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the God that we are looking for, and Oh that we might be in a continual Expectation, with a Raifedness of Affection, because he will come and fave us. IJaiah xxv. 9. And it shall be faid in that Day; (the Day of his glorious Coming) Lo, this is our God, we have waited for him, and he will fave us: This is the Lord, (the Lord Jesus) we have waited for him, (oh he is worth our waiting for!) we will be glad. (And why? Because this will be the Day of our Redemption :) and therefore we will rejoyce in bis Salvation. Then it fhall be faid (in a peculiar way) among the Heathen, that the Lord reigneth. Let the Heavens rejoyce, the Churches of Chrift, the Saints of the living God, let the Earth be glad: All Creatures fhall and will receive fome Benefit in this bleffed Day of Reftitution, (except wicked Men and Devils;) Let the Sea roar, and the Fulness thereof. If this is to be understood, properly, every Creature, according to its Kind, in the Sea, as well as on the Earth, fhall in that Day, (more than yet they have done) anfwer the End of their Creation. But if figuratively, wicked Men are compared to the troublefome Sea, who never are at Reff, they, inftead of being glad, will roar for Anguifh of Spirit. Let the Field be joyful, and all that is therein, then fhall all the Trees of the Wood rejoice; that is in Refpect of the Plenitude of Fruit which they will bring forth, or the Fruitfulness that will appear in them, when the Curfe fall be taken off of all the Earth, and the Earth reftored to its Paradiffical State. Then Joy will fpread it felf as the Wings of the Morning Light, over all the Works of his Hands, for this foy is faid to be before the Lord; and what is the Reafon of

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all this, for he (that is, the Lord Fefus Chrift, this God) cometh, for he cometh; (twice expreffed, to fhew the Certainty of it) but what does he come for? To judge the Earth; be fhall judge the World with Righteousness, and the People with his Truth; Pfalm xcvi. 10, 11, 12, 13. How full is the New Teftament for the Proof of this, Mark xiii 26. And then fhall they fee the Son of Man Coming in the Clouds with great Power and Glory. Yea, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, they all fpeak of it. Rev. i. Behold be cometh in the Clouds, and every Eye fhall fee bim. This is the Perfon that the Spirit of God directs us to look unto, both in the Old and New Teftament; this is the Lord thy God that fhall come, and all the Saints with him; that is, with Jefus Chrif. This brings me to the fecond Particular.

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Secondly, Who they be that fhall come with him and that is, all the Saints. It is true, the Angels fhall come along with Chrift at that Time; as it is in 2 Ep. of Theff. ii. 7. But they are not made mention of in this Place, to fhew that his Coming is upon the Account, and for the Glory of his People. Well then! It is the Saints, the Children of God, that fhall come with him, not fome of them, but all, as it is in the Text; The Lord thy God fhall come, and all the Saints with thee. Not one will be left behind, but they fhall all come with him, all that are interested in Chrift, all that have a Part in the firft Refurrection; not only thofe that are dead, or fleep in Jefus, hall God bring with him, but the living Saints too, fuch that fhall be found alive when Chrift cometh, they shall be changed in a Moment, in the Twinkling Q

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of an Eye. Behold, I fhew you a Mystery; we shall not all fleep, but we shall be changed in a Moment, &c. Then the Dead fhall be raised incorruptible, and we (that are living) fhall be changed. The fame we find in 1 Theff.iv. 15. For this we fay unto you by the Word of the Lord, (therefore moft certainly true) that we which are alive, and remain unto the Coming of the Lord, fhall not prevent (or hinder) them which are afleep (How doth this appear') it followeth, for the Lord himself fhall defcend from Heaven with a Shout, with the Voice of the Archangel, and with the Trump of God, and the Dead in Chrift hall rife firft. In thefe Words we may obferve, 1. That the Lord Jefus will come himself, not a Deputy in his room. 2. He will come with a Shout fo loud as will be heard all the World over, yea and those that are in the Grave, or at the Bottom of the Sea, and have been there for hundreds or thousands of Years, fhall hear it, and come forth The fame is fignified by the Voice of the Archangel, and the Trump of God. 3. The Dead in Chrift fhall rife firft: That is, the rifing of the one, and the changing of the other, will be, before the wicked rife, for there is no mention made of their rifing at this Time in neither of these two Texts. But to come to the 16th Verfe, Then we which are alive and remain, fhall be caught up together with them (that are raised) in the Clouds to meet the Lord in the Air, and fo fhall we ever be with the Lord; never fhall Chrift and the Saints part, after this bleffed Meeting. Chrift is faid to come in the Clouds, there it is that the Saints fhall meet him, both the Dead raised, and the Living changed. They fhall be caught up together

in the Clouds. What to do? To ftay with Chrift in the Clouds, do we think? Surely no. But that they may come along with him, according to this Text: Then when all the Saints are gathered together, and the whole myftical Body of Chrift is compleated; then it is that they fhall be all caught up in the Clouds to meet the Lord in the Air; not to continue, but to come along with him. And fo the Words will be fulfilled in the largest Extent that they can be taken in; And the Lord thy God Shall come, and all the Saints with thee.

Thirdly, From whence it is that Chrift will come, and that is from Heaven; I mean in Respect of that Place which we call Heaven, that is, the Imperial Heaven, and in the Scripture is called the third Heaven; otherwife he will not come from Heaven, because he brings Heaven alone with him; yea, it is his glorious Prefence that makes Heaven, and where Chrift is in his Glory, there Heaven may be faid to be. Now that Chrift, when he comes in the Clouds with Power and great Glory, will come from Heaven under the firft Confi-. deration, is very clear from many Scriptures: I fhall mention but two, and fo pafs on; Ads iii. 20, 21. And he fhall fend Jefus Chrift, which before was preached unto you: whom the Heaven must receive until the Times of Reftitution of all Things, which God hath Spoken by the Mouth of all his holy Prophets fince the World began. There I fhall obferve that Chrift will not come again in Perfon, until he is fent by the Father; but at the Time which the Father hath appointed, he shall fend him. And from whence will he fend him? Why, from Heaven, where he now is in his Perfonal Glory; therefore the Heavens must receive him until then,

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whom the Heaven must receive. They did receive. him at his Afcenfion, after he had compleated the Work of our Redemption: But how long muft they receive, or retain him? Until the Times of the Reftitution of all Things, until that Time, and no longer; then it is that he will come from Heaven. Again, Matt. xxiv. 30. And then hall appear the Sign of the Son of Man in Heaven. Then, or immediately upon his Coming, will appear the Sign of the Son of Man in Heaven, the Place from whence he is to come. What this Sign will be, whether the Wrath of God, which fhall at that Time be revealed from Heaven, against all Ungodlinefs; Or the Fire and Conflagration of the last Day, which will appear in the Heavens; I fhall not determine: It follows then; fhall the Tribes of the Earth mourn; that is, all the wicked that fhall be found living upon the Earth at that Time? And they fhall fee the Son of Man coming in the Clouds with Power and great Glory. His Coming in the Clouds does fhew that he will come from Heaven. Thus we fee then the Place from whence it is that Chrift will come. But,

Fourthly, The Place where he will come, and that is upon this Earth. Zech. xiv. 4. And his Feet fhall ftand in that Day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerufalem on the Eaft, &c. His Feet, that is, Chrift's Feet: None can deny but that this is fpoke of him.

Secondly, The Time when his Feet is to ftand upon Mount Olives; it is, in that Day; not the Day of his firft, but at the Time of his fecond Coming; which does fufficiently appear from the wonderful Effects that are to follow, at the Time

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