38. The place of eternal salvation. the like sense the prophet Joel describing the day PART III. of Judgment, (chap. ii. 30, 31) that God would shew wonders in heaven, and in earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come: he addeth, (verse 32) and it shall come to pass, 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 holiness, and the house of Jacob shall possess 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 Lord's. All these places are for salvation, and the kingdom of God, after the day of judgment, 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 cœlum empyreum, or other ætherial region; saving that it is called the kingdom 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; and after the revolt, sent his Son from heaven to reduce them to their obedience; and shall send him thence again to rule both them, and all other faithful men, from the day of judgment, everlastingly or from that, that the throne of this our great king is in heaven; 38. PART III. whereas the earth is but his footstool. But that the subjects of God should have any place as high as his throne, or higher than his footstool, it seemeth not suitable to the dignity of a king, nor can I find any evident text for it in Holy Scripture. The world to come. Redemption. 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. ii. 5) If God spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing the flood upon the world of the ungodly, &c. So the first world, was from Adam to the general flood. Of the present world, our Saviour speaks (John xviii. 36) My kingdom is not of this world. For he came only to teach men the way of salvation, and to renew the kingdom of his Father, by his doctrine. Of the world to come, St. Peter speaks (2 Pet. iii. 13) Nevertheless 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 thenceforth reign over them, under his Father, everlastingly. 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 ransom as he that is offended, and has him in his power, shall require. And seeing the person offended, is Almighty God, 38. in whose power are all things; such ransom is to PART III. be paid before salvation can be acquired, as God hath been pleased to 'require. By this ransom, is Redemption. not intended a satisfaction for sin, equivalent to the offence; which no sinner for himself, nor righteous man can ever be able to make for another: the damage a man does to another, he may make amends for by restitution or recompense; but sin cannot be taken away by recompense; for that were to make the liberty to sin, a thing vendible. But sins may be 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 threatened. Even amongst men, though the promise of good, bind the promiser; yet threats, that is to say, promises of evil, bind them not; much less shall they bind God, who is infinitely more merciful than men. Our Saviour Christ therefore to redeem us, did not in that sense satisfy for the sins of men, as that his death, of its own virtue, could make it unjust in God to punish sinners with eternal 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 meantime should repent, and believe in him. And though this act of our redemption, be not always in Scripture called a sacrifice, and oblation, but sometimes a price; yet by price we are not to understand anything, 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. PART III. name of Gehenna, or Valley of Hinnon. And this 38. Of the literal sense of the cerning hell. 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. Seeing now there is none, that so interprets Scripture con- 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, methinks, very necessarily, that that which is thus said concerning hell fire, is spoken metaphorically; and that therefore there is a proper sense to be enquired after, (for of all metaphors there is some real ground, that may be expressed in proper words,) both of the place of hell, and the nature of hellish torments, and tormenters. And first for the tormenters, we have their nature and properties, exactly and properly delivered appellatives. by the names of, the Enemy, or Satan; the Accuser, or Diabolus; the Destroyer, or Abaddon. Which significant names, Satan, Devil, Abaddon, set not forth to us any individual person, as proper names use to do; but only an office, or quality; and are therefore appellatives; which ought not to have been left untranslated, as they are in the Latin and modern Bibles; because thereby they seem to be proper names of demons ; and men are the more easily seduced to believe the doctrine of devils; which at that time was the religion of the Gentiles, and contrary to that of Moses and of Christ. Satan, Devil, not proper names, but 38. And because by the Enemy, the Accuser, and PART III. Destroyer, is meant the enemy of them that shall be in the kingdom of God; therefore if the kingdom of God after the resurrection, be upon the earth, as in the former chapter I have shown by Scripture it seems to be, the Enemy and his kingdom must be on earth also. For so also was it, in the time before the Jews had deposed God. For God's kingdom was in Palestine; and the nations round about, were the kingdoms of the Enemy; and consequently by Satan, is meant any earthly enemy of the Church. The torments of hell, are expressed sometimes, Torments by weeping, and gnashing of teeth, as Matth. viii. 12. Sometimes by the worm of conscience; as Isaiah lxvi. 24, and Mark ix. 44, 46, 48: sometimes, by fire, as in the place now quoted, where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched, and many places beside: sometimes by shame and contempt, as Dan. xii. 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 eternal 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 actual miseries; it followeth that they are to suffer such bodily pains, and calamities, as are incident to those, who not only live under evil and cruel governors, but have also for enemy the eternal king of the saints, God Almighty. And amongst these bodily pains, is to be reckoned VOL. III. GG of hell. |