Part of the Drama, the last Act of it is yet to NOR is it any Objection to what has been faid, that this Prophecy is cited upon the Effufion of the Holy Ghoft on the Apostles, as if at that very Time it had receiv'd its Accomplishment. It receiv'd it indeed in fome Measure, as to the former Part of it, as to Gifts and Infpirations divine; but 'tis manifest that the latter Part of it, concerning which we are now speaking, thefe Signs and Wonders in external Nature, have no Relation to this Effufion of the Holy Spirit, for that nothing in the Time of that Effufion happen'd, but a Rushing, and a mighty Wind. MANY and mighty Things remain to be perfected upon the Coming of our Lord, upon that wonderful and terrible Day, as the Prophet expreffes himself. Nothing can 1 be more terrible to the Impious and Irreligious, than the Sight of the angry Deity, upon whose coming the Earth trembles, the Heavens are troubled, the Sun is converted into Darkness, and the Moon into Blood, and all Nature languishes as about to expire; Then fhall Mens Hearts fail them for Fear, Luc. xxi: that is, the Hearts of the Wicked, and for looking after thofe Things which are coming on the Earth, as the Evangelift tells us; but the Righteous fhall look up, and lift up 1 their 2.8. Theor: C. 12. their Heads, when they shall fee the Son of Man coming in the Clouds with Power, and great Glory, before whom ten thoufand thousand Angels fhall fly, and illuminate his Way, flashing and blazing before their angry God, like Lightning before the Thunder, an Army more numerous, and more refulgent than all the Stars in the Hea vens. HITHERTO we have prov'd the Coming of Chrift from the facred Writing: But to paint the Excess of his Glory, or precifely to nominate the Time of his Coming, is beyond all mortal Power. As for the former, we have given a fort of a light Specimen of it in the foremention'd Paffage, which we have left to be accurately perform'd by others: As for the latter, it must be confefs'd, that the primitive Chriftians, nay, and the Apostles themselves, as far as we can gather from the facred Hiftory, believ'd that this Day of the Lord was coming upon their own Times, or was not very far diftant from them: But this Point will be difcufs'd hereafter, when we fpeak of the Day of Judgment, that we may avoid being tedious in this Chapter. THE Conflagration of the World is join'd with the Coming of Chrift, as the facred Oracles teach us. The Apostle St. Paul expreffly tells us fo in his fecond Epistle to the Chap. i. Theffalonians; when the Lord Jefus hall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty 7,8. Angels, IO. Angels, in flaming Fire, taking Vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jefus Chrift. In the fame Manner the Apostle St. Peter joins the Coming of Chrift, or that Day of the Lord, with the Combuftion and the Diffolution of the World. But the Day of the Lord will 2 Ep. iii. come as a Thief in the Night, in which the Heavens fhall pass away with a great Noife, and the Element shall melt with fervent Heat, the Earth alfo, and the Works that are therein, fhall be burnt up. Befides, that the Lord will come to Judgment in Fire, several Paffages of both Teftaments witness; and in the fame Chapter, ver. 7. St. Peter fays thus; but the Heavens and the Earth which are now, by the fame Word are kept in Store, referved unto Fire against the Day of Judgment, and Perdition of ungodly Men. The Apostle St. Paul likewife, if I am not mistaken, in the first to the Corinthians, has the fame Chap. iii. View with St. Peter. For other Founda- 11, 12, 13. tion can no Man lay, than what is laid, which is that Jefus is the Meffiah. Now if any Man build upon this Foundation, Gold, Silver, precious Stones, Wood, Hay, Stubble, every Man's Work fhall be made manifeft; for the Day fhall declare it, becaufe it shall be revealed by Fire, and the Fire fhall try every Man's Work of what Sort it is. That Paffage likewise in the Epiftle to the Hebrews feems to look the Chap. x: fame 27. 9, 10. fame Way; There remains a certain fearful Looking for of Judgment, and fiery Indignation, which shall devour the Adverfaries. NOR do the Prophets lefs dreadfully fet before us the fiery Equipage and Provision of a prefent, an angry, and revenging God, when they speak of the Coming of our Lord, and the Deftruction of his Enemies; that is often Pfal. xi. 6. hinted at in the Pfalms of David; and Ifaiah 1.3. and Ixvii. 2,3. fpeaks plainly, Chap. lxvi. 15, 16. For behold & lxxxiii. the Lord will come with Fire, and with his Cha15, 16. & riot like a Whirlwind, to render his Anger with xcvii. 3. Fury, and his Rebuke with Flames of Fire. The fame Prophet has the fame Meaning, Chap. xxxiv. 8, 9, 10. Befides, in the Prophet Daniel the Antient of Days is defcrib'd, as fitting upon his Tribunal, and furrounded and coChap. vii. ver'd with Flames: His Throne was like the fiery Flame, and his Wheels like burning Fire: A fiery Stream iued, and came forth from before him: Thousand Thousands minifter'd unto him, and ten thousand Times ten Thousand food before him; the Judgment was fet, and the Chap.iv.t. Books were open'd. Laftly, the Prophet Melachy fhews us the fame Face of Nature upon that Day of the Coming of the Lord: Behold the Day cometh that will burn as an Oven, and all the Proud, yea, and all that do wickedly fhall be Stubble, and the Day that cometh fhall burn them up. HITHERTO HITHERTO We have brought Paffages from facred Authors, as Proofs of the future burning of the World upon the Coming of Chrift: And this Conflagration, and this Coming, ought, in my Opinion, to have a Place among the clearest Doctrines of the Christian Faith, if we only have Regard to the Facts themselves. But there are, befides, feveral Circumstances, Modes, and Conditions of this Conflagration, worthy of our Thoughts and our Contemplation, though not equally manifeft, nor equally necessary to be known. 'Tis certainly worth our while to endeavour to discover the very Time of this future Burning, and to have fome Foreknowledge of it; to be able to fet forth the Bounds and the Limits of it; how far it will reach upwards, and how far defcend; how far it will pierce into the Bowels of the Earth, or penetrate the Regions of the Skies; and then to enquire into the Caufes and Seeds of this univerfal Burning, as far as 'tis founded in the Nature of Things, and the Matter and Form of the Earth. Laftly, to give an Account of its Beginning, its Progrefs, and its End; and with what Shape and Countenance the Earth will appear, when the Conflagration's over. These and other Things relating to these, we have handled more at large in the foremention'd Treatife, to which the Reader is defir'd to have Recourse, who has a Mind to be fur- Theory of ther fatisfied this Subject. upon the Earth. CHAP. |