300 ESSAY TOWARD THE {SECT. íT7. word of the apostles, may be present with him in his 1 ingdóm to behold his glory ; and'is not that a very con- siderable part of his glory, which the Father bath con- ferred upon him, to be Lord and King, and head of his church ? But this .peculiar glory reaches no further than the resurrection and judgment, and cannot be seen af- terwards ; for in 1 Cor. xv. 21. Then cometh the end, and Christ shall deliver tip the kingdom to God the Fa- ther." Verse 28. " The Son himself also shall be subi, jest unto the Father, that God may be all in all." As for that final blaze ofsupreme glory, wherein Christ shall appear at the day of judgment, just before he re- signs up his kingdom, and which, perhaps, is once called his kingdom ; 2 Tim. iv. 1. when he shall come in the glory of his Father, and of his holy angels, as well as his own ; Mark viii. 58. Lucke ix. 26. the sight of it shall be public and common to all the world, andnot any pe- culiar favour to the saints. ,- It seems, therefore, most probable, that it is only or chiefly in the separate state of souls departed, that the saints have a special promise of beholding this mediato- rial glory of Christ in his kingdom ; and this favour our Saviour entreats ofhis Father for others that shall believe on him, as well as for his apostles. I might here take occasion to enquire, whether every text, which promises to other christians, as well as to the apostles, a dwelling with Christ in his kingdom, must not have a more special reference to the glory ofthe separate state, upon this very account, because this kingdom of Christ ceases at the resurrection and judgment; and particularly that text in 2 Pet. i. 11. " So an entrance shall be ministred unto you, abundantly, into the ever- lasting kingdomof our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ :" which is often, in scripture, called everlasting, because it continues to the end of the world : And the abundant entrance into it, very naturally refers to our departure from this life. Answer 4. I cannot find anv text óf scripture, where this blessing of being present with the Lord, after death, in the separate state, is limited only to the apostles : I read not one word of such a peculiar favour promised them by Christ; and, therefore, according to the current coarse of several other places of scripture, which- have
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