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Noah, both Jew and Gentile, Philosopher and Poet, had, from the tradition of an original revelation, a belief in some new period, or era, and that the present degenerate state of things would come to an end. At a time, when iniquity, in an emphatical manner, would universally prevail;-the fear of God be despised ;-his worship wholly contemned;-religion altogether neglected; and the dissolution of order and good government take place, by which great fear should fall on all men, making them weary of all their idle plans of government and happiness, and leading them to look and long for some more perfect state of things-That after great disorder, confusion, and destruction of mankind, a new period should commence, in which the earth should be renewed, and a glorious era begin, when the world, under a divine and universal government, should be renewed and established for ever.

Consonant to all this, and as the substance of which, this has been but the shadow, is the whole system of divine revelation, as contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, as has already been shown.-Christ himself has confirmed it by many express and positive promises and declarations; and his apostles and their successors, under the immediate influences of the divine Spirit, have enforced and explained it-If any one truth, more than another, is insisted upon in the word of God, it is the second personal advent of the risen Saviour, in his glorified human nature, to this our guilty world, accompanied by his saints and angels, to the glory of God the Father.

Polycrates, who flourished in the second century, and was an aged bishop of Asia, in his epistle written to Victor, bishop of Rome, concerning Easter, says, "For in

Asia the great lights are dead (meaning the apostles and first successors after them) who shall be raised again in the day of the Lord's advent, when he shall come with glory from Heaven, and raise up all his saints."*

"We find then, upon the whole," says Edward King, "a positive declaration that the second coming of our Lord, and its consequent effects, shall not be as some have imagined, merely a gradual progressive improvement of human nature, and a regular slow melioration of the state of things on earth produced by that means; but we may learn, that it shall be almost instantaneous, and that, even in the midst of the prevalence of a very great corruption of human nature. And we are still further informed therein, that the great signs of the near approach of our Lord's coming shall be, first, the starting up of false Messiahs and false Christs; or of persons, each one pretending to be the great appointed ruler, concerning whom these prophecies have been delivered. And the appearance of false prophets, or of persons teaching most fallacious doctrines, and pretending to be forerunners of the second approach of the Messiah; and to have authority to interpret, in their own metaphorical manner, what is in Holy Scripture declared, most literally and precisely, concerning his second advent. And that, in the next place, another sign shall be, great trouble and confusion upon earth, in consequence of disobedience to, and contempt of lawful authority, and of the powers of government-And lastly, that notwithstanding all this, in the end, men can never be deceived with regard to what they are to give credit to, relating to this great advent; because in fact, they shall suddenly behold with their

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eyes, the appearance, in the Heavens above, of the glorious approach from on high, of our Lord himself with all his heavenly hosts, which, as they draw near to the earth, will, in consequence of its rotation round its axis, be visible to every region on the whole globe. And finally, we have positive assurance that all this shall really come to pass, whilst the earth continues still in its present state; and whilst the generation of man is dwelling just as it does at present, upon its surface."

This doctrine is greatly confirmed by St. John, when he positively asserts, that at the end of 1000 years from this period, Satan shall be loosed from his prison, again to deceive the nations. Surely, then, this must take place during the present state of things on earth.*

* Some years after writing the foregoing, I accidentally met with the following, from Mr. Warner, on the common prayers of the Church of England. Under the article (Holy Catholic Church in the apostle's creed at evening prayer) he has introduced the following extract from Mr. Carrington, on this subject. "Considering the general state of the Christian Church, from the first hour of its foundation, almost to the present, there doth not appear to have been an interval, when the two affections of Holy and Catholic, have been fairly compatible; and all attempts to reconcile those jarring qualities of sanctity and universality, have only occasioned a constrained and unwarrantable interpretation of the terms. It is too evident that the Church in general (much less the holy Church) hath, as yet, been far from being universal.-From hence expositors have been obliged to recur to partial and figurative constructions; to distant and even sometimes to forced interpretations; in order to support their unnatural solutions with arguments the most specious, many of which tend, at best, to prove how the Church may, with some show of probability, rather than how it necessarily must be termed at once both holy and catholic. But as in Scripture we ought not to recede from the letter, without apparent necessity, so why may not the same rule obtain here? Why should we quit the full and genuine sense of a word, for one partial and emblematical, when it may with safety

and consistency be adhered to? Suppose then we can find a state or time, when the whole of this article, in the plain and literal meaning of the words, shall be found to be strictly true; when this complicated affection shall belong to the Church of Christ by a just and unquestionable right; when both the holy church shall become catholic, and the catholic church shall become holy? Ought we not rather to direct our attention to that, than to any other period wherein we meet with the least difficulty or obstruc tion. In a word, the great mistake seems to lie in referring that to either past or present, which belongs solely and entirely to fu turity. For if there be any force in words; if there is any dependence to be had on the sacred writers, either under the old or new dispensation; we are certainly to expect, even on this side Heaven, a state, an age, a period in which the Church of Christ shall appear in a form, in all respects greatly transcending any it has hitherto enjoyed, when the holy few shall no longer be hid and obscured, amidst a sea of iniquity; no longer seem an undistinguished handful in the midst of a wicked and idolatrous world; no longer be contracted within so narrow a compass, as that even their existence shall seem precarious and uncertain, when, in short, the Church of Christ shall become at once so absolutely catholic, that all shall know Him, from the least even to the greatest; and so universally holy, that every one who is left in Ziox, and who remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called HOLY, even every one who is written among the living. Here then we must seek that Church, which is at once the object of our wishes and of our faith; and that communion of saints, we long so ardently to be joined to -But it will be well worth our while to take a more comprehensive view of this glorious and remarkable period.

To trace the declaration of it, indeed, through all its stages, were to go very far back in the holy Scriptures, since it is certain that it was not absolutely unknown in the first ages-There are evident footsteps of this opinion here and there dispersed in the Chaldee paraphrase, and in the Talmud; and with some few particularities, it is held by the Jews at this day-And indeed, as the learned Mede observes, the second and universal resurrection, with the state of the saints after it, now so clearly revealed in Christianity, seems to have been less known to the ancient Church of the Jews than the first resurrection. There are many passages in the

royal Psalmist, which have an evident tendency this way; and some obscure allusions, some distant hints may be met with, even in the Books of Moses; but the prophets were principally employed in this great discovery, and it engrosses so large a share in their writings, as it were almost endless to transcribe. In short, we can scarcely turn our eye upon any part of them, but it is struck with something which leads us to the expectation of a state of glory and peace, of righteousness and salvation. In a word, a state truly and entirely corresponding to the venerable and expressive title of an Holy Catholic Church.

In what light these several passages of the prophets are to be considered-not to mention the almost unanimous interpretation of the primitive fathers-The Holy Ghost seems himself to have instructed us; for we, saith the apostle, according to His promise, look for new Heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. From whence it is evident, that those prophesies received not their full completion, in the first promulgation of the Gospel, and calling in of the Gentiles; for both these circumstances were actually past, and the Gospel dispensation had taken place when the apostle wrote. Where then are we to trace this promise, but in the above recited remarkable passages ? And what are we to conceive by an earth inhabited by righteousness, but a Church purged from its present gross and numerous abominations, universally clear, pious, holy. And in a word, composed of a pure and entire communion of faith?

That such a period as this, is yet due to the Church of Christ, seems too plain to be denied-But when or where to take place, is a matter of some dispute even among those, who are nevertheless agreed, with regard to the thing in general. But that it certainly will, at some time or other, is quite sufficient for our purpose; and when it does, the Church of Christ will be strictly and truly, in the full and genuine sense of the words, what it never hath been yet, both holy and catholic.-But let us proceed to consider what may give a further light, both into this, and the remaining part of the article.

St. John, as he was to close the succession of Prophets, seems appointed to repeat such of the ancient predictions as were yet to receive their completion; with such further illustration as the shorter distance of their approaching periods rendered necessary.

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