Jude 14. 14. their son of Joseph; and again in all glory, to govern and judge, as they expect the son of David. Particularly, Enoch the seventh from Adam prophesied of this advent, saying, Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his angels. And more particularly Daniel saw the representation of his judiciary Dan. vii. 13, power and glory: I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. This Son of man the Jews themselves confess to be the promised Messias', and they take the words to signify his coming, and so far give testimony to the truth; but then they evacuate the prediction by a false interpretation, saying, that if the Jews went on in their sins, then the Messius should come in humility, according to the description in Zachary, lowly, and riding upon an ass2; but if they Zech. ix. 9. 1 R. Saadias Gaon ad locum, א' ר' ברכיה בשם ר' שמואל [.4 .f. 19. col] משיח צדקנו כדכתיב נאם יי" לאדני שב כתוב אחד אומ' וארו עם ענני שמיא כבר אנש : : In Bereshith Rabba, speaking speaking of the Messias. Indeed the Jews do so generally interpret this place of Daniel of the Messias, that they made it an argument to prove that the Messias is not yet come, because no man hath yet come with the clouds of heaven. 2 This interpretation is delivered in libro Sanhedrim, [f. 98 a.] •707bx ́n ́8 ר' יהושוע רמי כתיב על מלך המשיח וארו עם ענני שמיא כבר אנש אתה הוא וכתיב עליו עני ורוכב על חמור זכו עם ענני שמיא לא זכו Idem etiam legitur עני ורוכב על חמור: in Bereshith Rabba R. Mosheh Haddarshan, Gen. xlix. 11t. Thus they make the coming of Christ to depend upon their merit or demerit: whereas the promises of the Messias are absolute and irrespective, depending only on the goodness of God, not to be evacuated or altered by the wickedness of man. Nay, the unworthiness of the Jews, which Christ found when he came in humi *This is cited from Martini's Pugio Fidei, p. 413, but is not really in the Bereshith Rabba. For the extract from the Tzeror Hammor of Abraham Seba, see f. 4, col. 1. 1. 43, ed. Venice, 1567. † See Martini, p. 842. 293 pleased God, then he should come in glory, according to the description in the prophet Daniel, with the clouds of heaven: whereas these two descriptions are two several predictions, and therefore must be both fulfilled. From whence it followeth, that, being Christ is already come, lowly, and sitting upon an ass, therefore he shall come gloriously with the clouds of heaven. For if both those descriptions cannot belong to one and the same advent, as the Jews acknowledge, and both of them must be true, because equally prophetical; then must there be a double advent of the same Messias, and so his second coming was foretold. 28. That our Jesus, whom we have already proved to have come once into the world as the true Messias, shall come the second time, we are most assured. We have the testimony of the angels, This same Jesus, which is taken up from you Acts i. 11. into heaven, shall so come in like manner, as ye have seen him go into heaven. We have the promise of Christ himself to his apostles: If I go to prepare a place for you, I will John xiv. 3, come again and receive you unto myself: ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. He it is which from the beginning was to come; that express prophecy so represented him, The sceptre shall not depart Gen. xlix. 10. from Judah,...until Shiloh come: the name of Shiloh was obscure; but the notion of the comer, added to it, was most vulgar. According to this notion, once Christ came; and being gone, he keeps that notion still; he is to come again: For yet little while, and he that shall come will come1. Heb. x. 37. Our Jesus then shall come; and not only so, but shall so come, as the Messias was foretold, after the same manner, in the same glory of the Father, as the Son of man coming in Matt. xvi. 28. his kingdom. This was expressed in the prophetical vision by coming with clouds; and in the same manner shall our lity, is one special cause why he 1Ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἤξει, that is, he who is known by that vulgar appellation ỏ ἐρχόμενος, he which did once come into the world to make that notion good, is still to be known by the same appellation, and therefore will come attendance of the angels, waiting upon the Son of man1: and in the same manner, with the same attendance, do we expect the coming of our Jesus, even as he himself hath taught us to Matt. xvi. 27. expect him, saying, For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels. And thus our Jesus as the true Messias shall come again; which was our first consideration. 1 Thess. iv. 16. when that time is fulfilled, For the Lord himself shall with the voice of the archOur conversation ought The place from whence he shall come, is next to be considered, and is sufficiently expressed in the CREED by reflection upon the place whither he went when he departed from us; 294 for he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God, and from thence shall he come; that is, from and out of the highest heaven (where he now sitteth at the right hand of God) shall Christ hereafter come to judge both the quick and Acts iii. 21. the dead. For him must the heaven receive, till the time of the restitution of all things; and from that heaven shall he come. descend from heaven with a shout, Phil. iii 20. angel, and with the trump of God. to be in heaven, because from thence we look for our Saviour the Lord Jesus. Our high-priest is gone up into the Holy of Holies not made with hands, there to make an atonement for us; therefore as the people of Israel stood without the tabernacle, expecting the return of Aaron, so must we look unto 2 Thess. i. 7. the heavens, and expect Christ from thence, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels. We do believe that Christ is set down on the right hand of God; but we must also look upon him, as coming thence, as well as sitting there; and to that purpose Christ himself hath * Bp. Pearson has evidently taken this citation from Martini, Pugio Fidei, p. 634. In the ועד עתיק is read וארו...אתה הוא published text however of the Midrash Tillim, instead of , so that the mention of the Son of Man is omitted. Also for N at the end of the citation, is read 18, which is nonsense. See f. 16, col. 2, ed. Venice, 1546. 64. joined them together, saying, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of Matt. xxvi. man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Thus shall the Saviour of the world come from the right hand of power, in fulness of majesty, from the highest heavens, as a demonstration of his sanctity; that by an undoubted authority and unquestionable integrity, he might appear most fit to judge both the quick and the dead; which is the end of his second coming, and leads me to the third consideration, the act of his judging: From whence shall he come to judge. For the explication of this action, as it stands in this Article, three considerations will be necessary. First, How we may be assured that there is a judgement to come, that any one shall come to judge. Secondly, In case we be assured that there shall be a judgement, how it appeareth that he which is ascended into heaven, that is, that Christ, shall be the judge. Thirdly, In case we can be assured that we shall be judged, and that Christ shall judge us, it will be worthy our inquiry, in what this judgement shall consist, how this action shall be performed: and more than this cannot be necessary to make us understand, that he shall come to judge. That there is a judgement to come after this life, will appear demonstrable, whether we consider ourselves who are to undergo it, or God who is to execute it. If we do but reflect upon the frame and temper of our own spirits, we cannot but collect and conclude from thence, that we are to give an account of our actions, and that a judgement hereafter is to pass upon us. There is in the soul of every man a conscience; and whosoever it is, it giveth testimony to this truth. The antecedent or directive conscience tells us what we are to do, and the subsequent or reflexive conscience warns us what we are to receive. Looking back upon the actions we have done, it either approves or condemns them; and if it did no more, it would only prove that there is a judgement in this life, and every man his own judge. But being it doth not only allow and approve our good actions, but also doth create a complacency, apology, and confidence, in us; being it doth not only disprove and condemn our evil actions, but doth also constantly accuse us, and breed a fearful expectation and terror in us; and all this prescinding from all relation to any thing either to be enjoyed or suffered in this life: it followeth that 16. this conscience is not so much a judge as a witness, bound over to give testimony for or against us, at some judgement Rom. ii. 14- after this life to pass upon us. For all men are a law unto themselves, and have the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or excusing one another, in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men. Gen. xviii. 25. Again, if we consider the God who made us, and hath full 295 dominion over us, whether we look upon him in himself, or in his word, we cannot but expect a judgement from him. First, If we contemplate God in himself, we must acknowledge him Psal. Iviii. 11. to be the Judge of all mankind; so that a man shall say, Verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth. Now the same God who is our judge, is, by an attribute necessary and inseparable, just; and this justice is so essential to his Godhead, that we may as well deny him to be God, as to be just. It was a rational expostulation which Abraham made, Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? We may therefore infallibly conclude that God is a most just judge; and if he be so, we may as infallibly conclude, that after this life he will judge the world in righteousness. For as the affairs of this present world are ordered, though they lie under the disposition of Providence, they shew no sign of an universal justice. The wicked and disobedient persons are often so happy, as if they were rewarded for their impieties; the innocent and religious often so miserable, as if they were punished for their innocency. Nothing more certain, than that in this life rewards are not correspondent to the virtues, punishments not proportionable to the sins, of men. Which consideration will enforce one of these conclusions; either that there is no judge of the actions of mankind; or if there be a judge, he is not just, he renders no proportionable rewards or punishments; or lastly, if there be a judge, and that judge be just, then is there a judgement in another world, and the effects thereof concern another life. Being then we must acknowledge that there is a judge, which judgeth the earth; being we cannot deny but God is that judge, and all must confess that God is most just; being the rewards and punishments of this life are no way answerable to so exact a justice as that which is divine must be: it followeth that there is a judgement yet to come, in which God will shew a perfect demonstration of his justice, |
