as to become obedient unto him And the Lord speaking of the Signs of his Coming saith Luke 21.28 And when these things begin to come to pass then look up and lift up your Heads for your Redemption draweth nigh Heb. 9.28 And unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation That is looketh for him with a true longing desire after him For the Lover is with him accepted For the Lord saith John 14.21 He that hath my commandments and keepeth them he it is that loveth me and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father and I will love him and will manifest my self unto him And God hath also promised in Jeremiah Jer. 29.13 Ye shall seek me and find me when ye shall search for me with all your heart And now whosoever comes to Christ by Repentance Love and New Obedience he will in no wise cast out But when he comes to Judgment it will be too late for us Christians But I know to them that are unwilling to leave their Old Sins these glad Tidings will prove but unwelcome News as Christ's first Coming was to Herod and to the wicked Jews with him For when they heard thereof it is said they were troubled Mat. 2.2 For they thinking they were well enough as they were and their Consciences telling them they must reform their ways they desired him not and so as they desired him not so they knew him not who he was to their own destruction And so whosoever now hears of the Lord 's Coming and think with themselves that they will see a little farther first before they will amend their Lives there remains no Hope for them but that they will be left of God to Hardness of Heart and Blindness of Mind and so either be carried off this world by the Judgments that are now sent upon the Earth just before his Coming or otherwise reserved for those intolerable Judgments that are spoken of in the Revelations the which all the greatest of them will be poured forth upon the Earth after the Lord comes And then shall men desire to die but Death shall fly from them till such time that they have endured the Torments that God hath on the Earth allotted them For upon the wicked Psal 11.6 God shall rain Snares Fire and Brimstone and an horrible Tempest this shall be the portion of their Cup As in Esdras 2 Esd 13.37,38 For when the Son of God shall come to rebuke the wicked Inventions of those Natious which for their wicked Life are fallen into the Tempest and shall lay before them their evil Thoughts and the Torments wherewith they shall begin to be tormented which are like unto a Flame and he shall destroy them without Labour by the Law which is like unto Fire For as the fire refineth the mettal from the Dross so shall the Lord do at his Coming as it is in Malachy Mal. 3.2,3,4 For he shall come saith the Lord of Hosts but who may abide the day of his coming and who shall stand when he appeareth For he is like a Refiner's Fire and like Fullers Soap And he shall purifie the Sons of Levi and purge them as Gold and Silver that they may offer unto the Lord an Offering in Righteousness Then shall the Offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord. This is spoken of the Natural Seed of Jacob whom the Lord shall purifie at his Coming And St. Jude saith Jude v. 15. The Lord cometh with ten thousands of his Saints to execute Judgment upon all and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodlily committed and of all their hard Speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him And St. Peter tells us 2 Pet 3.3,4,5,6 That in the last days there shall come Scoffers waking after their own Lust saying Where is the promise of his coming for since the Fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of the Creation For he there tells us That this they are willingly ignorant of That by the word of God the Heavens were of old and the Earth standing out of the water and in the water whereby the world that then was being overflowed with water perished But by St. Peter's words we are fully given to understand what that world was which then perished it being neither the material Heavens nor Earth which then perished but the people of the world which perished But he saith in 2 Pet. 3.7 The Heavens and the Earth which are now by the same word are kept in store reserved unto fire against the day of Judgment and perdition of ungodly men But you may say why doth St. Peter here make mention of the Heavens and Earth that are now if â—e means the people The which words do make it plainly appear he had a figurative meaning in it for we know that there was then the same Heavens and Earth which are now therefore there is this Reason that he here mentions the Heavens and the Earth and not the world as he did before for we read of no Principalities nor Powers no more Soveraignty than was from the Parents to their Children and as from the Elder Brother to the Younger the which their Sons and Daughters had as much command over their children as their Parents had over them And as to what the Lord doth say in Isa 13.13 doth enlighten us herein for God there speaking of the destruction of the Old Babylon which also hath a reference to that which now is the Lord there saith in the 13th Verse Therefore I will shake the Heavens and the Earth shall remove out of her place in the wrath of the Lord of Host and in the day of his fierce anger Now what was the shaking of the Heavens in this place but the destruction of the King of Babylon by the Medes And pray consider what was the Earth that then was removed but the destruction of the Babylonians most of them being destroyed â—p the Sword and the Remnant that was left made Captives The Relation of which is set down in the same Chapter ver 15.16,17,18,19 Every one that is found shall be thrust through and every one that is joyned unto them shall fall by the Sword Their children also shall be dash'd to peices before their eyes their Houses shall be spoiled and their Wives ravished Behold I will stir up the Mece against them which shall not regard silver and as for Gold they shall have no delight in it Their Bows also shall dash the young men in peices and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb their Eyes shall not spart children And Babylon the Glory of Kingdoms the Beauty of the Caldeans Excellency shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah Here you see that God terms the Babylonians to the Heavens and Earth and also in Isa 1.
saith 13. c. 15. v. Let my Soul bless God the great King 16. For Jerusalem shall be built up with Saphires and Emeralds and Precious Stones thy Walls and Towers and Battlements with pure Gold 17. And the streets of Jerusalem shall be Paved with Beril and Carhuucle and Stones of Ophir 18. And all her streets shall say Alleluja and they shall praise him saying blessed be God which hath extolled it for ever Now in this Earthly Jerusalem there is said to be a Temple as in Ezek. 47.1 Where the waters are said to come from under the Threshold Now when the Lord cometh to Judg the world and to deliver Israel then will his Elect be gathered to the Holy Land And it is said in Isa 32.19 When it shall hail coming down on the Forrest the City shall be low in a low place Here the People is term'd the City according to that in Isa 62.12 where Israel is treated A City sought out and not forsaken This Hail is the horrible Tempest spoken of Psal 11.6 Vpon the wicked he shall rain snares fire and brimstone and an horrible tempest shall be the portion of their Cup. Now altho the Wicked are for some time left upon the Earth after the Lord comes to receive the Punishments the Lord has appointed them upon the Earth and to behold the Glory of the Saints as it is said Psal 112.10 The wicked shall see it and be grieved he shall gnash with his Teeth and melt away the desire of the wicked shall perish Thus after the Wicked have received part of their Punishment here this forementioned horrible Tempest will sweep away all the refuge of Lies as in Isa 28.17 and in the 29. c. 20,21 v. It is said The terrible one is brought to nought and the Scorner is consumed and all that watch for iniquity are cut off That make a man aâ— offender for a word and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the Gate and turn aside the just for a thing of naught And it is said Mal. 4.1 For behold the day cometh that shall burn as an Oven all the proud yea and all that do wicked shall he stubble and the day that cometh shall burn them up saith the Lord of Hosts and it shall leave them neither root nor branch 2. But unto them that fear my Name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in his Wings and ye shall go forth and grow up as Calves of the stall Now in the time of the utter Destruction as I have show'd you then will the City be low in a low place as in Isa 32.19 When it shall Hail coming down on the Forrest and the City shall be low in a low place Which City is the People as I have elsewhere proved to you Now where this place will be the Prophet Zachary tells us Zach. 14.3 Then shall the Lord go forth and Fight against those Nations as when he fought in the day of Battle 4. And his Feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives which is before Jerusalem on the East and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof towards the East and toward the West and there shall be a very great Valley and half of the Mountain shall remove toward the North and half toward the South 5. And ye shall flee to the Valley of the Mountains for the Valley of the Mountains shall reach unto Azal Now here by these words it doth evidently appear that Israel with the rest of the Promised Elect that will be called in at the coming of the Lord which then also will be gathered to the Holy Land and secured from the Judgments that will fall on the wicked before the sweeping Tempest cometh that carrieth them all away For when the Lord descends so far down as his Feet to stand on Monnt Olivet the mountain then cleaves asunder and then it is they fly into the Valley of the mountain For as Noah was secured in the Ark when the world was destroyed by the Flood So it doth appear that the Elect will be secured in this Valley whilst the World is destroyed by the horrible tempest of Hail Fire and Brimstone then as it is said the City shall be low in a low place And as concerning the Destruction of this World Esdras saith 2 Esd 7.29,30,31 The World shall be turned into the old silence seven days like as in the former Judgment so that no man shall remain And after seven days the World that yet awaketh not shall be raised up and that shall die that is corrupt Now whereas it is said that the world shall be turn'd into silence seven days like as the former Judgments by which it doth appear that as by the former judgments of the Rains from Heaven and with the Fountains of the great Deep being broken up from beneath by which the old World became silent and at the Destruction of this World by the words it doth appear that this will remain silent for seven days as the old World did for many more for the Waters did continue upon the Earth for some considerable time Now whereas it is said that no man should remain the which words may be taken in a twofold sence First That no man of this wicked World shall remain The second is That the Elect fleeing into Mount Olivet may there sleep whilst the Earth is destroyed and again renewed to that perfection as it was in the first Creation and Canaan made like to Eden the Garden of God And after the world has lain wast God can renew it by the Eighth and our Sabbath being on the eighth day it doth thereby seem to signify as much and the blessing was not given to the name of the Seventh day but to the Sabbath Day And altho those that are chosen for the Glorious Tabernacle are said to be changed in the twinkling of an Eye and so caught up in the Clouds but Israel and the other Elect have no such sudden Change and therefore it doth likely appear these may have their Earthly infirm Bodies Renewed at that time as the Earth is and their heart so changed as it is said in Esdras to another meaning the which is according to the word of the Lord in Rev. 21.5 And he that sate upon the Throne said behold I make all things new and he said unto me write for these words are true and faithful Here we see that the Lord will make all things New Now as some of the Chapters in Revelations are misplaced So some of the Verses of this Chapter in Esdras do certainly appear to be misplaced because the World is said to be destroyed and the Dead Raised before the most high is said to sit upon the Throne of Judgment Now after this World is thus Renewed and Restored and Jerusalem again Built then as it is said in Zach. 14.11 And men shall dwell in it and there shall be no more utter destruction but
Father is not in him For all that is in the World the Lust of the Flesh and the Lust of the Eyes and the Pride of Life is not of the Father but is of the World And the World passeth away and the Lust thereof but he that doth the will of God abideth for ever Which World is the People as I before shewed you And the same Apostle saith John 5.19 We know that we are of God and the whole World lyeth in Wickedness Now all these Warnings and Admonitions were given us by the Apostles in the height of Christ's Spiritual Kingdom when there was such wonderful pourings forth of the Holy Ghost speaking with Tongues Healing all manner of Diseases casting out Devils and on whomsoever they laid their Hands they received the Holy Ghost And St. Paul saith in the Collosians The Gospel had been Preached through the World Yet Satan was not then bound up for he saith He sent a Messenger of his to Buffet him All which is to inform us his Power will continue to the end of this World That is till Christ comes to Judg the World And then he shall be bound up and the wicked receive their Condemnation and all things restored to their first purity And not that he was bound up in the Apostles time till after the Reign of Constantine the great For the Emperor turning Christian had so loaded the Church with Honours and Riches whereby they abounded with Pride whereupon their Contentions grew so hot one with the other that the good Emperor could not allay their Feuds so that he removed his Throne to Constantinople by which removing his Court from Rome made way for the Rise of the beast which is made mention of by St. Paul whereas he saith in 2 Thes 2.7 The mistery of iniquity doth already work only he who now letteth will let until he be taken out of the way By which words we may plainly see that the Devil was not bound for he tells us the Mystery of Iniquity was already working in carrying on his design to set the Beast upon the Throne altho it was not fully accomplisht till about two hundred years after the Departure of the Emperor from Rome and he was daily increasing in his Power and the more by the Vacancy of the Throne which was one cause of his getting up into that Pestilential Chair And St. Paul saith in the forementioned Chapter 8. v. Then shall the wicked be revealed whom the Lord shall consume with the Spirit of his Mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his Coming 9. v. Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all Power and signs and lying wonders 10. v. And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish because they receceived not the Love of the Truth that they might be saved Here we are fully inform'd when the Beast shall be destroyed That is when the Lord cometh to Judg the World whom he then will destroy with the Breath of his Mouth and with the brightness of his coming And John saith Rev. 19.20,21 The Beast was takes and with him the false Prophet that wrought Miracles before him with which he deceived them the had received the Mark of the Beast and them the Worshiped his image these were both cast alive into a Lake of Fire burning with Brimstone And the Remnant were slain with the Sword of him that salt upon the Horse which Sword proceeded out of his Mouth and all the Fowls were filled with their Flesh And he saith Rev. 20.1,2,3 He saw an Angel come down from Heaven having the Key of the Bottomless Pit and a great Chain in his hand And he laid hold on the Dragon that old Serpent which is the Devil and Satan and bound him a thousand years and cast him into the Bottomless Pit and shut him up and set a Seal upon him that he should not deceive the Nations no more till the Thousand years should be fulfilled after that he must be loosed a little season The next verse treats of the Raising of the Saints by which we see the Prophets and Apostles as I before shewed do all agree that the destroying of the Beast the Judgment of the World the binding of Satan and the raising of the Saints to be all at one and the same time and that time will be at the coming of the Lord And it is said that the Beast and the False Prophet these both were cast alive into the Lake of Fire burning with Brimstone whilst the others that are Slain their Carkasses lay for the Fowls to be filled with their Flesh all this is set down to be done when the Lord again comes Now the Thessalonians apprehending the Day of the Lord was near whereupon the Apostle informs them 2 Thes 2.3 That that day shall not come except there came a falling away first And St. Peter doth plainly speak much to the like Effect 2 Pet. 3.3 of the Christians declining and falling from their Purity and not of an inlargement before the Coming of the Lord Luke 20.21 And our Lord being demanded of the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God should come he answered them and said the Kingdom of God cometh not with observation That is appeareth not with Grandeur or Greatness For they shall not say lo here or lo there for behold the Kingdom of God is within you As much as to say I have no other Throne or Kingdom here but where I am Inthron'd in the Heart is all the Throne I have in this World And in John 16.33 The Lord saith In the World ye shall have Tribulation but be of good cheer I have overcome the World And the Apostle to the Hebrews tells us Heb. 11. what dreadful Afflictions the Church suffered in the old time knowing here they had no continuing City but they sought one that was to come And the same Apostle saith Heb. 6.7,8 Whom the Lord loveth he chastneth and Scourgeth ever Son whom he receiveth If ye endure chastning God dealeth with you as with Sons for what Son is he whom the Father Chastneth not But if ye be without Chastisement whereof all are partakers then are you Bastards and not Sons And St. John in his Revelations tells us what dreadful Afflictions the Church of Christ would suffer even to the end Rev. 12.13,14 And when the Dragon saw that he was cast into the Earth he Persecuted the Woman And to the Woman were given two great Wings of an Eagle that she might fly into the Wilderness where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time from the face of the Serpent And the Serpent cast out of his Mouth waters as a Flood after the Woman that he might cause her to be carried away of the Flood And the Earth helped the Woman and the Earth opened her Mouth and swallowed up the Flood which the Dragon cast out of his Mouth And the Dragon was wrath with the Woman and went to make