fift of fuch only as he loves, and approves, and delights in; for into that no naughty Perfon can enter, no unclean Thing can come; whereas the Society of the Church in this Life is made up promifcuously of Good and Bad, it is like a Field, where the Tares and the Wheat grow together. And tho' the Design of our Lord in planting the Church upon Earth was to purify unto himJelf a peculiar People zealous of good Works, to prepare and fit them for the Kingdom of Glory, when all thefe Things fhall come to an End, and therefore he furnished his Church with Power to exclude all Perfons from its Communion, that fhould visibly depart from their Baptifmal Promife and Vow, yet this Power it committed into the Hands of Men that are not always careful of their Duty, but fometimes neglect to put away the fcandalous Perfon from among themfelves: And if they were never fo careful, yet they can only diftinguifh between those that walk honeftly and inof fenfively on the one hand, and between notorious and scandalous Sinners on the other; but they cannot diftinguish always between the Sincere and Hypocrites: And they of this latter fort may behave themselves fo difcreetly, as not to let their Vices, which reign in their Hearts, fhew themselves in their open Practices. But when Chrift hall come to judge the World, he will impartially

Thy Kingdom come. Vol. II. partially diftinguish between the Good and Bad; the Sinners fhall not stand in the Congregation of the Righteous; the Hypocrite fhall not be able to croud himself any longer, nor to flide into the Company of the Sincere; the Wheat fhall be thoroughly fifted from the Chaff; the Angels fhall fever the Good from the Bad; the Wheat fhall be gathered into the Garner by it felf, and the Chaff Shall be burnt with unquench

able Fire.

That which I take to be moft Obfervable under this Head is; That altho' at Chrift's fecond coming the Juftice of God fhall be difcerned in the Punishment of all ungodly and unrighteous Perfons, and the Wicked therefore fhall vifibly be made fubject to his Almighty Power; that is, altho' the Dominion of God will be apparent over thefe, and Acts of Government will pafs. upon them, yet thefe are not taken notice of as Parts of that Kingdom, which will then begin, tho' they will be made Examples of his Power and Juftice, and willfind themfelves not exempt from his Jurifdiction; but the Good only, those whomhe delights to fave, are called the Children of the Kingdom, the reft being shut out into outer Darkness: Which is a plain Demonftration how much more God is delighted, that his Government fhould be made Remarkable by Acts of Grace and Goodnefs,

than

than by Inftances of irrefiftible Power and juft Severity. He will not allow that his moft glorious Kingdom fhould be said to extend farther than his Kindness and Beneficence, tho' his abfolute Dominion be over all Things, and his Power is made known in the Deftruction of his Enemies. Were there nothing else to perfuade me that God does not now govern the World merely for Oftentation of arbitrary Will and Power, this would abundantly fatisfy me in this Matter, that even that glorious Kingdom of God, which will be opened with the moft illuftrious Manifeftation of his Per fections before all the World, that ever was or will be, that Kingdom, I fay, will confit only of the Objects of his Love and Grace, and he will not reckon them to be within his Government, tho' they cannot withdraw themselves from under it, who are incapable of his Mercy and Bounty. For which no reafon could be given, if all his Providences were the mere Effect of arbitrary Will and irrefiftible Power. For then why fhould not the Kingdom of God be faid to confift of those whom he condemns eternally, because he hath a mind to condemn them, as well as of thofe whom he faves eternally, because he had a mind to fave them? When therefore the Apoftle tells us, that the Unrighteous fhall not inherit the Kingdom of God, and our Saviour, that they

only

only fhall fee the Kingdom of God that are born again, it is evident that God will have his Kingdom of Glory confift only of those that are Objects of his Mercy and Love, and therefore that he would have his Kingdom and Government noted for the Goodnefs and Clemency of it, and the Delight he takes in the Happiness of his Creatures. Therefore in his Kingdom his Goodness fhall shine above all his other Attributes, and the Glory of it fhall fill every Manfion in Heaven, and the Senfe of it and the Experience of it shall be every where, to ravish the Hearts of Men and Angels; they fhall all with unspeakable Delight worship him for ever, and give him the Glory of all his Perfections, and that with the utmost Thankfulness and Joy, because they are the Inftances of his infinite Goodness.

2. As the Kingdom of God fhall confift of them only that were the true Saints of God in this World, fo to them will he communicate himself more fully than whilst they were in their mortal Bodies. This was hinted before, but deferves to be confidered by it felf. In order to the Recovery of Mankind, and the compleating our Happiness in the Enjoyment of God, he has made himself known to us by degrees. At first the World knew God only by natural Light, and those particular Revelations that he made of himself to fome holy and excel

lent

lent Perfons. In Process of Time it pleased God to make a more full Revelation of himfelf to the Seed of Abraham, by Mofes and the Prophets. But in the laft Days he manifefted himself yet more publickly, by fending his own Son into the World, and that for the Good of all Mankind, that all might be faved, and come to the Knowledge of the Truth. But there is a more full Discovery of himself yet behind, which God will make to Good Men. Tho' the Discovery of God's Perfections, and of his Counfels, to fave us by his Gospel, was fo bright a Revelation, in Comparison to that which he afforded the Ifraelites by Types and Figures before, yet even this Revelation, compared with that which is to come, is but an Obscure and Faint Representation of God's infinite Perfections and moft wife Counfels. For the Apostle tells us, Now we fee thro' a Glafs darkly, but then we shall fee Face to Face, 1 Cor. 13. 12. And we are not to wonder that Chrift at his fecond coming will raife us up to a more fublime and perfect Knowledge of the Nature and Providence of God, than he came to acquaint us with at first, because at firft he came to inftruct us in that Knowledge of God, which might be abundantly fufficient to bring us to the Enjoyment of his Kingdom at laft; and then that Knowledge which we shall attain, fhall be the Reward of our Faith

and