Mount Pisgah, Part 2
MOƲNT PISGAH: OR, THE SECOND PART OF THIS Model of Conſolatory Arguments, OVER THE Death of our Godly Relations.
I Have opened unto you the firſt part of this Apoſtolical Model of divine Comforts over the Death of our Godly Friends and hopeful Relations, which conteined in it ſix words of Conſolation, ſc.
1. That they are not ſaid ſo properly to be dead, as to ſleep; They are but fallen aſleep.
2. That their condition is a condition full of hope; they are not in an hopeleſs ſtate, as others are.
3. Jeſus Chriſt, the Captain of our Salvation, went before them, and ſhewed them the way,
Jeſus Died.
4. He died indeed, but he remained not long in the ſtate of the Dead, He roſe again.
And that
Firſt; By his own power, as a Conquerour.
Secondly; By Office, as our Sponſor, or Surety, our Jeſus.
Thirdly; As a ſecond Adam, or publick perſon, the head and Repreſentative of all his ſpiritual Seed. This alſo is in his name Jeſus; Jeſus roſe.
5. The Saints Ʋnion with Chriſt, ſo intimous and ſo inſeparable, that it ceaſeth not in the very Grave. They ſleep in Jeſus.
6. They ſhall be brought back again at the Coming of the Lord, God ſhall bring them with him: theſe are conteined in the 13th and 14th. verſes of this Chapter.
I come now to the Second Part of this Divine Model, Second Part.which is conteined in the three following Verſes, viz. the 15, 16, 17. together with the improvement of the whole context in the 18th. verſe, which is, mutual comfort and ſupport, Comfort one another with theſe words.
Now this later part contains in it four of theſe ten words of Comfort, held out in this Model.
1. The firſt is, an obviating and removal of a diſcouragement and temptation which might poſſibly be upon the ſpirits of dying Saints, namely, leſt the condition of the Saints which ſhall be found alive at the laſt day, ſhould be happier, or (at leaſt) ſooner happy, than the Saints which are fallen aſleep long before; and the removal of this diſcouragement, makes a ſeaventh Word of Comfort in this Model.
2. A ſecond word is, The coming of Chriſt, his laſt appearance; the Lord himſelf ſhall deſcend, &c. and this is the eighth word conteined in this Model.
3. The third is, The joyful and triumphant Meeting which all the Saints of God ſhall then have with one another, and with Chriſt their Head and Husband, ver. 17. And this is the nineth Conſolatory Argument, in the order of the context.
4. The laſt word of Comfort is, That bleſſed co-habitation and Communion which the Saints ſhall enjoy with Jeſus Chriſt for ever: then ſhall we ever be with the Lord, verſ. 17. And this is the tenth and laſt Conſolatory Argument, conteined in this Model.
I ſhall figure them (in my opening of them) as they ſtand in the order of the whole Model, and make up the number of Ten words of Comfort conteined therein.
Seaventhly therefore, Seventh word of Comfort.the next word of Comfort in this Model, is, The obviating or removing an objection or diſcouragement, which (probably) might poſſeſs the Spirits of God's dying-Saints: and that is, leſt the Saints which ſhall be found alive at the laſt day, might (poſſibly) be happier, or (at leaſt) ſooner happy, than the Saints which are fallen aſleep before that day.
Now for the rolling of this ſtumbling block and ſtone-of-offence out of the way, The Apoſtle doth theſe three things:
1. The method of the laſt Judgment.He ſets down the order and method of the procedure of that great and ſolemn Tranſaction at Chriſts coming, verſ. 15, 16.
2. He quoteth infallible Authority for what he ſaith, The foreignhe tells us he ſpeaks not a preſumption of his own head, but that which he had received of the Lord; This we ſay unto you by the word of the Lord.
3. The foreign.He gives us the ground and reaſon of this comfortable aſſertion, and that is the coming of Chriſt in perſon, For the Lord himſelf ſhall deſcend from Heaven, &c. verſ. 16.
Firſt; 1. Branch of the word of Comfort. The order & method of Chriſts procedure.The Apoſtle acquaints Believers with the order and method of that great and ſolemn Tranſaction at Chriſt his coming. And this he doth, Two ways
1. Negatively.
2. Affirmatively.
Firſt; Neg.Negatively. He peremptorily denieth that the living Saints at Chriſts coming in glory, ſhall have any the leaſt advantage (above the ſleeping Saints) by their being found alive at that day; We which are alive and remain, ſhall not prevent them which are aſleep. Verſ. 16 i. e. The living Saints ſhall not prevent the dead Saints in any priviledg of the Reſurrection; or of the appearance of the Lord Jeſus. It might probly be a temptation upon the Theſſalonians (or other Chriſtians):
1. Either that the Saints only which ſhould be found alive at the laſt day, ſhould have the happineſs of ſeeing the Lord Jeſus coming in his Glory, with all his mighty Angels (to judg the world) and they only ſhould enjoy the priviledg of his Glorious appearance; that all the Saints that died before that day, even from the beginning of the world, were a loſt generation, that ſhould never come forth again to the light, or to behold the glory of that day, or to enjoy the bleſſed fruits and conſequences of it.
2. Or (at leaſt) that they ſhould be the firſt in that happineſs to ſee his Glory, and have the firſt ſhare in the felicities and triumph of that day, or ever the ſleeping Saints ſhould be awakened or get out of their beds of duſt.
The Apoſtle doth therefore, (I ſay) peremptorily and poſitively remove this ſcruple and fear out of the minds of Chriſtians; he aſſures us that it is an utter miſtake, it is neither ſo, nor ſo; he tells us that all Believers who had died from the firſt Adam, downward until the coming of the ſecond Adam, ſhall have as good a ſhare (caeteris paribus) in the priviledges and glory of that day, as they who ſtand upon their feet, and are found inter vivos, at Chriſt's coming.
Secondly, and as ſoon; the living ſhall not prevent the dead in any one of the beatitudes and honours of the Reſurrection of Jeſus Chriſt. They ſhall neither go forth to meet this glorious Bridegroom one moment ſooner than their Brethren that are in their Graves; nor ſhall they ſee him coming in his Glory, one moment ſooner; nor conſequently, be owned by Chriſt, or received by him, or taken up to him, or be placed upon Thrones with him, or receive their abſolution and juſtification from him, or their glorification with him, one moment before their fellow-Saints that are yet in their dormitories.
And truly, this is a comfortable word, even in the negative part of it. Believers may lye down to ſleep in their beds of duſt, not only with the Pſalmiſt's even-Song.
I will both lay me down in peace and reſt, Pſal. 4.8.for thou Lord only wilt make we dwell in ſafety: but with the Lord Jeſus his Triumph.
Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoyceth, Pſal. 16.9, 10.my fleſh alſo ſhall reſt in hope, for thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell, &c. Chriſt will not forget his dead in the Grave; the living Saints at his coming, ſhall not be made happy without them, nor one moment ſooner happy in any of the Beatitudes of Chriſt his coming at the end of the world: This comfort, I ſay, the very negative part of the Apoſtles anſwer to the Objection, doth import.
But then, How much ſtronger Conſolation doth the affirtive part afford? which, although it lye in the cloſe of the next verſe, yet it being the main branch of the Apoſtle's accompt, whereby he ſatisfieth the doubt of the dying Servants of God, (ut ſuprà) we muſt of neceſſity ſpeak of it here alſo with the Negative; at leaſt ſo far as it referrs to the Apoſtle's ſcope, reſerving the conſideration of what ſpecial and peculiar Import the words carry in them, to their own place.
We are therefore to take notice that the affirmative part of the Apoſtles ſatisfaction to the Saints doubt, or objection, lieth in theſe words, The dead in Chriſt ſhall riſe firſt.
He doth exactly ſtate the method of Chriſt's procedure at the laſt Judgment, Affirmatively. verſ. 16.viz. That the firſt buſineſs which ſhall be then tranſacted, ſhall be the awakening and raiſing all the Saints of God out of their Graves, which from Adam, until that moment, have ſlept in the duſt: The dead in Chriſt ſhall riſe firſt; nothing ſhall be done, till that be done. The very firſt work Chriſt will do at his Coming, will be, to ſend forth his Angels with a great ſound of a Trumpet, firſt to awaken the Elect out of their ſleep; Math. 24.31.[Awake you that ſleep in the duſt;] and then to gather them from the four winds, from the one end of Heaven to the other; and when they ſhall have put on their Wedding garments, to conduct them in State and Triumph to meet with their Royal Bridegroom now comn forth (more than half way) to meet them, and to conſummate the Marriage which was long ſince Contracted in the day of their Eſpouſals.
It were eaſie to enlarge here, but, in a word, the ſum of this Affirmative account is this, That the Saints who ſleep in the Grave at Chriſt's coming, ſhall be ſo far from being made leſs happy, or later happy in the coming of Chriſt, than the Saints who then ſhall be found alive, that they ſhall be firſt remembred; the firſt care Chriſt will take when he comes in the Clouds, ſhall be not about the living, Primitiae Reſurrectionis.but the dead Saints, The dead in Chriſt ſhall riſe firſt. They ſhall be the firſt Fruits of the Reſurrection. They that have ſlept ſo long in their beds of duſt, Ab illis ordo Reſurrectionis incipiet.ſhall be firſt awakened, before any thing be done about them that never ſlept; They that were uncloathed, and ſaw corruption in the Grave, muſt firſt have their bodies cloathed upon with incorruption; and then the ſurviving-Saints (at Chriſt's coming) ſhall be joyned to them, that have for ſo many years and ages ſlept in Jeſus. The dead in Chriſt ſhall riſe firſt, and both be preſented together before the Judge.
It were too little to ſay, Uſe. This may much alleviate the bieterneſs of death, our own, or our godly Relations; ſurely it may greatly augment our joy; They and we ſhall be ſo far from being loſers, by laying down our earthly Tabernacles in the duſt, (before we ſee Chriſt coming in his Glory,) that it ſhall be our advantage. If there be any priviledg, any joy, any glory, any triumph at that day, it ſhall be theirs who ſleep in Jeſus; and theirs, as ſoon as their ſurviving-Brethrens. The firſt dawnings of the Sun of Righteouſneſs (coming in his Majeſty) ſhall ſhine upon their faces; the firſt-fruits of that Jubilee, ſhall be reſerved for a recompence of their long ſleep in the Grave, they ſhall begin the health in this cup of Salvation; the primacy of all that bleſſed ſolemnity, belongs to the departed Saints. The dead in Chriſt ſhall riſe firſt.
Oh Chriſtians, Comfort one another with this word.
And the rather, becauſe this is not an uncertain conjecture which the Apoſtle laies down here, but an aſſertion of infallible certainty, which he had from the divine Oracle, Second branch of this Comfort, The Authority quoted.the Word of the Lord; which brings me to the ſecond branch in this ſeaventh word of Comfort, and that is,
The Authority which the Apoſtle brings for this Doctrine, ſc. the Word of God; This I ſay unto you by the word of the Lord. He quotes divine Authority for what he delivereth. It being a Doctrine of ſo much encouragement and ſatisfaction unto dying Saints; Praefatur, nihil ſe preferre vel ſuum, vel humanum, Calv.a Doctrine above humane capacity, and (it ſeemeth) not commonly underſtood by the Churches & Saints of God at that time; he doth not paſs it in his own name, or upon his own Authority, When he ſpeaks as one that hath obtained mercy to be ſaithful, then it is 1 Cor. 7.12. I ſpeak, not the Lord, i.e. not by expreſs dictate of the Spirit, but by way of Faith, Chriſtivice, as agreeable to the word: but when he ſpeaks as an Apoſtle, inſallibly inſpired, then it is, not I, but the Lord: and ſo it is here.but tells us from whence he had it, q.d. What I deliver now unto you, I ſpeak not of my ſelf, ſed ex ore Domini, from the mouth of him that is the truth it ſelf, the mouth of Jeſus Chriſt; This we ſay unto you in the word of the Lord.
Qu. But where or when had the Apoſtle this Doctrine from Jeſus Chriſt?
Anſ. Others are of opinion he had it, by immediate Revelation; but as to the time they differ.
Some conjecture, 1 Cor. 12.2.4.the Apoſtle had this myſterie revealed to him, at what time he was rapt up to the third Heaven, and there heard unſpeakable words, amongſt which one was this comfortable Doctrine, that the living Saints ſhall not prevent the dead Saints in any glorious priviledg of the Reſurrection, which was an Arcanum or Myſterie not formerly made known to the Church.
But this is but a conjecture which carrieth with it little probability: The Apoſtle telling us (in the ſame place) that the words he heard in that Extatical Viſion were Ʋnſpeakable words, foreigni. e. things which were either not lawful to be uttered, or not poſſible to be uttered; ineffable words: had this Myſterie been that Revelation, or any part of it; the Apoſtle had (in reporting it to the world) either exceeded his commiſſion, or done impoſſibilities!
Others therefore conceive that this was a myſtery revealed to none but to the Apoſtle himſelf; and that not unto him until he wrote this Epiſtle, and ſo foreign by the word of Lord ſignifies only, the Apoſtle his delivering this by divine Authority, from divine inſpiration, & quaſi eo ipſo loquente Bern. & Chriſti mandato. Grot.
Others there are that (waving both theſe Conjectures,) are apt to think this myſtery (ſo called, becauſe it was not commonly underſtood in the Church,) to be none other than the Doctrine which our Lord himſelf delivered by word of month, in the dayes of his fleſh, concerning the Reſurrection: for which,
Some would make us beholding to Tradition: but others more rationally, ſuppoſe the Apoſtle to entitle this Doctrine to the Lord; not as if any where delivered in terminis, in ſo many expreſs letters and ſyllables, but as a divine Truth, deduceable from the general doctrine which the Lord Jeſus did deliver in his Sermons and diſcourſes, touching the raiſing of the dead.
And to this judgment I do much incline, as the more ſafe and warrantable; Chriſt's own words being a much more ſolid foundation to build an Article of Faith upon, than either Tradition or Revelations.
Witneſs the Holy Ghoſt, in the mouth of the Apoſtle St. Peter. 2 Pet. 1.19.We have alſo a more ſure word of Propheſie; more ſure then what? Why, more ſure than the Voyce which the Diſciples heard from Heaven, when they were with Chriſt in the Mount, ver. 18. An infallible Oracle, atteſted by infallible Witneſſes; and yet behold the written Word is a ſurer bottom for our Faith to ſtand upon, in taking up divine doctrine than that, becauſe, though the voyce from Heaven was in it ſelf, foreign infallible; yet the holy Scriptures being the ſtanding *Pſal. 19.7. God's Amen.Teſtimony and Expoſitor of Gods mind to the world; it is a more authentick Touch-ſtone to try Truth by, then a Voyce from Heaven, which may be Counterfeited by Satan and Satanical Impoſture.
We ſhall reckon then this myſtery delivered here by holy Paul, as the Doctrine which Chriſt himſelf Preach'd unto the world, and teſtified by the Evangeliſts and other Secretaries of the Holy Ghoſt: until Revelation be more clearly revealed unto us in this point.
Amongſt the paſſages of our Lords Doctrine, recorded by the Evangeliſts concerning the Reſurrection, from which this particular myſtery may be collected; we may with ſafety and modeſty ſelect theſe.
Then ſhall appear the ſign of the Son of man, Math. 24.30.and they ſhall ſee him coming in the Clouds of Heaven, with power and great glory.
And he ſhall ſend forth his Angels with a great ſound of a Trumpet, and they ſhall gather his Elect from the four Winds, from the one end of Heaven to another.
When they ſhall riſe from the dead, Mark. 12.25,they neither marry, nor are given in marriage.
And again, As touching the Dead, that they riſe, have ye not read in the book of Moſes, &c?
Behold (by the way) Jeſus Chriſt, that he might give teſtimony to Moſes, quotes the teſtimony of Moſes for the Doctrine of the Reſurrection.)
But yet further; take another teſtimony or prediction of his own.
The hour is coming, Jo. 5.28,in the which all that are in the Graves, ſhall hear the voyce of the Son of man,
And ſhall come forth, they that have done good, unto the Reſurrection of life, &c.
To theſe Scriptures, and the like, it is moſt probably conjectured our Apoſtle doth refer, when he doth here quote the Authority of our Lord for the Doctrine here delivered; For although it doth not run verbatim, word for word with any of the recited Texts; yet theſe things are evident,
Firſt; That in theſe Scriptures our Bleſſed Saviour doth poſitively and expreſly aſſert the doctrine of the Reſurrection at the laſt day; The dead muſt riſe.
Secondly; That the main care which Chriſt will take at his coming, will be, To gather unto himſelf all his Elect which have been upon the earth, from the Creation, until that bleſſed hour; Math. 24.31.He ſhall ſend forth his Angels, and they ſhall gather his Elect, &c. not one of them ſhall be wanting.
Thirdly; Chriſt comprehends all theſe his Elect, whether quick or dead, under one and the ſame notion; namely, the dead, and thoſe that are in the Graves; not the leaſt mention made, or notice taken, of them that ſhall ſurvive and be found alive at his coming, whence two things are clearly deducible,
Firſt; That the Reſurrection, which the Saints that ſleep in Jeſus, ſhall be made partakers of, ſhall put them into as full a capacity of the glory of Chriſts coming, as if they had remained alive in the body until that bleſſed hour.
Yea, Secondly; That the Saints then ſurviving, can upon no other account become capable of that glory, than as they fall under the notion of the dead. Chriſt takes notice (in the prediction of his coming) of no other but the dead, for whom that glory is reſerved. Whence
Some are of opinion, that the ſurviving Saints muſt dye in a literal ſenſe, and a real ſeparation muſt paſs upon them, between their bodies and their ſouls; Mirâ celeritate.of which opinion Auſtin himſelf was, though he conceived it would be tranſacted in a wonderful ſwift and ſpeedy way.
But others conceive, that the Saints whom Chriſt his coming ſhall find in the body, foreign.ſhall ſuffer only ſome thing analogical to death; and to this opinion our faith muſt needs ſubſcribe, the Holy Ghoſt bearing witneſs to it, in the mouth of the Apoſtle in the 15th. Chapter to the Corenthians, 1 Cor. 15.51.We ſhall not all ſleep, i. e. all ſhall not dye, in a literal ſenſe: foreign.what then? but we ſhall all dye, or be changed, i. e. they that dye not, muſt be changed; All muſt either dye, or be changed; foreign.they that do not ſleep, muſt ſuffer a mutation that ſhall bear ſome proportion to death, Verſe 50 whereby the corruption of their nature muſt be aboliſhed; for fleſh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdome of God, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. The body as it is corruptible, much leſs, as it is ſinful, is not capable of glory; there muſt a refining change paſs upon it; they muſt put off their Rags of mortality, before they put on the Robes of Glory; and this muſt be done.
Partly, that the Statute of Heaven may not be broken, Heb. 9.27. foreign decreed.wherein it is appointed for all men once to dye. It was a Statute Law, paſt in the Parliament of Heaven, Gen. 2.17. In the day that thou eateſt, thou ſhalt ſurely dye; Heb. in dying thou ſhalt dye.
Chriſt himſelf, as man, ſubmitted himſelf to this Statute, and ſo muſt all the Sons and Daughters of Adam; they muſt dye, either literally, or analogically; Death makes a change in ſome, and this change is a death in others: a death to mortality, and a death to corruption.
Partly, that hereby they may alſo be made partakers of the Reſurrection. Our Saviour's prediction of the Reſurrection, comprehends all the Saints of God; and the living Saints, at that day, can by no other means be counted the Children of the Reſurrection, than as they are begotten again, as it were by this myſterious and ineffable change; Math. 19.28.whence (poſſibly) it is called the Regeneration; becauſe all the Elect of God ſhall then begin to live their new, perfect life, all over, in their bodies and Souls; both the quick and the dead.
From theſe Premiſes, we draw this Concluſion, &c. That our Apoſtle here, doth not ſtart any new doctrine of his own, or (as *1 Cor. 7.12.ſomewhere he doth) deliver his own judgment as an holy knowing man, and not as one infallibly inſpired from above; but he doth expound Chriſt unto us, and gives us the ſenſe of His words, who was both the Truth and the Reſurrection.
So that, the doctrine here laid down, as it is a word of exceeding comfort to dying Saints, and to their ſurviving Relations; Non primi extitimus Reſurrectionis teſt…s. foreign.ſo here is a conſideration which may adde great weight to it, and make it ſo much the ſtronger conſolation, in as much as it hath the ſtamp and ſanction of Chriſt's own Authority, Chriſt himſelf hath made aſſidavit to it; we have the word of him that cannot lye, the Apoſtle being (in this) but Chriſts Interpreter.
From hence, (by the way) we are informed of theſe two things, Uſe of Inform.worth our notice.
Firſt; Ʋſe. 1 There is no ſure and infallible foundation for our faith to ſtand upon, but the word of God. Thither therefore the Holy Ghoſt ſends us, Iſa. 8.20.To the Law and to the Teſtimony, if they ſpeak not according to this word, it is becauſe there is no light in them. The Apoſtle himſelf would not aver ſuch a ſolemn truth as this is, but from the mouth of Chriſt himſelf. Uncertain Revelations, dubitable Traditions, Authority of the Church, and all humane Teſtimony whatſoever, is too weak a foundation to build our Faith upon in any Article of Religion. Search the Scriptures, for in them ye hope, to have Eternal Life, Jo. 5.39.
Secondly; We gather hence, that Scripture-Inference, Ʋſe. 2 is Scripture; that is to ſay, That which may be inferr'd from Scripture, by natural and neceſſary conſequence, is to be received as the Scripture it ſelf. The word of God rightly interpreted, is the word of God. Thus our Lord himſelf, Luk. 12.27.proves the Reſurrection out of the old Teſtament, by inference and deduition from the words which God ſpake to Moſes [I am the God of Abraham, the God of Iſaac, and the God of Jacob,] he thence inferrs, [God being not the God of the dead, but of the living.] that Abraham, Iſaac, and Jacob, are alive in their better part, ſc. their Souls, and ſhall live again in their inferiour part, ſc. their bodies.
So the holy Apoſtle here inferreth this comfortable truth, that the dead Saints ſhall loſe nothing by their not being found alive at Chriſts coming; from Chriſt's own doctrine of the Reſurrection in general: And doubts not to honour it with this Title,
The Word of the Lord: This I ſay unto you, by the Word of the Lord.
Let the Miniſters of the Goſpel take heed how they Preach any doctrine, opinion, or practiſe, 1 Caution to Miniſters:which cannot either in terminis, or at leaſt by juſt and neceſſary conſequence, be juſtified to be the word of God, leſt they incurre the brand and cenſure of falſe Prophets, Jer. 29.9.
And let Chriſtians take heed how they reject any doctrine which is ſo evidenced, 2 Caution to private Chriſtians.leſt they be found to reject the Word of the Lord, Jer. 8.9.
I have done with the ſecond branch of the ſeventh word of Comfort, ſc. the Authority quoted for it, ſave only that there is one ſcruple yet to be removed, and that is;
Queſt. Why the Apoſtle in delivering this truth, doth uſe this phraſe, we which are alive, and remain unto the coming of the Lord, and not rather they which are alive? for, Did the Apoſtle indeed think that he himſelf ſhould live to ſee Chriſt coming in glory to judg the quick and the dead?
Anſ. Certainly, No; for
1. Grotius aliter opinatur: quem vide in loc. arque etiam, Bez.The event ſhews, that that had been a miſtaken preſumption in him; that day is not yet come, and the Apoſtle is long ſince fallen aſleep.
2. We hear him Propheſying of his own diſſolution, and that as a thing hard by, 2 Tim. 4.6. foreign.I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand? Gr. it is inſtant upon me: See, the Apoſtle was far from flattering himſelf with any ſuch conceit of being one of them that ſhould live and remain unto the coming of the Lord.
What means the expreſſion then?
Anſ. The holy Apoſtle divides all the Elect of God into two ranks, ſc.
1. Such as are fallen aſleep from the fall of the firſt Adam to the coming of the ſecond, or
2. Such as ſhould ſurvive and remain unto that day; not making himſelf of the number of either the one or of the other, but one of the whole number of Gods Elect, ſome of whom ſhould ſleep, ſome ſhould live till Chriſt's laſt coming: and when he ſaith, we that are alive and remain, it ſignifies no more, but this in general, ſuch of us as are then alive, ſhall not prevent ſuch of us as are then aſleep; this is all he intends in this expreſſion.
Beza and others ſpy out a myſtery in this manner of ſpeech; Doct. as if hereby the Apoſtle would hint unto us the uncertainty of Chriſt's Coming, Ʋult omnes ſuſpenſos tenere, ne ſibi tempus aliquod promittant.that (for ought that was revealed of that day) Chriſt might come while ſome of that generation were ſuperſtites, living upon the face of the earth.
If that doctrine be in the Text, Ʋſe. Chriſt himſelf hath made the uſe of it, Lanet ultimus dies, ut expectetu… ſingulis, ut fideles, emnibus horis parati eſſent.Math. 24.36. of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the Angels of Heaven, but the Father; there's the doctrine, and then the uſe is, verſe 42.
Watch therefore, for ye know not the hour when the Lord doth come: Therefore indeed is the laſt day concealed from us, that we may watch every day.
And therefore Chriſtians, look about you, what have you been doing ſo many years together under the miniſtry of the Goſpel? are your accompts yet ready? are your evidences cleared? is your pardon ſealed? your intereſt in Chriſt ſecured? your calling and Eleclion made ſure? have ye wrought out your ſalvation with fear and trembling?Luk. 12 35, 36.
Are your lights burning? and your loynes girded? and you your ſelves like unto men that wait for the coming of the Lord, that when he cometh and knocketh, you may open to him immediatly? up, and (for the Lords ſake, yea, for your own ſakes) make haſte; this may be the day, the hour when the Son of man may come.
Wo unto that man, to whom the coming of the Lord will be a ſurprize. Therefore I ſay again, watch; what you do, do quickly.
I come now to the third branch of this ſeventh word of Comfort, ſc.Third branch of the ſeventh word of Comfort.
The ground and reaſon of this comfortable truth, which lieth in the firſt clauſe of the next verſe; For, verſe 16.the Lord himſelf ſhall deſcend, &c.
The words are of a twofold conſideration, ſc.
Abſolute,
And
Relative.
The abſolute and poſitive, holds forth a main Article of our Faith, ſc. Chriſt's laſt coming to judgment in perſon. The Lord himſelf ſhall deſcend from Heaven.
The Relative; and ſo they are a confirmation of this comfortable truth; They which are alive, and remain unto the coming of the Lord, ſhall not prevent them which are aſleep, and why ſo? For, the Lord himſelf ſhall deſcend, &c.
In their abſolute ſenſe, the words are, (as I ſay) a main Article of our Faith, concerning Chriſt's coming to judgment in perſon, and therefore may juſtly challenge their room, to make up one entire and diſtinct word of Comfort in this divine context.
And ſo I will firſt conſider them; and then, in their relative tendency, ſc. as they are a ground or reaſon of the former Comfort.
In the order of this ſecond part, they are the ſecond; but in the method of the whole Context, foreign.they are
The Eighth word of Comfort.Eighth word of Comfort. foreign
The Lord himſelf ſhall Deſcend.
Here the Apoſtle deſcribes unto us the laſt coming of Chriſt to judgment. In which deſcription, we have three conſiderable particulars, ſc.
1. foreign.The Perſon that ſhall come; The Lord himſelf.
2. foreign.The certainty of his coming. He ſhall come.
3. foreign.The manner of his coming. With a ſhout. I begin with the firſt of theſe.
The Perſon that ſhall come:1. The Perſon foreign.
The Lord himſelf, i. e. Jeſus Chriſt; God-Man, the Mediator between God and Man: He that came at firſt to purchaſe and redeem the Elect of God; the ſame perſon will now come to raiſe them out of their Graves, to gather them together, and to bring them with him unto Glory. He will not ſend a Deputy-Angel about the ſolemn work of that day; but will deſcend Himſelf in Perſon to finiſh that laſt and grand truſt of his Mediatory-Office.