food by Hunting so this World Hunts and Labours for their food But Jacob was a smooth Man representing the Time or World to come in which time there will be Smoothness and calmness with all serenity and Provision in abundance without Hunting for Concerning the Servitude BUt as for the Servitude the Lord had determined for the Elder World before the Children had done good or evil In that Servitude they will be more Blessed than ever they would have been without it For God promised Abraham that in him all the Families of the Earth should be Blessed Gen. 12.3 Gen. 18.18 Gen. 22.17 18. Gen. 26.4 Which is by Christ and partly made good at Christ's first coming by the publication of the Gospel by which many of the Nations embraced the Faith by laying hold of the common Salvation wich is therein tendred Jude 2. For Christ tasted Death for every Man Heb. 2.9 Heb. 5.9 John 3.16 1 John 2.2 In which common Salvation I neither mean the elect remnant that was chosen from among Israel unto whom Christ promised to be with to the end of the World Nor the People that God at the first visiting the Gentiles did take out from among them for his Name Acts 15.14 The which People then received the Holy Ghost to be in them that they might be a light to the World And that the World through them might believe or know that God had sent Christ John 17.23 That thereby the Nations might take hold of the offered Mercy which accordingly they did Colos 1.6 and so became the Seed of Abraham And whilst they walkt in the stops of the Faith of Abraham Rom. 4.12 They were heirs to Israels promises and that by Christ who was of the Lyon of the Tribe of Judah And set forth as a propitiation through Faith in his Blood for the remission of Sins that are past Rom. 3.25 to all them that then believed according to the tender of his Grace Therefore they then concluded upon the publication of the Gospel or of a Sinners resigning himself to Christ to serve him that a Man was justified by Faith without the deeds of the Law Chap. 3.26 27 28. But in the Faith that they were to believe were included the deeds of the Law For it is required they should walk according to it for they are to be Judged by it Rom. 2.13 For the Lord will render to every Man according to his deeds when Judged Chap. 2.5 6 7 8 9. And Christ is become the Author of eternal Salvation to all them that obey him Heb 5.9 And walk before God with a perfect Heart as Abraham did Gen. 26.5 Gen. 17.1 And like him expect the promised Reward in the way of their obedience And whilst the Gentiles that had embrac'd the Faith walk'd in his steps they were Heirs to the promises and it is such will be partakers of the Glory promised in time to come The which time will be the time of Christ's Kingdom And then all the Families of the Earth will be Blessed in Abraham and his Seed For after the Lord has avenged himself of his Enemies which Enemies are those who regard not the Counsel of the Lord and will have none of his Reproof against these he will spend his Arrows And then God calls to the Nations to rejoyce with his People Deut. 32.42 43. For then all the Nations that are given to be Israel's Servants will have cause to rejoice in that they will then be made blessed thereby when all those of Mount-Seir and Idumea who through unbelief of the Promise made to Israel boast themselves and deny the Time or World to come in which the Lord will make his Promises good And through Covetousness of this present evil world they like Esau sell their Birth-right for this world's Morsel And it is these Edomites shall be made desolate when the whole Earth rejoyceth Ezek. 35.12 13 14 15. Now Esau was but termed Edom upon the desiring the Pottage for which Pottage be sold his Birth-right Gen. 25.31 32 33. As not believing the Promises which God made to Abraham as relating to this time nor that which is to come unto which the promised Blessedness belongs For if he had believed the Promises he would not have said If I dye for Hunger what profit shall this Birth-right do me And it was through Unbelief of a future slate made him unwilling to encounter with Difficulties and therefore sold his Birth-right to which the Blessing was annext For which afterward when he would have inherited the Blessing he was rejected Heb. 12.17 And had not Jacob known the advantage that was to be had by the Birth-right he would not have desired it from him For had not the Blessing gone with the Birth-right Jacob had been in a far better condition without it for then he had purchased the Servitude with the Birth-right But Isaac Rebecca and Jacob well knew that it was the Elder People Nation or World that was to serve the Younger And as Esau through unbelief disinherited himself so the Seed of Jacob by their disobedience and unbelief have in this time disinherited themselves Yet in the time to come the Seed of Jacob will have the promised Blessing with whom the true Believer will come in Heir with And in this time the Covenant which God made with the Seed of Jacob was such that others might take hold of it Strangers as well as Israel Deut. 29.14 15. So that the natural seed of Esau were not excluded from it as many as would come in according to the condition of the Covenant might be Heirs with Israel in time to come And Esau's Seed knowing the Covenant of the Lord and they not joining with Israel in the true Worship they were more inexcusable than the rest of the Nations For the true God was the God of their Fathers But in the time to come the unborn Posterity of Esau then cannot come in Heirs with Israel Neither any of this World can partake of Israel's Promises in time to come but those that come in Heirs with Israel in this time Jacob's Blessing THe Blessing wherewith Isaac blessed Jacob as relating to him and his Seed the which had not only Reference to this Time or World but much more to that which is to come For unto him he pronounced the Words of God to Abraham Gen. 12.3 I will bless them that bless thee and curse him that curseth thee For in the Blessing Isaac said to Jacob Gen. 28.29 God give thee of the Dew of Heaven and the Fatness of the Earth and plenty of Corn and Wine Let People serve thee and Nations bow down to thee be Lord over thy Brethren and let thy Mother's Sons bow down to thee cursed be every one that curseth thee and blessed be he that blesseth thee This Blessing as I said before must needs have its chief reference to the Generations of Israel's Children in time to come Psal 102.18 19. Psal 22.30 31. Psal 24.6 Deut.
discovery that we are in the Gloomy and Dark day which St. Paul terms the Night where he saith ROM 13.12 13 14. The night is far spent the Day is at hand let us therefore cast off the Works of Darkness and let us put on the Armour of Light Let us walk honestly as in the Day not in Rioting and Drunkenness not in Chambering and Wantonness not in Strife and Envy But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no Provision for the Flesh to fulfil the Lust thereof Now the Night which was far spent then is nigh spent now For the Times being divided into three parts Christ's first coming was at the beginning of the last part And therefore the last part must needs now be near expiration and the Day in which Christ will Judge the World in which time will be the Restitution of all things The which Day is now nigh at hand when there will not be disorderly walking But now is the Cloudy and Dark day until the Lord again comes to feed his Sheep himself And then will he gather them out of all Countries and feed them upon the Mountains of Israel And then will the Lord Judge between the Rams and the He-Goats Ezek. 34.11 12 13 14 15 17. Now when the Lord first came it is said he came when the fulness of time was come Gal. 4.4 The which was at the full time that God had appointed for his coming It is also said Heb. 1.2 God hath in these last Days spoken to us by his Son whom he hath appointed heir of all things by whom also he made the Worlds Now in that the Apostle here saith these last days is because there is other last or latter Days spoken of in Scripture in which latter Days it is Israel will receive the promised great and Glorious blessings And he therefore distinguishes these last Days in which the Gospel was establisht from those that are yet to come Isa 2.2 And it shall come to pass in the last days that the Mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the Mountains and shall be exalted above the Hills and all Nations shall flow unto it Mic. 4.1 But in the last days it shall come to pass that the Mountain of the House of the Lord shall be established in the top of the Mountains and it shall be exalted above the Hills and People shall flow unto it Hos 3.5 Afterward shall the Children of Israel return and seek the Lord their God and David their King and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter Days And St. Peter speaking of the Lord's second coming therefore termed these days the last days of the Gospel institution and of the Power of the Principalities of this World and the end of our time of coming in heirs with Israel All this will end upon the beginning of the time of Israel's great and glorious latter Days before quoted but in the latter days of this time Moses Prophesied of their falling away Deut. 31.29 According to which we see they have done but after the latter Days of this time in the time to come which is in the latter Days also and beyond the latter Days of this time the Lord will then be merciful to his Land and to his People And the Nations are then to rejoyce with them Deut. 32.43 At which time God will render vengeance to his Adversaries and restore his People and circumcise their Heart and the Heart of their Seed to love the Lord their God Deut. 30.6 For when the Lord comes to Zion he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob Rom. 11.26 Deut. 30.3.6.8 And that there will be Days and Nights after Christ's second coming is evident For after Christ's second coming Satan is to be bound up for a Thousand Years and after that he is cast into Hell to be tormented Day and Night for ever and for ever Rev. 20.3 10. And according to this it is faid Isa 34.4 8. That when all the Idumean Heaven and their Host shall be dissolved and rolled together a as Scrole the which will be the day of the Lord's vengeance and the Year of Recompences for the Controversie of Sion ver 8. Then part of the Land on which the Curse will fall as in the 9 and 10 Verses The Streams thereof shall be turned into Pitch and the Dust thereof into Brimstone and it shall not be quenched Night nor Day the Smoke thereof shall go up for ever from Generation to Generation it shall lye wast none shall pass through it for ever and ever But the Cormorant and the Bittern and such like shall inhabit it ver 11. And these Heavens and their Host are the Heavens and Elements unto which St. Peter had his reference when he said The Day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night in which the Heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the Elements melt with fervent heat and the Earth and all the works that are therein shall be burnt up 2 Pet. 3.10 For we are to take notice that St. Peter doth not say all the Earth but it is the Earth before spoken of by the Prophet and all the things which are therein which the Anger of the Lord is pronounced against Isa 34. the which will stand as a remark of God's fore displeasure against sin all the time of the world to come as Sodom has done in this time And therefore St. Peter saith at the beginning of the Chapter That he wrote to them to stir up their minds by way of Remembrance that they might be mindful of the Words which were spoken before by the holy Prophets and of the Commands of us the Apostles vers 1 2 3. For they required and commanded that they should be mindful of the words of the Prophets And a great State of People God generally in Scripture calls Heaven and Earth and almost every Prophecy of Scripture hath at least a twofold signication 2 Pet. 1.20 The which we not understanding we have thereby been much in the dark And every Name is a proper Name to that which God gives it And if God will call two things by one Name it as properly belongs to one as to the other And that it is not the Material Heavens and all the Earth that is to be destroyed is evident to all from the words of the Text Because when these Heavens and their Host and the Earth here spoken of are destroyed then Israel will be restored and day and night continued and succeeding Generations Isa 34.4 5 8 9 10. From whence we see the continuance of Day and Night proved both from the Old and New Testament And that it is not the Material Heavens and all the Earth that is to be burnt up at the Day of Judgment is further evident for the Lord saith At the end of this World he will send his Angels and gather out of his Kingdom all things that offend
Lord will hasten it in his time Isa 60.21 22. And this is the World to come that will be put in Subjection unto Christ Heb. 2.5 The which will be when the Old Heavens and Earth shall Perish which have now the ruling power And the new Heavens and Earth take place And then the Children of God's Servants shall continue and their seed shall be established before him Psal 102.25 26 27 28. And this is the World to come of which the Apostle saith we speak Heb. 2.5 8. For that which is called a Nation or Generation in the Old Testament where it is said a Seed shall serve him and it shall be accounted to the Lord for a Generation Psal 22.30 31. Psal 24.6 7. The same in the New Testament is termed the World to come and the World without end And the Christians since the Apostacy from the truth of God's Word have never rightly understood this World to come nor the Foundation thereof Whereby great part of the Fundamental Doctrine of the Gospel hath been overturned And in the New Testament the last Day is spoken of because they that are under the Gospel will then be Judged and the Gospel institution will then cease and the ruling Power taken out of the Hand of the People of this World and therefore it is termed their last Day But in the Old Testament we never read of a last Day because when Israel is again restored then the Land is given them for an Everlasting inheritance Gen. 17.7 8. And then as the New Heavens and the New Earth shall remain so shall their Seed and their Name remain Isa 66.22 and then 't is that Mount Sion shall be made an Eternal Excellency But more of this hereafter Now whereas St. Paul saith Thes 5.4 5. But ye Brethren are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief ye are all the Children of the Light and the Children of the Day ye are not of the Night nor of darkness This he speaks of them that were of the first Churches which had received the Holy Ghost and thereby he knew they were chosen in a more peculiar manner for that Day which is still to come as his foregoing words make clearly appear in that he saith That Day should not overtake them as a Thief And if we now in this gloomy and dark day walk as Children of the Light in a holy and upright Conversation and with love to the Truth we shall belong to that Day also But when the Apostle wrote this Epistle and the first of the Corinthians he did expect the coming of the Lord in their day but afterwards he did declare to the contrary for in 2 Thes 2.2 he lets them understand that the Day of Christ was not then at hand but that there would be a falling away first but nothing of a New Election afterwards to be called in under the Gospel that being a new received notion and Scriptureless And concerning this Day which is to come the Apostle saith 1 Cor. 13.9 10. That they knew but in part and they prophesied but in part But when that which is perfect is come then that which is in part shall be done away Now then what gross Darkness must we lie under that came out of Popery by which was altogether lost the right apprehension of that Day for by the Pope it was condemned for a Heresie But St. Peter said to the Church to whom he wrote Ye do well that ye take heed as unto a Light that shineth in a dark place 2 Pet. 1.19 But we having lost the right knowledge of that day are thereby stumbling on the dark Mountains Every Sect sticking to that Opinion they first took up with when they came out of that darkness All thinking themselves so right that they need not make any further enquiry or search into the knowledge of the truth of the Scriptures But now is the time the Lord is beginning to fulfil his Promise in Dan. 12.4 By revealing the true meaning of his Word that thereby knowledge might be increased so as preparation may be made for the Coming of the Lord. And also it is said That at Evening time it shall he light Zech. 14.7 And that the Vision shall speak and not lie Hab. 2.3 By which it doth clearly appear that the Word of the Lord will be better understood than hitherto it hath been for these many hundred years But our mistakes concerning Election in that we have thought our selves the Elect and so they say can never fall from Grace And others wholly believing in the Righteousness of Christ for Salvation not considering the Conditions on which it is tendred All these think they stand so secure that it is no concern of theirs to know whether Christ is coming or not They not apprehending there are a certain Remnant of the Jeros given to Christ by his Father to be his standing witness through the World And that likewise the first Churches were elected and received the Holy Ghost to be in them that the World through them might know that God had sent Christ as thereby they might have ground to believe And upon the publication of the common Salvation was given a day of Grace by the Call of the Word with the assistance of the good motions of the Spirit of God the which Israel had till they resisted in their not obeying the Commands of the Lord Act. 7.51 For they did then strain at a Gnat and swallow a Camel Mat. 23.24 And so the Gentiles till they came to have no love to the Truth 2 Thes 2.10 Now the Mistakes in these things if we do not well awaken will prove of most dangerous consequence 1 Thes 5.3 For when they say peace and Safety then sudden Destruction cometh upon them as Travail upon a Woman with Child And then it is that such Christians will be found in Darkness who have not prepared for the coming of the Lord. God's Love to the World JOHN 3.16 God so loved the VVorld that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting Life That is every individual Person that believeth in Christ hath a promise of everlasting Life from which words we are to take notice that of this World or People there are some that will believe and some that will not but that the love of Christ was such as to dye for all for St. Paul saith Hâ—b 2.9 That Christ did tast Death for every Man And St. John saith Christ is the Propitiation for the Sins of the whole VVorld 1 John 2.2 From which Scriptures we may plainly see that by Christ all will be cleared from original Sin so as when all come to be Judged they will be Judged according to their Works Rev. 20.12 1 Pet. 1.17 Cor. 5.10 John 5.28 29. Rom. 2.12 13 14. And therefore in the Time or World to come there will be a Redemption for Children and such as are not