till the day of his appearing in glory that will be their uniting Jer. 23. 5 6. Ezek. 37. 22. Qu. Will the raising of the dead and the calling of the Iews to their fulness be at one time Answ To me it so appears those Scriptures considered 1 Cor. 15. 44 45. with Hos 13. 14. the prophet Hosea clearly prophesying the coming in of Israel and particularly the ten tribes the Apostle applieth it there to the resurrection of the dead c. Rom. 11. 15. what shall their coming in be but life from the dead that is if their rejecting was an occasion of so much mercy to the world What miracle of mercy at their receiving or coming in even the resurrection of the dead To this prophesie fully agreeth Isa 26. 19. speaking throughout that Chap. of the the glory of Jews thy dead men shall live together with my dead body shall they arise Awake and sing ye that dwell in the dust c. Quest If so how will those Scripture be reconciled that of Christ Mat. 22. 30. in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are as the angels of heaven and that of the propbets which seems to hold forth building of houses and plainting of vinyards and procreation of children c. Isa 65. 2. Answ Why may not both these stand together as a truth what if we should suppose that after the the coming of Christ and the raising the dead in him for they must be first raised 1 Cor. 15. and changing the believing Gentiles that raised and changed may be ever with the Lord that the Jews then brought in in their fulness may remain in a glorious estate Satan being shut up yet not changed and so the prophesies may be fulfilled concerning them and those that are raised and changed likewise and so much the the more because its evident that the resurrection and their coming in in fulness will be at one and the self same time And what if we should suppose according to the Scripture that the new Ierusalem spoken of Rev. 21. that must come down from God out of heaven be a material City now above according to Gal. 4. 26. Ierusalem which is above is the mother of us all it is above but it shall come down c. and what if we should suppose this new Jerusalem which is so full of excellency probably may be the place now where the Father doth most manifest his glory though the heaven of heavens cannot contain him and where Christ and the spirits of just men are Heb. 12. when it comes down from God out of heaven and the tabernacle of God is with men and that doth dwell among them I say that this City may be the head place of residence for Christ and the changed Saints and the twelve tribes to inhabit without the City according to Ezek. 48. which is the prophesie and discription of the same City and if so God may have a seed among them to be brought forth in the world in the time of the reign of Christ and if so they shall be all righteous Isa 60. 21. with chap. 59. 20 21. which is applyed by the Apostle to the calling of the Jews and coming in of the ten tribes Rom. 11. 26. Quest Shall this new heaven and new earth be before or after the destruction of the world by fire spoken of by Peter 2 Pet. 3. Answ I do believe that it will be before the dissolution my reasons are though Peter mentions the dissolution first yet never theless we according to his promise look for new heavens and a new earth c. 1. Because that promise is clearly to the Jews and shall be made good to them when their redeemer doth come to take away their sin 2. Because that holds forth a destruction of the world by fire as once it was destroyed by water 3. Because after the dissolution and judgement the kingdom shall be given up to the Father and God shall be all 1 Cor. 15. Quest Will not Christs coming be the day of Iudgement Answ It will be the beginning of Judgement 1. The glorifying of his people 2. A great judgement and destruction to the world Ezek. 38. and 39. 3. He shall all that time with his Siants judge the world 4. At the end will be the final judgement Rev. 20. 11 12 13 14. Quest What shall be the condition of the world at that time Answ The men of the world shall on condition enjoy peace and plenty the condition will be they shall own and honour Christ and the Saints and come up to Ierusalem doing homage there and bring presents thither as an acknowledgment not for any need of it there but as Christ and the Saints have been at the feet of the world now shall the world be at their feet according to those Scriptures Ps 72. 9 10 11. Isa 60. 24. ch 66. 23. Zach. 14. 16. Rev. 3. 9. Chap. 27. 26. Quest If this be truth that Christ and the Saints shall reign on earth what advantage will it be to the Saints in the knowledge of it more than to believe his coming and kingdom at the end of time Ans It must needs minister consolation in the knowledge of the truth of things there is no truth of God but the knowledge of it ministers joy much more this about the kingdom and glory of Christ that the place of suffering shall be for a time the place of glory and liberty 2. It will keep us more to a constant expectation of his coming and not to put it far away as of necessity we must if we suppose a state of glory and liberty for the Church here on earth before his coming as almost all do expect when Paul onely mindes the Appostles to be first 2 Thess 2. 3. and that hath been and I believe is almost over and the day of his glory is at the doors 3. It will tend to the establishing of the Saints in the truth in opposition to all false wayes and false Christs knowing it to be their duty to wait upon him in his appointment untill the day of his appearing thereby manifesting not onely their owning of him by vertue of their being owned by him but also that they do indeed look for him for none durst to look for him indeed but those who upon a right account do serve him What advantage hath Satan had in our dayes for want of souls being principled in this truth one saith here another there is Christ and all because we turn his reign all into a mystery viz. in the Saints but hold right here and you shall be able to discover all false and Antichrists be they never so deceivable own Christ thy justification thy king to serve him according to the Scriptures the resurrection his personal coming and reign and look for it and thou shalt live above all those false notions that are in the world able to judge them all in the light of this truth 4. It will keep the Saints in peace and quiet in their mindes though under persecution till the time come the contrary an imaginary that the Saints shall reign makes them vex when things go not to their minds fills them with trouble and unquietness if not turbulency of spirit thinking now is the kingdom of Christ going up but if the Saints knew that their day must be a day of suffering till Christ come they would not trouble themselvs about the kingdoms of the world till that time come for all powers set up in the world before Christ come are but members of the fourth Monarch even the most righteous c. must be broken when he comes therefore let the Saints wait with patience for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh Amen FINIS
even so amen But who will abide the day of his coming and who will stand when he appeareth Mal. 3. and this I desire to minde you by the way that as at or in the beginning work of your deliverance You must come in by weeping cross not onely in the sight and sense of your sin Jer. 5. 4. Looking on him whom you have peirced and mourning for him Zach. 12. but likewise in relation to the great trouble you are like to meet with also from the world that as you have been scattered among the nations and Israel hath been kept in obscurity so the nations will rage in your gathering together and then will be the first war of Gog and Magog mentioned in Ezek. 38. and 39. and it will go hard with you for a time see Zach. 14. 1 2. to this that agreeth Rev. 16. 12. when the River Euphrates is dryed up that the way of the kings of the earth may be prepared vers 13 14. on their appearance three unclean spirits like frogs went out of the mouth of the dragon the beast and the false prophets which are the spirits of devils working miracles which go forth to the kings of the earth and to the whole world to gather them together to the battel of the great day of God almighty that is the great battel of Gog and Magog mentioned before called the great battel of God almighty because it is that great battle appointed of God where he will destroy both his and your enemies And in this great distress by reason of the nations fury called Gog and Magog then shall Michael the great prince of his people stand up for your deliverance Dan. 12. 1. Then will the Lord send a fire upon Magog and he shall know that there is a God in Israel and the Lord will make his holy name known in the midst of his people Israel and he will not let them pollute his holy name any more c. Ezek. 39. 6 7. And then shall that prophesie be fulfilled Isa 2. and Micah 4. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more onely after the glorious reign of Christ and his Saints Satan shall be loosed for a little season Rev. 20. and shall gather together Gog and Magog that is those that were left of the nations in the first destruction Ezek. 39. 2 and they shal compass the campe of the Saints about the beloved City fire shall come down from God and destroy them this shall be the last encamping together of Gog and the last destruction and final judgement in this day of glory shall all believing Gentiles be gathered in with you for he is given as well to be a light to the Gentiles as to be the glory of the people Israel Isa 49. 6. Thus have I in tenderness and faithfulness both to the Lord and you discharged this as my duty in commending these few lines unto you the Lord grant that it may finde acceptance with you Here are many prayers presented for you at the throne of grace by those who clearly see and believe Gods intention of good to you for my self I trust my heart is so much set at liberty towards you that I could not onely prostrate my pen and prayers for your good but my person likewise if I saw a clear call from the Lord to serve you In a word to conclude I do believe that you have some of those remembrancers in this nation spoken of Isa 62. 6 7. That will give the Lord no rest till he have made Ierusalem a praise in the earth which is the earnest and daily prayer of him who is both yours and the truths servant as far as he may though unworthy T. C. THE POSTSCRIPT MY Friends to whose hands this Epistle may come The estate of the Jews having been a long time sad and indeed as once the Gentiles were and all unbelieving Gentiles are without Christ in the world and so without hope in themselves as in relation to the true Messiah the Lord having given me some apprehension concerning his purpose both of grace and glory towards them I could not with good conscience altogether hold my peace at this time without writing these preceding lines unto them it being translated into French that being a language that they are exercised in and so sent unto them the work being done the issue I leave to the Lord who I know doth usually honour himself in working by weak means and being desired by some friends I have likewise got it printed in English thereby not onely to provoke others who perhaps may be more inlarged in this work toward those poor dark despised people but likewise that all whose hearts are truely Zion-ward may be instant with the Lord in prayer for them and so much the more because their coming in will be to us life from the dead and their fulness will be our glory Oh therefore let all be warned not to be wise in their own conceit and know that blindness is happened to Israel but in part but that till the fulness of the Gentiles is come in and then Israel shall be saved I have a few words my brethren and friends to present you farther with concerning the reign of Christ and that is that he shall have a kingdom upon the earth and shall reign with his people upon the earth manifesting his power and glory amongst them and over the world But before I proceed any further I shall answer one objection that is some may say It was not long since that your self was against this principle c. Answ It s true in part I was being much informed in the truth of the reign of Christ but judging it to be a glorious reign in the spirits of his people over the world and this is the apprehension of many precious sons of Zion at this day but the Lord opening the seals by degrees unto his people he gives them to see farther into the mystery of his will concerning his kingdom and as light shines in their darkness doth flye away I could not but judge it my duty to give some hints concerning my farther apprehension of the kingdom of Christ in which I shall be very brief That his kingdom shall be manifest on earth will appear from these ensuing grounds 1. It was and is the great design of the Father to exalt the Son here on earth before the sons of men this was his design before he made the world and ever since all things hath doth and will concur to the bringing about of this great design therefore he at first made the world by him and for him Eph. 4. 9. Col. 2. 16. Joh. 1. 1. afterwards man being faln and the curse come in upon the whole creation Gen. 3. God did by him and for him recover the world again Col. 1. 20. that so he might have a selected people to himself that might enjoy his grace and glory Col. 1.
21. chap. 3. 4. His suffering in the flesh was a preparative to this great glory both for himself and people it being the appointment of the Father and there being no other way left or appointed by the Father for the redemption of the sons of men Luk. 24. 26. Phil. 2. 6 7 8 9 10. Heb. 2. 10. 1 Pet. 1. 20. he being ascended to the father Joh. 20. 17. to receive for himself a kingdom and return Luk. 19. 12. 15. and in the mean time by his Spirit in the Ministry of the Gospel he is gathering together of his people to himself among the Gentiles that when he do appear they may appear with him in glory Col. 3. 4. for to them that look for him he will appear a second time without sin to salvation Heb. 9. 28. that God having made the world and again redeemed it to a state of continuation by his Son and for him and purchased a people to himself out of the world We may conclude that the Sons dominion shall be over the world see Psal 72. throughout and that all dominions shall serve and obey him Obj. So they do serve him now and he rules over them Answ True they serve the design of God now but the kingdom of Christ is not of this world but there is a time appointed when the kingdom of Christ shall be visibly manifest and the world shall knowingly he subject to the Son Rev. 5. 13. Second ground is that this truth is clearly held forth in the Scriptures of truth when our understandings are opened we shall see it The first Scripture I shall present you with as a foundation is Act. 3. 27. Whom the heavens must receive until the time of the restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his prophets since the world began where we may note two things 1. That at the coming of Christ from heaven will be the restitution not the dissolution And secondly it is that restitution spoken of by the mouth of all the holy prophets Now it will be good to search into the prophets and see what they have prophesied of and we shall find all agree in one that Christ must reign Psal 2. 6. 7. that his dominion shall be from sea to sea even to the ends of the earth Psal 72. that he shall possess all nations Psal 82. 8. that he shall reign in mount Zion and in Jerusalem and before his ancients gloriously Isa 24. 23. that a king shall reign in righteousness and princes shall rule in judgement Isa 32. 1. that God will raise unto David a righteous branch and a King shall reign and prosper and execute judgement and justice in the earth Jer. 23. 5. and David my servant shall be king over them c. and they shall dwell in the land which I gave to Jacob my servant c. Ezek. 37. 24 25. and all dominions shall serve and obey him Dan. 7. 27. that the Lord shall be King over all the earth Zach. 14. 9. These and many others I might produce to this purpose and likewise then will be the restitution or restoration of the whole creation that Scripture will be fulfilled both in the letter as well as in spirit Isa 11. 6 7 8 9. chap. 65. 25. considered with Rom. 8. 20 21 22. and then shall those blessed promises be made good to the Saints here on earth Psal 37. 11. Mat. 5. 5. Isa 25. 8. and chap. 65. 13. c. and all this must be done when Jesus Christ is sent from heaven to manifest his power to take to himself his great kingdom and to reign and this is likewise confirmed in the New Testament the Nations and kingdoms of this world are become the Nations and kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign for ever and ever Rev. 11. 15. This is the thousand yeers spoken of in chap. 20 c. A third ground I take from his suffering he fulfilled all that was prophesied of him concerning his suffering according to the very letter of the Scriptures he hath so fulfilled it Act. 3. 18. and why should we think it incredible that he shall even so fulfill the Scripturs in his reign on earth And why shall we think it a high and glorious discovery of grace for the Son to abase himself on earth in his humiliation and think it too low a piece of service for him to come and reign to receive the due desert if I may so say of all his labour to manifest his glory before his Saints and to set his feet on the necks of his enemies Why should we not think it to be a great degree of honour for the Lord who have suffered on earth to receive his glory on the earth And why shall we make an Alegory or mystery of those Scriptures that do foretell of his reign on earth any more than of those Scriptures that did foretell of his sufferings I do believe that it hath been the policy of Satan and the weakness and pride of men in turning Scripture into Alegories and myste-so much that we had almost lost the truth therefore let it suffice that as Christ and his people hath had their day of humiliation on the earth so they shall have their exaltation on the earth Psal 2. 8. Rev. 2. 26 27. Psal 149. 5 6 7 8. Obj. We do not question but that the Saints shall rule the earth and that the power of Christ in them shall subdue the Nations Answ And if the Saints why not Christ their head with them Can you afford the kingdoms of this world to the Saints and not to Christ I say that the Saints shall never reign on earth till the Kingdom of Christ is come till he is discended from heaven in power and great glory as he hath suffered before us and for us so we if we suffer with him shall reign with him Rom. 8. 17. When Christ comes to rule the nations then shall the Saints reign with him Obj. Is it not said 1 Thess 4. 16 17. that when the Lord shall descend from heaven c. and that the dead in Christ shall be raised and then we who remain and are alive shall be caught up together with them in the clouds and so shall ever be with the Lord Answ 1. That is to make good the Scripture which saith Zach. 14. 5. The Lord our God shall come and all the Saints with thee and if they be not caught up to meet the Lord he cannot bring them with him And secondly the Scripture do not say that they shal abide above but with the Lord that is they shall come down with him as Joel 3. 11. Quest Do you suppose that the Jews be called before that day Answ I do believe that there will be something done amongst them upon that account and that there will be a great gathering together of them at Jerusalem before that day but their fulness will not be