lastingness no comparison for that shall abide as long as the moon endureth When the Lord Christ reigneth there shall be great honour and subjection given to him by the great ones and it will fare well with the poor vers 12. 13. 14. also vers 2 4 6. of this 72. Psalm then shall that be fulfilled and made good Psal 67. 3. 4. 6. 7. Let the people praise thee O God let all the people praise thee O let the nations be glad and sing for joy for thou shalt judge the people righteously and govern the nations upon earth Let the people praise thee As they will do then they will sing Hallelujans and prayse to the lamb what followeth then then shall the earth yeeld her encrease very fruitful times then and God even our own God shall blesse us and all the ends of the earth shall fear him It will be so eminently then In the next place take we knowledge of that very eminent place Isa 65. It is the prophecy where the new heaven and the new earth are spoken of and promised see what is said in vers 13. Therefore thus sayeth the Lord behold my servants shall eat but ye shall be hungry to wit the wicked and unsaved nations and people behold my servants shall drink but ye shall be thirsty behold all with a behold very observable my servants shall rejoyce but ye shall be ashamed vers 14. Behold my servants shall sing for joy of heart but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart and howl for vexation of spirit vers 15. And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen for the Lord God shall slay thee and call his servants by another a new name a great difference then like that of Dives and Lazarus we see here is eating and drinking then for so did Adam and Eve and so did our Lord Christ in the day of his being here both before his death and after his resurrection Luk. 24. 42. 43. And so very likely will those changed alive then do for they will be men and women It followeth as a reason and that with a behold also vers 17. For behold I create a new heaven and a new earth The old will be done away and forgotten vers 18. They are bidden to rejoyce for the great blessednes and glory Jerusalem will be in God will create them so a rejoycing a praise Vers. 19. The voice of weeping shall no more be heard in her nor the voice of crying It is easy to see to what time and state that belongs this world affords no such exemption from weeping and crying only it will as to the full fulfilling be in the blessed world to come Vers. 21. They shall build houses and inhabit them they shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them Vers. 22. They shall not build and another inhabit they shall not plant and another eat it fares so in this world many times but it will not then for as the dayes of a tree which are many so shall be the dayes of Gods people It followeth and mine elect shall long injoy the work of their hands their building and planting c. vers 23. They shall not labour in vain as many do in this world nor bring forth for trouble of which we made mention before For they are the blessed of the Lord and their off-spring with them Vers. 25. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together The same with that in Isa 11. of which before It is not hard to conceive what time this relateth unto it relateth to and is a prophecy of the new earth that God will create when there shall be the restoration of all things When it shall all come to passe and be so as is declared whether we believe it or no. The prophet Jeremiah declareth something to the like effect Ier. 33. 6. 7. 8. 9. I will bring them health I will cause their captivitie to return I will cleanse them from all their iniquitie and it shall be to me a name of joy and praise before all the people of the earth For the great prosperitie God will procure unto it And vers 11. The voice of joy and the voice of gladness the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride c. For he will cause their captivitie to return And so he goeth on in a promisary way of good things to the end of the 16th verse See the prophecy at large I spare to set it down for fear or being over-large And consider to what time it relateth for its full fulfilling at the time of the branch of righteousness growing up to David in the land it will be We may also minde that Ier. 50. 19. 20. When Israels captivitie shall be returned c. and the iniquity of Israel and Judah sought for and not be found for there shall be none we spake of it before Hosea the prophet mentioned by holy Paul Rom. 9. Eyeing the time of their great return and Gods gracious return to them Hos 2. 18. In that day to wit of the restoration I will make a covenant with them and with the beasts of the feild and with the fowls of heaven and with the creeping things of the ground and I will break the bow and the sword and the battel out of the earth I will make them lie down safely It may easily be minded what day this relateth unto it being the same with Isa 11. mentioned before when the hurtful nature of the creature will cease and mans enmitye also and wars cease to the ends of the earth and the restoration of all things and the peaceable kingdom of the Lord Christ takes place then it will be so and it is not like to be before Vers. 19. I will betroth thee to me for ever The marriage of the lamb will be nigh then yea I will betroth thee to me in righteousness c. vers 21. And it shall come to passe in that day I will hear the heavens and they shall hear the earth and the earth shall hear the corn and the wine and the oyl and they shall hear Iezreel and I will sow her to me in the earth to wit the new earth as to the fulfilling of it it is not sayd in heaven but in the earth Further see what the prophet Ioel sayth chap. 3. 18. And it shall come to passe when Ierusalem shall be holy and no stranger passe through her any more as they shall in no wise then Rev. 21. 27. at that day then at that day the mountains shall drop down new wiue and the hills shall flow with milk and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord and shall water the valley of Chittim It will go ill with Egypt then vers 20. But Judah shall dwell for ever and Jerusalem from generation to generation for God will then cleanse so as never before I conceive by changing of
Joh. 1. 14. Holy Stephen he saw heaven opened and Jesus standing at the right hand of God Acts. 7. 55. Paul likewise saw him and it is said When he cometh in the clouds every eye shall see him Rev. 1. 7. But God the father the great Jehovah told Moses he could not see him and in great condescension shewed him his back parts He is the invisible God Col. 1. 15. The holy scripture tells us that no man hath seen God to wit the father at any time 1. Joh. 4. 12. 20. His brightness is so serene where he dwelleth that no mortal no created eye is able to approch unto it or to abide the beholding of it But the Lord Jesus Christ who is the Image of the invisible God as we have seen him as before is said so we shall see him and behold him in his glory and be with him for ever as he made it his prayer unto his father that it might be so When he shall again appear we shall then appear with him in glory and as holy John saith When he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is Joh. 3. 2. The close of that scripture seemeth to relate to God the father likewise to whom be honour and power everlasting Amen the great Omega That is and will be all in all Further that of Daniel 7. Is of like consideration vers 9. likewise vers 22. It speaketh of the ancient of days God the father very high things are spoken of him that in vers 13. One like the son of man seemeth clearly to be meant of the Lord Jesus Christ Much the same seemeth that to be in Rev. 20. 11. I saw a great white throne and him that sate thereon from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away and there was found no place for them and I saw the dead small and great stand before God to wit God the father it seemeth to be spoken of him but that which follows in that verse relating to the judgment it is very likely to be meant of the Lord Christ to whom all judgment is committed all judgment is given to the son by the father and as Peter sayth 1. Pet. 4. 5. That he is ready to judge the quick and the dead all must appear before his tribunal and be judged by him this of judicature to the end of that 20. chapter relateth in a tacit way to the Lord Christ That in the second Psalm seemeth to be of like consideration and other scriptures that I shall forbear to name being of an interwoven way and manner of speaking of the power and dominion of the father and likewise of the son the Lord Christ I shall end these essays with that prophetical Psalm of the kingly prophet David in Psal 72. speaking to his son Solomon as the type but chiefly relating to a higher and greater Solomon in the antitype namely the Lord Jesus Christ very high and great things are spoken of in that Psalm concerning the kingdom of our Lord Christ how that in his days as in vers 7. The righteous shall flourish and abundance of peace shall be so long as the Moon endureth vers 8. he shall have dominion from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth Then he speaketh of the submission of kings and of their bringing of gifts saying vers 11. Yea all kings shall fall down before him all nations shall serve him Then he speaketh of his great kindnes to the poor and needy and of how high esteem they shall be in his sight and how he shall take care of them and do for them for which he shall be dayly praised Vers. 17. It is said His name shall be continued for ever his name shall endure as long as the sun and men shall be blessed in him And all nations shall call him blessed Great will be the glory of our Lord Christ in his kingdom and when he shall come in his glory and reign in his kingdom of which there seemeth little doubt but that this Psalm treateth of it and blessed will they be that shall enjoy their share therein But towards the end of the Psalm the prophet seemeth to turn and addresse himself to the Author and giver of all this glory and blessedness namely God the father with the which he closeth the Psalm and in the two last verses sayeth thus Blessed be the Lord God the God of Israel who only doth wondrous things and blessed be his glorious name for ever and let the whole earth be filled with his glory Amen and Amen With the which he closes as I shall also these essayes referring the whole to the serious consideration of the wise in heart A MYSTERY I. Shewed by holy Paul That the Saints alive at the Coming of the Lord Christ shall not then die but be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye II. Something treated of concerning that change wherein it will consist and the Standard or Measure of it III. That many of the great Prophecies in the Holy Scriptures do eye that Time and those Changed People and state for their Great Fullfilling IV. Something held forth concerning the Restoration of all things and the world to come that shall take place when our Lord Christ shall come again V. Of the Great Happiness of that day and the Flourishing Estate the Righteous shall then Enjoy Proposed to consideration With sundry other things occasionally Discussed By P. G. B Joh. 11. 26. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me to wit in Christ at his coming shall never die believest thou this Psa 31. 19. O how great is thy goodness which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee which thou hast prepared for them that trust in thee before the sons of men Joh. 20. 29. Blessed are they that have not seen me yet have believed Printed in the Year 1675. To the READER THou hast here offered to thy view and consideration that which few haply have much minded though it be a very great thing a mistery no less and that which it is likely will be found as a key that will help to open divers great prophecies and high sayings in the holy Scriptures which some have been very ready to allegorize and put some notion of a spiritual meaning on them as if that were all whereby they have drawn a veil over them rendring them another thing This mistery it relateth to the very time of the second coming of the Lord Christ when those servants of God believing in Jesus shall be changed in a moment without dying they shall put off corruption and mortallity and put on incorruption immortality and everlasting life and be rechanged into their former state as man was before his fall and it is very likely they will be the blessed inhabitants of the world to come and such as shall inherit and dwell in the new earth Consider of it and what is offered about it it
so SOmething hath been said before concerning the great things that attend the coming of the Lord Christ and come to passe then as the restoration of all things Act. 3. 21. A new heaven and a new earth the raising the dead saints out of their graves the changing the living in a moment the beginning of the world to come with other things very many that have been mentioned before and may be further said after that are held forth in the prophecies and sayings in the holy scriptures relating to the latter day not yet fulfilled nor like to be in the full made good till that happy day in that blessed world to come of which we shall dilate a little In the former chapter we treated of what Ezekiel hath foretold Ezek. 36. Ezek. 37. Of the dry bones and the two stiks with the interpretation of the same The matter relating to Israels restoration and re-union and their full enjoyments of the promises made to Abraham Isaack and Jacob which had not been made good in Ezekiel his time but were after to be fully made good according as he declared which to this day hath not been made good and not very likely so fully to be so in any time yet to come in this world but much more probable to be made good then to the full when that nation shall be so born in one day and be no more two but one nation for ever they and their Childrens children for ever at that blessed day when the world to come shall take place when that of the redeemers coming to Sion and to such as turn or are turned from iniquity in Jacob hath its full fulfilling which is not very like to be till the Lord himself comes for he himself hath said ye shall not see me henceforth till the time come when ye shall say blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord Luk. 23. 35. The lambs standing on Mount Sion with the sealed ones having their fathers name written on their foreheads and the singing the new song which none could learn but they that pure virgin state and being without fault before the throne of God it will not I conceive be so fully in this world but in that blessed world to come All those forementioned things will very fully contemporise with that blessed time and state without any allegorie interpretation or framing a spirituall notion to make the matter good for it will be even so in the letter visibly and be made good without the least failer Further that of the Prophet Isaiah is very considerable as to this matter Chap. 65. 17. where the new heaven and the new earth is held forth with a behold a great thing behold I create new heavens and a new earth vers 18. I create Jerusalem a rejoycing and her people a joy And therefore in the beginning of the vers it is said be glad and rejoyce for ever in that which I create for behold I create a very great thing so he goeth on to the end of chapter In Isa 66. 8. Who hath heard sach a thing shall a nation be born at once in a moment in the twinkling of an eye as those alive at the coming of the Lord shall be changed then As soon as Sion travelled she brought forth see the whole to the 22. vers And that in special in the 14. 15. 16. See if they do not eye the very time of the destroying of this world by fire and the taking place of the blessed world to come when the new heaven and the new earth will take place of which before And the certainty and stableness is confirmed by that vers 22. For as the new heavens and the new earth which I shall make shall remain before me saith the Lord so shall your seed and your name remain This comporteth with that Isa 59. 21. very considerable As for me this is my covenant with them saith the Lord my spirit that is upon thee being changed so and my words which I have put in thy mouth to wit of thanksgiving and praise shall not depart out of them mouth of thy seed nor out of the mouth of thy seeds seed from henceforth and for ever And this I conceive relateth to the coming of the redeemer to Sion when all Israel shall be saved Rom. 11. 26. then as Isa 60. 1. arise and shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee Jerusalems happy day will then be come We might mention much more of holy Isaiah for that he had great light in this matter and hath held forth much as in chap. 60. and so to the end of his prophecy which the reader may please to consider As likewise in divers other places which I forbear to mention lest we should be too large All that hath been said as to its full fulfilling seemeth to relate to the time of the world to come and the Israelites the seed of Abraham principally not excluding the gentile Saints from sharing in the blessedness of that day and walking in Jerusalems light when it shall be very great indeed The light of one day being from the sun then as the light of seven dayes Isa 30. 26. that that changing in a moment will effect it to the highest degree of being translated out of darkness into this marvelous light 1. Pet. 2. 9. In the next place we may take notice what the Prophet Ieremiah holds forth Ier. 30. 31. and 32. of which we shall dilate a little Ier. 30. 10. Iacob is bidden not to fear nor Israel to be dismayed for God will save them from afar and their seed from the land of their captivitie and Iacob shall return and be in rest and quiet and none shall make him afraid he goeth on with further promises and threatnings against the wicked then at the same time to wit in the latter days when God will perform the intents of his heart reade on to the 22th verse where he sums up all and they shall be my people and I will be their God very happy will their condition be for blessed is the people whose God is the Lord. Ier. 31. 1. he saith at the same time will I be the God of all the families of Israel and they shall be my people In an eminent wise they shall be so to God and he so to them a very great thing the one hundred forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel those sealed ones with their fathers name written on their foreheads will be so Gods people and God their God so The twelve thousand of every tribe and all Israel when they shall be saved by the coming of the deliverer to Sion and the two sticks according to Ezekiels vision and the interpretation of it one nation and no more two for ever but one born in a day changed in a moment then will God be their God and they his people so at that day So he