Christ's certain and sudden appearance to judgment

If any should doubt of the certainty of Christs appearance, because the Scripture speaks of the speediness thereof, as if Christ had been in those days presently to come, and yet above sixteen hundred years are past, since the promise was made.

If any should doubt of the certainty of Christs appearance, because the Scripture speaks of the speediness thereof, as if Christ had been in those dayes presently to come, and yet above sixteen hundred yeares are past, since the promise was made.

I answer, that the Apostle Paul who in his first Epistle to the Thessalonians spake of Christs coming, as if it might be in his time, 1 Thess. 4. 16, 17. The Lord himself will descend from Heaven with a sho•t, &c. And the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up in the Clouds, &c. The same Apostle tells the Thessalonians in his second Epistle, Chap. 2. 3. Tha• the day of the Lord should not come, till there was • falling away, and the Man of sin should be revealed, &c. And vers. 7. That there was then a let to the Revelation of the Man of sin, which was th• Heathenish Roman Empire, which let was not likely in haste, neither was removed till some hundred of years after; and therefore it is evident from that place, that the coming of the Lord was not to be until several ages after the writing of the Scriptures. This may be sufficient to give satisfaction concerning the length of time, since the ⟨p. 209⟩Scripture tells us that the Lord Jesus would quickly appear.

I answer, that the Apostle Paul who in his first Epistle to the Thessalenians spake of Christs coming, as if it might be in his time,