Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/6_300.lzh/6_371.TXT

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· the world to come; a phrase often used in the .New
'Testament, though never before in the Old; expr. essiye
of that felicity and bliss which the saints en3oy in
heaven after this life is over, first in the separate state
of the' soul, and then, at the resurrection, in soul and
body, and of the everlasting continuance of it; they
that shall enjoy this are those that are written in the
Larnb's book of life, or are ordained unto eternal life;
who are redeemed by the blood of Christ, regenerated
by his spirit and grace, justified by his righteousness,
adopted into the family of God, are heirs of God, and
joint heirs with Christ; these are the dead'in Christ,
which rise first: and some to shame and everlasting con-
tempt; wicked m.en, who lived in a eourse of sin in this
world, without any remorse orshame; but, when they
shall rise from the dead, they'll rise with all their sins
upon them., and with a full conviction of them in their
consciences; and w, ill be ashamed of them, and to ap-
pear before God the Judge of all; and will. be had in
contempt by the LOrd, by .elect angels, and all good
men; and this reproach shall never be wiped off; see
Isa. lxvi. 24. Our Lord seems manifestly to have re-
spect to this passage, when he speaks of men co. ming
out of their graves at the last day, some unto the resur-
rection of life, and others unto the resurrection of damna-
tion, John v. 28, 29- and upon these words it may well
bethought the Apostle Paul grounded his faith of the
resurrection of the dead', both just and unjust, Acts
'xxiv. 15. and though the resurrection of both is spoken
of here and elsewhere together, yet it will be at distinct
periods of time; the resurrection of the just at the be-
ginning of the thousand years, and that of the wicked
at the end of them, Rev. xx. 5, 6. between which will
be the intermediate state of the saints dwelling with
Christ on earth; where they will be favoured with his
presence, and the rewards of his grace, to which the
following verse has respect.
Vet. 3. And they that be wise shall shine as the
brightness of the firmament, &c.] That are wise, not
in things natural and civil, but in things spiritual; who
are wise unto salvation; that are wise to know them-
selves, their state and condition by nature; their im-,
purityand impotence; the insufficiency of their own
righteousness; the exeeedingsinfulness of sin, and the
dangerous circumstances they are in; that are wise to
know Christ, and him crucified; to believe in him, and
trust in him for everlasting life and salvation: these at
the resurrection shall shine, both .in body and soul;
'their bodies shall be fashioned like to the glorious body
of Christ; their souls shall be filled with perfect light
.and knowledge, and be completely holy, without an'y
.sin up. on them; ahd this light and glory that will be
upon both soul and body will be like the brightness of
the henvens when the sun is risen; yea, it will be like
the brightness and g!ory of the sun itself, as our Lord
affirms; having, as it steins, respect to this pas.sage,
Matt. xiii. 43. Some render it, they that instruct {}; or
make others wise, and so restrain it to ministers of the
word; but the more general sense is best; and, besides,
they are more particularly described in the next clause:
and'they that turn many to righteousness as the starsJbr
ecer and ever; or, that justify many {k}; that teach the doc-
trine of a sinner's' free justification by the righteous-
ness of Christ; that lead and direct souls sensible of
sin, and of the weakness of their own righteousness, to
the righteousness of Christ, as being that only which
justifies before God; otherwise it is God alone that
justifies men, by imputing the righteousness of' his Son
unto them: but these shew men the way of justitica-
tion, or that which God takes to justify sinners i and
this being the principal doctrine of the GospeL, they are
denominated from. i.t; and no man deserves the name
of a Gospelminister that does not preach it, though
this is not all that they preach; they preach all other
doctrines of the Gospel in connexion with it, and also
instruct men thus justified to live soberly, righteously,
and godly: now, as these are stars in the church of
Christ below, who receive their light from Christ the
sun of righteousness, and communicate it to his peo-
ple; so they will continue stars in theMillennium-state,
and appear exceeding glorious, having the glory of
God and Christ upo, them, and not only- then, but to
all eternity.. These words are applied to the days of
the Messiah by the Jews {}.
Vet. 4. But thou, 0 .Daniel, shut up the words, &c.]
Of the book, in which he had wrote the visions and
prophecies delivered to him: this he is bid to shut up.
to keep it from the common and profane people, who
would only burlesque it; and to keep it to himself, ass
peculiar treasure committed to his care; and though it
was not kept from the saints and people of God, froth
their reading it, yet he was not to interpret and ex-
plain it to them; it was to remain a secret until tim
time of its accomplishment was come, or, however,
near at hand; so that this denotesthe obscurity of the
prophecy, and the great difficulty'of understanding it;
it being like a book that is shut and sealed, as tbllows-
see Rev. v. 1---5: and seal the book, even to the time of
the end; till the time comes appointed for the fulfil-
ment of it, which shews that it reached to times a.t a
great distance; that till these times were come, or
near, it would be as a sealed book, and yet the accom-
plishment of it would be sure and certain, 'as what is
sealed is: many shall run to and fro, and knotvleelge shall
be increased; that is, towards the end of the time ap-
pointed, many persons will be stirred tip to inquire
into these things delivered in this book, and will spare
no pains or cost to get knowledge of them; will read
and study the Scriptures, and meditate on them; c.om-
pare one passage with another; spiritual things with
spiritual, in order' to obtain the mind of Christ; will per-
use carefully the writings ofsuch who have gone before
them, Who have attempted any thing of this kind; and
will go far and near to converse with persons that have
any understanding of such things: and by such means,
with the blessing of God upon them, the knowledge
of this book of prophecy will be increased; and things
will appear plainer the nearer the accomplishment of
them is; and especially when accomplished, when pro-
phecy and facts can be compared together: and not

{i} \^Mylykvm\^ "erudiunt", Munster; "erudientes", Junius & Tremellius;
"qui alios instituerint", Grotius.
{k} \^yqydum\^ "justificantes", Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius;
"qui justificaverint", Calvin, Piscator.
{l} Shemot Rabba sect. 15. fol. 102. 4.