212 AN EXPOSITION, WITH NOTES, [YeR. 6
See Mat. xix. 27, 28, ev TraXiyyeveaia, ' In the regeneration ye shall sit with me on thrones of glory,' &c. ; that is, at the day of judgment, which is the great regeneration. When heavens are new, earth new, bodies new, souls new, all is new, then we shall be no losers by Christ. (2.) In an absolute conquest over his enemies. The stoutest faces shall then gather blackness, and tlie stiffest knees bow to him. There is an expression, Isa. xlv. 23, ' I have sworn by myself, and the words shall not return, that to me every knee shall bow, and every mouth shall swear.' Now this expression doth concern Christ's sovereignty and full -victory over his enemies ; for this scripture is twice alluded unto in the New Testament, and in both places applied to Christ. The first place that I shall take notice of is Phil. ii. 10, where the apostle saith, that to Christ ' every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall call him Lord,' which is the same with that which is spoken in the prophet, and is there made to be the first ^ of Christ's ascension, when he was solemnly inaugurated into the kingly office ; but the prophecy receiveth not its full and final accomplishment till the day of judg- ment. To which purpose the same scripture is cited by the apostle, Rom. xiv. 11, ' We shall all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ, for it is written. As I live, saith the Lord, to me every knee shall bow, and moutli shall confess.' So that the bowing of knees or stooping of enemies is not fully accomplished till then. Christ doth now often overrule the counsels and projects of his enemies, and smite them with a sore destruction ; but there is no such crouching and trembling so sensibly now to be discerned as there will be at that day.
Secondly, The day of judgment is a great day, because great things are then done, which will appear if you consider — (1.) The preparations for that day; (2.) The day itself ; (3.) The consequence of it.
1. The preparations for Christ's approach : the scripture men- tioneth two — (1.) The archangel's trumpet ; (2.) The sign of the Son of man.
[1.] There is that great noise and terror of the voice of the Lord, which is to be managed by some special angels, by which all the world shall be, as it were, summoned to appear before Christ's tri- bunal. See 1 Thes. iv. 16, and Mat. xxiv. 31. Some expound this trumpet analogically, some literally. They that expound it analo- gically think it signifieth the power and virtue of Christ forcing all the world to appear before his judgment-seat, which is therefore called a trumpet, because the solemn assemblies among the Jews were summoned by sound of trumpet. But why may we not take it literally, and in propriety of speech, for the audible sound of a trumpet ? Sure I am at the giving of the law ' the voice of the trumpet was exceeding loud ;' and the like may be when he cometh to take an account of our keeping the law, a sound of a trumpet, as a terrible summons to all the world, and a near sign of Christ's approach ; as John Baptist was the forerunner of his first coming, who was ' the voice of one crying in the wilderness ;' so is the arch- angel at his second coming ; a terrible blast there shall be, such as shall be heard all the world over, startling the dead out of their graves. Men do not hear the voice of God now, for now he speaketli
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VeR. 6.] UPON THE EPISTLE OF JUDE. 213
by his angels or messengers, in a still voice ; but then all the dead shall hear and live.
[2.] The 'sign of the Son of man,' spoken of Mat. xxiv. 30. What it is we certainly cannot tell, till experience manifest it. Some think a strange star, as, at his first coming, the wise men were conducted to him by a star ; others the sign of the cross, as being Christ's badge by which he is known in the world ; for the great subject of the gospel is Christ crucified, called therefore ' the word of the cross/ and this they think shall appear in the heavens, as it did to Constantino when he went to fight against Maxentius, with this word, iv tovtm vLKrjaei^ — by this shalt thou overcome ; though, by the way, Eusebius describeth that vision as in the figure of X, the first critical letters of Christ's name. This way go many of the ancients, making the cross to be Christ's ensign and royal banner, which he will display in the heavens; as kings, when they make their triumphant approach, have their banners carried before them. But I dare not thus dogma- tise. Others, more probably, interpret it of some forerunning beams of majesty and glory, like those streaks of light before the sun be risen, which shall darken the great luminaries of the world, and strike a terror into the hearts of men, as Paul was stricken with such a terror at the sight of Christ: Acts xxvi. 13, he saw 'light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about him.' Notable it is, that these forerunning beams of Christ's majesty and glory are sometimes expressed by light and sometimes by fire ; by light to express the comfortableness of it to the godly, as the light of the sun doth not scorch but revive and refresh ; by fire, 2 Thes. i. 8, eV irvpt ^X6yo<;, to show the dreadfulness of it to the wicked ; to them it is as flames and devouring burnings.