Chapter 49. Of the estate of the Elect, at the Last Day of Judgment.
WILLIAM PERKINS
Chapter 49. Of the estate of the Elect, at the Last Day of Judgment.
The Last Day of Judgment shall be in this manner:
I. Immediately before the coming of Christ, the powers of heaven shall be shaken. The Sun and Moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall seem to fall from heaven. At this point, the Elect then living shall rejoice, but the reprobate shall shake their every joint. Mat
24.29-30, Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and the Moon shall not give her light, the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man shall appear in heaven; and then all the kindreds of the earth shall mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man come in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. Luk 21.26, Men's hearts will fail them for fear, and for looking towards those things which will come on the world. Verse 28, And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads, for your redemption draws near.
2Tim 4.8, Hereafter is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge will give me at that day — and not to me only, but to those also, who love his appearing.
II. Then the heavens, all being set on fire, shall with a noise like that of chariot wheels, suddenly pass away; and the elements, along with the earth and all in it, shall be dissolved with fire. 2Pet 3.12-13 Looking for, and hastening to the coming of the day of God, by which the heavens being set on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with heat. But we look for new heavens, and a new earth, according to His promise, in which dwells all righteousness.
A GOLDEN CHAIN
At the same time, when all these things have come to pass, the sound of the last trumpet shall be heard, sounded by the Archangel. And Christ shall come suddenly in the clouds, with power, and glory, and a great train of Angels. Mat 24.31, And He shall send His
Angels with a great sound of a trumpet. 1Th 4.16, The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, even with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first.
Mat 24.30. 1Th 4.17, Then we who live and remain, shall be caught up with them also in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be, with the Lord.
III. Now, at the sound of the trumpet, the Elect who were dead, shall arise with their bodies. And those very bodies which were turned to dust, and one part torn from another, shall by the omnipotent power of God, be restored, and their souls shall descend from heaven and be brought back into those bodies. As for those who will then be alive, they shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye; and this mutation shall be instead of death. And at that time, the bodies shall receive their full redemption. And all the bodies of the Elect shall be made like the glorious body of Christ Jesus. And therefore they shall be spiritual, immortal, glorious, and free from all infirmities.
1Cor 15.52, We shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. Verses 43-44, It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in honour; it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body, etc.
IV. Last of all, when they are all convened before the tribunal seat of Christ, he will immediately place the Elect, severed from the reprobate, and taken up into the air, at his right hand; and to those being written in the Book of Life, he will pronounce this sentence: Mat
25.34, Come you blessed of the Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you from the foundations of the
WILLIAM PERKINS
world. Mat 25.33 He shall set the sheep on his right hand, and the goats on the left. 1Th 4.17. Rev. 20.15,
Whoever was not found written in the Book of Life, was cast into the lake of fire.