SECTION W. ÿ went, and the resurrection of the dead, in that very age wherein it was foretold. St. Paul gives us a hint of it in 2 Thess. ii. 1,2. They supposed the day of the Lord was just appearing. And many expressions of Christ concerning his return or corn- ing again after his departure, seemed to represent his absence as a thing of no long continuance. It is true, these words of his may partly refer to his coming to destroy Jerusalem; and the coming in of his kingdom among the Gentiles, or his coming by his messenger of death, yet they generally in their supreme and final sense, point to his coming to raise the dead and judge the world : And from the words of Christ, also concerning John, chapter xxi. 22. If I will that he tarry till I come; it is probable that the apostles themselves at first, as well as other christians, might derive this apprehension of his speedy coming. It is certain that when Christ speaks of his coming in general, and promiscuous and parabolical terms, whether with regard to the destruction of Jerusalem, or the judgment of the world, he saith, Mat. xxiv. 34. Verily I say to you, this generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled. And the apostles frequently told the world, the coming of the Lord was near ; Phil. iv. 5. The Lord is at hand. Heb. x. 24. Exhorting one another so muck the more, as you see the day approaching. And that this is the day of the coming of Christ, verse 37.' assures us, For ,yet a little while, he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Rom. xiii. 12. Now it is high time to awake out of sleep. The night is far spent; the day is at hand. 1 Pet. iv. 5. To him who is read:¡ to judge the quick and the dead. Verse 7. The end of all things is at hand. James v. 8, 9. The coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Behold the judge standeth at the doer. Rev. xxii. 10. Seal not up the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. Verse 12. And, behold, I come quick= ly, and my reward is with me, to give to everí, man as his work shall be: And the sacred volume is closed with this as- surance ; verse 20. Surely, I come quickly ; and the echo, and expectation of the apostle, or the church, Amen, even so come Lord Jesus. It is granted, that in prophetical expressions, such as all these are, some obscurity is allowed: And it may be doubt- ful, perhaps, whether some of them may refer to Christ's coming, by the destruction of Jerusalem, or his coming to call particular persons away by his messenger of death, or his ap- pearance at the last judgment. It is granted also, it belongs to prophetical language so set things far distant, as it were, before our eyes, and make them seem present, or very near at hand. But still these expressions had plainly such an influence
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