the heavens rejoyce and the earth is glad the field is joyfull and all that is therein and all the trees of the wood will rejoyce before the Lord when he commeth to judge the earth Then shall they see the Sonne of man comming in a cloud with power and great glory when these things begin to come to passe then looke Luke 21. 27 28. Revel 19. 7 Luke 2. 25. 26. up and lift up your heads for your redemption draneth nigh Let us rejoyce and be glad and give honour to him for the marriage of the Lambe is come and his bride hath made herselfe ready because it was revealed to old Simeon that hee should not see death till he had seene the Lords Christ therefore he waited for the consolation of Israel be patient therefore brethren unto the comming of our Lord behold the husbandman waiteth for the fruite of the earth be yee also patient establish your heart for the comming of the Lord draweth nigh saith Micah James 5. 7 8. Micah 7. 7. I will waite for the God of my salvation and Paul commends the Corinthians for this thing for saith he yee come behind in no gift wayting for the comming of our Lord Jesus Christ who shall confirme you unto the end that ye may be blamelesse in the day of our Lord for saith he our conversation 1 Cor. 1. 7. 8. is in heaven from whence also we looke for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ who shall change our vile bodies and make them like unto his Phil 3 20 21. glorious body according to the working whereby hee is able to subdue all things unto himselfe Blessed is hee that waiteth and commeth to the 1335. dayes saith the Angel to Daniel but go thou thy way thou shalt rest till the end Dan. 12. 12 13. be and then stand in thy lot in the end of the dayes when all things are restored to their first perfection then Daniel shall have his lot among other Saints therefore waite I say on the Lord I will waite for the Lord my soule doth waite in his word doe I waite My soule doth waite for the Lord more then they that watch for the morning I say more then they that watch for Psal 130. the morning let Israel hope in the Lord watch therefore for ye know not at what houre your Lord doth come therefore be yee ready for in such an Matth. 24. 42. 44. 46. 47. houre as yee thinke not of the Sonne of man commeth blessed is that servant whom his Lord when hee commeth shall finde so doing verily I say unto you hee will make him ruler over all his goods now what are those goods that the Saints shall bee made Rulers over at the day of judgement but those creatures that were given to the first Adam and hee by his sinne lost this Lordship over them and the second Adam hath restored to him all againe in their first perfection and saith Luke hee will make him ruler over his Luke 12. 42. 44. household and over all that he hath now saith Paul I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ of whom the whole family in heaven and Ephe. 3 14. 15. earth is named what other meaning can this have but this after the day of judgement to be made Lords and Rulers over all the creatures here below and as I take it in some degree also above the Angels in heaven howsoever here is sufficient to answer a question sometimes moved which is this whether Quest shall the Saints or Angels have the highest degree of glory after the day of judgment I answer the Saints for as the beasts shall be confined to the earth so Answ the Angels shall be confined in heaven but man shall inherit all things all things I say both in earth and heaven and as man shall have more glory on earth then any beast or fowle can have so I suppose he shall have more glory in heaven then any Angel there because that he is the master piece of all and as it were a modell of all the creation being the last that was made all the rest being but made for him the Elders were with Christ on the throne and the Angels standing round about it read Revel 7. 11. therefore in more glory Revel 5. 11 7. 11. then the Angels Secondly Vse may teach us admiration with David and say O how great is thy goodnesse which thou hast laid up for them that feare thee which thou Psal 31. 19. hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sonnes of men First Looke backe upon sinne and see the cursed nature of it and admire at the filthy contagion of it that hath defiled the lower heavens and the earth Iob 15. 15. Gen 6. 12. and all creatures in them and spoyled the glory and beauty of them all Secondly This may teach us to admire at the great mercy and goodnesse Psal 136. 23. 72. 12. Psal 63. 5. of our God who remembred us in our low estate how he delivered us when we had no helper he looked and there was none to helpe then his owne Arme brought salvation Thirdly Here we may admire at the folly of Adam that would hazzard such a glorious world of creatures and lose them all for a bit of an Apple Fourthly we may admire at their happy and permanent condition under the second Adam when as they shall bee established for ever and see how fickle and mutable they were under the first Adam O then happy is he that is not under the first but under the second Adam who hath restored againe what the first lost Fiftly here we may admire at the great price of our redemption the worth and value of the blood of Christ when we had spoyled and ruined the whole 1 Pet. 1. 19 creation all the glorious workes of God by our sinnes that the blood of Christ should purchase redemption for mankind and establishment to the Angels that had not sinned and purification to the creatures here below and establishment to all Sixtly here we may see and admire at the justice of God to all that creatures that have suffered punishment not for their owne sins but for ours now they shall not onely be delivered after so long a time but established in an unchangable condition for ever which will make amends for their great losse they had by the sinne of man Seventhly admire at the wisedome of God that could finde out such a way to satisfie his owne justice and yet to save his creatures Eighthly this may teach us to admire at the power of God that is able to doe all these things which in all mens judgement was a greater worke to renew the ruins of the old world then it was at the first to make it of nothing he travelled in the greatnesse of his strength and is mighty to save he layd Isay 63. 1. Psal 89.
before the day of judgement when the wicked shall have as great authority and riches as they neither can it properly be said that the Saints shall reigne in heaven for there is none to bee subject unto them then it remaines that the Saints after the day of judgement shall reigne here on earth Revel 5. 10 when they shall shine as the Sunne in the Firmament Matth 13. 43. and be as glorious in the fight of God as he was at the first all the creatures restored to their first persection then they will yeeld to man all that obedience that is due unto him and then shall man be honoured in the earth by the creatures as their Lord and King and wonderfull happy among the Angels in heaven being of their nature in his soule and in his body also being made of the same elements with other creatures here below then the Angels shall continue in heaven and these creatures shall continue here and men shall have bodies so full of agility to ascend up to heaven and to walke in the ayre as to goe upon the ground and the glory of the soule shall bee the wonderfull perfection of Gods Image in all the faculties of it then shall wee know both the secrets of heaven and earth then shall our memories will and affections bee after an unconceivable manner made conformable unto God yea we shall have both in our soules and bodies rivers of joyes and pleasure for evermore Psal 16. 11. Revel 21 7 Esay 66. 22. then shall the Saints inherit all things and the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remaine before mee saith the Lord and so shall your seed and your name remaine then shall wee bee Luk. 20. 35. 36. equall to the Angels being children of the resurrection and counted worthy to obtaine that world and we shall be as Kings and Priests and wee shall reigne on the earth Revel 5. 10. and all the creatures here will yeeld subjection to us as to their Lord and King and we shall be as Priests to offer the sacrifice of praise to the Lord and give him all the glory And if any shall yet say these times shall be before the end of the world because in the eighth Psalme it is said thou hast crowned man with glory and honour and thou madest him to have dominion over the workes of thy hands and hast put all things under his feet and then names all the creatures here below I answer David here magnifies the Lord for that great glory and honour that was put upon man at the first in Paradise when he had dominion over Psal 8. 6. all things under the heavens for this is spoken in the time past Thou madest him have dominion and thou hast put all things under his feet but Heb. 2. 8. if we speake of the new world we see not yet all things put under him And whereas some hold that the soules of men departed shall returne againe and their bodies shall be raised and united to them and they shall live here againe before the day of judgement a thousand yeares but I demand Revel 20. 4 with what bodies shall they rise if it be sowne a corrupted body shall it not rise in incorruption if it bee sowne a naturall body shall 1 Cor. 15. 43 44. it not rise a spirituall body they must rise with such a body as Christ did But when the disciples saw him they were terrified and affrighted Luk. 23. 37 Act. 10. 40. 41. and supposed that they had seene a spirit and as for wicked men they never saw his body at all after his resurrection him God raised up the third day and shewed him openly not to all the people but unto witnesses chosen before of God even to us who did eate and drinke with him after hee Luk. 24. 31. 51. John 20. 17. Mich 〈◊〉 10. arose from the dead and when hee was with them as soone as they knew him he vanished out of their sight this strangenesse was betweene his spirituall and their corporall bodies this is not your rest because it is polluted he charged Mary that she should not touch him then what communion can be betwixt them when some must not touch him and others were affrighted at the sight of him and as soone as they knew him hee vanished away because the world is polluted then it cannot bee that spirituall and corporall bodies should live together and though he eate and dranke with them after his Resurrection yet we must not thinke it was for necessity or through the perill of hunger but onely for delight and to shew them that Luk. 24 3◠40. he had a reall body as before with flesh and bones onely it was made immortall and everlasting never to dye more nor to suffer any perill more And whereas it is said That the soules of them that were beheaded for the witnesse Revel 20. 4 of Jesus and for the word of God and had not worshipped the beast they lived and raigned with Christ a thousand yeares This cannot be meant of a corporall death or of a bodily resurrection for the rest that were dead lived not againe Vers 5. 6. till the 1000. yeares were finished and yet in the first Resurrection who are as blessed and holy as the rest On them the second death hath no power and they being in the first resurrection and yet not raised in their bodies what is this but to rise from the death of sinne to the life of grace on such the second death hath no power and Christ answered the Sadduces that Abraham Isaac and Jacob are living for God is the God of the living and he is their Mat. 22. 32 John 5. 24. God he that is thus alive shall dye no more but is passed from death to life And againe the planting of the Gospell and increasing or spreading of the Church may very well be called a Resurrection because men were brought out of a state of death to a state of life and the growth of the Church was like to the rising of the waters of the sanctuary first to the Ezekiel 47. ankles then to the knees then to the loynes and to a river that could not be passed over so was the Resurrection of the Church at the first but twelve Acts 1. 15. 2. 41. 44 5 14. then a hundred and twenty then there was added three thousand then five thousand then multitudes both of men and women now he that hath part in this first resurrection on them the second death hath no power and whether they have this first Resurrection in the first thousand yeares after Christs ascension or in the second it matters not so they have it before the day of Judgement on them the second death hath no power But our controversie is about those that were slaine for the witnesse of Jesus and yet lived and reigned with Christ a
people the voyce of weeping shall be no more heard in her violence shall be no more heard in thy land wasting nor destruction within thy borders but thou shalt call thy walls salvation and thy gates Reve. 21. 22. 22. 9. prayer the Sunne shall be thy light no more by day neither for brightnesse shall the Moone give light unto thee but the Lord shall be to thee an everlasting light and thy God thy glory thy Sunne shall no more go down Esay 60. 18 19 20 21. neither shall the moone withdraw it selfe for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light and the dayes of thy mourning shall be ended thy people shall be all righteous they shall inherit the land for ever the branch of my planting the worke of my hands that I may be glorified and not onely Esay 86. 24. so that they shall enjoy all things here but they shall goe forth and looke upon the carcasses of them that have transgressed against the Lord for their worme shall nor die not the fire be quenched but they shall bee an abhorring to all flesh the miseries of the damned that they shall see shall much increase their joy when they shall see what judgements the Lord hath saved them from and what a joy will it be when the creatures shall yeeld us true subjection as they did to Adam in Paradise and how will the Angels rejoyce to see all the Saints not onely converted but glorified Luke 15. 7. and how shall we rejoyce to see the will of God done on the earth as it is in heavens and when we shall have that Petition granted which we have so long prayed and waited for which is Thy kingdome come Matth 6. If any shall yet object and say the Saints shall not enjoy all things because we brought nothing into the world and it is certaine we shall carry nothing out naked we came and naked we shall returne Arise and depart 1 Tim. 6. 7. Job 1. 21. Micah 2. 10 Heb. 11. 16 Matth. 8. 11 Luk. 23. 43 Eccle. 12. 7 for this is not your rest because it is polluted therefore they desire a better country that is a heavenly and they shall come from the East and West and shall sit downe with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the kingdome of heaven and this shall be as soone as they depart this life This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise then shall dust returne to the earth as it was and the spirit to God who gave it The answering of this may satisfie three sorts of opinions first that the soule is begotten as well as the body secondly that there is a place of abode for the soule when it is departed from the body besides heaven or hell thirdly it may answer those that thinke the soule and body both shall not after the day of judgement enjoy all things but shall bee confined in heaven for ever First if the spirit returne to God that gave it then the Father did not beget it but the Lord breathed into Adam the breath of life and he became a living soule and the Lord formeth the spirit of man within him and Gen 2. 7. Zach. 12. 1. some untimely birthes never had any spirit in them Man is the father of the flesh because he begot it but it is Gods owne peculiar title to be the Father of Spirits Numb 16. 22. 27. 16. See Heb. 12. 9. because he formed it Zach. 12. 1. and gave it Eccles 12. 7. If man should beget the soule of his childe then he that hath a righteous soule would beget a soule in his own likenesse but we see the contrary Againe if a man should beget the soule of his childe he must either infuse his owne soule into it or else he must infuse a peece of it but which of the two is it If he infuse a peece of his owne soule into the childe then he hath but a piece left himselfe and his childe another piece but if he hath parted with all his soule then he hath none himselfe but so much for this ridiculous question For the second that there is a place for the soules abode when it is departed from the body besides heaven or hell this I deny for I suppose the testimony of Christ is sufficient to prove that the Soules of Abraham Isaac and Jacob are in Heaven for we doe not conceive that their bodies are there but that they are turned to dust and are in that burying place which Abraham bought of Ephron the Hittite then their soules are in heaven else Gen. 23. 15 how shall they come from the East and from the West and sit downe with them in Heaven If they were not there before the day of Judgement we should be there as soone as they But where is that great assembly of the first borne I meane of all those that are borne anew of the water and the Spirit if they be not entred into the Kingdome of God Where those first borne such as Andronicus and Junia who were in Christ before me Joh. 3. 3. 5. Rom. 16 7. Heb. 12. 22 23 24. are not they in the heavenly Jerusalem the City of the living God is it not there where the spirits or soules of Just men are made perfect they are with Jesus the mediatour of the new Covenant and where is he but in heaven till the restitution of all things and this as soone as their soules depart Acts 3. 21. Heb. 9. 24. from the body saith Christ to him upon the Crosse this day shalt thou be with me in Paradise but will you know where this Paradise is if you will take Pauls word for it he will tell you that it is the third heaven 2 Cor. 12. 3 4. for saith he such a one was taken up into the third heaven he was caught up into Paradise now if from this place you be not satisfied that Paradise and the third heaven is to be understood the same thing you must be forced to grant that Paradise is above it for he was first taken up into the third heaven and then he was caught up into Paradise he doth not say that he was cast downe againe into Paradise so then if the soule of the thiefe was that day with Christ in Paradise then it was in the third heaven where the soules of all just men are made perfect that are departed for they are not so while they are here and in the Parable the rich man died and in hell he lift up his eyes being in torments here it is plaine that his Soule went immediately to hell but the begger went to Abrahams bosome But Luke 66. 22 23. say they where is Abraham I say that Christ hath told you already in heaven but why in Abrahams bosome because he is said to be the father of the faithfull as the father of the Prodigall rejoyced to see the returne of his Sonne so will Abraham rejoyce to
see his children partake with him of that eternall happinesse in heaven saith John I have no greater joy Luke 15 20 3 John 4. then to heare that my children walke in truth yet I suppose the rich mans petition was not to the soule of Abraham but to the God of Abraham who is the chiefe and onely father of the faithfull who hath said he will gather his lambes in his armes and carry them in his bosome to him all the soules in heaven are subject then to me it seemes adsurd to thinke that the soule of Abraham should have power to send the soule of Lazarus out Isa 40. 11. 46. 3 4. Gen. 31. 55 Psa 24. 6. Hos 3. 5. of heaven and for the name we need not much to scruple at for the Lord is often times called by the name of Abraham Isaac Jacob David Joshua and the like and if they should say that the soule of Abraham and the rest of the Saints departed are in the airie heaven then they might know many things that are done on the earth for the soule is of a large capacity being disburdened Isa 13. 16. of a corrupted body But Abraham is ignorant of us and Israel knowes us not then surely their soules are gone above the two lower heavens which are stained with sin and must be purged with fire at the Judgement day If they say none but the High Priest went into the Holy of Holies so none but Christ to heaven in his body soul after his resurrection I answer Heb. 9. 24. the beast that was sacrificed signifyed the body of Christ and the Holyest of all was the figure of heaven but the High Priest went in and left the sacrifice behind and so did Christ goe into heaven it selfe while his body Luke 23. 43 46. was sacrificed and lay in the earth that day was he in Paradise if this be not sufficient to prove it then marke his last words Jesus cryed with a loud voyce and said Father into thy hands I commend my spirit and when he had said thus he gave up the Ghost Neither would he suffer his Joh. 20. 17 body to be touched til that had been with his Father although afterwards he bade them to handle him to strengthen their faith in him now shall we thinke that this going to his Father was not to goe into the glory of the third heaven themselves cannot deny it It may be they will say that heaven was not opened till Christ entred in with his body and soule I answer the way hath beene open from the beginning although not made so manifest for Christ was the Lambe slaine from the foundation of the world and their faith before his visible comming in the flesh gave substance Heb. 9. 8. Revel 13. 8. Heb. 11. 1. John 8. 56. to things hoped for Abraham saw his day and was glad but if they grant that heaven is open since his comming in the flesh I demand why the soules that now dâ—part must not enter into it this they dare not grant because there is a great gulfe fixed and no passage out till they come with Luke 16. 26 1 Thess 3. 13. Jude 14 15 Zach. 14. 5. 1 Pet. 3. 22. Acts 3. 21. Christ to Judgement at the last day so that then they cannot Reigne here a thousand yeares before the end of the world but suppose the soules departed be not in heaven yet they cannot deny but Christ is there he is gone into heaven and the Heaven shall receive him till the restitution of all things This gulph must keepe him in till the day of Judgement and that is called his second comming which is unto salvation therefore there can be none before that and as the High priest went in not for himselfe Heb. 9. 28. Exo. 28. 29 but bare the name of all Israel upon his brest no more did Christ but as soone as the body of any of the elect is sacrificed by death their soule he John 17. 24 receives to himselfe to be where he is to behold his glory else why did Steven when he was stoned and saw the Heavens open and Christ standing at Gods right hand say Lord Jesus receive my Spirit and to what purpose Acts 7. 56 59. 1 Pet 4. 19. doth Peter bid us when we suffer according to the will of God to commit our soules unto him did God the Father deceive the Sonne when he prayed thus doth he not say Thou hearest me alwaies or did the Sonne dissemble when he said I will that they be where I am and therefore he Joh. 11. 42 Heb. 5. 7. would not heare Steven a man full of Faith and of the Holy Ghost or doth Peter deceive us all in bidding us at our death to commit our soules to God when they shall not come neare him I meane to that happinesse prepared for them but what makes Paul desire to depart and to be with Christ Christ is not among the Starres nor is he yet come in the clouds that we Phil. 1. 23. 1 Thess 4. 16 17. 2 Cor. 5. 6 8. should goe there to meete him what makes him say while we are in the body wee are absent from the Lord and wee are willing rather to bee absent from the body that we may be present with the Lord but if their soules after they depart should be kept in a kind of purgatory or prison from the Lord Christ they had as good be in the body still and absent from the Lord here as there to be frustrate of our expectation but the wicked shall be turned into hell and the expectation of the poore Saints shall not perish their soule shall returne to God who gave it as there is but Psal 9. 17 18. two wayes so there is but two ends for all men good and bad which are Heaven or Hell saith Christ In my Fathers house are many Mansions if Eccle. 12. 7 it were not so I would have told you that I go to prepare a place for you But he will make knowne the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy John 14. 2. Rom 9 23. Mat 25. 34. Psal 3â— 19. which hee had afore prepared unto glory The Kingdome of Heaven was prepared for them before the foundation of the world This is laid up for those that feare the Lord they will not say surely it is among the starres or in the clouds no let Edom make his nest there but when we depart we shall be with Christ which is farre better It may be Phil. 1 23. some will after all this rather then they will yeeld that the soule departed is gone into the heaven of the blessed they will say that it dies mortally with the body but if they will beleeve Christ that Abraham Isaac and Jacob are living they may be convinced of it for God is the God of the living and he is their God they need not to