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tell us when thefe Things shall be? And what shall be the Sign of thy * Coming, and of the End of the World. And Jefus answered, and faid unto them, Mat. 24. Take Heed that no Man deceive you, for ** many 3.-9. Shall come in my Name, faying, I am Christ, and Shall deceive many. And ye shall bear of Wars, and Rumours of Wars, fee that ye be not troubled: for all thefe Things must come to pass, but the End is not yet. For Nation fhall rise against Nation, and

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Kingdom

*Pool's Annotat. They defire to know the Signs of thefe Times; that is, Prognoftick Signs, which might beforehand inftruct them that the Time was nigh, even at hand. They name two Things here which Time hath told us were to be at more than fixteen Hundred Years 'diftance one from another; for Hiftorians tell us, that Ferufalem was deftroyed within feventy or seventy one Years after our Saviour's Birth, within less than forty • Years after this Difcourfe; but it is probable that they ⚫ put them together, as believing that Ferufalem fhould not be destroy'd, till the Day when Chrift should come to Fudge the World, and that the End of the World, and of the Jewish State, fhould come together. And as we all are naturally curious to know Things that are to come, fo these Disciples were in this Thing particularly curious, having fome particular Apprehenfions of the Coming and Kingdom of Chrift, according to the Miftaken Notion which the fews had of that Kingdom, which their expec ted Meffiah fhould exercise in the World.

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** Our Saviour feemeth to have given this as a Sign common both to the Destruction of Ferufalem, and the End of 'the World, tho' poffibly before the Deftruction of Jeru falem, while the Jews were in Expectation of a Meffiab, as a Temporal Prince or Deliverer, there were more of them ⚫ than afterward; for every one who could get a Party together to colour his Sedition and Rebellion, gave out himfelf to be the Chrift. Of this Number are said to have been Theudas, and Judas of Galilee mention'dby Gamaliel, A&ts v.36, 37.

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Interpreters think this Prophecy did chiefly respect the Destruction of ferufalem, for the Time from our Saviour's Death, to that Time, was full of Seditions and In furrections, both in Fudea and elfewhere. The Truth of our Saviour's Words, as to this, is attefted by fofephus largely from Chap. xi, of his fecond Book of the Wars of the

Jews,

Verf. 34.

Kingdom against Kingdom, and there fhall be Famines and Peftilence, and Earthquakes in divers Places. All these are the Beginning of Sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and fhall kill you, and ye shall be hated of all Nations for my Name's Sake.-Verily I fay unto you, This Generation hall not pass till thefe Things be fulfilled. And when Peter ask'd the Question concerning the Difciple whom Jefus lov'd, faying, Lord, and Joh.21.21 what shall this Man do? Jefus faith unto him, if I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou me. Then went this Saying abroad among the Brethren, that that Difciple fhou'd not die: yet Fefus faid not unto him, He shall not die, but, if I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Here we find the Difciples or Brethren, had got a Notion that Chrift's Coming again was not far off. And the Apostle Paul, in this very Epiftle, fhews that he entertain'd the fame Opinion. And therefore advised the Corinthians thus, That ye come

22, 23.

See Mat.

16. 28.

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Jews, to the End of the fourth Book. Besides, that there were great Wars between Otho, and Vitellius and Vefpafian, the Roman Emperors, who fucceeded Nero, we read of one Famine, Ats xi. 28. which Agabus there prophefied fhould be in the Time of Claudius Cæfar. Of Earthquakes in feveral Places, mention is made in divers Hiftories. Our Saviour tells them, that these Things fhould be, but the End fhould not be presently, which any one that will read fofephus his Hiftory of the Wars of the Jews, will fee abundantly verified upon the Taking of Ferufalem by the · Roman Armies.

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*There are feveral Notions Men have of that Term, • This Generation; fome by it understand Mankind, others the Generation of Chriftians; others, the whole Generation of the Jews: but doubtlefs our Saviour means the Set of Men that were at that Time in the World. Those who were at that Time living, fhould not all die, until all thefe • Things fhall be fulfilled, all that he had froken with Refe⚫rence to the Destruction of Jerufalem.

ch. 4. 5.

behind in no Gift, waiting for the Coming of our Lord 1 Cor. 1. Jefus Chrift, who shall confirm you unto the End, that 10, 11. ye may be blameless in the Day of our Lord Jefus Chrift. And farther on in the fame Epiftle, fpeaking of the Judgments which came upon the Ifraelites for their Difobedience, he fays, Now all thefe Things ch. x. 11 happened to them for Enfamples, and they were written for our Admonition, upon whom the Ends of the World are come. And in his Epiftle to the Philippians, he also plainly intimates that it was his Opinion, and exhorts them, as if Chrift was just then about to appear, That ye may approve Things that are ex- Phil.1.10. cellent, that ye may be fincere and without Offence till the Day of Chrift: Let Let your Moderation be known unto all Men, the Lord is at Hand. And James and Peter inculcate the fame Opinion very ftrongly in their Epiftles, and use it as an Argument that the Brethren fhould not be difcouraged at their Afflictions, but be the more watchful and vigilant in all their Actions. Be ye therefore patient, fays James, unto the Coming of the Lord. Bebold the Hufbandman waiteth for the precious Fruit of the Earth, and bath long Patience for it, until be receive the early and latter Rain. Be ye alfo patient, stablish your Hearts, fr the Coming of the Lord draweth nigh. And by the fecond Epiftle of Peter it very plainly appears, that the Brethren at that Time were in daily Expectation of the Lord's Coming, and fome began to think that he delay'd his Coming, and were ready to faint and grow weary in Waiting.

WE have brought these Paffages to show, that it was an establifh'd and very current Opinion amongst the Brethren, in the Time of the Apoftles, and when Paul writ his Epistle to the Corinthians, that the Lord's Coming was near at Hand, and not at the Distance of fo many Ages

James S

9. 10.

as have pafs'd fince: Therefore they who use thefe Words of the Apostle, Ye do fhew the Lord's Death till he come, as an Argument for the neceffary Continuance of that Outward and Ceremonious Rite call'd the Lord's Supper, throughout all Ages to the End of the World, have no Foundation, that we can find in Scripture, to support fuch an Opinion.

CERTAINLY, if our bleffed Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrift, had defign'd or intended, that fuch external Rites as Water-Baptifm, and a Supper with Bread and Wine, fhould be perpetual ftanding Ordinances in his Church, neceffarily to be obferv'd by his Followers every where in the World, he would have been very exact and particular in the Institution of them, and not have left it to be continually difputed at what Time, in what Manner, and byWhom the Ordinances fhould be adminiftred.*

IF

*Not only these Particulars, but many others too tedious to be bere related, have been the Subjects of Difpute, so that a bare Hiftory of the different Opinions about thefe external Rites, would be a very good Confutation of them. Soon after the Apofties we find, by two or three old Writers, that they held an Opinion That the Holy Spirit defcended upon the Bread and Wine; and tis faid by one of them* That when the Bread and Wine perceive the Word of God, then it becomes the Eucharift of the Body and Blood of Chrift. And agreeable to this Notion, they had, we are told, aForm of Prayer or Invocation in thefe Words, *** We beseech thee, that thou would'ft be pleas'd to look down upon these Oblations prefented be'fore thee, Thou God that wanteft nothing, and send down thy Spirit upon this Sacrifice commemorative of the Sufferings of our Lord Jesus, that this Bread may be unto us 'the

*Irenaeus Lib. 5. Cap. 4. Quando mixtus Calix & fractus Panis percipit Verbum Dei, fit Euchariftia fanguinis & Corporis Chrifti. **Reeve's Apologies of Juftin Martyr. p. 110, 2d Edit.

IF Water-Baptifm, and what is now call'd the Lord's Supper, had really been the Inftitutions M 3 and

the Body of thy Chrift, and this Cup the Blood of thy • Chrift. After the Bread was thus confecrated, it was thought to have mighty Virtues, and it was ufual in thofe Days for Chil dren and fucking Infants to receive the Sacrament.* And of Juch Moment was the Taking of it thought to be, that'tis faid, when a little fucking Girl refused to taste the Sacramental Wine, the Deacon violently fore'd it down her Throat. This is deli ver'd as the most Ancient and Primitive Opinion. But about the Twelfth Century, which might be very well term'd the Midnight of Superftition amongst Chriftians; The Opinion was, That the Words of Confecration faid by a Prieft, abolisht the Subftance of the Bread, and fubftituted the Body of Chrift in the Room of it. Hence the Doctrine of Tranfubftantiation took its Rife, and 'tis now the Opinion of the Papifts, That the Bread in the Eucharift is tranfubftantiated into the Body of Chrift, and to be Adored and offer'd upto God as a propitiatory Sacrifice for the Quick and the Dead. At the Dawn of the Reformation, this appear'd very abfurd to Martin Luther, and he was of Opinion, That the Sacrament confifted of the Subftance of Chrift's Body and Blood, together with the Subftance of Bread and Wine, And therefore the Lutherans are faid to hold Confubftantiation. The Calvinifts, Arminians and Socinians, bold that no Subftance is given by the Celebrator, except that of Bread and Wine; And the Opinion of the Church of England is according to Hooker's ** Account, That the Bread is not Chrift's Body, nor the Wine his Blood, any where but in the Heart and Soul of the true Chriftian that receives them. But the late Dr. Hicks and others of his Opinion will have it, that the first eftablish'd Doctrine of the Church of England is, That the Eucharift is an unbloody Sacrifice, but they do not mean, • What is commonly call'd the Sacrifice of the Mass, not the fubftantial Body and Blood of Chrift, much less his Divinity; but the Bread and Wine, fubftituted by the Divine Word for his own Body and Blood; and upon which, God, at the Prayers of the Priefts and People,

'fends

* Enquiry into the Conftitut. of the Primitive Church. 2d. Part. pag. 144, aud 146. ift Edit.

**Hooker's Abridgment, pag. 143.
*Johnfo..'s unbloody sacrifice, pag. 211,

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