Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/d_400.lzh/D_447.TXT

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CHAP. V.                               OF THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST.                                                              44'7

,
on that very spot; since it is said, that when the Lord
shall come with all his saints, Ms feet shall stand in that
day on the mount of Olives, Zech, xiv. 4, 5.
Fifthly, The second eom.ing and appearance of
Christ, may be confirmed from various passages in the
sermons, discourses, and epistles of the apostles. And,
-----1. From the words of Peter, Acts iii. 19, 90,
From whence it appears, that there was then to come,
and still is to come, a time of the restitution of all
things; which cannot be understood of the gospel-
dispensation, called the time of reformation;
had taken place already; nor of the restitution of the
brute creatures to their paradisaical estate, of which
some interpret Isa. xi. 6, 9. Rom. viii. 19--23. for
which I can see no need nor use of, in a perfect state,
as these times will be; nor of the restitution of gospel-
doctrines, ordinances, discipline, and worship, to their
former purity and perfection, which will be accom-
plished in the spiritual reign; but of the restitution of
all the bodies of the saints, a resurrection of them
from the dead, and a restoration of them to their
souls; and of the renovation of the world, which will
be at the second coming of Christ: and when the time
fixeel for it is come, then will God send .7esus Christ
from heaven, where he now is, and where lie will be
retained till that time, and then lie will descencl from
thence, when the saints in their resurrection-state shall
be judged; and though their sins are already blotted
out by the blood of Christ, and for his sake; and a com-
fortable application of it is made to the consciences
of all .penitent and converted persons; yet there will
be then a public blotling of them out, or a declaration
that they are blotted out, never to be seen nor read
more; which will be done before angels and men;
and then it will be a time of rereshing indeed, from
the Fesence of the Lord; for the tabernacle of God
will now be with men, and hc will dwell with them;
and there shall be no more sorrow and weeping, cry-
ing and pain, Rev. xxi. 3, 4...    2. There are various
passages, in which express mention is made of the
coming of Christ; of his appearing a second time,
unto the salvation of his people; of their waiting for
his coming, looking for, and hastening unto it, and
loving it, Heb. ix. 28. 1 Cor. i. 7. Tit. ii. 13. 2 Pet.
iii. 12. 2 Tim. iv. 8. and of what the saints shall be,
and shall have then; that they shall appear in glory
with Christ, and s}iall be like him, and shall have
o. race given them, and a crown of glory likewise; and
shall be the joy and crown of rejoicing of Christ's
ministers, Col. iii. 4. I John iii. 2. 1 Pet. i. 13. and
v. 4. 2 Titn. iv. 8. 1 Thess. ii. 19. and also of what
shall then be done by Christ; all the saints shall be
brought with him; the dead in him shall be raised,
and both quick and dead be judged; and the counsels
of all hearts shall be made manifest, I Thess. iii. 13.
and iv. 14, t6. 2 Tim. iv. 1. t Cor. iv. 5.    .3. In
all those places in which mention is made of that day,
that famous, that well-known day, so much spoken
of and expected, 2 Tim. i. 12, 18. an'd iv. 8. and of the
day of the Lord, 1 Thess. v. 2. 2 Pet. iii. 10. and of
the day of the Lord Jesus, I Cor. i. 8. and v. 5.
2 Cor. i. 14. Phil. i. 6. and or' the day of redemption,
Eph. iv. 30. the time of Cbrist's second coming, and

personnel appearance, is meant; which will be sudden,
and at an unawares, like a thief in the night; till
which time the saints commit themselves into his
hands; and when the work of grace, in its utmost
extent and influence on soul and body, will be com-
pleted, and they will be unblameable before him, and
their bodies redeemed from mortality, corruption, and
death.
Sixthly, In the book of the Revelation, frequent
mention is made of the visible, quick, and speedy
coming of Christ, and of what shall be then done by
him; as in chap. i. 7. and iii. II. and xxii. 7, 12, 20.
and in particular or' his descent from heaven, for the
binding of Satan the space of a thousancl years, chap.
xx. 1, 2, 3. where he is described by his office, an
Angel, not a created, but the uncreatcd one; nor is it
unusual for Christ to be called an Angel; he is that
Angel who appeared to Moses in the bush; and who
went before the children of Israel in the wilderness;
and who is called the Angel of God's presence, and
the Angel, or Messenger, of the covenant: and he is
described by his descent from heaven, whither he
went at his ascension, and where he is now retained,
and from whence he will come at'the last day; and
by what he had in his hand, ake.!/ and a great chain;
a key to open the bottomless pit, to pat Satan into it,
and shut him up therein $ and who so proper to have
this key, as he who has the keys of hell and tleath ?
chap. i. 18. and a ,,great chain to bind him therewith;
and which will be greater, though shorter, than what
he is now held with; and with which he will be bound
faster and closer, and laid under greater restraints
than he now is; so that he shall not be able to do the
hurt and mischief, and practise the deceit among the
nations he now does, by instilling evil principles into
them, apd stirring them up to evil practices; and so
will he remain bound, shut up, and sealed, for the
space of a thousand years.
II. The locality of Christ's second coming, and per-
sonal appearance; or the place from whence he will
come, and where he will appear.----l. The place
from whence he will come; heaven, the third heaven,
where he now is in human nature, into which he was
received at his ascension; and where he will continue
till his second coming, and from thence he will then
be revealed; he will descend from heaven to earth;
he came down from heaven to earth at his incarna-
tion; but that his coming was not Ideal, not by change
of place, which cannot agree with him as the omni-
present God; but by assumption of nature: but as
his ascent to heaven in human nature, having assumed
it, and done his work in it, which he came about, was
local, by change of place from earth to heaven; so
when he comes again from heaven to earth, it will be
local, by change of place, which his human nature is
capable of.----2. The place whither he shall tom%
is the earth; for, as Job says, he shall stand on the
earth in the latter-day; though he shall not descend
upon it at once; when he appears fi'om the third
heaven, he shall descend into the air, and there stay
some time, until the dead saints are raised, and the
living ones changed;and both brought unto him
there; and till the new earth is made and prepared