<h2><SPAN name="link2HCH0038" id="link2HCH0038"></SPAN> CHAPTER XXXVIII.<br/>OF THE SIGNIFICATION IN SCRIPTURE OF ETERNALL LIFE, HELL, SALVATION, THE WORLD TO COME, AND REDEMPTION </h2>
<p>The maintenance of Civill Society, depending on Justice; and Justice on
the power of Life and Death, and other lesse Rewards and Punishments,
residing in them that have the Soveraignty of the Common-wealth; It is
impossible a Common-wealth should stand, where any other than the
Soveraign, hath a power of giving greater rewards than Life; and of
inflicting greater punishments than Death. Now seeing Eternall Life is a
greater reward, than the Life Present; and Eternall Torment a greater
punishment than the Death of Nature; It is a thing worthy to be well
considered, of all men that desire (by obeying Authority) to avoid the
calamities of Confusion, and Civill war, what is meant in Holy Scripture,
by Life Eternall, and Torment Eternall; and for what offences, against
whom committed, men are to be Eternally Tormented; and for what actions,
they are to obtain Eternall Life.</p>
<h3><SPAN name="link2H_4_0520" id="link2H_4_0520"></SPAN> Place Of Adams Eternity If He Had Not Sinned, The Terrestrial Paradise </h3>
<p>And first we find, that Adam was created in such a condition of life, as
had he not broken the commandement of God, he had enjoyed it in the
Paradise of Eden Everlastingly. For there was the Tree of Life; whereof he
was so long allowed to eat, as he should forbear to eat of the tree of
Knowledge of Good an Evill; which was not allowed him. And therefore as
soon as he had eaten of it, God thrust him out of Paradise, “lest he
should put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and live for
ever.” (Gen. 3. 22.) By which it seemeth to me, (with submission
neverthelesse both in this, and in all questions, whereof the
determination dependeth on the Scriptures, to the interpretation of the
Bible authorized by the Common-wealth, whose Subject I am,) that Adam if
he had not sinned, had had an Eternall Life on Earth: and that Mortality
entred upon himself, and his posterity, by his first Sin. Not that actuall
Death then entred; for Adam then could never have had children; whereas he
lived long after, and saw a numerous posterity ere he dyed. But where it
is said, “In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die,” it
must needs bee meant of his Mortality, and certitude of death. Seeing then
Eternall life was lost by Adams forfeiture, in committing sin, he that
should cancell that forfeiture was to recover thereby, that Life again.
Now Jesus Christ hath satisfied for the sins of all that beleeve in him;
and therefore recovered to all beleevers, that ETERNALL LIFE, which was
lost by the sin of Adam. And in this sense it is, that the comparison of
St. Paul holdeth (Rom. 5.18, 19.) “As by the offence of one, Judgment came
upon all men to condemnation, even so by the righteousnesse of one, the
free gift came upon all men to Justification of Life.” Which is again (1
Cor. 15.21,22) more perspicuously delivered in these words, “For since by
man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in
Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”</p>
<h3><SPAN name="link2H_4_0521" id="link2H_4_0521"></SPAN> Texts Concerning The Place Of Life Eternall For Beleevers </h3>
<p>Concerning the place wherein men shall enjoy that Eternall Life, which
Christ hath obtained for them, the texts next before alledged seem to make
it on Earth. For if as in Adam, all die, that is, have forfeited Paradise,
and Eternall Life on Earth; even so in Christ all shall be made alive;
then all men shall be made to live on Earth; for else the comparison were
not proper. Hereunto seemeth to agree that of the Psalmist, (Psal. 133.3.)
“Upon Zion God commanded the blessing, even Life for evermore;” for Zion,
is in Jerusalem, upon Earth: as also that of S. Joh. (Rev. 2.7.) “To him
that overcommeth I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the
midst of the Paradise of God.” This was the tree of Adams Eternall life;
but his life was to have been on Earth. The same seemeth to be confirmed
again by St. Joh. (Rev. 21.2.) where he saith, “I John saw the Holy City,
New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a Bride
adorned for her husband:” and again v. 10. to the same effect: As if he
should say, the new Jerusalem, the Paradise of God, at the coming again of
Christ, should come down to Gods people from Heaven, and not they goe up
to it from Earth. And this differs nothing from that, which the two men in
white clothing (that is, the two Angels) said to the Apostles, that were
looking upon Christ ascending (Acts 1.11.) “This same Jesus, who is taken
up from you into Heaven, shall so come, as you have seen him go up into
Heaven.” Which soundeth as if they had said, he should come down to govern
them under his Father, Eternally here; and not take them up to govern them
in Heaven; and is conformable to the Restauration of the Kingdom of God,
instituted under Moses; which was a Political government of the Jews on
Earth. Again, that saying of our Saviour (Mat. 22.30.) “that in the
Resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the
Angels of God in heaven,” is a description of an Eternall Life, resembling
that which we lost in Adam in the point of Marriage. For seeing Adam, and
Eve, if they had not sinned, had lived on Earth Eternally, in their
individuall persons; it is manifest, they should not continually have
procreated their kind. For if Immortals should have generated, as Mankind
doth now; the Earth in a small time, would not have been able to afford
them a place to stand on. The Jews that asked our Saviour the question,
whose wife the woman that had married many brothers, should be, in the
resurrection, knew not what were the consequences of Immortality; that
there shal be no Generation, and consequently no marriage, no more than
there is Marriage, or generation among the Angels. The comparison between
that Eternall life which Adam lost, and our Saviour by his Victory over
death hath recovered; holdeth also in this, that as Adam lost Eternall
Life by his sin, and yet lived after it for a time; so the faithful
Christian hath recovered Eternal Life by Christs passion, though he die a
natural death, and remaine dead for a time; namely, till the Resurrection.
For as Death is reckoned from the Condemnation of Adam, not from the
Execution; so life is reckoned from the Absolution, not from the
Resurrection of them that are elected in Christ.</p>
<h3><SPAN name="link2H_4_0522" id="link2H_4_0522"></SPAN> Ascension Into Heaven </h3>
<p>That the place wherein men are to live Eternally, after the Resurrection,
is the Heavens, meaning by Heaven, those parts of the world, which are the
most remote from Earth, as where the stars are, or above the stars, in
another Higher Heaven, called Caelum Empyreum, (whereof there is no
mention in Scripture, nor ground in Reason) is not easily to be drawn from
any text that I can find. By the Kingdome of Heaven, is meant the Kingdome
of the King that dwelleth in Heaven; and his Kingdome was the people of
Israel, whom he ruled by the Prophets his Lieutenants, first Moses, and
after him Eleazar, and the Soveraign Priests, till in the days of Samuel
they rebelled, and would have a mortall man for their King, after the
manner of other Nations. And when our Saviour Christ, by the preaching of
his Ministers, shall have perswaded the Jews to return, and called the
Gentiles to his obedience, then shall there be a new Kingdome of Heaven,
because our King shall then be God, whose Throne is Heaven; without any
necessity evident in the Scripture, that man shall ascend to his
happinesse any higher than Gods Footstool the Earth. On the contrary, we
find written (Joh. 3.13.) that “no man hath ascended into Heaven, but he
that came down from Heaven, even the Son of man, that is in Heaven.” Where
I observe by the way, that these words are not, as those which go
immediately before, the words of our Saviour, but of St. John himself; for
Christ was then not in Heaven, but upon the Earth. The like is said of
David (Acts 2.34.) where St. Peter, to prove the Ascension of Christ,
using the words of the Psalmist, (Psal. 16.10.) “Thou wilt not leave my
soule in Hell, nor suffer thine Holy one to see corruption,” saith, they
were spoken (not of David, but) of Christ; and to prove it, addeth this
Reason, “For David is not ascended into Heaven.” But to this a man may
easily answer, and say, that though their bodies were not to ascend till
the generall day of Judgment, yet their souls were in Heaven as soon as
they were departed from their bodies; which also seemeth to be confirmed
by the words of our Saviour (Luke 20.37,38.) who proving the Resurrection
out of the word of Moses, saith thus, “That the dead are raised, even
Moses shewed, at the bush, when he calleth the Lord, the God of Abraham,
and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. For he is not a God of the
Dead, but of the Living; for they all live to him.” But if these words be
to be understood only of the Immortality of the Soul, they prove not at
all that which our Saviour intended to prove, which was the Resurrection
of the Body, that is to say, the Immortality of the Man. Therefore our
Saviour meaneth, that those Patriarchs were Immortall; not by a property
consequent to the essence, and nature of mankind, but by the will of God,
that was pleased of his mere grace, to bestow Eternall Life upon the
faithfull. And though at that time the Patriarchs and many other faithfull
men were Dead, yet as it is in the text, they Lived To God; that is, they
were written in the Book of Life with them that were absolved of their
sinnes, and ordained to Life eternall at the Resurrection. That the Soul
of man is in its own nature Eternall, and a living Creature independent on
the Body; or that any meer man is Immortall, otherwise than by the
Resurrection in the last day, (except Enos and Elias,) is a doctrine not
apparent in Scripture. The whole 14. Chapter of Job, which is the speech
not of his friends, but of himselfe, is a complaint of this Mortality of
Nature; and yet no contradiction of the Immortality at the Resurrection.
“There is hope of a tree,” (saith hee verse 7.) “if it be cast down,
Though the root thereof wax old, and the stock thereof die in the ground,
yet when it scenteth the water it will bud, and bring forth boughes like a
Plant. But man dyeth, and wasteth away, yea, man giveth up the Ghost, and
where is he?” and (verse 12.) “man lyeth down, and riseth not, till the
heavens be no more.” But when is it, that the heavens shall be no more?
St. Peter tells us, that it is at the generall Resurrection. For in his 2.
Epistle, 3. Chapter, and 7. verse, he saith, that “the Heavens and the
Earth that are now, are reserved unto fire against the day of Judgment,
and perdition of ungodly men,” and (verse 12.) “looking for, and hasting
to the comming of God, wherein the Heavens shall be on fire, and shall be
dissolved, and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat. Neverthelesse,
we according to the promise look for new Heavens, and a new Earth, wherein
dwelleth righteousnesse.” Therefore where Job saith, man riseth not till
the Heavens be no more; it is all one, as if he had said, the Immortall
Life (and Soule and Life in the Scripture, do usually signifie the same
thing) beginneth not in man, till the Resurrection, and day of Judgment;
and hath for cause, not his specificall nature, and generation; but the
Promise. For St. Peter saies not, “Wee look for new heavens, and a new
earth, (from Nature) but from Promise.”</p>
<p>Lastly, seeing it hath been already proved out of divers evident places of
Scripture, in the 35. chapter of this book, that the Kingdom of God is a
Civil Common-wealth, where God himself is Soveraign, by vertue first of
the Old, and since of the New Covenant, wherein he reigneth by his Vicar,
or Lieutenant; the same places do therefore also prove, that after the
comming again of our Saviour in his Majesty, and glory, to reign actually,
and Eternally; the Kingdom of God is to be on Earth. But because this
doctrine (though proved out of places of Scripture not few, nor obscure)
will appear to most men a novelty; I doe but propound it; maintaining
nothing in this, or any other paradox of Religion; but attending the end
of that dispute of the sword, concerning the Authority, (not yet amongst
my Countrey-men decided,) by which all sorts of doctrine are to bee
approved, or rejected; and whose commands, both in speech, and writing,
(whatsoever be the opinions of private men) must by all men, that mean to
be protected by their Laws, be obeyed. For the points of doctrine
concerning the Kingdome (of) God, have so great influence on the Kingdome
of Man, as not to be determined, but by them, that under God have the
Soveraign Power.</p>
<h3><SPAN name="link2H_4_0523" id="link2H_4_0523"></SPAN> The Place After Judgment, Of Those Who Were Never In The Kingdome Of God, Or Having Been In, Are Cast Out </h3>
<p>As the Kingdome of God, and Eternall Life, so also Gods Enemies, and their
Torments after Judgment, appear by the Scripture, to have their place on
Earth. The name of the place, where all men remain till the Resurrection,
that were either buryed, or swallowed up of the Earth, is usually called
in Scripture, by words that signifie Under Ground; which the Latines read
generally Infernus, and Inferni, and the Greeks Hades; that is to say, a
place where men cannot see; and containeth as well the Grave, as any other
deeper place. But for the place of the damned after the Resurrection, it
is not determined, neither in the Old, nor New Testament, by any note of
situation; but onely by the company: as that it shall bee, where such
wicked men were, as God in former times in extraordinary, and miraculous
manner, had destroyed from off the face of the Earth: As for Example, that
they are in Inferno, in Tartarus, or in the bottomelesse pit; because
Corah, Dathan, and Abirom, were swallowed up alive into the earth. Not
that the Writers of the Scripture would have us beleeve, there could be in
the globe of the Earth, which is not only finite, but also (compared to
the height of the Stars) of no considerable magnitude, a pit without a
bottome; that is, a hole of infinite depth, such as the Greeks in their
Daemonologie (that is to say, in their doctrine concerning Daemons,) and
after them, the Romans called Tartarus; of which Virgill sayes,</p>
<p class="poem">
Bis patet in præceps, tantem tendítque sub umbras,<br/>
Quantus ad æthereum cœli suspectus Olympum:</p>
<p class="noindent">
for that is a thing the proportion of Earth to Heaven cannot bear: but
that wee should beleeve them there, indefinitely, where those men are, on
whom God inflicted that Exemplary punnishment.</p>
<h3><SPAN name="link2H_4_0524" id="link2H_4_0524"></SPAN> The Congregation Of Giants </h3>
<p>Again, because those mighty men of the Earth, that lived in the time of
Noah, before the floud, (which the Greeks called Heroes, and the Scripture
Giants, and both say, were begotten, by copulation of the children of God,
with the children of men,) were for their wicked life destroyed by the
generall deluge; the place of the Damned, is therefore also sometimes
marked out, by the company of those deceased Giants; as Proverbs 21.16.
“The man that wandreth out of the way of understanding, shall remain in
the congregation of the Giants,” and Job 26.5. “Behold the Giants groan
under water, and they that dwell with them.” Here the place of the Damned,
is under the water. And Isaiah 14.9. “Hell is troubled how to meet thee,”
(that is, the King of Babylon) “and will displace the Giants for thee:”
and here again the place of the Damned, (if the sense be literall,) is to
be under water.</p>
<h3><SPAN name="link2H_4_0525" id="link2H_4_0525"></SPAN> Lake Of Fire </h3>
<p>Thirdly, because the Cities of Sodom, and Gomorrah, by the extraordinary
wrath of God, were consumed for their wickednesse with Fire and Brimstone,
and together with them the countrey about made a stinking bituminous Lake;
the place of the Damned is sometimes expressed by Fire, and a Fiery Lake:
as in the Apocalypse ch.21.8. “But the timorous, incredulous, and
abominable, and Murderers, and Whoremongers, and Sorcerers, and Idolators,
and all Lyars, shall have their part in the Lake that burneth with Fire,
and Brimstone; which is the second Death.” So that it is manifest, that
Hell Fire, which is here expressed by Metaphor, from the reall Fire of
Sodome, signifieth not any certain kind, or place of Torment; but is to be
taken indefinitely, for Destruction, as it is in the 20. Chapter, at the
14. verse; where it is said, that “Death and Hell were cast into the Lake
of Fire;” that is to say, were abolished, and destroyed; as if after the
day of Judgment, there shall be no more Dying, nor no more going into
Hell; that is, no more going to Hades (from which word perhaps our word
Hell is derived,) which is the same with no more Dying.</p>
<h3><SPAN name="link2H_4_0526" id="link2H_4_0526"></SPAN> Utter Darknesse </h3>
<p>Fourthly, from the Plague of Darknesse inflicted on the Egyptians, of
which it is written (Exod. 10.23.) “They saw not one another, neither rose
any man from his place for three days; but all the Children of Israel had
light in their dwellings;” the place of the wicked after Judgment, is
called Utter Darknesse, or (as it is in the originall) Darknesse Without.
And so it is expressed (Mat. 22.13.) where the King commandeth his
Servants, “to bind hand and foot the man that had not on his Wedding
garment, and to cast him out,” Eis To Skotos To Exoteron, Externall
Darknesse, or Darknesse Without: which though translated Utter Darknesse,
does not signifie How Great, but Where that darknesse is to be; namely,
Without The Habitation of Gods Elect.</p>
<h3><SPAN name="link2H_4_0527" id="link2H_4_0527"></SPAN> Gehenna, And Tophet </h3>
<p>Lastly, whereas there was a place neer Jerusalem, called the Valley of the
Children of Hinnon; in a part whereof, called Tophet, the Jews had
committed most grievous Idolatry, sacrificing their children to the Idol
Moloch; and wherein also God had afflicted his enemies with most grievous
punishments; and wherein Josias had burnt the Priests of Moloch upon their
own Altars, as appeareth at large in the 2 of Kings chap. 23. the place
served afterwards, to receive the filth, and garbage which was carried
thither, out of the City; and there used to be fires made, from time to
time, to purifie the aire, and take away the stench of Carrion. From this
abominable place, the Jews used ever after to call the place of the
Damned, by the name of Gehenna, or Valley of Hinnon. And this Gehenna, is
that word, which is usually now translated HELL; and from the fires from
time to time there burning, we have the notion of Everlasting, and
Unquenchable Fire.</p>
<h3><SPAN name="link2H_4_0528" id="link2H_4_0528"></SPAN> Of The Literall Sense Of The Scripture Concerning Hell </h3>
<p>Seeing now there is none, that so interprets the Scripture, as that after
the day of Judgment, the wicked are all Eternally to be punished in the
Valley of Hinnon; or that they shall so rise again, as to be ever after
under ground, or under water; or that after the Resurrection, they shall
no more see one another; nor stir from one place to another; it followeth,
me thinks, very necessarily, that that which is thus said concerning Hell
Fire, is spoken metaphorically; and that therefore there is a proper sense
to bee enquired after, (for of all Metaphors there is some reall ground,
that may be expressed in proper words) both of the Place of Hell, and the
nature of Hellish Torment, and Tormenters.</p>
<h3><SPAN name="link2H_4_0529" id="link2H_4_0529"></SPAN> Satan, Devill, Not Proper Names, But Appellatives </h3>
<p>And first for the Tormenters, wee have their nature, and properties,
exactly and properly delivered by the names of, The Enemy, or Satan; The
Accuser, or Diabolus; The Destroyer, or Abbadon. Which significant names,
Satan, Devill, Abbadon, set not forth to us any Individuall person, as
proper names use to doe; but onely an office, or quality; and are
therefore Appellatives; which ought not to have been left untranslated, as
they are, in the Latine, and Modern Bibles; because thereby they seem to
be the proper names of Daemons; and men are the more easily seduced to
beleeve the doctrine of Devills; which at that time was the Religion of
the Gentiles, and contrary to that of Moses, and of Christ.</p>
<p>And because by the Enemy, the Accuser, and Destroyer, is meant, the Enemy
of them that shall be in the Kingdome of God; therefore if the Kingdome of
God after the Resurrection, bee upon the Earth, (as in the former Chapter
I have shewn by Scripture it seems to be,) The Enemy, and his Kingdome
must be on Earth also. For so also was it, in the time before the Jews had
deposed God. For Gods Kingdome was in Palestine; and the Nations round
about, were the Kingdomes of the Enemy; and consequently by Satan, is
meant any Earthly Enemy of the Church.</p>
<h3><SPAN name="link2H_4_0530" id="link2H_4_0530"></SPAN> Torments Of Hell </h3>
<p>The Torments of Hell, are expressed sometimes, by “weeping, and gnashing
of teeth,” as Mat. 8.12. Sometimes, by “the worm of Conscience;” as
Isa.66.24. and Mark 9.44, 46, 48; sometimes, by Fire, as in the place now
quoted, “where the worm dyeth not, and the fire is not quenched,” and many
places beside: sometimes by “Shame, and contempt,” as Dan. 12.2. “And many
of them that sleep in the dust of the Earth, shall awake; some to
Everlasting life; and some to shame, and everlasting contempt.” All which
places design metaphorically a grief, and discontent of mind, from the
sight of that Eternall felicity in others, which they themselves through
their own incredulity, and disobedience have lost. And because such
felicity in others, is not sensible but by comparison with their own
actuall miseries; it followeth that they are to suffer such bodily paines,
and calamities, as are incident to those, who not onely live under evill
and cruell Governours, but have also for Enemy, the Eternall King of the
Saints, God Almighty. And amongst these bodily paines, is to be reckoned
also to every one of the wicked a second Death. For though the Scripture
bee clear for an universall Resurrection; yet wee do not read, that to any
of the Reprobate is promised an Eternall life. For whereas St. Paul (1
Cor. 15.42, 43.) to the question concerning what bodies men shall rise
with again, saith, that “the body is sown in corruption, and is raised in
incorruption; It is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory; it is sown
in weaknesse, it is raised in power;” Glory and Power cannot be applyed to
the bodies of the wicked: Nor can the name of Second Death, bee applyed to
those that can never die but once: And although in Metaphoricall speech, a
Calamitous life Everlasting, may bee called an Everlasting Death yet it
cannot well be understood of a Second Death. The fire prepared for the
wicked, is an Everlasting Fire: that is to say, the estate wherein no man
can be without torture, both of body and mind, after the Resurrection,
shall endure for ever; and in that sense the Fire shall be unquenchable,
and the torments Everlasting: but it cannot thence be inferred, that hee
who shall be cast into that fire, or be tormented with those torments,
shall endure, and resist them so, as to be eternally burnt, and tortured,
and yet never be destroyed, nor die. And though there be many places that
affirm Everlasting Fire, and Torments (into which men may be cast
successively one after another for ever;) yet I find none that affirm
there shall bee an Eternall Life therein of any individuall person; but on
the contrary, an Everlasting Death, which is the Second Death: (Apoc. 20.
13,14.) “For after Death, and the Grave shall have delivered up the dead
which were in them, and every man be judged according to his works; Death
and the Grave shall also be cast into the Lake of Fire. This is the Second
Death.” Whereby it is evident, that there is to bee a Second Death of
every one that shall bee condemned at the day of Judgement, after which
hee shall die no more.</p>
<h3><SPAN name="link2H_4_0531" id="link2H_4_0531"></SPAN> The Joyes Of Life Eternall, And Salvation The Same Thing, Salvation From Sin, And From Misery, All One </h3>
<p>The joyes of Life Eternall, are in Scripture comprehended all under the
name of SALVATION, or Being Saved. To be saved, is to be secured, either
respectively, against speciall Evills, or absolutely against all Evill,
comprehending Want, Sicknesse, and Death it self. And because man was
created in a condition Immortall, not subject to corruption, and
consequently to nothing that tendeth to the dissolution of his nature; and
fell from that happinesse by the sin of Adam; it followeth, that to be
Saved From Sin, is to be saved from all the Evill, and Calamities that
Sinne hath brought upon us. And therefore in the Holy Scripture, Remission
of Sinne, and Salvation from Death and Misery, is the same thing, as it
appears by the words of our Saviour, who having cured a man sick of the
Palsey, by saying, (Mat. 9.2.) “Son be of good cheer, thy Sins be forgiven
thee;” and knowing that the Scribes took for blasphemy, that a man should
pretend to forgive Sins, asked them (v.5.) “whether it were easier to say,
Thy Sinnes be forgiven thee, or, Arise and walk;” signifying thereby, that
it was all one, as to the saving of the sick, to say, “Thy Sins are
forgiven,” and “Arise and walk;” and that he used that form of speech,
onely to shew he had power to forgive Sins. And it is besides evident in
reason, that since Death and Misery, were the punishments of Sin, the
discharge of Sinne, must also be a discharge of Death and Misery; that is
to say, Salvation absolute, such as the faithfull are to enjoy after the
day of Judgment, by the power, and favour of Jesus Christ, who for that
cause is called our SAVIOUR.</p>
<p>Concerning Particular Salvations, such as are understood, 1 Sam. 14.39.
“as the Lord liveth that saveth Israel,” that is, from their temporary
enemies, and 2 Sam. 22.4. “Thou art my Saviour, thou savest me from
violence;” and 2 Kings 13.5. “God gave the Israelites a Saviour, and so
they were delivered from the hand of the Assyrians,” and the like, I need
say nothing; there being neither difficulty, nor interest, to corrupt the
interpretation of texts of that kind.</p>
<h3><SPAN name="link2H_4_0532" id="link2H_4_0532"></SPAN> The Place Of Eternall Salvation </h3>
<p>But concerning the Generall Salvation, because it must be in the Kingdome
of Heaven, there is great difficulty concerning the Place. On one side, by
Kingdome (which is an estate ordained by men for their perpetuall security
against enemies, and want) it seemeth that this Salvation should be on
Earth. For by Salvation is set forth unto us, a glorious Reign of our
King, by Conquest; not a safety by Escape: and therefore there where we
look for Salvation, we must look also for Triumph; and before Triumph, for
Victory; and before Victory, for Battell; which cannot well be supposed,
shall be in Heaven. But how good soever this reason may be, I will not
trust to it, without very evident places of Scripture. The state of
Salvation is described at large, Isaiah, 33. ver. 20,21,22,23,24.</p>
<p>“Look upon Zion, the City of our solemnities, thine eyes shall see
Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down;
not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of
the cords thereof be broken.</p>
<p>But there the glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers, and
streams; wherein shall goe no Gally with oares; neither shall gallant ship
passe thereby.</p>
<p>For the Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our Lawgiver, the Lord is our King,
he will save us.</p>
<p>Thy tacklings are loosed; they could not well strengthen their mast; they
could not spread the sail: then is the prey of a great spoil divided; the
lame take the prey.</p>
<p>And the Inhabitant shall not say, I am sicke; the people that shall dwell
therein shall be forgiven their Iniquity.”</p>
<p>In which words wee have the place from whence Salvation is to proceed,
“Jerusalem, a quiet habitation;” the Eternity of it, “a tabernacle that
shall not be taken down,” &c. The Saviour of it, “the Lord, their
Judge, their Lawgiver, their King, he will save us;” the Salvation, “the
Lord shall be to them as a broad mote of swift waters,” &c. the
condition of their Enemies, “their tacklings are loose, their masts weake,
the lame shal take the spoil of them.” The condition of the Saved, “The
Inhabitants shall not say, I am sick:” And lastly, all this is
comprehended in Forgivenesse of sin, “The people that dwell therein shall
be forgiven their iniquity.” By which it is evident, that Salvation shall
be on Earth, then, when God shall reign, (at the coming again of Christ)
in Jerusalem; and from Jerusalem shall proceed the Salvation of the
Gentiles that shall be received into Gods Kingdome; as is also more
expressely declared by the same Prophet, Chap. 66.20, 21. “And they,”
(that is, the Gentiles who had any Jew in bondage) “shall bring all your
brethren, for an offering to the Lord, out of all nations, upon horses,
and in charets, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to
my holy mountain, Jerusalem, saith the Lord, as the Children of Israel
bring an offering in a clean vessell into the House of the Lord. And I
will also take of them for Priests and for Levites, saith the Lord:”
Whereby it is manifest, that the chief seat of Gods Kingdome (which is the
Place, from whence the Salvation of us that were Gentiles, shall proceed)
shall be Jerusalem; And the same is also confirmed by our Saviour, in his
discourse with the woman of Samaria, concerning the place of Gods worship;
to whom he saith, John 4.22. that the Samaritans worshipped they know not
what, but the Jews worship what they knew, “For Salvation is of the Jews
(Ex Judais, that is, begins at the Jews): as if he should say, you worship
God, but know not by whom he wil save you, as we doe, that know it shall
be one of the tribe of Judah, a Jew, not a Samaritan. And therefore also
the woman not impertinently answered him again, “We know the Messias shall
come.” So that which our saviour saith, “Salvation is from the Jews,” is
the same that Paul sayes (Rom. 1.16,17.) “The Gospel is the power of God
to Salvation to every one that beleeveth; To the Jew first, and also to
the Greek. For therein is the righteousnesse of God revealed from faith to
faith;” from the faith of the Jew, to the faith of the Gentile. In the
like sense the Prophet Joel describing the day of Judgment, (chap.
2.30,31.) that God would “shew wonders in heaven, and in earth, bloud, and
fire, and pillars of smoak. The Sun should be turned to darknesse, and the
Moon into bloud, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come,” he
addeth verse 32. “and it shall come to passe, that whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved. For in Mount Zion, and in
Jerusalem shall be Salvation.” And Obadiah verse 17 saith the same, “Upon
Mount Zion shall be Deliverance; and there shall be holinesse, and the
house of Jacob shall possesse their possessions,” that is, the possessions
of the Heathen, which possessions he expresseth more particularly in the
following verses, by the Mount of Esau, the Land of the Philistines, the
Fields of Ephraim, of Samaria, Gilead, and the Cities of the South, and
concludes with these words, “the Kingdom shall be the Lords.” All these
places are for Salvation, and the Kingdome of God (after the day of
Judgement) upon Earth. On the other side, I have not found any text that
can probably be drawn, to prove any Ascension of the Saints into Heaven;
that is to say, into any Coelum Empyreum, or other aetheriall Region;
saving that it is called the Kingdome of Heaven; which name it may have,
because God, that was King of the Jews, governed them by his commands,
sent to Moses by Angels from Heaven, to reduce them to their obedience;
and shall send him thence again, to rule both them, and all other
faithfull men, from the day of Judgment, Everlastingly: or from that, that
the Throne of this our Great King is in Heaven; whereas the Earth is but
his Footstoole. But that the Subjects of God should have any place as high
as his throne, or higher than his Footstoole, it seemeth not sutable to
the dignity of a King, nor can I find any evident text for it in holy
Scripture.</p>
<p>From this that hath been said of the Kingdom of God, and of Salvation, it
is not hard to interpret, what is meant by the WORLD TO COME. There are
three worlds mentioned in Scripture, the Old World, the Present World, and
the World to Come. Of the first, St. Peter speaks, (2 Pet. 2.5.) “If God
spared not the Old World, but saved Noah the eighth person, a Preacher of
righteousnesse, bringing the flood upon the world of the ungodly,” &c.
So the First World, was from Adam to the generall Flood. Of the present
World, our Saviour speaks (John 18.36.) “My Kingdome is not of this
World.” For he came onely to teach men the way of Salvation, and to renew
the Kingdome of his Father, by his doctrine. Of the World to come, St.
Peter speaks, (2 Pet. 3. 13.) “Neverthelesse we according to his promise
look for new Heavens, and a new Earth.” This is that WORLD, wherein Christ
coming down from Heaven, in the clouds, with great power, and glory, shall
send his Angels, and shall gather together his elect, from the four winds,
and from the uttermost parts of the Earth, and thence forth reign over
them, (under his Father) Everlastingly.</p>
<h3><SPAN name="link2H_4_0533" id="link2H_4_0533"></SPAN> Redemption </h3>
<p>Salvation of a sinner, supposeth a precedent REDEMPTION; for he that is
once guilty of Sin, is obnoxious to the Penalty of the same; and must pay
(or some other for him) such Ransome, as he that is offended, and has him
in his power, shall require. And seeing the person offended, is Almighty
God, in whose power are all things; such Ransome is to be paid before
Salvation can be acquired, as God hath been pleased to require. By this
Ransome, is not intended a satisfaction for Sin, equivalent to the
Offence, which no sinner for himselfe, nor righteous man can ever be able
to make for another; The dammage a man does to another, he may make amends
for by restitution, or recompence, but sin cannot be taken away by
recompence; for that were to make the liberty to sin, a thing vendible.
But sins may bee pardoned to the repentant, either Gratis, or upon such
penalty, as God is pleased to accept. That which God usually accepted in
the Old Testament, was some Sacrifice, or Oblation. To forgive sin is not
an act of Injustice, though the punishment have been threatned. Even
amongst men, though the promise of Good, bind the promiser; yet threats,
that is to say, promises, of Evill, bind them not; much lesse shall they
bind God, who is infinitely more mercifull then men. Our Saviour Christ
therefore to Redeem us, did not in that sense satisfie for the Sins of
men, as that his Death, of its own vertue, could make it unjust in God to
punish sinners with Eternall death; but did make that Sacrifice, and
Oblation of himself, at his first coming, which God was pleased to
require, for the Salvation at his second coming, of such as in the mean
time should repent, and beleeve in him. And though this act of our
Redemption, be not alwaies in Scripture called a Sacrifice, and Oblation,
but sometimes a Price, yet by Price we are not to understand any thing, by
the value whereof, he could claim right to a pardon for us, from his
offended Father, but that Price which God the Father was pleased in mercy
to demand.</p>
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