THE SAINTS INHERITANCE After the Day of IVDGEMENT Being also An Answer to certaine scruples of late delivered and others Printed especially in that Booke intituled The Personall Reigne of Christ upon Earth By T. B. Isa 45. 17 18. For Israel shall be saved with an everlasting salvation ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end for thus saith the Lord that created the heavens God himselfe that formed the earth and made it he hath established it he created it not in vaine he formed it to be inhabited I am the Lord and there is none else Dan. 7. 18. 27. But the Saints of the most High shall take the Kingdom and possesse the Kingdom for ever even for ever and ever and the Kingdome and the greatnesse of the Kingdome under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the Saints of the most High whose Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdome and all Dominions shall serve and obey him LONDON Printed by Richard Cotes and are to be sold by John Sweeting in Popes-head-Alley 1643. Revel 21. 7. He that overcometh shall inherit all things and I will be his God and be shall be my sonne THe meaning of these words are not to be confined onely to the joyes of heaven when the body is dead and the Soule is ascended up thither and hath the fruition of God the Father and of Jesus Christ and the blessed Spirit and the holy Angels and soules of just men made perfect but it reacheth unto all things that are here below in this world to satisfie the body also at the resurrection day when the creatures and man also are all restored againe to their first perfection for saith the Lord I will bring a seede out of Jacob and out of Judah an inheritour of my mountaines and mine elect shall inherit it Isa 65. 10. 11. see 3 5 2. and my Servants shall dwell there and Sharron shall be a fold for flockes and the valley of Achor a place for the herds to lye downe in for my people that have sought me This is promised to those that overcome First the world as it is now corrupted by the sinne of man so that neither the pleasures nor profits thereof deceive our hearts to set our love immoderately on it Let your moderation be knowne to all men the Lord is at hand Secondly to them that stand fast against all the wiles of the Devill Phil. 4. 5. Ephe. 6. 11 and doe not let Satan get advantage of them those that are not ignorant of his devices but resist the Devill and cause him to flye from them Thirdly 2 Cor. 2. 11 Jam. 4. 7. Isa 44. 20. Pro. 4. 23. 1 Cor. 9. 27 those that their owne deceived heart hath not turned them aside those that keepe their heart withall diligence those that keepe under their body and bring it in subjection and keepe their mouth with a bridle Psal 39. 1. and make a covenant with their eyes Job 31. 1. he that thus overcometh saith Christ will I grant to fit with me on his throne Rev. 3. 21. he shall inherit all things but in this world we are Warriours fighting against them for they are not really overcome in this world therefore the full fruition of all things is reserved till after death in the world to come when old things are passed away and all things are become new for he that sate on Revel 21. 5 the throue said Behold I make all things new then saith the Lord I will be his God and he shall be my Sonne Beloved now we are the Sonnes of God and it doth not yet appeare what we shall be but wee know that when he shall appeare we shall be like him but while we are here in this 1 Joh. 3. 2. Gal 4. 1. world we are as the heire under age being a childe and differing nothing from a servant though he be Lord of all we are not fit to have that authority over the creatures as Adam had till we are againe restored to that perfection that he had to be without sinne as he was neither are the creatures fit to doe their duty to us being all corrupted with our sinnes but when we and they are againe restored to our first perfection then and not before shall the Saints inherit all things for this inheritance must bee immortall uncorruptible undefiled that fadeth not away but these things as they 1 Pet. 1. 4. Mat. 5. Heb. 12. 28. are now are sometimes taken from us and sometimes we are taken from them and at the day of judgement the heavens and earth shall passe away I doe not meane the heaven of the blessed that is a kingdome that cannot be moved but the starry heavens and the cloudy heavens they shal passe away with a great noyse and the elements shall melt with fervent heate the earth also and the workes that are therein shall be burnt up the heavens being 2 Pet. 3. 10. 12. on fire shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with fervent heat and saith John I saw a great white throne and him that sate on it from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away and there was found no place for them thus in Revel 20. 11. the day of Judgement but the Lord whom ye seeke shall suddainly come to his Temple even the messenger of the covenant whom ye delight in behold he shall come saith the Lord of Hoasts but who may abide his coming and who shall stand when he appeareth for he shall be like refiners fire and fullers sope he shall purifie the sonnes of Levi for he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver and shall purge them as gold and Mal. 3. 1 2 3 4 5. silver that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousnesse then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant to the Lord but in this Judgement he will be a swift witnesse against the wicked then will Christ purifie the creatures through fire at that day and consume their drosse with fire and brimstone and bring them backe againe to their first Chaos and then saith John in his vision I saw a new heaven and a new earth Rev. 21. 1. for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away and there was no more sea and we according to his promise looke for new heavens and a new earth 2 Pet. 3. 12 13. wherein dwelleth righteousnesse for saith the Lord Behold I create new heavens and a new earth for the former shall not be remembred nor come into mind The new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remaine before me Isa 65. 17. Isa 66. 22. And for the rest of the creatures the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the Sonnes of God for the creature it selfe also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious Rom. 8. 19 20 21 22 23.
feare them that kill the body but cannot Mar. 22. 32. Mat. 10. 28 Luke 2. 29. kill the soule the soule cannot dye with the body but it departs away from it Then I conclude that if the Soule assoone as it leaves the body goes immediately to Paradise the third heaven there is neither purgatory nor place of residence after death but as the tree falleth so it lies after death to Judgement a particular sentence is passed immediately upon them for heaven or hell and there is no place of abode for Abrahams children till they come into his bosome with him in Heaven for ever But thirdly which is the maine objection to all my former discourse if the soule of Abraham be in Heaven and when he was here he desired a better Country than this world which is a heavenly then they say after the day of Judgement the Saints shall not inherit all these things here below in this world because the Saints did alwayes set a low value of them To this I answer that the Soule is of a Heavenly substance and when it Rom. 6. 7. leaves the body then it hath ceased from sinne therefore no place between this and Paradise is fit to receive it Therefore saith the Prophet Arise ye and depart for this is not your rest because it is polluted and after the Heb. 12. 23. day of Judgement the Angels shall abide in Heaven being a place for such glorious Spirits and the soules of men made perfect being of the same nature with them shall abide in Heaven also till the body shall rise againe for as the soules of men are now confin'd in Heaven Luk. 16. 26. and the Angels have businesse both in the Heavens and in the Earth so after the day of Judgement when they have finished their worke in this world they shall rest and I suppose shall be confined in Heaven for ever and when our bodies Eccle 21. 7. are risen and united to our soules then shall we inherit all things here in their first perfection and also we shall have sweet communion with Angels in Heaven for as I said before man consists of two parts body and soule so he shall have two worlds answerable to his two natures to delight himselfe in that he may have fulnesse of joy for whom all things were made 1 Tim 4. 8. for godlinesse is profitable unto all things having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come and the meane time that the body lies in the grave the soule is gone to take possession of the kingdome of heaven and when the body riseth againe it shall then have this world bestowed upon it and as the soule brought nothing with it so it shall take nothing out with it no not his owne body but leaves it here in the earth till it comes againe and so the body goes to the grave and takes nothing with it but weeping and mourning yet when it comes againe having had the pretious seeds of grace in it shall doubtlesse come againe with rejoycing and Psal 126. 6. bring his sheaves with him so then after the day of judgement when all things are purified by fire and restored to their first perfection then I say man shall inherit all things both in this world and in the world to come then shall the meeke inherit the earth and delight themselves in the abundance Psal 37. 11. Joh. 16. 20. 33. Esay 49. 8. Matth. 10. 16. of peace but this cannot be before the day of judgment for saith Christ In this world you shall have tribulation Christ was given for a covenant of the people to establish the earth to cause to inherite the desolate heritages but for the present the Saints are as sheep among wolves so that these things shall not be restored to the Saints till themselves are in their first perfection then they shall be given us againe perfect as they were to Adam at the first And although mans body shall put on immortalitie and shall be made so firme and permanent as to endure for ever eternally yet his body shall not be turned into a spirit it shall be a body still with flesh and bones as Luke 24. 39 49. the body of Christ was after his resurrection saith he Handle me and see for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as yee see me have And he did eate and drinke with his disciples after his resurrection they gave him a peece of a Luke 24. 42 43 30. Joh. 21. 9. 12. 13. Acts 10. 41 Matth. 26. 29. Rom. 14. 17 Joh. 18. 36. broyled fish and of an hony combe and he tooke it and did eate before them so it is likely man may after his resurrection for saith Christ I will henceforth drinke no more of the fruit of the vine till I drinke it new in my Fathers Kingdome this cannot bee meant presently after his ascension for wee never read that hee dranke wine in all that fortie dayes and his kingdome doth not consist in drinking wine but in righteousnesse peace and joy in the holy Ghost My kingdome is not of this world saith hee then I conclude that Christ will not drinke of the fruit of the vine till he hath rendered up the kingdome to 1 Cor. 15. 24. his Father then will Christ amongst the Saints drinke it new not as though he desired to drinke new wine rather then old for he himself saith that no man having old wine desireth new for hee saith the old is better Luke 5. 39. then the meaning is when the vine is made now and all the trees and creatures restored to their first perfection then will he drinke with them in his Psal 96. 11 12 13. Fathers kingdome then shall the heavens rejoyce and the earth be glad the fields shall be joyfull and all the trees of the wood shall rejoyce before the Lord when hee commeth to judge the earth Hee shall judge the world with righteousnesse and his people with his truth then here you see the world every creature the very trees shall have righteousnesse as they have suffered by the sinne of man so shall they have benefit in mans deliverance from his sinne this is that which the whole creation groaneth and traveleth in paine together untill now but the creature it selfe shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children Rom. 8. 21. 22. of God but it is observable when all the creatures in heaven and earth rejoyce at the comming of Christ to judgement at the same time the Sea Psa 96. 11. roares and the fulnesse thereof because it is said there shall be no more Sea Revel 21. 1. then shall man enjoy all the creatures that were given him at the first as he did in his innocency so that he may eate of all the trees for his pleasure and yet not feele the perill of hunger and although our bodies shall
thousand yeares but as I said before this cannot be meant of a corporall death or bodily resurrection but it must be understood mystically that they were slaine in their outward livelihood both in their name and estate saith David I was as a dead man out of mind in the esteeme of the world and yet at the same time reigne over satan and their owne corruptions Or if any were slaine in the first thousand yeares yet God left not himselfe without witnesse but the more they afflicted them the more they multiplyed Acts 14 17 Exod. 2. 12 Rev. 11. and grew as Israel did in the bondage of Aegypt and some of the witnesses that were slaine are said to lye in the streetes and not suffered to be buryed and after three dayes and a halfe the Spirit of life came into them and they stood upon their feete these things have beene clearely shewed of late to be understood mystically And againe can we thinke that some of them that are dead their soules shall return some shall not to live here a thousand yeares and their bodies raised and not all shall some rise a thousand yeares before others doth not Christ say they shall all rise in one houre Marvell not at this for the houre commeth in which all that are John 5. 28 29. in the graves shall heare his voyce and shall come forth they that have done good to the resurrection of life and they that have done evill to the resurrection of damnation 1 Cor. 15. 52. And doth not Paul say In a moment in the twinckling of an eye at the last trump for the trump shall sound and the dead shall be raised Then I conclude this argument that if the bodies of all shall rise together in one houre in a moment in the twinkling of an eye but it is said all they that are in the graves not some of them and in a moment not a thousand yeares distance of some from the rest that shall rise from the dead And whereas some affirme that in this thousand yeares the Church or Kingdome of Christ shall be all righteous all Saints under the King of Saints and no hypocrites nor excommunicate persons and the wicked Revel 15. shall be as slaves to them in that day and the Saints shall be as Lords in the earth and shall neither marry nor be given in marriage and the Apostles shall come and rule this Kingdome I answer these things some are false and some are true but mis-applyed those that are true are to be fulfilled after the day of Judgement and not in this corrupted world as when the people shall be all righteous they shall inherit the Land not onely a thousand yeares but for ever in the Isa 60. 19 20 21. new world when the Sunne shall no more goe downe nor the Moone withdraw it selfe but the Lord shall be to them an everlasting light and thy God thy glory And so if the Saints of the most High shall take and possesse the Kingdome I answer After the day of Judgement so they shall not onely for a thousand yeares but for ever even for ever for his dominion Dan. 7. 18. 14 7. is an everlasting dominion when all people and Nations and languages shall serve him in it and to say that there shall be no Hypocrites in it I say so too in the new Jerusalem when it comes downe from heaven unto the earth but this will never be till the restitution of all things till the fire at the day of Judgement hath purged the earth and made it fit for so great a mercy wherein dwelleth righteousnesse but till that day of Judgement this cannot be For the Tares and the Wheate shall grow together untill the Harvest which is at the end of the world and the Angels are the Reapers and by them shall the Wheate bee brought into the Barne they shall gather the elect from the foure windes Mat. 24. 31. And they shall gather out of his Kingdome all things that offend and them Math. 13. 41 42. that doe iniquity and shall cast them into the furnace of fire but when the Angels are sent about this businesse they will finde them altogether minding earthly things as eating and drinking and marrying and mixed together Mat. 24 37 38. two in a bed the one taken and the other left two in the field and two grinding at the Mill the one taken and the other left Therefore when Christ comes to Judgement there shall be Hypocrites and they shall not be used as slaves but in the same bed at the same worke and recreation together And to say the Saints shall be Lords over the wicked this cannot be true neither here nor hereafter for before the end the wicked shall have as great a share of outward riches and honour as the Saints and many times greater and after the day of Judgement I shewed before that all things that offend and that doe iniquity shall be cast into the furnace of fire so that though it be true they shall be Lords and Kings it is not meant over wicked men but over the rest of the creatures this Adam had and lost it and Revel 5. 10 the second Adam hath restored it to us againe as I shewed before and to say that the Apostles shall rule this Kingdome when they are all Saints and the King of Saints present is not worth the answering for they shall be all Kings and Priests unto God and his Father Feare not little flocke it is your Rev. 1. 6 5 10. Fathers good pleasure to give you the Kingdome none shall rule but God alone for all rule and authority and power shall then be put downe Then shall Luke 12 32 1 Cor. 15. 24 28. Revel 20 1 2 3. God himselfe be all in all But they will object against all this cleare light that John saw an Angell come downe from heaven having the key of the bottomlesse pit and a great chaine in his hand and he laid hold on the Dragon that old serpent which is the devill and bound him a thousand yeares and cast him into the bottomlesse pit and shut him up and set a seale upon him that he should not deceive the Nations till the thousand yeares should be fulfilled and after that he must be loosed a little season This say they is to be understood of Christ binding the devill a thousand yeares after their soules are returned againe and their bodies raised and united to them then they say they shall live here a thousand yeares againe before the day of Judgement in great glory and happinesse I answer the devils were bound in chaines of darknesse as soone as they had sinned For God spared not the Angels that sinned but cast them downe to hell and delivered them into chaines of darknesse And if you aske me how long I 2 Pet 2. 4. Jude 6. Job 1. answer till the day of Judgement He was in
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
be made perfect and glorious like unto the body of Christ yet with flesh and bones as he had after his resurrection and as our soules shall be renewed Phil. 3. 21. Luke 24. 39 40. in all the faculties so shall the bodies bee perfect in all the senses and they shall be abundantly satisfied for ever in the world to come If any shall aske me what the bodies of Christ and Enoch and Elias now doe feede upon I answer when they were here they lived upon food as others doe now Yet as God was able to make Christ and Elias and Moses to faste forty dayes and forty nights so he is able to make them live there without food yet I will not contend whether our bodies shall eate for necessity yet I suppose when the new Jerusalem shall come downe from heaven and the Saints shall inherit all things that then they shall eate and Revel 21. 7 drinke although not for hunger and thirst but onely for pleasure sake and although those bodies that are in heaven want earthly food yet they have soules like Angels and they amongst them are content with the joy of Angels as here sometimes inward comfort satisfies a Christian when he wants outward comfort so are they with heavenly food at this time in the want of earthly food yet their fulnesse or joy is not till they injoy all things both in heaven and earth answerable to both parts of body and soule But it may be they will say it is absurd to say that the bodies of Enoâ—h and Elias are in heaven or at the least that they were there before the body of Christ because Christ is become the first fruits of them that slept 1 Cor. 15. 20. and all shall be made alive every man in his owne order Christ the first fruits and afterward they that are in Christ ver 23. To this I answer That there were many both in the Old Testament and the new that were raised from a corporall death to a corporall life and all before Christ but they died againe 1 Kings 7. 22. 2 Kings 4. Joh. 11. 44. and it is said expressely that Eliah went up in a whirlewind into heaven 2 Kings 2. 11. but he died not and Enoch was translated that he should not see death and God tooke him Heb. 11. 5. Gen. 5. 24. here you see some arose under the Law and under the Gospell to confirme their resurrection yet died againe and some ascended into heaven before the Law and under the Law to confirme their hopes after death yet Christ was the first that did both arise from the dead and died no more but ascended into heaven and there he is with the soules of all the Saints departed and there is the body of Enoch and of Elias and it is no absurd thing to beleeve it And because the soules of all the elect when they leave the earth ascend up to heaven therefore it is called Jerusalem which is above the mother of us all it is called the mount Sion the Citie of the living God the heavenly Gal. 4. 26. Jerusalem the generall assembly and Church of the first-borne where the spirits of just men are made perfect but at the day of judgement when Heb. 12. 22. 23. their bodies shall rise spirituall bodies and in their first perfection Then Jerusalem which is above shall come downe from God out of heaven Revel 21. 3 4 as a bride adorned for her husband then the Tabernacle of God shall be with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people and God himselfe shall be with them and be their God then shall the bride be glad and rejoyce and give honour to Christ for the marriage of the Lambe is come and the bride hath made her selfe ready we were espoused Revel 19. 7 Isay 54. 4. Ier. 3. 14. Hose 2. 19 20. Ephe. 5. 31. 32. Revel 15. 3 2 Thes 1. 10. Revel 19. 8 Luk. 2. 36 37. Reve. 7. 14 15. Reve. 19. 9. or betrothed unto Christ in our convesion but the great solemnity of the marriage is when the King of Saints shall come to be glorified in his Saints and to be admired of all them that beleeve then to his bride shall be granted that she shall be arrayed in fine linnen cleane and white for the fine linnen is the righteousnesse of the Saints these are they which have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lambe they served God in the temple with fasting and prayer night and day therefore they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his Temple and he that sitteth on the throne will dwell amongst them when this great solemnity is kept Blessed are they which are called to the marriage Supper of the Lambe these are the true sayings of God The Angell said unto John come hither and I will shew thee the bride the Lambes wife and he carried me in the spirit to a great mountaine and shewed me the great Citie the holy Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God Revel 21. 9 10 11 12 14 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27. and in it was the glory of God shining like a stone most pretious it had a wall great and high and twelve gates to it and twelve foundations the Citie was fouresquare the length and the breadth and heighth they are all equall twelve thousand furlongs every way the wall was a hundred forty foure foure cubits in thicknesse and the wall was built of Jasper stone the Citie was pure gold like unto pure glasse the foundations of the wal of the Citie was garnished with all manner of pretious stones the twelve gates were of twelve pearles and the streets of the Citie were of pure gold as it were transparent glasse I saw no temple in it for the Lord God Almighty the Lambe are the temple of it and the Citie had no need of the Sun or Moone to shine in it for the glory of God did lighten it and the Lambe is the light of it and the nations of them that are saved shall walke in the light of it and the Kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honour into it and the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day for there shall bee no night there and there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth or whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lie but onely they which are written in the Lambes booke of life this is the glorious Citie the new Jerusalem the Lambs wife And he shewed me a pure River of water of life cleare as crystall proceeding Revel 22. out of the Throne of God and of the Lambe in the midst of the street of it and of either side of the River was there the tree of life which bare twelve manner of fruits and yeelded her fruits every moneth and the leaves
and this he calls a second comming Vers 11. in these words And it shall come to passe in that day that the Lord shall set his hand againe the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left in many parts of the world and from the Islands of the Sea he shall set up an ensigne for the nations and shall assemble the out-casts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the foure corners of the earth Vers 12. the next chapter is nothing else but a praysing God for those excellent things that he hath made knowne in all the earth Vers 5. and in the 13. Chap. Vers 9 10 11. is shewed the manner of his judgements Behold the day of the Lord commeth cruell both with wrath and fierce anger to lay the Land desolate and he shall destroy the sinners out of it then the starres of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light the Sunne shall be darkened and the Moone shall not cause her light to shine for I will punish the world for their evill and the wicked for their iniquity now if the comming of Christ to judgement bee his second comming then where will be found his comming to raigne here a thousand yeares before the end of the world But they would needs have Christ to rule here as the other monarchs have done because he is mentioned to rise upon the downefall of those monarches first the Assyrian which fell into the Babylonian that was overcome by the Medes and Persians and that of the Medes and Persians was overcome by the Grecians and that of the Grecians was overcome by the Romans and that of the Romans was overcome by the white stone cut out of the rocke without hands this westerne monarch which fell into many kingdomes the white stone shall ruine all these kingdomes smite the image on the feet that were of Iron and Clay and swallow up the whole Image all the foregoing monarchs were â—an 2. 34 â—5 brought under and by it to nothing and it became a monarch over the whole earth by these things he would have the monarchy of Christ here spoken of to be before the day of judgement in this corrupted world while the good and the bad are in it and every creature defiled with sinne as I have shewed before but this cannot be for all things that offend and that doe iniquity the Angels shall gather out of this kingdome and cast them into the Furnace of fire Matth. 13. 〈◊〉 41 42. and this kingdome under the whole heaven shall be given to the Saints of the most High whose kingdome is an everlasting kingdome and all dominions shall serve and obey him the Saints of the most High shall possesse the kingdome â—an 7. 27. â—ers 18. for ever even for ever then this cannot bee before the day of judgement because that none but Saints shall possesse it for here the Tares and Wheate shall grow together and the good and the bad shall be together till the very day that the Angels are sent to fetch them before the Judge and the heavens shall receive Christ till the restitution of all things to their first perfection then shall the Saints inherit all things And where he saith that the Saints shall bee confined in heaven and all things here below shall bee turned againe into a confused Chaos and so remaine for ever this I have answered already One scruple more is this whether the middle heaven called the starry heaven shall continue after the day of judgement because some times it is spoken in the singular number I saw a new heaven and the Citie had no need of the Sunne or Moone to shine in it and there shall bee no night there now if the Revel 21. 1 heavens be destroyed and but one be made new and the Citie no need of the Sunne Moone or Starres then say they God will make nothing in vaine Revel 21. 23. 25. Isay 45. 18. Revel 21. 1 2 Pet. 3. 10. 12 13. I answer where it is said I saw a new heaven in the same place it is said the first heaven passed away this is spoken onely for brevity as in Cap. 20. Ver. 11. it is said the earth and the heaven fled away but we know the heavens shall passe away and the elements shall melt with fervent heate and we according to his promise looke for new heavens now where the Scripture in some places speakes more briefly and other places more largely we ought to take the largest expression and whereas it is said in the Citie there shall bee no neede of the Sun or Moone to shine in it I answer it is true when every Saint of God shall shine as the Sunne in the Firmament and Christ their head ten thousand times more brighter then the Sunne besides the infinite glory of God himselfe Matth. 13. 43. Revel 21. 23. shall be there to inlighten it so that in the Citie there will bee no neede of these things yet out of the Citie the beasts and fowles both stand in need of these things therefore they shall be purified that the rest of the creatures may have those comforts belonging to them and so they shall continue for ever the light of the moone shall then bee as light as the Sunne and the light of the Sunne shall be seven fold as the light of seven dayes in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people and healeth the stroake of their wound then shall the Sunne no more goe downe neither shall the Isay 30. 26. Moone withdraw it selfe else the creatures would not be in so happy a condition under the second Adam in the new world as they were in their creation Isay 60. 20. under the first Adam in the old world The uses follow First Use hath Jesus sent his Angell to testifie these things unto the Churches Revel 22. 16 17. 20. then let the Spirit and the bride say Come and let him that heareth say come and let him that is athirst come for hee that testifieth these things saith surely I come quickly even so come Lord Jesus there bee many benefits that come with Christ that may cause the Saints to desire his appearing there is a Crowne of righteousnesse which the righteous Judge shall give me at that day and not to me alone but to all that love his appearing Beloved 2 Tim. 48. 1 Pet. 5. 4. we are now the Sonnes of God but it doth not yet appeare what wee shall be but we know that when he shall appeare we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is then let us looke for that blessed hope and the glorious 1 John 3. 2 Titus 2. 13. 2 Pet. 3. 13. Psal 96. 11 12 13. appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ We according to his promise looke for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousnesse