' -•.; .#;^ THE REIGN OF PEACE, COMMONLY CALLED THE MILLENIUM : AN EXPOSITION OF THE NINETEENTH & TWENTIETH CHAPTERS OF THE . BOOK OF EEVELATION. IN WHICH IT IS SHOWN THAT . '■ THE MILLENIUM THERE SPOKEN OP IS TO BE A REIGN OP PEACE ON EARTH ; NOT THE END, BUT THE SUMMER TIME OP THE WORLD, BEFORE THE COMING OF CHRIST TO JUDGMENT, AND THE FINAL RESTITUTION OP ALL THINGS. BY THE « J EEV. JAMES S. DOUGLAS, A.M., M.D., Missionary Minister of tht Church of Scttland. \>>' TORONTO: W. C CHEWETT & CO., KING STREET EAST. 1 867. ■>, PRI.NTEU AT THE STEAM PRESi E3TABLI3n.MBXr OF W. 0. CUEWETT t CO., KINQ STREET EAST, TObONTO. I ( THIS BOOK T8 RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED I Cljosi Subsaikrs BY WnOSE FAITH AND LIBERALITY THE AUTHOR HAS BEEN ENABLED TO PLACE IT BEFORE THE PUBLIC. SUBSCRIBEKS. IIlLMBUUO — Eni!». DONALD RODERTSON, THOMAS BROWN, ANGUS MACMURCHY, Sen. DONALD MACMURCHY, COLIN ROBERTSON. NOTTAWASAGA — SuNNIDALE, THOMAS McDOUGALL, T. GEOPGE A. ELLIOT, GEORGE FITZGERALD, ADAM HALL, BUHSORIUKRB. PKTKRBORouan, Ac. (Conlinueil). J. 11. JOHNHON (Rov.) JOSEPH FORI), 1). CANTIiON (Itov.) JAMES AdNEW, DAVID MILLEH, ANDREW DOUGLASS, McKELLAU & CAMERON, WILLIAM McCULLAGH, GEORGE A. HARVEY, M. SANDERSON, THOMAS T. MILRURN, ISAAC MILHURN, JOHN SANDERSON, ROIIERT MAHUDD, ANDREW YOUNG, TUOMAO J. EDMISON, L..KEFIELD. CHARLES R. D. DOOTaE, Mrs. CARVETH, JAMES THOM (Rev.) WILLIAM RAY, GEORGE SHIELDS, noUERT GRAHAM, JOHN FIT;4GERALD, Sen. Warsaw — Dummeb. JOHN WASON, ANDREW G. COOK, T. THOMAS CHOATB, ALEXANDER ESPLIN, DAVID SMITH, JOHN KIDD, A. B. ANDERSON, Mrs. J. MACNAUGHTON, ALEXANDER KIDD, PAUL JENKINS, NINIAN FORSYTH. Westwood — Dickson's Corners. ALEXANDER E8S0N, JOHN BARRENS, JAMES BARRENS, WILLIAM LEARMOUTH, ALEXANDER NI8BET, ROBERT FYFE, JOHN DICKSON, JAMES DICKSON, JAMES DICKSON, Sen. JOHN ARMOUR, ROBERT HOPE, WILLIAM BROTHERSTON, WILLIAM NELSON, JESSE GREY, JAMES ARMOUR, THOMAS BORLAND, ALEXANDER DICKSON, PETER HEWIE, ANDREW ROBERTSON, JAMES B. FYFE, ANDREW SHEARER, T. WILLIAM BRECKINRIDar, ALEXANDER WOODS, WILLLAM ROBERTSON. Keen'e — Allandale. WILLIAM CHRISTIE, ALEXANDER POE, JOHN NEISH, ROBERT ENGLISH, ^ ALEX. CAMPBELL, Sen. THOMAS CAMPBELL, H. H. DURNHAM, DONALD. ANDERSON, Mr. HUMPHREYS, THOMAS SHORT, Esq., M.P.P. Dr. MACRAE, JAMES MITCHELL, JAMES TRCfTTER, J. B. EDMISON, .__ _ ' JOSEPH LAMBIE, THOMAS MATHER, 10 SUBSCEIBERS. Keene — Allamdale, «tc. (Continued). ALEX. CHISHOLM, JOHN DIN8DALE, JOHN ATKINS, THOMAS ATKINS, FRANCIS TRAILL, DAVID ARMSTRONG, ALEX. CONNAL, JOHN MILLAR, WILLIAM RENWICK, Mrs. STARK, JOHN McFEE, GEORGE H. HOWELL, ANDREW MATHER, Mrs. MACFARLANK, Mr. DRUMMOND, Mr. JAMES WILSON, J;AMES MILLAR, FRANCIS ANDREWS (Rev.) WILLIAM IMTHERFORD, MARK GRAYSTOCK, SUSANNA MORGAN. Belmont. ROBERT SLOANE, WILLIAM REA, JOHN BANNON, ANDREW BUCHANAN, ROBERT BURGESS, ROBERT McGILL, DANIEL MuBURNiri, JOHN STEWART, JAMES BURGESS, THADDEUS SEXSMITH, THOMAS JOHNSTON, JAMES JlEA, JAMES TARBET, MARKUS SCOTT. WALTER SCOTT, WILLIAM NICOLL, ARCHIBALD FRAZER, Norwood. W. H. STEPHENSON, GEORGE DARKER. Hastings. HENRY FOWLDS, Sen. JOHN SHARPE. JAMES FOWLDS, NATHAN COOPER, JOSEPH A. FIFE, M.D. JAMES BECKET, WILLIAM J. FOWLDS, WILLIAM BOYD, M. JACOB KEMP, Mrs. JAMES GRIEVES, JOHN BECKET (Rov.) WILLIAM FULLER, ALEXANDER WILSON, JOHN THOMPSON, JONAS iVBER, JOHN C. HARRISON. BfiiDOENoaTn. F. J. BELL, ANDREW McKEE, JAMES SCHOFIELD, JOHN ISBISTER, SILVANUS DAVIES, JOHN TRENNUM, THOMAS GODFREY, G. J. GALVIN, GARNER NICH0LL8, M. MIDDLETON, T. M. MACHOMYLE, WILLIAM TRENNUM, THOKiVS MANN. SUBSCaiBEIlS. 11 Omemee. J. R. GUNDY (Rov.) G. BALFOUR, GEOUGE MORRISON, JAMES IVORY, JOHN McBRIEN, ROBERT GRANDY, Mi83 RYAN, Mr. MATCH ETT, JNO. SHAW, G. T. Lindsay. SHERIFF MACDOUGALL, TAMES WATSON, JAMES DENNISTOUN, D. MACNAUGHTON. Oakwood. Mr. YERX. Pickering. W. R. ROSS (Rev.), JOHN ANSON, GEORGE HIGGINBOTHAM, JOHN ELLIS. SCARBORO'. JAMES BAIN (Rev.) WILLIAM HOOD, WILLIAM HOOD, Jun. FULLARTON GIBSON, JOHN GIBSON, A. M. GRAHAM, JOHN D. MACCONNAL, T. D. H. FLETCHER (Rev.) WILLIAM PATERSON, JAMES HAMILTON, THOMAS NEWELL, JOHN MILNE, Miss JANE HENRY, WILLIAM HENRY, HUGH McDonald, ROBERT QALBr.AITH, MARTIN SUTHERLAND, THOMAS BROWN. Sundries. D. MORRISON (Rev.), C.ven Sound. J. BROWN (Rev.), Niagara. — CAMPBELL (Rev.), Clifton. GEORGE MACDONNELL (Rev.), Fergus. JOHN SHESSER (Rev.), Aberdeen, Waterloo. TEODOUE WASMUND (Rev.), AgonviUe, Renfre\7. JAMES DOUGLAS (Rev.), Uxbridge. ; ,- DR. NASH, Aineliasburg. : ;. JOHN L. ROBERTSON (Rev.), Walton. J » . . WILLIAM HAMILTON (Rev.), Caledon. • WALTER M. ROGERS (Rev.), Perth. S. B. JOHNSON, Rev. (Bible Agent), Peterboro'. A. DAWSON (Rev.), Niagara. ROBERT CAMPBELL, M.A. (Kev.), Montreal. JOHN POTTS (Rev.), Hamilton. ROBERT BROWN (Rev.), Garafraxa. WILLIAM MARGACH, Lind.say. 12 SUBSCRIBERS. Toronto — Youkvillk, Ac. WILLIAM MITCHELL, J. HUDSON, JAMES MICniE, ARCHIBALD McMURCHY, Mrs. CONSTABLE, Mis8 CONSTABLE, GEORGE CONSTABLE, ' A. STEWART, Mrs. STIBBARD, (2 copies,) E. COATSWORTH, DUNCAN McFARLANE, WM. STEPHENSON (Rev.) MRS. BONNICK, A. SUTHERLAND (Rev.) CHARLES LEVY, Dr. J. E. RAY, D. HAY, WILLIAM REID ^Rev.) T. M. PRINGLE, JOHN BARCLAY, D.D. (Rev.) JAMES EDGAR (Rov.) GEORGE SCOTT, JOSEPH GIBSON. * ALEXANDER TOPP (Rev.) Dr. BARRICK, J. ROLLO, JOHN GORDON, (2 copies,) T. F. CALDICOTT, D.D. (Rev.) 0:- PREFACE. In placing before the public this book on the Reign of Peace, commonly known as the Millenial Reign of Christ on the Earth, I might plead the common excuse that having studied the subject carefully and long, and having listened to and read the opinions of others, I might now take the liberty of showing mine own opinion. And in doing so I might I think, justly say, that my views are at least new, and not unreasonable ; while their truth must be judged of by the reasons with which they are accom- panied. I might also plead that the views I present of the Millenium are sufHcicntly called for by the frequent publication, of late, of views naturally calculated to distress and lead astray the minds of the more earnest portion of christians ; and which it becomes every minister of the gospel therefore to resist and counteract, by setting forth the plain scriptural view in regard to the time, when the gospel shall be proclaimed from the river to the sea, and from Mount Zion to the ends of the earth ; showing that the work to be done implies not a speedy end to the world, but a lengthening out of the day of grace ; and that one of the chief objects of the Book of Revelation is to calm the minds, and sustain the patience of the saints, in waiting for the coming of the Lord. But though these considerations weighed with me personally as believing that I had some prospect of doing good by present- ing my views on this important subject, the necessity of circum- stances had much to do with the publication of this book. 14 PREFACE. • I prepared the materials for lecturing through Canada in the expectation at the time that I would have to find my living in that way ; and having got involved in the work, I felt unwilling to lose all my previous labour, by stopping in the middle of it. I had no idea of the amount of travelling I should have in publishing such a work by subscription ; the amount of incon- venience I should encounter in journeying to and fro over the country ; so that my heart often sunk within me to that degree that I have more than once been on the point of abandoning it. Still the Lord, my master, sustained me by some renewed token of kindness and success, by some encouragement ministered by some of his faithful people. To these and all my subscribers and friends by whom I was every where treated with hospitality and every kindness, I not only desire to express my hearty thanks, but to pray that the blessing of him that dwelt in the bush may rest on them and theirs, in all their pilgrimage ; until we all meet in the city of habitations, the home of our heavenly Father, and the palace of our Saviour king, of whoso coming wo are about to meditate as we journey by tb" way. iORONTo, October 1, 1867. COI^TENTS. . ' PART I. CHAPTER I. The Bible a Perfect Book, and the only Fountain of all our knowledge regarding the Millenium. CHAPTER II. ' : Great object of Bible Prophecy to keep the coming of the Lord Jesus ever near, and to sustain the patience of the Faithful moan- time ; and hence the lawfulness and encouragement to study the Book of Revelation. CHAPTER ni. Seven Rules laid down for discovering the Scripture meaning of the Millenium — The Bible its own Interpreter. CHAPTER IV. The Millenium not the Judgment Day, or the Eternal State, but the Summer Time of the World— The Period marked off both at the beginning and at the end from the Past and the Future. ' CHAPTER V. Events coming before the Rising of the Millenial Sun ; and first, the Triumphal Procession of Christ and his Saints. CHAPTER VI. Events coming before the Rising of the" Millenial Sun ; and secondly, the Overthrow of the Beast and the False Prophet- Part first, Overthrow of the Beast. 16 CONTENTS. CHAPTER VII. Events coming boforo tho Rising of the Millonial Sun; and secondly, tho Overthrow of the Beast and the False Prophet — Part second, Overthrow of tho False Prophet and of Great Baby- lon, where he dwells. CHAPTER VIII. Events coming before the Rising of the Millenial Sun ; and secondly, the Overthrow of the Beast and the False Prophet — Part third, the Great War in which they are overthrown. CHAPTER IX. Events coming before the rising of the Millenial Sun — The Overthrow of the Beast and the False Prophet — Review of tho Causes of the last Great War, and its Final Issue, in ushering in the Reign of Peace. CHAPTER X. The Millenium described in two particulars ; and first, the Binding of Satan, and the Cessation of War and of the many other afflictions of which Satan is tho principal cause. , » CHAPTER XL The Millenium described in two particulars ; and secondly, the First Resurrection realized alike in Heaven and on the Earth. CHAPTER XII. The Loosing of Satan — The close of the Millenium — The Fimxl Apostasy — The Judgment Day, and the End of the World. CHAPTER XIII. The times before appointed, when all these events should occur, and the Millenial Reign of Peace begin to dawn upon our world. - CHAPTER XIV. Resume of the whole subject, in order to ascertain the position in which the Church now stands, and the course she ought to take in the present conjuncture of affairs. CONTENTS. 17 PART II. THE WORK TO BE DONE. CHAPTER I. . ' The work to be done in bringing about the Millenial Reign of Peace, is to be accomplished, not by Miracles, but by the use of the ordinary means already in operation. CHAPTER II. The means provided in the Gospel of Christ are amply sufS- cient to save and bless every one who is willing rightly and dili- gently to employ them. . CHAPTER III. The means already provided in the Gospel of Christ will be found, when rightly employed, amply sufficient to restore Peace to the Churches, and to preserve them in the Bond of Perfectness. CHAPTER IV. , The means already provided in the Gospel of Christ are amply sufficient to bring Peace, and all its blessings, to the world. \ :. CHAPTER V. The peaceful and {prosperous state of the Church and the World, during the Millenial Reign of Christ over the Nations of the earth — Conclusion. PART FIRST. THE PEOPHETIC PROSPECT. And I wept much, bocauso no man was fomul worthy to open and to read the Book, neither to look thereon. And one of the Eldcra said unto mo, weep not ; l)cliold the Lion of the Tribe of Juda, tlie Root of Daviil, liatli prevailed to open tlie Boole, and to looss the seven seals thereof.— Kev. v: 4, 5. THE REIGN OF PEACE. CHAPTER I — INTRODUCTION. THE BIBLE, A PERFECT BOOK, AND THE ONLY FOUNTAIN OF ALL OUll KNOWLEDGE REOARDiNQ THE MILLENIUM. " And aro built upon the Foundatioa of tho Apostles and Prophets, Jcsua Christ himself being the chief corner stone." — Ern. ii. 20. Tho Bible is the Book of Man. Man has been defined by an ancient pliilosoplicr to bo an animal that looks before and behind. Man wants to know what happened before ho was born, and also what shall be after his deatli. Man wants to know whence he came, and whither he is going. The Bible, and the Bible alone, supplies this Information. Other books of religion pretend, indeed, to tell men what happened before they were borrt, and indeed before the Earth itself existed; but the pretended genealogies of Gods and Heroes are so manifestly fabulous, that none would venture to maintain in the present day that they are any thing but fables — mythical repre- sentations, that is, of the processes of nature. The astronomical tables of the Hindoos and of the Chinese have been proved to be forgeries of the sixteenth cen- 22 THE RKION OF I>EAOE. tnry after Clirist, and to liave been constnietccl on the infornmtion received by tlioso nations from European traders ; and for my part, I buspect tluit the In'erogly- phics will, on better knowledge, bo found to bo forge- ries of a similar kind, invented by tbo heathen i)rie8t8, to hide their previous ignorance under cover of thp Icnowledgo borrowed from the Jewish Scriptures, after tlie captivity. The information contained in these pretended ancient Avritings is meagre and unsatisfac- tory; and would amount in reality to nothing, had not the Bible presented a solid pathway right down through the dreary swamps of their delusive fables. There were no other histories except the Bible, till about a thousand years before Christ, and these only poetical and fragmentary ones. The accounts they give of the origin of man, and of tlie world in which man finds himself, are purely fabulous. The Bible alone gives us a plain prose narrative of t^ t creation of the world, and the creation of man, and the history of mankind in their successive generations down to ■ the time of Christ and his Apostles so far as regards their highest nature and destiny; and in the fact that it contains no fables, and never turns aside from its course to dwell on minute or connnon events, is a proof of its being in its origin more than human. As to the future, no other book of religion pretends to tell us anything, unless it be in the way of prophesying, after the events are past ; but the Bible continues its THE REIQN OF PEACE. 23 history on into tl>o future, to tho JiKlrcficnted in that ancient story as to tho introduction of tho gospel among the heathen Saxons of the kingdom of Kent, in Enghvnd ! When tho missionaries, wo are told, requested of tho king permission to worship and to preach tho gospel in that kingdom, ho called a witcn- agemot or council of his nobles, and laid tho reqnest of the Christian missionaries before them. When ono and another in the council had spoken against granting a request so fraught, apparently, with danger to their ancient worship and their ancient laws, an ancient nobleman stood up and said, " O king, we corao into the world, like, a bird coming in the night into a lighted room. The bird comes out of the darkness into the light ; and after fluttering round a little in alarm and tronble, it flies out again from tho light into the darkness. So do we come out of the darkness into the light of the living world; and after undergoing various toils and troubles here, we again go from tho light into tlie darkness. But whence we came, and whither we go, no man can tell us. But if these men know anything better, by all means let us hear them." . 24 THE RF.IGN OF PRACE. Of all books in the world, tlie Bible alone tells whence we came, where we are, and whither we arc going : and surely since the Bible gives us this most interesting, most momentous information, every one of us ought by all means to hearken to its instruction ; and then we shall feel its voice in our inmost souls, telling us that we came from God, and that to God we must return ; and that in God, even now, we live, and move, and have our being ; and therefore that to God we should comr..*t our way, and devote to him every power of our bodies, every faculty of our souls. Tlie Bible is the Book of God. l^one but God, who knows the end from the beginning, could have inspired the writers of the Bible to state just what they have done, and no more. The Bible is a perfect book every way. Its revelation just meets man's spiritual wants, revealing a Saviour from sin, and a Fountain of Life precisely suited to man's fallen state, and still un- quenched desire after the living God and eternal life. But its very history is so natural, so perfect, so simple, and so imbued with the spirit of truth, justice, good- ness, and of God, that none but God covdd have enabled any man to pen it. As a history, the book of Genesis is perfect, giving a simple narrative of the great events in the history of man, with geograpliy and chronology (the eyes of history), so distinct that they could not be improved ; though it must have been written a thou- sand years before the time of Herodotus, whose history THE REJQN OP PEACE. 25 is a bundle of fables, without any order or dates. The book of Genesis is as perfect as any book in the Bible itself, though wi'itten before writing was understood by other nations. Indeed I believe that speaking and writing both are the result of inspiration ; and the gradual perfection of both does not disprove this; for prophecy is gradually gi'^en, as well as other gifts of God. But the gift is proved by its perfection, being as real in kind at first as it eventually became in degree. Mose^ must have been inspired to write so well, or even to write at all, while writing seems to have been almost unknown to other nations. And it must be confessed that, with all our learning in the present day, the book of Genesis, or any other book of the Bible, could not be reproduced or improved, either in matter, or style, or spirit. The Bible rests securely on its two great pillars of Miracles and Prophecy. The Bible claims to have been divinely inspired ; and in order to distinguish itself from all impostures, lays down two great prin- ciples or rules, by whieh all men may discern true revelations from false. A true revelation must be confirmed first by a miracle, as a sign that the pro- phet has been authorized by the Lord of nature and of nations to speak in his name. All the Bible pro- phecies are confirmed in the beginning in this manner. I am not aware that any one ever dared to pretend to work miracles for this purpose ; and any attempt. 26 THE REiaN OF PEACE. therefore, to win men from the worship of tlie living God to the service of dead idols, by misrepresenting the appearances of nature, or magnifying sleight-of- hand tricks, must obviously have proved its own con- demnation, as no miracle could prove the Godhead of a dead image. Miracles were therefore an immediate and infallible test that the prophet who could work them was sent by God to make known his will to his creatures, and all the Bible prophets were thus attested, either first or last. The second rule l^as, that the thing which a true prophet foretold would come to pass at the time and in the manner described by him ; and ^ hence if the events foretold did not eome to pass mani- - festly in the manner and at the time prescribed, then > the prophet would be convicted out of his own mouth. In this manner the Bible prophets have written before- hand the history of all the principal nations in the world. It is not to be supposed that every minute event can be written fully out, like a national history, • . extending over many volumes. The world in that case ■ would not contain the books that must be written. ; Besides, a minate narrative would not serve the pur- pose, which is to convince mankind that he who has foretold these things is God, and therefore the God whom they should obey and trust. Minute events can- be known only to a few, and these few Avould in that ease never know of the prophecy which was to be fulfilled. The prophecies, therefore. Bet forth only' THE REIQN OP PEACE. 27 great events, in which all mankind are interested, and of the fulfillment of which they may he all fully satis- fied. But it is ohvious that in foretelling the great events, God shows that he also knows and could fore- tell, if he chose, the smallest ; because tlie great events imply all the smaller ones, just as the river implies all the small streams tlu.t run in to swell it up to its great proportions, or just as the arrival at one's destination implies all the steps to be taken before reaching that destination. So that in foretelling the great events of the world's history, God shows liis perfect knowledge of all the lesser events that are necessary to lead to those results; and only withholds that further infor- mation because, if given, it would defeat other objects of equal importance which he wishes to accomplish. God designs that his Book shall not be so large that men cannot read and remember its whole contents thoroughly; but that, all being familiar Vith his pro- phecies, they may see plainly the accomplishment of them ; while at the same time he takes care that these prophecies shall be so numerous and so distinct that no one may stumble upon a napparent fulfillment of them, instead of the real. One event might perhaps be guessed at, and, if stated only in general terms, might seem to have happened as was foretold ; but a continuous system of prophecy, such as the Bible sets before us, could never have been fulfilled, unless it had been inspired by Ilim who alone knows the end from 28 THE REIGN OF PEACE. the beginning. And thus, by tliese two signs or tests, the Bible distinguishes itself from all other books. Miracles prove that the writers of the Bible were eent by the God of nature, whose laws they could stop or hasten ; and while they served an immediate purpose in convincing the minds of those to whom they first addressed themselves, they remain, being publicly wrought and publicly written, equally satisfectory proofs to all succeeding generations, with only increas- ing force; because they have never been rivalled or repeated amid all our present enlightenment and enlarged knowledge. On the other hand, the fulfill- ment of prophecy in all lands and in all ages, is a standing miracle, continually being wrought before the eyes of all nations, increasing in its extent and clearness, and force, as time rolls on, and as the liistory of the world repeats its previous record. Of the internal evidence I cannot here speak ; but on these two external evidences. Miracles and Prophecy, unri- valled in their grandeur and in their godly and holy tendency, the Bible may be said to stand secure in its own strength, as Solomon's temple was made to stand secure in the defence of its two towers, Jachin and Boaz. The Bible is the only perfect history of the world- The Bible begins, as I have already said, at the begin- ning, and it runs on to the end of time. The Bible begins its history in Eternity, when there was nothing THE REIQN OP PEACE. 29 existing but God, eternally glorious and happy in liis own perfections. It shows how God made the heavens and the earth, and all things in them ; how God naade man, and dealt with him, in innocence and in guilt ; and having run through 'he history of man, and God's dealings ^vitll him in every successive period, ends with the dissolution of the world, and the setting up of the eternal Kingdom, which God is about to create, and in which he shall reign in everlasting glory with all his saints. From eternity in the beginning to eter- nity in the end, the Bible history runs st jadily on in a beautiful order and simplicity, that plainly proves infi- nitely perfect knowledge on the part of its Author, and also the perfect control that he wields over all creatures and over all events. This perfection is clearly proved, not only from the whole book, but equally from every part of it; for the Bible history differs from other history, not only in its nature and extent, but also in its character. The Bible history is throughout a prophetic history. God first foretells the event, and then shows its accomplishment. Thus every event is seen to be a miracle, and every miracle is foretold. Thus God commanded, and the world arose into being. Let there be light, and light was ; let there be a firmament, and the firmament was ; let us make man, and God made man. And so in dealing with man. When God had made man, he said to him, Eat of every tree of the garden, except one, and thou 30 TUB REIGN OP PEACE. Blialt live for ever. Eat of the tree of tlie knowledge of good and evil, and thou shalt die — begin to die, and die for ever. And when our iirst parents had eaten of that forbidden tree, immediately they felt that they were naked and defenceless; want and misery and terror immediately took possession of them. Their future lot was also described to them ; and as it was told them, bo has it been fulfilled. And without stating all the minute particulars, we see plainly that every event — the flood, the escape from Egypt, the wandering in the wilderness, the election of a king, the captivity in and return from Babylon, the coming of the Messiah and all his sufferings and glory, the destruction of Jerusalem, the dispersion of the Jews, and the in-gathering of the Gentiles into the gospel fold — are all foretold first, and then fulfilled ; and not only so, but, lest men should say that these prophecies were written after the event, the prophetic history continues onwards to the present day and the end of time, in the same simple and flowing strain, leaving the generations of mankind in succession witnesses that the prophecies were given from the beginning that are being fulfilled before theia* eyes. The present is described in the B'ble, and the future too, as plainly as the past, though we may not be so able to discern its events. The present events are generally too near for men to notice them, and those of the future are necessarily written in a language which we cannot THE REIGN OF PEACE. 81 • understand, until tlie events come to illustrate them, by affording their proper key or cipher. Still the Bible history is unique and complete, first setting forth God's purpose and plan, and then showing how that purpose is fulfilled, and how that plan is carried into execution. Nothing could be more complete or more marvellous ; yet it is a fact so plainly established throughout the Bible history, that it cannot bo denied. The true aim of the Bible thus witnessed i.o all men, by miracles and prophecy, is to lead all men to believe in Christ, and to accept his offered salvation. The revelations of God regarding the future were never designed merely to amuse an idle curiosity. They are designedly written so that no one, not even the penmen by whom they were published to man- kind, could understand them until they were near their fulfillment ; and hence we are informed, that the prophets searched and enquired diligently as to the meaning of those prophecies which they were con- strained to utter. And even die angels in like manner desire to look into them. But neither men nor angels can read the future, though plainly written in the Book of God. God alone knows the end from the beginning. And having from time to time foretold with his mouth, the prophet, and fulfilled with his hand, his providence, the things foretold, God shows that all men may believe his word regarding events still future ; and more particularly the record that he 82 THE REIQN OP PEACE. liatli given in favour of his Son, assuring all men that God hath given to men eternal life in his Son : so that whosoever hath the Son hath life ; and ho that hath not the Son of God shall not see life ; but the wrath of God abideth on hira. All the miracles and all the prophecies have this simple object, that all men should believe on the Son of God; and that they should be assured that all that believe on the Only Son of God shall have life through him, and that they shall have life more and more abundantly. In doing this the Bible does not need properly to tell men that they are sinners, and that they must die ; that after death there is a judgment and eternal justice for every man ; for these things all men know in them- selves ; for the facts are graven, as with a hot iron, on their hearts and consciences. The Bible needs much rather, to show mankind wherein their sin and guilt consists, and how they may be pardoned, saved and made happy again for ever. The Bible just does this, by setting forth man's originally innocent and happy state in Paradise ; man's deception and fall under the power of Satan ; and then the coming of the Saviour to atone for and save all that accept his grace, and the final awards of bliss and woe to those who accept and those who reject this great salvation. The Bible is thus properly the history of Christ and his Church in the world, and the history of the world only so far as Christ and his Church are connected with the THE REIGN OP PEACE. 88 world. The Bible is the history that is, of man's fall bj sin and his restoration by the Lord Jesus Christ ; and this is all we can properly expect to find in the prophecies of the Bible ; though from the nature of the case, all the great events in the history of the world are comprehended in the unfolding of the his- tory of Christ's church. Still in studying the prophe- cies of the Bible we shall miss the chief key, by which its mysteries can alone be properly opened, if we lose sight of this its one great object— to show the way of salvation by Jesus Christ. 84 CHAPTER IT. GREAT OBJECT OF THE BIBLE PROniECY TO KEEP THE COMING OF THE LORD JESUS EVER NEAR. AND TO SUSTAIN THE PATIENCE OF THE FAITHFUL MEAN- TIME; AND HENCE THE LAWFULNESS AND ENCOU- RAGEMENT TO STUDY THE BOOK OF REVELATION " The revelation of Jesus Christy whicli God gave unto liim, to show unto his servants thin<;8 ' which must shortly come to pass ; and he sert and signified it by his angel unto his servant John ; who bare record of the "Word of God) and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that ho saw. Blessed is he that readcth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written there- in ; for the time is at hand." — Rev. i. 1. The Bible seeks to keep the minds of men awake to the glorious appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, by marking out the successive stages through which Clirist's church must pass before that dcsireable con- summation can be arrived at. In such a revelation as the Bible two things required to be done, first, to keep the future neai, so as to impress on men's minds a just and effective sense of the fear of God and yet to keep alive the faith and patience of the expectant hearts of God's people, until the time THE UEION OF FEACE. 86 tlmt justice could bo done tliom. Tliat which really most concerns all men is tlio coming Judgment, by which every man is to receive justice, according to his deeds, and according to the choice ho has made of the service of God, or the service of the Devil, That day must bo kept ever before the minds of men as of the greatest and first importance. And yet that day cannot come immediately, cannot come for many gene- rations, else the world must come to an end l>efore it has served its purpose in giving time and room for mankind to multiply, and be in succession tried as to the path they will choose of life or death. The Ijiblo docs both of these things. The glories and tlie terrors of that day are therefore presented in their most awful aspect, hanging over the earth like thunder clouds threatening every moment to destroy it, while the bow of hope promises mercy to the penitent, and le- lays the terrible outpouring of the Almighty's wrath. And as days and years and ages must pass away ere that day arrive, these are marked and measured oif, on the way that mankind must tread, ere they reach as it were that tremendous pass in the mountain bar- riers of this world, and find their way to the heaven of everlasting peace or the hell of everlasting woe. These stages are marked off in prophecy, so that as time rolls on, mankind may see one way-mark after another real- ized ; and thus by counting the number of stages past, be enabled to calculate how many are yet to come, 86 THE KEIGN OF PEACE. • and liavo their fuitli and patience ao Bustaincd that they may bo encouraged and enabled to hold on their course begun, and persevere therein onward to the end ; becauric they know they have not yet reached the day when all their hopes shall be realized, in the fulfillment of the promises of God. And when we see, as we shall do in the study of God's word, that the time of the end is not yet, that even the Millenium is not yet come, I trust wo shall all learn to watch and pray and wait in patience a little longer, for the time appointed of the Father. This view of the use of prophecy obviates many objections, of which I shall hero endeavour to remove a few that are commonly urged agoinst the study of prophecy ; and first, that the thing that concerns us is properly that we do our duty, that we plough and sow in due season. But are we not also concerned as to the time of the harvest ? If we are as much interested as to the time of harvest, as we are as to the time of sowing, we are as much interested in the coming future as in the present time. But then we may be called away from this world before these things come? If so, we shall not therefore cease to live, and behold with joy in the heavenly kingdom, the progress of the gospel of salvation in the earth, as represented in the nineteenth chapter of Revelation ; for there is joy not only among men on earth, but among saints in heaven over every sinner that repenteth. "Whether remaining THE RKIQN OF PKAOK. 37 liero, tlicn,or removing to the licavctily liind, all (Joel's people shall see the glorious Bpread of the Redeomer'a kingdom, and rejoice in the blessed fruits of righteous- ness that are seen ripening for the great liarvest of tho earth. P^very Cliristian is thus deeply interested for himself in tho coming Millenium, and he is still more interested, as a good man, in the welfare of his friends, his children, and their posterity, and of all his follow- men. The farmer may never see another harvest : docs ho therefore cease to plough and sow ? No ; he ploughs ard sows in hope for himself, if he live; for those he loves if himself bo called away. And as it is in reference to earthly, bo it is in reference to heavenly things to those that hoartiiy believe in them and realize tliem. It is not only the future, then, in itself, we have to consider, but the influence the future ought to have over our present conduct. The farmer ploughs in hope and sows in hope, and so does the Christian. If the farmer certainly knew that there would be no harvest next year, or still more that the world would como to an end before then, as some strongly assure us, he would not plough or sow any more. Ht would set about preparing at once for the end of the w^orld and the judgment day. Hence it is of the utmost importance to have right views as to what we are to look for in the future, as it must neces- sarily affect our present actions. And no stronger proof of the uncertainty of the views of those that 38 THE REIGN OP PEACE. ^ preach the end of the world, therefore, coukl be given, than that they go on to plongh and sow, to buy and sell like other men. It would bo folly to do so if the world were coming immediately to an end : and did they really believe as they say, they would act quite differently from what they do. But then some will tell us that they pay no attention to the future, they ■ attend to their present known duty. How can they • attend to their present duty, if they do not considei* - what God requires them to do ? Merely to plough and sow all the time would be poor farming. Everj'- thing must be done in its season. Hence mankind are commanded to watch as well as to pray ; to look for the Saviour's coming as well as to wait for it ; to observe the signs of the times as well as to be instant in season out of season. And those Christians who do not look for the Millenium cannot be expected to labor for it, and therefore shall not share in it. For those only who serve God in the way of his own appoint- ment can justly look for the reward promised by him. True Christians therefore do not mean this. They mean only that they look for the Millenium when it shall please God to send it, and are labouring for it in constant expectation of its coming ; only they do not ' know and are not concerned about the time of it. But does not even this indicate a want of hearty inte- rest in their work ? Does the farmer not care when the harvest may come, because he keeps his work THE REIGN OF PSACE, ' - 39 forward and is ready for it ? No, the farmer is anxious to have his harvest as soon as possible, and counts the days to it. So will the Christian long for the Mille- nium, and take every means to ascertain as far as possible when he may hope for its coming. But then some think it wrong to inquire into these mystei'ious things, as if it were expressly forbidden in Scripture. They read that "the times and the seasons which the Father hath kept in his own power it is not for men to know;" but they forget to read that it shall be given them to know afterwards, as we may see for ourselves in the book of Acts, first chapter and eighth verse : "But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you." and as we see now fulfilled in the book of Revelation. And now that the Father hath made known to ns the things that are to be hereafter as well as the things that are, we may safely inquire into them so far as they are revealed ; and we are invited and encouraged to do 80, by assurances of blessing and reward to all who read and keep the sayings of this Book. For hear the Book itself, in the first chapter at the third verse: " Blessed is he that readeth and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein : for the time is at hand. And so it is written at the end of the Book, in the twenty-second chapter at the seventh verse : " Behold 40 THE REIGN OF TKACE. I come quickly ; blessed is lie tliat keej)etli the sayings of the prophecy of this Book." And again at the tentii verse : " Seal not the sayings of this Book; for the time is at hand." This does not mean that the Saviour wciild come immediately, but that he is coming, coming all the time ; and so will come soon, and not larry ; and that his people should be always watching, always ready, to welcome him at his ap- proach, as soon as he appears in the distance hastening on, bringing eternal redemption to all that wait for him. It is only whefi men seek to be wise above that is written, and mstead of searching out the meaning of God's word in all humility, seek to be accounted pro- phets, that they err from the way of truth. After all, ho vever, it is with reference to the fixing of the time that the greatest objection is taken by most Christians, who read that Jesus said : " Of that day and hour knoweth no man ; no, not the angels of heaven, or even the Son, but the Father only ; " but they forget that this was spoken of the coming destruction of Jerusalem, which was to be accomplished within that generation ; that the time was therefore expressly appointed, and the signs of its approach plainly marked, though the day and the hour could not bo known precisely till they were come ; and that as a consequence, the Christians in Jerusalem, warned by this very prophecy, fled from Jerusalem when, they saw it encompassed by the Roman armies, and took THE REION OF PEACE. 41 refuge in Pella, so tliat not one of them perished. Wliat the Father made known was plain, and they took advantage of that information, by watching the signs of the times, and escaping from the snare that was tlu'own over the rest of their countrymen. And even so must all wise Christians do now, so calculating the times before appointed, and watching for the signs of their coming, as to be always ready. But I am afraid that the real objection in the case of most professing Christians to the study of the pro- phecies, is the same as that which they bring against all practical godliness; that it presents spiritual things as actual realities aifecting the business of their daily lives. They have no objection to a mere form of god- liness, it unites a country in the way that nothing else can ; and, brings people together in public meetings ; and provides beautiful buildings, and splendid shows and amusements, and affords pleasures such as cannot be obtained any other way. But they do not like a religion that interferes with their plans, and their pleasures, and their prospects, as true godliness does ; and specially prophecy must necessarily do. Men can bear discussions on doctrine and ceremony and church politics, because they only involve questions of words that cost nothing. But prophecy professes to deal with facts and events; and if true demands great and im- mediate attention, and an earnest endeavour to adopt such measures as may meet the emergencies of the 42 ' THE REIGN OP PEACE. case. The gospel then becomes a wisdom and a power in the world, before which all human wisdom is folly, and all earthly interests sink into insignificance, and those who believe it feel that while they must attend to their earthly duties as before, it is on an entirely new ground; not simply to provide a living or to grow rich ; but to please God, and gain through his grace a place in his heavenly kingdom. They will indeed be more diligent in business and moi u fervent in spirit than other men ; but it is because they serve the Lord Jesus, a master so kind and so faithful, that he rewards his people a hundred-fold in the present life and bestows upon them in the world to come eter- nal life and glory. Prophecy shows th^t this is not a mere dream or idle speculation, but a (Vaking and a magnificent rerJity. And though the scofier still sneers and says where is the coming of the Saviour, for since the fathers fell asleep all things remain as they were from the foundation of the world; yet the fulfillment of the prophecy of the scriptures in the past assures every true christian, that the future will prove equally submissive to the will of our Redeemer ; and that as the days of tribulation have come, so will the days of consolation come in their appointed season. Let us not faint therefore or be troubled by any of these things for at the time ap- pointed the vision will speak, and the happy event prove the tr.ith of the blessed prophecy of a thou THE REIGN OF PEACE. 43 sand years' reign of peace on tlie earth ere tlie world come to an end. One of the most plansiblc objections to the study of prophecy is derived from the diversity of opinion ex- pressed by authors. But surely the difference of human opinion in regard to the Bible is no more an argument against its divine origin and truth, than against the divine origin and steadfastness of the works of nature, where the same diversity of opinion exists to an equal degree, until the fact decide in fovour of the true one. The Bible is plain enough to those who will take the trouble to read it, and listen with humble mind to the voice of its instructions. But to the careless and the proud, the Bible must ever remain like the world itself an unfathomable mystery. Whereas to the meek the Lord will ever teach his way, and his secret will he make known to those that fear his name and desire to walk in his ways. The errors therefore into which others have fallen instead of de- terring us from making just inquiries into the pro- phecies ought simply to serve us, as so many buoys on the water, to direct our course more carefully to the desired port. Scripture simplicity is therefore aimed at in this outline of the prophetic record of the Millenial Reign, and not any glowing poetical description of an imagi- nary paradise of the author's own devising. We have had books of poetry, and books of wonders, and books 44 THE HEIGN OP PEACE. i of controversy, and books of sermons, on the IMille- nium ; and now it is proposed to give here a plain exposition of the Scriptures on the subject, a phiin prose narrative of what is to be understood by a cold western people like ourselves. It is not intended to enter upon any controversy with other views, or to depreciate the writings of other authors, that the writer here takes up the pen ; but rather at an hum- ble distance to follow Bishop Newton's example, and endeavour to cast one additional ray of light on a deeply interesting subject ; trusting that those that follow will benefit by the little he has done, so as to advance a little farther, until, by incessant excavations, every valley shall be filled up and every hill brought low, and the way become fully prepared for the coming of the Lord. By adopting this safe course the author trusts that some little real progress may be made in clearing up the Book of the Eevelation of Jesus Christ, while, at the same time, many of the objections which seem to lie against other representations on the subject will be avoided. The writer of this book makes no claim to any knowledge beyond the plain written word of God. But he believes, and a lengthened experience con- vinces him that his belief is correct, that the Bible is a perfect book, containing within itself the full inter- pretation of all its own statements ; that the Bible is a book designed for the study and instruction of all THE REIGN OP PEACE. 45 men, and is best understood by those who are meek and lowly in heart, and who come to sit at the feet of Jesus to learn like little children the words of eternal life. The first step towards wisdom is to acquire a sense of our natural ignorance ; and the second is to feel, as the learned Apostle Paul says, that we know nothing yet as we ought to know. Feeling thus that we are naturally blind, we shall walk cautiously amid the great mysteries, alike of God's works and of God's word, holding firmly by that gracious hand that he has stretched out to guide us, until our eyes become fully opened to behold the glorious things spoken of in his blessed Book. At tlie same time we should guard against that form of unbelief that leads many to reject God's instruction and guidance ; and like foolish King Ahaz, to say, " I will not tempt the Lord," even when the Lord himself invites them to behold the things that are and the things that shall be hereafter. Let the writer here then, in the last place, remove a very prevalent erro- neous impression in regard to searching into the future. It was very natural indeed for a skeptical epicure like the Roman poet Horace to advise people not to inquire into the future, but to enjoy while it was possible the passing hour. But surely this cannot be the opinion of a Christian, all Mdiose hopes are anchored on the coming Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ ; whether that Kingdom be near or remote. The fool may say 46 THE REIGN OF PEACE. to his soul, — Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years, take thine ease, eat, drink and be merry. But the Christian believer must necessarily " pass the time of his sojourning here in fear," (not terror, but sobriety,) " waiting and looking for that blessed hope" he cherishes, and even " hastening towards the day of the Lord," which brings his full redemption nigh. True, it may be said, that every Christian ought to watch, and pray, and wait, always ready to welcome the first approach of the Son of Man ; but ho need not trouble himself as to the time when his Lord shall appear. Nay, it may be said that our Saviour express- ly warned his people against trusting to his coming at any known time, assuring them that he would come upon the world asleep like a thief in the night ; and ijthat the time of his coming was hidden from every creature, even from the Son himself as the revealcr of the Father's will. All this is perfectly true, and yet no bar is placed in the way of our obeying our Master's plain instruction, to watch and mark the signs of his approach ; for by that means we shall be kept awake, and be ready to hail his coming', having our loins girded, and our lamps burning ; while others shall be found asleep, or it may be more faithlessly still, eating and drinking with the drunken. The day of our death is indeed the end of the world to us personally ; and we know well that that day may come upon us unawares, in our bed or in our path, amid our business THE REIQN OP PEACE. 47 or our recreation, from external or internal causes innumerable. The end of the world will in like man- ner come suddenly to the ungodly who look not for it, , as the destruction of Jerusalem did upon the unbeliev- ing Jews. But none of these events come upon the Christian believer imawares, except tlirough his own fault. "VVe are not of the night that that day should overtake us unawares. "We know that the destruction of Jerusalem did not enclose as in a net, the followers of Jesus, as it did the other inhabitants of Jerusalem. They escaped to the number of two thousand and fled to Pella, not one of them perished in the overthrow of their capital and country. The Christian knows that in a few years his day will come to die, and so he keeps his garments that he may not be taken naked, and defenceless, by surprise. And so in regard to the end of the world, the Christian ie warned that it is not to be immediately ; that it will not take place till at least twelve hundred and sixty years after the time of the Apostles ; nay, that it will not take place till, a thou- sand years after the Beast and the False Prophet are destroyed. This does not do away with the duty of con- stant watchfulness on the part of the Christian, because he may be called away at any moment to meet his Lord by death; and from that moment his final state is fixed ; and in that state shall he be found at the com- ing of the Lord to judgment. The assurance that the world wiU last so long, does not aflect the personal 48 THE REION OF PEACE. / state of every man, or liis present duty. Every man must die, and what renders his dying so important is, that after death is tlie jud<;ment. So that it is not so much the fact of his dying that he should consider, as the fact that at the end of time, the Lord Jesus shall come again to judge the world. In a word men are not called to live in view of death, but in view of the coming of the Lord. At the same time we must never forget that neither liojje nor fear are of any value to us, unless they move us effectually to seek the refuge set before us in the gospel. Some imagine that by living in a state of fear and awe they shall be saved, because they feared. But Noah's fears led him to build an ark, to the saving of his house ; and Lot's fear led him to escape to Zoar, where he found a refuge. So unless our fear lead us to Jesus Christ as our refuge and salvation, it will only torment us before the time. Others imagine that they shall be saved, because they live in hope of , better things to come. But unless they set their hoj)e in God our Saviour for the fulfillment of all their desires, their hope, like that of the hypocrite, shall perish. God does not reveal to us, therefore, either future rewards or future punishment to excite and alarm us, but simply to persuade and constrain us to act the part of wisdom ; to consider our ways that so avoiding the wide gate and broad way that lead to destruction, we may enter the strait gate and pursue THE REION OF PEACE. 49 the narrow path that leadctli unto life. God therefore does not give to his children a spirit of weakness and ■ fear, but of power and love, and of a sound mind, that calmly taking into account all the circumstances in which they are placed in this world, they may make the wisest and most prudent choice. Our Lord dealeth with his disciples not as mere slaves, but as friends and tells them beforehand all that ho intends to do, and thus leads them in view of all the opposition and hardships they must meet, to take up their cross daily, and to follow him, assured that though thousands of years may elapse before they can attain the full reward promised them, they shall at last be fully satisfied in every right desire they may have entertained ; for not only shall they themselves receive a reward, but their labours shall be crowned with a full and lasting success ; while not only shall some be lost, in times of tribula- tion, but also in times of the utmost prosperity and comfort ; so that by grace alone through faith are any saved, and by unbelief alone, and the rejection of offered grace can any be lost. It is thus that t]\e word of God answers the thoughts of his people, and removes all their doubts, by a reve- lation of the future history of his church in the world. God does not tell us the day or the hour so as to make us careless and secure, which would only prove an injury to us ; but only guards us against that doubt and unbelief which would certainly overwhelm us if 4 60 THE REIQN OP PEACE. WO expected tlio coming of our Saviour to ho immo- (liato, and found it to bo delayed, as it has hcon for so many luindreda of years. Tlio Lord hath thoreforo informed ns of tlie times tliat must pass over tlio Church, ere the day como ■which ho claims i^s his own — the day of judgment, the day of glory. Antt it well becomes us tliiinkfully to search the scriptures for e .iiformation on this momentous sidycct as shall sustain our souls in patience and enable us to put to . silence the gainsaying of ungodly men, who arc always taunting us with the question — AVliere is the promise of his coming, for since the fatlicrs fell asleep all things continue as they wore from tho foundation of the world? Tliis wo know is not tho fact. "Wo see the signs of Christ's coming more and more plainly displayed; and as was justly remarked by Bishop Newton, every sincere student of the llevelations makes some point clearer tlian it wa' before. The fact is, that every man reads very much in accordance with his own circumstances, and thus reads some things more clearly than others— the more clearly, perhaps, that he has his predecessor's mistakes to guard him from falling into the same errors. Bishop Newton gives a very rational account of the fulfilhncnt . of prophecy up to his day. Since that time Elliot and Cummings, Bonar and Brown, &c., have thrown im- mense light on the latter part of the Bevelations. Tho author does not compare himself with these, but THE REION OF PEACE. 51 if lie can add but one ray of additional lijjjht on the subject, ho shall fool satisfied. Of tliis lie loaves others to judge. All that the author asks of his readers is a prayerful and candid consideration of tho statements he makes, which though based upon tho information of others, as they must bo, aro tho delil)erato conclusions to which he has como for himself. Tho author merely presents his own views of tho subject as drawn Crom the Bible itself, and gladly aci h to every other man the same liberty of judgment he assumes to himself; and his sincere prayer is that all who read this vohnne may so bcliold llim, who through the cross, hath won the crown by mciit, which was due to Ilini by right, that thoy may through faith in Christ crucified, so bear tho samo cross in this life, that they may receive from him the crown of righteousness, which he. hath prepared for all them that love his appearing. 52 CHAPTER III. SEVEN RULES LAID DOAVN FOR DISCOVERING THE SCRIP- TURE MEANING OF THE MILLENIUM— THE BIBLE ITS OWN INTERPRETED. " And when tlicy shall say unto you, Seek unto them ^ that have familJar spirits, and unto wizards that peep and that mutter : should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? To the law and to the testimony (the prophets) i If they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." — Is. viii. 19. The Millenium, which is the Latin word for a period of one thousand years, is only mentioned in one passage • in all the Bible, The phrase, " a thousand years," may occur elsewhere; as, for example, it is said, a thousand yeai" are with the Lord as one day, and one day as a thousand years : that is, there is no numbering of years with him, who is the same yesterday, to-day and for ever. P it the definite period of a Thousand Years is only mentioned in one passage in all the Bible ; and therefore I lay down this first general rule, that we should study that passage first, in order to ascertain what the Spirit intends, by that expression, to commu- nicate to the churches. The passage I refer to is the twentieth chapter of the book of Revelation, and the THE REIGN OF PEACE. 68 first ten verses in all ; and may be divided into three parts, the binding of Satan, the resurrection and reign of the martyred saints, and the final apostacy, which is immediately followed by the Judgment Day. This is all that is siiid — by name, as it were — with regard to the Millenium itself. , • The second general rule that I lay down is, that in expounding the passage above mentioned, we attend next to the context, to tell us the order of events, as to what is to come before the Millenium, and as to what is to follow the Millenium. Since we have only this one passage to guide iis to the meaning of the term Millenium, surely we cannot look any where else for an exposition of the passage with so much likelihood of satisfaction, as to the part of scripture in which the passage is found. In reading a letter, we must read it right forward, if we wish to get at its meaning ; and if any part seems to be obscure, we naturally look first whether any thing clearer on the subject went before, or whether any explanation is given afterwards. And what we thus do with a human production, we surely ought much more to do with a divine one. And here, looking at the context, we shall find that the vision, of which the Millenium forms a part^ properly begins at the eleventh verse of the nineteenth chapter, and runs on to the end of the twentieth chapter ; and under it we have, first, a representation of Christ and his saints riding forth in triumph ; an account of a great war 54 THE REIGN OF PEACE. between Christ and his army and the Beast and his army, in which the Beast and the False Prophet are taken, and cast into the lake of fire ; and the worUl becomes subdued before Christ and his saints : then comes the Millenium, as already said ; and then the setting up of the Throne of Judgment, and the final disposal of the whole moral and material universe. This leads us to consider the events preceding the Millenium, the nature of the Millenium, and then, thirdly, the events that follow the Millenium. And from these considerations we naturally infer that the Millenium is preparatory to the Judgment day, and the' final state, and is therefore coming before them, and consequently coming before Christ comes again to judge the world in righteousness — as it is every where said he will do at the end of the world — and therefore after the Millenium, "^nd not before it. < The third general rule I lay down is, that the book of Revelation must all be read one way. If the book of Revelation is merely a book of symbolical teaching, like a connected series of parables, it must all be read one way, as parables; and then the account of the seven churches of Asia are parables, and nothing more.* • Bat if the account of the seven churches of Asia is an account of real facts, then the whole book of Revela- tion must be viewed as a narrative of facts. This I believe to be the common opinion of Protestants, so far at least as relates to the past. When it comes to the THE REIGN OF PEACE. 55 future, opinions differ. I adhere to the rule. The Kcvelation deals with facts in the beginning, and it deals with fticts throughout. The book of Revelation is simply a continuation of the proplietic history of the Bible, be3'ond prophetic times ; so that we have only the prophecy in the Bible, and must find the fulfillment of it in common history. And this fulfilhricnt, it is gene- rally agreed we do have ; and in this opinion I concur, as I shall afterwards show that there is sufficient cause. The fourth general rule I lay down is, that since the Millenium is so- near the time of the end, and only separated from it by a very narrow interval, compared with the period itself, and the eternal state, that it becomes us carefully to mark the scope of the passages adduce d from other parts of scripture supposed to illus- trate it. We require here to distinguish between a limited period of time, and eternity ; aud though they BO much resemble each other as in a manner to run into each other, we must look upon the Millenium as the primary, and the final Rtate as the ulterior inter- pretation. To understand this, we have only to remem- ber that while God raised up a line of prophets lika 'unto Moses, for the interpretation and enforcement of the law of God, which was given by Moses, yet none of them really fulfilled this prediction, except one. The prophets successively arose and performed their allotted part — such as Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and Malachi ; yet none of 56 • THE REIGN OF PEACE. these could really be compared to Moses, the law- giver — the redeemer, under God, of his whole nation — for the grandeur of his miracles, the sublimity of his oflSce as the friend of God and leader of the people ; directing their movements in the wilderness for forty years, and laying down laws for them that were never to be changed, but were to be confirmed and established by blessings and curses, to the end of time. One alone of all the proi^hets — the last — could be said to be like unto Moses as a prophet, the Lord Jesus Christ, who came holding a sublimer ofiice as God's own Son, mani- fest in the flesh ; giving forth a higher law — for though the moral law was given by Moses, grace and truth came by Jesus Christ — and confirming his word M'ith more astounding miracles than Moses ever performed ; overthrowing not onlj'- men, but devils; not only destroying life, but giving life to the dead ; not only feeding the hungry, but restoring to health and strength those that were sick and diseased and afilicted. Jesus the Son of God alone of all the prophets was raised up like unto Moses, that he might make our yoke easy and our burden light, and while we recognize a primary fulfillment of the prophecy of Moses in the succession of prophets that were raised up after hihi, we look upon the Lord Jesus Christ as the only ulti- mate fulfillment of it, in whom that is the prophecy was fully satisfied. And hence it is so employed by the apostles, as for instance in the third chapter of the THE REIGN OF PEACE. 57 Acts of the Apostles, at the twenty-second verse: " For Moses," says Peter, " truly said unto tlie fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren like unto me : him shall ye hear in all things, whatsoever Lu snail say unto you." And so he applies it in the twenty-sixth verae : " Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities. In this way you know that the prophecies of the fall of Babylon, and the destruction of Jeru- salem, are often supposed to refer to the end of the world, and the prophecies concerning David and Cyrus are considered to apply ulteriorly to Christ. The pro- phecy was given in the first place, and was applicable to a certain extent to those places and persons, and so was fulfilled in regard to them ; but the words of the prophecy convey a meaning which was not satisfied in those ordinary events, and can only be satisfied in Christ's second coming, and in that everlasting and glorious kingdom which he will then set up and estab- lish for ever. And so it is with regard to the prophecies relating to the Millenium. They use language that, while it is fulfilled in the Millenium, which I look upon as .the perfection of the gospel day, yet some- thing more is evidently mingled with it that carries the mind onward to the day that knows no end, and knows no night : that eternal day when the glory of God and of the Lamb shall for ever transcend, eclipse 58 THE REIGN OF PEACE. and obscure tlie gloiy of all created things, in that land of everlasting rest which he hath prepared for his people. While, therefore, I admit all that can be said in favor of applying these prophecies ultimately to the final state, I do not think the Millenium on earth, as it is, is by any means to be ignored. Babylon ' has fallen, and become the haunt of every ravenous wild beast, and of every unclean bird ; Jerusalem has been destroyed so that one stone has not been left upon another that has not been thrown down — the very attempts to rebuild it having only aided the fuller accomplishment of the prediction ; yet the terms em- ployed to describe these events can hardly be satis- factorily applied to them without exaggeration. And ' lience you see they ''e recalled here in the book of Kevelations as indicating something more stupendous still. And so I consider the prophecies regarding the Millenium given in the Old Testament, as applicable in the same way to the eternal state, because they are ' not to be satisfied in anything short of it. And yet I believe they apply in the first place to the Millenium, just as those other prophecies applying to Jerusalem apply to them first, though they apply secondarily to the end of the world, as their full accom])lishment. The Millenium then is to be looked upon as the first fulfillment of these prophecies, and then they are to be carried forward as it were through the Millenium to the eternal day of glory. , v ;, , :; ; THE REIQN or PEACE. 69 I may here state a reason for this mode of proceed- ing in regard to the giving forth of prophecy. You cannot speak to men, in a hmguage which they do not understand, with any advantage. You must use tlio language tliey do understand ; and hence wlien a mis- sioiiary goes to preach to people of a tongue different from his own, ho must first set about acquiring their language. To do this, he has to get hack to the way of making language. lie thinks of the things that are spoken of in both languages, the language he wishes to learn and his own. A book is called so and so in the language of the people whom he wishes to address, and he learns to call it by their name in place of that employed in his own language. And so with paper, pen, ink and every other article likely to be spoken of, and so he learns to substitute the words of the new language for the words of the old, keeping in his mind the same meaning which is expressed equally in both. Now this was precisely what it was necessary for God to do for the prophet in speaking of future things. There were no ideas of such future things in the mind of the prophet, or in the minds of the people to whom he was employed to communicate them, and hence symbols were employed, such as were under- stood to signify the coming of events of a similar kind. Language itself is founded on this idea. Things known are used as symbols of things not known, but wliich are supposed to be like them. And so when 60 ^ THE REIGN OP PEACE. you wisli to describe a thing people have never seen, You say you have seen a certain thing ? Yes : well it is like that ; and then you go on to show wherein it agrees and wherein it differs from tlie other. Babylon then was the capital of the world, and in a manner the world itself, when you include under that name the world of which it was the capital. Jerusalem was the capital of Palestine, the Holy Land, and thus became the appropriate symbol for the Church ; and Christians frequently speak of their Church as a Zion, in reference to this idea, not meaning that they wor- ship at Jerusalem, or that t^ -t C^^urch is situated even on a hill, but simply that .vhat Zion was of old to the Jews — the throne and court of the great King — their Church is to them — the place where God hath been pleased to put his name, and to make his presence known to his believing people. Now with regard to the future, such a means of communicating informa- tion so long beforehand was necessary. "Who could tell the name of the capital of the world before it existed ; or if it had been told, as the name of Cyrus is named by Isaiah two hundred years before he was born, who could understand it before it came into being ? And in regard to prophecy, it is not always intended that the reference should be to one single city or nation, and then the term employed must indicate that wider application. And this is specially the case in the book of Eevelations. THE REIQN OP PEACE. 61 And hence I lay down a fifth general rule ; that the Bymhols employed in the Book of Revelation, while they are represented as seen in Ileavon, are all to be understood as representing events on the earth. I do not mean that there is no truth in the representations, as if the things seen in Heaven were not literally true there. I believe they are. But Heaven is a state of being and existence of which in the meantime we can form no clear or just concejition. The Apostle Paul when caught up to the Third Heavens, saw and heard things which it is not possible and not permitted to men to speak of, with understanding. Their faculties cannot bear such an expansion in the present state of things. But I believe that there is such a sympathy between Heaven and earth, that what is done in the one spiritually is done in the other bodily. And without denying c r even doubting the reality of the Heavenly visions, 1 believe they are all designed to represent things that are corresponding to them, which are to happen on the earth. Unless this were the case they would not be revelations to us, and would not make known any thing of which we could be cogni- zant, and of the fulfillment of which we could form any judgment. Pure visions of Heavenly things, such as some pretend to tell us, of what they saw in Heaven or what they saw in Hell, might be true or might be false, we could not tell which. A person might pre- tend to describe what he saw, while he never saw 02 THE REioN or peace. anythino;, but sat clown ami contrived a series of prc- tendeil visions. And since every man could, if lie chose, construct such imaginary visions at pleasure, any such pretension must be treated as m3re illusions to all but the person who sees them. And if he is so foolish as to publish private visions, ho does what he can to cast the glamour of delusion around the minds of his lellow men, and [)roves himself to be an impostor and a child of the Prince of Darkness. Private visions can only be for private use. Public visions must be patent to all the world, and of this nature are all the prophecies of the Old Testament and of the New, so far as we understand them. And hence we may safely conclude that those prophecies which we do not yet fully understand must be equally open to the judgment of all the world, when they are understood. And thus, as the Apostle Peter says : — The prophecy is of no private interpretation, it applies to public and obvious events, in which all are interested, and of the truth of which all can judge. What may take place in Heaven no man can know but those only who are in Heaven. It would serve no useful end to tell us things of the nature or of the truth of which we can know nothing. And hence I conclude that what the Lord Jesus did in signifying by his angel to his servant John in the Isle of Patmos, while he was on earth, to communicate to the Churches that are on earth, refers to the things that are to take place on earth, and not THE ttEIOH OF PEACE. 03 to the things; that arc to take phico iii Heaven. The Book of Ilovehition, then I conclude, ia a symbolic record of the various events that thou were in the seven churches of Asia and the thing:^ that were to ho afterwards on the earth, by which the Church of Clirist was to be affected. And this leads mo again to a sixth rule of interpre- tation. The Book of Revelation is a connected history of the great events connected with the coming of Christ in the Church and the world to the end of time, and the nsherinff in of the Eternal Kinf^dom. The Book of Revelation is not simply like many other Books of Prophecy, a collection of prophecies, such as the Books of the Prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zechariah, &c., it is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, it is the prophetic reiiord of his second coming. This is the text from whicii it starts, as wc read in the begin- ning of the book : " The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass ; and he sent and signified it by liis angel unto his servant John ; "who bare record of the Word of God, and of the testi- mony of Jesus Christ, and of all things which he saw." Here you see the nature of the book described — the Revelation of Jesus Christ, not the Revelation Avhicli he gave merely, though it was given by Jesus Christ, but the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to himself to make known to his servants : and hence 04 THE REION OF PEACE. John bare record of tlio Word of God, who was in tlio bcgiunin^ with God, and was mado flesh and tabernacled among us, and is now socu by John seated in glory on the right hand of power ; and of the testi- mony of Jesus Clirist, the prophecy that God gave concerning his Son ; for the spirit and aim of all pro- phecy is the testimony to Jesus Christ. Wliat we have then is, not a book of prophecies simply, but the Revelation of Jesus Christ, the prophecy of his coming again in the end of time to judge the world, and to reign in everlasting glory in the midst of his saints in the heavenly Jerusalem, on the earth restored, and become the royal seat of heaven's eternal King. And I may notice in passing how careful the scripture is to be consistent with itself. " Of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, nor the angels of God, nor even the Son, but the Father only ;" and again, " Of the times and the seasons which the Father hath kept in his own hand, it is not for you to know until it be given ;" and so here the Ilevelation of Jesus Christ was not simply giv by himself, but the Father is expressly stated to have given it to him, to show unto his servants. And so a little further on we read that when John saw the book in the hand of Him that sat upon the throne sealed out and in with seven seals, that none could open, he wept much, but he was soon comforted by the gracious assurance that the Lion of 'the tribe of Juda hud prevailed to open the Book TIIK REIQN OF PEAOE. G5 and to loose the seven seals thereof, even that Lamh of Ciod who formerly for us men suffered on the cursed tree, but who is now seated in the midst of tho throno of heaven, before wliom all saints and angels worship. JIo in whom alone tho Father dwelt could reveal tho things that were to bo hereafter as they wero written before God in the book of his iniinito foreknowledge. And so far as they wero given him to reveal, the Lord Jesus hath sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John, and John hath hero recorded them for tlio instruction and comfort of the Church in all ages. And hence John adds, as we said before, " lilessed is he that rcadeth (for hiuHelf and others), and they that hear (even if they cannot read) tho words of this pro- phecy, and keep those things which are writteti therein, for tho time is at hand " — so near that they begin immediately at the time any one shall read them, and go on rapidly to their accomplishment, without any intermission or delay. And as the book begins, so it ends, at the twentieth verse of the twenty-second chapter, with tho same assurance, saying in the words of the Lord Jesus, of whom it all speaks, " lie which testifieth these things saith. Surely I come quickly ; " and the apostle adds, in the name of all his brethren, " Amen, even so come Lord Jesus." You thus see the nature of the book. It is a connected record of the principal manifestations of the Lord Jesus Christ, in his onward progress, as he rides forth in righteousness 66 THE REIGN OP PEACE, conquering and to conquer, until all the kingdoms of this world sliall become the kingdoms of our Lord and of liis Christ ; and until he finally come in liis king- dom with all his holy angels, to judge the quick and the dead, and to give to every one according to his Avorks, And tlien sliall the saints redeemed hy his precious blood reign with him in the kingdom which he hath gone to prepare for them, and into which he is now to introduce them : a kingdom so glorious that neither man nor angel Cdn yet conceive or bear the fullness of its splendour, the rivers of its supernal bliss. As therefore the Old Testament prophecy is the tes- timony of God to the first coming of the Saviour, so the New Testament is the testimony of God to his second coming. In the Old Testament we see the coming of the Messiah held forth in all the events recorded ; in the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world and the blessing and the ^urse it divides to Cain and Abel, to Isaac and Ishmael, to Jacob and Esau, and to all who lilce them accept or despise it ; in Enoch and the Separation that took place between believers and unbelievers with reference to God's revealed will ; in Noah and the Flood in which the believer escapes with his family though alone, and the ungodly perish though a multitude.; in the Call of Abraham and the Exodus from Egypt ; in the Kingdom of Israel and the return from the Babylonish Captivity ; THE llEIGN OP PEACE. 67 in the Restoration of Jerusalem and its Temple, and the Renewing of the Covenant ; until finally John the Baptist came to take up the last prophecy of the Old Testament, and the desire of all nations filled the latter liouse with a glory far surpassing' all the glory of the 1 ^mple built by Solomon ; for how could any house that man could build, be at all capable of containing that glory of the Father which dwelt in his beloved Son in all its fullness of grace and truth. You thus see in each of the great stages of Christ's coming a miniature of the whole history of the world. Tlie gospel given before the flood, with lis, symbolic worship, its pro- phetic teaching, and its final judgment: so to the Israelites in Abraham, to the Exodus, and again to the Captivity, and then to the Destruction of Jerusalem ; . and so it shall be in Christ to all nations in the end of the world. Tlie New Testament sets before us similar stages of the second coming of Christ. Thus in regard to Christ's resurrection, we are assured by an apostle that Jesus Christ was declared to be the Son of God with power by his resurrection from the dead. And speaking of the destruction of Jerusalem. Our Saviour himself says in the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew at the twenty-ninth verse : " Immediately after the tribulation of those days shaii the sun,be darkened and the moon shall not eivc her- light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken : 68 THE RRIGN ''■^ PEACE. and then shall appe<.i sign of the Son of Man coming in the clouds oi heaven with power and great glory." And that you may see that all this applies in the first instance at least to the Fall of Jerusalem and the Dissolution of the Jewish State, hotli civil and eccle- siastical, our Saviour himself adds at the thirty-fourth verse : " Yerily, I say unto you this generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled." This is what then the book of the Eevelations of Jesus Christ goes on to do, to set before us the overthrow of the Roman empire and the introduction of the gospel throughout all its nations ; their renewed apostacy and punishment ; the revival of religion at the reformation ; the overthrow of the kingdoms of the world, and the world-wide reception of the gospel during the Mil- lenium ; the final apostasy; the judgment day ; and the eternal state. These great events are described in their order and peculiar chatacteristics, so that none can doubt when once they are fulfilled, that they are here foretold, and that they all tend to one grand end, the manifestation of Christ in his saints, in his church, and in the world, until he comes to reign over all whose right alone it is, given him of the Father before the foundation of the world, and of whose coming the Old Testament and the New equally testify, that all men THE REiaN OP PEACE. G9 may hear and joyfully obey the call, extended to them still though proud and rebellions sinners ; " Kiss ye the Son, lest in his ire Ye perish from the way. If once Ilia wrath begin to burn, Blessed all that on him stay." The book of Revelation then is a connected Pro- phetic history of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, as given by the Father through him to his servant tTohn, to testify to all his servants. And while we ought never to seek to be wise aiove what is written, we are assured that blessed alike are those that read and those tiat hear the words, if they keep the things that are written therein. In all our reading and in all our hearing, therefore, let us behold Ilim who came in the name of the Lord to redeem us as the Lamb of God that was slain for us, and is coming again in the name of the Lord, bringing eternal salvation to all that wait for him. Nor is this book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ a connected Proplietic history only, but it is, if I may so say, the sum of all the prophecies bearing upon the latter days. The prophecies going before may be reo^arded as the raw material, out of which this pro- phetic outline has been spun into one continuous thread. Or if you prefer it, this book is the main stream into which all the other prophetic streams flow, beginning farthest back in the valleys of past 70 THE REIGN OF PEACE. generations; and springing from the* very top of the mount of God ; and finally absorbing all other rills and streams of prophecy and running on thus increased by all their meeting waters, in one broad river the Mille- nial Eeign of Peace; and emptying itself into the great ocean of eternity. And hence while it serves to explain all other prophecies going before, it finds its own interpretation in many parts by referring to the different prophecies from which it derives its increase. And hence different parts, of the book refer to differ- ent books for illustration. And hence I draw my sevienth general rule, the last I shall mention here, that the book of Revelation should be specially inter- preted by the light thrown oh it in those books of pro- phecy to which reference in any particular part of it is specially made. Thus the book of Isaiah is specially referred to in the beginning of the book, then the book of Daniel is taken up, and finally in regard to the Millenium the refo'ence is plainly to the book of Ezekiel. As wo may see by comparing the last verse of the nineteeneh chapter of the book of Hevelation with the thirty ninth chapter of Ezekiel from the seventeenth verse : " And thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God : speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every ' beast of the field, assemble yourselves and - * come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great THE REIQN OF PEACE. 71 sacrifice on the moiintains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh and drink blood. Ye shall cat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, all of them fatlings of Bashan, And ye shall eat fat nntil ,ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. Thns ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men and all men of war, saith the Lord God." In the Book of Revelation, the words ure simply adapt- ed to the circumstances of later times, as we see in the nineteenth chapter from the seventeenth verse : " And I saw an an'gel standing in the sun ; and he cried with a loud voice saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, come and gather yourselves together unto the snpperof the great God, that ye may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great." The expressions are so similar that any one who reads the one will naturally turn to the other ; and so you see in the margin of your Bibles, if they have any re- ferences, this connection is pointed out. But it re- mained to be explained in the proper manner, as not V 72 THE REIGN OF PEACE. merely designed as a reference, but also as a key by wliich the mysteries here presented may bo unlocked. There were two very able articles lately in Good Words, by the astronomer royal for Scotland, on the great Pyramid, in which it was shown that the great Pyramid was not like the other Pyramids of Egypt, a royal tomb, if they were so ; but was an astronomical tower, every part of which was emblematic of some great dis- covery. All that can be seen now, was seen before ; but, as Mr. Smith says, no one understood the mean- ing of the things they saw until John Taylor conjec- tarcd them; and, as his readers Avill honestly add, until Mr. Smith himself proved that those conjectures were well founded. As for the date of the Pyramids building, of course I have my own opinion, that it was constructed to represent the conjunction, say of the Pleiades with the Pole Star, as shown by Mr. Smith ; but not necessarily at the time when that conjunction took place. Now just so here with refer- ence to this passage in the nineteenth chapter of Eevelation being taken from the thirty-ninth cliapter of Ezekiel, the parallel has long been observed, but the use of it has not been observed. It was de" signed to serve as a key or direction to the careful reader to turn to the prophecy of Ezekiel, and there to find an inspired commentary, giving step by step the same events in the same order, and written out in plain language. In Ezekiel the triumphal procession THE REIQN OF PEACE. 73 of Christ and his saints is represented by a great revival of religion among the people of God, and the revival of missionary work in the world. This gives rise to a great war there called the Northern Invasion, in which the adversaries of the gospel are to be signally defeated and overthrown; and then the land is to be refreshed and blessed with the river of the water of life, and to become a garden of the Lord, wherein his people shall rest and rejoice in order, love and peace ; his propliecy thus ending in the millenial reign, because the circumstances are })urely earthly ; and thus leaving the mind to rest on this bright scene as a foreshadow- ing of the happier and more enduring rest that remain- eth for the people of God beyond the earth and beyond time. In this way we have a divinely inspired commentary on the summary given us in the Book of Revelation, beginning on tho- one hand at the eleventh verse of the nineteenth chapter of Ilevelatiorr, and beginning at the thirty-third chapter of Ezekiel on the other ; and thus we may see the miniature portrait of Christ and his Church presented in Revelation, magnified and illumined in the more extended Revelations of Ezekiel on the same subject, and may thus be enabled to guide our own opinions on a more stable and safe basis than if we were to endeavour to give any mere opinions of our own, in reference to matters that as yet lie beyond the pale of our present knowledge. ,• 74 THE REION OF PEACE. Now, the advantage of laying down such rules of interpretation in regard to the book of Ilevelation, is great to tlie reader as well as to the writer. If a writer indulges in plausible conjectures, snatching a straw liere and a straw there for support, a great many readers must be unable to tell whether his opiniona will sink or swim ; and hence many opinions on this subject that once were very popular in their day, both among the learned and the unlearned, have sunk among the mire of the stream of human thought, and have become, probably for ever, lost to human view. TJiey amused a passing hour, and were forgotten. But a rule can be judged by every one at the first glance ; and if sound, must be approved ; if otherwise, must equally at once be rejected ; because a rule is a matter that appeals to the common sense and the common judgment of all men. The rule, indeed, may be good, and the facts on which it is based may be inapplicable to the rule ; but then that also will be apparent to all. The first rule given here is founded on the statement that there is only one passage in all the Bible in which the Millenium is mentioned by name. Surely if that be true, the rule that we should consider that passage first is obvious ; and I suppose no one will deny the fact. The second rule is founded on tlie same fact, and is undeniable if the first be admitted. The third general rule, that the book of Revelation must all be read one way — either all as ■ TllK UEIQN OP PEACE. . 75 moral fables, or all as liistoric realities, or at least in some one way — is a rule applicable to every book. A book is supposed to be written all in one language ; for example, a Latin book, or a French book, or an English book. If there are quotations in it, the body of the book is still uniform. You do not expect to find a book written, the tirst word in Hebrew, the second in Greek, the third in Latin, and so on ; a mix- ture of all languages, or no language, unintelligible to every body. The propriety of the rule, therefore, that the book of Revelation should all be read one way, must be apparent. The fourth rule is founded on the supposition that the Millenium either is or is not the final state; and that if it is not the final state, the distinction between them must be carefully looked for, because they are so similar, and come so close together, that they are very apt to be confounded with each other. It only asks care in studying the passages of the Bible that seem to speak of both at once, so as to apportion to each subject its proper references. The fifth rule springs from the third and fourth ; because if the book of Revelation is uniform in its nature, and distinct in its order of events, the interpretation must also be consistent and distinct ; and as many of the symbols can apply only to the earth, the whole should, unless the contrary be stated, be applied to earthly things. The beast, the seven-hilled city, and such like, are plainly applied to earthly things ; and hence we '?' 76 THE REia.v of peace. conclude tliat all the other symbols are so, because wo a.'e no where led to doubt this; and the whole book is repre^jcntcd as setting forth the things that are on the earth, and the things that shall be hereafter on the earth. The sixth rule, that the book of Revelation is a connected prophetic history, appears, from the nature of the book, as a revelation of Jesus Christ — an outline of the great events that indicate his coming again to judge the world, and complete the triumph of his church over Satan and the world of darkness. Tlie last rule, that if any reference is made in the book itself to any other part of the Bible, the part referred to should be specially searched for light on the subject, is the principle on which all reference Bibles are constructed, and which makes them so useful. The fact that there is such a reference must be tested by a reference to the passage; and then as I said with reference to tlie great Pyramid of Egypt, the passage must be examined carefully, to see if any explanation really is given, such as the reference leads us to expect. That coin- cidence here between the Revelation of John and tlio prophecies of Ezekiel shows that there must have been a designed connection between them, as they agree in the events recited, and in the order of the events, which are so nuLierous that they could not have been placed as these are, merely by accident. If then these seven rules are not true, they can easily be confuted ; and if they are true, we shall be able to come much TUB REION OF PE.VOE. If nearer the true meanin*^ of this part of Revelations tlian wo have ever done before. At the same time we shall have an understanding of the nature and object of the book of the Kevelation of Jesus Christ such as we never had before. It is not a book of prophecy like Daniel or any other Old Testament writer. It is not a more history of the world or of the Church, though to some extent it is both, and the only perfect one wo have ; but it is the manifestation of the Son of God in his grace and providence, revealing himself more and more in power and grace until ho be seen in all his uncreated splendor as God manifest in flesh, in the realms of immortality. It is not then the world or the Church even that we are to behold, but Ilini by whom the world was created, and the Church has been redeemed, coming in the glory of the Father, and all his holy angels and all his redeemed saints with him. As the sun shincth more and more to the perfect day, so the Sun of Righteousness is here seen shining forth over the moral world more and more brightly and powerfully, rmtil he yields a moral day of light, love, prosperity, and happiness, such as the world has never seen, and the Church cannot yet con- ceive ; when the weak will be made strong, and the simple be made wise, and the erring be made righteous, and the dead be raised to life, and the lost be restored. I do not mean to philosophize and to speak merely of spiritual changes in the hearts and minds of men, but 78 THK REION OF PEACE. to declare my belief that Christ is coming to restore to his redeemed peojile more than > vcr lost by the fall ; and to add to tliem possessions and honours and pleasures in a heavenly kingdom upon earth, more than the liighest archangel wouhl dare to think of. And therefore this book, -while it records tho pro- gress of Christ's kingdom in this world, it points lis continually to tho Lord Jesus Christ himself as the solo author and fountain and measure of all that wo are to be and to hope for, in the working out of his almighty plan of bringing salvation to the world. And hence, while the means employed are earthly, the agent that employs them is heavenly, the Spirit of Jesus Christ ; antl hence, though our expectations arc in part to bo realized hero on tho earth as it is, the consummation of all our wishes is suinmed up in tho prayer. Even so come Lord Jesus. To Christ we owe our redemption, In Christ we live now, and in Christ's coming we hope for all our bliss and glory. Behold then the Lamb of God ! Behold the King of Glory ! 70 CHAPTER IV. THE MILLENIUM NOT THE .TUDOMENT DAY, OR THE ETERNAL STATE, BUT THE SUMMER TIME OF THE WORLD— THE PERIOD MARKED OFF BOTH AT THE BEGINNING AND AT THE END FROM THE PAST AND THE FUTURE. " Wlicreforo if tlioy shall say unto yon, Boliold, he is in tho desert, go not forth ; Behold he is in the Becrct chambers, believe it not. For as the lightning (the sunshine) cometh out of the cast and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be." — Matt, xxiv. 26. Our first rule for discovering the nature of the Millenium, is that since there is only one passage in all the Bible, that speaks of it by name, we should attend to that first. That passage is the first ten verses of the twentieth chapter of the book of llevelation ; beginning as follows : . " And I saw an angel come down from heaven, hav- ing the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the Dragon, that old Serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, -md shut him ^^0 THE REICN OF PEACE. up, axid set a seal upon liim. that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand yeari should he fulfilled ; and after that he must be loosed a little season." And hence the name given to this period of a thousand years is the Millenium ; of which I am d i-ous of writing somewhat more definitely, and shall speak of it ther?,fore now a little more in detail. The Name of the Book. — The passage quoted above is the only Oiic, so far as I know, that mentions the time during which Satan is to be bound, namely, a thousand years ; and from this specified time many writers have very appropriately called it the MllUnium, which is simply a Latin v "^''d signifying a thousand years. But as this name has become associated in the minds of men with i.iany fanciful opinions whicli I feel con- strained to reject, I have assumed a name expressive of what I regard as the true nature of the Millenium, the Eeign of Peace, or the summer time of the world. The Gospel dispensation has very properly been deno- minated generally as the Reii,n of Grace. The final state shall be a Reign of Righteousness, for nothing sinful shall be found there. Those I look upon as the poles of the Millenium, on which and between which it turns. It is a state of grace so far advanced that through the fulfilling of all righteousness, the Church and the world, as well as the believing soul, shall be THE REIQN OP PEACE. 81 at peace ; but yet not so perfect a state but that amid the general prevalence of gospel influence there shall be an undercurrent of unbelief and ungoiliness that, though for the time hidden from human view, shall only wait the letting loose of Satan for a little season, to break forth again in open apostasy, so as to provoke once for all the wrath and vengeance of Almighty God. In view then of this its distinguishing feature, I have named the thousand years, during which Satan being bound, the Church of God shall enjoy peace and surpassing prosperity in the world, the Rc'gn of Peace : for Satan the autho" of u., •.. i*d, the adv. ary alike of God and man be" rj. cLe nations saved from his deceptions shall ^vd... witli God in truth, and live in love and peace one .t^itli another, under the felt and acknowledged influence of Christ their Saviour King, to whom the kingdoms of the world shall then all be given, that lie may show in them the power of his grace, and make them joyful in his praise. The Reign of Peace certainly coming. — Though the duration of the Reign of Peace be nowliere else specified in the Bible so far as I find, yet the Reign of Peace itself is everywhere held forth to the desires and the hopes of God's people. The promise of a Millenium was given in the first promise, that God would put enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, here called 82 THE REIQN OP PEACE. by Ills right name, tlie devil; and that after Satan had bruised the Saviour's heel, his human nature, he would bruise the serpent's head, his spirit, Satan himself, as here we are assured he shall at this time proceed to do, and after the Millenium is ended thoroughlv execute, by easting him for ever into the lake of fire Avhich is the second death : horrible end of invincible wicked- ness ! Now why tell us that our first parents were placed in an earthly paradise, and that for their sin they were expelled therefrom, but for the purpose of assuring us that when men return to the Lord, at the call of his beloved Son, who has been bruised for our iniquity, " The wilderness and the solitaryph.ee shall bo glad for them that dwell therein, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. It shall blos- som abundantly, and rejoice even Vvitli joy and singing : the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto ", the excellency of Carmel and Sharon ; they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the exceilencv of our God." — Is. xxxv. 1. And so the promise is renewed to Lamech, that his son Noali should comfort his race, with respect to the labour and toil of their hands, because of t^ e earth which the Lo:d had cursed : and the still more definite promise is made to Abraham, that in him and in his seed all nations of '-^ "th should be blessed, which he applied to Ja jb ii. the same manner, saying : THE REION OF PEACE. 83 " See, the smell of my Son is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed; therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine : let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee : be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee : cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee." — Gen, xxvii. 27. And lience the same assurance is repeated by Moses, saying unto the Israelites : " If thou shalt hearkon unto the voice of the Lord thy God, blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy Ivine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Jilessed shall be thy basket and thy store. Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out, &c. The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven, to give the rain, unto thy land, in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand ; and thou shalt lend nnto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow." — Deut. xxviii. 2. These promises have not been withdrawn, but repeated anew from age to age, thus in the seventy-second Psalm it is said that in the days of the Messiah : 84 THE REIQN OF PEACE. "The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills by righteousness. He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor. In his days shall the righteous flourish ; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea and from the river unto the ends of the earth. There shall be an handful of corn in the earth, upon the top of the moun- tains ; the fruit thereof shall shake like Leba- non ; and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth (in number and beauty)." — Pb. Ixxii, 3. These things were partially fulfilled to the Israelites under David and Solomon, and the other godly kings, and would have been uniformly realized in their happy experience, had not their unbelief and ungodliness prevented; and hence the Psalmist exclaims, in the eighty-first psalm : " Oh, that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways ! I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries. The haters of the Lord should have submitted themselves unto him ; but their time should have endured for ever. He should have fed them also with the THE REIGN OP PEACE. 85 finest of the wheat ; and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee." — Ps. Ixxxi. 13. Isaiah also, in many passages, speaks of the same happy results as attendant upon the gospel dispensa- tion in the latter days, thus : " And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's House shall be estab- lished on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills ; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say. Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob ; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go ferth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people; and they shall beat their swords into plough-shares, and their spears into pruning-hooks : nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord."— Is. ii. 2-5. Ezekiel is the only other prophet whom I will quote at length (though every prophet has spoken to the same efiect), because, as I shall have occasion after- 86 THE REIGN OP PEACE. wards to show more iully, lie is tlio propliet principally relerred to by John, in this part of the Revelation : " Thus saitli the Lord God : Behold I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they he gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land : and I will make them one nation in the laud upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall he king to them all ; and they shall no more be two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all. JS^either shall they defile themselves any moi'c with their idols, nor with their detestable things, iior with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwelling-places, wheroin they have sinned, and will cleanse them. So shall they be my people, and I will be their God ; and David, my servant, shall be king over them ; and they shall all have one shepherd : they shall also walk in my judg- ments, and observe '"^y statutes, and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob, .ny servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt ; and they shall dwell there- in, even they and their children, and their chil- dren's children, for ever ; and my servant David shall be their prince for ever. Moreover I will make a c<- venant of peace witL them ; it shall THE REIGN or PEACE 87 be an everlasting covenant with tlicm ; and I will place tliem, and multiply tliem, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for ever more. My tabernacle also shall be with them ; yen, I \vill be their God, and tlioy shall be my people. And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for ever more." — EzEK. xxxvii. 21-28. Other passages are even more explicit in regard to the coming of an age when peace shall reign all over the earth. I do not stop here to inquire as to what events this reign of peace refers ; but surely it must be admit- ted by all readers of the Bible, that such a happy period is frccpiently promised, and that therefore we have just reason to hope for the accomplishment of that promise — a promise continued, as we shall see, to the latest day. The Reign of Peace is not past. I need not say that the ])romise here made, to the Israelites has not yet been fulfilled. ^)nly a scattered remnant returned from Babylon. These were not weaned from their idolatries and their wickedness, as you read in Er^cekiel, Nehcmiah and Malachi; and they were fixr indeed from prosperity and happiness. Under the Maccabees they enjoyed a troubled respite from foreign oppres- sion, only to fall under a more grievous domestic yoke, 88 THE REIGN OV PEACE. under tlic Ilcrodian family, until tlioy sunk into a con- quered province of the Roman emj^ire ; and in expec- tation of the fulfillment of those glowin<; promiBcs, the Jews rejected the crucified Jesus, revolted against their Roman conquerors, and were subjected to a desolation exceeding any that had come to any other people; and since then the Jews have been a by-word and a reproach in all nations among which they have been scattered. Such a time of peace, then, has never yet come to the Jews, and they are in consequence daily expecting it still ; some of them even flocking already to the land of Palestine, in expectation of its speedy approach. This is proof sufficient that the Jcm's believe that the promised Reign of Peace has not yet been fulfilled to them. The Reign of Peace has not been realized by any portion of the professing Christian Church. Daring three hundred years the Church was assailed with ten persecutions. After a short respite, the irruption of the barbarians, both in the East and in the West, overwhelmed the Church in untold distresses. The Papacy, indeed, flourished, during the middle ages, for more than a thousand years, but its course was the very opposite of a reign of peace. Perpetual wars, feuds, schisms, calamities and sicknesses multiplied beyond any former period ; and the Papal Church :, flourished only on the distresses of the nations ; and the clergy, though they increased their wealth and THE REIGN OP PEACE. 89 power, did so at the BiieriiicG of peace, and c(> ifort, and conscience. Usurped and abused power may seem to furnisli tlie means of enjoyment ; but the enjoyment is marred, like that of tlie tyrant of Syracuse, by feel- ing that a dagger, suspended by a mere hair, is hang- ing over one's head. The Eomanists never claimed that period as a reign of peace ; and I am certain Pro- testants will never regard it as such, since more blood was shed by the Papacy than by Paganism. Moan- while the East groaned under the dread oppression of Mohammedanism. A similar period of prosperity and luxury marked the success of that monster delusion, to that enjoyed at times under the Papacy ; but it was only the calm of a short interval between successive storms — the peace enjoyed by despots, who iiave crushed tlicir sul>jccts to submission by the heel of power. There was no settled peace, no real enjoy- ment, no stable freedom ; all was illusion and deceit on the surface, while beneatli, as before, it was only troubled water. The Reign of Peace did not begin at the Reforma- tion. It may seem almost trifling with my readers to dwell on such suppositions as these; but they servo an- important end. If these promises of God have not been fulfilled, we may be certain that they will be fulfilled; and as even this view has been urged by eminent men, in order to set aside the expectation of the Christian that such a blessed period is yet before 90 THE BEION OF PEACE. him, it will bo well to Icavo no doubting castlo behind us, as we advance to our conclusion. And therefore I say, once more, the Reign of Peace did not begin at tlie Ileformation. Hitherto the Reformation has been a source of contention and bloodshed, war and massacre. True, the reformed nations have been increasing in power and prosperity, while the ua^^'ons that remained under the Papacy have been becoming weaker and weaker from age to age ; thus showing that the gospel tends to make nations prosperous and powerful; while Popery impoverishes and con- sumes those nations on whom it fastens itself. Spain, Austria — Franco even, have been greatly weakened ; while Britain, Prussia, and other Protestant states, have improved their condition. And the same thing is equally manifest in the very appearance of the land occupied by the several parties, as witnessed in the North and South of Ireland, in the cantons of Swit- zerland, &c. Yet no Protestant nation claims to have yet witnessed anything approaching to a Reign of Peace. Britain, the most Protestant country in the world, has never had any long interval of peace. Peace within the island has only been enjcyed to a slight degree, and that in proportion to the purity of the faith, and the rectitude of conduct among the people. This has been as yet but partial, and the peace enjoyed has also been but partial. The Refor- mation has indeed shown us that a Reign of Peace is THE RKIGN OF P£ACE. 91 poBsiblo. And the recent action of our beloved Queen, in preventing the threatened war between France and PruHsia, gives U9 an earnest of what might bo accompliHlied, if the minda of all sovereigns were imbued with the same spirit of peace that led our truly gracious Sovereign thus to become a peace-maker among the nations. When God puts this spirit into the hearts of })rinces and peoples, the Millenium will bo accomplished. But let us not mistake the mere temporary lull of armed peace, for the time when men shall beat their swords into plough-shares and their spears into pruning-hooks, and cease to study war any more. That day I believe to be not far distant, but I believe also that it has not yet come. The Millenium is not the same as the heavenly stat'^. Wo have been convinced I trust that the Millenium is not yet past in any sense : and I trust we shall also be satisfied that the Millenium is not to bo confounded with the final rest that shall for ever remain to God's people. For my own part, my prejudices have rather inclined me to the opinion |that the thousand years was only another name for eternity. But the careful study of the passage convinces me, that there must be a definite period measured oif at both ends, between the present state of things and that altogether new state of things that shall be ushered in, when the heavens and the earth themselves shall be changed as well as 92 THE REIGN OP PEACE. their inhabitants. From both of these states the thou- sand years reign of peace is clearly marked out. Satan let loose after the Millenium. — From the unchangeable state that shall follow the final resurrection, the Millenium is marked off by that little season during which Satan is once more to be let loose, that he may go forth to incite the nations » to renew the rebellion against their heavenly King, which we cannot imagine to have any place in that final state of rest and repose, which shall never be dis- turbed by anger or temptation. Before that final state be established, Satan shall not only be bound, but ' forever cast into the lake of fire, wher*) with the Beast md the False Prophet he shall be tormented for ever ^ • and ever. Before that final state commences the judg- : ment ihall sit, and quick and dead alike be doomed to their appointed places: some to life, and some to the lake of fire which is the second death. And after that we are assured there shall be no further change ; but he that is unjust shall be unjust still, and he that is filthy shall be filthy still, he that is righteous shall be * righteous still, and he that is holy shall be holy :till. Other considerations will be urged afterwards,- but I consider these two already stated, namely, that after the Millenium Satan shall be let loose for a little sea- son, and multitudes shall again apostatize, while in the final state, Satan shall be tormented for ever, and after judgment all the saints shall be for ever with the THE REIQN OP PEACE. 93 Lord, sufficient in themselves to distinguish between the Millenial reign of peace and the heavenly kingdom of everlasting righteousness. Why the Millenium often beems confounded ■wnii THE Heavenly state, even in Scriptuke. — That tlie Millenial Reign of Peace is often confounded with the final state by human writers on the subject ia the less surprising, because the same thing is some- times apparently done by the sacred writers them- selves. Both these states lay, at the time of writing, at a great distance in the future ; both were illumined with the same light of glory proceeding from the same Sun of Righteousness ; both lay in the same line of vision, and were separated from each other by so short a space in comparison of their immense duration, that it is no wonder if the one were run as it were into the other. Like two mountains lying right in view of the approaching traveller, the intervening valley is lost in the continuous outline of hills. Or better still, like two stars both in the same line of vision, the spectator regards them but as one. The Millenium and the heavenly state are in a maimer twin states. Yet as was feigned of Castor and Pollux, the Millenium is earthly, the final state is heavenly in its character. In the former no change passes over the eaith or its in- habitants. They remain as before, only improved by the increasing influence exerted over the inhabitants by the power of the world to come. In the latter, 94 THE KEIQN OF PEACE. ' God comes to make all things new, and the saints chano-ed in the moment of the resurrection shall become transformed into the likeness of their Lord, and find themselves glorified and exalted alike in their bodies and their souls. The Millenium is the kingdom of grace full blown, but the final state is the kingdom of grace in full fruition. Yet widely as they differ and stupendous as are the events that shall inter- vene, the two events resemble each other so closely to human view, and succeed each other so rapidly that the transition from the one to the other is easy and natural, especially as the final state, both to those who live now and to those who shall enjoy the millenial respite, is the one great object of desire and regard. Whether we live now, or under the Millenium, oi after it, the one great object of all is the same, to be found of God in peace at tliat last day, and to share tlie inheritance of the saints in light. The writers of the Bible therefore commonly speak of them as it were in connexion, so that it is only by close observation that the line between them can be traced, as men trace lines on the face of the sun, by careful scrutiny. But the distinction, though of little consequence in ordinary preaching, must be carefully marked by those who ^vrite expressly on the Millenium ; because otherwise their account of that blissful period will be confound- ing and distressing,, instead of being comforting and encouraging. When we speak of the power of godli- TUB REIGN OF PEACE. 95 ness or the rewards of the faithful, Ave nicay safely pass over this distinction ; but when we attempt to describe the course of the Gospel, we must not omit so impor- tant a stage in its development and history. The neglect of this distinction is the cause of more errors than any other. For while in general, the mistake of confounding the Millenium with the final state may not be of much consequence, while the supposed end of time is far distant ; yet when the end of time is supposed to be near it may make the greatest possible difierence. And this is the case with many in the present day. Seeing the wide spread of Paganism and Popery and Mohammedanism, scarcely diminishing, if at all, and the apparent powerlessness of the Gospel to dispel the darkness of superstition, idolatry, infidelity, and -worst of all indifierence, from the world many are disposed to conclude that either something more efiec- tual must be employed by God for this purpose, or that Christians must abandon the cause in despair. The latter is the joyful expectation of the infidel and the stronghold of the indifferent. But true Christians, even in their despair, cannot thus cast away their deeply cherished hopes, and hence hoping against hope, they have recourse to the other alternative, and expect some new interposition on the part of God, to establish his promises of peace and joy to his people, by a renewed manifestation of his power and glory by the coming again of the Lord Jesus Christ in person. 96 THE REIQN OF PEACE. riiey despair of the power of grace to subdue men's hearts to the faith of Jesus Christ, and they look for the revelation of his power to compel men to feign submission to his authority. This is plainly the object of nearly all the favourers of the pre-millenial advent of Christ. Mr. Baxter states this plainly ; and Dr. Cumming admits it when he asserts that men are not to be converted by the preaching of the Gospel, but by the coming of the Lord. I do not suppose for a moment that either of these writers, would advocate persecution, as a means of coi^verting sinners, obstinate and hardened ; yet what means this cherished hope of the Lord's speedy coming to judgment, but a desire that God himself would employ force to do, what all the power of his grace cannot do. Now all those who hold these views are too well versed in the scriptures to entertain any expectation that mere suffering will convert the soul of the sinner. The Avicked are suffer- ing every kind ot calamity, and they are not converted. The misery of man before the flood was great upon him, but the antediluvians repented not, but perished in the overflowing waters. The sufferings of the Jews in the siege of Jerusalem were horrible, yet they repented not, but perished in the overthrow of their city, their temple, and their nation. Even the testi- mony of Satan and all the angels that kept not their first estate, and all the spirits of men now in prison in the dreadful pit, bears witness that judgment alone THE REIGN OF PEACE. 97 ■will not convert the soul, but harden it, just as the clay is hardened in the fire. The coming of Cln-ist then to judgment, were that all, would simply bring an end to the world with all its generations. And what would be the natural inference from all this, but that Christians should keep quiet, and sit still, till Christ should come for the destruction of all his enemies, and the salvation of his saints. Now that is a doc- trine entirely contrary to all scripture, which calls us to be up and doing, while it is called to-day, because the night cometh, wherein no man can work. Go and preach the Gospel to every creature, and to all nations, for as you sow so shall you reap. If the w^orld w^ere coming to an end immediately, surely sowing further would be too late. But if we are only coming to the summer time of the world, then sowing now should be prosecuted with all diligence, for in due time we shall reap, if we faint not. Thus, as the view we take of the Millenium must influence imme- diately our present action, and the direction of our prayers, it is of the utmost consequence that we hold right views as to its character. And since, therefore, as I hope to show the Millenium is not the end of the world, but only the glad sunmier time, when the Sun of Righteousness shall be seen shining over all the earth, making the wilderness and the solitary place glad for them that dwell therein, and all its lands rejoice and blossom as the rose ; I trust we shall see ^^ THE REIG\ OF PEACE. that blessed are tliej that sow beside all waters, and be persuaded in the inomiiif,- to sow the seed of the Gospel, and in the evening not to withhold our hand, for God will bless and prosper his people in all the work of their hand, now that for them the better Noah, the Comforter hath come. 09 CHAPTER V. EVENTS COMING BEFOKE THE RISING OF THE MILLE- NIAL SUN ; AND FIRST, THE TRIUMPHAL PROCESSION OF CHRIST AND HIS SAINTS. " And this gospel of the Kingdom sliall be preached (proclaimed) in all the world, for a witness to all nations; and tlien shall the end come." — Matt. xxiv. 14. Our Second Rule for interpreting the nature of the Millenium is, to consider, next to the text, the preccd- inir and succeedinij: context. This we now proceed to do. bco-innino; with the eleventh verse of the nineteenth chapter of Ticvelation, thus : , ' "And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Paithful and True, and (for) in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many- crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood ; and his name is (then) called the Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.' And out of his mouth goeth a sharp 100 THE REIGN OP PEACE. Bword, tliat with it he should smite the nations : and he shall rule them with a rod (a sceptre) of iron : and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written : King of Kings and Lord of Lords." — Rev. xix. 11-lG. Here we have evidently the beginning of a new series of visions, introduced, as they generally are, by. a new revelation of the glory of Christ. To Christ are here ascribed three names : one, the secret, the won- derful, the almiglity, everlasting God, the First and the Last, Jehovah; which name none can know but himself: for who, by searching, can find out God? who can find out the Almighty unto perfection? — a second, the Word of God, by which he became known when he came to tabernacle in mortal f.esh, and to offer himself a ransom for his brethren of mankind : God manifest in flesh ; for in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God ; and the Word was made flesli, and dwelt among us ; and we behold his glory, the glory as of the only -begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth : and a third. King of Kings and Lord of Lords, as supreme Governor among the nations, whom he will ' subdue with the sword of the spirit, and rule over with almighty powei'. Tiiese things may, no doubt, be literally fulfilled in heaven; but, as they concern us TUE REION OF I'KACE. 101 on tlio earth, they must be translated into earthly language ; and this triumphal procession of Christ in heaven, I understand as symbolical of the triumphal progress of the gospel of his grace among the nations on earth. For it was in similar language that Jesus himself sent forth his apostles at the first, saying unto them, "All power is given unto me in heaven and on earth ; go ye, therefore, and make disciples of all nations." The preaching of the gospel is by many regarded as a very light thing ; that if men have only gifts, or, if anything more, a little learning, they may easily preach the gospel; and so they may, to their own and their hearers' destruction. But the gospel is not the word of man, and cannot be taught by man ; and unless the Lord send, in vain shall they run that proclaim it ; and unless the Lord speak by his spirit to the hearts and consciences of men, in vain shall it be sounded in their ears. The gospel is the wisdom of God and the power of God unto salvation, but only when it is the word of faith, when God speaketh by the spirit from the heart of the preacher to the heart of the hearer; for it is effectual only in them that, through grace, believe. Hence those that preach the gospel should be sure they are serving the Lord Christ, and are accompanied by his presence and power, through the in-dwelling of his spirit, as he said to his apostles, " Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world." This every preacher may have for the 102 THE REIQN OF PEACE. aslcing, as it is so graciousl}' said by the Lord liiinsclf : " If any of you that is a father would give good gifts ^ to his children, how miicli more will your heaveidy Father give the Holy Spirit to tlicni that ask him." But tliongh thus easily obtained, the gift is infinitely great, and the responsibility of jjossessing and exercis- ing it infinitely great also ; and hence the necessity that those who, by prayer, have received any measure of this grace, should ask more grace to enable them rightly to eml)loy it. They must learn to live by faith, to jiray in faith, to preach in faith, and so in fiiith to hope for success in winning souls for Christ. It is Christ in his ministers, who beseecli men, in Christ's stead, to be reconciled to God, that prevails ; and it is to Christ they must seek to guide men, and not merely to the church, or to heaven, or to a holy life. Ilenco you perceive the propriety of representing the trium- phal progress of the gospel on. earth, by the trium- phal procession of Christ and his saints in heaven. And hence, turning to the prophecies of Ezekiel, we find that this is the meaning we should attach to these symbols. Beginning with the thirty-third chapter of Ezekiel, we find a great revival of religion among the ministers of religion. Ezekiel was set as a watchman over them, and he sounded the trumpet, as' set forth in the thirty-fourth chapter; and Edom, the worldling, is smitten first in the thirty-fifth cluipter, and then Israel is assured of revival and deliverance in the THE REIQN OF PEACE. 103 tliii'ty-sixtli chapter, saying, at the twenty-fourth verse: " For I will take you from among the hea<"hen, and gather you out from all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean, from all your lilthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you ; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave unto your fathers ; and ye shall be my people and I will be your God." This is followed again in the thirty-seventh chapter by a great revival of God's people, represented by the revival of the dry bones of the fallen army of Israel under Josiah, who are now raised again to renew the conflict ; and by the whole church of God rej^resented by Israel and Judah being united in the Millenium under ono king and living in peace under one govern- ment ; as may be seen from the passage already given in proof that a Millenium of peace is coming on the earth, and as may be seen in the interpretation given us of that vision at the eleventh verse : ---- 104 THE REIGN OP PEACE. " Then said he unto me, son of maii, these bones are the whole house of Israel ; behold they say, our bones are dried and our hope is lost ; we are cut off for our parts. Therefore prophecy and say unto them, thus eaith the Lord God, behold O my people, I will open your graves, and cause . you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, and shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land : then si: all ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord,"&c. Surely, if ever, the Israelites may now say that their bones are dried and their hope is lost. It is now eighteen hundred years since Jerusalem was destroyed. The Jews rejected the Messiah when he came and by the hands of the Romans, nailed him to the cross, calling down his innocent and sacred blood, upon the heads of themselves and their guilty children. Yet Jesus whom they crucified, died praying for them, saying, " Father forgive them for tuey know not what they do." They have been waiting ever since for a conquering Messiah, hailing with welcome every one that came calling him- self the Messiah, excepting the true one. They are waiting for the Messiah still, and many of them are THE REIGN OF PEACE. 105 floclcing to Palestine to be ready to welcome him wlien he appears. But they have never repented of their ■wickedness, either as regards the Messiah, whom their fathers slew, or as regards their own personal conduct. They are still a wicked and degraded people. And hence the Lord says he will bring them out of their graves first and put the spirit of life in them, and raise them np to be as before a very great army, prepared to renew the battle of truth they had lost ; before he lead them again to the land he. promised to their fathers. I wonld have all readers of the word of God to ponder this. The Jews can never return to possess their land again until they become converted. And licnce both Jew and Christian err greatly when they lead the Jews to imagine that they shall return to their own land while they remain as they are. The Jews are a remarkable illustration of Divine Providence. They remain a distinct people, among all the other nations of the world whither they have been driven. They have been sifted as wheat, and yet not a grain of them has fallen to the ground. They remain a sepa- rate people, having no right in the soil of the lands they have inhabited, till very recently. They are not inclined to settle any where, because they expect every moment to be recalled to the land of their fathers. And whajt is about as remarkable, their land remains, as it were, waiting for them. Once the glory of all lands, Palestine has become in a manner a wilderness lOG THE REIGN OP PEACE. for want of inhabitants, and for want of cultivation. And yet araid the many changes which that land has passed, it has never come into the possession of the Jews. And even at this day, when the Jewish bankers exercise such a commanding influence among the na- tions of the world, the Jews cannot get possession of it, either by favour or by purchase. There is an in- visible barrier in the way of their return. The veil must be taken off their eyes. They must be converted before they can return to Palestine. This is written both in the law and the prophets, as you may read at once in the book of Danie^, the ninth chapter at the tenth verse: " As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us : yet made we not our prayers before the Lord our God, that we might turn from onr iniquities, and understand thy truth. Therefore hath the J »rd watched upt the evil, and brought it upon us : for the Lord our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth : for we obeyed not his voice." And if any one wish to consult the law of Moses, he may find a sufficient testimony in the book of Leviticus, the twenty-sixth chapter,' from the four-' teenth verso. The covenant God made with the Israelites was that if they kept his law he would bless them, if they violated his law he would punish them ; THE llEION OF PEACE. 107 but if at any time they should repent and confess their sin, he would again pardon them, and restore his favour to them again. Aixd to this sentence the New Testament adheres. When Jesus left them, he said, " Ye sliall not see me henceforth until ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometli in the name of the Lord." And the Apostle Paul, who said that he could wish himself cut off from Christ, if only his people Israel could be gathered in, testified to the same effect, that until the veil he taken off their hearts, and they come to believe in him whom their fathers rejected and slew, they cannot be saved. But he says that they shall believe in Christ, and be restored again to their own land when the times of the Gentiles have fully run to an end. That time is evidently near, for there is a ■shaking among the dry bones of the children of Israel such as there never was before ; an agitation of the ques- tion as to the Messiah, and as to their return to Pales- tine, is deeply engaging their attention at present ; and they are just waiting for the breath of God's Word to quicken them to life again, and put them in motion to- wards the land of their fathers, for which they cherish an intense, a divinely inspired longing. And the time cannot be far distant when the nations alike of the east and the west, and the ships of Tarshish (of Britain) first shall convey them back in joy and triumph to the place which God hath prepared and kept for them. Ev^erything is ripening fast towards this consumma- 108 THE REION OP PEACE. tion. All Christian nations are becoming; tender to- wards the Jews, whom they have so long persecuted and spoiled. The Jews are not only returning to Palestine, but they have formed societies to send their members in succession to it. The Jews have come to the conclusion that the only Messiah at all realizing their scripture prophecies is Jesus of Nazareth, and it is said that they have agreed that if a Messiah such as they expect does not come soon, they will be compelled to acknowledge Jesus of Nazareth or give up all fur- ther hope of their Messiah's coming. Oh that God would indeed remove the veil from off their hearts, and then would they see at once in Jesus of Nazareth the glorious and victorious King of Israel, saving his people from all their enemies and blessing them witli supreme and everlasting peacf such as they could never have in this world, and such as the world, when it ends, shall only perfect, and establish for ever. And for this blessed consummation, let all Christians de- voutly pray, for in the gathering again of Israel, shall be the full salvation of the Gentiles. For .as the Apostle Paul says, " If the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead." — Rom. xi. 15. But even tliis is not all. There is to be a great revival of religion among professing Christians. For Christians might now say, as well as the Jews, " Our THE REIGN OF PEACE. 109 bones are dried ; our hope is lost." In early times the Church of Christ, without human aid, spread abroad grace, liglit and liberty tin'oughout the world. The disciples of Jesus spread the knowledge of salvation throughout the world, far beyond the limits of the Roman Empire ; and wherever they went learning and civilization and freedom followed. In three cen- turies the Roman Empire acknowledged Christ as the Saviour of the world ; and even barbarous nations respected the Church more than the Empire. But prosperity brought indolence and self-indulgence. The , light of the Gospel was put under a bushel or under a bed, and the house of God became filled with darkness and superstition. Missions ceased and barbarism triumphed. The Reformation did much to recal truth and righteousness back to the west of Europe. -. But the Reformation Avas simply a claim on the part of those who had recovered the Bible to use it for , their own instruction and guidance. It aimed more at emancipation of the subject from the tyranny of priest and prince, than at the difi'usion of the Gospel of the grace of God. And as the religion of that , great revival was very selfish, so it ended in endless contentions and controversies ; so that the Church of the Reformation was nearly as much in danger of perishing from the folly of her own children, as from the hostility of strangers. Real missionary work has only been quite recently resumed by the Protestant 110 ' THE REION OF PEACE. cliurclies. And it began as it Avere in secret. The now world-revered Carey, was a poor cobbler, and sitting at his hnmble labour he conceived the idea of sending tlie Gospel to the heathen in India, so long and so lamentably neglected. This was early in the year that the Frencli Revolntion broke out, the year 1793. The Baptist Society thus begun, was followed by the London Missionary Society and the Wesley an Missionary Society and others in rapid succession. Was not this the very thing that prevented Britain from being absorbed like other European nations in the Eevolution of France ? The law of God in recjard to nations is, either serve God in his worship, or suffer under the calamities of war. I^[ations never run into debt for the service of God, because Avhat they do for God, he immediately returns a hundredfold. But nearly all nations are become almost bankrupt through tlie prosecution of useless wars. Why should not na- tions then learn from the experience of ages that their peace and prosperity depend on their giving them- selves heartily to the service of God? Since that time missions have greatly multiplied. Every Pro- testant Church has missions, and is labouring to sustain and extend them ; but alas, it is more for the credit of the thing, than from a sense of duty, that they do so. And hence, with all the past increase of missionary effort, missions are languishing, and the churches are flagging in their missionary zeal. But a greater revi- THE REIGN OF PEACE. Ill val than ever is to take place, and these small begin- nings are to become enlarged like a river widening and deepening at the same time as it roPs on, towards the complete conversion of the world. Sail a begin- ning has been made. The word of God has been translated into two hundred of the most important languages of the world, and scattered broadcast over the earth in millions. God's word speaks for itself, and makes itself felt wherever it goes. Yet it has also been sent forth upon the white horse of power and prosperity. The Bible scattered by the hands of the poor and despised would have had no such effect. They must prove their sincerity by their willing suf- ferings. The Bible has been so upheld for ages, and many have believed it to the salvation of their souls. But it produced little movement among the nations, because it was only the poor man's book — his comfort in all his afflictions and in all his persecutions. But of late Providence has been showing that the Bible is also the rich man's book, because it first converts and saves the poor man's soul, and then it makes his chil- dren rich. Britain was till lately hated and persecuted as the chief Protestant nation, and Britain divided against itself had enough to do, to hold her own. At length it appeared as if Britain were about to be over- thrown in her very seat. Nearly all the powers of Europe were combined against her. All the Papal kingdoms, both north and south, were combined against 112 ^ THE REIGN OP PEACE. her. But tlie Lord was with lier, for his cause was lionoured in Britain ; and though only the bud as yet appeared, the Lord pitied his people, and in the might of the Lord, Britain roso, and land and sea testified of * her irresistible might. Her enemies were beaten back wherever they appeared. They became divided, and beat down each other. Since then Britain has in a manner rested and prospered, while her former oppo- nents are now courting her friendship and destroying each other. Meanwhile Britain's Queen, instructed by the Spirit of God, and with the "Word of God in her hand, is seen openly and humbly proclaim- ing, " Behold the secret of Britain's greatness ! " Who under these circumstances can wonder at the rapid and triumphant spread of the Eeligion of Jesus, in appearance at least, when the Lord not only puts it into the heart of Britain's Queen, con- fessedly the greatest sovereign in the world, to pro- claim it from the throne, but gives her just reason to do so, in prospering the people over whom as a Pro- testant prince she rules as a Protestant people, pub- licly constituted as a nation, on the Word of God. Here is a testimony to the national value of God's Word, such as has not been seen before in modern times. No wonder then that Russia and Germany, the two Papal empires, as well as France and Italy, are desirous of imitating Britain, not only in her civil policy, but in her religion, the Word of God. Christ THE REIGN OP PEACE. ' 113 is thus talcing to himself his great power, and begin- ning to reign over the earth, as King of kings and Lord of lords ; and all the kingdoms of the world are about to become openly the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. It has now become an indisputable fact that Protestant nations are the most prosperous ; that Protestant governments are most stable and power- ful, because they rest on the Word of God, and not on the authority of man. And even those who do not care for the Word of God, as a means -of salvation for theit" souls, are anxious to partake of the blessings that God for the sake of it sends upon his people. God will not long indeed permit them to enjoy these unless they accept the other. But meantime he will permit them as of old, for tlie loaves and the fishes, to follow him, that they may hear his word, and see his glory. Hence the wonderful revolution now taking place in the world. Christ -is riding forth with his people, in the chariot of power, and the nations with their rulers are feigning submission to him. Prussia, Russia, France, Italy, Austria, and even Turkey are confessing his power. Almost every country in the world is at present open to the preaching of the Gos- pel, and the circulation of the Scriptures, with the exception, perhaps, of Spain ; and that opposition cannot long continue, as that nation, like Mexico, is killing itself with internecine strife. 114 THE REIGN OF PEACE. This revival of missionary zeal has been accompanied by a corresponding revival of religion among all Pro- testant churches. The cold philosophy or dead sea of controversial dogmas, has given place to the preaching of a personal Saviour and a gospel of life and grace ; and though, as is always the case with any living movement, weeds have grown as well as grain, and vermin as well as fruit, yet the process of Revival has been real, lasting and extensive ; producing a harvest of souls in every quarter, and almost in every country and province of the world. The multiplication of errors of every kind has not kept pace with tlie success of truth ; although by the contrast with truth, their darkness and ugliness appear so much greater. And I trust that, as diligent labourers in the vineyard of the Lord, his servants will be the more incited to cherish the precious plants of grace, that Jiey may ultimately choke oft' the weeds of error and vice, by covering fully all the ground of the human heart. This extended missionary action has also produced, by reaction, a wide-spread desire and endeavour after union among all Christians, such as has not been known since the days of the apostles. When I first began to preach union among Christians, my ideas were treated with silent contempt ; and when pressed more strongly, were treated as folly. But now Chris- tian union is one of the leading and favourite topics among all parties. The Evangelical Alliance sprang THE REIGN OP PEACE. 115 Up under this new-born feeling, wliicli, however, can hardly ever work out the great idea. Perliaps it may prepare the way for it. Missionaries, feeling tliem- selves isolated from all their brethren in foreign lands, have felt themselves drawn together as brethren in Christ, and, breaking the cobwebs of prejudice, they have met together to worship the one Father, through the only Mediator ; and under the blessed influence of the one spirit of love and peace, have listened together to the word of life, and commemorated together the dying love of their common Saviour. And that which they began in India, near the tomb of their martyred brethren, they have repeated at Alexandria in Egypt, and some time afterwards in the little English chapel outside of the gates of Eome ; and but a little while ago the scene of love and unity was repeated in Germany; and, strange to say, seems to have been used by the Lord of providence to anoint the King of Prussia, like another Jehu, to smit6 the head of the Holy Roman Empire, the Emperor of Austria. And meantime, union among Presbyterians has been going on ; union among Methodists has been proposed ; and, strange to say, the Church of Rome has had a gathering for closer union; and the Pah- Anglican Synod is just about to meet in England. Union is now the order of the day ; and yet thirty years have not passed since, in the year 1841, I began to moot this matter, when a student at Aberdeen, in Scotland. 116 THE REIQN OF PEACE. DoG9 not tliis rapid spread of the idea of Christian union — whether in truth under Christ, or in policy under Antichrist — indicate plainly the nearing of the end, when the kingdoms of the earth shall become united under the one Lord, and his name in all be only one ? Here, then, is one of the events, represented as preceding the coming of the Millenium, begun, and making rapid and increasingly rapid progress. Every year has been extending the number of missionaries, and these are learning to adopt more and more the simple, original, apostolic plan : to preach the gospel ; to baptize and train their converts ; to join charity of every kind with their preaching; healing the sick, caring for the poor, receiving outcast children, employ- ing native teachers and elders ; in a word, preaching the gospel of salvation in simple faith, casting from them all the proud fastidiousness of a worldly-wise philosophy, which can never save any one, and seeking earnestly, by the foolishness of preaching, to save at least some. How long shall it be ere the rulers of the churches learn that the wisdom of this world is fool- ishness with God ? Let us believe, and obey the voice of God; and then soon shall we see the gospel of salvation wafted to all lands, and men in clouds flying to Christ, like the doves to their windows. 117 CHAPTER VI. EVENTS COMING BEFORE THE RISING OF THE MILLE- NIAL SUN; AND SECONDLY, THE OVERTHROW OF THE BEAST AND THE FALSE FROPUET. PART FIRST, OVERTHROW OF THE BEAST. " And tlie Beast that was, and is not, even lie is tho ciglith, and is of the seven, and goeth into per- dition. And the ten horns whicli thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with tho Beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the Beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them ; for he is Lord of lords and King of kings ; and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful." — Rev. xvii. 11. We have just seen the triumphal procession of the gospel, as it were, begun in the revival of missions of all kinds. But while the Lord Jesus and his saints are thus seen riding forth in triumph towards that glorious festival that is to precede the marriage of the Lamb of God to his beloved bride, the Church, which he has purchased and purified with his own blood, and which is to take place at her mother's residence in 118 THE REIGN OF PEACE. this earthly world, a mighty array is being collected by the kings of the earth, under the Beast and the False Prophet, to oppose their onward progress, and to occasion a struggle, a war, such as the world has not seen equalled before. And hence we go on, in the secc»nd place, to state that the Beast and the False Prophet are to be Uiken and cast alive into the lake of fire, before the Reign of Peace begin, as we read in the nineteenth chapter of the Revelation, from the seventeenth verse : ■ ' "And I saw an angel standing in tne sun [the throne of the civil power] ; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come, and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God ; that ' . ' ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them; ' and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. And I saw the Beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that f sat on the horse, and against his army. And ' ' the Beast was taken, and with him [like another Balaam] the False Prophet that wrought mira- cles before him, with which he deceived them that had received tne mark of the Beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both THE REIGN OP PEACE. , 119 : *: • -^ere cast alive into a lake of fire, burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him [the Messiah] that sat upon the horse, wlii(;li sword proceeded out of his mouth [the sword of the spirit] ; and all the fowls were filled with their fiesh." Now, whatever these symbols . nay mean, they are obviously not yet fulfilled. For the beast here spoken of is obviously the same as that spoken of in the seventeenth chapter of this book, on which the woman sat ; that woman which is declared to represent the great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth. The Babylon that was, was in ruins in the days of the apostle John ; Rome, which was regarded as the Babylon of the Revelation by all the early fathers, has also been destroyed several times since then; but it has as often been rebuilt, and as often regained all its former splendour ; and consequently has not yet beea consumed, and cannot even yet be said to have lost its influence over the nations. Rome has always been the capital of nominal Christendom, and it is so now. Other cities may bo larger in population, and greater in power, but none commands so powerful an interest to all the world as Rome. Europe at this moment rules the world ; and more than the half of Europe follows the Pope (nominally at least) to this day. Neither Britain nor Russia could cope with the Papal nations, were they to unite, and the contest be left to 120 THE REION OF PKACE. the'ordiiiaiy course of events. The preservation of God's people — a little flock in the midst of wolves — is due to God alone, who makes the Avrath of man to praise him, and the remainder thereof he doth restrain. Since, then. Popery still stands, and the Beast and the False Prophet still live, it is obvious that the Millenium has not properly begun. "\YnEN" THE E.EIGN OF PeACE MAY BE EXPECTED TO PEGiN.^That whicli interests most, is to ascertain if possible, when the Reign of Peace may be expected to begin. I may safely say that it has not begun yet. Again and again the cry has been raised, the Reign of War is over, and the Rei^n of Peace has betifun. But wars and rumours of wars have as often dispelled all such illusions. And now the whole world is on the tiptoe of expectation, to see the millions of armed warriors held together in all quarters of the world, hurled aii-ainst each other. Yet even from such a fever- ish state of warlike preparations, some enthusiasts pro- phecy peace, vainly imaginning that tlie very excess of warlike preparation and bitter hostility, among all na- tions, will prevent the fury of war from bursting forth. That surely is a delusion. Such vast preparations may indeed delay the outburst, but will only heighten its terrific character, when it breaks out, like thunder, and lightening, and tempests, from an overcharged sky. It is not even true as some would assert, that wars are less fatal or of shorter continuance now than they were THE REIGN OP PEACE. ' 121 before. There hcavp always been short wars, when only petty nations were engaged. The number slain will depend upon the way in which armies are situated, towards each other. A pitched battle when both par- ties are nearly balanced and so fight obstinately, is always more fatal than a skirmish, unless it be follow- ed by a disastrous flight. There can be no long war between parties unequally matched, unless in guerilla warfare, among fastnesses. Waterloo was a pitched battle, in which thousands were slain. The retreat ' from Moscow was a disastrous flif,ht. At Sebastapol, the parties were unequally matched, two of the strong- est nations against one hitherto regarded as only second rate ; yet more than a million of men perished in all, within two years. The civil war in America was con- tested by parties ranked as two to one from the begin, ning, and five to one before the close ; because the slaves in the South had to be guarded, and the North received recruits from all quarters ; yet two hundred thousand at least were slain in five years. Prussia chased Austria as wolves chase a flock of sheep, the one were prepared to fight, the other were disposed to flee. These instances shew plainly that war has not changed its character in the least. And let na- tions like Britain or France, engage in war again, and the carnage would be vastly greater than it was in the time of the French revolution. I would sincerly pray, that no such war may ever rage. But I cannot 122 THE REIGN OF PEACE. believe that all this preparation, by land and sea, with steamer and iron-clad, with cannon throwing balls of the weight of a talent, and rifles rattling quick as hail, the world can come to peace without first suffering under the terrible outburst of war ; or that the summer of the Millenium can be ushered in without (as is usual in spring) dt*enching showers of human blood. These things, though I deprecate them exceedingly, I believe are yet to come, before the Eeign of Peace can dawn upon us. . The Beast to be destroyed before the Millenium commences. The wild beast here referred to is that mentioned in the seventeenth chapter of this book, verse third : " So he carried me away in the spirit into the wil- derness : and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet- coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns." And this as plainly refers to the Beast mentioned in the thirteenth chapter, at the beginning : " And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the seaj liaving seven heads i,:_ and ten horns, and upon his head the name of • > ._ blaspliemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a THE REIGN OF PEACE. 123 lion. And the dragon gave liim lus power, and liis seat, and great authority. And this as plainly refers again to Daniel's fourth Beast (the differences being such as arise from the point of time at which it wf \ viewed), as mentioned in the seventh chapter at the seventh verse : " After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly ; and it had great iron teeth : it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the res Idue with the feet of it ; and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it ; and it , had ten horns." And this again refers to the great image seen by Nebu- chadnezzar, on which all these prophecies depend as on a common stem. This dream was found and inter- preted by Daniel, as recorded in the second chapter, from the thirty-first verse : " Thou O king sawest, and beliold a great image. This great image, whose briglitness was excel- lent, stood before thee, and the form thereof was terrible. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast aid his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest —-■; till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet, that were 124 " THE REiaX OP PEACE. of iron and clay and brake tliem to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the sil- ver and the gold, broken to pieces together, f and became like the chaff of the summer thrashing floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them ; and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth." I wish thus to present the Scripture pictures to the view of the reader side by side, so that he may read as it were side by side also, the Scripture interpreta- tion, beginning however at the part under considera- tion, and in the reverse order, with Daniel, chapter second, verse fortieth : ' " And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron ; forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and sub- dueth all things ; and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes part of potter's clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided ; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, inasmuch as thou sawest th.e iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and ' partly broken. And whereas thou saw^est iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle them- selves with the seed of men ; but tliey shall not THE REIQN OP PEACE. 125 ,■ ' cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed witli clay." There can he no donbt but that this fourth kingdom is the Roman, consisting of two princes as its founders, two tribes as its origin, and afterwards governed by two consuls ; early divided into two great parts, cast and west, and these eventually becoming two separate empires, consisting of a number of kingdoms, some strong, some broken, even as they are at this day, of which I shall have more to say afterwards. That this fourth kingdom is the Roman will appear more clearly as we proceed — in the interpretation given in the seventh chapter at the nineteenth verse : " Then would I know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceedinjr dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass ; which devoured, brake in pieces and stamped the residue with his feet ; and of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up and before whom three fell ; even that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spoke very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. And I beheld, and the same' horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them, until the ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. Thus 126 THE RKIGN OP PEACE. he said : ' The fourth Beast shall bo the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise, and another shall rise after them, and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws ; and they shall be given into his hand, until a time and times and the dividing of a time. But tlie judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end." There are only to be four great kingdoms upon the earth. The fourth is to be divided into ten kingdoms. One of the ten is to become a supplanter, and occupy the place of three. In the ninth chapter we find the second and third kingdoms, named the Medo-Persian and the Grecian, which was to be divided into four parts towards the four winds of heaven, which is very well discussed in Bishop Newton's work on Prophecy. And then we have it added, as I believe with that eminent writer, of the fourth Beast, at the twenty- third verse : THE REIGN OP PEACE. 127 "And in the latter time of their kingdom, when tlie transgressors are come to the fall, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, slxall stand up ; and his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power ; and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper and ^ practice, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he sliall magnify himself in his heart, and by * peace shall destroy many : he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes ; but he shall be broken without hand." Tliis vision, we are told, shall be for many days, and can only properly apply to the fourth kingdom, that, as before stated, was to be broken without hands. The application to Antiochus Epiphanes was natural enough to the Jews. But no prophecy is of so minute a character when it refers to so long a time ; and when we read that the kings are kingdoms or lines of kings in one dominion, that is, a dynasty, we cannot suppose that any exception will be made in favor of so insigni- ficant a prince as Antiochus Epiphanes or any other. The Roman Empire was a kingdom of fierce counten- ance, consulting the dark sentences of the Sybilline oracles in cases of extreme danger. Its power was mighty, yet not by its own power, but by its policy in uniting different peoples together under its sway. 128 THE nEIQN OF PEACE. The Roman Empire often made peace, and so absorbed kingdoms nnder pretence of friendship. The Eomans destroyed the mighty and the holy people, and songht to destroy tlie Prince of princes and all his followers. And that mighty power shall at last be broken with- out hands — bo consumed, as it were, without any external agency. And this corresponds with the inter- pretation of the Beast, as given in Revelation, the seventeenth chapter, at the ninth verse : *' The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings : five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come ; and when lie cometh he must con- tinue a short space. And the beast that was and is not; even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet ; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb , shall overcome them; for he is Lord of lords and King of kings. And they that are with them are called, and chosen, and faithful. And he saith unto me, the waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples and multi- tudes, and nations and tongues: and the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her deso- THE llEION OF PEACE. 129 late and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with Are. For God hath put in their hearts to fulflU his will, and to agree and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. And the woman whicl; thou savvest is that great eity whicli reigneth over the kings of the earth." Rome was the great city that in the days of John reigned over the kingdoms of the earth, and was indeed a very great city, containing some millions of citizens, engrossing all the wisdom, and wealth, and power of the world. It was seated on seven hills, and rose out of the agitated waters of the Gentile nations, represented by the sea. It underwent a number of forms of government, which can easily be reduced to seven : five past ; one existing in the days of the apostle (the Imperial); and one yet to come (the pseudo-Christian, under Constantine and his succes- sors). After these there was to be an eighth, in many respects distinct, yet of the same general character with the seven before it, namely, the Feudal System, an empire in many respects, as the former two, and yet diflfering from them in being in a manner elective, and associated with a second beast, which had restored it to life after being in a manner dead, and giving it all its force and direction. The feudal system, I may say here, began in Italy,, during the breaking up of the Roman Empire. Clovis 9 180 THE REION OP PEACE. introduced it into France. It was simply tlio Roman military system, which was adopted as their civil polity by the princes of th"e various barbarous tribes that overran the empire. I may also notice that when Kome had in a manner been abandoned by the empe- rors of the east, who were no longer able to protect it against the ravages of these barbarians, by whom Rome was four times taken and sacked — first by Alaric king of the Goths (410), then by Genseric, king of the Vandals (455), then by Ricimer, as a general of the eastern emperor (467), and lastly by Odoacer, king of the Ileruli (476), who deposed Romulus Augustulus, the last of the old Roman em- perors in the west — the only defender of Rome was its Pope, that is its bishop, who again and again successfully interceded with the barbarian conquerors, and though he could not save it from massacre and pillage, at least mitigated its sufferings. And there can be no doubt, as admitted on all hands, that the Pope and his clergy preserved the existence of the city, and ultimately regained for it all its former greatness and prosperity and glory. The Feudal Sys- tem thus sprung up just at the time that it could be made available, in building up a nominal empire of which the Papacy was ultimately recognized as the head, as undoubtedly it was the life, and the inspiring- energy. Clovis of France presented to the Pope the patrician coronet, which the emperor of the east had THE REIGN OP PEACE. 181 Bent him, and this was the first of tho Pope's three crowns (-IDS), And from this time tho Papacy went on increasing tlie extent of its power and influence, till the Pope was regarded by the western world, as not only supreme bishop, but sovereign of the whole world, in a word, a God upon the earth. His tem- poral sovereignty was exercised under the mask of the Feudal System, which he held together by his spiritual claims, and princes and peoples who would have dis- dained to acknowledge any earthly superior, willingly worsliipped the spiritual sovereignty of the Pope. His temporal power he delegated to some distin- guished prince, whom he pretended to set up, as emperor or commissioner, but who in reality first gained for himself the position, and then had himself as it were confirmed in it by the Pope. By this stroke of policy, the Pope recalled at least the semblance of empire to its original seat at Rome. Thus the Beast tliat had received the deadly wound by the sword still lived, and by careful nursing as it were, has been kept alive to this day, nnder the skilful management of the Papacy, which since the Beast could no longer appear in its own person so to speak, has made an image to it, and governs in its name ; for the feudal system, as you perceive, is not a real empire like any of tho^e that went before, the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Gre- cian or old Roman, but only the image of an empire, a legal fiction ; yet nnder the direction and influence 132 THE REIQN OF PEACE. of the Papacy, it has exercised all the powers of an empire. This Feudal System received all its vitality and force from the Papacy, and with the decline of the Papacy it has fallen into abeyance. This image of Q.n empire, you perceive also was set up in the times when the ten horns, that were to have power one hour (a short season) with the Beast, had come into existence. And so we find that these horns, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, have at dif- ferent periods been recognized as masters of the Holy Roman Empire under the Popes, the power never being at any tine really lodged for any length of time in one hand. Only these various powers in the mean- time have remained under the influence of one mind, one superstitious idea, and have agreed to give their strength and power to the Beast, so that the imperial title at least remained until this spring, when the Emperor of Austria ceased to be Emperor of Ger- many. It will thus be seen that the overthrow of the Emperor of Austria by the King of Prussia was no unimportant event. It implied the subversion, in a manner that never was before, of the Holy Roman Empire. For unlike Napoleon, who (1806) compelled the Emperor of Austria to abdicate in his favour, and as a consequence ultimately named his son King of Rome ; the King of Prussia is a Protestant, owning no allegiance to the Pope, and having no claim to be any- thing more than King of Prussia, and of such other THE REIGN OP PEACE. 133 countries as he may conquer or conciliate. The image of the first Beast may now therefore be said to have been broken. The calamities brought upon the Ro- man Catholic nations, in these last days may even be said to have been brought upon them, by their own agency. France has beaten down Austria in favour of Italy, and then Italy aided Prussia in stripping Austria of its possessions and imperial dignity, and now Italy seems disposed to join Prussia against France. Thus the Beast in his rage tears his own flesh in pieces, and so we are assured in prophecy the shall do, to the end, so that though Protestant nations may be concerned in their overthrow, in order to gather their spoils, the enemies of God are really struck down without hands. They fall to pieces like a rotten image, at the merest touch of the storm ©f God's wrath. Yet the Beast is to survive, and muster all his strength for the last struggle, in which he is to be taken alive, and cast into the Lake of Fire, as the instrument and the partner of the False Prophet. Of this I shall have to speak again in a future chaj)ter. Meantime we see that the instrument anu the ac- complice shall share the same doom with the leader, and e.very one of us is therefore warned, not to be partakers of the sins of others, especially of the False Prophet, lest we also share their plagues. . 134 CHAPTER VII. EVENTS COMING BEFORE THE RISING OF THE MILLEN lAL SUN; AND, SECONDLY, THE OVERTHROW OF THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET. PART SECOND: OVERTHROW OF THE FALSE PROPHET, AND OF GREAT BABYLON WHERE HE DWELLS. " And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his month, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming : even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteonsness in them that perish ? " — Thess. ii. 8. : . . "VVe have already seen the image of the First Beast, which signified the Holy Roman Empire brought low ; and we are here assured that the False Prophet is to share with him in that final destruction, which has been brought upon him chiefly by means of the lying prophecy by which he was led into conflict with the King of kings. We proceed now to consider the second part of this subject by stating that the False Prophet is to be destroyed before the Millenium. To ascertain what is meant by the False Prophet, we m-ist attend to the Book itself. Now, the False Prophet is THE REIGN OF PEACE. , 135 associated with the Dragon and the Beast ; for so it is written in the sixteenth chapter, at the thirteenth verse: "■ v ' •■ " And I saw three unclean spirits, hke frogs, come out of the mouth of tlie Dragon, and out of the mouth of the Beast, and out of the mouth of the False Prophet." "Which carries us back at once to the thirteenth chap- ter, at the eleventh verse : • : " And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth ; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to woi'ship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonaers, so that he maketli fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth • them that dwell on the earth, by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast ; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast which had the. wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that aa many as would not worship the image of the 136 THE REIGN OP PEACE. '' beast should be killed. And lie causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads : and that no man might buy or sell, save ho that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding: count the number of the beast : for it is the number of a man ; and his number is six Imn- dred three score and six." Now, there can be no doubt that the second beast is the Papacy. It came out of the earth (the civilized world), as the Papacy did, by the aid.of 'tlio Roman emperors of the pseudo-Christian dynasty. ^*" had two horns like a lamb, as the Papacy had at thi cime of its rising, claiming to represent the Lamb of God on the earth, and to exercise the ecclesiastical power, both in the East and the West, with gentleness and impar- tiality. But it spake as a dragon ; its actions and its spirit were earthly, sensual, devilish. The Papacy, under a show of meekness, claimed submission from princes and peoples, and, out of mere pity to their souls, dethroned princes and burned their subjects, yet using the power of the first beast to preserve its appearance as a lamb. The Papacy revived the Homan Empire, after it had in a manner become extinct, by conferring the Imperial crown on different princes, and so prolonged its existence to the present THE REIGN OP PEACE. 187 time. Tlie Papacy also caused an image to "be made for tlie beast, which I suppose to mean the Papal monarchy, as a worldly policy, fashioned after the form of an empire, claiming all the powers and prero- gatives and honors of an empire, of which Peter was the head, and the Pope, as his successor, acting in the place of Christ, was the representative sovereign. By this means an empire was established, which, though a mere image of the former empire, the Papacy had power to inspire with life, and cause it to speak, and put its decrees in force. Now, this was the way in which the' Papacy ruled the nations. The Pope decreed and procured some prince, to whom he gave authority for the time being, to execute his decrees. And in this way he compelled some of the most powerful princes to do homage, as Henry lY. of Ger- many. England and France, and Ireland, and even the Indies and America, he claimed the right to dis- pose of; and it was not denied. And he compelled every man to acknowledge this Papal system, both in its civil and ecclesiastical character, either by an open profession, as priests and princes, or at least tacitly, by being acknowledged and numbered among his followers. The number six hundred three score and six, has been tortured into many meanings in Hebrew, Greek and Latin ; but the word lateinos^ which is the Greek form of the word Latin, which is said to have been handed down from the apostle John by Irenoeus, 138 THE REIGN OP PEACE. . * is undoubtedly the true one. The apostle wrote in Greek. The Greeks were in the habit of expressing names by numbers, in this way ; and I may notice that the word lateinos just makes up the number of six hundred and sixty-six. The Greek alphabet was divided into parts ; nine units, of which a is one, and e is five ; nine tens, of which i is ten, I is thirty, n is fifty, and o is seventy ; and nine hundreds, of which s is two hundred and t is three hundred; so that the word lateinos makes up in all, thirty and one, and three hundred, and five, and ten, and fifty, and seventy, and two hundred ; that is, by addition, six hundred and sixty-six. Tliijre is a letter between the n and the in Greek, and hence the one is two tens more than the other. Now, this mode of using letters was com- mon among all the Greeks, but especially among the Greek Jews ; and hence was a very appropriate use of the practice, in order to bring every thought into cap- tivity to the service of Christ. The word is also the name of a man, and not an adjective, and so exactly meets the reference. The name of the beast was Lateinos, the name o^ a famous king of Italy, from whom the Iloman Empire traced its origin, civil and ecclesiastical. And no name could be more charac- teristic of this beast, that had the appearance of a lamb, but spake as a dragon. Latin is the name of the kingdom, the church and all its subjects and laws. Besides, the mystery is thus concealed, as Latinus was THE REIGN OP PEACE. ^ 139 represented to have been. Rome Pagan remained in Rome Papal, only concealed by new names and characters. Tlie Pope merely converted the Roman temples into Cliristian churches, and the statues of the gods into statues of the saints, and then continued the same form of worship, in the same manner as before, on the usual holidays. Latin is their language ; Latin is their worship. Rome Pagan and Rome Papal are the same. And hence this second beast, as described in the thirteenth chapter, becomes transformed into a woman, in the seventeenth chapter, represented as sitting on the back of the first beast, as we read at the fourth verse: , * " And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls ; having a golden cup in her hand, full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication. And upon her forehead was a name written : Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of . the Earth." \ ' Latinus was the fountain of all the idolatry and lewd- ness of Romish worship both first and last. Hence lateinos was the number of a man, whose name is a mystery, a myth, a representative story, of which Rome Pagan and Rome Papal were merely the out- growth. This second beast was also a prophet. He 140 V THE REIQN OP PEACE. • gave counsel, and confirmed it by miracles. No other party ever did this but the Roman. The augurs did so in Pagan Eome ; the priests and monks did so in Papal Eome. Pretended miracles, no doujbt, these were, however their performers might be able, by sleight-of-hand and cunning craftiness, to deceive the ignorant and unwary. True miracles can be wrought by God only. But, true or false, the second beast pre- tended to work them, and was believed ; therefore he is called here the false prophet. This false prophet, then, is the Pope and his clergy, the author of the Feudal Empire, and the spirit that gave it all its power and authority and force. Dissevered from the Papacy, the German Empire has become merely a common kingdom. Austria wielded it as an empire, claiming the right to rule at least all Germany. Prussia can make no such claim. Prussia may rule the kingdoms she conquers, but can never be regarded as the head of the German Empire, which may now be said to have come to an end. The Papacy itself is fast hastening to decay. The Pope has been stripped of. almost the whole of his temporal power — of all, in reality, by the almost unanimous voice of his formerly subject-princes. The little temporal power that is left cannot long endure. Hia clergy have also been almost stripped of their temporal possessions and power. The horns are being turned against the false prophet, the harlot, that taught the nations idolatry, and sold spi- THE REIGN OP PEACE. 1-41 ritual gifts and indulgences to all who chose to pay for them, irrespective of the will of God, which she pre- tended to declare : and the end of the Papacy is last drawing near. .Great Babylon is to fall bofore the Millenium. Babylon here means that great city that reign cth over the kingdoms of the earth. Of this we have a length- ened history, in its various stages, in the Eevclation. We see the Eoman Empire in its prosperity ; tlien we see it des! royed by plagues — by four in the AYest and by two in the East — while the last trumpet brings both to an end. These trumpets seem to be interpreted by all sensible people very much as follows (I quote from Dr. Barnes) : " The first trumpet ushers in Alaric and his Goths ; the .second trumpet, Genseric and his Yandals ; the third trumpet, Attila and his Huns ; the fourth trumpet, Odoacer and his Ileruli. All these barbarians came against Rome in the fifth century, and by them the old Eoman Empire was destroyed, and the city of Eome four times sacked. The fifth trumpet brought the Arabians or Saracens upon the Eastern Empire ; the sixth trumpet brought the Turks, composed of four bands, by whom Constantinople was taken in 1453. So that the Eastern Empire finally ceased, as Eoman, shortly afterwards. The seventh trumpet was preceded by a number of preparatory steps, and covers tte seven last plagues, by which Great Babylon is to be destroyed." And from what 142 THE REIGN OF PEACE. has been said in regard to the seven trumpets as finisliing the overthrow of Rome Pagan, I think the general opinion is, that these seven last plagues finish in a similar manner Rome Papal. And in this view I think that the general opinion is well founded, which makes the French Revolution the commencement of this final overthrow. The great revolution in France was not confined to France, but shook all Europe and the world. Tlie Catholic powers were scourged by land, by sea, and particularly, in the Alpine regions the fountains of waters ; and scorched by the madness of their princes, hurrying them into war against each other; so that millions were slaughtered, and the strength of these kingdoms undermined and destroyed. Rome itself was taken, and dealt with as a common city, and the Pope reduced to the position of a common priest, subject to the will of the Emperor of France, who crowned himself, and then compelled the Pope to anoint him. From that time the Papacy has been rapidly decaying, her property confiscated to the state, her bulls treated with contempt, her altars deserted, and her priests looked upon with suspicion, especially the Jesuits. I do not think it necessary to particu- larize, as my object is not to expound the Revelation, but to point out where we have got to in the progress of events. The sixth vial was poured on the great river Euphrates, and the watef thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the East might be THE REIGN OF TEACE. 143 prepared, Turkey, it is said, is dying for want of Turks. Numbers of Turks, wo are told, are recrossing the Euphrates. The power of Turkey is destroyed. Britain and France alone preserve Turkey from the clutch of Russia. There can be no doubt that the Mohammedan power is utterly broken, and the way of the kings of the East nearly prepared for their entering again the Church of God, which originally belonged to them, and from which they have been so long excluded by the Saracens and Turks, By the kings of the East, I understand simply the kings of the Eastern nations, now covered by Mohammedanism, and of the countries that lie beyond them. They compose mor. han half the world's inhabitants, and have been prevented, first by the superstitions of the Greek church, and then by the delusions of Islam, from receiving the pure word of God, and the glad tidings of salvation which it contains. Yet, to them, as the descendants of Shem, the promise of the Comforter was originally given ; and to them the gospel was ■originally preached by the Apostles from the day of Pentecost onwards. But the light that God, by his Son Jesus, planted among them was neglected and went out, and until now they have remained in heathen darkness. But now the time is come, that the Gospel Sun, having shined round all the world, from the east even unto the west, even where we now dwell, should shine on eastward again, and so eventually illumine 144 CHI: RRIGN OF PEACE. all tho earth. And by the overthrow of the Moham- medan powers, the way is being now prepared for tho kings of tho East, and their subjects being received into the Church of Christ, the Hope of their fathers and the Desire of all nations. Tliere remains, therefore, but one vial more to com- p' '*" the destruction of Great Babylon ; and that, in Hi^ pinion, has already been poured out. The air has become surcharged with sulphury vapours ; confu- sion reigns in the minds and councils of all nations ; and, animated by insanef passions, ambitions and poli- cies, they are mutually destroying each other, contrary to their better judgment. France against Austria, and then Italy against Austria ; and so in Turkey, the . Turks against each other ; and in the States, the North against the South ; and in Britain, the Fenians against the only government that would tolerate them. Now, all this is the result of a false policy, in staiC, in church, and in the human heart ; the spirit of rebellion, and covetousness, and self-indulgence crying " Italy for the Italians ! " " Germany for the Germans ! " " Ireland for the Irish ! " and such like, which indicate the civil policy that is inciting people to so many wars, and will lead to yet greater wars. So in regard to the Church, every man claims to be his own priest, as well as his own king ; and thereby thinks to save his own money, and seize the spoils of others. This is the principle at work in all the spoliation^ of the clergy ; not to devote THE REIQN OF PEACE. 145 it to God, but to onridi the spoiler. But wlmt is taken from the service of the Church ^oes to pay the expense of war, or sinks before it reaches that length in the bottomless abyss of human lust, which is the universal principle at the root of the whole. Satan thus, in various forms, stirs men up to war, by the lovo of power, the love of property, and the love of pleasure ; and, animated by these base spirits, men rush headlong in*^o war for the merest trifles, losing all in the vain attempt of grasping at a little m* '-e. IIow far we are advanced in this last plague, I do i 't pretend to say; but there caii bo no doubt that, as the other plagues have already fallen, this one is now running on. And it is notorious that such revolutions have taken place in France, in Italy, in Germany, in Russia, in Turkey, in America, in China and Japan, and every whore, within the last few years, as have not been witnessed before at any period of the world's history. The whole world is clouded over with revolt ; the whole world is surcharged with warlike preparations; the whole world is filled with perplexity. No one can tell, when he goes to bed, but he may wake up to find the last great war begun, which is to end at Armageddon ; iu which the kings of the earth and their armies are to be destroyed, and the glory of the world to be made desolate. If Babylon mean the city of Rome, its des- truction has in a great measure been achieved. Rome is comparatively a small place ; the streets are filthy 10 146 THE REIQN OF PEACE. and dark, and tlie inhabitants poor. The present Rome no longer occupies its ancient site ; even that has been abandoned to the pestilence that broods over it ; and perhaps the same curse may pursue the present Rome, in its new position. The present movement in Italy threatens to cause new calamities to its inliabi- tants. It cannot restore Rome to be the capital of Italy. Suppose it to succeed, what must be the result ? The Pope and his cardinals and clergy will leave it, and it will cease to be the capital of the Catliolic world. Its glory and wealth will at once depart, while the King of Italy will never take possession of a city haunted by perpetual plagues ; and therefore can only make it his capital by sub\Trting it from its very foun- dations, and changing both the city and the surround- ing country. "Whether, therefore, Rome in this way shall stand or fall, I cannot say ; but the Roman power and superstition are doomed speedily to end. And when the Tope becomes an exile from Rome, the Roman Church may go into mourning, for all their high pretensions and their childish mummeries will sink neglected in liie dust, as those of ancient Babylon have done ; of which no trace scarcely now remains. And it is in this sense, I think, that Babylon the Great will be overthrown. 147 CHAPTER VIII. EVENTS COMING BEFORE THE RISING OF THE MILLE. NIAL SUN ; AND SECONDLY, THE OVERTHROAV OF THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET ; PART THIRD, THE GREAT WAR IN WHICH TIIeY ARE TO BE OVER- THROWN. " And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars : see that ye be not troubled : for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet." — Matt. xxiv. 6. • We have already spoken of the overthrow of the First Beast, and also of the False Prophet, by whom he was incited to battle against the King of kings and his saints ; and we now go on to show that the contest in which they are to be overthrown is a great war, and not merely an extension of missionary exertion. And hence we propose to show that a great war is to be fought before the Millenium. That some great war is to be fought before the Reign of Peace begins, is mani- fest from the nineteenth chapter of this book, as may be seen at the commencement of the first part of this discussion, chapter sixth. Now, although no doubt the language there employed is figurative, and must not be forced and burlesqued by pretended details of its fulfillment, we cannot doubt 148 THE RF.iaN OP PEACE. f that a war of some kind is to be fouglit, by whicli the Beast and the False Prophet are to be finally destroyed • and this becomes the" more apparent when we consider that these words are in a manner quoted by John from Ezekiel, who affords the best commentary upon them. Let us turn, therefore, to the thirty-ninth chapter of Ezekiel, and we shall see to what these words refer. They begin at the seventeenth verse ; and by reading over the preceding chapter, we see the war itself described: " Son of Man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him." The best reading of these words I believe to be : " Son of Man, set thy face against Gog, from the land of Gog, the chief of liosh, Meshech and Tubal." In the tenth chapter of Genesis, we read that I^oah had three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, of whom Japheth was the eldest ; and that Japheth had seven sons, Gomer and Magog and Madai and Javan and Tubal and Meschech and Tiras. Gomer is the father of all the Gauls, or Cymri, who first peopled Europe and the west of Asia. Gog is the father of the Scythians, who, under the names of Goths, Huns and Vandals, overran Europe, and overturned the Roman Empire. Madai is Media; Javan, Greece; TiniSj THE REIGN OP PKACE. ' 149 Thrace ; Mescliecli and Tubal are the ancestors of the Russians. And lience I think it more natural to speak of Gog from the land of Gog, as the chief of Rosh, • Meschech and Tubal, than to call Gog himself the Cliief prince of another race. The Russians call themselves Russ or Ros ; the Jew pronounces with an A, and calls them Rosh. Now, the Russians inhabit the territories of Russia, Moscow and Tobolsk. Their prince is a chief or patriarch, and not a merfe emperor or king. He is the absolute ruler of his people ; his will is law ; and the present Emperor of Russia is not a Russian, but a German, from the land of Germany, the country of Gog, the fire-raiser or fireman, who, by means of fire, subdues the woods and the world to his power. Now, it is only of late years that Russia became a power in Europe. In the days of Queen Elizabeth, the Muscovites, as they were then called, were regarded as mere barbarians. Peter the Great first made his country known in his wars with Charles of Sweden, and his earnest endeavours to improve the condition of his people. Catherine, the widow of Peter III., daughter of the Duke of IIolstein-Gottorp, extended the power of Russia greatly, and first brought that country into collision with Britain, in regard to the right to search all ships by the latter (1780) ; — so rapidly has the Russian empire risen under its German sovereigns. Yet France could, under Napoleon, easily overrun Russia, and was only prevented from doing so 150 THE REIGN OF PEACE. bj the snows of winter. The Crimean war was the first in which Russia ventured to contend alone with the great powers of Europe. Meantime her popula- tion has greatly increased, so that now it is estimated at nearly one hundred millions ; so formidable a power has it become. Let us attend to some other circumstances mentioned by Ezekiel. The Russians are to be assisted in this great invasion by (verse fifth) Persia, Ethiopia and Libya. Persia is a well-known name. Ethiopia is a part of Arabia ; Phut or Libya is Africa. Russia is also to be aided by Gomer and all his bauds. The descendants of Gomer have no kingdom, unless M^e suppose France, Spain and Italy to bear that character. They were peopled by the Gauls originally ; and the ancient Germans, whom the Goths, Iluns and Vandals drove onward, came down and conquered them. But they, I think, were Gauls too ; and thus the Latin kingdoms may be .regarded as the bands of Gomer. The Fenians might certainly be included under that designation, if they, were not too insignificant to be noticed in such a connection. The Emperor of all the Russias does not hesitate to court their aid in his unprincipled attempts to swallow Turkey ind the East. And taking those in Ireland and America, with the scattered fragments of the Irish Catholics, the Fenians ' might become a formidable band. And to all these are to be added the whole House of Togarmah of the THE llEIGN OP PEACE. ^ 151 North Quarters and all his bands. These are the Tartars, the houseless people, as the name means, who wander without houses ; all of whom are now subject to the Emperor of Russia, an achievement only effected Avithin the last few years. Now, there can be no doubt that it is the intention of the Emperor of Russia to renew his attempts on Turkey and the East at the earliest opportunity. We read just the other day that tliere are one hundred and fifty thousand men in Sebastopol, and other armies drawn around Turkey on various sides. There is a constant attempt being made by Russia to detach all the other powers from Britain, by every means. Thus, to detach the United States, during the late war, and, more recently, by putting them in possession of a territory lying beyond the British possessions in North America. Thus, to de- tacli France, by endeavouring to alienate her from Britain in her policy in the East. Thus, to alienate Prussia, by appearing as her friend, when Britain, her more natural ally, seems to stand aloof. There can be no doubt of the determination of Russia to renew lier attempts on Turkey and the East at no distant day; and if it should be the will of Providence to lead France and the Catholic powers to unite against Britain, it may seem a hopeless task for Britain, even if aided by Germany and Turkey, to attempt resistance. But what saith the word of God ? Of Britain and Ger- many and Turkey, indeed almost nothing. But, 152 THE RKION OF PEACK. '^ I will turn tlice back, and put hooks into tliy jaws ; and I will bring thee ibrtli, and all thine army, horses and horsemen," &c. " The Lord himself, who brinies them out, himself will turn them back, and bring them to confusion.'' The instrumentality which he will employ, a hook, also indicates the means he will employ for this purpose. Now, it is remarkable that by means of ships, the Crimean war was fought ; and thus, as by a hook in his jaws, the Russian invasion was checked and driven back. But on the last occasion it shall reach a little farther; for it is said that the invader shall think an evil thought, and seek to go up against a land of unwalled villages, whifh from the context seems to be the land of Palestine', to which the Israelites have returned ; so that there shall be great trembling among the people; but the Lord shall call for a sword against him [verse twonty -first]. • " Throughout all my mountains saith the Lord God. Everyman's sword shall be against his brother. And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood ; and I will rain upon him and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain and great hail- stones, fire and brimstone." It was thus, I may again remark, that the Russians were destroyed at Sebastopol. More died by the THE REIGN OF PEACE. 153 pestilence and the swaraps, than by the armies of the allies. And so we are told that the inhabitants of the isles shall rejoice at his fall. As it is said at the thir- teenth verse : , " Sheba and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say mito thee, Art thou come to take a spoil ? " Raamah, the sailor, had two sons, Sheba and Dedan. Sheba evidently went to India ; for from that land Solomon brought peacocks and apes and gold and precious stones ; while Dedan took possession of the islands of the Indian ocean. These are the mariners of the East. Tarshish, on the other hand, was in the far West, Cadiz on the coast of Spain, and still more probably Bi'itain, the islands of tin. There can be no doubt, therefore, that the mariners of the East and "West shall assist in the overthrow ; though the Lord himself shall gain the battle for them by turning every man's hand against his brother. I shall return to this subject again, after I have shown the cause of this unhallowed combination of the North and the South against a peaceable and peace-loving people; but meantime I wish to draw attention to the occasion of this Northern invasion. But before closing this chapter, may I not call atten- tion to the wonderful nature of a Book that could thus foresee and trace the progress of the tribes of men from their infancy to their full maturity, and foretell the 154 THE RFJGN OF PEACE. positions they bIiouIJ occupy on the earth, and the evil they sliould do in the world. God hath thus marked out the positions and bounds and conduct of nations, as well as of individuals ; of the Egyptians and the Israelites, of Esau and Jacob, of Peter and Judas. Should not, then, every one fear before this great and terrible God, who alone can both destroy and save? And should not every one, moved with timely fear at the prospect of this coming flood of iniquity and suf- fering, prepare for liimself a refuge in the only strong- hold where he can hope to rest secure, under the pro- tection of God our Saviour, who sp^'^d Nf^ah from the water, and Lot from the fire, an^ ±)aniel from the lions, and John from the sword ; who saved Peter alike from the temptation of Satan, and held him up in mercy, when, through pride, he would have fallen headlong, like another Judas, and rescued him from prison, where he would have been murdered, like his fellow-apostle James? Oh, that every one of us may have grace to fear, lest, when we think we stand securely, any of us sliould fall ; remembering to trust only in our Saviour God, wlio abaseth the proud, but giveth grace to the lowly ; and then we may humbly hope that our life may be secure under the shadow of his hand, and be given us for a prey in every place wliithor we may come ; and at all events, our souls, and the souls of all we love, may obtain salvation and eternal rest in his heavenly kingdom. 155 CHAPTER IX. EVENTS COMING BEFORE THE RISING OF THE MILLE- NIAL SUN; THE OVERTHROW OF THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET ; REVIEW OF THE CAUSES OF THE LAST GREAT WAR, AND ITS FINAL ISSUE IN USHERING I^ THE REIGN OF PEACE. " When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, litand in the Holy Place. Whoso readeth, let him understand." — Matt. xxiv. 15. That a great war is yet to be waged, before the Eeigii of PeacG begins, can hardly be doubted by any one who looks on the present state of the world. Every nation is armed to the utmost of its ability, and waiting with anxiety and alarm the tocsin that is to summon them to battle; and prophecy gives us the key alike to the immense preparations that have been made, and to the sides that the different nations will take in the approaching struggle. Russia, as the leader, gathering together allies from every quarter — from Persia, Arabia, Africa, from the Papal portion of the tribes of Gomer, Irish, French, Spanish and Italian, and from the whole family of the houseless Tartars, shall seek to conquer the world, and subdue all the remaining nations, and no doubt, as the head 156 THE REIGN OP PEACE. and chief of them, the British. Prophecy also shows the cause of this formidable combination of nations ; and in this the word of God is remarkable. There is no cause assigned, but that the chief of Eosh, ^/liioh is simply the leading tribe of Meshech, as Athens was of Greece, shall think an evil thought, that he will go up against a land of unwalled villages, s^d take them as a spoil. He thinks he ciin take them, and he will. The war is thus in a manner causeless; and yet a causeless vrar must have a cause. There is the temp- tation of power and opportunity. Such is the ostensi- ble cause ; but the real cause that prompts the prince of Rosh to seize that opportunity is, that he has set his heart on Palestine and the empire of the \vorld. There was in early times a Tartar prophet, who made himself distinguished among his people as a successful leader, and rose to a considerable degree of power and influence in his own neighbourhood. He proclaimed that his three sons should ultimately gain possession of the whole world. Whether his prophecy was founded on the writings of Ezekiel, which may have been heard of during the invasion of these same tribes into Pales- tine and the neighbouring countries, during the very time that Ezekiel lived, or whether the mere wish was father to the thought, his descendants have actually realized the prediction to a considerable extent. The descendants of one of the sons ultimately gained the empire of China, and held it for many generations ; THE REIQN OF PEACE. 157 t another of them conquered Ilindostan, and ruled there for a considerahle length of time ; and the third is the Emperor of Russia, who no douht hopes, as he already possesses all that belonged to his family originally — Meshech, Tubal and Togarmah — he may also recover all that they ever gained, or ever claimed. It is well known that th&se has long been a model of Jerusalem set up in the Russian territory, with a finger-post, bearing the inscription, " The road to Jerusalem." And there can be no doubt that the popular expecta- tion is in favor of pursuing this path to Jerusalem as the way to universal empire. This ancient claim has now put on a new cloak, and appears in the garb of the Greek Papacy. The Patriarch of Constantinople claims to be as much a Pope as the Pope of Rome, and obtained the title of Catholic or Universal Bishop in the year 585, some years before the Bishop of Rome obtained it ; and though for that he was denounced as an Anti-christ by Gregory of Rome, who then claimed to occupy St. Peter's chair, he may think himself as much entitled to the dignity as the Pope of Rome. Some years ago the Emperor of Russia caused the Patriarch to demit his supremacy, and after a time he assumed it himself; and now the Emperor of all the Russias is also Head of the Greek Church — is in reality the Northern Pope ; and now, under the assumed character of Protector of the Greek Church, the Emperor of Russia claims to interfere in the 158 , THE REIQN OP PEACE. affairs of Turkey, and all the other countries wlicro any members of the Greek Church reside ; just as if the Emperor of France should assume to himself the position of defender of all tlic Roman Catholics, and presume to interfcro in the affairs of Britain or the United States. But it is easy to see how plausible a pretext this may become, for seizing on an otherwise defenceless nation. The very fiict, then, that no other cause is assigned in tlie prophecy of Ezekiel, is sufficient to show the real cause ; while at the same time that which gives force to this attempt to seize unjustly on a defenceless people, is the pretext of religion. Tlie Emperor of Russia is a Pope ; and the real nature of this great war is a combined Papal effort to suppress the Word and the Church of God. This is plainly set forth in the prophecy of Ezekiel, and alone can account for the otherwise anomalous confederation. Russia with France, and perhaps the United States, would be a monstrous combination indeed. Now, I do not expect that such a combination will c.Jse ; because I suppose that only bands of the various families of Gomer will give themselves up to aid the Czar ; while I trust the governments and people generally will remain compa- ratively neutral ; and that this will be almost certainly the case with regard to the United States, which are generally Protestant ; unless we can suppose that the THE llEIQN OP PKAOE. ' 159 Fenians in the first place gain the ascendant in tlie United States, so as to wield its united forces for their sectarian ends. But the connnon interests of all the parties to this Northern invasion are evidently Papal, though some be Greek, and some Roman, and some Mohammedan. Nor will the combination here de- scribed be altogether novel. The first movement of the late Russian war was met in the Persian Gulf, the Persians having been drawn into this collision with Britain by Russia. This was followed shortly after- wards by a similar collision with the Arabs on the Red Sea. The union with France against Britain is not to be on this occasion for the first time ; and how this may be brought about again, as prophesied by Ezekiel, may be easily supposed. Suppose, for example, France and Prussia to go to war — a very possible event at this moment — and that France prove too strong for Prussia — a by no means unlikely supposition — could Britain look on and do nothing ? Russia would not give her the choice, because the opportunity to seize upon Turkey would be too strong to be resisted ; and Britain would be compelled, in self-defence, to resist the invasion of her eastern possessions. And can any one doubt that the moment Britain becomes engaged in a war with Russia, the Fenians would invade Canada. -These may be looked on as merely political combinations, and so in a manner they must be ; but they have a religious motive at the bottom of them, 160 ' THE REIGN OF PEACE. " ' that is, that all the parties on the one side are Papal, and the other parties are chiefly Protestant. And hence, also, the prophecy of Ezekiel sets this before us. For the awakening of ministerial zeal, in watching for the souls of their flock, the revival of true religion among the people, and the renewal of missionary eftbrt throughout the world, are represented as the immediate occasion of this Northern invasion. Meantime Protestants are rejoicing at the apparently triumphant progress of the Gospel, which has now been translated into all the principal languages of the world, and is being preached by thousands of mission- aries in almost all lands — in France, Italy, Austria, Russia, Persia, China, and every where. The Emperor of Russia, in particular, has done much for the im- provement of his subjects, as to education, liberty and religion — even to causing the Bible to be translated into Russian, and used in public worship. For all this I heartily join with all others in his praise. But Henry YIIT. of England did all this, and yet became a great persecutor of the cause of God among his subjects ; putting to death both Papist and Protes- tant, wlio dared to dispute his own Royal Papacy. And while the Emperor of Russia may bo all that is good, who can tell how soon he may change his character, like Kazael, or how soon he may be suc- ceeded by an Emperor of a different stamp. Rulers, like their subjects, are very much under the influence THE UEIGN OF PEACE. 161 of circumstances ; and where Satan leads the way, who can say how far naturally well-disposed men may go astray? Meantime, all seems to run smoothly between the religious parties in the world, simply because the love of the many on all sides has waxed comparatively cold. The only reason why Protes- tants arid Catholics live at peace now is, not because they arc more agreed between themselves, but simply because they have become generally indifferent about their faitli. Neither party dares earnestly endeavour to enlighten and convert the other ; and so by common consent Eeligion is ignored, and Protestants and Catholics meet simply as citizens of the world. For Roman Catholics, this is perhaps well enough ; their faith is satisfied ; in fact, all they wish is conceded to them. They have every indulgence in Protestant countries, and are permitted to treat Protr'stants only as citizens tolerated because they cannot be extirpated with safety. But as to Protestants, the case is different. They know that the Roman Catholics are labouring under a delusion,, in which, if they die, they will be lost forever ; and not only so, but they know that if they themselves see them perishing in that state, and neglect to show them the way of salvation, they olso shall perish under double condemnation. What then, some may say, must we use persecution to save these deluded people ? No. Protestants know better than to expect spiritual results from carnal means. Chris- 10 1G2 THE REiaN OP PEACE. tians have no aiitliority to persec '*-lier with the sword or with reproach ; and if Protesu ^ ever suc- ceed In converting the nations that remain Cathohc, it must be by showing the superiorit}'- of their faith in their own Hves ; and it is the neglect of this that is now leading so many from the Church .of England to the Church of Rome, and from the Church of Scotland to the Church of England ? But this state of apathy, I trust, is to give place to an ptii-nestness in religion, and in missionary eftbrts, such as has never before been witnessed ; a zeal for Christ which shall arouse alike the heart of the heathen, the Mohammedan, the Catholic, and the Jew, and put to shame all infidelity, superstition and idolatry. And by the intensity of this bright shining of the Gospel beams, I expect this last Papal confede- racy to be formed, and all its fury provoked ; just as the warm shining of the sun ultimately overclouds the sky and draws down the thunder-storm. We cannot suppose that the nations will, of their own accord, abandon their Gods, their glory and their pride : there is no reason to think so. The Catholic powers may proceed so far in rivalry and anger, as to pull down each other. The neare«t friends and relatives are often the first to quarrel. But they are friends and relatives still ; and they may suddenly turn round, from a feeling of common interest, to unite against ; ^ THE RETQN OF PEACE. 163 those strangers who are quietly waiting to inherit what they are contending about. Protestant nations and princes are now evidently in the ascendant; but let them be humble, lest they offend and provoke God, by their boasting, to let loose their enemies against them. New combinations are easily made, when Providence changes sides. Britain and Prussia may glory in their present prosperity and alliances, and meantime all the world may seem to befriend them ; but can they doubt that they have made many enerai: s by their prosperity, and may soon make many more by their boasting or even by their apathetic pride ? This is what the expe- rience of the past should teach them, and should teach us all, and lead us to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God. Having shown the parties engaged in this Northern invasion, and the causes that will give rise to it, the prophecy also proceeds to show the issue of it. The invaders are not to succeed in their object, in inaking themselves masters of Palestine, much less of Britain. Their power might seem adequate to accomplisl; both of those objects, did God permit them so to do. But God's cause is involved in the preservation of the Protestant nations, who are labouring, however un- worthily, in his service ; and, for his servants' sake, he will put a hook in the jaws of this formidable invader, and turn him back, leaving his army to feed 164 THE REIGN OP PEACE. the fowls of heaven and the beasts of the earth. The two parties, of which the confederacy is to be com- posed, shall not stand together ; but, like the opposing thunder-clouds, instead of crushing the Church of God, they shall rush together in mutual destruction, and pour their refreshing waters on the thirsty ground. Such was the result in the valley of Jehoshaphat of old ; and such was the result in the great Protestant war in Germany, when Maurice of Saxony, after having aided the Emperor to oppress the Protestants, and seeing that he had thereby sold the liberty of his country, turned round and compelled the Emperor to restore to the Protestants the full liberty of public worship. In the war before us, however, God will set the one to beat down the other, and those whom they came to destroy will divide the spoils. Some have supposed that this great struggle was merely to be a conflict of opinions ; but the prophecy shows plainly that it is to be a war of nations. Were it possible to have the millenial Reign of Peace with- out any further war, no one would rejoice more than I. Britain's policy is, peace if possible ; but peace may not always be possible. ' An attitude of hostility may provoke war, and an attitude of peaceableness may equally provoke war ; and when nations are bent on war, they will ultimately fight. When the question comes to be simply to conquer or to be conquered, THE REIGN OF PEACE. 165 no Briton will long hesitate as to tlie alternative to choose. In this case there will be no choice left. Nor do I believe that the world can come to peace, until • this great war has exhausted the strength of the expir- ing Papacy, and laid its defenders prostrate in the dust. Of this the whole world gives token, that the dread tempest of wrath is speedily to be poured out. In tliis, however, we may take comfort, that by this means the nations of the earth will at length learn righteousness, and the Gospel stream, instead of being obstructed continually, will flow forth in one full tide over the world, and fertilize all its now parched lands. And even in regard to our own loved fatherland, God hath promised that the inhabitants of Tarshish, and all the young lions thereof, shall be among the number of those nations that survive the struggle, and join to share the spoil, to sound the hymn of thanksgiving, and to be among the nations who, during the millenial age, are to share the privileges and blessings of that happy period. Thus will war be the forerunner of peace ; thus will persecution be the means of spreading abroad the gospel of salvation ; thus will the attempt • of the Beast and the False Prophet issue in their own overthrow, and their being cast alive into the burning lake. Thus out of evil God still educes good ; out of darkness still causes his marvellous light to shine ; and out of the sufferings of his people brings forth their crown of glory : 166 THE REIGN OP PEACE. " And then shall be heard the voice of a great mul- titude, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia ! for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Ilim ; for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready." — Rev. xix. 6. 167 ^ CHAPTER X. THE MILLENIUM DESCRIBED IN TWO PARTICULARS; AND, FIRST, THE BINDING OF SATAN, AND THE CES- SATION OF WAR, AND OF THE MANY OTHER AFFLIC- TIONS OF WHICH SATAN IS THE I'RINCIPAL CAUSE. "And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand ; and he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years ; and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and put a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years should be fulfilled ; and after that he must be loosed a little season." — Rev. XX. 1-3. Some suppose that there is here a writ of accusation made out against Satan, under various aliases, as against a criminal in a court of justice. This may be so ; for certainly the Prince of Darkness, the tempter, accuser and tormentor of mankind, has been the same in every age from the beginning — to our first parents, to the Israelites, and to the Christian. Satan is the Father of Lies, the original inventor of lying, and the most crafty liar in the universe. Another object of 168 ' THE REIGN OP PEACE. this perhaps is, to place Satan thus tlie more plainly in antithesis to the character of Christ, who is God from the beginning, the author of all good ; who in love and mercy became man, that he might save his rebellious creatures from sin and death, and thus became justly entitled to rule over all, because he purchased them to himself in love, at the price of his most precious blood. Whatever may be in this, we are here assured that Satan is to be bound and shut up and firmly sealed up from deceiving the nations at the beginning of the Millenium. That there is a Devil, cannot be doubted by aiiy one who believes in the Bible. God only is good, and from him proceeds no evil. God can neither be tempted to evil, neither tempteth he any man. God, however, was pleiised to make some of his creatures moral and responsible bemgs ; and among these were innumerable spirits of light, whom he appointed to stand and minister in his presence. Satan was a prince among these, until, through pride, he fell, and dragged down with him to hell, which God prepared as his prison-house, a multi- tude of other spirits, who had been placed under his command. What amount of restraint was at first imposed upon him, we are not informed : probably, as in the case of Cain afterv/ards, he was only exiled from the courts of heaven. At all events, he found means to tempt and seduce our first parents, and draw them into disobedience and rebellion, and was permitted, for THE REIGN OF PEACK. ., 169 their punishment and his own, to tyrannize over them and afflict them in innumerable ways. Satan thus became the adversary alike of God and man ; and that mankind might . know the difference between good and evil, God gave them over to the service of the Devil, that they might learn their folly in their hard bondage. Satan thus became their tempter, their accuser and their tormentor. From this worst house of bondage, this worst captivity, this worst prison- house, Christ the Son of God became man to set his people free, and to bring them back again to the ser- vice of God, and the enjoyment of light, liberty and happiness ; and of this great redemption of mankind from Satan by the Lord Jesus Christ, the great object of all the sacred scriptures is to give an account. To deny the existence, or the power, or kingdom of Satan, is theiefore to deny the divinity and love and grace of Jesus Christ. Infidels may philosophize about good and evil, right and wrong, in the abstract ; but a dead principle can never opq,rate any active results. The principle of action, like the soul of man, is a living principle — is a spirit, either of light or darkness. Satan is the chief spirit of darkness — the spirit of pride and disobedience ; Christ is the chief spirit of light and obedience, whose delight is ever to do the will of his Father in heaven. But though thus in nature they are living principles or spirits, they are personal spirits, just as are the souls of men, capable 170 ♦ THE REIGN OP PEACE. of directing their own motions and re8ponsi])le for tlieir own actions. Christ is the Son of God, tlie briglitness of his glory, and the express image of his person; Satan is the apostate servant of God, the leader of the rebel hosts, the great seducer of the human race. The word devil {didbolos in Greek, and satan in Hebrew) means adversary, because he has become the adversary of God, and because of his enmity to God, the adversary of all God's creatures ; and especially of mankind, towards whom God hath ever delighted to show his favour and his mercy. As then, Satan was the original author of all evil, his being shut up must be the shutting up, for the time, of the fountains of all evil ; so that what of evil remains in tlie world during the Millenium, will be only the streams of evil that have flowed forth from these fountains, just as the streams and pools remain through tlie summer, during the time of drought. Witliout the temptation of Satan, our first parents would not have eaten the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil ; that fruit by which they should come to know evil, as they already knew good ; for that was really all they were to know more than they had done. Good they had known from tlioi beginning ; evil they should come to know then. So men would not commit manifest crimes, did not Satan tempt them— would not commit manifest acts of injus- tice and wrong. They would recoil from them with THE REIGN OF PEACE. 171 disgust and horror, because tlicy would see no advan- tage in committing them, in any way to compensate for the immediate pain and the certain punibhment that would follow. Drinking, for example, may be a pleasure, as well as a profit, on occasions, where it is required ; even the drinking of wine or strong drink, in moderate quantities, for medicine, or for feasting and hospitality. But unless men were tempted by the love of company, by the desire of being thought manly, or by the still more foolish desire of mimicking some mighty drinker of strong drink, who excels in some other way — as in feats of strength, or in wit and humour, or in sonir-making or song-singing, or story- telling — thinking, by rivalling him in drinking, to equal him in the gift of nature which he profanes and degrades ; unless men were tempted in some way or other beyond their own nature, they would never go on to waste their time, their talents, their money, their health, their character, their comfort, and, it may be, also to lose their souls at last, as it is written, you know, that drunkards shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven. And so with stealing, and lewdness, and every other gross crime. Everything gained by them can be lawfully obtained at a much easier rate ; and the punishment, in a right state of society, must fall immediately on the transgressor. Crimes and common vices will thus be cut off, because Satan, who formerly tempted and deluded men, will be bound and shut up, 172 , THE REIQN OF PEACE. 80 as no more to delndo and deceivo men, till the thou- sand years are finished. And hon'"- \t '- written, in Isaiah, the eleventh chapter, concernii.^ ' ' days when . the Lord shall do this (at the sixth verse) : " The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall He down with the kid; and the calf, and the young lion, and the fatling toge- ther; and a little child shall load them. And the cow and the Lear shall feed ; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cocka- trice' [adder's] den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain : for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the M^aters cover the sea." Thus, then, when Satan is bound up, all gross crimes and vices shall cease ; for then mankind will hearken to the voice of conscience and of God, restraining them from at least the excess of wickedness. When Satan is bound up, the nations of the earth will cease from war. Satan is not only the tempter, but the accuser of mankind. lie not only led our ih'st parents to eat the forbidden fruit, but he led ihem next to accuse and upbraid each other. lie led Cain not only to bring a forbidden offering — the fruit of the THE REIGN OF PEACE. 173 ground, when a lamb was required ; tliat is, a thanks- giving, wlien a sin-offering was required — but ho in- cited him to accuse his more righteous because more faithful and obedient brother Abel, of seeking to sup- plant him in God's favor and that of Adam, and so to wrest the birthright and the blessing from him ; and to rise up against him and murder him. Satan thus laid the foundation for future wars between the descendants of Cain and Seth, whom God substituted for Abel, whom Cain slew. So afterwards Satan tempted Esau to sell his birthright to the no less tempted Jacob, to whom it would have equally fallen, had he only waited patiently for it, because it was assured to him by pro- phecy ; and by that means he led Esau not only to seek to slay his brother Jacob, but laid the foundation of a perpetual feud between their families, that was productive of incessant wars, until both were in a manner extirpated from the lands which God had given their fathers, and the remnant were scattered over all the earth. Now, it is just so that Satan blinds raen^s minds ^still, with the prejudices of selfishness and the violence of passion ; so that, instead of acknow- ledging their crimes and follies, they persist in them, and endeavour to destroy whatever seems to accuse them and condemn them. A petty cifence, it may be, caused by some offence previously given, gives rise to the most serious wars and commotions ; because Satan prevents the nations from seeing where the injustice 174 THE REIGN OF PEACE. orio;inallj lies, or fi-om seeing at least that any amount of private injustice can never be remedied by a national war, in which every kind of public and pri- vate wrong is inflicted on the innocent as well as on the guilty. And hence another effect of the binding and shutting up of Satan is declared in the elevf^nth chapter of Isaiah, at the tenth verse — that wars Jiall cease even between those who had been the most inveterate and implacable foes : " And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which sha ■ . stand for an ensign of the people ; to it shall the Gentiles seek : and his rest shall be glorious [his glory, to his honour in that he rests in righteousness]. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again che second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left fron^ Assyria and from i^gypt, and from Pathros, and from Cu^Ii, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Ilamath, and from the islands of the sea [that is, from Europe]. And ho shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah, from the four corners of the earth. Tlie envy also of Epliraim shall depart, and the adversaries [tlie quarrel- some among them] of Judah shrll be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall THE REIGN OP PEACE. 175 not' vex Epliraim. But tliey shall fly upon tlie slionlders of the Philistines towards the west [on the west side] ; they shall spoil hem of the east together [be laden with the spoils of the eastern nations, as the Israelites were loaded with presents by the Egyptians at the Exodus] ; they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab ; and the children of Ammon shall obey them [yielding themselves joyfully to aid them, as under the touch of the command of their la\t- ful and beloved sovo^-eign]. And the Lord shall utterly destrc t]^e i ^' "-ue of the j yptian Sea [the Delt^' je .er Kile in the South of Egypt] ; a)it. >/itli his mighty wind shall he shake his hai-ct over the river, and shall smite it in the sev^n streams, and make men go over dry slnd. And there shall be a highway for the rf^nmant of his people, which shall be left from Assyria ; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt." It is not necessary for me here to multiply quota,- tions, as the Book of Isaiah is full of tliis subject. In that day the nations shall not only cease from actual wars, but so profound, so lengthened shall be the peace, that tliey shall not study war any more, but devote themselves uninterruptedly to the arts, and the works of peace. 176 THE REIGN OP PEACE. And without multiplying any fiirtlier proofs of the results flowing from the binding aud shutting up of Satan, I may state that the nations shall be delivered from many of their present afflictions. If crimes and vices cease, and wars and feuds cease, the Church of God will be specially cared for, and this is foretold as the consequence of Satan's being shut up. And hence it is said in the sixtieth chapter of Isaiah, at the eighth verse. " Who are those that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows? Surely the Isles [that is the nations of Europe] shall wait for me, and tlie ships of Tarshish [that is Britain] first, to bring thy sons from far, [the far AVest] their silver an '' their gold with them, unto the name of the Lord thy God, and to the Holy one of Israel, because he hath glorified thee. And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee : for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy upon thee. Therefore thy gates shall be open continually ; they shall not be shut day nor night ; that n^en may bring unto thee the forces [the riches and produce] of the Gentiles ; and that their kings may be brought. For the nation and kingdom tliat will not serve thee shall perish: yoa those nations shall be utterly wasted." THE KEJGN OF PEACE. 177 And lience the Prophet goes on at the seventli, verse. " For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stonos iron ; I will also make their otJicers peace, and their exactors righteousness. Yiolence shall no more be heard in thee, wasting nor destruction within thy borders ; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation and thy gates Praise. The sun sliall be no more thy light by day ; neither for brightness shall the moon give her light unto thee ; but the Lord shall be unto thee an ever- lasting licht, and thy God thy glory. ' The sun shall no more go down ; neither shall the moon withdraw herself: for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. Thy people also shall be all righteous : they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified. A little one shall become a thousand, and a small [weak] one a strong nation : I the Lord will hasten it in his, time." The people of God thus made all righteous, their magistrates and governors righteous and peaceable, and their tax gatherers all just and faithful, tlie nation will be safe not only from foreign wars but from intes- 12 ■■t 178 THE REIGN OF PEACE. tine feuds and tumults, from famine and plague, from sickness and distress, and, under the felt presence of their Redeemer King, enjoy health, and peace, and plenty ; so that they shall multiply greatly, a little one becoming a thousand, and a weak one becoming a strong nation ; and so the child shall die a hundred years old; and the man who continues in his trans- gression to a hundred years old, shall be a curse and a disgrace; for the people shall be all righteous, and shall look with indignation and ^hame upon any one among them who continues thus to go on in his wick- edness, like a dirty, ragged child in an assembly of the people on a day of feasting and rejoicing. And hence it is said by Isaiah, in the sixty-fifth chapter, and at the seventeenth verse : " For, behold, I create a new heavens, and a new earth : and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be ye glad and re- joice for ever in that which I create : for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people; and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days : for the child shall die an hun- dred years old ; but the sinner, being an hun- dred years old, shall be accursed. And they ;'('.■ THE REIQN OF PEACE. 179 shall build houses, and inhabit them : and they shall plant vineyards, and cat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit ; they shall not plant, and another eat : for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble ; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and the'i offspring with them. And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer ; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shal' eat straw like the bullock : and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord." The people thus peaceable, industrious and godly, and the governors and officers all faithful and righte- ous, the Church and the State fully respected and hon- oured, the land will enjoy rest, at peace with all the world, at peace within itself, and yield for all its inhabitants health and plenty and comfort; alike satis- fying every bodily want, and furnishing liberty and encouragement for every godly and honorable exercise of the hearts and minds of all : for without health and liberty true religion may indeed exist, but it will flou- rish more abundantly with them ; for then Learning, her twin-sister, will be her constant companion, and 180 THE REIGN OF PEACE. add to all the innate beauty of Religion those orna- ments that could only become Religion in the days of peace and prosperity, as here described by Isaiah, and more fully in the last chapters of the Prophecies of Ezekiel. Whether the new heavens and the new earth spoken of by Isaiah be the same as those spoken of by Jolin in the Revelation, I shall not here dispute ; but if so, the Millenium, in that case, is viewed merely as the forerunner of the final state, in which men shall be as the angels of God, neither marrying nor giving in marriage ; for the expressions employed plainly show that it is of the millenial state the prophet is speaking in the first instance at least, whatever further fulfill- ment his words may receive in the final state, when the earth and the heavens shall become new indeed, and not indicate merely a new government and a new people, so changed in character and condition, that is, as to amount as it were to a new creation. This is obviously the meaning of these expressions in the book of Revelation, when it is e. d that at the end of the Roman Empire in the West (the sixth chapter and the twelfth verse : „ "And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake ; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood ; and the stars of heaven THE REIGN OP PEACE. 181 fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a miglity wind : and the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bond 7nan, and every free man, hid t^^^mselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains ; and said to the mountains and rocks. Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb : for the great day ot his wrath is come ; and who shall be able to stand ? " Had the heavens really been destroyed, the earth must have been destroyed with them, and the people on the earth could not hide themselves in the dens and the caves. But the sjgns of a great earthquake are described, among which are the rolling tumults of the sky. And hence the prophecy of Joel, using similar language (Acts, second chapter and thirtieth verse), is employed b}' the apostle Peter to foreshow the coming destruction of Jerusalem, because the people hearkened not to the words of peace which God was come down to proclaim to them for the last time. I look upon tliese expressions in Isaiah, therefore, as expressing very much the same thing as in Ezekiel 182 THE REIGN OP PEACE. is expressed by the establishment of a government and a priesthood among the people in the latter days, when the river of the water of life shall have healed the heart of the nations east and west, and brought them to peace, prosperity and godly order; the rulers all righteous, the people all faithful, each rendering to the other their just and proper service, as heirs together of the grace of life, as servants together in the great and blessed and peaceful household of God. This exactly meets the statements of the book of Reve- lation, that gr^at Babylon is to fall before the sound of the gospel trumpet, as the walls of Jericho fell before the sound of the Israelites' trumpets under Joshua of old ; that the Beast and the False Prophet are to be destroyed and cast into the lake of fire ; that is, that all civil and ecclesiastical tyranny is to be abolished, and a new government in State and Church set up, consonant M^th the mind and will of Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords, and at the same time the great High Priest of our profession as Christians : and then^ Satan being bound, a people all faithful, like the martyrs and confessors of old, are to possess, under Christ, the earth, and dwell together und(}r those who are set over them by him, in sincerity, humility and faithfulness ; every one submitting himself to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, that so they may lerd quiet and peaceable lives, in all honesty and all godliness. THE REIQN OF PEACE. 183 CHAPTER XI. THE MILLENIUM DESCRIBED IN TWO PARTICULARS; AND SECONDLY, THE FIRST RESURRECTION REAL- IZED ALIKE IN HEAVEN AND IN THE EARTH. " And I saw thrones and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them : and (even) I saw the souls of theni that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand j iars. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection ; on such the second death hath no powei , but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. — Kev. xx. 4-10. The first resurrection as regards the saints departed in the faith of Jesus. The accounts given in former passages of this book, we have seen just cause to understand in a manner literally. The language is figurative, the things indicated are real. And so I feel bound to take this passage literally also. The souls of 184 THE REIQN OP PEACE. tlioso that were belieaded for the witness of Jesus, the early martyrs ; and for the word of God, in the middle ages ; and who in the lattci days had not worshipped the Beast, neither his imago, neither had received his umyk in their forehead, or in their hands, had thrones prepared for them, and judgment given in their favour, that they had well deserved of their heavenly Master ; and they lived and reigned with Ilim a thousand yentrs. Whether this includes all the saints of Gcd who had departed this life before the millenium began, as I am inclined to think, or only those who had suffered as martyrs, the result is the same ; they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. Some understand this as if they merely lived again in spirit, as John the Baptist came in the spirit and power of Elijah, and was therefore said to be the Elias which was for to come. Others think that as C/hrist is now honoured as one who has been exalted to the heavenly seats, so the memories of the saints will then be had in similar honour. Others again think that Christ will come and reign upon the earth in person, surrounded by these saints, crowding in one spot, somewhere in the Jioly land. But the Scriptures do not sa^ this : "I saw heaven opened, — and then I saw thrones and they sat upon them, and lived and reigned with Clirist a thousand years." Where? Of course where Christ is — in heaven, where their thrones are set up. Where else could THE REIGN OF PEACE. 185 thrones be provided for tlie millions who shall share the blessedness of. this first resurrection? In what sense then should it be called a resurrection, if the saints are merely, as some would say, to live and reign with Christ in heaven ? Are not ail the suints of God already in heavenly bliss ? I believe they are, but not in such bliss as this. I believe that the souls of the saints are already in heaven with God, resting on their beds, each one walking in his uprightness. But here something very different is stated. Formerly they were souls at the foot of the altar, calling for the vin- dication of their cause and saying : " How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth ? And white robes were givmi unto every one of them ; and it was said unto them that they should rest yet for a little sea- son, until their fellow servants also and their brethren that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled."— Rev. vi. 10. But now their brethren had been killed during the latter days, under the Beast and the False PropUet, and the time that they should have their prayer granted was come ; then they were merely clothed with white robes, now they are seated on thrones ; then they were to rest a little season, now they are to rise and reign with Christ a thousand years. 1 take this first resur- 186 THE REIQN OP PEACE. rection, therefore, literally in the first place. All those that have Hufiered for Chi 1st, during the days of dark- ness and persecution, are to rise first. Now we know that Christ is even now in the body which he received on earth, exalted to the heavenly throne ; and John there beheld him in glory, as described in the first chapter. And there already are Enoch and Elias in the bodies they had on the earth, and with these are already associated a number of saints who rose from the dead when Jesus died, and ascended with him at his resurrection, evidences of his triumph over death and the grave as well as over Satan that had usurped the power of them. And what more appropriate proof could now be given that F tpn had been bound and shut up, and a seal set upo^ his prison house, tliat he might not be set at large again for a thousand years, than that the souls of those who had suffered for Christ and his Gospel, under Satan's tyranny over the world of the ungodly, should now be clothed upon with their immortal bodies, over which the second death has no power, and that now in the body they should be oCated on thrones with Christ their Lord, and reign with him in love and joy and glory a thou- sand years. Thus I read the passage, and I think I see a fitness in the arrangement, that these most emi- nent saints should be gathered to heaven in the first instance, there to enjoy and prove their Saviour's love. Christ is by nature King of Heaven, Lord of Angels THE REIGN OP PEACE. 187 whom he created for his pleasure, and whom it pleased him to make beautiful in holiness, excellent in strength, and admirable for their uprightness and obedience. Yet some of the angels fell from this exalted state, and as some (such as Milton the great poet) think from envy at the preferenr'e given tc mankind in heaven, that of their race the Son of God should be born, and that some of his earthly brethren should be exalted to a still higher glory than their own. Now this the Lord had a right to do if it pleased him. He made the angels and made them glorions and happy. What loss could it be to them if he chose to make others still higher and happier than they ? "What loss to them in any way, even if angels should be called to minister to them who should be heirs of salvation, and to worship their Almighty Lord, clothed in human flesh ? None. Yet Satan, it is said, thought so, and led many others to think with him, that it would be better for them not to be at all, than to be inferior to any other creatures. This may be as represented, for we certainly see the same thing happening among mankind : in Cain and Abel, in Ishmael and Isaac, in Esau and Jacob, all types of still wider illustrations in Jews and Gentiles. What loss was it to the Jews, that the Gentiles should become partakers of the same grace, and become heirs of the same glory with them- selves ? None. On the contrary it was calculated to multiply their numbers, to extend their honours, and 188 THE REIGN OP PEACE. to exalt their happiness. Thej could not see or under- stand this. But they shall be made to understand it, ■when the fulness o.f the Gentiles is gathered in ; for then the Gentiles, in full possession and enjoyment of all the privileges conferred upon the Jews, shall wel- come them to take the highest room. Then the Jew will understand that the younger brother has obtained through grace a better spirit than his own, and both rivalling each other henceforth only in love and in acts of brotherly love, shall become united in one fold, under the one Shepherd. So again, on a still larger scale, Christ came to reconcile in himself, all things that are in heaven, as well as the things that are in earth, and now himself in heaven, seated at the right hand of God, angels and principalities and powers being made subject to him, he shall introduce his faithful people there, first as guests, in that abode of angels, as their friends for Jesus' sake, and for their own sake as faithful friends of Jesus, to entertain them as their guests ; and thus with overflowing kind- ness to receive those for whom Christ died, and who have proved themselves worthy of his love in dying for him. Thus will saints and angels meet in heaven, as friends, all rivalry and envy forgotten, because they are all friends and servants of the Lord Jesus ; and all the more lovingly that the saints have owed so much to the watchful care, and unwearied aid of angels ; and the angels on the other hand will heartily love those THE REIGN OF PI;ACE. 189 over wliom they so tenderly watched .as their Master's children and their own. Then there will be peace in heaven and glory to God in the highest, as on earth there is peace from God and good will to men. And why should not the martyrs and confessors now that persecution is about to cease on the earth, be privileged to resume their bodies glorified, that now in full per- fection and bliss they may begin that life in heaven, which hereafter is to be still further exalted in the new heavens and the new earth wherein righteousness shall be perfected and perfectly satisfied. This would then be literally the first resurrection, not, of all the dead or of all the saints, but simply as it is said, of those who in the days of persecution had been proved faithful unto death, a special reward for special service, a restoration to bodily life in the abodes of the angels, in reward of their laying down their mortal bodies, a willing sacrifice on the altar of their Saviour God. These then would never die any more. Their bliss would be immortal like themselves, and though at the last day their glory and their happiness would still further be exalted, yet over them the second death would have no power. Eestored to the body, so to speak, before the time, as they had been deprived of it, before the time, yet they should not, though in the body, be again exposed to temptation or danger, or death; but in the heavenly kingdom, continue for ever in the full enjoyment of life and happiness. I 190 THE REIGN OP PEACE. thus see a fitness in the saintb that loved not their lives unto death for the sake of tLe Lord Jesus, being thus permitted to dwell for a season in heaven, the honoured and loved guests of the holy angels, who thus joyfully share with them all their glory and all their bliss, not by constrpint but willingly, as their Master's children once, and now their Master's friends and tjieir own for ever, coming thus for a season to share with angels first in their happy seats, and then to take the angels with them to their new and divinely glorious and everlasting home. And even their bodily honours, thus conferred on these distinguished few, prepare the way for the mutual love that saints and angels shall enjoy in that heavenly land, which sur- passing unspeakably the earth and the heavens that are now, shall be the common abode of all, because the brethren gone before, shall be a bond of union and brotherhood with all the angels and with all the saints ; and thus in Christ shall union and peace be at last restored to the regenerated and glorified world. The martyrs and confessors and sufiering saints are thus also comforted and encouraged by tlie assurance that as their trials are peculiar, so are their rewards to be peculiar; bo that they need not envy those who shall enjoy the happiness and peace of the millenial reign ; nor need those who in that day enjoy so many special advantages despise those who in their time bore the heat and burden of the day, because they THE REIGN OP PEACE. 191 have entered into rest and tlieir works do follow them. Thus for each there is a just and fitting reward. But the souls of them that were slain are to live and reign with Christ in Heaven. Christ is not to come and dwell and reign with his people on earth, until the Millenium is past ; and then he will come to judg- ment. Nothing can be clearer than this. Christ will only come once again. The Heavens must receive him till the time of the restitution of all things. Then he will come again in the glory of his Father and of his holy angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that knew not God and obeyed not his holy g03- pel. The scripture is perfectly clear on this point. It is only by confounding the Millenium with the final state, that any such supposition can be made as that of Christ's coming again at the beginning of the Millenium, upon the earth as it is now. Nor do I think that the personal reign of Christ in the body on the earth would in the meantime serve any good purpose. Let us suppose Christ to descend and reign in Zion, as some fondly dream he will do at the beginning of the Millenium, while the earth remains as it is. Would not this be utterly derogatory to his glorious majesty? His glory as seen in Heaven could never be borne on earth by men in their mortal bodies. It would destroy them, by taking away all their power of action or of will, if not of life. And if Christ comes to temper his heavenly glory to our 192 THE REIQN OF PEACF. moital state, tlie inliabitants of earth, as well as Heaven, would lose by such a manifestation of his personal presence. If the saints continue to inhabit the various countries of the earth, as they now do, and pursue their daily labours, would the presence of Christ be felt by them so near, so full, as now it is by faith ? They could only see him when near the place of his abode, and how small a number could enjoy that plea- sure all the time ! They who did so could do nothing else, and those who did not could only see him from a distance and at rare intervals. They are far better situated now : for to the believer Christ is equally near in every place and at all times ; by night as by day ; when thought of as when, through human weakness, unthought of. Christ's presence on the earth in that manner would be a complete loss to the Christian, instead of a gain; and to this our Saviour himself referred when he told his apostles : " I tell you it is expedient for you that I go away. For if I go not away, the Comforter will not come. But if I go away, I will send him unto you." And if, on the other hand, we suppose the inhabitants of the earth are to be gathered all the time into a camp, as the Israelites were in the wilderness, and fed again by bread from heaven and water from the rock, while their clothes never wax old and their health never fails, what benefit could this do them ? Surely, TIIK HEIQN OF PEACE. 193 to the Israelites that was the wiklcrncss state, not the possession of the promised land. Nor would a state such as that here supposed he either possible or desira- ble ia any way, excepting as the final state, where no more trials and no more changes are to occur, and the inhabitants are specially fitted to meet all its peculi- arities ; because, constituted as man now is, that state would be to him a bondage, a prison, utterly unbeara- ble. Therefore, such a state would be a terror, and not a hope. How it may be in the perfect world, I cannot say. There, 'there will be such absolute per- fection, and such new developments of human nature, that satiety and weariness can have no place. But it is very different with mankind in their present state; and those who look forward to such a state, must sup- pose it to be the same as the final state. But as the Mil- lenium is not to be a final or perfect state — for it is to come to an end, and be followed by the great apostasy — it is plain that mankind shall not dwell in one confined spot, nor shall Christ come in person to reign upon the earth as it is now constituted. And hence we are told, in the end of this chapter, that when Christ comes again, he comes to judge the quick and the dead ; and that before the judgment begins, the heavens and the earth that are now, are to flee away, and leave in the midst of space the great white throne, before which all the inhabitants of the universe are to be assembled ; and that when judgment is done, a new heavens and 13 194 THE REION OF PKACK. a new cartli Bh.all bo prepared, wherein Christ and his saints shall Jwell- for ever : while all his enemies, and all that followed and favoured them, shall be cast into a lake that burns with brimstone and with fii-o. (Whether that be literal or figurative, makes rcallj no difference, for they " shall be tormented day and ni<^ht for ever and ever.") Then Christ in person M-ill come to reign on earth, but not now. But what are we to expect, then, when the Beast and the False Prophet have been cast into the lake of fire, and Satan has been bound for a thousand years, and all their followers subdued with a mighty slaugh- ter ? That the world is coming to an end ? Not at all : else, why speak of a Millenium of peace ? No ; we look for no change, whether in the state of the material world, or in its laws. The earth shall continue its calm, majestic course round its central sun, enjoying its varied seasons and its endless blessings. The earth shall revolve peacefully on its axis as usual, bringing to its inhabitants days of useful industry and nights of refreshing sleep ; the heavens shall continue brightly shining above our heads, rejoicing in our prosperity, and only weeping tears of joy to soften the otherwise natural hardness of huma^n hearts. There will be no violent changes in the earth, or in any of its elements, or in its seasons, or in its labours, or in its enjoyments. Whatever changes are to be effected will be brought about by purely moral means; by the changes pro- THE REIQN OP PEACE. 195 duced in human dispositions and human habits. The great embodiments of Satan's power being overthrown, the spirit of violence and deceit himself sliall be seized and shut np for a tliousand years. The nations shall not learn the arts of war any more, for there will be no violence to redrese, iio deceit to irritate and provoke. Tlie law of righteousness sliall be obeyed, the spirit of peace shall universally prevail, and all the world shall enjoy a steadfast rest and quiet assurance for a thou- sand years. And in this also I think there will be seen much fitness on eartli, as well as in heaven, as a witness that Christ hath vanquished Satan, the great enemy of Christ's people. During so many ages past, Satan has seemingly triumphed in his rebellion against God. The liuman race, as they went on multiplying and improving in knowledge and skill, increased also in wickedness ; and they were only saved from total destruction by the waters of the Flood. The seed of Abraham, the friend of God, the father of the faithful, iiltimately brought swift destruction on themselves, by crucifying the Lord of glory, when he earae to bring them terms of peace with God. And hitherto the Gospel of the Lord Jesus has been received in its power by only a vpry small proportion of the inhabi- tants of our world. Is it, then, to remain so until the Lord descend with a shout and the trump of an arch- angel to judgment ? In that case it must b6 confessed 19G THE REIGN OF FEAOE. tlmt oiir world has, in a great measure, been made in vain, and that in vain has the Lord shewed such mira- cles of mercy on mankind. But it eliall not be so for ever. The Church of Christ, delivered out of tlie hand of Satan, shall now servo him in holiness and righteous- ness on the earth, without fear, as they have so long hitherto done; and the minds of men, no longer blinded by the delusions of Satan, shall no longer hurry them on to destruction, but shall hearken to the voice of Christ calling them to the joyous hope of immortality, and inviting to taste, even here, the peace and joy that are to be found in believing. And then the generations of mankind during all that lengthened period of the Millenial reign, shall be steadily ripen- ing, like the grain in the days of summer, for the har- vest of the world, so that it will be seen in the day of the Lord, that the nations of the saved shall far exceed the number of the lost. I am not disposed, in making this statement, either to limit the mercy of God, in the meantime, as if none had yet been saved. For I believe that the number of the saved already is indeed a multitude which no man can number, since it may be hoped to include infants, and all who were sinners, only through necessity of nature, and not of choice ; and may include many of whose salvation we have no means of knowing anything; or to regard the number of the saved or lost as of any account in weighing the justice of God, But undoubtedly were the world to HIE REIGN OF PEACE. 197 coino to an end at the present stage of its progress, the seeming majority is overwlielminglj on the side of Satan. No doubt had the Bible said that tlio world •was thus coming to an end, I for one should humbly believe that it was for the best to be bo. But the Bible clearly shews that the world is to continue, and oidy, now to come to the enjoyment of its summer tune, when once the changeable and stormy spring has fully passed away. Surely this must be obvious to all who read the passage in which its nature and duration are stated, or who consider that the kingdoms of this world arc first to become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ ; that the Jews are to be re- stored to their own land ; that the nations of the saved are to enjoy peace, prosperity and blessing, so that the child shall die an hundred years old, and enjoy tiic full riches of the earth when the barrenness thereof has been healed, and the children of God walk in the light of the latter day glory. 198 ' CHAPTER XIL THE CLOSE OF THE MILLENIUM— THE FINAL APOSTASY —THE JUDGMENT DAY, AND THE END OF THE WORLD. " And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle : the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city : and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil that de- ceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away ; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God ; and the books were opened : and another book was opened, which is the book of life : and the dead M^ere judged out of those things which were THE REIGN OF PEACE. 199 written in the books, according to tlieir works. And the sea gave up tho dead which were in it ; and death and hell delivered np the dead which \ were in them : and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."— Ekv. xx. 7-15. • Tlie Millenium is not to last for ever. How long the Reign of Peace may last, I do not pretend to say: whether a thousand years, or three hundred and sixty thousand years, or, as I understand the expression, a very long time. The Jewish tradition, frequently quoted — that as the world was sev-iu days in making, so it will be seven thousand years in existence; of which two thousand were before the flood, and two thousand more to the birth of Christ ; and there shall be two thousand vears more to the Millenium ; and then the last thousand years shall form a kind of Sab- bath of the world — is, I believe, like many other tradi- tions, purely fabulous. Every one must see how it halts at every step, and must come to a lame conclu- sion. Tlicre were not two thousand years before the flood, and two thousand before the coming of the Messiah to the Jews ; nor will there be two thousand years between the coming of the Messiah and the Mil- lenium. The whole tradition is a fiction. The Reign 200 THE UEIGN OP PSACE, of Peace may last, for inglit I see, a Inmdred tliousand years, if it so please Him wlio appointed it to serve a good and gracious purpose. The saints in bliss "will not think it too long, to continue in the enjoyment of that Jicavenly feast spread for thera in heaven, in see- ing multitudes born for Christ upon the earth ; and in that happy age, men upon tlie earth will not think it too long for them to do the work of God, and to pre- pare others to succeed tliem in doing that work, while they are themselves ripening and whitening for the heavenly harvest. I see no reason, therefore, why that blissful state should not be prolonged for a hundred thousand years. Yet we must not suppose tlie Milleninl reign on earth to be a perfect state. It would serve no end to distinguish it from the final state, if men were to be at once perfect, and of course immortal. Men will be as they are now, only greatly improved in their physi- cal and spiritual circumstances. Generations will still come and go. They, will be exposed then, as now, to various trials and temptations ; and though all will outwardly profess the name of Christ, all will not heartily believe in him. All will be outwardly prosperous, but all will not be truly happy. And therefore the tares will still grow among the wheat. The whins and broom shall now be ovei shadowed by the overtopping plantation, but they will not be utterly uprooted. As amid all the tribulations and persecu- THE REIGN OP PEACE. 201 tions some were found faithful in the past, so in the future, amid many righteous, some faithless will still be found. The Millenium will thus be still a state of trial, and from among the many millions born into the world, the greater part will be fouud at last amcng the saved : so that at last Christ mav see of the travail of liis soul rtnd be satisfied, when it is found that at the final judgment only a small fraction of all that passed through the world shall be lost at last. This indeed will aggravate the punishment of the lost, if that be possible ; but it "vvill at least console the hearts of the saints, when they see the multitudes, whom no man can number, gathered around their SavionrVi tlirone, clothed in white I'ubcs, with palms in their hands, and joining in the song with those who went before, saying, " Salvation to our God, whicli sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Laml) ! " How lamentable is the fact, notwithstanding, that nothing could inspire these faithless men with the love of God ; neither the wondrous sufferings of the Holy One and the Just, nor the unmerited persecutions which were borne by the holiest and the best of men ; facts very wonderful in themselves, yet plainly foretold and fearfully fulfilled ; nor, on the other hand, the marvellous prosperity, nor the prevailing godliness of the Reign of Peace, could prevail with them to believe . that God is, and that he is the rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Faithless amid the multitude of 202 THE BEIGN OF PEACE. believers as amid the multitude of the ungodly, the lost will prove that it is the heart alone that marks the diiference between the holy and the profane. And hence, as Sutan sinned in heaven, and Christ remained steadfiist amid all temptations on the earth, so many even in the millenial day will remain unconverted, even as in the days of persecution many -whose hearts the Lord prepared clave to him at all hazards. "When, therefore, the appointed period of grace and prosperity has expired, and Satan is again let loose, multitudes, forsaking God, and forgetting all the instructions they received, and all the warnings given them, and all the solemn vows they made, and all the blessed experiences themselves have had, will apos- tatise ; and with a madness for which nothing but Satanic possession can account, will immediately com- bine together to destroy the faithful remnant of Christ's people from the earth. It may be gratifying to our pride as Anglo-Saxons of the race of Gog, that Gog and his people \vill be the leaders in this last apostacy, since from that we may suppose that that race sat as chief in the earth during tlie millenial reign. Bat it ought to be a warning to us to abate our pride ; for if Eussia and other Papists are to suffer now for super- stition and idolatry, the race of Gog are in the end to suffer still more for their infidelity and ungodliness. This is the natural and besetting sin of the children of Gog, whose power over fire seems to set him in the THE REIGN OF PEACE. 203 place of God. By fire he snbflues the forest and the fiekl ; by fire he walks the water as well as the land, and may eventually wing the air as well as burrow beneath the mountain; by fire he communicates his thoughts and wishes to the uttermost parts of the earth as in a moment ; and still more wonderful things he is on the eve of doing, of which I cannot now speak. Yet, after all, knowledge is not grace ; power is not grace ; and, left to himself but for a little season, liis knowledge will only puif him up with empty vanity, and his power only dash him to pieces against the Eternal Eock. Let us then learn to check that tendency to pride and forgetfulness of God, which the power of fire naturally inspires in the hearts of fallen men. Here, then, is to be the final battle of Armageddon. Gog and Magog, the German nations, are then to inhabit the breadth of the earth, and to gather them- selves together to destroy the saints, who, on their part, are to be assembled in their camp to oppose them. But, without striking a blow, the fire of God shall descend and consume its godless worshippers ; and the trumpet of God, immediately sounding, shall summon all to appear before the great white throne, at the judgment seat of Christ. Then shall the heavens pass away like a scroll, with a great noise, and the earth and the things thereon shall be all burned up ; and i ound the grea' white throne, on which the Righteous 20-1 ' THE REION OF TEACK. Judge of all the eartli shall sit, shall be assembled all that ever lived on it. Those wlio have lived and reigned with Christ the thousand years shall return with him, and the saints that slept in the earth sliall wake and rise to meet their Lord in the air ; Avhile the wicked, from sea and land, shall come forth from all their hidden recesses to receive their final doom. Neither monumental pyramid, nor river bed, nor mountain cave can hide them now ; nor will the solitary grave of the criminal and the suicide be for- gotten : all must appear before the judgment seat of Christ. Then shall every man receive according to his works. How startlino; shall be the revelations of the secret thouglits of men ! Many who pled that the demands of the gospel Avere too hard in the times of persecution, will here be met by complaints, on tlie other hand, that the days of the Millenium were too soft and easy; many who gloried in their orthodoxy will be condemned for neglect of duty ; while others, who gloried in their decent and moral lives, will be condemned here for their unbelief. Every kind of specious excuse will here be met by its opposite, and one unbeliever furnish a convincing answer to another : so that every mouth shall be stopped before God, and his guilt be made manifest to the consciences of each one: while the redeemed, awe-struck and sad at the awful spectacle of lost myriads prepared to depart into everlasting fire with the devil and his angels, whom THE REIGN OF PEACE. 205 they followed on earth, shall feel abased amid their joy, and cry, Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thine own grace be all the glory ! We have hardly believed more than those ; we have done scarcly better than those ! But here is their consola- tion : the Judge will become their Advocate, and say. Inasmuch as ye showed kindness to one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it unto me. Should not this teach us a great secret of heavenly wisdom ? We can do nothino; for God — nothinf' in a manner for Christ. But his people are with us, and whensoever we will we can do them good ; and by this charity to the brethren of Jesus may all the multitude of our sins be for ever covered beneath the blood and righteous- ness of Christ. 206 . . "> CHAPTER XIII. THE TIMES BEFORE APPOINTED WHEN ALL THESE . EVENTS SHOULD OCCUR, AND THE MILLENIAL REIGN OF PEACE BEGIN TO DAWN UPON OUR WORLD. "When they, therefore, were come together, they asked of him saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel ? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, ■which the Father hath . put in his own power. But ye . shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you : and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." — Acts i. 6, We have now considered some of the chief signs which the Lord Jesus Christ hath given to guide us in our anticipations of the Millenium, or Eeign of Peace, and the question now comes back, when shall all these things come to pass ? In attempting even to conjecture the times and the seasons which it hath pleased the Father to keep in his own power, we ought ever to remember our Saviour's words, that of that day and that hour knoweth no man, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only THE REIGN Or PEACE. 207 ■\vhicli, tliougli spoken properly of the destruction of Jerusalem, are equlal!y true of all prophecy. It is not designed that we should know too exactly the events coming on the earth, because that would divert our attention from present duty, — to M'^atch and pray and work ; and it is not desirable that we should know what is going to befal us, as we could not bear either the joy or the terror of our future state. It is enough for us to know that we are kept by a father's hand and guarded by a Saviour's love, secure in the Lord Jesus, amid all the changes and dangers of time. "We ought, therefore, to be content with such general indi- cations as it hath pleased the Father to give us for the support and guidance of our hopes. Now it appears to me that as in the book of Daniel the same tubject is three times revealed in vision, each time with such variations as shall fix, as it were, by lines crossing each other as in a map, the events recorded, without making of them a historical state- ment ; so it is in the book of Eevelation. Prophecy is thus distinguished froi history. We have in pro- phecy such a view of future events, as leaves us free to follow our own judgment, while the truth is con- firmed afterwards by the ovent, so as to impress the spiritual lesson, which is the main object, upon the mind. History shews the experience of others, whence to draw the lessons of wisdom, to guide our own con- duct. Prophecy teaches the same lessons, but teaches 208 , THE REIGN OF PEACE. them with divine autliority, as ife were from the throne, and gives liistory, which' is the published de- cree, its true interpretation. Ilenee propliecy is obscure when first givpn, and becomes clearer as it approaches fulfillment ; because it is designed not to force tlie judgment, but simply to guide it. We should not expect, therefore, too clear a historical view of future events. And yet we may safely expect that the events foretold will be so distinctly marked out, that when they come to pass they may not be liable to be confounded with others, so as to render them doubtful and of no value. These two objects, present obscurity and final clearness, are in my opinion served by this cross lining, as it were stereoscoping the same events, so as to bring them out in relief by repeating the account of them i' successive and some- what various visions. In tlie book of Daniel we see how clearly the visions fit into each other and shew forth the events of the Jewish history from the prophet's own day down to the destruction of Jerusalem, exactly four hundred and ninety years after, the going forth of the decree of Cyrus to rebuild Jerusalem ; with all the interme- diate changes of kings and kingdoms, the various con- ditions of the Jewish church, and the coming of Mes- siah the Prince to finish transgression, to do away with all further sacrifice for sin, and to anoint the people of the Most Holy One with the grace of the THE REIGN OF PEACE. 209 Holy S]:)irit. All this was exactly fulfilled as foretold, in its appointed times, as we now see; because the whole events are past, and we see them in their just relations and positions ; yet no one conld understand how these things were to be, until they were accom- plished. The Jews did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah when he came, or that his crucifixion would draw down the wrath of God upon them and destroy their city and their nation. It was a history put forth as it were in the form of a riddle, easily understood and impossible to be disputed when solved, but dark and difficult to be discovered without the key of events. Old Testament Revelation as to time. — Can we then, in any measure, calculate or approximate the time, when all these things spoken of in the book of Revelation shall be fulfilled? I think we can, and with reverence may. We can calculate the beginning of Daniel's first period of four hundred and ninety years, as given in the ninth chapter, (the seventy weeks, or seventy times seven days,) because we know the end of them. About the year seventy after Christ the Jewish economy w■ I . 278 THE REIGN OF PEACE. worketli when, and where, and how it plciiseth him who sends an archangel, for his overweening pride, to hell ; and exalteth an outcast child of the dust, who meekly accepts his oifered grace, to a heavenly throne. And how shall Christians, thus restored to the brotherhood and the equality of Christian fellowship, , be so constructed into one Church as not to lose again their brotherly love and natural sympathy ? I answer, by their combining first in small societies, and then uniting these, step by step, in one great whole, as a Family of families, all holding Christ as the one great Head. This was the original form of the human family ; and it was the original form of the Christian Church. As one man, assisted by his wife, was over one family, so over a small number of families were a deacon and deaconess, and over so many diaconates so many presbyters, presided over again by an angel or delegate. These delegates gathered in synods and councils, rising one above another in extent, until they embraced the whole Christian Church. All modern Churches adhere to this idea, however they may differ as to names, and the meaning they attach to them. The whole Christian brotherhood they believe to be one, and that all the members of it should endeavour to realize the unity of the brotherhood, by friendly intercourse, and Christian communion, and mutual co-operation. Large societies tend to destroy the per- sonal union of Christians, and want of Christian fidelity THE REION OF PEACE. 279 completes the separation between them. Cliristiana must first become brothers in Christ, and then they will form an united and sympathizing brotherhood tliroughout the universal Church, so as to fulfil our Saviour's parting prayer: " That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that tlie world may believe that thou hast sent me." Only v/e must beware lest pride and tyranny pro- duce again an earthly Papacy, instead of a heavenly ; a Satanic image of the Church, instead of the meek and lowly Church of Christ. Let us, therefore, seek to restore first the soul of man to the love and likeness of Christ, and the family to its own beautiful order and harmony, and then the Family of families on earth will resume its just positions, relations and duties ; and all believers walking together in the love of God, and in the love of each other, will become built up together on that only sure foundation, the faith of the one Lord Jesus, in holiness and comfort, so as to be fitted for entering the great Family of God above, in the New Jerusalem, which, as the apostle beautifully says, is the great metropolis of all the Christian world. But while I thus express a strong desire for the union of all Christians in one visible Church, I am not sure but that diversity of forms in worship may be necessary to preserve their force and meaning. In Jerusalem, in the days of our Saviour, it is said that . 280 THE REIGN OP PEACE. there were not less than four hundred and eighty ■ synagogues, conducted in the languages, and accord- ing to the various customs of the nations, by whom they were provided ; yet all these worshipped at one temple. And for my part I am not sure but that it would better serve the end for which the Christian Chi rch was designed, if the same liberty were allowed in the different congregations, leaving each person to choose for himself (as he shall certainly have to answer for himself at last,) the form of worship that serves him best ; remembering only that in choosing for him- self he must not depart from Christian simplicity, and must not offend against Christian charity. By this means I have no doubt that, under the influence of the spirit of Christ, Christian union will soonest be brought about, and most effectually maintained. Yet amid all this diversity of forms, the work of God should be carried on by a united ministry and a united people; so that they may strengthen each other's hands in bringing the whole population of the • world under their united christian influence. And having had the pleasure of being present at the ser- vices of almost every Protestant denomination in this country, I see no reason why they might not all thus freely and heartily unite in their religious operations, as they do in their other associations for the improve- ment of their fellowmen. All preach or hear the same word of God; and what ever differences of THE REIGN OF PEACE, ' . 281 opinion exist, Low sooner shall they be reconciled, than by friendly intercourse and mutual christian co- operation, in bringing all their fellowmen to the enjoy- ment of the favour and friendship of their common Saviour? For as people often find thatv/hile engaged in a foreign "^- ar, they become more closely united amonsr themselves, so christians will find no more likely way of becoming united among themselves, than by carrying the battle of the common faith to the very gates of all unbelief, error and sin, so as to deliver those of their brethren v.'hom Satan has bound with chains of ignorance and Vice, and keeps shut up' in poverty, misery, and degradation. Here then is a foreign war in which all christians may safely and lionourabiy unite, whether at home or abroad ; and when they thus become peace-makers to the world of strife, God, the great peace-maker, will own them all ' for his children, and give them peace among them- selves, and cause the work of their Lord to prosper in their hand, till as the poet sings, " Jesus slmil reign where'er the sun Doth his successive journeys run ; • ^ His kingdom stretch from shore to shore, Till moons sKall wax and wane no more." , 282 CHAPTER IV. THE MEANS ALREADY PROVIDED IN THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST, ARE AMPLY SUFFICIENT, IF RIGHTLY EM- PLOYED, TO BRING PEACE AND ALL ITS BLESSINGS TO THE WORLD. " IIow beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation ; that saith unto Zion, thy God reigneth. — Is. lii. 7. The blessings of peace and the horrors of war, have been sung by every poet, described by every liistorian and depicted by every statesman ; and yet war pre- dominates over the world : and peace affrighted flies afar from desolated cities and trampled fields. But the day is not far distant, I trust, when peace shall scatter plenty o'er the smiling lands, and war's grim rage be for ages hushed in silence. For this is the promise of God, " But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established on the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills, and all people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come and say, Come, let us go up to the moun- THK EEIQN OP PEACE. . 283 tain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, : and we will walk in his paths : for the law ■,r shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord ' from Jerusalem, And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off ; and they shall beat their swords into plough-shares, and their spears into pruning- hooks : nation shall not lift up sword against • nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his figtree ; and none shall make them afraid : for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it." — Mic. iv. 1-4. Nothing can be more explicit than this prophecy as to its time, the last days ; as to its promise, peace ; and as to the means by which that peace is to be pro- duced, the going forth of the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. The last days began at the resurrection of Christ ; the gospel of peace went forth from Jeru- salem at the day of Pentecost ; and as the world has never yet realized the promise here made, that promise will be fulfilled now in the millenial age, the latter part of the gospel dispensation. I believe, then, that the gospel of Christ is able to bring peace to the world, and that it shortly will do so. That it has never done so before, is no proof to the contrary ; unless it can be shown that it has heretofore been employed for that 284 THE REIGN OP PEACE. purpose, and has failed. Every other plan has heen tried, and failed. "War has been tried, and, as the historian says, " r'-'nces made a desolation, and called it peace." Despotism has been tried, and men have been compelled to approve of its decrees, by their silence ; and this reign of terror has been called peace. Of late, the humanizing influences of civilization, education, commerce and friendly intercourse have been tried; yet war still rages between the most natural allies, such as Austria and Prussia; and even between the members of the same community, bound together by every natural tie, as the North and the South in the United States of i^ merica. The reason is obvious : self-interest, which, under certain circum- stances, draws men together, by a slight change in these circumstances, again drivers them apart. The only means capable of uniting the nations in peace, is the gospel of Jesus Christ, which first shows men the advantages of living in peace as brethren, and then en/orces its counsel by a threatening more terrible even than war. The nations are first invited to obtain of God blessings, both spiritual and temporal, beyond their utmost wishes, if they will accept of them through Jesus Christ ; but if they reject these offered blessings, they are threatened with a destruction which will overwhelm them In unending misery; for, hear the word of God, in the second psalm: TUE REIGN OP PEACE. ' 285 " I will declare the decree : the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son ; this day have I hegotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou • shalt hreak them with a rod of iron ; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Be wise now therefore, O ye kings ; be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all theythat put their trust in him." Li the sight of their great C."eator and Redeemer, the soul of the prince and the soul of the peasant are equal ; both are by nature equally lost, and to both mercy is equally offered. lie that believeth in Jesus shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned. There is no escape, then, from Him, before whom all' continually stand now, and before whom they must shortly appear, to receive severally, according to the deeds done by them In the body, whether these have been good or whether they have been evil. The prince must then come up from his royal tomb, and the pea- sant from his humble grave, and stand forth before the judgment seat of Christ ; while angels, and devils, and their own consciences, and all their fellow-creatures, confirm the testimony which He who saw their every 286 THE RElQN OP PEACE. , * deed and perceived their every thought, pronounces for or against them. At present, each one attempts to shift the blame from himself to others; but in that day, as in passing sentence on the first transgressors, the tempter and the tempted shall each receive his just award. "Wars may no doubt sometimes be necessary, at least on one side ; and no one has a higher admiration than I have for the noble and generous character of the Christian soldier. But in itself, war is undoubtedly one of the heaviest curses that can fall on nations. Only think of the horrors of war ! Men cut oft' in the very midst of their days, in the very heat of passion, and often without any preparation, either for leaving this world or entering upon esternity; families left desolate; fathers and mothers, sisters and brothers, and friends, left to mourn; perhaps widows and or- phans left unprovided for; countries desolated, and miseries untold heaped alike upon the innocent and the guilty, and entailed upon future generations ; be- eides all the cruelties and pollutions perpetrated in the course of it. War is a series of multiplied, delib- erate and horrible crimes, for which the community would execrate him who should be guilty of the least of them. And can any one imagine that God will accept the excuse, that because they were authorised by princes, or parliaments, or nations, they were justi- fiable ? But how, it may be objected, can war be pre- • THE REIQN OF PEACE. 287 vented? Simply by princes and peoples becoming Christians ; keeping truth in all their sayings, honesty in all tlieir dealings, and brotherly love in all their intercourse. Then their word will be trusted; their conduct will be respected; and no occasion will be given to wrath and war ; and whi'^e peace with such a people must be safe, their enmity must be dreadful. If, then, all princes would adopt the pacific policy of Britain, so well expressed by the noble heroism cf our beloved Queen, in preventing the threatened rupture between France and Prussia, from how many miseries, losses and crimes might the nations be saved ! They would then perceive that every advantage they hope for, may be obtained by peace and friendship between nations; and that by war they could only inflict loss and misery on others and themselves. Nothing can really be gained by violence. Better to suffer wrong than to do wrong, since God is the avenger of all such. More are killed in one war than in many persecutions. Patience is more powerful than injus- tice, since we see how the feeble Christian Church overcame the mighty Koman Empire. ■ But mere quiescence is not enough. God only pro- mises to protect and prosper the nation that is active and zealous in his service. I heartily agree with Dr. Cummings that Britain owed her escape from the wrecking brought on other nations by the French Revolution, to its missionary enterprise. The law of 288 THE REIGN OP PEACE. God for nations is, " Either serve God or suffer war." And how little can oven Britain boast in this respect? How little is done for Christ in Britain, compared with what is done for Mammon, and for jMoloch, and for Belial, to this day? How many more soldiers are sent forth by her than missionaries? And yet, which would soonest conquer the world? Which would soonest fill the coffers of the nation with wealth, or the people's hearts with gladness? How long will it be ere men learn that the way of God is the only way to peace ? But some tell us that missions have almost proved a failure ! This, happily, is not ti ae, for there are hun- dreds of thousands of converts now living, as the visible fruits of missons ; but if it were, would it be wonder- ful ? Cast a number of sparks into the lalce in succes- sion, will they set it in a blaze ? Send your generals to combat the bands of Fenians, will they bring them all in as prisoners ? Yet you send one devoted mis- sionary, unarmed, and even unsustained, to conquer millions of men possessed by the power of the Devil, and ax'e surprised because he does not succeed in con- verting them at once ! because perhaps, when he sees you who sent him, lying at home in luxurious ease, while he is sent on what he deems perhaps a hopeless errand, he turns aside to the world ! But the time is coming when Christians shall be driven by the blast of war, like thistle-down, over the length and breadth THE llEION OP PEACE, , 289 of the world ; for though they sliall finally overcome by the help of God, it will only be after a struggle, such as the world has never before witnessed; and then shall they learn, if not before, how to preach the Gospel of salvation to the perishing millions of their fellow men! And then, thus taught of God, they shall continue to practise in peace what they learnt under great tribulation. Oh that it were possible that they could learn this beforehand, and send at once, not two or three only, but armies of missionaries preaching peace by Jesus Christ, for then would God make even their enemies to be at peace with them, as he has said, and bring them as humble suppliants to their feet, saying, We desire to have peace with a nation among whom God so manifestly dwells. For as God protected and prospered his people Israel of old, who were merely a model nation, for an example to all others, so will God bless and protect still, every nation that thus truly fears and honours him. I am not disposed- to touch here upon the intricate questions as to the relation between the church and the world. But I consider the church or kingdom of Christ as complete in itself, so far at least as regards its own members. It was so in the beginning. The church of Christ attended then to the support of its own poor and sick and aged ; to the education of its own children, and to the healing of its own sick ; and to the prevention of injustice and the protection of the 19 290' ■ THE REION OP PEACE. oppressed. And I believe that the church sliould always have continued in this position, and not have become, as it has largely done in modern times, a mere association for the support of preachers. At first, christians merely helped and defended each other, as ftir as possible, against the oppression of heathen governments. But when they came to exercise the power of the civil government, they superseded heathen injustice and cruelty by justice and mercy ; while the church exercised as before, all control over its own members, who by rejecting the authority of their oflEicers, became excluded from their society, and were then dealt with as heathens. The civil govern- ment should never have superseded the government of the church ; nor does the government of the church supersede an appeal in temporal matters, to the civil government, even when administered by christians. The real difficulty in reconciling their co-operation, I apprehend, lies in the generally felt conviction that justice cannot be had from either at present, which I regard as a cry from the heart of the people for a christian church and a christian government, which would grant them that justice and that sym- pathy they need alike in their temporal and in their spiritual affairs, which at present are every where denied them, except at the throne of God. Let me only name one or two points, which seem to call for redress : and first as to Law. The Civil THE REION OP PEACE. - 291 Government of a nation, is merely tlie combined force of the nation, to see justice clone to every citizen. As when one member of the body, howe er weak in itself, suffers, the whole body unites for its relief; so ought the nation to unite its whole force, to right the poorest of its citizens. No one will venture to say that this is the case at present. The rich may obtain law and judgment, because they can pay for it; but the poor cannot. They are better without it ? Per- haps so in the end ; but meantime the nation sins against God, who will visit them for their sin, as he did the Jews of old, and if they persist in their iniquity, will cut them off from being a nation. Law is merely the utterance of the national conscience, and should be free to all, and easily and speedily obtained. The whole nation should bear the cost of it, and see it impartially administered to all, both rich and poor. Christians ehould especially remember that in dealing with any of Christ's people, they are dealing with Christ himself; who in a little while will say to all, " Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me!" Secondly, as to the currency. Currency is simply the national credit, and should therefore be unchange- able. It should be mads so by public agreement ; and the severest penalties should be inflicted on all who presume to violate the national honor. All current money should be issued under government security. 292 THE REIQN OP PEACE. and be made a legal tender, which every one who makes a bargain shall be obliged to abide by. Banks should not be allowed to issue one dollar, which they cannot make good. The bills they issue should be government money, so th:it bill-holders and depositors who have no control of the management may never lose anything by bank failures. One act of injustice and dishonesty does a nation more harm than millions can repay ; because it destroys not only the credit but the virtue of the people, and undermines their pros- perity and safety. Justice should always be done on earth ; for if not, it will certainly be done in that prison-house from which, when once entered, •no one shall ever escape, until he has paid the last farthing. Tliirdly, as to armies, &c. A Christian nation should employ Christian soldiers ; because public ser- vants are merely the nation's hands, and these should correspond with the nature of the body to which they belong ; and even if others are employed, double honor , should be paid to those who will be orderly in peace and faithful in war. Cromwell conquered by the superior piety of his soldiers ; and so did Washington ; and so did Wellington. Many of the ordinary British soldiers are irreligious, and hence the first battles are generally lost by them; but when the British get fairly into war, and call for soldiers from the ranks of the people, what enemy can then stand the shock of their onset, or cross bayonets with them ? At Maida, THE REIGN OP PEACE. 293 at Acre, at the Nile and Trafalgar, in the Crimea and in India, a handful of such soldiers have vanquished much larger numbers. They are braver, they are stronger, and they must conquer, because they serve a Captain who always makes them to triumph. The Christian legion, I believe, is no myth ! Hence, finally, it will be understood why I speak of armies of missionaries. I see no reason why soldiers shoiild not be all missionai-ies, or, if you prefer it, why missionaries should not be as easily obtained as soldiers. Every man should be a Christian, and every Christian should be a scholar ; and then missionaries thus chosen would, stand more fatigue, and reach the common understanding much better, than more intellectual, often because more delicately constituted men. If all the national servants were thus chosen because they were Christians, and were all trained to Christian use- fulness, as they ought to be, how much more efficient would they be as pacificators as well as conquerors of the enemy; and how much more creditably would they represent a Christian nation, than those who dis- honor their country and their profession of religion by their scandalous excesses. And if, in consequence of the people generally being far from righteousness, the nation will not do its duty, should not the faithful servants of Jesus be as earnest and active in honouring their Sovereign, as the chil- dren of this world are in promoting the cause of their 294 THE REIGN OP PEACE. earthly prince^ and never cease their efforts at home and abroad, until they have brought in the ancient people of God, and with them the fullness of the Gentile nations ; not a mere handful of people as now, but the body of them ; so that at last the kingdoms of this world may truly become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ ? ' Under all circumstances, however, the civil govern- ment is an ordinance of God ; and hence Christians are called upon not only to obey their rulers, and to pay them all honor and all lawful dues, but specially to pray for them, that they may fear God and rule in righteousness, so that they may be a terror only to evil-doers, and an encouragement and protection te all that do well. And if Christians at any tiiae take part in the civil government of their country, they can only safely do so, so far as their Christian faith allows them ; for if they do as the heathen do, no royal prerogative will protect them in the day of justice from the hypo- crite's doom. But by their faithfulness, Christians may be the means of procuring great blessings to their country, especially by letting the light of their Chris- tian example shine out as from a high tower over all the land ; for, as the psalmist says, " That nation blessed is, whose God Jehovah is; and those A blessed people are, whom for his heritage he chose." 295 • . ' CHAPTER V. THE PEACEFUL AND PROSPEROUS STATE OF THE CHURCH AND THE WORLD, DURING THE MILLENIAL , REIGN OF CHRIST OVER THE NATIONS OF THE - EARTH. " Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of : '/ • the Lord: and he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the ' children to their fathers, lest I come and smite •J: ; the earth with a curse." — Mal. iv. 5. " The age of miracles is past," is a saying frequently employed, without sufficiently attending to the distinc- tion between miracles and mighty works. A miracle is a work of God wrought at tlie word of his pro- • phet, to convince men that God is with him, and has authorized him to declare his will to them ; and while it is such a work as none but God could do, vet it is simply a stopping or hastening of a work such as God usually performs in another way. Thus, when God caused the sun to stand still in the valley of Aijalon at the word of Joshua, the sun, which, by God's com- mand, nsually moves on in his appointed course, day by day, suddenly stopped, and continued standing, till the enemies of the Lord and his people were dis- comfitted j and when the shadow went backwards ten 296 THE REIQN OP PEACE. degrees on the sun-dial of Aliaz, the sun, which usually goes forward, went backwards. The way in which God did this makes no difference to the miracle. None but God could do such a work, and yet it was a work such as God usually does in the ordinary way, and so it becomes a proof of God's interposition and presence. Now the same works are continually being done, for all ordinary purposes, in the ordinary way. It is not desirable that the sun should either stand still or go backwards, excepting for the purpose of exhibiting the prophet's divine commission. Conse- quently, since no new Gospel is to be communicated at the Millenium, no new prophets will require to be commissioned, and no new miracles to be wrought. But the mighty works of God will go on as before ; and among these I wish to state a few, in which it will be seen that though no new miracles are to be expected, in the Millenial Reign, yet the Goodness of God will make for itself ample enough channels to satisfy every reasonable want or wish of the human heart. And first, the Gospel of the grace of God will be fully preached and fully received. "The Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all nations," said our blessed Lord, " before the end come ;" that is, in this case, before the end of the world, among all na- tions, as it was in all Palestine, before the destruction of tl rusalem: thai is in the time of the Millenium THE RETGN OP PEACE. 297 then, for after that there will only be the great apos- tasy and the Judgment Day. During that happy period, then, the Gospel will be fully preached over all the world, and the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth with the beams of its glory, as the waters cover the channels of the great deep. And as the Gospel shall be fully preached, so will it also be fully received by all the nations of the earth. For the god of this world being taken out of the way, the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ shall shine freely into men's hearts ; and they shall no more need to teach every man his brother as they do now, saying, know the Lord; for all shall know him, from the least even unto the greatest. As in the days of Solomon, the Canaanite ceased out of the land of promise, so in the Millenium the heathen shall cease out of the earth. The Gospel must still be taught to the young, but it will no more need to be sent to the heathen, abroad or at home, for all shall have heard the joyfnl sound, and learnt to walk in the light of the Lord ; so that from the rising to the setting of the sun shall the incense of sincere praise, and the pure offering of a holy life, be presented con- tinually before him. Secondly, knowledge shall be universally diffused and universally studied. Learning is twin-sister to Eeligion. Adam first learned to know God, that is Religion ; and then he learned to know the creatures, 298 THE REION OF PEACE. over wliicli God gave him dominion, and that is Learning. Learning, however, should always come after Religion, as it did at first, and not before it: for Learning makes Religion to shine in beauty and pleasure ; but Learning unsanctified by Religion, is a flaming- sword turning every way to keep the soul from the Tree of Life. But now that Religion has regained, through grace, possession of the citadel of man's heart, Learning may safely open his eyes, to l)ehold the wondrous works which God hath wrought.' By this means, the human mind will delight to under- stand God's works and M^ays ; and God will himself teach liim to know how to regain that dominion over all the creatures, of which Satan deprived him, by seducing him by sin into bondage to himself. We see that much has already been regained by man in this way ; of which his power over water, air, steam, elec- tricity and light may be specified as examples. And who can tell how far this newly acquired power may ultimately be carried ; and in how many ways it may be applied to the increase of human knowledge, to the lightening of human toil? Engines driven by water or steam already save the labour of man and beast to a large extent. Railroads run in every direction, and telegraphs not only accompany them, but run beyond them over the mountain and under the sea, so as to put a girdle round the earth in a few liours. Photo- graphy now flashes likenesses in a moment ; and, who THE REIGN OF PEACE. 209 can tell how far it may ultimately bring the most dis- tant objects within our nearer inspection. And there are other powers in nature not yet generally recogniz- ed, such as animal magnetism : by which the animal body can be employed as an electric telegraph, commu- nicating with another similar body, continuously over land and sea, to almost any distance ; and which only requires to be carried to a sufficient extent, to become a most powerful instrument either for good or evil. Electricity has also been tried as a motive power in driving machinery, and as an illuminator ; in both of which capacities it may in the end succeed. The composition of light has already been employed to discover the nature of the body from which it pro- ceeds. And who can tell to what most valuable prac- tical results, (since light is simply matter in its electric state, just as steam is matter in its gaseous state,) all these wonderful discoveries may lead ; pro- ducing probably much greater benefits fo society, than can yet be well conceived ? And as the knowledge of nature advances mankind will come better to know themselves ; and understand thereby better how to communicate the knowledge they have acquired, to the generation following ; so that a school shall no longer be a penitentiary, but a palace ; where the streams of knowledge shall flow sweetly between the flowery banks of love and play. The mind of the child shall then be fed with the milk of truth in gentle streams, 300 THE REIGN OF PEACE. and not be crammed with food unsuited to liis pro- gress ; be led up to strength and beauty by the sup- port of living examples of wisdom and virtue ; and be taught to walk with easy step, amid the scenes of nature and the pictures of immortal truth. The child thus nursed in the bosom of a Christian family, and trained in a Christian school, shall go forward to the Christian Church, alike taught and teaching ; until he aitain the last ascending round in the ladder of earthly knowledge ; and so mount upwards to the seat of the perfect light, the throne of God on high. Health and plenty shall be graciously granted by . God to all the inheritors of that joyous Ileign of Peace, and be gladly shared with all their fellows. It has been asked, If the inhabitants of the world go on increasing so rapidly as here represented — the peo- ple generally marrying young, the children mostly surviving to maturity, and a great proportion of the human family spared to enjoy a lengthened life — where will all these vast multitudes find the means of subsistence ? To this the uswer is easy, when once we understand how the world is constituted. If all the inhabitants of the world were to be idle, they would die of starvation, however few there might be of them ; and this we find most frequently to occur among savage tribes, who rove about and live by himting, and make no provision for times of scarcity ; and in this way sometimes almost whole tribes become THE REION OF PEACE. 801 extinct. If all tlie inhabitants of tlie world were to be sickly, it might be difficult for thein to assist each other, however few; and this sometimes oceurs in time of plagues ; and these also are most destructive among savage tribes, who are uncleanly in their habits. If the earth were a mere dead machine, whose capacity was limited by the strength of its materials, there might be danger in tasking it beyond its strength. But everything, thank God, in this living world, is quite the reverse of all this. And first, the earth is so wonderfully constituted that it is capable of feeding and clothing as many inhabitants as it can contain. It was so made in the beginning, as it came forth from its Creator's hand, fitted to be the habitation of the children of men. The materials of which the upper surface of the earth is composed are precisely the same as those of which men's bodies are composed, namely, watjr, coal; lime, &c., which are thus stored up ready for use. And in making use of them in the cultiva- tion of the land, in the warming of our houses and the carrying on of our labours, we are preparing them, under the direction of an all-wise Enler, for being applied to the nobler uses of the human frame. These materials are not applied all at once, but by degrees, in successive processes; and for this purpose, as was said with regard to the advance of the Gospel, the law of waves is here beheld also. As the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is never full, because the water 802 THE REIGN OP PEACE. which, thus gathered from tlie cloutls, flows into the sea, returns thither again by constant evaporation from sea and land, and all their varied offspring ; and then repeats its course in dew, and rain, and hail, and snow^ which, by rushing flood, and trickling rill, and gentle fountain, find their way again at last, by many channels, to their great ocean-bed: as the rays of light, ever streaming forth from the sun, and the moon, and stars, never exhaust the fountains whence they proceed ; because, after supplying all the lining crea- tures with light, and health, and energy, they return again by the swift combustion of the raging flame, the slow combustion of vegetable and animal life, or the swift flash of the lightning, and find their way to whence they came, and so replenish those ever-during fires that blaze forth their glory in the firmament ; so in the living world itself, there is a continual balancing of accounts between the animal and the vegetable world. These worlds are in a manner the exact coun- terparts of each other ; that which would kill the one just supplies life and food to the other; and thus the animal feeds on the vegetable produce of the earth, and then returns again to the earth, in various ways, that which enables the earth to nourish all its vegeta- ble nurslings. "Whatever comes from the earth, or sea, or air, just returns to them, and springs up in new vegetable forms, to become again the food and shelter of its animated tribes. The balance would TIIK REinN OF Pr.ACE. 303 tlius remain forever equal. But here is the wondrous mystery of nature, as we begin to see it in tliese hitter days. The wood and coal we bu'-n are every day in- creasing the supply of food for the vegetable world. Nothing that God hath made is ever destroyed. The fire merely decomposes the wood and coal into their simple elements, which are water and carbonic acid (commonly called choke damp), and some other sub- stances. These substances would speedily destroy every living thing, had not God provided that the vegetable world should immediately draw them in: and then, instead of destroying the animals, they mul- tiply their food; and thus gradually the air is purified and mankind provided with an abundant supjily for. all their wants. that men would praise the Lord then, for his wonderful works and for his goodness to the children of men ; who turneth their evil to good and maketh the elements of death minister to them both health and food. Since, then, men are to be healthy, and not sick ; to be industrious, and not idle ; to be good, and not evil . the more they multiply, the more they need the suste- nance of their strength, the more abundantly will the earth yield her wealth for their support and comfort. We see this already in part fulfilled in Europe, since the Eeformation. Britain was then thinly peopled ; and yet the people were poor, ill-fed, ill-clad and sickly. Now, the inhabitants are multiplied tenfold; and yet" 804 THE REIGN OF PEACE. tlicy arc wealthy, well fed, well clad and healthy : that thoy arc not more so, is their own fault, in heing idle or improvident, and not because there is not abundance of every necessary within their reach. J3ut besides this, we see new lands opening to welcome the faithful and the industrious, to find peaceful homes and a plen- tiful supply of all their wants, in Canada, in the Wes- tern States, and in all parts o| the world. AYc now know also that under proper management the most barren land can bo made productive;' as the moors and bogs and mountains in the fatherland and else- where, loudly proclaim to every intelligent ear. Water also' can be found, by digging or by boring, in every wilderness; so that the desert sands can be made to rejoice and blossom as the rose. Nothing is wanting on God's part to furnish food to every child whom he is pleased to send into the world, if men themselves would only be faithful and thankful and kind. This is what I trust God is now about to do for our race, by so impressing them with a persuasion of his fatherly love and unfailing goodness, that they will be encouraged to show to each other that kindness and compassion that he daily shows to them all. Mean- time, the poor complain that the rich keep too large a share to themselves; and the rich complain, on the other hand, that the poor are discontented and un- grateful. Thus a lengthened conflict has been main- THE REIGN OP PEACE. 805 tained between them, inclining Bonietimcs to one siclo and sometimes to the other, bnt always yielding vexa- tion and misery to both. This conflict is now to end. Rich and poor aro both about to learn that godliness with a competence is the greatest gain ; and that be- yond this., " It is moi i blessed to give than to receive." The rich are about to learn that a little help, given in time, may not only save the life of the poor man, but prevent himself and family from becoming a burden on the community, in the pcjor-house or the prison, to which the withholding of it at the right time now too often consigns them ; and thus save a pound for every penny spent, besides the blessing of God, wortli more than all. And the poor are about to learn that their health is their wealth, which every vice wastes and dissipates ; and that economy is the way to power and safety ; and thus both rich and poor, learning the true dignity and delight of human nature, shall each have somethin'^ over to cast into the lord's treasury for the poor perishing heathen ; until all their brethren of mankind throughout the world come to some equality, with the;nselves in Christian piety, knowledge and comfort. It only wants this ever present sense of God's unspeakable love to us in Christ, to fill every human heart with such love and compassion for all mankind, as shall, by enlarging their Christian eftbrts and contracting their earthly desires, cause the streams of life and consolation to flow forth like a mighty 20 ^ ^ 306 THE REIGN OP PEACE. river, to enrich and gladden both the eastern and the western world. And now, to sum up the whole subject of this book, I wish again to answer an objection that seems to have great weight with many, and comes up, there- fore, in many various forms, namely, that a similar expectation of a Eeign of Peace has been so often entertained, and so often disappointed. Need I re- mind all who stagger here, that this is merely infi- delity, and the most common kind of it ? Christ has not abolished death, has not saved his people from the common afflictions of life, as the Jews expected he would do. God's people are often sufierers more than others, and Christ himself suffered more than all. IIow, then, it may be asked, as it was of old, can a crucified Galilean save mankind? Yet we believe that Christ came in the fulness of time, at first ; and we believe that Christ will come again the second time, in the fulness of time; and why, then, should we not believe his promises, as well as his forewarn- ings ? Persecutions have come, as he foretold ; dark- ness has overspread the Church, as he foretold ; and why should not the Church, at last, have light, and peace, and comfort, as our Saviour foretold ? But it may be said, " The cry has been so often raised, ' Be- hold the Bridegroom cometli : go ye out to meet him ;' we have gone forth, but Christ has not come ; why, then, should we look for him any longer ? Let us go THE REfON OF PEACE. 307 and mind our own bT'siness, and let liim come \vlien lie will !'' Is that tlie Avretclied conclusion to which Christians have at last come? But is not this the very warning our Saviour gave us, that many would so come, giving false alarms ? Yet did he not at the same time bid us watch ? And cannot we watch for him during the one hour that we are on the earth, until we hand over our watch to others, at the ap- pointed season ? or must we sleep like others, even in the sentry box ? Christ will come, let no man doubt it; and as tlie age of persecutions is nearly past, so the age of the Gospel's triumph is near at hand, when Christ shall be seen coming (though not yet fully come), in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. , : . But it may be said. This has always been the an- swer, "Wait a little longer; but the Church has as yet showed no sign of rising above the world." In reply to this, I may quote the saying of the wise king, " The slothful desireth to have, and cannot obtain, be- cause his hands refuse to labour." The Church has, time and again, put on her wings of faith and hope, and thought in her dreams to fly aloft to the sky of l)Ower ; but she has never, in her waking liours, taken to herself the mighty spirit of love, whereby alone those wings can be eifectually put in motion so as to enable her to bear up that heavy weight of clay, where- with she then feels herself clogged and dragged down- 308 THE REIGN OP PEACE. wards to the earth. But has the Church ever made such an efibrt in earnest, and altogether failed ? In the beginning she was seen, flying as an angel in the midst of heaven, proclaiming the everlasting Gospel ; and again, for a little while, at the Eeformation, she attempted to resume her flight ; but her wings soon became clogged and weary, and she sank exhausted to the earth. But now once more the Church is to be seen riding forth on the white horse of prosperity ; not merely sending messengers to and fro over the earth, but spreading her armies of colonists into all lands, and taking actual possession of the whole earth ; until the Anglo-Saxon race fill the four quarters of the world. This is being rapidly effected at the present day, in America, Africa, Australia, Asia, and Europe ; and tlie great war now impending is destined, in the issue, to further extend that Christianizing and civil- izing influence. The only question in my mind, is whether Protestant nations will thus spread the Gos- pel of salvation as a matter of grace, or as a matter of necessity. Had the Jews believed in Jesus, when he came to save them by his cross, they would not have been destroyed by his Roman sword. And so, if Britain, and America, and Germany, the chief mis- sionary nations, would now spread abroad the Gospel of God's grace, they would be spared in the great tribulation that is coming to crush all tyranny, civil and ecclesiastical, as well as all error and vice ; but if THE REIGN OP PEACE. 309 tliey will not, (and this I greatly fear,) God will make their dispersion the means of spreading abroad that Gospel which they cruelly concealed from the perish- ing nations; as by the persecutions of the Church, under the Roman empire, he sent the Gospel of old to the barbarous tribes beyond it, the Germans, the Goths, and the many kindred tribes, that now rule the world under the vaunted title of the Anglo-Saxon race ! But supposing Christians to be willing to do their duty, how could the 'nations all be discijoled to the Lord Jesus. To this I answer. They already have the men and the means of converting and teaching all nations, both as regards the instruments and the grace (for the asking) that shall put these in operation in all lands, in all languages, and in all the relations of life. They can multiply these instruments as they proceed, as every new convert will become a new worker, and a workman fully prepared to spread the influence of divine grace around him in his daily life and conver- sation ; and thus a little leaven would speedily leaven the whole lump. And as a fire kindles as it spreads, so will the flame of the gospel go on strengthening as it advances ; the very obstacles that opposed it becom- ing new fuel to heighten its blaze, until the commin- gling flames from every side melt and consume that hardness of heart and unbelief, which the play of a single tongue of flame could not afiect. 310 THE REIGN OF PEACE. But in order to success, we must clearly see tlie object which we desire to accomplisli, and tlie means by whicli that object can be effected. Now, tlie great object, as I have already said, is the salvation of souls, since the body is as nothing to the soul in importance, or time to eternity. This, we arc assured by our Saviour, is the great work of God, and the only thing really needful to men ; as all things desirable will flow from this ; for God will be glorified, and, through the mercy of God in Christ, men shall have all things given them, richly to enjoy. If salvation, then, is gained, all is gained ; and if salvation is not secured, all is lost. The means of obtaining salvation are also plainly revealed. In the Old Testament we are assured that the only way of salvation is to fear God and to keep his commandments, of which the sum then lay in the offering of sacrifices, of which the meaning was expressed by John the Baptist, the last of the prophets, in these memorable words : " Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world." In the New Testament the same command takes a still simpler form : " Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ ; " which is also to be proved by simply keeping his dying com- mand, " Love one another, as I have loved you." The means here directed to be used are only to be found in the AVord of God; to which, therefore, every one is commanded to hearken, as the means of his becoming wise unto salvation, through the knowledge of Jesus THE REIQN OF PEACE. 311 Christ, to whom the whole of the sacred Scriptures bear their testimony. But the means of salvation for oneself, are the means of salvation for all mankind ; and hence the invitation to believe is accompanied with a command to preach the gospel, as wo see in those beautiful words so often repeated, yet but seldom, fully understood : " The Spirit and the Bride say, come ; And let him that nEARExn say, come." Hence the command to preach the gospel is laid upon all Christians ; and so we read that when the Church in Jerusalem was scattered abroad by the per- secution that arose about Stephen, the disciples went everywhere preaching the word. Indeed it is obvious that as out of the abundance of the heart the mouth ever speaketh, Christians only require to be deeply interested in the salvation of their own souls, and in the salvation of the souls of others, thus to speak often about the things that concern their everlasting peace. If, then, they could only realize, as they ought, the unspeakable importance of the salvation of souls, Christians would no longer dispute about "toys and trifles, in the church or out of it ; but would endeavor practically to answer this greatest of all questions. What shall I do to be saved ? And then that which is next to it, How shall we, by any moans, save all 312 THE REIGN OP PEACE. our fellow-men ? Then would the words of the poet be felt as well as sung : " Salvation ! 0, salvation ! The joyful sound proclaim, Till earth's remotest nation Has learnt Messiah's name." To accomplish this, as I said before, every man should begin at home ; begin with himself. The great difficulty has ever been a want of personal faith in the Son of God. Many go bo far as others go, and there they stop, because, though they are proud of the re- spectable company of their fellow Christians, they are not prepared to forsake them and follow Christ alone, when others hang back. This ib Satan's stronghold ; the world, the multitude go with him. And so, hith- erto, the multitude of professing Christians have ever been ashamed to own Christ in the day of his humilia- tion. Yet thib was the cross Christ came to bear, to be singularly godly, amid an ungodly people; and this is the cross which he calls upon all that would follow him, to take up and bear it after him. For this purpose Christians must be strong in faith. And it is really such men alone (and women too), that can either be sure of their own salvation, or be the means of saving others. Here, then, is the real point of dif- ficulty : Where shall we find Christians who are not ashamed to own and follow Christ, not onlv in their public assemblies, but also in their daily walk and THE REIGN or PEACE. 313 conversation ? Where shall we find such men as Abel, who confessed himself a sinner, though probably guilty of no public offance ; and sought for pardon through the blood of the Lamb ? Such men as Enoch and Noah, who were found faithful among the faithless, and were preachers of righteousness in a wicked gen- eration ? Such men as Abraham, who, forsaking all idols, worshipped in his family the living though in- visib;3 Jehovah ; and taught his descendants after him to do the same ? Such men as Moses, who forsook all the splendours of the world, that he might obtain a lot in the heavenly inheritance? Such men as David, w^ho delighted more to be accounted a fool for God, than to occupy the throne of the mightiest nation then in the world ? Such men as Daniel, who steadfastly continued making his daily prayers to God rather than save his life by the loss of God's favour ? Such men as Nehemiah, who sacrificed ease, and wealth, aud honour, that he might restore again the city of God, which had become a reproach to his holy name? Such men as Paul, who forsook all the honours and pleasures of this world, to preach among the heathen the unsearchable riches of Christ? Such men as Luther, who would willingly have sacrificed his life for the peace of the Church of God, and yet would not save his life by denying the only way of salvation by the faith of Jesus Christ ? Such men and women as we read of, who, through faith, sacrificed all to follow 314 THE REIGN OF PEACE. Christ, who himself sacrificed infinitely more than all, that he niiiz-ht come to earth, and save sinners lost and wretclicd, by his agony upon the cross? The Church wants earnest men ; men who will act as they believe, and believe as they find ; such men as will study, and pray, and labour, through grace, to fulfil what they undertake. They will begin with themselves, then, with their families, and with their own congregations; but they will not end there ; they will endeavour to leaven the whole community with the leaven of Christ. If otliers will join them, they will divide the work with them, even to giving them the choice of the field, seek- ing not their own honour, but the glory of Christ. But if others will not at first work with them, they will, like Pastor Obcrlin, of Switzerland, begin the work themselves, calling on all who will to come and help them. In this, minister and member are equally interested, ' But in order that their labours may lead to perma- nent success, Christians should not merely employ words, which vanish like vapour into the empty air, but gather all believers into a Church, which, like the same vapour confined in a cylinder, moves the ma- chinery attached to it. Organization is better than mere teaching, because it preserves what lias been taught. And hence the wisdom of the plan pursued by the early Christians, as taught them by the Lord and his apostles. Every one who w^s willing to ac- THE REIGN OP PEACE. 315 cept of salvation by Christ was added to the Church at once. There was none of that cold suspicion that chills the heart in the very moment of its softening, and often makes it harder than before. The poor outcast, at war with the world, at war with himself, M'as welcomed to come and cast all his burdens, spiri- tual and temporal, on the Lord Jesus, and found sym- pathizing counsellors and helpers, and, if needs were, and so far as possible, protectors, in the society of be- lievers. The same kindly feeling was revived in all the Reformed Churches, and in more recent times has been taken up by every new denomination for a time; not saying. Stand back, for I am holier than thou, or. Go, be ye fed, and clad, and warmed, by your own labours ; but, taking him by the hand, as a brother man, a child of God, an heir of heaven, and helping him to walk with Jesus, to adorn his doctrine, and to maintain his cause. This is how, and not by miracles merely, the Church of Christ rose so rapidly in the world. It came providing pardon for the past, help for the future, and eternal happiness and glory at last. This is what Christ came to provide for all man- kind, if they will accept it, and what Christ commands all his disciples to aid in imparting to all their fellow- men : to forgive as they have been forgiven ; to receive others as they have been received by Christ ; to love as they have been loved ; and freely to give as freely they have received : assuring them that in so doing 816 THE REIGN OP PEACE. tliey will not lose anything, but gain, even in this world, a hundred fold, and in the world to come, a crown of glory. The apostles and first Christians be- lieved heartily in the Lord Jesus, and lived and loved as brethren, even to having all things in common, al- though they consisted of members from every nation, sect, rank and station ; Jews, Greeks, Eomans, Barba- rians; l*harisees, Sadducees, philosophers, and out- casts; princes, peasants, freemen, slaves, men, women, elders, children ; these were all regarded and treated as members of one Family of God in Christ, whoso in- finite greatness levelled all distinctions. And I say without fear of contradiction, that every Christian de- nomination began in this way ; that while it continued to do Bo it grew and multiplied ; and that when it fell from its first love, it cooled, it declined, it wasted away. In this respect religious sects remind me of a remarkable bird I have read of, that flies high up into the air, until it reaches far above the clouds, and then, putting its head under its breast, and stretching its wings to the utmost, it goes to sleep while it descends, swirling round and round like the leaf from a tree, until it almost reaches the ground; it then flies up again as before, and so comes swirling down again, as long as necessary. So with these Churches : warmed at first with the fire of brotherly love, they mount up iuto the atmosphere of spiritual life ; and then, having reached their highest point, they sink again as gently THE REIQN OP PEACE. • 317 as possible, but still steadily descending, until tliey .almost reach the point of dissolution ; and then, alarmed at tlieir dangerous position, they renew their upward flight, until they again return to sleep, and through their failing eflbrts again descend. I am not in this, advocating an attempt at bribing men to become christians, which though it might make sectarians, would never make believers ; but only urging the wisdom of making it as easy to become a christian as we can, for those who are desirous of being so, by opening for them a refuge from their afflictions, and holding out a brotherly welcome to all who come to us. Meantime, the churches with their mouths invite men to come to Christ, and then with their hands they push them back ; they tell of the certain destruction that awaits them if they remain where they nre, and then drive them back, into the hands of their enemies, when they attempt to escape ; and hence so many are driven into Popery on the one hand, as the only open refuge, or into infidelity on the other, in contempt of the hollow professions of a selfish Christianity ; if such a thing as a selfish kindness can exist. When the Catholic Emancipation Bill was under discussion. Dr. Chalmers gave it the sanction of his great name ; saying, give them emancijiation, and give me the Bible. The Catholics got emancipation, but I fear the other half of the compact was forgotten. 818 THE REIGN OP PEACE. Still I believo that Dr. Chalmers' statement was well founded, had the whole of it been acted up to. For ], know no better means of converting, not only Roman Catholics, but all others, than by letting the transform- ing light of the gospel shine upon their hearts. But how can it be made to reach them, since they will not read the word of God, and will not even hear it ? — How then can it reach them? By only one way that I know of, and that is by seeing it printed in golden letters in the godly and amiable lives of faithful Pro- testants, as living epistles of Christ, known and read of all men' These they must read ; and from them they will learn that the Bible is the word of God, and that the Saviour of Protestants is tlie only true Saviour, since he saves them from their sins, from infidelity, from worldliness, and from all wickedness. But it is because it will not be so I fear, that the wrath of God is to be again so fearfully poured out upon the world. And therefore meantime, our main hope is in prayer — humble, persevering prayer, which through the intercession of Christ, moves the hand that rules the Universe, and moves all hearts. By prayer the Israelites were delivered from the bondage of Egypt, aiid brought again from the captivity in Babylon. By prayer the promise of the Father was realized at Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit filled the Apostles and their companions, with all gifts and graces needful to the great work of converting the TUB REION OF PEACE. 319 Morld ; and by prayer tlio same proiniso was again fulfilled at the Reformation, when Luther first, and afterwards many others, preached the word of God with such power, that princes and peoples felt that God was again making bare his holy arm and causing his voice to be heard in the midst of them. However gifted those men may have been, I believe that as D'Aubigne says, " The prayers of Luther contain the secret of the Eeformation." Luther, like the Saviour, spent whole nights in prayer. Knox was wont to spend six hours in prayer at a time. Long prayers in public may be unwise. But in secret, it is well for all christians to be instant in prayer j and to pray always and never to faint, until they have their requests. Let all sincere christians pra}* then for the coming of Christ, as they daily do in offering up the Lord's prayer ; and never cease until he arise to make his Church the joy and praise of all the earth. Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you tliat which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom bo glory for ever and e\a. Amen. ADDITIONAL SUBSCRIBERS, WI^OSK NAMES HAVE BEEN RECEIVED SINCE THE WORK WENT TO PKESS. W. ARTHURS- & CO., Toronto. A. MACLBNNAN (Rev.), Mubnur. JAS. CARMICHAEL (Rev.), King. W. SCOTT, Gormsley. J. QORDON (Rev.), Georgina". 8. QIVIN3 (Rov.), Yorkville. DAV. WATSON (Rev.), Thorah. V. CLKMBNTl (Rov.), Lakoflold. W. McKEE (Rev.), Gwilllmbuiy. GEO. READ, M.P.P., Petarboro'. ALEX. SANSON (Rev.), Toronto. Note. — Ai name gentlemen have expressed their unwillingness to hecome in any way responsihle for views of which they were ignorant^ hy becoming Subscribers, I may here state that while my Subscribers are entitled to more than half the merit of these mews being pivinted, the blame, whatever it may be, remains with myself alone, as I ho,v6 not consulted with any one in regcn'd either to the imperfect mews here stated, or the imperfect man- ner in which they are expressed. JAMES S. DOUGLAS. PKINTED BV W. C. ClIEWETT ft CO., KINO STREET EAST, TORO^TO. -:-^i, ■-',,.■