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for the world then will doubtless be full of people, having continued so long in so great a state of prosperity, without such terrible desolating extremities as wars, pestilences, and the like, to diminish them. And the greater part of the world, which shall be so populous, will be wicked contemptuous apostates from God. Undoubtedly the world will then be by far fuller of wickedness than ever it was before, from its foundation. And if the wickedness of the old world, when men began to multiply on the earth, called for the destruction of the world by a deluge of water, this wickedness will as much call for its destruction by a deluge of fire.

Again, the circumstances of the church at that day will also eminently call for the immediate appearing of Christ, as they will be compassed about by their blasphemous murderous enemies, just ready to swallow them up. And it will be a most distressing time with the church, excepting the comfort they will have in the hope of deliverance from God: for all other help will seem to fail. The case will have reached the last extremity, and there will be an immediate need that Christ should come to their deliverance. And though the church shall be so eminently threatened, yet so will Providence order it, that it shall be preserved till Christ shall appear in his immediate presence, coming in the glory of his Father, with all his holy angels. Then shall all the elect be gathered in. The work of conver sion, which has been carried on from the beginning of the church after the fall through all those ages, shall be carried on no more. There never shall another soul be converted. Every one of those many millions, whose names are written in the book

of life before the foundation of the world, shall be brought in; not one soul shall be lost. And the mystical body of Christ, which has been growing since it first began in the days of Adam, will be complete, having every one of its members. In this respect, the work of redemption will now be finished. And now the end for which the means of grace have been instituted shall be obtained-all that effect which was intended, shall now be accomplished.

CHAPTER IX.

THE GENERAL JUDGMENT.

Thus I have shown how the success of Christ's redemption has been accomplished during the continuance of the christian church under the means of grace. We have seen what great revolutions there have been, and are to be, during this space of time; how the great wheels of providence have gone round for the accomplishment of that kind of success of Christ's purchase which consists in the bestowment of grace on his people. In the prosecution of the subject, we are come to the time when all the wheels have gone round; the course of things in this state of it is finished, and all things are ripe for Christ's coming to judgment.

The success of Christ's purchase is of two kinds, consisting either in grace or glory. That of the former is to be seen in the works of God while the church is continued under the means of grace; that of the latter will chiefly be accomplished at the day

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of judgment. Having already shown how the former kind of success has been accomplished. I come now to the latter, that kind of success which is accomplished in the bestowment of glory on the church at the day of judgment. And here I would mention two or three things in general, concerning this kind of success of Christ's purchase.

1. How great the success of Christ's purchase is, appears chiefly in this, that it summarily consists in the salvation of his people. But this bestowment of glory is eminently called their salvation. Heb. 9 28. "To them that look for him, shall he appear the second time, without sin unto salvation." So it is called redemption, being eminently that wherein the redemption of the church consists. Eph. 4 30. "Sealed unto the day of redemption;" and Luke, 21:28, Eph. 1:14, "Redemption of the purchased possession."

2. All that precedes this, while the church is under the means of grace, is only to make way for the success which is to be accomplished in the bestowment of glory. The means of grace, and God's grace itself, are bestowed on the elect to make them meet for glory.

3. All those glorious things which were brought 10 pass for the church while under the means of grace, are but images and shadows of this. So were those glorious things which were accomplished for the church in the days of Constantine; and so is all that glory which is to succeed the fall of Antichrist. However great, it is all but a shadow of what will be bestowed at the day of judgment. But I hasten more particularly to show how this kind of success will be accomplished.

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1. Christ will appear in the glory of his Father, with all his holy angels, coming in the clouds of heaven. When the world are reveling in their wickedness, and compassing the holy city, just ready to destroy it, then shall the glorious Redeemer make his appearance. He by whom this redemption has all along been carried on, shall appear in the sight of the world; the light of his glory shall break forth; the whole world shall immediately have notice of it, and they shall lift up their eyes and behold this wonderful sight. Every eye shall see him, Rev. 17. Christ shall appear coming in his human nature, in that same body (now glorified) which was born in a stable and laid in a manger, which afterwards was so cruelly used, and nailed to the

cross.

Men shall now lift up their eyes and see him coming in such majesty and glory as is to us utterly inconceivable. The glory of the sun in a clear firmament will be but darkness in comparison of it; and all the glorious angels and archangels shall attend him; thousand thousands ministering to him, and ten thousand times ten thousand round about him. How different a person will he then appear from what he did at his first coming, when he was as a root out of dry ground, a poor, despised, afflicted man! How different now is his appearance, in the midst of those glorious angels, principalities and powers, in heavenly places attending him, from what it was when in the midst of a ring of soldiers, with his mock robe and his crown of thorns, buffeted and spit upon, or hanging on the cross between two thieves, with a multitude of his enemies triumphing over him!

This will be a most unexpected sight to the wicked world: it will come as a cry at midnight: they shall be taken in the midst of their wickedness, and it will give them a dreadful alarm. It will at once break up their revels, their eating and drinking, and carousing. It will put a quick end to the design of the great army that will then be compassing the camp of the saints: it will make them let drop their weapons out of their hands. The world, then full of people, most of them wicked men, will be filled with dolorous shrieking and crying; for all the kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Rev. 17. And where shall they hide themselves? How will the sight of that awful majesty terrify them in the midst of their wickedness! Then they shall see who he is, what kind of a person he is whom they have mocked and scoffed, and whose church they have been endeavoring to overthrow. This sight will change the voice of their laughter and singing, while they are marrying and giving in marriage, and the voice of their scoffing into hideous, hellish yelling. Their countenances shall be changed from a show of carnal mirth, haughty pride, and contempt of God's people; and ghastly terror and amazement, trembling and chattering of teeth shall seize upon them.

But with respect to the saints, it shall be a joyful and most glorious sight to them; for it will at once deliver them from all fear of their enemies, who were before compassing them about, just ready to swallow them up. Deliverance shall come in their extremity; the glorious Captain of their salvation shall appear for them at a time when no other help appeared. Then shall they lift up their heads, and

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