a

25. Behold, I have told you before. 26. Wherefore if they fhall fay unto you, Behold, he is in the desert, go not forth behold, he is in the fecret chambers, believe it not. 27. For as the lightning cometh out of the eaft, and fhineth even unto the weft: fo fhall alfo the coming of the Son of man be. 28. For wherefoever the carcafe is, there will the eagles be gathered together. 29. T d Immediately af ter the tribulation of thofe Days, fhall the fun be (2) dark

2

a Joh. 16. 1. These things have I Spoken unto you, that you thould not be offended. 2 Pet. 3. 17. Be Joved, feeing ye know these things before, beware left ye alfo being led 5 away with the Error of the Wicked. fall from your own ftedfaftness.

e

ned,

darkned in his going forth, and the Moon fhall not caufe her Light to fhine. Ez. 32. 7. —I will cover the Sun with a Cloud, and the Moon fhall not give her Light. Joel 2. 10, 31 3. 15. The Sun and the Moon fhall be dark, and the Stars fhall withdraw their fhining. The Sun fhall be turned into Darknefs, and the Moon into Blood, before the great and the terrible Day of the Lord come. Amos 8.9. It fhall come to pafs in that Day, faith the Lord God, that I will 15 caufe the Sun to go down at Noon, and I will darken the Earth in the clear Day. Zeph. 1. 15. That Day is a Day of Wrath, a Day of Trouble and Diftrefs, a Day of Wafte

b Luk. 17. 24. For as the Lightning that lightneth out of one part under Heaven, fhineth to to the other part under Heaven: fo fhall alfo the Son of man be in his Day.

C

t Job 39. 30. Her [the Eagles] young ones alfo fuck up Blood and where the Slain are, there is the.

Luk. 17. 37. Wherefoever the Body is, thither will the Eagles be gathered together.

*

4: Dan. 7. II, 12. I beheld 20 nefs and Defolation, a Day of Darkthen, because of the great Words which the Horn fpake: I beheld even till the Beaft was flain, and his Body destroyed, and given to the burning Flame. As concerning the rest of the Beafts, they had their Dominion taken away: yet their Lives were prolonged for a Seafon and Time.

25

etIfai. 13. 10.-The Sun fhall be 30

nefs and Gloominefs, a Day of Clouds and thick Darkness. Mar. 13. 24. + Act. 2. 20. The Words as above in Joel 2. 31. *Luk. 21. 25. There fhall be Signs in the Sun, and in the Moon, and in the Stars. + Rev. 6. 12. The Sun became black as Sackcloth of Hair, and the Moon became as Blood.

whole Body of Chriftians, or the Chriftian Church. Te are a chofen, or elect ed Generation. Now as it could not be inferred from hence by the Jews, that every one of them were faved; fo neither can we conclude, that eve ry Chriftian will be faved; no, 'only the Righteous and the Obedient fhall obtain Eternal Life. See this more at large in Dr. Whitby on Mar. 24. 24: On Mar. 13. 20. And on r Pet. 2. 9.

(2) Thefe Expreffions, the Sun fhall be darkned, &c. both here and in the References, are not to be understood literally. Wherever therefore we meet with them, or to what Time or Place foever they relate,

the

*

4

ped, and the moon fhall not give her light, and the ftars fhall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens fhall be fhaken. 30. And then fhall appear the f fign of the Son of man in heaven: and then fhall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they fhall fee the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. 31 And he fhalli fend his angels with a great found of a trumpet, [Or, with a trumpet and a great voice,] and they fhall gather together his elect from the four Winds, from one end of heaven to the other. 32. Now learn a parable of the fig-tree: When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that fummer is nigh: 33. So likewife ye when ye fhall fee all thefe things, know that it is near, even at the doors. 34. Verily I fay unto you, This generation fhall not país, till all thefe

Dan. 7. 13. I saw in the Night-Vifions, and behold, one like the Son of Man came with the Clouds of Heaven, and came to the ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him. Zech. 12. 12. The Land fhall mourn, every Family apart, the Family of the House of David apart, and their Wives apart, &c.

Rev. 1.7. Behold, he cometh with Clouds; and every Eye fhall fee him.

k

Lord himself fhall defcend from
Heaven with a Shout, with the
Voice of the Archangel, and with
the Trump of God.

5 k+Luk. 21. 29. And he fpake
to them a Parable, Behold, the
Fig-tree, and all the Trees.

10

† Jam. 5. 9. -Behold, the Judge ftandeth before the Door.

in

n: Jer. 31. 35, 36. Thus faith the Lord, which giveth the Sun for a Light by Day, and the Ordinances of the Moon and Stars for a Light by Night, which divideth the Sea, when the Waves thereof roar; the Lord of Hofts is his Name. If thofe Ordinances depart from before me,faith the Lord,then the Seed of Ifrael alfo fhall ceafe from raifed, &c. } I Thef. 4. 16. The 20 being a Nation before me for ever.

Mat. 13. 41. The Son of man fhall fend forth his Angels, and 15 they fhall gather out of his Kingdom, &c. 1 Cor. 15. 52. —At the laft Trump, (for the Trumpet fhall found) and the Dead fhall be

the Idea we fhould form in our Minds is, that fearful Judgments fhall come upon that Place or People; not that the Sun, &c. fhall really fall from Heaven, &c. For the Inhabitants of the Eastern Countries, whofe manner of Speaking the Writers of the Holy Scriptures imitate, were wont to exprefs themselves in very lofty and figurative Terms. The Learned Jews understand thofe Words of Ifaiah, Chap. 30. 26. The Light of the Moon fhall be as the Light of the Sun, and the Light of the Sun fhall be fevenfold, to be a Prophecy of great Profperity; for they are wont to reprefent Profperity and Abundance by Light, and Adverfity and Want by Darkness. Dr. Lightfoot fays, that by the Sun is fignified the State of Religion, and the Church; by the Moon, the Civil Government; and by the Stars, the Judges and Doctors of both.

these things be fulfilled. 35."Heaven and earth fhall pass away, but my words fhall not pass away.

36. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no not the angels of heaven, P but my Father only. 37. But as the days of Noe mere, fo fhall alfo the coming of the Son of man be. 38. For as in the days that were before the Flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entred into the Ark, 39. And knew not until the Flood came, and took them all away; fo fhall alfo the coming of the Son of man be. 40. Then fhall two be in the field, the one shall be taken, and the other left. 41. Two momen fhall be grinding at the mill, the one fhall be taken, and the other left. 42 Watch therefore, for ye know not what hour T your Lord doth come. 43. But know this, that if the good

f

S

man

nt Pfal. 102. 26. Ifa. 51. 6. + Mat. 5. 18: *Mar. 13. 31. + Heb. 1. 11. See on Luk 16., 17.

+ Mar. 13. 32. But of that Day and that Hour knoweth no man, 5 no not the Angels which are in Heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.

P† Zech. 14. 7. It fhall be one Day which fall be known to the 10 Lord, not Day, nor Night: but it fhall come to pafs, that at Evening-time it thall be Light. A&t. 1. 7. It is not for you to know the Times and the Seafons, which the 15 Father hath put in his own Power.

20

commanded him. Luk. 17. 26.
As it was in the Days of Noe, fo
fhall it be alfo in the Days of the
Son of Man. t Pet.
I
3.20. When
once the Long-fuffering of God
waited, as in the Days of Noah,
while the Ark was a preparing.-

** Luk. 17. 34, &c. I tell you, in that Night there fhall be two Men in one Bed, the one fhall be taken, and the other left.

f

† Mat. 25. 13. *Mar. 13.33. Take ye heed, match and pray: for ye know not when the Time is. f Luk. 21. 36. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to efcape all thefe things that fhall come to pafs, and to ftand before the Son of man. 1 Cor. 16. 13. Watch ye, ftand faft in the Faith, quit you like Men, be strong. The f 6. Let us not Sleep as do others; but let us watch and be fober,

Gen. 6. 3, 4, 5. The Lord faid, my Spirit fhall not always ftrive with man, for that he alfo is Flefh yet his Days fhall be an Hundred and twenty Years, There were Giants in the Earth in thofe Days; and alfo after that, when the Sons of God came in unto the Daughters of Men, and they bare 251 Pet. 5 8. Be fober, be. vigilant, Children unto them, the fame be- because your Adverfary the Devil, came mighty Men, which were of old, Men of renown. And God faw that the Wickedness of Man was great upon the Earth, and 30 that every Imagination of the Thoughts of his Heart was only Evil continually. Gen. 7. 5. Noah did according to all that the Lord

*

S K

*

Luk. 12. 39. 1 Thef. 5. 2. Your felves know perfectly, that the Day of the Lord fo cometh as a Thiet in the Night. 2 Pet. 3 10. The Day of the Lord will come as a Thief in the Night, in which

the

с

man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have fuffered his houfe to be broken up. 44. Therefore be ye alfo ready: for in fuch an hour as you think not, the Son of man cometh. 45. Who then is a faithful and wife fervant, whom his Lord hath made ruler over his houfhold, to give them meat in due feafon? 46. Bleffed is that fervant, whom his Lord when he cometh, fhall find fo doing, 47. Verily I fay unto you, that he fhall make him ruler over all his goods. 48. But and if that evil fervant fhall fay in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming, 49. And fhall begin to fmite his fellow-fervants, and to eat and drink with the drunken: 50. The Lord of that fervant fhall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not ware of; 51. And fhall cut him afunder [Or, cut him off,] and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there fhall be weeping and gnashing or teeth.

e

CHA P. XXV.

HEN hall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth bridegroom. 2. And five of them were wife, and five mere foolish. 3. They that were foolish, took their lamps, and took no Oy with them: 4. But the wife took

to meet the

i

*

Oyl in their veffels with their lamps. 5. While the bride groom tarried, they all flumbered and flept. 6. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him. 7. Then all thofe virgins arofe,and trimmed their lamps. 8. And the foolish faid unto the wife,give us of your Oyl,for our lamps are gone out [Or,going out.] 9. But the wife anfwered, faying, Not fo; left there be not enough for us and you; but go ye rather to them that fell, and buy for your felves. 10. And while they went to buy the bridegroom came, and they that were ready, went in with him to the marriage, and the door was fhut. II. Af terward came alfo the other virgins, faying, m Lord, Lord, open to us. 12. But he answered and faid, Verily I fay un to you, I know you not. 13. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

$

his Bones. Rev: 19 7. Let us + Mat. 7. 21, 22, 23. Not evebe glad and rejoice, and give ho- ry one that faith unto me, Lord, nour to him for the Marriage of Lord, fhall enter into the Kingdom the Lamb is come, and his Wife of Heaven: but he that doth the hath made her felf ready. Rev. Will of my Father which is in 21. 2, 9. I John faw the holy Ci-Heaven. Many will fay unto me ty, new Jerufalem, coming down in that Day, Lord, Lord, have we from God out of Heaven, prepa- not prophefied in thy Name, and red as a Bride adornéd for her Hus- in thy Name caft out Devils? and band. Come hither, I will fhew 10 in thy Name done many wonderthee the Bride, the Lambs Wife. ful Works? And then will I profefs unto them, I never knew you: Depart from me ye that work Iniquity.

i Thef. 5 6. Let us not Sleep as do cthers; but let us watch and be fober.

k Mar. 13. 35. Watch ye therefore, for ye know not when the Mafter of the Houfe cometh; at Even, or at Midnight, or at the Cock-crowing, or in the Morning. Luk. 12.46. The Lord of that Servant will come in a Day when he looketh not for him, and at an Hour when he is not ware Jam. 5. 9. Behold, the Judge ftandeth be fore the Door.

15

n Pfal. 1. 6. The Lord knoweth the Way of the Righteous; but the Way of the Ungodly fhall pe rifh. Pfal. 5. 5. The Foolish fhall not ftand in thy Sight: thou hateft all Workers of Iniquity. Joh. 10. 14. I am the good Shepherd, and krom my Sheep, and am known of mine. Cor. 8. 3. If any man love God, the fame is known of him. 2 Tim. 19. The Foundation of Luk. 13. 25. When once the 25 God ftandeth fure, having this Mafter of the Houfe is rifen up, Seal, The Lord knoweth them that and hath but to the Door, and ye be- are his. gin to ftand without, and to knock

at the Door, faying, Lord, Lord, o

*

*:

Mar. 13. 33. † Luk 21.36 t1 Cor. 16. 13.

ti Thef. 5.

pen unto us; and he fhall anfwer 20† 1 Pet. 5. 8. † Rev. 16. 15.

and fay unto you, I know ye not whence you are.

on Mat. 24. 42, 43 ·

6

See