher Perfection of Vnion with God All in All then was even in that Kingdom of Christ Even as Priesthood and a Temple-State do For though God and the Lamb be the Temple Yet God being our Temple is not so High as our Vnion to God All in All. Q. How does the State of the wicked Agree with this so High State of the Kingdom of Christ in preparation to their being cast into the Lake when God is All in All A. Their being in a Visible State and beholding the Glory of Christ and of his Saints in a Visible State gives them that Conviction that the Father sent Christ that He Loved the Saints as He Loved Christ that They are Forc'd to Know and to Believe it For this They could not see here but would be Highly perswaded of the Contrary And when the Saints are Delivered up to God All in All and They in the Lake It is not then to be seen by Them In this Kingdom then It must be seen And yet in this very State they being Irreconcileable to the Divine Kingdom They are even with the Comfort of the Saints Beholding their Abhorr'd State and way Cast into the Lake that They might be no more Annoyance to the Divine Kingdom but at an utter Separation from it Remembred no more cut off for ever from the Hand of God in a Land of Silence Forgetfulness and Vtter Darkness Ezek. 14. 22. Rev. 20. last Q. But how are the Saints below Fitted then for this State of being Deliver'd up to God All in All A. They having their part in all the Priviledges of the Saints above and being Caught up to Christ before the Delivery up of the Kingdom are thereby fitted to be Deliver'd up with All Saints and to be united to God All in All. Q. But seeing the Saints of Christ have been also All Sinners and many of Them very Great Sinners and some not brought home to Christ till Death Whereas many of the Lost have been of Fair and Innocent Lives how can such a difference in this Visible State of the Resurrection consist with the Glory of Justice then to be manifested A. The Infinite Richness of Grace having made in All the Saints the Great difference of Vnion to Christ in the Glory of whose Righteousness They Appear and thereby in the Participation of the Divine Nature Their Sins are so Blotted out through the Blood of the Lamb in this State of Re-enlivening as though They are sought for They cannot be found And even the Works of the Few Moments of Holy Action as of Converts how near Death soever Follow Them and are so enlarg'd by the
and his Kingdom are Joyn'd 2 Tim. 4. 1. He shall Judge the Quick and the Dead at his Kingdom and at his Appearance Q. Give a proof of the Kingdom at his Resurrection A. The Apostle plainly declares it For he says Every one shall Rise in his own Order Christ the First Fruits and They which are Christs at his Coming And without Any other Mention of his Kingdom He says He must Reign till he hath put All his Enemies under his Feet Now when did this Reigning Begin but at his Coming Or where did the Apostle Give any Intimation of his Reigning but at his Coming according to all the Fore-mentioned Scriptures And when He Comes and Descends and no Longer Sits at the Right Hand of God Then God first makes his Enemies his Footstool not when he Sits but when He Comes and then He Begins to Reign and He Reigns Till all his Enemies are his Footstool And when He Descends and Comes and Reigns The Dead in Christ Rise and then He Brings Them with Him His Kingdom and the Resurrection of his Saints Begin together Q. What Place then hath the Day of Judgment A. The Day of Judgment is the same with the Kingdom of Christ and with the Resurrection All Begin Continue and End Together with this Difference The Judiciary Sentence is at the Beginning Rev. 19 last and at the End c. 20. 13. 14. 15. and between a Righteous and Holy Government which Government the Scripture often calls Judgment Psal 72. 4. And All Men whether They Rise to Life or to Condemnation are before and as it were about the Tribunal or Judgment Seat which is also the Throne of Christ and Receiving according to what They have done in the Body whether it be Good or Evil during the whole space of the Resurrection Kingdom and Judgment of Christ 2 Cor. 5. 10. Q. How long then does the Kingdom of Christ the Appearance in the Resurrection and the Day of Judgment last A. The Grand and the most Definitive Time in which Christ shall Reign with his Saints is while Sathan is bound and That is a Thousand Years And the Apostle Peter having named the Day of Judgment Immediately as it were Adjures Christians not to be Ignorant that One day as if He should say That One Day of Judgment is with the Lord as a Thousand Years and the several viz. Six Thousand Years before it but as each one day so making that Day of Judgment a Sabbatical Day or Sabbatism Rev. 20. v. 2. to 8. 2 Pet. 3. 8. Q. But seeing as hath been said The Living Remaining Saints have a State in this Kingdam of Christ in the New Earth even as the Saints dead in Christ have in the New Heavens How can so long a space as of the Thousand Years consist with the Apostles Doctrine 1 Cor. 15. 52. that speaks as of a close Connexion betwixt the Dead being Rais'd and the Wee of the Saints being Chang'd For saith He Behold I shew you a Mystery We shall not All dye but we shall All be chang'd in a moment in the Twinckling of an Eye at the last Trumpet For the Trumpet shall sound and the Dead shall be Rais'd Incorruptible and we shall be chang'd All as it were in one moment A. The Apostle shews the suddenness and Immediate effect of the Power of Christ in both Raising the Dead and Changing the Living but the so close Connexion betwixt the Raising and the Changing does not thence Follow For within the Time of John's Seventh and last Trumpet when the Kingdom of Christ Begins its Succession and which contains all from that Kingdom of Christ so beginning and its being Deliver'd up The Dead shall be Rais'd and the Living chang'd but at several distances of Time Forthe Apostle says the Dead in the Third person shall be â—aâ—â—'d To shew the Wee of Saints of the first person are of a different State and order of Time in being Chang'd from the Dead in Christ that shall be Rais'd Q. But it does not seem that this change of persons can bear the weight of so Great a point of doctrine A. I allow it if there were not that Great Consenting Scripture 1 Thess 4. 17. where the Apostle puts the same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or afterwards betwixt the Saints dead in Christ at the Coming of Christ Rising first and the Living Chang'd or which is the same Caught up that He had put betwixt the Resurrection of Christ and his Saints Rising at his Coming which hath made as great a distance as 1700 Years already For saith the Apostle the Lord Himself shall descend with a shout with the Voice of the Arch Angel with the Trumpet of God and the Dead in Christ shall Rise First Then we which are Alive and Remain shall be caught up viz. without Dying Now the word which is here Translated Then was 1 Cor. 15. 27. Translated Afterward and may therefore very well allow the distance of above a 1000 Years in one as in the other which distance the Translators knowing betwixt Christ's Resurrection and of his Saints at his Coming Translated Afterwards a word of distance in our English But not understanding so well that distance betwixt the Raising and Changing the Saints they render the same word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Thess 4. 17. Then which signifies often with us the same moment but this varies not the Truth of Things and of Scripture Q. How is the State of the Kingdom of Christ bounded at the Period or End of it A. By the Saints Living and Remaining being Caught up to Christ in the Air by the Subduing the last Enemy Death and by the Delivering up the Kingdom to God All in All So that the Coming of Christ and his Appearance in and at his Kingdom the Dead in Christ Rising His Saints the Wee left Living and the Judiciary sentence on his Enemies to be his Footstool at the beginning and these Great Pillars at the end bound at each Point this Greatest Oeconomy of the Fulness of Times and not only distinguish but exalt it far above all other Time And herewith Admirably Agrees the whole State of Things in the last Trumpet of the Prophecy of the Revelation wherein we have several Expressions of the Kingdom of Christ or his Taking to Him his Great Power and Reigning The Heavens open to Him with his many Crowns and the Title or Name on his Vesture and on his Thigh King of Kings Lord of Lords His Reigning and his Throne in the New Jerusalem The Time of the Dead being Judg'd and Rewards Given to All that Fear'd his Name Great and Small and the destroying them that destroy'd the Earth A voice Commands to write the Blessedness of All the Dead in the Lord and their Sabbatism Yea from henceforth or Immediately Christ with a Crown and on a White Cloud Giving down it Dew as the Dew of Herbs that the Earth may disclose its dead c. and Reaps his
Kingdom of Christ preparing to Cleanse his Sanctuary for his Kingdom 1772 So we must be in the 2218 Even Morn Q. Why then did not the Papacy wholly Fall at the Reformation A. That there might be as punctual a performance of the Full Time of the Three Times and a Half to the Papacy as could consist with the Kingdom of Christ to which some Appearance was at that Time due Q. Can the Reformation then be perfect A. No For the Thunders that open'd to it were Seal'd and There are They of the Synagogue of Sathan that stay the Glory of it till the Philadelphian State come And then even They shall worship at Philadelphia's Feet Rev. 3. 9. c. 10. 4. Q. When shall that be A. At the very same Time when the Popacy falls For They of the Synagogue stand by that Title and then Bow For Christ makes them by Grace so to Worship that is to Bow Q. How can such a Computation consist with No One Knowing of that Day and Hour not the Angels nor the Son but the Father only Mark 13. 32. A. God is said therefore as on purpose to Give the Revelation to Jesus Christ to shew to his Servants what before was only in the Father's Cognizance And then Blessed is He that Reads or Expounds and They who Hear or understand what is so Reveal'd by God to Christ. Revel 1. 1. 3. Q. But Christ further says Watch for you Know not the Day nor the Hour when your Lord cometh Mark 13. 35. A. That Watch is a Spiritual Watch without which tho' a Man Knew the day or Hour never so precisely Yet He would not Know the day and Hour of his Lords coming but It would be to Him as of a Theif in the Night and as a man dics in that Watch or the neglect of it So Christ comes upon Him tho' many Hundred Years after Death if It were not such a Watch the Apostle had discharg'd the Thessalonians of it by Adjuring them not to expect the day of Christ till after the Apostasie and in Them all Christians after till that Apostasie expire 2 Thess 2. 1. Q. Are the Thousand Years of Christ's Kingdom Litterally or Mystically to be understood A. They are both ways to be understood Litterally Adding so many Years to the Time Allotted to the Visible Creation till All be Deliver'd up to God Himself Mystically as a Thousand Years are a Cube of Time signifying the perfection of Time which none of the Patriarchs after Adams Fall could Attain how near soever They came to it Gen. 5. Q. Is it no Impeachment to the Kingdom of Christ never ending that Sathan is loos'd at the end of the 1000 Years and Deceives the Nations to a new Attempt A. No For It only gives Just occasion to Christ to magnifie his Power Judiciary Authority Justice and the Final Putting down All Rule and Power and Subduing the Last Enemies the Devil the Dead and Death and Hell And having Quickly drawn up all the Living Saints to his Own Throne first according to 1 Cor. 15. 24. 51. 1 Thess 4. 17. Rev. c. 3. 21. Rev. 20. and so Giving up the Kingdom every way perfectly prepar'd to God All in All the Glory of having Faithfully managed and happily Atcheiv'd All Things is for ever due to Him John 17. 24. Q. Are the Worship and Ordinances of the New Testament any way Prefigurative of this Kingdom of Christ A. Very Fully For the Gospel is the Gospel and word of this Kingdom The Prayer we stile The Lords Prayer is the Prayer of this Kingdom Taught to all his Disciples The Lords Day is the Type and Pledge of that Sabbatism Baptism is the Figure of being Sav'd 1 Pet. 3. 21. from that Deluge of Fire The Lords Supper is the shewing forth his Death till He Come 1 Cor. 11. 26. Then that Passover is fullfill'd and that Fruit of the Vine drunk New Luc. 22. 16. 18. Nor can any of the Old Testament Types Prophecies and Promises be Fully Drawn out but in that Kingdom and Appearance So that in Summ it is the Everlasting Gospel God hath always been Gospelizing throughout the Old and New Testament Rev. 10. 7. Q. But if These Truths are of this Great Weight Can the Churches of the Saints be so unacquainted with Them A. Even as the Jewish Saints and the very Apostles were Ignorant of the Sacrifice Resurrection Ascention and Intercession of Christ so Fundamental Points till the Powring down the Spirit for Preaching the Gospel then Even so and much more may the Saints of Gospel Times even now till the Second Powring down the Spirit for the Preaching the Everlasting Gospel be and have been Ignorant of the Full Dimensions of the Redemption of Christ Fulfill'd in his Kingdom of the Glory of that Oeconomy to the Highest Glory of God the Father in his Creation and Love of Man of the Resurrection as such a visible Appearance of the Just and Vnjust for a Thousand Years the Dead in Christ Rising first Of the Mystery of the Saints Remaining and Living on Earth making up the Full Number of all Saints and not Dying but being Chang'd of the necessity according to this Oeconomy of the Infinitely Holy and Wise Being of such a Preparation for the Saints as Priests of God and Christ a Thousand Years to be Vnited to God All in All And notwithstanding this Ignorance They may be True Churches of Saints but the nearer the Time Approaches the Slowness of Heart to Know and Believe these Things will Argue a greater Lukewarmness for the Kingdom Glory and Coming of Christ and It hath been all along a dark Shade of the Apostasie upon the Churches Q. What Spirit are we then to be of with Relation to the coming of Christ in this his Kingdom A. Of the Vehement and even Passionate Spirit of the Bride which says Come Make hast my beloved to the Mountain of Spices Anointed for thy Kingdom with that Precious Oyntment that Antichrist now Counterfeits to his Death as the Great Prince Messiah the Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec and thy Saints as Kings and Priests with Thee in that Great Day of thy Nuptials in thy Kingdom Rev. 22. 17. Cantic 8. 14. Exod. 30. 33. Psal 110. 4. Rev. 20. 2. Q. You seem to have forgotten this Marriage so great an Emblem of the Thousand Years Kingdom of Christ in Scripture A. I Reserv'd it as the Best Wine for the Last For it is indeed most often so made use of in Holy Writing by Solomon in that most Prophetick Nuptial Song of his of the Kingdom by Esay c. 62. 5. by Christ often and He makes his Coming to be on purpose 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the sake of the Wedding and not as we Translate from it Luc. 12. 36. By the Apostle Paul Calling it as the Kingdom is Call'd Mystery Ephes 5. 25. 32. By the Apostle John in the Prophecy of the Kingdom just Appearing Rev. 19. 7. c. 21. 2. c. 22. 17. And it Carries Great Argument and Instruciton Q. What is the Argument A. That the Kingdom which is this Wedding every where in Scripture is not yet For the Bridegroom is now Taken from us as Christ Foretold He would be Luc 5. 35. Nor can it be at the Kingdom Deliver'd up For the Second Adam of which the First Adam's and Eves Marriage was the Type who is the Bridegroom is then the Bridegroom no longer But He Unites Himself with the Bride to the Father All in All John 17. 21. c. Q. What is the Instruction A. In Three Things 1. That even the Wise Virgins not Bearing this New Wine in their Old Bottles slumber even as the Foolish though with Oyl in their Vessels Grace in their Hearts which the Foolish not Having were shut out Mat. 25. 1. c. And 2. That we ought to be in Fasting and Sackcloth as the Children of the Bride-Chamber all these Days of the Bridegrooms being Taken from us Luc 5. 35. 3. That we should Hearing with an Ear to Hear and Thirsting most Affectionately to the Bridegrooms Saying Behold I come Quickly Resound Even so come Lord Jesus That He may say to us in Grace Come Then Also and with me Drink the Water of Life Freely And that we may do Thus The Grace of the Lord Jesus be with us All. Amen Rev. 22. 17. to the End FINIS