[3.] Nor by letter as from us. This may be understood — (1.) Either of some passage in the former epistle ; for the apostle saith there, 1 Thes. iv. 17, ' Then we which are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air ;' and because he joins himself with them, they thought he should sur- vive until that day. Or else those warnings which the apostle gives them : 1 Thes. v, 1-3, ' Of the times and seasons I need not write unto them, for yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord cometh as a thief in the night/ &c. Now these warnings they might abuse ; and this is one way by which men may be unsettled and unshaken, i.e., by false glosses and interpretations of scripture. (2.) Or rather the sense may be, some spurious and counterfeit writings, which was one means of deceit used in the primitive times ; supposititious or apocryphal legends, wherein the apostle might be said to write something, as if Christ should come in that age wherein they lived. Now, to obviate this, the apostle is supposed to insert that passage, chap. iii. 17, ' The salutation of Paul with mine own hand, which is the token in every epistle : so I write.'
First, From the error disproved, observe : —
Boot. That the time of Christ's coming to judgment must be patiently expected, not rashly defined or determined ; for this is the error which the apostle with such earnestness opposeth here.
But you will say, Is this such an error ? Do not the holy apostles themselves say, in effect, the same, as the apostle James, chap. v. 8, ' The coming of the Lord draweth nigh ;' and the apostle Peter, 1 Peter iv. 7, ' The end of all things is at hand.' Yea, Paul himself, 1 Cor. X. 11, 'These are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come ;' and Eom. xiii. 12, ' The night is far spent, and the day is at hand ;' where by night is meant the state of ignorance, sin, and paganism before conversion ; and by the day is meant the state of our full regeneration and illumination in eternal glory, when the corrupt world shall come to an end, and all shadows shall fly away. As if he had said, The morning of the resurrection is at hand, the night is far spent — not quite past — and the day is at hand ; the night is not thoroughly gone, nor the day wholly come, yet, he saith, it is at hand. What evil was in this opinion, that the a})0stle should with such vehemency argue and reason against it ? Ans. There is some difference in the words, for ri<y<yLKev signifies, it draweth near ; ivearrjKev, it is begun already. But the sense is vastly different ; for by these and such like expressions the apostle only did intend that the last dispensation was then on foot — no other change of dispensation or worship was to be expected till the coming of Christ. But I shall more clearly and distinctly show —
16 THE SECOND SERMON. [1 TflES. IT. 2.
1. What reason the apostle had to speak at this rate.
2. What little reason these seducei-s had to pervert this speech to countenance their hypothesis or supposition.
1. For the first, the apostle had reason to say the day of the Lord was at hand.
[1.] With respect of faith ; for faith gives a kind of presence to things: Heb. xi. 1, 'Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen; ' that is, it gives a being, a kind of existence, to things future and afar off, and sets them before the eyes of our mind, and gives us some sight of them, as if they were already come. And therein it agrees with the light of prophecy. Look, as by the light of prophecy John saith, Eev. xx. 12, ' I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened,' &c., so faith doth in effect see what it believes. Well, then, faith looking upon things distant and absent as near at hand, the apostle had reason to use this language to believers, as if the judge were at the door : Phil, iv. 5, ' Let your moderation be known unto all men ; the Lord is at hand,' not only in regard of his present providence, but also with respect to his second coming to judgment ; it is as certain to faith as if he were already come.
[2.] With respect of love: love will not account it long to endure the hardships of this present world until Christ come to set all things at riglits. Jacob served seven years for Rachel ' for the love he bare to her, and it seemed to him but a little while,' Gen, xxix. 20. If we had any love for Christ, we should be contented to suffer a while for his sake. The time is coming when the wicked shall persecute no more, when the mouth of iniquity shall be stopped, when the desire and hope of all believers shall be satisfied, when the tledeemer's work shall be consummated, when the kingdom shall be delivered up to the Father, when those that made a jest of this day shall be fully confuted. Faith sees the certainty of it, and love makes us hold out till the time come about.