-NRLF 
 
 flb3 
 
 'iii 
 
 ill 
 
 I 
 
 ill!! 
 
LIBRARY 
 
 OF THK 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
 OF S 
 
 Mrs. SARAH P. WALSWORTH. 
 
 Received October, 1894. 
 Accessions No. $*7% (0 *J - Class No. 
 
SENTIMENTS 
 
 CONCERNING^ THE 
 
 COMING KINGDOM OF CHRIST, 
 
 COLLECTED FROM THE BIBLE, 
 
 AND FROM THE WRITINGS OF MANY ANCIENT AND 
 SOME MODERN BELIEVERS. 
 
 IN NINE LECTURES; 
 
 WITH AN APPENDIX. 
 
 BY JOSHUA SPALDING, 
 
 
 MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL AT THE TABERNACLE IN SALEM. 
 
 TO WHICH IS ADDED 
 
 A PREFACE, CONTAINING A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE RECENT RISE 
 AND PROGRESS OF THE DOCTRINE OF THE ADVENT NEAR, 
 
 BY J. V. HIMES AND J. LITCH. 
 
 Take heed to yourselves, lest that day come upon you una- 
 wares. JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY JOSHUA V. HIMES, 
 14 Devonshire Street. 
 
 1841. 
 
*7^l 
 
 TO 'ALL THEM 
 
 "THAT LOOK FOR REDEMPTION IN THE WORLD," 
 THE FOLLOWING LECTURES 
 
 BY THEIR BROTHER AND COMPANION, 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
EDITORS' PREFACE 
 
 TO THE SECOND EDITION. 
 
 WHATEVER is calculated to illustrate and make more clear and 
 interesting the word of God, to correct long cherished, and, as we fear, 
 fatal errors, we hail as helps in the gr&t and important work of 
 arousing a slumbering church and perishing world to look and pre- 
 pare for the speedy coming of the Lord. We believe the following 
 work eminently calculated to do this, and hence a sense of duty con- 
 strains us to send it forth into the world anew, to lift up its voice and 
 arouse the sleepers of the age. It was first published in Salem, Mass., 
 in 1796. But with its author it passed away, and has long been, 
 except by a few, forgotten. 
 
 We look upon this publication as the day-star of returning light to 
 the American churches on the subject of the near coming and king- 
 dom of our Lord Jesus Christ. The mists of error in which the church 
 had then for about a century been shrouded, relative to the millenni- 
 um, began to disperse, and the light of Scripture again to dawn upon 
 the world. Daniel had long before predicted that " at the time of the 
 end ""many should run to and fro, and knowledge should be in- 
 creased." The time of the end was from the end of the 1260 years of 
 papal rule, which happened in 1798, to the end itself.* As that period 
 began to dawn during the French Revolution and onward through the 
 reign of Buonaparte, an interest was excited on the fulfilment of pro- 
 phecy such as had never before been felt since the apostolic age. Very 
 many of the most eminent divines of the eastern world believed the 
 coming of Christ near, and that the great wars of that day were either 
 the battle of Armageddon, or precursors of it ; and not a few were 
 drawn forth to write upon the subject. But, forgetting the instruction 
 of the Savior, " See that ye be not troubled, for the end is not yet," 
 when that storm had passed by and an almost universal peace was 
 again restored, they were disappointed, and LOST CONFIDENCE, NOT 
 IN THE WORD OF GOD, but in themselves as interpreters of that 
 word, and retreated from the field. But it was not so, however, with 
 all ; for some have nobly maintained their ground until the present 
 time, that the prophetic Scriptures were nearly accomplished, and that 
 the millennial glory will soon be ushered in. 
 
 * For proof of this point, see " ADDRESS TO THE PUBLIC," by J. 
 LXTCH, 
 
IV EDITORS PREFACE. 
 
 The relics of that age are, many of them, a rich repast for the 
 lovers of God's word and the Savior's coming. 
 
 From the close of the last century up to the present time, there has 
 been a large and increasing number who have advocated the doctrine 
 of the millennium near ; some the spiritual, and some the personal 
 reign of Christ a thousand years. But for the last ten years the doc- 
 trine of the Savior's personal reign has been perseveringly and ably 
 advocated by some of the ablest pens of Great Britain ; and through 
 their labors a great body of Christians have been aroused to love and 
 look for the Savior's return to earth, to make up his jewels. 
 
 In our own country, although a few have risen so far above the 
 clouds which have obscured the doctrine as to be illuminated and 
 warmed by the heavenly truth, yet until within a few years but little 
 has either been said or written upon the subject. Not but that we 
 have had our writers on the prophecies ; but we must think, in 
 many instances, they have shed more darkness than light on the sub- 
 ject they undertook to explain. Yet we would by no means censure 
 them ; we believe they wrote according to the best light they had. 
 Nor has their labor been without its effect on the world. If it has done 
 no more, it has kept the subject of scripture prophecy before the 
 church, and excited a desire to understand it. 
 
 The work of Mr. Spalding, however, is an exception to this remark. 
 Few writers, of any age, were more clear on the doctrines of Christ's 
 second coming and kingdom, the two resurrections and millennium 
 between them, than he. But in his views he was violently opposed 
 by his compeers in the ministry. Rev. E. Smith informs us of his 
 opposition to Mr. Spalding's views, and his refusal to give him any 
 countenance or support, even so much as to assist him in selling his 
 book. Yet, although dead, he speaketh ; and the church will yet 
 honor the memory of the man who, in the midst of obloquy and reproach, 
 stood boldly forth as the messenger of God to a sleeping church. But 
 the seed so long ago sown will yet, we trust, bring forth much fruit. We 
 learn from those who had the happiness of sitting under Mr. Spalding's 
 ministry, that he was a most pious, godly man, and excellent minister 
 of the Lord Jesus. That he was an able and sound divine, we need 
 not inform any who will take the pains to read his work. To those 
 who knew the man personally, or by report of their fathers, the repub- 
 lication of the work can but be most acceptable. 
 
 From the lime of Mr. Spalding, none came forward to take up and 
 wear his fallen mantle, and advocate distinctly and boldly, from the 
 pulpit and press, the doctrines he held, (at least we have met with none,) 
 until William Miller commenced his career, about ten years since. 
 Through the labors of Mr. M. the whole country has been aroused to 
 an attention to the subject; so that, whether they believe his doctrine 
 
EDITORS' PREFACE. v 
 
 or not, there are very few in whose ear the midnight cry has not 
 sounded, and who have not heard of the expected end in 1843. 
 
 At present there is a large number scattered abroad through the 
 United States, both clergy and laity, who cordially embrace and advo- 
 cate his views. Several other writers have come forward within three 
 or four years, who are laboring to disseminate the doctrine of the ad- 
 vent near. " The Signs of the. Times" was started in the spring of 
 1840, for the purpose of assisting in the dissemination of the light 
 which is constantly increasing upon this great question. It is pub- 
 lished 14 Devonshire street, Boston, semi-monthly, $1,00 per year. 
 "The Second Advent Witness," just commenced in New York, is 
 devoted to the same cause. Two General Conferences have been held, 
 composed of those who believe and advocate the doctrine ; the 
 Reports of which have been widely circulated through the country and 
 world. 
 
 We now take pleasure in giving anew to the world and church tha 
 labors of a departed brother, the fruit of which we trust will be glory 
 to God and good to man. 
 
 We do not, of course, endorse all the author's views ; such, for in- 
 stance, and in particular, his idea of the return of the Jews prior to 
 Christ's coming. We do not believe the Jew has anything to hope, 
 except it be by becoming Abraham's seed through faith in Christ. 
 For since Christ nailed the enmity, the law of commandments con- 
 tained in ordinances, to his cross, and took it away, " there is neither 
 Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor 
 female; but if Christ's, then Abraham's seed, and heirs according to 
 the promise." The unbelieving Jew, with the unbelieving Gentile, will 
 receive " indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish," in the day 
 when God judges the secrets of men. The restoration, therefore, must 
 be the true Israel, to the heavenly country which the patriarchs 
 sought, at the resurrection of the just.* Another point which our au- 
 thor did not take up, but which we deem important, is the times and 
 fee/sons. He indeed believed the event near ; but how near, he did not 
 attempt to determine. Nor had the time of the end then come, when 
 the seal was to be broken, the words opened, and the wise understand. 
 But, if Mr. S. were now alive, we doubt not but, with the light which 
 shines on this point of the prophetic Scriptures, he would most cor- 
 dially embrace the theory. On the whole, we believe the work calcu- 
 lated to do much good. 
 
 JOSHUA V. HtMES, 
 JOSIAH LITCH. 
 
 BOSTON, OCTOBER 1. 1841. 
 
 * See APPENDIX, No. H. 
 1* 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 Page. 
 THE COMING OF CHRIST, 7 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 THE LAST TRUMPET, 29 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 THE FIBST RESURRECTION, 64 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 THE BATTLE OF THAT GREAT DAY OF GOD ALMIGHTY, 77 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST, 106 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS, . . . 128 
 
 LECTURE VII. 
 THE NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH, . . . 156 
 
 LECTURE VIII. 
 THE NEW JERUSALEM, 178 
 
 LECTURE IX. 
 GOG AND MAGOG, 194 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. 1 215 
 
 No. II. . 238 
 
 No. III. ' 252 
 
 NOTE. THE TWO THEORIES OF THE PRE-MILLEN- 
 
 NIAL ADVENT, 256 
 
THE COMING OF CHRIST. 
 
 Behold he cometh. REV. i. 7. 
 
 " To wait for the Son of God from heaven" is 
 the glorious privilege of believers a privilege 
 were they denied, they would be of all men most 
 miserable ; but, indulged with which, though 
 many are their tribulations, they are of all men 
 most happy. 
 
 This hope being their helmet of salvation, 
 they are commanded to comfort one another with 
 the promises of his coming, and especially as 
 they u see the day approaching." 
 
 An attempt to collect and compare a few Scrip- 
 ture accounts of this glorious event will certainly 
 be agreeable to those " who love his appearing ;" 
 who wait with longing desires to see him, " whom, 
 having not seen, they love ; in whom, though 
 now they see him not, yet, believing, they rejoice 
 with joy unspeakable, arid full of glory." 
 
 To comfort the people of God, and to animate 
 them in a dark, trying day to look up and rejoice ; 
 I have penned some of the grounds of a belief 
 
8 THE COMING OF CHRIST. 
 
 that their warfare is almost accomplished, and 
 that their eternal redemption draweth nigh. 
 
 And who can see the shades of the evening 
 stretching over the world, without attempting to 
 awaken a generation, perhaps in the deepest 
 sleep, and the most unapprehensive of such an 
 event, of any that were ever on earth ? 
 
 The same Jesus who once came to suffer in 
 the world, is coming again to reign. He who 
 died on Calvary's cross, under every circumstance 
 of reproach which wicked men and devils could 
 invent, " shall come in the glory of his Father," 
 " and every eye shall see him." And notwith- 
 standing there be no direct revelation of that 
 day and hour, and no man knoweth it ; yet the 
 holy Scriptures do mention certain events and 
 things, as immediately connected with it, design- 
 edly, that by them the approach of that day may be 
 seen and certainly known ;* which events we 
 conceive must take place before the millennium, 
 and, which it is our present object to point out 
 and illustrate. 
 
 One event so connected is the recalling of the 
 Jews.t 
 
 Our Lord in his last visit to Jerusalem bade 
 it an affectionate adieu, in which is this prophecy : 
 " Behold, your house is left unto you desolate ; 
 for I say unto you, ye shall not see me hence- 
 
 * In this manner the disciples of Christ understood 
 him to foretel the time of his coming and kingdom : for, 
 they ask not, what day or year, hut, "What shall be the 
 sign of thy coming? " or, " What sign will there be ? " and 
 having answered them, he added, "When ye shall see these 
 things come to pass, know that it is near, even at the 
 doors." 
 
 f See Appendix No. II. 
 
THE COMING OF CHRIST. 9 
 
 forth, till ye shall say, blessed is he that cometh 
 in the name of the Lord." "He cometh in the 
 name of the Lord," was a familiar phrase to the 
 Jews, used to express distinctly the visible 
 appearing of their Lord Christ; to which they 
 usually added, Hosanna a word used to express 
 distinctly the glory of the reign of Christ their 
 King. 
 
 And whilst then his followers were shouting 
 " Hosanna blessed is he that cometh in the 
 name of the Lord blessed be the kingdom of 
 David our Father that cometh in the name of the 
 Lord Hosanna ;" thinking that the kingdom of 
 God should immediately appear ; he answered, 
 " O, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, behold, your house 
 is left unto you desolate. And verily I say unto 
 you, ye shall not see me, until the time come 
 when ye shall say, blessed is he that cometh in 
 the name of the Lord." 
 
 This must be an appearing of Christ, other- 
 wise than by the pouring out of his Spirit ; for 
 such a sight of him Jerusalem had at Pentecost, 
 and yet their house is desolate. The sight of 
 him therefore which shall end their desolation 
 will be a different thing; for in this sense they 
 were to see him no more, till the day of their 
 repentance, when their desolation should end. 
 
 He that was to " come in the name of the 
 Lord" that was " blessed out of the house of 
 the Lord,"^ had often visited his house, and, 
 meeting a very unkind reception, now bids it 
 a long adieu ; but in the woful threatening 
 encloses a promise that it should not be forever. 
 
 * Psalm cxviii. 26. 
 
10 THE COMING OF CHRIST. 
 
 Once more he would come, and then all the Jews, 
 in the 'Same manner as the few believers now, 
 would meet him with open arms, and with hosan- 
 nas welcome him home. 
 
 A Jew could understand this prophecy in no 
 other sense, than as connecting' their conversion 
 and his second coming-. And in this sense it 
 was understood by the disciples ; for Peter, in 
 his discourse to the Jews, Acts iii., carefully 
 timed their conversion and the blotting out of 
 their sins, when the times of refreshing shall 
 come from the presence of the Lord, and he shall 
 send Jesus -Christ. His words are, " Repent ye 
 therefore, and be converted, that your sins may 
 be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall 
 come from the presence of the Lord. And he 
 shall send Jesus Christ, which before was 
 preached unto you, whom the heaven must 
 receive, until the times of restitution of all things, 
 which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his 
 holy prophets, since the world began." 
 
 Here, the restoration of the Jews, and the 
 coming of Christ, are connected in the strongest 
 manner possible. Their sins shall be blotted out 
 when the times of refreshing shall come ; which 
 must be expected only from the presence of the 
 Lord, in the person of Jesus Christ; for, until 
 he shall come, their house must be desolate. 
 What all the prophets have spoken of as the res- 
 toration of the Jews, or, as Jerusalem restored, is 
 here called the times of refreshing, and the res- 
 titution of all things ; when they shall repent, 
 and their sins shall be " blotted out," and Jesus 
 Christ shall be revealed from heaven in his glory, 
 as the heaven now receives him. 
 
THE COMING OF CHRIST. 11 
 
 Another event, immediately connected with 
 the coming of Christ, is the final destruction of 
 Antichrist.^ 
 
 This may be seen in 2 Thessalonians ii. 8. 
 The Lord shall consume the Man of Sin, who is 
 the same with Antichrist, " with the spirit of his 
 mouth, and shall destroy " him " with the bright- 
 ness of his coming." 
 
 If it be doubted whether the word coming be 
 used here in a proper sense, let it be observed, 
 that the apostle is here discoursing, beyond all 
 doubt, concerning the proper coming of Christ, 
 and that most certainly he used the same word 
 Tyg nuQsautg, coming to convey such an idea in 
 the first verse ;t and no note or sign being given 
 of the variation of its meaning, it could not be 
 used to convey a different idea in the eighth 
 verse, and be intelligible : for, if the same words 
 be used in a discourse for different things, with- 
 out some distinguishing mark of the difference, 
 they can give no instruction. 
 
 We are sure the apostle Paul did not use 
 words in this manner : nothing can be more 
 unwarranted from the style of his writings than 
 to suppose he used the word coming, in the first 
 verse, for the proper coming of Christ, and in a 
 few following verses, before he left the subject, 
 
 * " The second coming of the Lord will be at and for 
 the destruction of the Man of Sin, and the extinction 
 of the Roman monarchy under the Papal form of it." 
 Mather's Life, page 141. 
 
 f If any should doubt whether the words "coining of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ," in the first verse, mean his sec- 
 ond and proper coming, let them look back into the first 
 chapter, 7. 8, 9, and 10th verses, and attend to the con- 
 nection, and they must be satisfied. 
 
I 
 
 12 THE COMING OF CHRIST. 
 
 without the least intimation of varying its mean- 
 ing, used it again for his word and Spirit, or for 
 some event of Divine Providence, we know not 
 what. 
 
 Why should we make the apostle dark and 
 unintelligible, when discoursing to his brethren, 
 in the most familiar style, of the time of the 
 coming of Christ, exactly in the same manner 
 as Christ himself discoursed of the same thing; 
 not pointing it oat directly, but as immediately 
 connected with an event of great notoriety ? 
 
 It should farther be observed in this passage, 
 that the apostle, undertaking expressly to show 
 why the coming of Christ should not then be 
 immediately expected, gives this reason, and this 
 only: there must "come a falling away first, 
 and that Man of Sin be revealed, the son of 
 perdition,' 1 and have his time; but why did he 
 not add, and that glorious millennium also must 
 first come, and the kingdom of Christ and the 
 saints be revealed ? Is not the reign of Christ 
 and the righteous as important an event as the 
 reign of Antichrist and the wicked ? Did it not 
 as much deserve the apostle's notice ? Was it 
 not as much in his remembrance ? For certainly, 
 if this also had been to take place before Christ's 
 coming, to have mentioned it would have been 
 as much to his purpose. 
 
 Why, we ask, did the apostle, when expressly 
 pointing out what must delay the day of Christ, 
 stop a whole millenary, or thousand years, short ? 
 What reason can be given for such an omission ? 
 Or if the mention of one was sufficient for his 
 purpose, why was not the millennium instanced 
 in, rather than the antichristian apostasy, as the 
 
THE COMING OF CHRIST. 13 
 
 later and the greater event, and clearer proof? 
 But it may also be observed, that this is the case 
 in every place in the New Testament where the 
 events preceding the coming of Christ are 
 noted. 
 
 The Lord himself distinctly rehearsed the 
 great events to take place before his second com- 
 ing, and, among others, the great falling away 
 which the apostle mentions here, and " that 
 wicked" " the abomination of desolation ;" but 
 said not a word of the millennium : yea, he so 
 connected his coming with this notorious aposta- 
 sy, that it should seem impossible the millennium 
 were to intervene. See Matt. xxiv. " When 
 ye therefore shall see the abomination of desola- 
 tion, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in 
 the holy place (whoso readeth, let him under- 
 stand) For there shall arise false Christs, and 
 false prophets, and shall show great signs and 
 wonders, insomuch that (if it were possible) they 
 shall deceive the very elect. Behold I have told 
 you before. Wherefore, if they shall say unto 
 you, Behold, he is in the desert, go not forth ; 
 Behold, he is in the secret chambers, believe it 
 not. For as the lightning cometh out of the 
 east, and shineth even unto the west, so shall 
 also the coming of the Son of Man be." See 
 also Mark xiii. " Then, if any man shall say 
 to you, Lo, here is Christ, or, Lo, he is there ; 
 believe him not. For false Christs and false 
 prophets shall arise, and shall show signs and 
 wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the 
 elect. But take ye heed ; behold I have foretold 
 you all things. But in those days, after that 
 tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the 
 
 2 
 
 0* TALK 
 
14 THE COMING OF CHRIST. 
 
 moon shall not give her light ; and the stars of 
 heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in 
 heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see 
 the Son of Man coming in the clouds, with great 
 power and glory" We have the same in Luke 
 xxi. : " Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the 
 Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be ful- 
 filled. And there shall be signs in the sun, and 
 in the moon, and in the stars ; and upon the 
 earth distress of nations, with perplexity ; the 
 sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing 
 them for fear, and for looking after those things 
 which are coming on the earth ; for the powers 
 of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they 
 see the Son of Man coming in a cloud, with 
 power and great glory." 
 
 I know it has been said, that Christ, in this 
 discourse of what should come to pass before his 
 second coming, does give a hint of the millenni- 
 um, saying, the gospel shall first " be preached 
 in all the world for a witness." But, if the mil- 
 lennium be here intimated, the intimation is very 
 obscure : besides, this preaching is " for a wit- 
 ness unto all nations," or " for a testimony against 
 them," which appears too much to savor of death 
 for the millennium. Also, this preaching the 
 gospel in all the world is placed, in the discourse, 
 before the apostasy, as the nature of the case 
 requires ; and whilst this is connected with the 
 destruction of Jerusalem, it is the great apostasy 
 following that is immediately connected with the 
 coming of Christ.^ And, examining farther, 
 
 * Both Mark and Luke describe the mode of this pub- 
 lishing of the gospel ; that it shall come to all people, not 
 in the welcome, easy, peaceable, and popular manner 
 
THE COMING OF CHRIST. 15 
 
 we find the fullest proof that this publishing* of 
 the gospel was an event to be accomplished, not 
 in the millennium, but before it commenced : for 
 the apostle Paul, in his epistle to the Romans, a 
 little before the destruction of Jerusalem, speak- 
 ing of the preached gospel, said, " Have they not 
 heard ? Yes, verily, their sound went into all 
 the earth, and their words unto the ends of the 
 world." And a few years after, in the epistle to 
 the Colossians, speaking of the state and pro- 
 gress of the gospel, used words the same as these 
 of Christ, "it is in all the world;" and, as 
 though designed to prevent all dispute about this 
 matter, he declared, in the same chapter, that the 
 gospel had progressed, if possible, beyond the 
 prophecy of Christ, and was preached to every 
 creature which is under heaven."* Some, ho\v- 
 
 that some talk of its being preached in the millennium ; 
 but uninvited, by the means of its witnesses being per- 
 secuted, and " delivered up to the synagogues, and into 
 prisons, being brought before kings and rulers." Mark 
 xiii. 9 11 ; Luke xxi. 1215. 
 
 * If the gospel has not yet been preached in all the 
 world, it is certain from the Scriptures that it will be 
 before the last fall of Antichrist ; for John (Rev. xiv. 6 
 8,) "saw an angel fly in the midst of heaven, having 
 the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on 
 the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, 
 and people, saying, Fear God, and give glory to him, for 
 the hour of his judgment is come. And there followed 
 another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen. " 
 Therefore, as the gospel will be preached to every nation, 
 and kindred, and tongue, and people that dwell on the 
 earth, before the destruction of Antichrist; Christ may 
 come at that time, before the millennium, and his word 
 be fulfilled. And it is observable, that the time of the 
 fall of Babylon is called here, "the hour of his judg- 
 ment." 
 
16 THE COMING OF CHRIST. 
 
 ever, can make the plain assertions of Scripture 
 to the contrary of none effect, and think to 
 answer all our arguments, by saying, the millen- 
 nium must take place before the coming of Christ, 
 because he said, " this gospel of the kingdom 
 shall be preached in all the world," or, " must 
 first be published among all nations. 
 
 To proceed ; the apostle Paul, in immediately 
 connecting the destruction of Antichrist and the 
 coming of Christ, is not chargeable with an 
 omission, or with impropriety of language ; but 
 herein carefully followed the instruction of his 
 Lord and Savior. 
 
 And the same line of doctrine is observed by 
 the apostle Peter, who also expressly took up the 
 subject of Christ's coming, and the delay of it, 
 2 Peter, 3d chapter ; where he reminded his 
 brethren of the great apostasy, so much spoken 
 of " by the holy prophets," and by them who had 
 been with the Lord Jesus : " that there shall 
 come in the last days scoffers, walking after their 
 own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of 
 his coming?" With whom, he intimated, God 
 would bear long, and make the most astonishing 
 display of his " long suffering, not willing that 
 any should perish, but that all should come to 
 repentance ;" which day of divine patience and 
 long suffering towards his enemies, by Peter, in 
 the same manner as by Paul and the Evange- 
 lists, is closed by the coming of Christ and the 
 conflagration of the world. 
 
 After a description of which, he added, " Nev- 
 ertheless we, according to his promise, look for 
 new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth 
 righteousness;" in which he doubtless includps 
 
THE COMING OF CHRIST. 17 
 
 the promise of the future glorious kingdom of 
 Christ and his saints, which we call the millen- 
 nium. 
 
 For the promised new heavens and new earth 
 must be the same with the restoration of all 
 things, which this apostle, Peter, said, Acts iii. 
 21, ' God hath spoken by the mouth of all his 
 holy prophets since the world began." But to 
 verify this assertion, that all the prophets spake 
 of the restitution, we must suppose, that, where 
 they speak of the restoration and future glory of 
 Judah and Jerusalem of the happy days the 
 peace, plenty, and prosperity of the people Israel, 
 they speak of the restitution of all things of the 
 new heavens and new earth ; for all the prophets 
 in this manner, and the most of them in no other, 
 have spoken of the times of restitution : but in 
 foretelling the restoration of Jerusalem and Zion 
 the peace and prosperity, happiness and glory 
 of Israel, all the prophets (and the most of them 
 in no other way) have prophesied of the millen- 
 nium ; which shows, that the millennium is 
 included in the times of restitution, or, the new 
 heavens and new earth. 
 
 If all the prophets have spoken of a restitution 
 of all things, it must be in those very prophecies, 
 or promises, according to which we look for a 
 millennium.^ As, therefore, we look for " the 
 times of restitution of all things" the new 
 
 * Moses, Deut. xxx. 4, 5, and xxxii. 43. David, Pb. 
 ii. 7 viii., xxi., xxiv., xxxvii., xlv., xlvi., xevi., xcvii., xcviii. 
 Isaiah xi., xxxiii., xxxv., lx., Ixv., Ixvi. Jeremiah xxiv. 
 0, 6; xxxii. 41 j xxxiii., 26. Ezekiel xxviii. 25, and 
 chap, xxxvi. Daniel xii. 1, 3, 12, 13. Hosea iii., xiv. 
 Joel iii. 1?. Amos ix. Obadiah. vs. 17, 21. Micah iv. ; v. 
 2* 
 
18 THE COMING OF CHRIST. 
 
 heavens and new earth ; and for the times we 
 call the millennium, according to the same prom- 
 ises ; they are doubtless the same blessed 
 " times of refreshing from the presence of the 
 Lord." 
 
 These prophecies, being all promises of the 
 same thing, they are summed up by Peter, and 
 called " his promise " according to which, believers 
 look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein, 
 dwelleth righteousness." 
 
 And as the restitution spoken of by all the 
 prophets will not be till the coming of Christ, 
 Acts iii. 21, nor the new heavens and earth till 
 the great conflagration, 2 Peter, iii. 12, 13, so 
 neither will the millennium ; it being every 
 where included in the promises of those very 
 things. 
 
 The events, therefore, to be expected at the 
 destruction of Antichrist, to which hour every- 
 thing appears so rapidly hastening, are no less 
 than the coming of Christ, the conflagration of 
 the world, the restitution of all things, and that 
 kingdom of glory which " shall fill the earth with 
 the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the 
 waters cover the sea." 
 
 Again ; the coming of Christ is connected with 
 a day of tribulation, such as never was before it, 
 and never will be after it. 
 
 The Lord said. Matt. xxiv. " Immediately 
 after the tribulation of those days, shall the sun 
 be darkened, and the moon shall not give her 
 
 Nahum i. 15. Habakkuk ii. 14. Zephaniah iii. 14, &c. 
 Haggai ii. Zechariah ii. 10, &c., chap. ix. 10, &c. ; and 
 chap. xiv. Malachi iii., iv. 
 
THE COMING OF CHRIST. 19 
 
 light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and 
 the powers of heaven shall be shaken : and 
 then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in 
 heaven : and then shall all the tribes of the earth 
 mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming 
 in the clouds of heaven, with power and great 
 glory. And he shall send his angels with a great 
 sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together 
 his elect from the four winds, from one end of 
 heaven to the other." 
 
 In Mark it is, " In those days shall be affliction 
 such as was not from the beginning of the crea- 
 tion until this time, neither shall be. And in 
 those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be 
 darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, 
 and the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers 
 that are in heaven shall be shaken. And then 
 shall they see the Son of Man coming in the 
 clouds with great power and glory. And he 
 shall send his angels," &c. 
 
 Luke writes, " These be the days of vengeance 
 and there shall be signs in the sun, and in the 
 moon, and in the stars ; and upon the earth dis- 
 tress of nations, with perplexity ; men's hearts 
 failing them for fear, and for looking after those 
 things which are coming on the earth ; for the 
 powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then 
 shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud, 
 with power and great glory. And when these 
 things begin to come to pass, then look up, and 
 lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth 
 nigh." 
 
 Daniel connects the glorious appearing of 
 Christ for the redemption of his people, with " a 
 time of trouble such as never was since there 
 
20 THE COMING OF CHRIST. 
 
 was a nation, even to that same time." And 
 Malachi connects the coining of the Lord of hosts 
 with a burning day, such as none of the wicked 
 shall be able to abide, and which he calls " the 
 great and dreadful day of the Lord." 
 
 This day of tribulation, such as never before 
 had been, nor thereafter should be, is doubtless 
 the battle of that great day of God Almighty, 
 which also in the Revelation is connected with 
 the coming of Christ : for there, at that time, we 
 hear his voice, saying, " Behold, I come." 
 
 But that great day of vengeance is expected 
 soon to take place, before the millennium, at the 
 beginning of the pouring out of the seventh vial : 
 for, in the end, 'when the apostasy from Christ is 
 perfected by the spirits, or powers of devils, even 
 to "resist the truth," "as Jannes and Jambres 
 withstood Moses," by " working miracles," " with 
 all power and signs," and " doing great wonders 
 in the sight of men;" and also by an union of 
 " the kings of the earth, and of the whole world ;" 
 then will commence " the battle of that great day 
 of God Almighty." 
 
 Then, " Behold, I come," says Christ. " And 
 the seventh angel poured out his vial into the 
 air ; and there came a great voice out of the 
 temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is 
 done. And there were voices, and thunders, 
 and lightnings ; and there was a great earth- 
 quake, such as was not since men were upon the 
 earth, so mighty an earthquake and so great." 
 
 The seventh angel's pouring out his vial into 
 the air, the home seat of Satan's power, signifies 
 the same as his laying hold on him, and binding 
 him, mentioned chapter xx,, previous to the mil- 
 
THE COMING OF CHRIST. 21 
 
 lennium. And, in like manner, that great and 
 dreadful day of the Lord precedes the millen- 
 nium both in Daniel and Malachi. 
 
 Therefore, as the coming of Christ is every 
 where in the Scriptures connected with this great 
 and dreadful day of God Almighty, and as this 
 great day is to come at the beginning of the 
 pouring out of the seventh vial, how soon may 
 the long expected, long desired moment of the 
 appearing of the Redeemer arrive ! 
 
 Once more ; the Scriptures connect the coming 
 of Christ with certain phenomena, both in the 
 heavens and in the earth. 
 
 In the heavens, appearances of blood and fire, 
 and pillars or vapor of smoke the sun darkened, 
 and the moon crimsoned. 
 
 In the earth, " the sea and the waves roaring;" 
 and whirlwinds "the Lord hath his way in the 
 whirlwind" " the Lord God shall blow the 
 trumpet, and shall go forth with whirlwinds." 
 That great day of God Almighty is called " the 
 day of the whirlwind," and the battle thereof 
 " a continuing whirlwind in the latter days ye 
 shall consider it." To which are added (though 
 as more remotely connected) the more natural 
 signs, of " wars, famines, pestilences, and earth- 
 quakes, in divers places." 
 
 Respecting these phenomena and omens both 
 in the heavens and in the earth, it will be very 
 difficult for us to remark : they, however, with 
 the other signs of the Lord's coming, will not fail 
 to give to the listening ear of wisdom their 
 momentous instruction. 
 
 Now, all these things, which are joined with 
 the coming of Christ, may soon take place ; 
 
22 THE COMING OF CHRIST. 
 
 much sooner than we are aware of: for, the 
 calling of the Jews, " as it depends not upon, 
 ordinary means to effect it, so there are like to 
 be no preparations at all unto it until it comes, 
 (as there are not for things extraordinary;) bat 
 a nation shall bring forth in a day, (as the pro- 
 phet speaks.) And so, in the very year before 
 it, there will be no more outward appearances, or 
 probabilities of it than there are now, or than 
 there have been many hundred years since. And 
 therefore our faith need not be put off from this, 
 by the seeing as yet no stirrings or motions at all 
 unto it, or towards it."* 
 
 And, also, the final destruction of all Antichrist 
 will be most sudden and unexpected. A mighty 
 angel, in the sight of John, " took up a sione, 
 like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, 
 saying, Thus with violence shall that great city 
 Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no 
 more at all." In the height of her glorifying 
 herself, saying, " I sit a queen, and am no widow, 
 and shall see no sorrow, her plagues come in 
 one day, death and mourning ; and she shall be 
 utterly burnt with fire : for strong is the Lord 
 God who judgeth her." Yea, in one hour her 
 judgment comes, and " in one hour is she made 
 desolate." So, in Daniel, the Antichrist " shall 
 go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly 
 to make away many. And he shall plant the 
 tabernacles of his. palace between the seas, in the 
 glorious holy mountain ; yet he shall come to his 
 end, and none shall help him." 
 
 And, respecting the day of tribulation, do we 
 
 * Dr. Goodwin. 
 
THE COMING OF CHRIST. 23 
 
 dream, or is it reality, that the alarm trumpet of 
 " the battle of that great day of God Almighty " 
 begins to sound ? 
 
 And can it be doubted, that the signs in nature 
 in the heavens and in the earth have for some 
 time been appearing ? We have seen the appear- 
 ance in the heavens of " blood and fire, and vapor 
 of smoke." No words could be used to give an 
 idea of the northern lights,^ as they are called, 
 more filly than these. They so exactly answered 
 the Scripture prophecy, as, at first, to occasion 
 great alarm ; but, becoming frequent, now scarcely 
 attract the eye of curiosity. 
 
 * They appeared in this part of the world early in the 
 present century, just above the northern horizon; and 
 about the same time, in much the same manner, they 
 appeared in Europe. They, or something very similar, 
 a fen times, at some periods, had been observed before, 
 viz., 1621, Sept. 2, they were observed all over France. 
 1581, they appeared in Germany, in an extraordinary 
 manner, in April and September, and in a less degree at 
 some other times the same year; and the year before, 
 1580, they were there observed seven times. 1575, they 
 were seen twice in Brabant, Feb. 13 and Sept. 28. 1574, 
 they were observed in England, two nights successively, 
 Nov. 14 and 15. They were also seen there, Oct. 7, 
 1561, and Jan. 30, 1560. And there were several such- 
 like appearances in the age immediately preceding the 
 destruction of Jerusalem. Before the beginning of the 
 present century, however, they had not been noticed for 
 near an hundred years; but, from that time, or from 
 March 6, 1716, they became very frequent, and con- 
 tinued gradually to rise, or approach toward the south, 
 apparently widening and spreading as they advanced, 
 and about the middle of this century often reached the 
 zenith of New-England ; and at length have proceeded 
 so far south, or have risen so high, as to be seen some- 
 times in the West-Indies. 
 
24 THE COMING OF CHRIST. 
 
 We have seen wonderful and alarming phe- 
 nomena of darkness of the sun and moon. And 
 in the earth there have been most sudden and 
 surprising changes and revolutions of nations and 
 kingdoms " famines, and pestilences, and earth- 
 quakes" strange commotions of the elements; 
 "the sea and the waves roaring:" whirlwinds 
 have lately been driven over the earth, in a man- 
 ner the most wonderful and astonishing. We 
 have heard nothing so much resembling the 
 sound of the trump of God, as these whirlwinds ; 
 and we have seen nothing so much resembling 
 nature's final doom, as the paths of these his 
 chariots. The world appears 
 
 " To toll the death-bell of its own decease, 
 
 And by the voice of all its elements 
 
 To preach the gen'ral doom. When were the winds 
 
 Let slip with such a warrant to destroy ? 
 
 When did the waves so haughtily o'erleap 
 
 Their ancient barriers ? 
 
 Fires from beneath, and meteors from above, 
 
 Portentous, unexampled, unexplained. 
 
 Have kindled beacons in the skies ; and the old 
 
 And crazy earth has had her shaking fits 
 
 More frequent, and foregone her usual rests. 
 
 The pillars of our planet seem to fail, 
 
 And nature with a dim and sickly eye 
 
 To wait the close of all." 
 
 But the philosopher, so called, will doubtless 
 explain all these things fully to the satisfaction 
 of an unbelieving world; for, " none of the wicked 
 shall understand." Means are ever at hand a 
 Magus, Jannes, Jambres, or Elymas to blind 
 the minds of the willingly ignorant them that 
 believe not. 
 
 The manner of the appearing of our Savior 
 
THE COMING OF CHRIST. 25 
 
 we cannot describe or conceive. Whilst here, 
 conversant with mortal things, we have neither 
 thoughts, words, nor comparisons any way com- 
 mensurate to such scenes : yet infinite wisdom 
 in the Scriptures has given us many descriptions 
 of this, as well as of other heavenly things, which 
 " eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have 
 entered into the heart of man." We are assured, 
 he will come in the glory of his Father a glory 
 surpassing the sun in its greatest radiancy. He 
 will be revealed from heaven, as he was received 
 into heaven, in a cloud amidst angels with a 
 shout, and sound of a trumpet. He will appear 
 as God upon his throne, robed in heaven's light, 
 in clouds ; not dark, obscuring clouds, but such 
 as compose the scenery of the courts above as 
 dress the throne of glory. 
 
 The Jews expected, in the limes of the king- 
 dom, i. e. the millennium, the return of " the 
 cloud of the Lord," in which he appeared "upon 
 the mercy-seat" the cloud of divine presence, 
 called the Shekinah. And when the new Jeru- 
 salem was come down, John said, " And I heard 
 a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold, the 
 tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell 
 with them, and they shall be his people, and God 
 himself shall be with them, and be their God." 
 The same word was used, by the same author, to 
 express the proper presence of the Lord ; when 
 he was in the world, and dwelt among the chil- 
 dren of men, incarnate ; " the word was made 
 flesh, and EOXTJVWOSV tabernacled among us, 
 and we beheld his glory.*' And the Hebrew 
 Shekinah is said to come from a word of like 
 sound and signification with the Greek 
 3 
 
 
26 THE COMING OF CHRIST. 
 
 here used. All this corresponds with the idea 
 of a cloud or clouds, which is almost ever sug- 
 gested in the prophetic descriptions of the appear- 
 ing of our Lord. 
 
 This will be the very presence of his glory, 
 and every eye in all the earth shall see him as 
 really and as properly as Paul saw him after he 
 had entered into his glory ; and as Stephen, when 
 he looked into heaven, and saw the glory of God, 
 and Jesus standing on the right hand of God. 
 
 At mount Sinai, the ancients of Israel went up 
 unto the Lord. " And they saw the God of Israel : 
 and there was under his feet, as it were a paved 
 work of a sapphire-stone, and as it were the body 
 of heaven in his clearness they saw God, and 
 did eat and drink." This was his proper pre- 
 sence : and this most glorious vision is referred to 
 in a prophecy of the millennium, to give an idea 
 of the blissful vision of the King of glory, that 
 will then open to his people. ** Then the moon 
 shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when 
 the Lord of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and 
 in Jerusalem, and before his ancients, gloriously," 
 
 To conclude ; if the things we have noted be 
 not the sign of the Son of Man that shall appear 
 and give the warning to his people of his coming ; 
 what is ? The sign of the Son of Man, and the 
 midnight cry, spoken of by Matthew, are doubt- 
 less one. When these things come to pass, " the 
 wise shall understand," and lift up their heads, 
 and rejoice. Therefore is the time come to look 
 for the final destruction of Antichrist for the 
 conversion of the Jews for the battle of that 
 great day of God Almighty, and for the natural 
 signs and omens of his second advent ? Yea, do 
 
THE COMING OF CHRIST. 27 
 
 these things begin to come to pass ? Then, open 
 the ear of wisdom, and hear the cry at midnight, 
 " Behold, the Bridegroom cometh ! " 
 
 " Come then, and. added to thy many crowns, 
 Receive yet one, the crown of all the earth, 
 Thou who alone art worthy ! it was thine 
 By ancient covenant, ere nature's birth, 
 And thou hast made it thine by purchase since, 
 And overpaid its value with thy blood. 
 Thy saints proclaim thee King j and in their hearts 
 Thy title is engraven with a pen 
 Dipt in the fountain of eternal love. 
 Thy saints proclaim thee King ; and thy delay 
 Gives courage to their foes, who, could they see 
 The dawn of thy last advent long desired, 
 Would creep into the bowels of the hills, 
 And flee for safety to the falling rocks. 
 The very spirit of the world is tired 
 Of its old taunting question, asked so long, 
 Where is the promise of your Lord's approach ? 
 The infidel has shot his bolts away, 
 Till, his exhausted quiver yielding none, 
 He gleans the blunted shafts that have recoiled, 
 And aims them at the shield of truth again. 
 The veil is rent, rent too by priestly hands, 
 That hides divinity from mortal eyes ; 
 And all the mysteries to faith proposed, 
 Insulted and traduced, are cast aside, 
 As useless, to the moles, and to the bats. 
 They now are deemed the faithful, and are praised. 
 Who, constant only in rejecting thee, 
 Deny thy Godhead with a martyr's zeal. 
 And quit their office for their errors' sake, 
 Blind, and in love with darkness ! yet even those, 
 Worthy, compared with sycophants, who kneel, 
 Thy name adoring, and then preach thee man. 
 So fares thy church. But how thy church may fare, 
 The world takes little thought ; who will may preach 
 And what they will. All pastors are alike 
 To wandering sheep, resolved to follow none. 
 Two gods divide them all, pleasure and gain : 
 
28 THE COMING OF CHRIST. 
 
 For these they live, they sacrifice to these. 
 
 And in their service wage perpetual war 
 
 With conscience, and with thee. Lust in their hearts, 
 
 And mischief in their hands, they roam the earth 
 
 To prey upon each other ; stubborn, fierce. 
 
 High-minded, foaming out their own disgrace : 
 
 Thy prophets speak of such j and noting down 
 
 The features of the last degenerate times, 
 
 Exhibit every lineament of these. 
 
 Come then, and, added to thy many crowns, 
 
 Receive yet one, as radiant as the rest, 
 
 Due to thy last, and most effectual work, 
 
 Thy word fulfilled, the conquest of a world." 
 
 COWPER. 
 

 LECTURE II. 
 
 THE LAST TRUMPET. 
 
 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, 
 when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God shall 
 be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the 
 prophets. REV. x. 7. 
 
 THE sounding of trumpets " was a statute for 
 Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob." 
 
 By the ordinance of the Lord, the chosen 
 tribes assembled, inarched, celebrated their holy 
 feasts, and joined battle with their enemies, by 
 the sound of trumpets. 
 
 By divine appointment also, trumpets were 
 used for the dividing of times : the ending and 
 beginning of every month was noted by the voice 
 of the trumpet, particularly the seventh ; on 
 which account the first day of the seventh month 
 was called " a day of blowing the trumpets" 
 " a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trum- 
 pets." 
 
 The seventh month was thus distinguished, 
 because in it were the great day of atonement, 
 and the great feast of tabernacles. 
 3* 
 
30 THE LAST TRUMPET. 
 
 But the last and most remarkable division of 
 Jewish time was the great jubilee; which also 
 was proclaimed by blowing the trumpet. This 
 is called, Leviticus xxv. 9, the trumpet loud of 
 sound ; and Isaiah xxvii. 13, the great trumpet : 
 and this* also was blown on the seventh month, 
 and in the order of institution, as well as of the 
 division of time, was the last trumpet. To which 
 seventh division of time, and this last great jubi- 
 lee, and the trumpets which ushered them in, 
 continual reference is had in those passages of 
 Scripture which note the opening of the last dis- 
 pensation of the mediatorial kingdom. 
 
 According to such a pattern from the mount, 
 one of the visions of St. John is divided by 
 trumpets, the seventh and last of which is the 
 most remarkable, and answereth to the Jewish 
 seventh month, or last division of time, the great 
 jubilee. 
 
 Our present inquiry, concerning the great 
 truths of revelation, will be, what is to take place 
 at the sounding of the seventh trumpet? 
 
 The seventh trumpet will commence the glori- 
 ous kingdom of Christ. 
 
 "And the seventh angel sounded, and there were 
 great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of 
 this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord 
 and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and 
 ever. And the four and twenty elders, which 
 sat before God on their seats, fell upon their 
 faces, and worshipped God, saying, We give thee 
 thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and 
 wast, and art to come ; because thou hast taken 
 to thee thy great power, and hast reigned." 
 Rev. xi. 1517. 
 
THE LAST TRUMPET. 31 
 
 This future kingdom of Christ, is the great 
 jubilee the year of the redeemed the year of 
 release. 
 
 The feast of tabernacles on the seventh month 
 was a bright memorial in Israel, of their redemp- 
 tion and release from the iron bondage of Egypt, 
 which was a clear type of the future perfect and 
 glorious deliverance of the church from the 
 bondage of sin and Satan. The great jubilee, 
 also, was instituted as a memorial of the redemp- 
 tion from Egypt, and was an heart-affect m/ 
 remembrance of that event, and the most perfect 
 type of the future perfect release and freedom of 
 the church the great sabbath and restitution of 
 all things. This, all this will be fulfilled under 
 the sounding of the last, the great jubilant trum- 
 pet : for then the kingdoms of this world will 
 become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his 
 Christ; and if so, they will become the king- 
 doms of the saints : for if Christ takes the king- 
 dom, the saints will take the kingdom ; the 
 kingdom will be restored to Israel, if restored 
 to Israel's Lord and Christ. And then shall be 
 given " reward unto God's servants, the prophets, 
 and to the saints, and them that fear his name, 
 small and great." 
 
 The kingdom of God, to commence immedi- 
 ately at the sounding of the seventh trumpet, will 
 be perfect aud eternal. Antichrist, and all the 
 rest of the beasts, will be destroyed ; and not K 
 will remain to offend, hurt, or destroy, in all 
 Christ's holy mountain, that i-, hi- kingdom : 
 which now, as in Daniel, becomes a great moun- 
 tain, and fills the whole earth. It will be a state 
 of uninterrupted and eodk The 
 
32 THE LAST TRUMPET. 
 
 seventh angel sounded, and there were great voices 
 in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world 
 are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his 
 Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever." Rev. 
 xi. 15. " And there was given him dominion, 
 and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations 
 and languages should serve him : his dominion 
 is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass 
 away, and his kingdom that which shall not be 
 destroyed." Daniel vii. 14. " But the saints of 
 the Most High shall take the kingdom, and pos- 
 sess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever. 11 
 Verse 18. " And the kingdom and dominion, and 
 the greatness of the kingdom under the whole 
 heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints 
 of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlast- 
 ing kingdom/' Verse 27. 
 
 The words everlasting and forever and ever, 
 so emphatically applied to the kingdom as under 
 the seventh trumpet, import that it is now brought 
 to its state of everlasting perfection and glory : 
 they do not respect its Christocracy, or adminis- 
 tration in the hands of Christ, but its full matur- 
 ity uninterrupted and endless blessedness. In 
 the sense, indeed, that the Lord Christ is said to 
 reign from everlasting i. e. as he is God, the 
 everlasting Father he will reign to everlasting ; 
 but as man as he is said to receive the king- 
 dom, and to be anointed king upon the holy hill 
 his reign will terminate. 
 
 But as man, Christ will be the head of the 
 kingdom under the seventh trumpet. (See Psalm 
 viii.) When that ceases, he will deliver it up 
 to his head, which is God. 
 
 All his undertaking, as the Christ, will have 
 
THE LAST TRUMPET. 33 
 
 an end, and all will be accomplished in the world : 
 for this whole work, and the reward, glory, and 
 honor, belong to him as the second Adam ; and 
 the dominion, glory, and honor of the first Adam 
 was the world. (See Psalm viii. and Heb. ii.*) 
 
 " This kingdom of Christ on earth, to come, is 
 a far more glorious condition for the saints than 
 what their souls have now in heaven : for these 
 here overlook that condition, which yet they were 
 to run through ; and their thoughts fly to this 
 for comfort, (We shall reign on earth)."! This, 
 and not their present blessedness in heaven, is 
 the " re ward of the prophets." 
 
 The mystery of God shall be finished. 
 
 The word, and work of grace and reconcilia- 
 tion, pardon and peace, in our rebellious world, is 
 the mystery, emphatically called the mystery of 
 God, Colossians ii. 2, and the mystery of Christ, 
 Col. iv. 3. In this the disciples were instructed 
 when the Lord said, " Unto you it is given to 
 know the mystery of the kingdom of God." 
 Mark iv. 11. 
 
 To the ministry of reconciliation, the preaching 
 of the gospel of peace, Paul refers, 1 Cor. ii. 7 : 
 " We speak the wisdom of God in mystery." 
 The same, he calls (Eph. vi. 19,) "the mystery 
 of the gospel." 
 
 Particularly, the dispensation of the word and 
 
 * There have been a diversity of sentiments respecting 
 the duration of the seventh trumpet. Some have thought 
 that it must be a thousand years literally j others, that 
 it might, and most probably would be a prophetic thou- 
 sand years, i. e. reckoning a year for a day. But we 
 may pass this, as our present inquiry is concerning the 
 events, and not the duration of the last trumpet. 
 
 f Goodwin's Expo, of the Revelation, page 14. 
 
34 THE LAST TRUMPET. 
 
 grace of God to the Gentiles, is called, the mys- 
 tery of God "the mystery" Eph. iii. 3; "the 
 mystery of his will," Eph. i. 9 ; the mystery of 
 Christ, iii. 4; and Romans xvi. 25, "the revela- 
 tion of the mystery." This dispensation of 
 grace, as it took away the partition wSll, and 
 joined the Gentiles with the Jews in the same 
 blessings, and made them " fellow heirs, anfl of 
 the same body, and partakers of his promise in 
 Christ," is called (Eph. iii. 9,) " the fellowship 
 of the mystery." 
 
 The free offer and tender of pardon, life and 
 salvation to sinners in the gospel, and the gra- 
 cious work of his free Spirit, is the mystery of 
 God ; and his making known the gospel among 
 the Gentiles was making " known the riches of 
 the glory of this mystery." Col. i. 27. There- 
 fore the dispensation of the gospel among the 
 Gentiles, is so much insisted on as the mystery 
 of God. 
 
 And the astonishing work of infinite love, 
 power, and grace, to be wrought for the Jews, 
 after the fulness of the Gentiles be come in; 
 which, in one day, shall remove blindness from 
 Israel, and take away ungodliness from Jacob ; 
 and a nation shall be born at once ; the stubborn, 
 unbelieving Jews shall bow the knee to the sign 
 of the Son of man a last signal of the golden 
 sceptre and shall say, lt Blessed is he that com- 
 eth in the name of the Lord :" this also, because 
 it is the same work of unsearchable mercy and 
 grace, is called mystery.* Rom. xi. 25. 
 
 The work of redemption is called the mystery 
 
 * See Appendix, No. II. 
 
THE LAST TRUMPET. 35 
 
 of God, not as a secret ; but as a thing of the 
 most wonderful nature. * 
 
 But, when the seventh angel shall begin to 
 sound, " It is done" the day of grace is closed. 
 The times of the Gentiles being ended, their- 
 fulness, all their elect number, being gathered in, 
 and all Israel saved, the offers and tenders of 
 pardon and peace from God to sinners shall no 
 more be heard the mystery of God shall be fin- 
 ished. 
 
 O, solemn sound ! amazing period ! Such a 
 moment will come. God's Spirit will not always 
 strive with men the dispensation of the gospel 
 and day of grace, will not last always the door 
 of mercy will be shut. The solemn, all-awaken- 
 ing voice of the prophets proclaimed it ; and the 
 finishing of the mystery of God, at the sounding 
 of the seventh trumpet, is a no less consumma- 
 tion ; it is the very one which God " hath de- 
 clared to his servants the prophets." 
 
 * By the mystery of God, some also understand the 
 mystery of his suffering his enemies to reign in the 
 world, and his strange irork of judgment, in the lust 
 
 UPS, which shall finally destroy them; in which 
 said, " is filled up the wrath of God." And Doctor Good- 
 win would include also in thi mystery of God, " the New 
 Jerusalem, and kingdom of the .< \\Qfirst resurrec- 
 
 tinn." (See his Expo, page 19 and 146 ) And although 
 the nork of grace, by the word and spirit, and providence 
 of God, be chiefly designed by the mystery of God, as,* 
 from comparing the Scriptures, to me is evident, yet 
 these other things may be included; for the mystery of 
 iniquity will be finished, the times of the world's mon- 
 archies the times of the Gentiles will be fulfilled, and all 
 the vials of the wrath of God will be emptied upon the 
 earth, when the last trumpet shall sound ; and then also 
 will be disclosed the mystery of the first resurrection, the 
 kingdom of Christ, and the New Jerusalem. 
 
36 THE LAST TRUMPET. 
 
 Time, probation time, shall be no longer. 
 
 In the beginning of the sounding of the sev- 
 enth trumpet, time closes ; by the oath of the 
 angel, " in the days of the voice of the seventh 
 ' angel, when he shall begin to sound," is the 
 moment of the consummation of time the 
 moment that there should be time no longer. 
 The sentence of our text, " the mystery of God 
 should be finished," by its connection is made 
 explanatory of the sentence in the preceding 
 verse, " there should be time no longer." 
 
 A state of probation and trial ends, and a 
 state of reward and punishment commences. 
 When the seventh angel sounded, the four and 
 twenty elders " fell upon their faces and wor- 
 shipped God, saying, We give thee thanks, O 
 Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and 
 art to come ; because thou hast taken to thee 
 thy great power, and hath reigned. And the 
 nations were anpry, and thy wrath is come, and 
 the time of the dead that they should be judged, 
 and that thou shouldst give reward unto thy ser- 
 vants the prophets, and to thy saints, and them 
 that fear thy name, small and great, and shouldst 
 destroy them which destroy the earth." 
 
 The trumpet of Jewish jubilee, as it closed all 
 the circles of Jewish dispensations, and ended 
 their longest and last division of time, was a 
 bright, expressive type of this seventh the last 
 grand jubilant trumpet as closing all probation- 
 ary dispensations and times. 
 
 By the voice of the seventh trumpet the saints 
 shall be gathered together unto Christ. 
 
 By the sound of the trumpet, the assemblies 
 both of the princes and the great congregation 
 
THE LAST TRUMPET. 37 
 
 of Israel were assembled unto Moses at the door 
 of the tabernacle. 
 
 Respecting" the trump of jubilee, we read, 
 Isaiah xxvii. 13, " And it shall come to pass in 
 that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, 
 and they shall come which were ready to perish 
 in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the 
 land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the 
 holy mount at Jerusalem." Reading this, we 
 cannot but recollect Matt. xxiv. 31 : " And he 
 shall send his angels with a great sound of a 
 trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect 
 from the four winds, from one end of heaven to 
 the other." And also 1 Thessalonians iv. 16, 
 17 : " For the Lord himself shall descend from 
 heaven with a shout, with the voice of the arch- 
 angel, and with the trump of God ; and the, 
 dead in Christ shall rise first ; then we which 
 are alive, and remain, shall be caught up togeth- 
 er with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord 
 in the air ; and so shall we ever be with the 
 Lord."* 
 
 So likewise, in Daniel vii. 10, when the 
 Lord comes to take to himself the kingdom, as 
 here at the sound of the seventh trumpet, he 
 appears surrounded by the general assembly of 
 the saints, and thousand thousands of angels. 
 
 * At the sound of the last trumpet the saints will be 
 assembled in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; 
 and, with him, they will be safe from the conflagration 
 of the world. The servants of God "shall be caught 
 up to meet the Lord, and with him they shall be in safe- 
 ty, while they shall see the earth flaming under them." 
 Mather. 
 
 4 
 
38 THE LAST TRUMPET. 
 
 And such an assembly is here most particularly 
 named, as " the prophets," " the saints, and them 
 that fear God, small and great." 
 
 This will be the day of the destruction of the 
 ungodly ; them which destroy the earth, will now 
 be destroyed. Rev. xi. 18. 
 
 The blowing of trumpets in the seventh month 
 was a memorial of the destruction of Pharaoh 
 and the Egyptians, as well as of the salvation of 
 Israel. Of the feast of trumpets on the first day 
 of the seventh month we have this account, in. 
 Psalm Ixxxi. 3 5 : " Blow up the trumpet in 
 the new moon, in the time appointed, on our sol- 
 emn feast day. For this was a statute for Israel, 
 and a law of the God of Jacob. This he 
 ordained in Joseph for a testimony, when he 
 went out through the land of Egypt ; where I 
 heard a language that I understood not;" i. e. 
 when he went through Egypt and slew the first- 
 born. 
 
 And the great feast of tabernacles, whilst it 
 brought in remembrance the mercy, brought also 
 in remembrance the judgment, showed in Egypt, 
 and in the Red Sea. 
 
 And even the burnings of the day of expiation 
 pointed out not only the day of Christ, but also 
 the consuming wrath of God upon the wicked ; 
 therefore, the Lord said, " If they do these things 
 in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry ?" 
 We read, in Ezekiel xxxix., of God's sacrifice, 
 even a great sacrifice the flesh of the mighty, 
 and the blood of princes. And in Isaiah xxxiv., 
 the day of the Lord's vengeance, and the year 
 of recompenses for the controversy of Zion, is 
 pointed out, in the same manner, by the solemn 
 
THE LAST TRUMPET. 39 
 
 and awful scenes of that great day of sacrifice : 
 " My sword shall be bathed in heaven ; behold, 
 it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the 
 people of my curse, to judgment. The sword of 
 the Lord is filled with blood, it i? made fat with 
 fatness for the Lord hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, 
 and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea. 1 ' 
 And in the account of the destruction of the 
 wicked, Zeph. i. 7, 8, there is the same allusion 
 to burnt sacrifices : " The Lord hnth prepared a 
 sacrifice, he hath bid his guests. And it shall 
 come to pass in the day of the Lord's sacrifice" 
 &c. Then the wicked, "every one, shall be 
 salted with fire" "hell-fire: where their worm 
 dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.*' 
 
 The trumpet of jubilee proclaimed both the 
 day of vengeance, and the year of the redeemed. 
 "The great day of the Lord" the "day of 
 wrath of trouble and distress of wasteness 
 and desolation of darkness and gloominess of 
 clouds and thick darkness," is called, Zeph. i. 16, 
 41 a day of the trumpet." 
 
 That the seventh trumpet will open the day of 
 judgment and perdition of ungodly men, is far- 
 ther proved by comparing with it other parts of 
 revelation, which lead us to the same time, and 
 connection of events. 
 
 In the vision of opening the seals, \vh 
 come between the sixth and seventh, and ap- 
 proach this most solemn, this last grand division 
 of the book of Christ's kingdom; lo, a wailinir 
 is heard, the voice of all the ungodly, saying, 
 " The great day of his wrath is come." And in 
 the vision of the vials, when we come again to 
 the seventh, this great consummating period, we 
 
40 THE LAST TRUMPET. 
 
 hear " a great voice out of the temple of heaven, 
 from the throne, saying, It is done." The time 
 of the pouring out of the seventh vial, and of 
 sounding the seventh trumpet, is the same, and 
 the event is the same. It is done. What ? The 
 mystery of God is finished. The consummation 
 at the vial, is evidently the same as at the trum- 
 pet, and the same voice proclaimeth it. There, 
 He that sitteth upon the throne, saith, It is done ; 
 here, the Sovereign of the universe swears, " that 
 there should be time no longer." 
 
 How particularly do all those visions agree in 
 support of the doctrine that the time pointed to 
 in the text, at the beginning of the seventh an- 
 gel's sounding, is the solemn period that shall 
 close the day of the Lord's long-suffering, 
 patience and forbearance towards his enemies 
 all probationary time ! 
 
 Between the opening of the sixth and seventh 
 seals, " 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 
 fell unto the earth, even as a fig-tree casteth her 
 untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty 
 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 bondman, and every freeman, 
 bid themselves 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 of 
 
THE LAST TRUMPET. 41 
 
 his wrath is come, and who shall be able to 
 stand !"* 
 
 It may be observed, that the above description 
 of the great day of God's wrath is taken from the 
 highest and most particular descriptions of the 
 great day of the Lord's vengeance upon the 
 world of the ungodly, which are to be found in 
 the Old Testament.! And the Lord, while 
 hanging on the cross, described the terror and 
 dismay of his enemies in the great day of retri- 
 bution, by these most expressive words : they 
 shall say to the mountains, fall on us ; and to the 
 hills, cover us. 
 
 Between the sounding of the sixth and seventh 
 trumpets, the mighty angel, which John saw, 
 with his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot 
 
 * Some have said this passage of the Revelation was 
 fulfilled, and have undertaken to point out the time 
 when j but with as much propriety they might have said 
 the resurrection was passed, and told us when. If such 
 expressions in the Scriptures as these do not reveal the 
 great judgment, 1 know not where, or in what words, it is 
 revealed. The revolutions in the world, at this time, are 
 far more radical, and the effects must be far greater than 
 that of Constantine; to which revolution they apply the 
 fulfilment of this passage. But to apply this passage fully, 
 even to the present events, would be an extravagance, 
 which, of all books, the Bible will the least countenance. 
 The plan of interpreting the Revelation, as a prophecy 
 of events to succeed each other in time, in the same order 
 as they are there set down, and therefore that it is all 
 fulfilled to the middle of the sixteenth chapter, has sub- 
 jected many parts of that holy book to interpretations the 
 most forced and absurd. I believe that the great day of 
 the Lord's wrath is near, very near ; but I am sure it has 
 not passed. 
 
 f J 06 ! " 31. Psalms cii. 26. Isai. xxxiv. 4. Isai 
 ii. 10, 11, 12, 19, 21 ; and Mai. iii. 2. 
 4* 
 
42 THE LAST TRUMPET. 
 
 on the earth, and his hand reached to heaven 
 " sware by him that liveth forever and ever, who 
 created heaven and the things that therein are, 
 and the earth and the things that therein are, and 
 the sea and the things which are therein, that 
 there should be time no longer ; but in the days 
 of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall 
 begin to sound, the mystery of God should be 
 finished, as he hath declared to his servants the 
 prophets." "And the seventh angel sounded, 
 and there were great voices in heaven, saying, 
 The kingdoms of this world are become the king- 
 doms of our Lord, and of his Christ, and he shall 
 reign forever and ever. And the four and twenty 
 elders which sat before God on their seats, fell 
 upon their faces, and worshipped God, saying, 
 We give thee thanks, Lord God Almighty, 
 which art, and wast, and art to come ; because 
 thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast 
 reigned. And the nations were angry, and thy 
 wrath is come, and the time of the dead that they 
 should be judged, and that thou shouldest give 
 reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to 
 the saints, and them that fear thy name, small 
 and great, and shouldest destroy them which 
 destroy the earth." 
 
 And between the sixth and seventh vials, we 
 have this warning voice : " Behold, I come as a 
 thief. Blessed is he that watcheth." " And the 
 seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; 
 and there came a great voice out of the temple 
 of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. 
 And there were voices, and thunders, and light- 
 nings ; and there was a great earthquake, such 
 
THE LAST TRUMPET. 43 
 
 as was not since men were upon the earth, so 
 mighty an earthquake and so great. And the 
 great city was divided into three parts, and the 
 cities of the nations fell : and great Babylon 
 came in remembrance before God, to give unto 
 her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his 
 wrath. And every island fled away, and the 
 mountains were not found. And there fell upon 
 men a great hail out of heaven." 
 
 Here again, besides the express declarations, 
 "I come," "It is done," "Every island fled away, 
 and the mountains were not found," we observe 
 the figures used to describe this scene are the 
 liveliest representations of the great day of God's 
 wrath which have been made to men, either in 
 his word or providence. 
 
 The voices, thunders, lightnings, and great 
 earthquake, refer to that brightest representation of 
 the day of judgment the descent of JEHOVAH 
 upon mount Sinai to give the law. And every 
 one, who has attentively read the Bible, has 
 observed no figure in nature so frequently used 
 by the inspired writers in composing their sub- 
 lime representations of the day of judgment, as 
 the hail-storm : but, of all their descriptions of 
 the hail-storm, this is the most dreadful " A 
 great hail out of heaven, every stone about the 
 weight of a talent" and voices, and thunders, 
 and lightnings, and a great earthquake, such as 
 was not since men were upon the earth. 
 
 What shall the wretch, the sinner, do? 
 
 He once defied the Lord : 
 But he shall dread the thunderer now, 
 
 And sink beneath his word. 
 
44 THE LAST TRUMPET. 
 
 Tempests of angry fire shall roll 
 
 To blast the rebel worm, 
 And bear upon his naked soul 
 
 In one eternal storm. 
 
 " And great Babylon came in remembrance 
 before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine 
 of the fierceness of his wrath." What more 
 could be said of the great day of the Lord's 
 vengeance ? 
 
 Some, indeed, would put far off these terrors 
 of the Lord, and would limit them to Italy, or to 
 the popish countries. But why ? Is it not cer- 
 tain that the limits of great Babylon are no less 
 than the utmost boundaries of Satan's kingdom ? 
 It is very plain, that great Babylon, used in the 
 Scriptures, as here, in a common sense, repre- 
 sents the whole world of the ungodly and king- 
 dom of the devil ; in the same manner as Jeru- 
 salem, used in a common sense, represents the 
 whole church and kingdom of God. And should 
 we follow the plainest and fullest Scripture repre- 
 sentations, must we not conclude that the day of 
 God's vengeance upon the wicked, which shall 
 destroy them root and branch, will precede the 
 millennial kingdom of Christ, when we find such 
 representations as those just viewed under a pre- 
 ceding date ? 
 
 The expectation of a millennium arises from 
 the prophecies concerning the future kingdom of 
 Christ the kingdoms of this world becoming the 
 kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ his 
 taking to himself his great power, and reigning 
 before all his ancients gloriously. We are plainly 
 told, this glorious event shall take place under 
 the sounding of the seventh trumpet. This none 
 
THE LAST TRUMPET. 45 
 
 disputes. All agree that the expected reign of 
 Christ on earth, will be in the days of the voice 
 of the seventh trumpet. The question disputed, 
 and which we would examine, is, whether proba- 
 tionary time will end, and the great day of God's 
 wrath will come, at the beginning or at the end- 
 ing of the sound of the seventh trumpet. 
 
 It was the expectation of believers anciently 
 that probationary time would end, and the great 
 day of God's wrath would come, before the mil- 
 lennial kingdom, under the seventh trumpet: 
 but, in the last century, an opinion gained cur- 
 rency, that the millennium would be probationary 
 time ; and, therefore, the coming of Christ and 
 overthrow of this world of the ungodly would 
 not take place till some time after the millen- 
 nium. 
 
 This opinion has constantly prevailed : all 
 hands, learned and unlearned, have been em- 
 ployed to propagate it, and very little has been 
 done or said to oppose it; and, for about half a 
 century* it has been the most common belief: 
 
 sequently, people have laid aside all t-xp< 
 tion that the day of the Lord is nigh ; and old 
 and young, ministers and people, have agreed to 
 say, The Lord delayeth his corning. 
 
 But so agrees not the voice of Revelation. 
 The angel said, at the beginning, not at the 
 close when the seventh angel shall begin to 
 sound* then there should be time no longer 
 then the mystery of God should be finished then, 
 said the elders, thy wrath (0 Lord God Almighty) 
 is come y and the time of the dead that they should 
 be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward 
 unto thy servants the prophets, and to the taints, 
 
46 THE LAST TRUMPET. 
 
 and them that fear thy name, small and great , 
 and shouldest destroy them which destroy the 
 earth. 
 
 To this testimony, also, you have seen that 
 the other visions of this book, the seals and vials, 
 do most expressly agree. 
 
 How the sentiment that there must yet be 
 many ages of probationary time, extending even 
 beyond the millennium, has prevailed among all 
 men, good and bad, and how their eyes are shut 
 to the plainest truths of the Bible, is truly won- 
 derful ! But so the Scriptures will be fulfilled ! 
 So it will come to pass, that the Lord will come 
 as a thief " at an hour when ye [disciples, wise 
 virgins] think not !" And so that day will come 
 unawares, as a snare on all them that dwell upon 
 the face of the whole earth. 
 
 Isaiah, whilst laboring to describe the riches 
 and glory of the new heavens and new earth, 
 draws the comparison between God's servants 
 and the transgressors. " Therefore will I num- 
 ber you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down 
 to the slaughter ; because, when I called, ye did 
 not answer ; when I spake, ye did not hear, but 
 did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that 
 wherein I delighted not : therefore, thus saith 
 the Lord God, Behold, my servants shall eat, but 
 ye shall be hungry : behold, my servants shall 
 drink, but ye shall be thirsty : behold, my ser- 
 vants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed : 
 behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, 
 but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall 
 howl for vexation of spirit. And ye shall leave 
 
 Ejur name for a curse unto my chosen : for the 
 ord God shall slay thee, and call his servants 
 
THE LAST TRUMPET. 47 
 
 Dy another name : that he who blesseth himself 
 in the earth, shall bless himself in the God of 
 truth; and he that sweareth in the earth, shall 
 swear by the God of truth ; because the former 
 troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid 
 from mine eyes. For behold, I create new hea- 
 vens and a new earth ; and the former shall not 
 be remembered nor come into mind." And "as 
 the new heavens and the new earth, which I will 
 make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so 
 shall your seed and your name remain. And it 
 shall come to pass, that from one new moon to 
 another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall 
 all flesh come to worship before me, saith the 
 Lord. And they shall go forth, and look upon 
 the carcasses of the men that have transgressed 
 against me : for their worm shall not die, neither 
 shall their fire be quenched ; and they shall be 
 an abhorring unto all flesh." 
 
 And John, in the vision of the beasts, Rev. xiv., 
 whilst describing the happiness and glory of the 
 redeemed in their triumphant millennial state, as 
 standing with the Lamb on the mount Zion, harp- 
 ing with the harps of God, and singing before 
 the throne, and before the living creatures, and 
 the elders, as it were a new song; in the same 
 manner as Isaiah, he attempts farther to set off 
 the happiness of the righteous by the awful con- 
 trast of the misery of the wicked : for while the 
 redeemed shall drink the new wine in the king- 
 dom of Christ, freely poured out into the cup of 
 blessing, the worshippers of the beast and his 
 image, and whosoever had received the mark of 
 nis name, " shall drink of the wine of the wrath 
 of God, which is poured out, without mixture, 
 
48 THE LAST TRUMPET. 
 
 into the cup of his indignation." And he very 
 particularly alludes to the last of Isaiah, which 
 we have just quoted, that the wicked, in the mil- 
 lennium, shall suffer in the presence of the holy 
 ones, and sJwll be an abhorring unto all flesh : 
 they " shall be tormented with fire and brim- 
 stone, in the presence of the holy angels, and in 
 the presence of the Lamb ; and the smoke of their 
 torment ascendeth up forever and ever ; and they 
 have no rest day nor night." 
 
 About twenty times, in the Scriptures, the 
 great day of God's wrath, and the glorious reign 
 of Christ the day of vengeance, and the year of 
 the redeemed are mentioned in close connec- 
 tion ; and every time, the day of vengeance is 
 set first. But, as we cannot now go fully into this 
 proof, we shall quote the last of Malachi as an 
 example of the whole : " Behold, the day cometh 
 that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, 
 yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble, 
 and the day that cometh shall burn them up, 
 saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them 
 neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear 
 my name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise, 
 with healing in his wings ; and ye shall go forth 
 and grow up as calves of the stall. And ye shall 
 tread down the wicked ; for they shall be ashes 
 under the soles of your feet, in the day that I 
 shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts." 
 
 Daniel had clear views of the glorious millen- 
 nial kingdom of Christ and the saints ; but in 
 them, we observe, first, the Ancient of Days came 
 the judgment was set ', and the books were opened, 
 chap. vii. And, chap, xii., a day of trouble is 
 mentioned, " such as never was since there was 
 
THE LAST TRUMPET. 49 
 
 a nation, even to that same time ;" no, not even 
 the day that Noah entered into the ark : then, 
 " every one that shall be found written in the 
 hook of life shall be delivered." " And many of 
 them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall 
 awake, some to everlasting life, and some to 
 shame and everlasting contempt." All this is to 
 be accomplished at the end of the days a date 
 evidently preceding the millennial kingdom. 
 
 The apostle Paul connects the coming of 
 Christ with the final destruction of Antichrist, 
 which must be before the millennium 2 Thess. 
 ii. 8 ; and with the sounding of the last trumpet 
 1 Cor. xv. 52. 
 
 And the apostle Peter places the conflagration 
 of the. world before the new heavens and new 
 earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness 2 Peter 
 iii. 12, 13. 
 
 But need we proceed farther? If all this be 
 not proof, what can be proved ? If I am alone, 
 I must believe that the great day of God's wrath, 
 which shall consume all the wicked, and drive 
 them out from the face of the earth, will precede 
 the millennial kingdom of Christ and the saints 
 under the seventh trumpet. But if there be any, 
 who still think this is not clear, let me ask, can 
 you think the opposite sentiment is clear ? If 
 not, we entreat you not to propagate it ; for, it is 
 feared, it does infinite mischief to the souls of 
 men. We know we must all die soon ; but I 
 appeal to your own feelings, my friends, if the 
 thought, we know not but the great day of God 
 is nigh, even at the doors, and, coming suddenly, 
 Christ may immediately call the world to his 
 5 
 
50 THE LAST TRUMPET. 
 
 bar, be not the most awakening" thought to the 
 human mind. 
 
 And if our thoughts concerning the corning and 
 kingdom of Christ be just, it is now time to watch 
 for the midnight cry " Behold, the Bridegroom 
 cometh." The sixth trumpet,^ and also the sixth 
 
 * Under the sixth trumpet is this prophecy, Rev. xi. 
 13: "And the same hour was there a great earthquake, 
 and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake 
 were slain [of the names] of men seven thousand," &c. 
 
 Peter Jurieu, a French protestant minister, above an 
 hundred years ago wrote these words : " The tenth part 
 of the city, which here fell, will at some future time ap- 
 pear to be the kingdom of France, where a revolution 
 will take place about the year 1785, and a separation 
 from the papacy follow ; when the names of monks and 
 nuns, of Carmelites, Augustines, Dominicans, &c., shall 
 perish forever; and all these vain titles, and armorial 
 bearings, which serve for ornament and pride, shall 
 vanish, and brotherly love make all men equal." "This 
 cannot be brought about without confusion and tumult. 
 The popish empire cannot fall, but it must cause blood 
 and a mighty noise." 
 
 Dr. Goodwin, in his exposition of the Revelation, writ- 
 ten an hundred and fifty years ago, gave this text the 
 following interpretation : By the city is meant, " the 
 extent of the jurisdiction of the city of Rome, which had 
 ten kingdoms by charter allotted unto it, chap. xvii. ;" 
 and by the tenth part of the city, "some tenth part of 
 Europe, or one of those ten kingdoms " " By the earth- 
 quake (which is said to be a great one) is meant, a great 
 concussion or shaking of states, politic or ecclesiastical, 
 arising from within that kingdom itself, as earthquakes 
 are from inward motions in the bowels of the earth." 
 By this earthquake in a tenth part of the city, " this tenth 
 part of it is so shaken, that it falls, that is, ceaseth to be 
 a part of the city, or to belong unto its jurisdiction any 
 longer falls off, as we say, frcm being of the number 
 of those that give their power to the beast." " The effect 
 of this earthquake, and fall of this tenth part of the city, 
 is the killing seven thousand of the names of men. (so it is 
 
THE LAST TRUMPET. 51 
 
 vial, are now passing over us, as the events of 
 Providence do plainly show, and are drawing 
 towards the close ; and the seventh trumpet may 
 daily be expected to begin to sound. Who 
 knows how soon the seventh angel with the 
 voice of the last trump shall proclaim, There 
 shall be time no longer the mystery of God is 
 finished ? solemn sound ! 
 
 in the original.) Mr. Mede conceives it to be, names of 
 men, for men of names. Now by men of names is meant, 
 men of office, title, and dignity." In Numbers xvi. 2, 
 those two hundred and fifty men in Korah's conspiracy, 
 who were princes of the congregation, are called men <>f 
 name. Now as those, for their enmity against Moses and 
 Aaron, were consumed by fire, so "these, for having 
 killed the witnesses, themselves are to be killed (haply) 
 by being bereft of their names and titles, which are to ! 
 rooted out forever, and condemned to perpetual forget- 
 fulness." 
 
 " Now which of these ten kingdoms, or of the ten stnt 
 in Europe, and what tenth part thereof, shall first have 
 this great privilege, as a blessed handful to the rest that 
 follow, is not hard to conjecture." "The saints and 
 churches belonging unto the kingdom of France, God Ins 
 made a wonder unto me in all his proceedings towards 
 them, first and last; and there would seem some great 
 and special honor reserved for them yet at the last. For 
 it is certain, that the first light of the gospel, by that first 
 and second angel's preaching, (chap, xiv.,) which laid the 
 foundation of Antichrists ruin, was out from among 
 them; namely, those of Lyons and other places in 
 France. And they bore and underwent the great heat 
 of that morning of persecution; which was as great, if 
 not greater, than any since. And beside?, the churches 
 of France have ever since had as great a share in per- 
 secutions, yea greater, than any other churches. And 
 though it be well nigh five hundred years sinre they 
 began first to separate from Antichrist, and they still con- 
 tinue a glorious church unto this day, yet they never had 
 that great honor and privilege (which other churches 
 
52 THE LAST TRUMPET. 
 
 Set not your hearts upon this world : " for the 
 time is at hand. He that is unjust, let him 
 be unjust still; and he which is filthy, let him be 
 filthy still ; and he that is righteous, let him 
 be righteous still ; and he that is holy, let him be 
 holy still. And behold, I come quickly; and 
 my reward is with me, to give every man accord- 
 ing as his work shall be." 
 
 Shalt thou hear, " O my soul, the sound of the 
 trumpet?" "Prepare to meet thy God." 
 
 What if this night the last trumpet should 
 sound ! Wo to the unprepared ! but glory, and 
 honor, and immortality to the people of God ! 
 So, come Lord Jesus. 
 
 have been so blest with) as to have a supreme magistrate 
 professing their religion; but either they have been 
 bloody persecutors and oppressors of them, or else they 
 have apostatized from them. May it not, therefore, be 
 hoped and looked for, that as that kingdom had the first 
 great stroke, so now it should have the honor to have the 
 last great stroke in the ruining of Rome?"* 
 
 The peculiar rage of the wars occasioned by the French 
 revolution, and the remarkable pestilences and famines 
 which have accompanied it, greatly support these inter- 
 pretations, that it is indeed the sound of the sixth trum- 
 pet the second wo ; after which there cometh but one 
 more. And behold, the third wo cometh quickly ; which is 
 the battle of that great day of God Almighty, in which 
 the wrath of God is fulfilled, and therefore must neces- 
 sarily make an end of all Christ's enemies. The same 
 things are said to be done at the sounding of the seventh 
 trumpet (which is the last of woes) that shall be done at 
 the pouring out of the seventh vial (which is the last of 
 plagues:) as upon the pouring forth of the last vial, there 
 mere voices, and thunders, and lightnings, and an earthquake, 
 such as never was on earth, before, and a great hail, so like- 
 wise at the sounding of the last trumpet, there were light- 
 nings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and 
 great hail. 
 
 * Part II., chap, vii., 5 and 6. 
 
THE LAST TRUMPET. 
 
 Let the seventh angel sound on high, 
 Let shouts be heard through all the sky ! 
 Kings of the eArth, with glad accord 
 Give up your kingdoms to the Lord. 
 
 Almighty God, thy power assume, 
 Who wast, and art, and art to come : 
 Jesus the Lamb, who once was slain, 
 Forever live, forever reign ! 
 
 The angry nations fret and roar, 
 That they can slay the saints no more : 
 On wings of vengeance flies our God, 
 To pay the long arrears of blood. 
 
 Now must the rising dead appear, 
 Now the decisive sentence hear j 
 Now the dear martyrs of the Lord 
 Receive an infinite reward. 
 
 WATTS. 
 
 53 
 
 
LECTURE III. 
 
 THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 
 
 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection 
 of the dead. PHILIPPIANS iii. 2. 
 
 IN the verse preceding our text, the apostle 
 Paul summed up the Christian religion, with 
 application to himself, in a most fervent and 
 devout wish " that I may know him (Christ) 
 and the power of his resurrection, and the fel- 
 lowship of his sufferings, being made conforma- 
 ble unto his death." This was all he desired for 
 this life : still he had an object beyond a desired 
 object beyond the grave ; the hope of attaining 
 which, engaged his heart, and animated every 
 power of soul and body. This dear object is 
 expressed in the text THE RESURRECTION OF THE 
 DEAD. 
 
 A subject so interesting to the apostle must be 
 of the highest importance. May we all believe 
 in it as such, and be influenced by it as he was. 
 Attending to which, we may 
 
 I. Observe by what means the apostle Paul 
 endeavored to obtain his desired end the resur- 
 rection of the dead. 
 
THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 
 
 55 
 
 II. Inquire what the apostle must mean, in 
 this place, by the resurrection of the dead. 
 
 III. Show the propriety of our subordinating 
 every pursuit in life to this end ; and of striving 
 to the utmost, if by any means we may attain 
 unto the resurrection of the dead. 
 
 I. To obtain his desired object, our apostle 
 strove in a manner that shows what the hope of 
 the resurrection of the dead is capable of effect- 
 ing in man. 
 
 He made a sacrifice of all his advantages, nat- 
 ural, acquired and religious ; which were many, 
 and, he thought, equal, if not superior, to any 
 man's whatever. See the 4th verse of this chap- 
 ter, and the following in connection : 
 
 " Though I might also have confidence in the 
 flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath 
 whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more ; cir- 
 cumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, 
 of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the He- 
 brews ; as touching the law, a Pharisee ;" brought 
 up at the feet of Gamaliel ; for zeal acquiring 
 great reputation ; " touching the righteousness 
 which is in the law, blameless." 
 
 " But what things were gain to me, those I 
 counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless ; and I 
 count all things but loss, for the excellency of the 
 knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord; for whom 
 I have suffered the loss of all things, and do 
 count them but dung, that I may win Christ, 
 and be found of him, not having mine own 
 righteousness, which is of the law, but that which 
 is through the faith of Christ, the righeousness 
 
56 THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 
 
 which is of God by faith ; that I may know him, 
 and the power of his resurrection, and the fel- 
 lowship of his sufferings, being made comforma- 
 ble unto his death, if by any means I might attain 
 unto the resurrection of the dead. 11 
 
 This was striving indeed ; these were exertions 
 worthy of the noblest cause. Nor did he think 
 of stopping here, as he immediately added, '" Not 
 as though I had already attained, either were 
 already perfect ; but I follow after, if that I may 
 apprehend that for which also I am apprehended 
 of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to 
 have apprehended : but this one thing I do ; for- 
 getting those things which are behind, and reach- 
 ing forth unto those things which are before, I 
 press toward the mark, for the prize of the high 
 calling of God in Christ Jesus " the resurrection 
 of the dead. 
 
 This was, indeed, to strive by all means ; this 
 is the Christian heroism, which no losses, labors, 
 distresses, nor perils could ever match, nor the 
 king of terrors overcome, and which owes its 
 existence to the hope of the resurrection of the 
 dead. But, 
 
 II. What is meant, in this place, by the res- 
 urrection of the dead ? 
 
 Not regeneration, which is sometimes called a 
 resurrection. 
 
 For, undoubtedly, the apostle had the best evi- 
 dences that by the grace of God he had passed 
 this resurrection already that, in this sense, he 
 had passed from death unto life. The things he 
 had done, and still proposed to do, were all the 
 highest evidences of regeneration. It could not 
 
THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 57 
 
 be regeneration ; for the means he proposed for 
 the attainment of this desired end, were all the 
 works of faith the exertions of the new heart 
 the fruits of regeneration. 
 
 Not merely the resurrection of the body, for 
 the apostle Paul fully believed there would be a 
 resurrection, both of the just and the unjust. 
 Acts xxiv. 15 : " And have hope towards God, 
 which they themselves also allow, that there shall 
 be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just 
 and unjust." But the resurrection of the dead, 
 for which the holy apostle strove, if by any 
 means he might attain unto it, is something, we 
 must think, not to be attained by all not by the 
 unbelievers arid the disobedient. 
 
 This resurrection, therefore, must be some 
 peculiar privilege of the faithful. And may we 
 not conclude, that this glorious privilege of the 
 faithful is what in the Scriptures is called the 
 first resurrection, in which he that hath a part 
 is pronounced blessed ? 
 
 We read, 1 Thess. iv. 16, " The dead in 
 Christ shall rise first." If we may understand 
 the 20th chapter of Revelation, without cramping 
 its literal force and meaning by making it figur- 
 ative, allegorical, &c., there will be two resurrec- 
 tions, and one a thousand years before the other. 
 
 " And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, 
 and judgment was given unto them ; and I saw 
 the souls of them 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 
 
58 THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 
 
 reigned with Christ a thousand years. * 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 power, but they shall be priests of 
 God, and of Christ, and shall reign with him a 
 thousand years." 
 
 Upon this passage I will give you an extract 
 from Dr. Burnet. " These words do fully ex- 
 press a resurrection, and a reign with Christ a 
 thousand years. As for that particular space of 
 time, of a thousand years, it is not much mate- 
 rial to our present purpose ; but the resurrection 
 here spoken of, and the reign with Christ, make 
 the substance of the controversy, and in effect 
 
 * Since the image of the beast rose up in the world, 
 notwithstanding his appearance is so lamb-like, yet, by 
 his mouth his flatteries, opinions, and all levelling pop- 
 ular influence the people of God suffer as much, and 
 perhaps more, than they did by his ferocious bloody- 
 mouthed predecessor : and, as all believers do verily give 
 up their lives for the Lord's sake ; and also, as there is 
 here a particular reference to those who suffered by the 
 image of the beast ; we may conclude that the people of 
 God HOW, as well as in all ages of the world, come within 
 this description, and are really included in the tender 
 and glorious appellation, " The souls of the beheaded for 
 the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God;" and 
 enduring to the end, resisting the reigning spirit and 
 power of the world, through rich grace, will receive this 
 blessed and holy crown of martyrdom the first resurrec- 
 tion. 
 
 And, as this beast is double horned, it may be that we 
 shall yet feel his sword, as well as his tongue ; for, not- 
 withstanding his mild looks and professions of modera- 
 tism, he has the heart of the beast ; and his power is 
 undiminished. 
 
THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 59 
 
 prove all that we inquire after at present. This 
 resurrection, you see, is called the first resurrec- 
 tion, by way of distinction from the second and 
 general resurrection, which is to be placed a 
 thousand years after the first. And both this 
 first resurrection and the reign of Christ seem to 
 be appropriated to the martyrs in this place ; for 
 the prophet says, The souls of those that were 
 beheaded for the witness of Jesus, &c. They 
 lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 
 From which words, if you please, we will raise 
 this doctrine : that those that have suffered for the 
 sake of Christ, and a good conscience, shall be 
 raised from the dead a thousand years before the 
 general resurrection, and reign with Christ in a 
 happy state. This proposition seems to be plainly 
 included in the words of St. John, and to be the 
 intended sense of this vision; but you must have 
 patience a little as to your inquiry into particu- 
 lars, till, in the progress of our discourse, we have 
 brought all the parts of this conclusion into a 
 fuller light. 
 
 " In the mean time there is but one way, that 
 I know of, to evade the force of these words, and 
 of the conclusion drawn from them ; and that is, 
 by supposing that the first resurrection, here 
 mentioned, is not to be understood in a literal 
 sense, but is allegorical and mystical, signifying 
 only a resurrection from sin to a spiritual life : as 
 we are said to be dead in sin, and to be risen with 
 Christ, by faith and regeneration. This is a 
 manner of speech which St. Paul does sometimes 
 use ; as Eph. ii. 6, and v. 14, and Col. iii. 1. 
 But how can this be applied to the present case? 
 Were the martyrs dead in sin? 'Tis they that 
 
THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 
 
 are here raised from the dead. Or, after they 
 were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, naturally 
 dead and laid in their graves, were they then 
 regenerate by faith ? There is no congruity in 
 allegories so applied. Besides, why should they 
 be said to be regenerate, or to reign with Christ, 
 after this spiritual resurrection, a thousand years ? 
 Why not to eternity? For, in this allegorical 
 sense of rising and reigning, they will reign 
 with him for everlasting. Then, after a thousand 
 years, must all the wicked be regenerate and rise 
 into a spiritual life ? 'Tis said here, the rest of 
 the dead lived not again until the thousand years 
 were finished, ver. 5. That implies that at the 
 end of these thousand years the rest of the dead 
 did live again ; which, according to the allegory, 
 must be, that, after a thousand years, all the 
 wicked will be regenerate and raised into a 
 spiritual life. These absurdities arise upon an 
 allegorical exposition of this resurrection, if ap- 
 plied to single persons. 
 
 " But Dr. Hammond, a learned and worthy 
 divine, (but one that loves to contract and cramp 
 the sense of prophecies,) making this first resur- 
 rection allegorical, applies it not to single per- 
 sons, but to the state of the church in general : 
 the Christian church, he says, shall have a 
 resurrection for a thousand years; that is, shall 
 rise out of persecution, be in a prosperous condi- 
 tion, and an undisturbed profession of the true 
 religion, for so long a time. But this agrees 
 with the prophecy as little as the former." Dr. 
 Burnet's objections to an allegorical sense of the 
 first resurrection, as applied to the church, are 
 too lengthy to ouote : one or two, however, we 
 
THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 61 
 
 will mention, and proceed. " If it be a state of 
 the church in general, and of the church then in 
 being, why is this resurrection applied to the 
 martyrs ? Why are they said to rise, seeing the 
 state they lived in was a troublesome state of the 
 church, and it would be no happiness to have that 
 revived again ?" " Besides, who are the rest of 
 the dead, (ver. 5,) that lived after the expiration 
 of those thousand years ?" The rest, surely, are 
 those who were not of the church, who had not 
 suffered for the witness of Jesus, and for the 
 word of God ; but who had worshipped the beast 
 or his image, or had received his mark upon their 
 foreheads, or in their hands : must these, with all 
 the wicked and unbelievers of every description, 
 after the thousand years are finished " must all 
 these, I say, be raised up to a happy condition ? " 
 Ought we not "to be tender of interpreting the 
 first resurrection in an allegorical sense, lest we 
 expose the second resurrection to be made an 
 allegory also ? " 
 
 And why is it said, ver. 6, that on such as 
 have part in the first resurrection the second death 
 hath no power ? Why is this applied to the 
 millennial saints as their peculiar privilege ? For, 
 according to these allegorical expositions of the 
 first resurrection, they having not arrived to im- 
 mortality and glory, it may be said of all true 
 believers now, that on them the second death 
 hath no power, in the same sense that it may be 
 said of the saints in the millennium. And in the 
 same verse it is said, they shall be priests of God, 
 and of Christ, and shall reign with him : but, if 
 the millennial kingdom be not the kingdom of 
 glory, as, according to these figurative intepreta- 
 6 
 
62 THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 
 
 tions, it is not, how can such promises as these 
 be there fulfilled ? To be freed from the power 
 of the second death, and to be made priests of 
 God, and of Christ, and to reign with him, are 
 promises of immortality and glory the peculiar 
 crowning rewards of the faithful and overcomers: 
 see Rev. ii. 11, and v. 10. And these promises 
 being fulfilled to the saints in the millennium, 
 they must then be in possession of immortality 
 and glory. To be made superior to the power 
 of the second death, and to be priests of God, and 
 of Christ, and to reign with him, are some of the 
 most remarkable and sublime ideas of immortality 
 and glory contained in the Scriptures. But if 
 these promises mean no more than what, accord- 
 ing to the modern plan, will be enjoyed in the 
 millennium, what foundation have we for a 
 hope of immortality and glory ? For a stronger 
 foundation of such a hope than what is con- 
 tained in these promises, we cannot find in the 
 Bible. 
 
 With many such objections against a figurative 
 interpretation of the first resurrection as the fore- 
 going, Dr. Burnet mentioned, as what with him 
 was not the least, the difficulty of fairly adjusting 
 it to the limits of times and the connection of 
 events in prophecy ; which difficulty, consistently 
 with our present limits, we cannot bring into 
 view.* 
 
 * The expositions of the first resurrection as given 
 above, in our view, do not materially differ from those 
 now commonly given, viz. : " A resurrection of the souls 
 of men, by ihe renovation of the Holy Ghost." "A re- 
 surrection of the truths and cause of Christ, which had 
 been in a great degree dead and lost." The souls of the 
 
THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 63 
 
 Since Dr. Hammond, many able divines have 
 labored to establish a figurative sense of the first 
 resurrection: and we are often told there is a 
 necessity for our departing from the literal sense, 
 and of our understanding it allegorical ; because 
 a literal first resurrection is incredible. But why 
 should a literal first resurrection seem more 
 incredible than a literal second resurrection ? 
 To many, the doctrine of any literal resurrection 
 seems incredible : but, Is anything too hard for 
 the Lord ? I presume, had we just conceptions 
 of the future kingdom of Christ, such as are 
 warranted by holy writ, we should easily admit 
 the literal sense of this passage ; which, accord- 
 ing to the received rule of interpreters, is never 
 to be quitted or forsaken without necessity. 
 
 If we make the first resurrection allegorical, 
 and the resurrection of the rest of the dead literal, 
 we may make of the Scriptures just what we 
 please ; for it has never yet been shown from 
 anything in the text, why we may not make the 
 second resurrection allegorical as well as the first: 
 yea, the connection of this passage is such, that 
 if we make the first rising and living of the dead 
 allegorical, we are obliged to make the rising and 
 living of the rest of the dead allegorical also ; and 
 then we have made the doctrine of the resurrec- 
 tion a fable. 
 
 At least, will it not argue against the faith of 
 the resurrection, if, in that book written expressly 
 
 Deheaded, &c., u shall live again in their successors, who 
 shall arise and stand up with the same spirit, and in the 
 same cause, in which they lived and died." And the 
 same objections lie with equal weight against them all. 
 
5i TE FIRST RESURRECTION. 
 
 to show us the things which are, end the things 
 which shall be hereafter, we find the word resur- 
 rection but twice used, chap. xx. 5, 6, and each 
 time with the distinction of first, implying a 
 second; and both the first and second meaning 
 something in the present life something besides 
 the resurrection of the body ? For the wicked, 
 the rest of the dead, cannot be included in the 
 first resurrection, or among the first raised, 
 because those are blessed and holy; therefore, 
 the living of the rest of the dead is the second 
 resurrection, and includes everything that ap- 
 pears even implied by the resurrection, a> Uu 
 word is used by him who concluded the sacred 
 canon. 
 
 And (as their mode of interpretation neces- 
 sarily requires) some of the last writers upon the 
 modern plan have continued the allegory, and 
 have included the rest of the dead, ver. o. They 
 suppose the wicked, the rest of the dead, after 
 the millennium, will live in the same figurative 
 sense as the righteous in the millennium. But 
 this, instead of relieving any difficulty, involves 
 the interpretation in new absurdities ; it renders 
 the sentence without sense or signification ; for, 
 as the interests of the righteous and the wicked 
 are diametrically opposite, it is as impossible 
 they should live, i. e., be in prosperity together, 
 as that light and darkness should come over the 
 earth and prevail together. To say the righteous 
 and kingdom of Christ shall be in prosperity this 
 thousand years, but the wicked and kingdom of 
 the devil shall not be in prosperity until this 
 thousand years are finished, is as unmeaning as 
 to say, it will be day and light for twelve hours, 
 
THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 65 
 
 but it will not be night and dark until those 
 twelve hours are ended; or to say of the balance, 
 the right hand scale is up, but the left hand scale 
 is not up.^ 
 
 Again, how can the modern millennists inter- 
 pret this as the first figurative resurrection ; when, 
 according to their own interpretations, the resur- 
 rection of the witnesses, mentioned chap, xi., is 
 figurative, and is first ? It has been considered 
 as the greatest proof of the resurrection of the 
 witnesses being figurative, that the resurrection 
 of the souls of them that were beheaded, &c., i. e., 
 of those that were slain or dead in body, is called 
 the first resurrection. 
 
 * How could the wicked be called the rest of the dead, 
 as, in this figurative sense, the righteous and wicked 
 could not be dead together; but, as the one die, the other 
 live ; and so, vice versa ? Should one go into a floor 
 where was a heap of threshed corn, and take up a part 
 only, the remainder might be called the rest of the heap ; 
 but should he take up all, and at the same time thresh 
 out a new heap, that could not with propriety be called 
 the rest of the heap. And though the righteous before the 
 millennium, on account of their scale being down, may 
 figuratively be called dead ; and the wicked in the mil- 
 lennium, on account of their scale being down, may also 
 figuratively be called dead ; yet they may not figuratively 
 be called tne rest of the dead : for, in the nature of things, 
 the cause of the righteous and the cause of the wicked 
 can neither prosper nor suffer together; therefore, the 
 righteous and the wicked cannot in this sense be dead 
 together ; and, therefore, the wicked cannot be the rest of 
 the dead. But to follow this figurative labyrinth would 
 be an endless journey. When men depart from the letter 
 of the Scriptures, when the subject-matter will bear a literal 
 sense without absurdity or incongruity^ they are greatly 
 exposed to their imaginations and fancies, with which 
 light, active, innumerable hosts, it is in vain to contend 
 
66 THB FIRST RESURRECTION. 
 
 To conclude our remarks upon this passage : 
 the words of the text are plain and express for a 
 literal resurrection as to both, the first and the 
 second ; and there is no figurative interpretation, 
 that I know of, that will hold through all the 
 particulars of the text, consistently with itself 
 and with other parts of prophecy.* 
 
 * In favor of a figurative interpretation of the first 
 resurrection, it is said, 
 
 1. The first part of this postage, all must allow, is figura- 
 tive : the key, the great chain, and the seal, cannot be under" 
 stood liter*//?. 
 
 But, we answer, because there is a necessity from the 
 subject-matter for our understanding some part of a pas- 
 sage figurative, that is no reason we should underhand 
 other parts of the passage figurative, where there is no 
 such necessity. 
 
 2. The coming of Christ, and his appearing at the day 
 of judgment in his human nature, is said to be his appearing 
 the second time, answering to his first appearance in his human 
 nature on earth. This would not be the second time, but the 
 third, were he thus to appear in his human nature at the 
 millennium. 
 
 This argument mistakes our sentiments. We believe 
 that the coming of Christ at the millennial day Lfl his 
 second and last coming, when he will sit upon the throne 
 of his glory and judge the world. 
 
 3. Christ is now in the best situation to be adored and 
 enjoyed by his church on earth. His church and kingdom on 
 earth will, in the millennium, be as happy, splendid, and 
 glorious, as if he were on earth, as he is now in heaven, and 
 much more so. 
 
 "Can the children of the bride-chamber mourn as long 
 as the bridegroom is with them? Bat the days will 
 come when the bridegroom shall be taken from them ; 
 and then shall they fast in those days." The church is 
 ever taaght, v by the divine word, to look forward to the 
 coming of Christ the return of the Bridegroom, as an 
 event that will greatly increase her happiness, splendor, 
 and glory. 
 
THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 67 
 
 Bot this is not the only passage of Scripture 
 in favor of the doctrine of the first resurrection ; 
 
 m 
 
 4. // if appointed unto men once to die, but after this the 
 judgment. This teach* us to look fonrard to the second 
 coming of Christ, rrhen he iri// come to judgment, c. 
 next great event that win immediately retpeft us after death. 
 
 To this we answer, many of the saints hare already 
 risen from the dead, mud are now with Christ in their 
 bodies : also, the coming of Christ at the millennium is 
 his coming to judgment , for, speaking of his coming to 
 judgment, he says " For as the lightning, thai lighteneth 
 out of the one pan under heaven, shinetn unto the other 
 pan under heaven, so snail also the con. Son 
 
 of Man be in his day.' 1 His day the day of CAru/ A 
 a, or time, is the uulU-nniuin. See tht 
 
 words of the remarkable prophecy .i 
 
 Isa. chap. ! his tinu M 
 
 5. Appearing with Christ in glory, meant appearing mth 
 
 'But, as u. understand the Scriptures, -when we 
 see our Savior 1. ill be like our Head." 
 
 6. It dots not appear tf< be any advantage to 
 the departed taintt. or to ?h> church tm earth, to A/rr- the 
 Mia of alt who ha* d*d before the mUUnniwm ramd frmm 
 their grmuj and cam* to live a tkmtand yean in t 
 
 before the general resurrection. 
 
 See our an . tn J^vtur- 
 
 7. Tfiere is nothvtf ermstfy said of th 
 
 body in this patsaf*. The aposllt John tarn the souls ' ' 
 beheaded. 4^., and they toW and nignad inth Christ. 
 To say souls, meaning persons, soul and U>! . 
 manner of expression so coinn. that 
 
 we need not quote examples. But if Johu hn 
 bodies of, Ace., it might have been understood figuratively, 
 and doubtless would, as well as n<* have seen 
 
 even Isaiah xxvi. i'. interpreted figuratively, and quoted 
 
 ivor of a ngur.r 
 
 shall live together, with my dead body shall they anse. 
 Awake and sin?, ye that dwell in dust , w is 
 
 as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out h*r 
 
DO THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 
 
 there are many, which, though perhaps not alto- 
 gether so particular, are yet evidently to the 
 same purflbse ; some of which we will men- 
 tion. 
 
 1 Cor. xv. 21, 22, 23. "For since by man 
 came death, by man came also the resurrection 
 of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in 
 Christ shall all be made alive. But every man 
 in his own order : Christ the first-fruits, after- 
 ward they that are Christ's at his coming." It 
 seems plainly intimated in this text, that the 
 resurrection at the coming of Christ will not be 
 of all, but only of a part of the dead ; and that 
 chiefly of them who are Christ's, or only of them 
 who were visibly and professedly Christ's. 
 
 1 Thess. iv. 16. " For the Lord himself shall 
 descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice 
 of the archangel, and with the trump of God : 
 and the dead in Christ shall rise first." The 
 wordjErrf here refers to the living in Christ, who 
 will not take their flight until the dead in Christ 
 be first risen ; so that both shall be caught up 
 together in the clouds to meet the Lord: for the 
 Lord himself shall descend from heaven with the 
 trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise. 
 This language is the same as before, and plainly 
 intends, that, at the coming of Christ, not all the 
 dead, but the dead in Christ, shall rise. 
 
 When our Lord spake of this great event at 
 his coming, he limited it in this same manner. 
 Matt. xxiv. 30, 31. "And they shall see the Son 
 of Man coming in the clouds of heaven, with 
 power and great glory. And he shall send his 
 angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they 
 
 
THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 69 
 
 shall gather together his elect from the four 
 winds, from one end of heaven to the other." 
 Mark xiii. 26, 27. "And then shall they see the 
 Son of Man coming in the clouds, with great 
 power and glory. And then shall he send his 
 angels, and shall gather together his elect from 
 the four winds, from the uttermost part of the 
 earth to the uttermost part of heaven." 
 
 This gathering together of the elect is not 
 of ihe living only, but also of the dead, and is 
 the resurrection of the elect; for it is at the 
 corning of Christ in the clouds, and at the sound 
 of the trumpet : and so the apostle evidently 
 understood it, 2 Thess. ii. 1. "Now we beseech 
 you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and by our gathering together unto him :" 
 yea, to these words of the Lord he refers, 1 
 Thess. iv. 16, 17. " For the Lord himself shall 
 descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice 
 of the archangel, and with the trump of God : 
 and the dead in Christ shall rise first : then \ve 
 which are alive and remain shall be caught up 
 together with them in the clouds, to meet the 
 Lord in the air : and so shall we ever be with 
 the Lord." The elect, therefore, to be gathered 
 together at the coming of the Lord, are both the 
 elect dead and the elect living. 
 
 But if all the dead shall rise at the coming of 
 Chiist in his kingdom, why are the elect ex- 
 pressed particularly, and no intimation at all 
 given of the dead generally ? It should seem 
 strange that, in so many places, and twice as 
 ninny might be mentioned, the resurrection at the 
 coining of Christ is expressed as of a part of 
 mankind, if the general resurrection be intended. 
 
70 THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 
 
 The resurrection to take place at the coming 
 of Christ in his kingdom, is spoken of in the 
 same manner in the Old Testament, as being 
 limited to some to a part of the dead. And a 
 manner of expression every where so uniform, if 
 there be no design in it, is unaccountable ; and 
 if there be a design, it is, doubtless, to teach us 
 the doctrine of a first literal resurrection. 
 
 Daniel was told by the angel, that, at the end 
 of the days allotted to the kingdoms of this world, 
 when Christ shall take the kingdom and reign 
 with his saints, " many of them that sleep in 
 the dust of the earth shall awake, some to ever- 
 lasting life, and some to shame and everlasting 
 contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as 
 the brightness of the firmament ; and they that 
 turn many to righteousness, as the stars, forever 
 and ever. " And that himself, Daniel, should then 
 stand up in his lot. 
 
 At the opening of the seals in Revelation, 
 which is a vision reaching forward to the end, 
 there is a prospect given the saints of the king- 
 dom of Christ, and of this reward, the first res- 
 urrection their rising and reigning with Christ 
 on the earth. For when they sing the new song 
 of the Lamb, they say, " Thou art worthy to take 
 the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou 
 wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy 
 blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and peo- 
 ple, and nation ; and hast made us unto our God 
 kings and priests ; and we shall reign on the 
 earth." This must be the same state mentioned 
 chapter xx., where it is said the partakers of it 
 shall be priests of God, and of Christ, and shall 
 reign with him a thousand years. 
 
THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 71 
 
 The seven trumpets is another remarkable 
 vision of the Apocalypse, the seventh of which 
 plainly opens the scene of the first resurrection, 
 and the Redeemer's kingdom on earth. Hear the 
 sound of it " The seventh angel sounded ; and 
 there were great voices in heaven, saying, The 
 kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms 
 of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall 
 reign forever and ever. And the four and 
 twenty elders, which sat before God on their 
 seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, 
 saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Al- 
 mighty, which art, and wast, and art to come ; 
 because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, 
 and hast reigned. And the nations were angry, 
 and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead 
 that they should be judged, and that thou should- 
 est give reward unto thy servants the prophets, 
 and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, 
 Miiall and great, and shouldest destroy them 
 which destroy the earth." This is manifc 
 the kingdom of Christ; and with this is jot 
 the resurrection of the dead, and the reward- 
 ing of the suffering prophets and saints, as in 
 chapter xx. This is that mystery of God that 
 \\ is to be finished in the days of the voice of the 
 seventh angel, as is said chap. x. 7, a* he hath 
 declared to his servants the prophets; namely, 
 the mystery of this kingdom, which was foretold 
 by the prophets of the Old Testament, and more 
 especially by Daniel, as we shall see hereafter. 
 
 In the view of a first resurrection, and of the 
 glory of those who shall be the children and par- 
 takers of it, the meaning of St. Paul is plain and 
 forcible " If by any means I might attain unto 
 
72 THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 
 
 the resurrection of the dead." His words have 
 a plain reference to his Lord's, Luke xxi. 36. 
 " Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye 
 may be accounted worthy to escape all these 
 things that shall come to pass, and to stand before 
 the Son of Man." 
 
 If we find evidence of a first resurrection, we 
 shall doubtless be satisfied that the glory of the 
 first raised will be on the earth the restored 
 new earth, wherein righteousness shall dwell the 
 enemy of mankind shall be bound, and the Prince 
 of peace shall rule : where will be a paradise 
 without a serpent, and a tree, not to wound, but 
 to heal the nations ; where will be neither curse, 
 nor pain, nor death, nor disease; where all 
 things are new, and all are perfect, both the 
 world itself and its inhabitants. There, in the 
 blessed millennium, " the first-born from the dead 
 will have the first-fruits of glory." The Lord 
 himself shall come, and bring his saints with him : 
 they that sleep in Jesus shall be raised, and the 
 living shall be changed; and here they will all 
 meet together in the air. The New Jerusalem 
 will come down, with its king David and all its 
 holy citizens it will descend out of heaven, but 
 no mention is made of its returning into heaven. 
 Here Christ will set his throne in the last day, 
 and the tabernacle of God will be with men, and 
 lie will dwell with them. 
 
 The hallelujah song is the universal shout of 
 the whole camp of the saints at the sound of the 
 archangel's trump ; and is observed never to be 
 sung but in the prospect of the destruction of 
 Babylon, the kingdom of Christ, and the millen- 
 nial state : and this is the burden of the sacred 
 
THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 73 
 
 g the Lord God omnipotent reigneth, and 
 we shall reign on the earth. 
 
 Will it not be for the glory of Jesus Christ, 
 and for the glory of the Father in him, to reigo 
 and triumph with his saints ; to make ready and 
 celebrate the marriage of the Lamb, where he 
 has suffered, and they have suffered ? Will not 
 this appear more like a victory and a triumph ? 
 To me, the idea is desirable. The will of the 
 Lord be done. 
 
 III. We were to show the propriety of our 
 subordinating every pursuit, and of striving if by 
 any means we may attain unto the resurrection 
 of the dead. 
 
 The propriety of our making everything bend 
 to this end, if by any means we may attain it, is 
 shown by the example of the faithful, the cloud 
 of witnesses ; many of whom " were tortured, 
 not accepting deliverance, that they might oUax* 
 a better resurrection" Heb. xi. 30. This betUT 
 resurrection is doubtless what Paul strove for, if 
 by any means he might obtain it ; even the first 
 resurrection at the coming of Christ, which is 
 ever mentioned as a peculiar privilege of the 
 saints, especially those who have labored and 
 suffered for Chnst and his cause. 
 
 The propriety of this is shown by the angel of 
 the church, who saith, " Blessed and holy is he 
 that hath part in the first resurrection ; on such 
 the second death hath no power, but they shall 
 be priests of God, and of Christ, and shall reign 
 with him a thousand years." 
 
 The propriety of our striving by all means to 
 obtain this resurrection, is shown by its being 
 
74 THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 
 
 gloriously distinguished from the other in its 
 union with, and virtue from, the resurrection of 
 Jesus Christ. " Thy dead men shall live, together 
 with my dead body shall they arise : awake and 
 sing, ye that dwell in dust." Isa. xxvi. 19. And 
 as in 1 Cor. xv. 23, " Christ \hQfirst-fruits, after- 
 ward they that are Christ's at his coming. " 
 
 The propriety of this is much insisted on by 
 our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He called 
 this the resurrection of life, as being the very 
 same with the resurrection of his own body the 
 fulness of the harvest, of which that was the 
 first-fruits : whereas, he called the other the re- 
 " surrection of damnation, it having no union, or 
 relation to his own resurrection, and having 
 nothing of its virtue, but being altogether a dif- 
 ferent thing. One is by an influence, as the 
 dew upon herbs or seeds in the ground, causing 
 them to grow, Isa. xxvi. 19 ; the other, by a 
 sovereign power, like that which raised up man 
 from the dust at first. 
 
 Our Lord distinguisheth this as the resurrec- 
 tion of the just ; and those that obtain it, as the 
 children of the resurrection. What a peculiar 
 endearing phrase ! He that knew the worth of 
 this resurrection and the privilege of obtaining 
 it, said, " When thou makest a feast, call the 
 poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and thou 
 shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense 
 thee ; for thou shalt be recompensed at the resur- 
 rection of the just." Luke xiv. 13, 14. 
 
 How all-important and glorious does he describe 
 this privilege, Luke xx. 35, 36. " But they which 
 shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, 
 [the world to come the new heavens and new 
 
THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 75 
 
 earth,] neither marry, nor are given in marriage. 
 Neither can they die any more ; for they are 
 equal unto the angels, and are the children of 
 God, being the children of the resurrection :" 
 yea, they shall be above the angels ; for it i^ pro- 
 mised, that, in the millennium, they shall be priests 
 of God, and of Christ, and shall reign \oith him 
 as his bride and queen. 
 
 What then is this world, what is life, what is 
 reproach, what are sufferings, what is the loss of 
 all things, compared with this? Paul judged 
 well to forsake all things, to endure all things ; 
 and even to forget all losses and labors, and 
 perils, and pains as mere trifles of no account, 
 if by any means he might attain unto the resur- 
 rection of the dead. 
 
 Do some of us hope for this blessedness ? Arc 
 we striving to be the children of the resurrection ? 
 O how great is this object ! This is glory ! sub- 
 stantial glory ! a weight of glory ! Who among 
 us shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, 
 and the resurrection of life ? " We, according to 
 his promise, look for new heavens and a new 
 earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Where- 
 fore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such tlfings, 
 be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, 
 without spot, and blameless;" and so may obtain 
 that world and the resurrection from the dead. 
 
 Every man that hath this hope in him, puri- 
 fieth himself: he will keep his body under; and, 
 forgetting those things which are behind, and 
 reaching forth unto those things which are before, 
 he will press toward the mark for the prize of 
 this high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 
 
 This I believe, esteem, and only desire to 
 
76 THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 
 
 obtain. And having this hope, and this only, 
 my mind and affections require daily, as their 
 aliment of life, the evidence of its truth, and that 
 I shall obtain that world and the resurrection 
 from the dead. 
 
 And whilst I rejoice in this hope, and acknow- 
 ledge my indebtedness to its influence, I cannot 
 forget my companions in the same pursuit. 
 Beloved, never faint, be of good courage, you are 
 running for more than an angel's prize. 
 
 And who will be our company in this heavenly 
 race ? O ye ruined children of men, who are 
 perishing with a perishing world ! we long for 
 you all. In the name of Jesus Christ, who is 
 the resurrection and the life, and the Lord of the 
 world to come, we invite you all to be our com- 
 panions, in self-denial, in labor, in suffering, and 
 in patience ; if by any means we may attain unto 
 the resurrection of the dead, that blessed hope, 
 at the glorious appearing of our Savior Jesus 
 Christ. *" 
 
LECTURE IV. 
 
 THE BATTLE OF THAT GREAT DAY OF 
 GOD ALMIGHTY. 
 
 For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the 
 year of my redeemed is come. ISAIAH Ixiii. 4. 
 
 VENGEANCE and grace are glorious attributes 
 of the Lord : he claims them as his unalienable 
 rights, saying, my mercy my grace ; and, ven- 
 geance is mine to me belongetk vengeance , and 
 recompense. 
 
 These properties of Jehovah, bright in them- 
 selves, gloriously set off and brighten each other : 
 therefore, infinite wisdom, in concerting a plan 
 for the display of divine perfections, ordained that 
 these should be displayed together ; and that the 
 day of vengeance and the year of the redeemed 
 should bear the same date the day of vengeance 
 beginning and opening the year of the redeemed. 
 
 When, therefore, the earth was corrupt before 
 God, and filled with violence ; and the church 
 was reduced to one family, and that undoubtedly 
 *n the utmost hazard of being destroyed sur- 
 roanded by a world of ravening wolves ; the day 
 
78 
 
 THE BATTLE OF THAT GREAT DAY. 
 
 of vengeance slumbered not the flood swept 
 away the world of the ungodly ; but an ark was 
 prepared a year of the redeemed came and 
 God wrought great salvation for his little church. 
 
 And when the Lord saw the affliction of his 
 people in Egypt, and came down to deliver them, 
 he came also to judge that nation, which had 
 afflicted them ; it was equally his errand to pun- 
 ish the Egyptians and to save Israel. Vengeance 
 and mercy destruction and salvation were in 
 his heart ; and were each displayed in the inflic- 
 tion of plagues upon the Egyptians, from which 
 Israel were exempted, and in the slaughter of 
 the first-born, whilst the houses of Israel were 
 passed over. Each was gloriously magnified in 
 the overthrow of Pharaoh and his host in the 
 sea, whilst Israel, in the same path, safely passed 
 through ; and each was sweetly celebrated, in 
 one song, on the triumphant shore The Lord is 
 my strength and song, and he is become my salva- 
 tion Pharaoh and his host hath he cast into the 
 sea thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in 
 pieces the e?iemy. 
 
 Also, when the iniquity of the Amorites was 
 full, and the Lord went forth, with his sword 
 drawn in his hand, to consume and destroy them 
 from off the face of the earth ; even then, he 
 marched before his chosen tribes, to find them a 
 place of rest great and goodly cities which they 
 builded not houses full of all good things which 
 they filled not ivells of water which they digged 
 not vineyards and olive-trees ivhich they planted 
 not a land flowing with milk and honey. 
 
 Judah had long groaned in captivity in Baby- 
 lon ; their loins were filled with pain, they were 
 
THE BATTLE OF THAT GREAT DAY. 79 
 
 bowed down and dismayed; for their pleasure 
 was turned into fear. Then said the Lord, go, 
 set a watchman, let him declare what he seeih. 
 And he saw chariots and horsemen ; and he 
 hearkened diligently with much heed. And he 
 cried, A lion : my Lord, behold, here cometh a 
 chariot of men, with a couple of horsemen : and 
 he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen ; 
 and all the graven images of her gods he hath 
 broken unto the ground. Then follows the kind 
 language of redeeming love to the poor, despair- 
 ing, captive church, O my threshing, and the corn 
 of my floor. Thou hast been threshed as the 
 wheat, and for thy sake Babylon has been 
 threshed as the straw and chaff, that thou might- 
 est be threshed out of it ; therefore, as Babylon 
 is fallen, the year of my redeemed is come. Baby- 
 lon being cast out as the straw and chaff, thou 
 shalt be saved as the corn of my Jhor with ever- 
 lasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, and 
 will gather thee as wheat into my garner. 
 
 This vengeance and grace were both executed 
 by Cyrus, as we may read in his commission : 
 Thus saith the Lord to Cyrus Subdue nations 
 loose the loins of kings break in pieces the gates 
 of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron -for 
 Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect 
 Cyrus is my shepherd, and shall perform all my 
 pleasure, even saying to Jerusalem, thou shalt be 
 built ; and to the temple, thy foundation shall be 
 laid. 
 
 Esau hated Jacob, because the Lord loved 
 him ; and the children of Edom were the most 
 implacable enemies to Israel and Judah, who 
 said, in the day of the destruction of Jerusalem, 
 
80 THE BATTLE OF THAT GREAT DAY. 
 
 raze it, raze it, even to the foundation thereof ; 
 and also stood in the paths, to cut off the feeble, 
 scattered inhabitants, flying from the fire and 
 sword of the Chaldeans. Wherefore, the Lord, 
 when about to turn again the captivity of Zion, 
 visited Edom, and first showed himself to his 
 people, as their Savior, coming from thence, all 
 over stained, as though he had been treading in 
 the wine-fats of Bozrah ; but, according to his 
 own account, it was Edom's blood that sprinkled 
 his garments and stained all his raiment. He 
 came travelling in the greatness of his strength, 
 like a mighty conqueror from the field of battle, 
 reeking with the blood of the slain. 
 
 And in this apparel he is glorious ; for by 
 speaking in righteousness he shows himself to 
 his people willing and mighty to save. Saviors 
 shall come upon mount Zion, to judge the mount 
 of Esau. Edom's destroyer is Judah's deliverer. 
 
 God's vengeance against the Jews, when, for 
 rejecting their Savior and King, wrath came 
 upon them to the uttermost, was connected with, 
 and the evident means of, that wonderful spread 
 of the gospel among the Gentiles in all the earth, 
 which then, as never since, was carried to the 
 ends of the world, and was preached to every 
 creature under heaven. 
 
 And the promises of the great day of the re- 
 deemed the approaching glorious jubilee are 
 all preceded by threatenings of the day of ven- 
 geance. 
 
 That the battle of that great day of God Al- 
 mighty, spoken of in the sixteenth chapter of the 
 Revelation, will precede the millennium, is gen- 
 
 
THE BATTLE OF THAT GREAT DAY. 81 
 
 erally granted ;* though people's ideas of that 
 day must be very different, according to their 
 different ideas of the millennium itself. They 
 who expect the millennium will be merely a 
 reformation and melioration of the world, will 
 have no greater ideas of the battle of that great 
 day to precede and open it, than of some remark- 
 able revolutionary struggles, between patriots and 
 tyrants, about forms of government ; and civil 
 judgments upon anti-christians, the pope, or 
 papists, Mahometans and pagans, which shall 
 destroy their civil powers, and favor the spread 
 of the Christian religion. But they who expect 
 the millennium will be a restitution of all things, 
 natural and moral a heaven, earth, and Jerusa- 
 lem, entirely new will have no less ideas of the 
 battle of that great day of God Almighty, than 
 the dissolution of the whole frame of this world, 
 political, moral, and natural the removing of 
 those things which can be shaken, as things of a 
 perishing nature ; to be succeeded by things 
 which cannot be shaken, and are eternal a new 
 heaven and a new earth, which shall remain 
 before the Lord, even as the new Jerusalem, and 
 her seed and name shall remain. 
 
 This difference does not arise from any dark- 
 ness and obscurity of the Scriptures, but from 
 prejudices and prepossessions of the human 
 mind ; by which the best of men, in this life, 
 are most astonishingly influenced. 
 
 This unhappy influence in the judgment of 
 many great and good men, respecting the battle 
 
 * See Doctor Hopkins' s Treatise on the Millennium, 
 from page 104 to page 144. 
 
S2 THE BATTLE OF THAT GREAT DAY. 
 
 of that great day of God Almighty, to precede 
 and open the millennium, must appear astonish- 
 ing indeed, when we consider that none will 
 deny, that the prophecies of that great day of 
 God are the fullest and most fearful revelations 
 of his judgment, and fiery indignation, which 
 shall devour the adversaries, that could possibly 
 be made to the human mind by words. 
 
 It appears from the sacred predictions, that by 
 this day of God's vengeance the wicked will be 
 utterly consumed and destroyed. 
 
 By the place of the battle of that great day 
 being called Armageddon, there is an evident 
 allusion to the memorable battle at the foot of 
 the mountain of Megiddo, when Sisera and his 
 host were utterly destroyed, and there was not a 
 man left. 
 
 This sudden and complete overthrow of the 
 Cariaanites, the enemies of God and his people, 
 which issued in the final deliverance of Israel 
 from their power, " was a type of the total over- 
 throw of the enemies of Christ and his church, 
 which will issue in the peace and prosperity of 
 the church in the millennium. This is intimated 
 in the concluding words of the song of Deborah 
 and Barak, in which this victory and deliverance 
 is celebrated." " So let all thine enemies perish, 
 O Lord : but let them that love him be as the 
 sun when he goeth forth in his might. "* 
 
 And if also, by this name, there be an allusion 
 
 *The texts in this Lecture marked with quotations, 
 refer to events which will take place before the millen- 
 nium, in the opinion of divines who, in that respect, 
 differ from us, and adopt the modern plan. See Dr 
 Hopkins's Treatise on the Millennium, Sec. iv. 
 
THE BATTLE OF THAT GREAT DAY. 83 
 
 to the overthrow of the combined enemies of 
 God and his people in the valley of Jehoshaphat, 
 as some have supposed, that also was a sudden 
 and complete destruction none escaped. 
 
 " The day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon 
 every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every 
 one that is lifted up, and he shall be brought low. 
 And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, 
 and the haughtiness of men shall be made low : 
 and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day."* 1 
 
 The same is predicted in the following words : 
 " I have cut off the nations : their towers are 
 desolate : I made their streets waste, that none 
 passeth by ; their cities are destroyed, so that 
 there is no man, that there is none inhabitant. 
 Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until 
 the day that I rise up to the prey : for my deter- 
 mination is to gather the nations, that I may 
 assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine 
 indignation, even all my fierce anger : for all the 
 earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jeal- 
 ousy ."t " These words doubtless have reference 
 to the events which were to take place under the 
 sixth and seventh vials, when the nations and 
 kingdoms of the world are. to be gathered, and 
 God will rise up to battle, to the prey, and pour 
 upon them his indignation, even all his fierce 
 anger ; and all the earth shall be devoured with 
 the fire of his jealousy ; and thus the cities of 
 the nations shall fall: and the nations shall be 
 cut off." 
 
 The awful scene of this day is described by 
 
 * Isa. ii. 12, 17. f Zeph. lii. 6, 8. 
 
84 THE BATTLE OF THAT GREAT DAY. 
 
 the supper of the great God* unto which the 
 angel that John saw standing in the sun called 
 all the fowls of heaven, saying, u Come and gath- 
 er yourselves together ; 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 
 John " saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, 
 and their armies, gathered together, to make war 
 against him [Christ], and against his army." 
 These are the same, mentioned chap. xvi. 14, 
 16, as gathered together to the battle of that great 
 day of God Almighty. And, in this battle, " the 
 beast was taken, and with him the false prophet 
 that wrought miracles before him. These both 
 were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with 
 brimstone. And the remnant were slain .with 
 the sword of Christ, which sword proceeded out 
 of his mouth, and all the fowls were filled with 
 their flesh." " By the remnant, are meant the 
 rest of mankind, who by their sins make war 
 with Christ, and are not included in the beast 
 and false prophet, and their followers, who belong 
 to the kingdom of antichrist. Their being slain 
 by the sword which proceeded out of the mouth 
 of Christ, does not mean their conversion, but 
 their falling victims to his vengeance, which is 
 expressed by the fowls being filled with their 
 flesh" not a remnant shall be saved. 
 
 The same battle and slaughter of men are 
 represented and predicted by the harvest of the 
 earthA "John describes a vision which he had 
 
 * Rev. xix. 1721. f Rev. xiv. 1420. 
 
THE BATTLE OF THAT GREAT DAY. 85 
 
 of one like unto the Son of Man, who sat upon a 
 white cloud, hawng on his head a golden crown, 
 and in his hand a sharp sickle. And it was said 
 unto him, ' Thrust in thy sickle, and reap : for 
 the time is come for thee to reap ; for the hat 
 of the earth is ripe. And he thrust in his sickle 
 on the earth; and the earth was reaped. And 
 another angel came out of the temple which is 
 in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.' And 
 it was said unto him, * Thrust in thy sharp sickle, 
 and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth ; 
 for her grapes are fully ripe. And the angel 
 thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered 
 the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great 
 wine-press of the wrath of God. And the wine- 
 press was trodden without the city, and blood 
 came out of the wine-press, even unto the horse- 
 bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hun- 
 dred furlongs/ " 
 
 This harvest of the earth can be nothing less 
 than the great harvest which Christ represented 
 in the parable ;* and the clusters and vine of the 
 earth gathered here must be the same as the 
 tares of the field gathered there. Which parable 
 is thus explained : " The field is the world ; the 
 tares are the children of the wicked one ; the 
 harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers 
 are the angels. As therefore the tares are gath- 
 ered, and burnt in the fire ; so shall it be in the 
 end of this world. The Son of Man shall send 
 forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his 
 kingdom all things that oflend, and them which 
 do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace 
 
 * Matt. xlii. 
 
86 THE BATTLE OF THAT GREAT DAY.- 
 
 of fire : there shall be wailing and gnashing of 
 teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as 
 the sun, in the kingdom of their Father.' 5 
 
 " The destruction of the world of mankind by 
 a flood, when the wickedness of man was become 
 great, and the earth was filled with violence, and 
 they continued obstinate in disobedience, while 
 the long-suffering of God waited upon them in 
 the days of Noah, was an emblem of this battle." 
 
 " The series of judgments brought upon Pha- 
 raoh and the Egyptians, for their disobedience to 
 Jehovah and oppressions of his people, and their 
 dreadful overthrow in the Red sea, to prepare 
 the way for the deliverance of Israel, was also a 
 prophetic type of this great battle. So was the 
 destruction of the inhabitants of Canaan, in order 
 to introduce the people of Israel, and put them in 
 possession of that land." 
 
 This battle is described by all the terrors of 
 the elements: "a stprmy wind in God's fury 
 an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire and 
 brimstone."* 1 God says to Job, " Hast thou seen 
 the treasures of hail, which I have reserved 
 against the time of trouble, against the day of 
 battle and warT^ In that great day of God to 
 precede the millennium, these treasures will be 
 opened : according to the prophecy, Rev. xvi., 
 there fell upon meri a great hail out of heaven, 
 every stone about the weight of a talent, which is 
 a hundred pounds. How exceeding great and 
 dreadful must be this plague ! Judgment then, 
 will be laid " to the line, and righteousness to 
 the plummet, and the hail shall sweep away the 
 
 * Ezek. xiii. 13 ; xxxviii. 22. f Job xxxviii. 22, 23. 
 
THE BATTLE OF THAT GREAT DAY. 87 
 
 refuge of lies. The Lord shall cause his glorious 
 voice to be heard, and shall show the lighting 
 down of his arm, with the indignation of his 
 anger, and with the flame of devouring fire, with 
 scattering and tempest and hailstones."* " All 
 these passages will doubtless have their ultimate 
 and most complete fulfilment under the seventh 
 vial." And by these judgments the enemies of 
 God will be " utterly destroyed, and swept off 
 from the earth." " They shall look unto the 
 earth ; and behold, trouble and darkness, dimness 
 of anguish ; and they shall be driven into dark- 
 ness."! 
 
 " Balaam, in his remarkable prophecy of Christ 
 and his kingdom, speaking of this latter day, 
 says, * Out of Jacob shall come he that shall 
 have dominion, and shall destroy him that re- 
 maineth of the city. And he look up his parable, 
 and said, Alas, who shall live when God doth 
 this!*t 
 
 This battle of the Lord of hosts is predicted 
 in the song of Moses. " For I lift my hand to 
 heaven, and say, I live forever. If I whet my 
 glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on 
 judgment, I will render vengeance to mine ene- 
 mies, and will reward them that hate me. I will 
 make mine arrows drunk with blood, (and my 
 sword shall devour flesh,) and that with the blood 
 of the slain, and of the captives, from the begin- 
 ning of revenges upon the enemy. Rejoice, O 
 ye nations, with his people : for he will avenge 
 the blood of his servants, and will render ven- 
 
 * Isa. xxviii. 17 ; xxx. 30. f ^ sa - y iii- 22. 
 
 $ Numb. xxiv. 19, 23. 
 
88 THE BATTLE OF THAT GREAT DAY. 
 
 geance to his adversaries, and will be merciful 
 unto his land, and to his people."^ The same 
 events are predicted in the following words of 
 Moses : " There is none like unto the God of 
 Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy 
 help, and in his excellency on the sky. The 
 eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are 
 the everlasting arms : and he shall thrust out the 
 enemy from before thee, and shall say, Destroy 
 them. Israel then shall dwell in safety alone ."t 
 " In these words, God is represented as riding 
 forth to thrust out and destroy the enemies of 
 his people ; and upon this the prosperity of his 
 church, the true Israel, is introduced. This 
 prophecy therefore coincides with the description 
 of the battle in the Revelation, as introductory to 
 the millennium." 
 
 " The same events are predicted in the song 
 of Hannah. ' The wicked shall be silent in 
 darkness : the adversaries of the Lord shall be 
 broken to pieces : out of heaven shall he thunder 
 upon them. The Lord shall judge the ends of 
 the earth, and he shall give strength unto his 
 King, and exalt the horn of his Anointed.' "t 
 
 " This battle, by which the wicked will be 
 destroyed, and the reign of Christ and his church 
 on earth introduced, is frequently brought into 
 view in the Psalms. The following predictions 
 of this kind are worthy to be observed : ' 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 break them with 
 
 * Deut. xxxii. 4043. f Deut. xxxiii. 2628 
 
 \ 1 Sam. ii. 9, 10. 
 
THE BATTLE OF THAT GREAT DAY. 89 
 
 a, rod of iron, thou shall dash them in pieces like 
 a potter's vessel"* There is reference to this 
 prediction and promise in the following words of 
 Christ : " And he that overcometh, and keepeth 
 my works unto the end, to him will I give power 
 over the nations : and he shall rule them ivith a 
 rod of iron : as the vessels of a potter shall they 
 be broken to shiners, even as I received of my 
 Father."! " The followers of Christ are said to 
 do what he does for them in destroying their 
 enemies, as they are engaged in the same cause, 
 and are with him in these works of vengeance." 
 " Therefore, there is again reference to those 
 words in the second Psalm, when Christ is 
 represented as riding forth to the battle there 
 described, followed by the armies in heaven, 
 comprehending all who shall then have over- 
 come." " And out of his mouth goeth a sharp 
 sword, that with it he should smite the nations : 
 and he shall rule them with a rod of iron : and 
 he treadeth the wine-press of the fierceness and 
 wrath of Almighty God."\ " This is certainly 
 the same with the battle of that great day of 
 Almighty God, mentioned in the sixteenth chap- 
 ter;" and is predicted in the words quoted from 
 the second Psalm. 
 
 " The twenty-first Psalm contains a prediction 
 of Christ, and foretells the destruction of the 
 wicked, as introducing his reign on earth, and 
 the prosperity and joy of the church." "Thine 
 hand shall find out all thine enemies, thy right 
 hand shall find out those that hate thee. Thou, 
 shalt make them as a fiery oxen in the time of 
 
 * Psal. ii. 8, 9. f Rev. ii. 26, 27. \ Rev. xix. 14, 15 
 8* 
 
90 THE BATTLE OF THAT GREAT DAY. 
 
 thine anger : the Lord shall swallow them up in 
 his wrath, and the fire shall devour them. Their 
 fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth, and their 
 seed from among the children of men. For they 
 intended evil against thee : they imagined a 
 mischievous device, which they are not able to 
 perform. Therefore shalt thou make them turn 
 their back, when thou shalt make ready thine 
 arrows upon thy strings, against the face of 
 them. Be thou exalted, O Lord, in thine own 
 strength : so will we sing and praise thy power. "^ 
 
 u That the wicked shall be cut off and de- 
 stroyed from the earth, that the saints may inherit 
 it, is foretold throughout the thirty-seventh 
 Psalm." " Evil-doers shall be cut off: but those 
 that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the 
 earth. For yet a little while, and the wicked 
 shall not be : yea, thou shalt diligently consider 
 his place, and it shall not be. But the meek 
 shall inherit the earth, and delight themselves in 
 the abundance of peace. Wait on the Lord, and 
 keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit 
 the earth : when the wicked are cut off, thou 
 shalt see it. The transgressors shall be destroyed 
 together ; the end of the wicked shall be cut off. 
 But the salvation of the righteous is of the 
 Lord," &c. 
 
 The same thing is brought into view in the 
 seventy-fifth Psalm. " The earth and all the 
 inhabitants thereof are dissolved." " God is the 
 Judge ; he putteth down one, and setteth up 
 another. For in the hand of the Lord there is a 
 cup, and the wine is red : it is full of mixture, 
 
 *Ver. 8 13. 
 
THE BATTLE OF THAT GREAT DAY. 91 
 
 and he poureth out of the same ; but the dregs 
 thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring 
 them out, and drink them." Then follows, in 
 the next Psalm, a view of the millennium. " In 
 Judah is God known, his name is great in Israel. 
 In Salem also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling- 
 place in Zion. Thou art more glorious and 
 excellent than the mountains of prey." 
 
 In the prophecy of Isaiah, the battle of that 
 great day to precede the millennium is often 
 brought into view. In the second chapter it is 
 described : " Enter into the rock, and hide thee 
 in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory 
 of his majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be 
 humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be 
 bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted 
 in that day. And the idols he shall utterly abol- 
 ish. And they shall go into the lioles of the rocks, 
 and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the 
 Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he 
 ariseth to shake terribly the earth"* 
 
 In the thirteenth chapter is a prediction of the 
 slaughter of the wicked of the earth, which shall 
 make way for the millennium : " Howl ye, for 
 the day of the Lord is at hand ; it shall come as 
 a destruction from the Almighty. Behold, the 
 day of the Lord comet h, cruel both with wrath 
 and fierce anger, to lay the earth desolate ; and 
 he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. 
 And I will punish the world for their evil, and 
 the wicked for their iniquity.' 1 ^ 
 
 God will now make inquisition for blood, as 
 appears from Isaiah xxvi. "Come, my people, 
 
 * Verses 10, 11, 18, 19. f Verses 611. 
 
 * 
 
92 THE BATTLE OF THAT GREAT DAY. 
 
 enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors 
 about thee : hide thyself as it were for a little 
 moment, until the indignation be overpast. For 
 behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish 
 the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity : 
 the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall 
 no more cover her slain. "^ This must be a 
 great and dreadful day of battle, punishment and 
 vengeance, when all the blood which has been 
 and shall be shed, from the beginning of the 
 world to that day, shall be required at the hands 
 of the wicked inhabitants of the earth. The 
 words which follow, are, "In that day the Lord, 
 with his sore and great and strong sword, shall 
 punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even 
 leviathan that crooked serpent, and he shall slay 
 the dragon that is in the sea." " The same event 
 is here predicted, of which there is a prophecy in 
 the twentieth chapter of the Revelation, viz., of 
 the dragon that old serpent, which is the devil 
 and Satan, being laid hold of, and bound, and 
 cast into the bottomless pit. And the same con- 
 sequence of this with respect to the church is 
 here foretold, as is described there," viz., its 
 triumph and glory: "In that day sing ye unto 
 her."t 
 
 " The thirty-fourth and thirty-fifth chapters of 
 Isaiah contain a prophecy of the millennium and 
 of the day of battle which will precede it." 
 4k Come near, ye nations, to hear, and hearken, 
 ye people : let the earth hear, and all that is 
 therein ; the world, and all things that come 
 forth of it. For the indignation of the Lord is 
 
 * Verses 20, 21. f Chap, xxvii. 1, 2. 
 
THE BATTLE OF THAT GREAT DAY. 93 
 
 upon all nations, and his fury upon all their 
 armies : he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath 
 delivered them to the slaughter. For it is the 
 day of the Lord's vengeance, and the year of 
 recompenses for the controversy of Zion. God 
 will come with vengeance, even God with a 
 recompense." Then, "the wilderness and the 
 solitary place shall be glad, and the desert shall 
 rejoice, and blossom as the rose. Then shall the 
 lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the 
 dumb sing. And the ransomed of the Lord shall 
 return and come to Zion with songs and ever- 
 lasting joy upon their heads : they shall obtain 
 joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall 
 flee away." 
 
 In the fifty-ninth chapter, God is represented 
 coming forth to this battle in that glorious and 
 dreadful array in which he will come to judg- 
 ment, and render to every man according to his 
 deeds. " For he put on righteousness as a breast- 
 plate, and a helmet of salvation upon his head ; 
 and he put on the garments of vengeance for 
 clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak. 
 According to their deeds, accordingly he will re- 
 pay, fury to Ms adversaries, recompense to his 
 enemies; to the islands he will repay recompense. 
 So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the 
 west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. 
 When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the 
 Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against 
 him."^ And to this battle, this work of judg- 
 ment and vengeance, succeeds the day of light 
 and salvation. It will then be said to the church, 
 
 * Verses 17, J8, 19. 
 
94 THE BATTLE OF THAT GREAT DAY. 
 
 " Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the 
 glory of the Lord is risen upon thee."^ 
 
 14 There is a parallel representation of this 
 battle in the sixty-third chapter, as executed hy 
 the same person who is exhibited in the nine- 
 teenth chapter of the Revelation, riding forth to 
 make war in righteousness, and fighting this 
 same battle, in which the wicked then on earth 
 will be slain." " Who is this that cometh from 
 Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah ? I that 
 speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Where- 
 fore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy gar- 
 ments like him that treadeth in the wine-fat? I 
 have trodden the wine-press alone, and of the 
 people there was none with me : for I will tread 
 them in mine anger, and trample them in my 
 fury, and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my 
 garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For 
 the day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year 
 of my redeemed is come. And I looked, and 
 there was none to help ; and I wondered that 
 there was none to uphold : therefore, mine own 
 arm brought salvation unto me, and my fury it 
 upheld me. And I will tread down the people 
 in mine anger, and make them drunk in my 
 fury, and I will bring down their strength to the 
 earth." 
 
 " The same thing is predicted in the sixty- 
 sixth chapter :" " A voice of noise from the 
 city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the Lord 
 who rendereth recompense to his enemies. 
 Behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with 
 his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger 
 
 *Chap.*ix. 
 
THE BATTLE OF THAT GREAT DAY. 95 
 
 with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. 
 For by fire, and by his sword, will the Lord plead 
 with' all flesh." ^ These predictions of the 
 slaughter and destruction of the wicked are here 
 intermixed with promises to the church. " Re- 
 joice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, 
 all ye who love her ; rejoice for joy with her, all 
 ye that mourn for her ; that ye may suck, and 
 be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations ; 
 that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the 
 abundance of her glory." t 
 
 " A passage in the tenth chapter of Jeremiah 
 seems to refer to the same event." " Jehovah 
 is the true God, he is the living God, and an 
 everlasting King. At his wrath the earth shall 
 tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide 
 his indignation." t 
 
 The following expressions, in the twenty-fifth 
 chapter, " refer chiefly to the battle in which 
 Antichrist and the nations of the earth will fall." 
 " The Lord shall roar from on high, and utter 
 his voice from his holy habitation ; he shall 
 mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give 
 a. shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all 
 the inhabitants of the earth. He will plead with 
 all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the 
 sword, saith the Lord. And the slain of the 
 Lord shall be, at that day, from one end of the 
 earth even unto the other end of the earth : they 
 shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor 
 buried; they shall be dung upon the ground. " 
 
 " There is another prophecy of this in the 
 
 * Verses 6, 15, 16. f Verses 10, 11. 
 Verse 10. $ Verses 3033. 
 
96 THE BATTLE OF THAT GREAT DAY. 
 
 thirtieth chapter of Jeremiah. Here the deliver- 
 ance of the church from her oppressors, and from 
 all her sufferings and trouble, is promised ; which 
 shall be attended with the utter overthrow and, 
 destruction of the wicked, and all her enemies" 
 " Alas ! for that day is great, so that none is 
 like it : it is even the time of Jacob's trouble ; 
 but he shall be saved out of it. For it shall come 
 to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that 
 I will break his yoke from off his neck, and will 
 burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more 
 serve themselves of him. But they shall serve 
 the Lord their God, and David their king, whom. 
 I will raise up unto them. For I am with thee, 
 saith the Lord, to save thee. Though I make a 
 full end of all nations whither I have scattered 
 thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee. 
 Behold, the whirlwind of the Lord goeth forth 
 with fury, a continuing whirlwind; it shall fall 
 with pain upon the head of the wicked. The 
 fierce anger of the Lord shall not return until he 
 have done it, and until he have performed the 
 intents of his heart : in the latter days ye shall 
 consider it." ^ 
 
 In the book of Daniel there is a prophecy of 
 the same event. " And at that time " (i. e., when 
 Antichrist is to be destroyed) " shall Michael 
 stand up, the great prince which standeth for the 
 children of thy people," (i. e., Jesus Christ;) 
 " and there shall be a time of trouble, such as 
 never was since there was a nation, even to that 
 same time;" (this is the time of the battle of that 
 great day of God Almighty.) " And at that 
 
 * Verses 7, 8, 9, 11, 23, 24. 
 
THE BATTLE OF THAT GREAT DAY. 97 
 
 time thy people shall be delivered, every one 
 that shall he found written in the hook." Then, 
 many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth 
 shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to 
 shame and everlasting contempt.* This is the 
 time of the deliverance of the church from the 
 power of Antichrist, and from all wicked men, 
 her enemies, and of her entering upon the happy 
 state in which the saints will reign on earth a 
 thousand years. 
 
 The prophet Joel dwells upon the awful scene 
 of this day. He describes it as the harvest, and 
 the treading of the wine-press of the wrath of 
 God as the day when the Lord's mighty ones 
 shall come down. He calls it the day of the 
 Lord the day of decision. " Put ye in the 
 sickle, for the harvest is ripe ; come, get ye 
 down, for the press is full, the fats overflow, for 
 their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes 
 in the valley of decision. The Lord shall roar 
 out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem, 
 and the heavens and the earth shall shake." 
 John says, " I saw heaven opened, arid behold, a 
 white horse : and he that sat upon him was called 
 faithful and true, arid in righteousness doth he 
 judge and make war. And his name is called 
 the Word of God. And the armies in heaven fol- 
 lowed him." So here, God causes his mighty 
 ones to come down, and commands them to put in 
 the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. " But the 
 Lord will be the refuge of his people. Then 
 shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no stran- 
 gers pass through her any more the mountains 
 
 * Ch*p. xii. 1, 2. 
 9 
 
98 THE BATTLE OF THAT GREAT DAY. 
 
 shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall 
 flow with milk. Egypt shall be a desolation, 
 and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness. But 
 Judah shall dwell forever, and Jerusalem from 
 generation to generation."^ 
 
 Zephaniah prophesied of this day, and called 
 it " the great day of the Lord ; the day of the 
 Lord's wrath ; the day of the Lord's sacrifice. A 
 day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day 
 of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness 
 and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick dark- 
 ness, a day of the trumpet : the day that God 
 will rise up to the prey, to gather the nations 
 and assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them 
 his indignation and fierce anger." " In the Reve- 
 lation, the whole world were gathered to the 
 battle of that great day. The words, THAT great 
 day of battle, seem to have reference to some day 
 which had already been made known, and un- 
 doubtedly refer to the great day of God's wrath, 
 which is mentioned in the prophecy before us." 
 And " when the nations and kingdoms of the 
 world have been gathered, and God has poured 
 upon them his indignation, even all his fierce 
 anger, and all the earth shall be devoured with 
 the fire -of his jealousy, the scene is changed." 
 This is represented in the last chapter, from verse 
 ninth to the end of the prophecy : " For then will 
 I turn to the people a pure language, that they 
 may call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him 
 with one consent : for they shall feed and lie 
 down, and none shall make them afraid. Sing, 
 daughter of Zion ; shout, Israel ; be glad 
 
 * Chap. hi. 1120. 
 
THE BATTLE OF THAT GREAT DAY. 99 
 
 and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of 
 Jerusalem. The Lord hath taken away thy 
 judgments ; he hath cast out thine enemy : the 
 King of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of 
 thee : thou shalt not see evil any more." 
 
 " Malachi prophesied of the millennium, and 
 the preceding slaughter of the wicked, in the 
 battle of that great day of God Almighty, in 
 the following concise and striking language :" 
 " Behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an 
 oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do 
 wickedly, shall be stubble, and the day that cometh 
 shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that 
 it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But 
 unto you that fear my name shall the sun of 
 righteousness arise, with healing in his wings ; 
 and ye shall go forth and grow up as calves of 
 the stall. And ye shall tread down the wicked : 
 for they shall be ashes wider the soles of your 
 feet, in the day that I do this, saith the Lord of 
 hosts." 
 
 After this view of the prophecies of the battle 
 of that great day of God Almighty, we repeat the 
 observation, that they contain the fullest and 
 most fearful ideas of the day of judgment and 
 perdition of ungodly men, that could possibly be 
 exhibited to the human mind by words : and we 
 are constrained to believe, that they mean nothing 
 less than the dissolution of the whole of this 
 world, political, moral, and natural. 
 
 The political constitutions the cities of the 
 nations shall fall. A perfect moral change is 
 implied in these prophecies, as they fully express 
 the destruction of the wicked, and exaltation of 
 the righteous. And the dissolution of the natural 
 
100 THE BATTLE OF THAT GREAT DAY. 
 
 world is no less plainly foretold : " Behold, the 
 Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it 
 waste, and turneth it upside down. The earth 
 shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled ; for 
 the Lord hath spoken this word. The earth 
 mourneth and fadeth away. The world languish- 
 eth and fadeth away. The earth also is defiled 
 under the inhabitants thereof, because they have 
 transgressed the laws, changed the ordinances, 
 broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore 
 hath the curse devoured the earth ; therefore, the 
 inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men 
 left. They shall lift up their voice, they shall 
 sing for the majesty of the Lord." =* " Fear, and 
 the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant 
 of the earth. The earth is utterly broken down, 
 the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved 
 exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro 
 like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a 
 cottage, and the transgression thereof shall be 
 heavy upon it, and it shall fall, and not rise 
 again/' t 
 
 " And there was a great earthquake, such as 
 was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty 
 an earthquake and so great. And every island 
 fled away, and the mountains were not found." I 
 
 " For the indignation of the Lord is upon all 
 nations, and his fury upon all their armies : he 
 hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered 
 them to the slaughter." " The mountains shall 
 be melted with their blood. And all the host of 
 heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall 
 
 * Isa. xxiv. 1, 3, 4, 5, 6. 14, f Isa. xxiv. 1720 
 
 $ Rev. xvi. 18, 20. 
 
THE BATTLE OF THAT GREAT DAY. 101 
 
 be rolled together as a scroll ; and all their host 
 shall fall down, as the leaf falleth from the vine, 
 and as a falling fig from the fig-tree." " For it 
 is the day of the Lord's vengeance, and the year 
 of recompenses for the controversy of Zion."^ 
 
 Zephaniah prophesied, saying, " I will utterly 
 consume all things from off the earth, saith the 
 Lord. I will consume man and beast; I will 
 consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes 
 of the sea, and the stumbling-blocks with the 
 wicked, and I will cut off man from off the earth, 
 saith the Lord. The whole earth shall be devour- 
 ed by the fire of his jealousy. ,"t This agrees 
 with what Moses said of the great day of God's 
 wrath : the fire, kindled in the divine anger, 
 shall consume the earth with her increase. 
 
 Haggai also prophesied, saying, " Thus saith 
 the Lord of hosts, yet once, it is a little while, 
 and I will shake the heavens and the earth." $ 
 This signifieth (saith the apostle to the Hebrews) 
 the removing of those things that are shaken, as 
 of things that are made, that those things which 
 cannot be shaken may remain.^ 
 
 God himself will fight this battle, as at Megiddo : 
 They fought from heaven, the stars in their courses 
 fought against Sisera. The word of attack to 
 God's hosts will be, as at the Red sea, Stand still 
 and see the salvation of the Lord: and, as in the 
 valley of Jehoshaphat, Stand ye still, and see the 
 salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and 
 Jerusalem; for the battle is not yours, but 
 God's. 
 
 * Isaiah xxxiv. 2 8. f Chap. i. 
 
 t Chap. ii. 6, 7 ; 22. $ HebLxii. 2629. 
 
 9* 
 
102 THE BATTLE OF THAT GREAT DAY. 
 
 The principal weapons of this battle will be the 
 elements, particularly fire, as may be observed 
 in the prophecies quoted. " Every battle of the 
 warrior is with confused noise, and garments 
 rolled in blood, but this shall be with burning and 
 fuel of fire." 
 
 This battle is often called, in the Scriptures, 
 the judgment ; as in Isaiah xxxiv. 5. " My 
 sword shall be bathed in heaven : behold, it shall 
 come down upon the people of my curse to judg- 
 ment." "I beheld," (said Daniel,) "till the 
 Ancient of Days did sit : his throne was like 
 the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. 
 A fiery stream issued and came forth from before 
 him : thousand thousands ministered unto him, 
 and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before 
 him : the judgment was set, and the books were 
 opened." And again, " But the judgment shall 
 sit."* That the judgment here represented will 
 precede the millennium, or kingdom of Christ 
 and his saints, we think is very obvious : for then 
 the beast will be destroyed, and given to the burn- 
 ing flame the Son of Man will come with the 
 clouds of heaven; and the saints of the Most High 
 shall take the kingdom. Judgment ivas given to 
 the saints .t Do ye not know (said the apostle 
 Paul) that the saints shall judge the ivorld? So 
 John saw thrones at the opening of the millen- 
 nium, and the saints seated upon them ; according 
 to the promise that they shall sit with Christ in 
 his judgment throne. John also saw an angel 
 fly in the midst of heaven, saying, Fear God, and 
 give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is 
 
 * Dan. vii. 9> 10, 26. f Dan. vti 22. 
 
THtf BATTLE OF THAT GREAT DAT. 103 
 
 come : and there followed another angel, saying, 
 Babylon is fallen, is fallen. This is the same 
 time called the judgment in Daniel the time of 
 the final destruction of Antichrist. 
 
 Such is the day of vengeance to be looked for, 
 when the year of the redeemed, the millennium, 
 shall come. How vain and delusive then is the 
 desire of the unconverted world to see the day of 
 the Lord ! 
 
 Before the first coming of Christ, an expecta- 
 tion generally prevailed of some great event 
 taking place in providence: not Jews only, but 
 also Gentile nations, were looking out, with raised 
 hopes and eager desires. The magicians in the 
 east, and the philosophers and poets in the west, 
 were talking and writing of it ; and all the world 
 were praying for the golden age.* But how 
 generally were their views and expectations dis- 
 appointed and crossed ! 
 
 And so now, all the world are in expectation 
 of some great event. Among Christians, some 
 are looking for the coming of the day of God, 
 wherein the heavens, being on fire, shall be dis- 
 solved, and the elements shall melt with fervent 
 heat ; and also, according to his promise, for new 
 heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth right- 
 eousness. Others are looking for days of rest, 
 peace, and prosperity to the people of God, in 
 this world ; that they, being delivered out of the 
 hands of their enemies, might serve him without 
 fear, in righteousness, all the days of their lives. 
 
 * " mihi tarn longee maneat pars ultima vitse, 
 Spiritus et quantum sat erit tua dicere facta ! " 
 
 VIK&IL. 
 
104 THE BATTLE OF THAT GREAT DAY. 
 
 The people of the world, also, are looking for, 
 and earnestly desiring, the great day; of the 
 glory of which they will express themselves, 
 according to their different tenets and pursuits in 
 life ; as, of a free trade a nourishing husbandry 
 improvement in science and arts the spread 
 of republicanism, or the suppression of it. The 
 religious, who in spirit are of the world, forgetful 
 that the professed design of Christ was only to 
 collect out of the world a people for his name, 
 are contemplating the conversion of all to their 
 particular persuasion ; or, perhaps, such a general 
 diffusion of charity among all persuasions, that 
 they will all harmoniously agree to differ : and 
 the deists are no less fondly looking for the Age 
 of Reason. 
 
 Alas ! what a disappointment will the world 
 meet, at the coming of this day of God ! Are 
 we not assured that faith shall scarcely be found ; 
 and that few, very few, shall be accounted worthy 
 to escape all these things that shall come to pass, 
 and to stand before the Son of Man ? There- 
 fore, say to this ungodly, untoward generation, 
 " Wo unto you that desire the day of the Lord : 
 to what end is it for you ? The day of the Lord 
 is darkness, and not light. As if a man did flee 
 from a lion, and a bear met him ; or went into 
 the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and 
 a serpent bit him. Shall not the day of the 
 Lord be darkness, and not light even very 
 dark, and no brightness in it?" 
 
 1 So shall the world go on, 
 
 To good malignant, to bad men benign, 
 Under her own weight groaning: till the day 
 Appear, of respiration to the just, 
 
THE BATTLE OF THAT GREAT DAY. 105 
 
 And vengeance to the wicked ; at return 
 
 Of him thy Savior and thy Lord ; 
 
 Last in the clouds from heaven, to be revealed 
 
 In glory of the Father, to dissolve 
 
 Satan, with his perverted world -, then raise 
 
 From the conflagrant mass, purged and refined, 
 
 New heavens, new earth, ages of endless date, 
 
 Founded in righteousness, and peace and love, 
 
 To bring forth fruits, joy and eternal bliss." 
 
 MILTON. 
 
LECTURE V. 
 
 THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 
 
 And in the days of these kings shall the God of hea- 
 ven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed ; 
 and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it 
 shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, 
 and it shall stand forever. DANIEL ii. 44. 
 
 IT belongs to our Savior Jesus Christ, as the 
 Lord the Redeemer as the Son of David, and 
 heir of the throne of Israel to reign over the 
 whole earth ; by merit, by heirship, and by 
 ancient promise, it is his right alone ; and the 
 day is coming, when he shall take to himself his 
 great power, and shall put all things in subjection 
 under his feet. 
 
 This appears in the promises made to Abra- 
 ham, which were often repeated, that all the land 
 he had journeyed over, from the Euphrates to 
 Egypt, and all his eye could ken eastward, and 
 westward, and northward, and southward, should 
 be given to him, and to his seed, forever; which 
 seed should possess the gate of his enemies. 
 
 The promises to Jacob plainly point out this 
 kingdom; which promises Balaam seemed to 
 
THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 107 
 
 have particularly in mind in his remarkable 
 prophecies of the kingdom of Christ, often 
 repeating the very words of Jacob, and the words 
 of the Lord to him Israel's " God is with him, 
 and the shout of a King is among them. His 
 seed shall be in many waters, and his King shall 
 be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be 
 exalted. He shall eat up the nations his ene- 
 mies, and pierce them through with his arrows. 
 He couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a 
 great lion : who shall stir him up? There shall 
 come a star out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise 
 out of Israel, and shall destroy all the children 
 of Sheth. Out of Jacob shall come he that shall 
 have dominion, and shall destroy him that 
 remaineth of the city." 
 
 We have the same in the promises to Judah 
 " Thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise; 
 thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies 
 Judah is a lion's whelp ; from the prey, my son, 
 thou art gone up : he stooped down, he couched 
 as a lion, and as an old lion : who shall rouse 
 him up? The sceptre shall not depart from 
 Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, 
 until Shiloh come, and unto him shall the gath- 
 ering of the people be." "And the Lord said, 
 Judah shall go up; behold, I have delivered the 
 land into his hand." 
 
 These promises were repeated to David in the 
 fullest and plainest manner four times in one 
 paragraph " I will set up thy seed after thee, 
 and I will establish his kingdom And I will 
 establish the throne of his kingdom forever 
 And thy kingdom shall be established forever 
 
108 THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 
 
 before thee Thy throne shall be established for- 
 ever." 
 
 The Psalms are full of prophecies of this 
 kingdom : we will quote one passage only 
 " The enemy shall not exact upon him ; nor the 
 son of wickedness afflict him. I will set his 
 hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the 
 rivers. Also, I will make him my first born, 
 higher than the kings of the earth. His seed 
 also will I make to endure forever, and his 
 throne as the days of heaven." 
 
 Of this kingdom all the prophets have written, 
 especially Daniel ; who was much engaged to 
 understand the purposes of God concerning the 
 kingdom of Israel. Daniel " saw in the night 
 visions ; and, behold, one like the Son of Man 
 came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the 
 Ancient of Days, and they brought him near 
 before him. And there was given him domin- 
 ion, and glory, and a kingdom." This One like 
 the Son of Man, who comes near, and receives 
 a kingdom from the Ancient of Days, is doubt- 
 less Christ Jesus, called the Son of Man the 
 Son of David. Unto him is given the kingdom 
 and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom 
 under the whole heaven ; and all dominions shall 
 serve and obey him. And the stone cut out of 
 the mountain without hands, in Nebuchadnez- 
 zar's dream, Daniel interprets to be this same glo- 
 rious kingdom, which shall be raised upon the 
 ruins of all the kingdoms of this world, and 
 which shall stand forever. 
 
 These prophecies in the Old Testament raised 
 an expectation in the minds of God's people, of 
 which we find many passages in the New. 
 
THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 
 
 They were, indeed, at a loss as to the times and 
 seasons of those events ; and were greatly per- 
 plexed by not distinguishing the two events, of 
 Christ's coming to suffer, and his coming in his 
 kingdom : for though there be certain characters, 
 whereby what belongs to the first coming of 
 Christ, and what to the second, may be distin- 
 guished ; yet, they are often so blended in the 
 prophecies, that it should not be thought strange, 
 that the people of God, before the death and res- 
 urrection of Christ, had not properly distinguish- 
 ed the time of his coming to suffer from the 
 time of his coming to reign. But though they 
 were at a loss for times and seasons, and were 
 perplexed for want of distinctions ; yet, the fact 
 of the reign of Christ upon the earth they fully 
 believed, and ever spake of it with the greatest 
 assurance. 
 
 This belief is expressed in the request of the 
 wife of Zebedee ; who, like a fond mother, begged 
 of our Savior that her two sons might sit, one 
 on his right hand, and the other on his left, 
 when he came into his kingdom. Also, in that 
 question of the disciples, " Behold, we have for- 
 saken all, and followed thee What shall we 
 have therefore? And Jesus said unto them, 
 Verily I say unto you, that ye which have fol- 
 lowed me in the regeneration,^ when the Son of 
 
 * This sentence, read thus Ye which have followed 
 me in the regeneration is obscure and doubtful : for in 
 the regeneration the change from sin to holiness 
 Christ has not gone before us. And to interpret this 
 regeneration, as some do, to mean water baptism, is 
 equally absurd. The millenarians read it (which is 
 according to the Greek) with a stop after followed me. 
 10 
 
110 THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 
 
 Man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also 
 shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve 
 tribes of Israel." 
 
 When Christ was going up to Jerusalem the 
 last time, his followers were in high expectation, 
 "because they thought that the kingdom of 
 God should immediately appear." 
 
 The expectation of the kingdom of Christ was 
 universal among all who believed the prophets. 
 This was Herod's fear, when he sought to slay 
 the infant Savior. The Pharisees demanded of 
 Christ, " when the kingdom of God should 
 come." And after Christ was risen from the 
 dead, we find the expectation of the kingdom 
 indulged by his disciples, and very near their 
 hearts ; for when they were come together, at 
 the place he had appointed to meet them, " they 
 asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this 
 time restore again the kingdom to Israel ? " 
 
 This leaves the sense, according to their sentiments, plain 
 and easy that, in the grand regeneration, the restitution 
 of all things, when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne 
 of his glory, they also, which have followed him, shall 
 sit upon thrones, &c., according to Daniel vii. and Rev. 
 xx. 4. 
 
 Mr. Henry, upon this place, after observing that some 
 refer this, in the regeneration, to the time when Christ 
 shall sit upon the throne of his glory, adds " Christ's 
 second coming will be a regeneration, when there shall be 
 new heavens and a new earth, and the restitution of all 
 things." 
 
 " So death becomes 
 His final remedy ; and after life 
 Tried in sharp tribulation, and refined 
 By faith and faithful works, to second life 
 Waked in the renovation of the just, 
 Resigns him up with heaven and earth renewed." 
 
 MILTON. 
 
THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. Ill 
 
 This expectation of the kingdom of God Jesus 
 ever cherished and confirmed. He called the 
 meek blessed, for they shall inherit the earth ; 
 according to the ancient promises to his people. 
 In his sermon on the mount, the kingdom of hea- 
 ven is advanced as a leading doctrine ; and to 
 establish the faith of his people therein appears 
 the design of most of his parables. 
 
 Salome was one whom Jesus loved ; she 
 faithfully ministered to him, to his death, follow- 
 ing him from Galilee ; and was one of those 
 women that bought the spices and ointments to 
 embalm him, and that went early to the sepul- 
 chre, the resurrection morning. Had this good 
 woman erred in her faith of the kingdom, would 
 not Jesus have set her right ? But when she spake 
 to him for her children, he did not deny the sup- 
 position, or general ground of her request, that 
 he was to have a kingdom ; but taught her, and 
 them, submission to the divine will ; and, also, 
 that the conditions, both to him and to them, of 
 the honors and glories of that kingdom, were a 
 cup and baptism, which neither he nor they had 
 yet drunk, nor been baptized with. Yea, in that 
 other place, where the disciples unitedly asked 
 " We have forsaken all, and followed thee ; what 
 shall we have therefore ?" with assurance of his 
 Father's good-will, which should carry him 
 through his sufferings, and bring him, and them 
 with him, into his glory ; he spake as already 
 having an interest and authority there ; and 
 promised to them all the very thing which the 
 mother of James and John requested When the 
 Son of Man shall sit upon the throne of his glo- 
 
112 THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 
 
 ry, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging 
 the twelve tribes of Israel. 
 
 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees 
 when the kingdom of God should come, he did 
 not answer them, as he did the Sadducees, 
 respecting the resurrection Ye do err, not 
 knowing the Scriptures: he reproved them, 
 not for advancing a wrong doctrine, hut for their 
 curiosity to know when the kingdom of God 
 should come, whilst they rejected his gospel ; 
 which was the very spirit of that kingdom. 
 
 And also, when his disciples asked him, after 
 his resurrection, if then he would restore the 
 kingdom to Israel; his answer, whilst it put them 
 off as to times and seasons, which the Father for 
 wise ends had not then revealed, and also checked 
 their haste and impatience, was still so far from 
 contradicting their expectation, that it tended 
 greatly to confirm it. 
 
 This kingdom is future. 
 
 The promises made to Abraham, Israel, and 
 David, have never been fulfilled : of all the nations 
 of the world, the Hebrews have had the least 
 possession of the earth, and the least quiet settle- 
 ment as a nation and kingdom. 
 
 Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were strangers and 
 pilgrims in the land. Their posterity were 
 strangers and bondmen, four hundred years, in 
 Egypt. Forty-five years they consumed in the 
 wilderness and wars of Joshua. 
 
 In the time of the judges, a few years excepted, 
 they were either harassed by wars distressed 
 by famines the servants of servants servants 
 to the Canaanites ; or, dispersed without a head 
 or judge, every one doing what was right in his 
 own eyes. 
 
 
THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 113 
 
 Then they desired a king, and Saul was given 
 to them in anger, and taken away in wrath. 
 
 And when David came to the kingdom, it was 
 still unsettled and harassed ; first by a seven or 
 eight years' civil war then followed the bloody 
 wars with the Jebusites, Philistines, Amalekites, 
 Moabites, Ammonites, and the Syrians then the 
 rebellions of Absalom and Sheba afterwards, 
 the three years' famine on account of the massacre 
 of the Gibeonites; and then the dreadful pestilence 
 for numbering the people. 
 
 In the reign of Solomon, Israel had, perhaps, 
 their best days ; but they had been much better 
 had their prince been less ambitious. The fact 
 is, Solomon's government was oppressive, and his 
 people were almost slaves he made their yoke 
 grievous. We must suppose that the kingdom 
 promised to Israel is something better than Sol- 
 omon's in all its glory. 
 
 After Solomon, the kingdom was rent asunder ; 
 which opened the most painful scenes Ephraim 
 envying Judah, and Judah vexing Ephraim ; and 
 the Assyrians envying and vexing both. 
 
 With short intervals of prosperity, the whole 
 history of Israel and Judah is wars, famines, 
 pestilences, assassinations, and massacres ; until 
 the Assyrians utterly destroyed the kingdom of 
 Israel; and soon after, under Sennacherib, invaded 
 Judah in the days of Hezekiah, and brought them 
 to the greatest straits. 
 
 The following reigns of Manasseh and Ammon 
 were remarkable for nothing but wickedness and 
 abominations, which filled Judah ; and innocent 
 blood, which filled Jerusalem from end to end ; 
 and a captivity into Assyria. Josiah's succeeding 
 10* 
 
114 THE KINGDOB1 OF CHRIST. 
 
 in the throne gave a little rest, which soon ended 
 in the battle of Megiddo ; from which time they 
 hasted to that ruin brought upon them by Nebu- 
 chadnezzar, king of Babylon. 
 
 After their captivity in Babylon, whilst the 
 Medes and Persians reigned, they were poor and 
 despised, and continually harassed by a Sama- 
 ritan faction. Under the Grecians, they were 
 subdued, their daily sacrifice made to cease, 
 whilst they fled into the mountains and caves of 
 the earth. And when they rose and collected 
 under the Maccabees, they held their lives at the 
 point of the sword ; and after them followed the 
 most bloody factions among themselves, until 
 they were brought under the Roman yoke ; which 
 lay upon them, heavier and heavier, till their last 
 dispersion. 
 
 It is now almost four thousand years since 
 Abraham ; in all which time his posterity have 
 not enjoyed, put all together, two hundred years' 
 prosperity and quiet settlement, as a nation. 
 
 The promises of the kingdom of Israel, there- 
 fore, are yet to be fulfilled. Isaiah, running over 
 the history of Israel, and comparing it with the 
 promises of their inheriting the land, was con- 
 strained to cry, The people of thy holiness have 
 possessed it but a little while. 
 
 When we say the promises of the kingdom of 
 Israel are not fulfilled, wo do not mean to include 
 a particular respect they might have to the ancient 
 settlement of Israel in Canaan,^ and to Christ at 
 
 * This settlement of Israel was the emblem or figure 
 of what was promised to the fathers, rather than the ful 
 filment. 
 
THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 115 
 
 his first coming; but that they have not had 
 their general accomplishment. 
 
 Moreover, it is prophesied, when this kingdom 
 comes Israel shall dwell in a place of their own, 
 and move no more : neither shall the children of 
 wickedness afflict them anymore wars shall cease 
 unto the end of the earth : and of the increase of 
 the kingdom, and peace, there shall be no end. 
 This must be future. 
 
 Daniel's account of this glorious kingdom 
 plainly shows it to be future. In his prophecy, 
 there are four descriptions of the great events of 
 Providence from that time to the end of all things. 
 The first is, the great image ; the second is, the 
 four beasts that came up from the sea ; the third 
 is, the ram and he-goat with their horns ; and the 
 fourth is, the kings or the antichrists, in the vision 
 by the river Hiddekel; which is continued through 
 a variety of scenes to the end of the book. 
 
 These, especially the two first, agree exactly 
 in the same things ; and all close up with the 
 kingdom of Christ. 
 
 The interpretation of the two first is this 
 The head of the image, which ivas of fine gold, 
 and the first beast, which was like a lion, represent 
 the Babylonian empire : the silver breast and arms 
 of the image, and the second beast, like to a bear, 
 represent the Medo-Persian empire, which was 
 inferior to the Babylonian : the belly and thighs 
 of the image, which were of brass, and the third 
 beast, like a leopard, represent the Grecian 
 empire, which, though very showy, was inferior 
 still : the iron legs of the image, and the fourth 
 beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceed* 
 ingly, which devoured and brake in pieces, and 
 
116 THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 
 
 stamped the residue with the feet of it, represent 
 the Roman empire : the feet and toes of the image, 
 which were part of iron and part of clay, and the 
 ten horns which the fourth beast had, represent 
 plainly the dominion, or dominions, now existing, 
 which have risen up out of the Roman empire ; 
 which, divided, partly strong and partly broken, 
 though always forming treaties, leagues, confed- 
 eracies, and combinations, do not cleave one to 
 another,* even as iron is not mixed with clay : and 
 the little horn, which came up among the other 
 horns, and had eyes like the eyes of a man, and a 
 mouth speaking great things, and which made 
 war with the saints and prevailed against them., 
 and wore them out, and thought to change times 
 and laws, is evidently the papal dominion, or man 
 of sin ; for his description here, as well as the 
 term assigned for his reign a time and times, 
 and the dividing of time answers exactly to that 
 given in the New Testament of the great and 
 cruel apostate enemy of Christ and his saints. 
 
 When the time, times, and a half, or one 
 thousand two hundred and sixty days, that is 
 years, have expired, the stone cut out without 
 hands will smite the image upon his feet, his 
 present dominions ; t and the whole the iron, 
 
 * God hath said, they shall not cleave one to another ; 
 therefore, marvel not that all their attempts to mingle 
 to unite by treaties, &c., prove in the end sources of 
 discord. 
 
 f The powers that be are ordained of God, not to stand 
 forever ; they are things which can be shaken, and will 
 be removed (by him who hath promised, saying, yet once 
 more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven, and 1 
 mil shake all nations,} and give place to those things which 
 cannot be shaken a kingdom nhirfi cannot be moved, and 
 which therefore shall remain. 
 
THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 117 
 
 the clay> the brass, the silver and the gold shall 
 be crumbled to pieces together, and become like 
 the chaff of the summer threshing-floors ; and the 
 wind shall carry them away, that no place shall 
 be found for them. The beast the Antichrist 
 also shall be slain, and his body destroyed and 
 given to the burning flame. Then the stone that 
 smote image shall become a great mountain, and 
 fill the whole earth ; which is explained to mean, 
 the kingdom of Christ ; which shall break in 
 pieces, and consume, all the kingdoms of this 
 world, and which shall stand forever. 
 
 So that the time appointed in Daniel for the 
 Son of Man to take the kingdom, is when the 
 thrones are cast down and the beast is slain ; by 
 which it appears, that the glorious reign of 
 Christ is yet to come ; for the thrones are yet 
 standing, and the beast is yet living. 
 
 The time appointed also for this glorious 
 kingdom in the Revelation, is evidently future ; 
 for it is not until the seventh angel sounds the 
 last trumpet " And the seventh angel sounded, 
 and there were great voices in heaven, saying, 
 The kingdoms of this world are become the 
 kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ, and he 
 shall reign forever and ever;" but the last 
 trumpet has not yet sounded. 
 
 Moreover, we, upon whom the ends of the 
 world are come, are expressly taught to look 
 forward for this kingdom, and to pray, Thy king- 
 dom come: yea, our Savior plainly teaches that 
 his kingdom is not of this world, but of the world 
 to come; of which we shall speak more particu- 
 larly. 
 
118 THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 
 
 This everlasting kingdom the kingdom of 
 glory which shall not pass away, will be admin- 
 istered, first, by Christ Jesus. 
 
 Daniel saw, " and behold, one like the Son of 
 Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came 
 to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him 
 near before him. And there was given him 
 dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all 
 people, nations, and languages should serve him : 
 his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which 
 shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which 
 shall not be destroyed." 
 
 Isaiah prophesied of the Child that should be 
 born, and the Son that should be given to Israel, 
 that the government shall be upon his shoulder. 
 
 This kingdom is given to Christ, as a reward 
 of his humiliation and suffering, and of his 
 victories in subduing it unto God ; as it is written 
 " To this end Christ both died, and rose, and 
 revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead 
 and living." "The Father judgeth no man; 
 but hath committed all judgment unto the Son : 
 and hath given him authority to execute judg- 
 ment also, because he is the Son of Man." He 
 made himself of no reputation, and took upon 
 him the form of a servant, and was made in the 
 likeness of men : and, being found in fashion as 
 a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient 
 unto death, even the death of the ctfoss. Where- 
 fore God also hath highly exalted him, and given 
 him a name which is above every name : that at 
 the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of 
 things in heaven, and things in earth, and things 
 under the earth ; and that every tongue should 
 confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of 
 
THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 119 
 
 God the Father." " Ought not Christ to have 
 suffered these things, and to enter into his 
 glory ? " 
 
 And because the saints have suffered with 
 Christ, and have also overcome, they shall reign 
 with him in his kingdom. " For if we be dead 
 with him, we shall also live with him ; if we 
 suffer, we shall also reign with him." " And if 
 children, then heirs ; heirs of God, and joint heirs 
 with Christ : if so be that we suffer with him, 
 that we may be also glorified together." " The 
 seventh angel sounded, and there were great 
 voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this 
 world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, 
 and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and 
 ever. We give thee thanks, Lord God Al- 
 mighty, which art, and wast, and art to come ; 
 because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, 
 and hast reigned and thy wrath is come, and 
 the time of the dead that they should be judged, 
 and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy 
 servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them 
 that fear thy name, small and great." " And I 
 saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and 
 judgment was given unto them : and I saw the 
 souls of them that were beheaded for the witness 
 of Jesus ; and they lived and reigned with 
 Christ a thousand years." " When the Son of 
 Man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also 
 shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve 
 tribes of Israel." " To him that overcometh will 
 I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I 
 also overcame, and am set down with my Father 
 in his throne." "Behold, I come quickly; and 
 my reward is with me." 
 
120 THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 
 
 This reign of Christ will be a thousand 
 years, and some suppose it may be thousands of 
 thousand ; be that as it may, it will, however, be 
 a full display of his mediatorial glory. 
 
 These will be times of refreshing from the 
 presence of the Lord times of restitution of 
 oil things of which all the holy prophets 
 have spoken ; when the kingdom shall be 
 restored to Israel; and the dominion, and the 
 greatness of the kingdom under the whole 
 heaven, shall be given to Christ and his saints : 
 then, as we pray, the kingdom of God shall come; 
 and his will shall be done in earth as it is in 
 heaven. Here the mediatorial kingdom will be 
 consummated a visible and full display will be 
 made of its glory; whilst every enemy lies 
 crushed beneath its power. O how glorious! to 
 behold one in human form stand forth in the 
 midst of the redeemed upon the mount Zion of 
 the world to come ; the universal conqueror ! 
 with many crowns upon his head ! and all things 
 put under his feet ! his enemies all made his 
 footstool ! even death itself put under him by the 
 resurrection of the just the resurrection of life ! 
 
 Secondly : The kingdom, from the hands of 
 the Son of Man completely finished and glorious, 
 will be given up to God ; whatever Christ has 
 received, he will restore what is given to him, 
 he will give back to God : the things concerning 
 me have an end. In this kingdom Christ will 
 thus reign as the Son of David, as the Son of 
 Man, and because he is the Son of Man : there- 
 fore, his kingdom is said to be a gift from the 
 Father ; for it is the eternal right of God, the God 
 and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to reign : 
 
THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 121 
 
 therefore Christ calls it the kingdom of God, and 
 the kingdom of his Father ; and it is often said 
 that he received it of his Father ; and therefore, 
 at the end of the thousand years, this kingdom is 
 to be delivered up to God, even the Father ; and 
 " then shall the Son also himself be subject unto 
 him that put all things under him, that God may 
 be all in all." 
 
 When all is restored, the heavens and the earth 
 created anew ; when king Jesus has had his 
 triumph with all his saints, made an open show 
 of his victory, and consummated his marriage 
 with his fair redeemed bride, with all the guests 
 of heaven in the banqueting chamber of his royal 
 city, the new Jerusalem, and has celebrated the 
 feast and supper of the Lamb, and embraced his 
 bride in the bosom of everlasting love ; when this 
 glory which awaits the star of Jacob the son of 
 David Jesus our Mediator has fully shone out 
 in the times of the restitution of all things ; this 
 perfectly glorious, finished, and completely estab- 
 lished kingdom will be resigned up to the triune 
 God. And with the reign of Messiah with his 
 giving up the crown and sceptre the volume of 
 the book closes : then God shall be all in all ; 
 which is the eternal, unalterable state. 
 
 The day of this glorious reign of Christ is 
 that latter day, from the fall of Antichrist and the 
 kingdoms of this world to the closing up of the 
 whole mediatorial scene. Christ Jesus is now 
 glorified, crowned and exalted far above every 
 name : the kingdom is now given into his hands 
 all things are put under him by his being con- 
 stituted and crowned king of heaven and earth : 
 but yet all things are not subdued unto him. 
 11 
 
122 THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 
 
 The Lord Jesus is crowned with glory and honor, 
 exalted and seated upon the throne of the uni- 
 verse ; and the language of prophecy is, " Thou 
 hast put all things in subjection under his feet." 
 " But now we see not yet all things put under 
 him :" his enemies are not yet made his footstool; 
 the kingdoms and dominions of this world now 
 hold their power in opposition to him : hut when 
 he shall take to him his great power, and shall 
 reign, all things will actually be put under him 
 his enemies will be made his footstool the 
 nations that would not bow to the messages of 
 peace in his gospel, will be made to bow to his 
 iron rod : for when he comes to reign in the latter 
 day, the beast will be given to the burning flame, 
 the thrones which supported him will be cast 
 down, and the greatness of the kingdom under 
 the whole heaven will be given into his hands ; 
 and he will reign with the saints, whilst his 
 enemies, who would not have him reign over 
 them, will be slain before his eyes. 
 
 This reign of Christ will be on earth. The 
 stone cut out of the mountain, that will become a 
 great mountain, (which is this kingdom,) will fill 
 the whole earth; the kingdom under the whole 
 heaven will be given to the saints, who will reign 
 with Christ; and the reigning of the saints with 
 Christ, mentioned Rev. xx. 4, is plainly on the 
 earth. The new Jerusalem evidently begins with 
 this glorious period, before the kingdom is given 
 up to God ; for the Lamb is said to reign in it, 
 and the new Jerusalem is on earth ; for the 
 nations of them which are saved shall walk in 
 the light of it, and the kings of the earth bring 
 their glory and honor unto it. We are taught to 
 
 
THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 123 
 
 pray, Thy kingdom come : thy will be done, as 
 in heaven^ so in earth : and we believe in Christ, 
 that all the earth shall be filled with his glory. 
 
 As, on earth, he was openly dishonored, 
 despised, and rejected ; so, on earth, he will be 
 openly honored, admired, and adored. On earth 
 he was dressed in a mock robe, and crowned with 
 a crown of thorns ; and on earth he will be 
 dressed in the robes of his Father's glory, and 
 crowned with that majesty, before which devils 
 tremble, saints bow, and angels veil their faces. 
 
 When the king of Israel shall reign on the 
 earth he will be most conspicuous in his heavenly 
 throne every eye will behold him, as plainly as 
 we behold the sun in the firmament. They who 
 can see the kingdom of Christ, will see him as 
 visibly as Stephen saw him standing on the right 
 hand of God. 
 
 The Jews believed that when Christ should 
 come in his kingdom, he would appear in a 
 glorious Shekinah ; and the Scriptures declare, 
 that he will appear in the cloud or clouds of 
 heaven, which ar& flaming Jire, such as sur- 
 rounded the mercy seat his throne in Israel. 
 
 Thus he will descend upon the mount of 
 Olives O, with what grandeur ! Sinai quaked 
 greatly, when the Lord descended there : but, 
 when he shall step down upon the top of holy 
 Olivet, and his feet shall stand there, that moun- 
 tain shall cleave in the midst thereof, and flee 
 each way from his presence ; yea, all the moun- 
 tains round about will flee into the sea, and be no 
 more found. Then will be heard a great voice 
 out of heaven the general shout of angels 
 saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, 
 
124 THE KINGDOM OF CII&IST. 
 
 and he will dwell with them, and his servants 
 shall serve him, and they shall see his face. 
 
 Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor hath 
 entered into the heart of man, the glory of this 
 kingdom : before it, the fashion of the natural 
 world the heavens and the earth will be won- 
 derfully changed, gloriously renovated ! One 
 prophet hath declared, that towards the north, 
 where now are the mountains, the valley of Jeru- 
 salem shall reach unto Azal ; and towards the 
 south, all the land shall become as a plain, from 
 Geba to Rimmon. And, we think, another beheld 
 the earth, by the hand of the great Potter, stricken 
 to a plain ; and not only the valleys filled, but the 
 channels of the sea also covered the islands 
 united to the mains, and the ocean again shut up in 
 his native womb : for John declares, that before this 
 kingdom every island fled away, and the moun- 
 tains were not found. And he saw a new heaven, 
 and a new earth : for the first heaven and the first 
 earth were passed away ; and there was no more 
 sea. 
 
 " In robes of judgment, lo, he comes ! 
 Shakes the wide earth, and cleaves the tombs : 
 Before him burns devouring fire, 
 The mountains melt, the seas retire." 
 
 Now, the whole creation shall be delivered from 
 the bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty 
 of the children of God. The earth shall no longer 
 groan under the curse the ground no longer 
 bring forth thorns and thistles. From thence- 
 forth, there shall be no more death, nor barren 
 land. The wolf shall feed with the lamb, and 
 the lion with the bullock ; which denote an entire 
 
THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 125 
 
 change of nature : no foe to man lurks in the 
 serpent, and every poisonous plant shall die. 
 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy 
 mountain, saith the Lord. The stone cut out 
 without hands became a great mountain, and filled 
 the whole earth. This is the kingdom to come 
 the Lord's holy mountain: in this there shall be 
 nothing to hurt, or destroy, saith the Lord. 
 
 And if nature shall give a sign of the reign of 
 Christ, and, before his kingdom, " break forth 
 into singing, and all the trees of the field clap their 
 hands " if, " instead of the thorn shall come 
 up the fir-tree, and instead of the briar shall 
 come up the myrtle-tree ;" how much more shall 
 the children of Zion give an everlasting sign, 
 and lift up their heads and rejoice. They shall 
 put on their wedding garments Jerusalem shall 
 be a rejoicing, and her people a joy : she shall be 
 prepared as a bride adorned for her husband 
 having the glory of God : and the days of her 
 mourning shall be ended. 
 
 Once more ; before this kingdom, the enemies 
 of Christ shall be as stubble before the flame the 
 proud, yea, all that do wickedly, shall be burnt 
 up, root and branch. When the Lord Jesus shall 
 come in his kingdom, he will be revealed " in 
 flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know 
 not God, and that obey not the gospel :" then, 
 instead of the Lamb of God, he will show, to his 
 enemies, the face of the lion of the tribe of Judah 
 instead of the golden sceptre, he will stretch 
 out unto them the iron rod ; and, instead of the 
 trump of jubilee, he will sound the trump of war 
 the seventh, the last trumpet the signal of 
 the battle of that great day of God Almighty : 
 
126 THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 
 
 and then his enemies, which would not that he 
 should reign over them, will he slain before him . 
 the cloudy, fiery pillar of his presence, that will 
 have so kind an aspect towards the redeemed, will 
 have an awful face towards the host of the 
 ungodly : an angry God will look unto them, 
 through the pillar of cloud and fire, and trouble 
 them, and fight against them ; and they shall sink 
 into perdition, as lead in the mighty waters. 
 
 The prophets testify, that Christ's coming to 
 set up and possess his millennial kingdom, is his 
 second coming even his coming in the clouds 
 of heaven. See Daniel vii. 13, 14 : "I saw in the 
 night visions, and behold, One like the Son of 
 M.a.u-came with the clouds of heaven, and came to 
 the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near 
 before him. And there was given him dominion, 
 and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations 
 and languages should serve him." That this is 
 the millennial kingdom, is evident from its imme* 
 diately following the destruction of Antichrist. 
 And this truth, that the coming of Christ to take 
 the kingdom will be his glorious appearing in the 
 cloud, Jesus confirmed by his own mouth. See 
 Luke xxi. : " And then shall they see the Son of 
 Man coming in a cloud, with power and great 
 glory. And when these things begin to come to 
 pass, then look up, and lift up your heads ; for 
 your redemption draweth nigh. And he spake 
 to them a parable. Behold the fig-tree, and all 
 the trees ; when they now shoot forth, ye see and 
 know for yourselves that summer is now nigh at 
 hand. So likewise ye, when ye see these things 
 come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God 
 is nigh at hand." O sinner, though perhaps 
 
THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 12? 
 
 thou hast oft desired the day of the Lord ; didst 
 thou realize it, the thunder of the Lord God Al- 
 mighty, that will rend the heavens at the great 
 day, would not shake you more than this sound 
 The millennium cometh. 
 
 Repent, therefore, for the kingdom of heaven 
 is at hand. 
 
LECTURE VI. 
 
 THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS. 
 
 The world to come. HEB. ii. 5. 
 
 " THE times of restitution of all things have 
 been spoken of by all the holy prophets since 
 the world began." They have testified that the 
 creation, which now groaneth under the bondage 
 of corruption, shall be delivered into the glorious 
 liberty of the children of God that the curse 
 which smote the ground for the sin of man, with 
 all its dreadful effects, shall expire ; and the 
 earth shall yet become the land of the living 
 the habitation and inheritance of the just. 
 
 In this lecture we propose briefly to illustrate 
 the two following points : 
 
 I. That, after this world, there will be a res- 
 toration of all things new heavens, and a new 
 earth. 
 
 II. That the kingdom of Christ, or millenni- 
 um, will be in the new earth, or world to come. 
 
 The short limits of a lecture will not allow us 
 to point out where, and in what manner, all the 
 prophets have spoken of the times of restitu- 
 tion, and how clearly and determinately they 
 
THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS. 129 
 
 spake of the natural world ; neither can we enter 
 so fully into the subject as to remark upon the 
 many proofs of this doctrine that are inter- 
 spersed in the New Testament. We shall here 
 fix our attention chiefly upon one passage, Ro- 
 mans viii. 19 22 : " For the earnest expecta- 
 tion of the creature waiteth for the manifestation 
 of the sons of God. For the creature was made 
 subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of 
 him who hath subjected the same in hope : 
 because the creature itself also shall be delivered 
 from the bondage of corruption into the glorious 
 liberty of the children of God. For we know 
 that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth 
 in pain together until now." 
 
 The modern millenists, or anti-millenarians, 
 accuse St. Paul of speaking, in this passage, in 
 an unknown tongue, contrary to his own rule, to 
 speak to the understanding that the church may be 
 edified : but they need not doubt what language 
 he spoke ; for it is most clearly old millenarian. 
 To these people, the millenarians, the passage is 
 not unintelligible ; they can read and understand 
 it without an interpreter; for it is their plain 
 mother tongue. But, for the sake of others, we 
 will bring forward one or two interpreters. 
 
 Mr. Henry notes, " That must needs be a 
 great, transcendent glory, that all the creatures 
 are so earnestly expecting and longing for. 
 
 " By the creature here we understand, not, as 
 some do, the Gentile world, and their expectation 
 of Christ and the gospel, which is an exposition 
 very foreign and forced ; but the whole frame of 
 nature, especially that of this lower world ; the 
 whole creation, the compages of inanimate and 
 
 
130 THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS. 
 
 sensible creatures ; which, because of their har- 
 mony and mutual dependence, and because they 
 all constitute and make up one world, are spoken 
 of in the singular number, as the creature. The 
 sense of the apostle, in these four verses, we may 
 take in these observations : 
 
 " (1.) That there is a present vanity, which 
 the creature, by reason of the sin of man, is 
 made subject to, verse 20. When man sinned, 
 the ground was cursed for man's sake, and with 
 it all the creatures (especially of this lower 
 world, where our acquaintance lies) became sub- 
 ject to that curse ; became mutable and mortal. 
 Under the bondage of corruption, verse 21. 
 There is an impurity, deformity, and infirmity, 
 which the creature has contracted by the fall of 
 man : the creation is sullied and stained ; much 
 of the beauty of the world gone. There is an 
 enmity of one creature to another ; they are all 
 subject to continual alteration and decay of the 
 individuals, liable to the strokes of God's judg- 
 ments upon man. When the world was drown- 
 ed, and almost all the creatures in it, surely then it 
 was subject to vanity indeed. The whole spe- 
 cies of creatures is designed for, and is hastening 
 to, a total dissolution by fire. And it is not the 
 least part of their vanity and bondage, that they 
 are used, or abused rather, by men as instruments 
 of sin. The creatures are often abused, to the 
 dishonor of their Creator, the hurt of his chil- 
 dren, or the service of his enemies. When the 
 creatures are made the food of our lusts, they 
 are subject to vanity, they are captivated by the 
 law of sin;-** 
 
 " And this not willingly, not of their own 
 
 
THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS. 131 
 
 choice ; all the creatures desire their own per- 
 fection and consummation. When they are 
 made instruments of sin, it is not willingly. Or, 
 they are thus captivated, not for any sin of their 
 own, which they had committed, but for man's 
 sin, by reason of him ivko hath subjected the 
 same. Adam did it meritoriously; the creatures 
 being delivered to him, when he by sin delivered 
 himself, he delivered them likewise into the 
 bondage of corruption. God did it judicially; 
 he passed a sentence upon the creatures for the 
 sin of man, by which they became subject. And 
 this yoke (poor creatures) they bear in hope that 
 it will not be so always. We have reason to 
 pity the poor creatures that for our sin are 
 become subject to vanity. 
 
 " (2.) That the creatures groan and travail in 
 'pain together under this vanity and corruption, 
 verse 22. It is a figurative expression. Sin is a 
 burden to the whole creation ; the sin of the 
 Jews, in crucifying Christ, set the earth a quak- 
 ing under them. The idols were a burden to the 
 weary beast, Isa. xlvi. 1. There is a general 
 outcry of the whole creation against the sin of 
 man ; the stone crieth out of the wall, Hab. ii. 
 11 ; the land cries, Job xxxi. 38. 
 
 " {3.) That the creature, that is now thus bur- 
 dened,. shall, at the time of the restitution of all 
 things, be delivered from this bondage, into the 
 glorious liberty of the children of God, verse 21 ; 
 i. e., they shall no more be subject to vanity and 
 corruption, and the other fruits of the curse ; but, 
 on the contrary, this lower world shall be renew- 
 ed ; when there will be new heavens, there will 
 be a new earth, 2 Pet. iii. 13, Rev. xxi. 1 ; and 
 
132 THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS. 
 
 there shall be a glory conferred upon all the crea- 
 tures, which shall be (in the porportion of their 
 natures) as suitable, and as great an advance- 
 ment, as the glory of the children of God shall 
 be to them. The fire at the last day shall be a 
 refining, not a destroying, annihilating fire. Com- 
 pare with this Psalm xcvi. 10 13, xcviii. 7 9. 
 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad ; 
 let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof. Let the 
 field be joyful, and all that is therein : then shall 
 all the trees of the wood rejoice. Let the floods 
 clap their hands ; let the hills be joyful together, 
 before the Lord ; for he cometh, for he cometh to 
 judge the world. 
 
 " (4.) That the creature doth therefore ear- 
 nestly expect and wait for the manifestation of the 
 children of God, verse 19. At the second com- 
 ing of Christ there will be a manifestation of the 
 children of God. Now the saints are God's hid- 
 den ones, the wheat seems lost in a heap of 
 chaff; but then they shall be manifested. It 
 doth not yet appear what we shall be, 1 John iii. 
 2; but then the glory shall be revealed. The 
 children of God shall appear in their own colors. 
 And this redemption of the creature is reserved 
 till then ; for as it was with man and for man 
 that they fell under the curse, so with man and for 
 man they shall be delivered. All the curse and 
 filth, that now adheres to the creature, shall be 
 done away then, when those that have suffered 
 with Christ upon earth shall reign with him upon 
 earth. This the whole creation looks and longs 
 for ; and it may serve as a reason why now a 
 good man should be merciful to his beast." 
 
 And upon the 23d verse. "And not only they, 
 
THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS. 133 
 
 but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of 
 the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within our- 
 selves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the re- 
 demption of our body." Mr. Henry notes, " Not 
 only they ; not only the creatures, who are not 
 capable of such a happiness as the first fruits of 
 the Spirit ; but even we, that have such present 
 rich receivings, yet cannot but long for some- 
 thing more and greater. In having the first 
 fruits of the Spirit, we have that which is very 
 precious ; but we have not all we would have. 
 
 " We groan within ourselves; which notes the 
 strength and secrecy of these desires : not mak- 
 ing a loud noise, as the hypocrites howling upon 
 the bed for corn and wine, but with silent groans, 
 which pierce heaven soonest of all. Or, we 
 groan among ourselves. It is the unanimous 
 vote, the joint desire of the whole church ; all 
 agree in this, Co7ne, Lord Jesus, come quickly. 
 The groaning notes a very earnest and importu- 
 nate desire, the soul pained with the delay. 
 Present receivings and comforts are consistent 
 with a great many groans ; not as the pangs of 
 one dying, but as the throes of a woman in tra- 
 vail ; groans that are symptoms of life, not of 
 death." 
 
 Mr. Poole, upon this 20th verse, has this note : 
 " God for the sin of man hath cursed the creature, 
 (i. e. the world,) and subjected it to vanity and 
 corruption. See Gen. iii. 17, and iv. 12; Lev. 
 xxvi. 19, 20. And though he hath done this, yet 
 there is ground to expect and hope that the crea- 
 ture shall return again to its former estate where- 
 in it was created ; that it shall be delivered and 
 restored into a better condition, as in the next 
 12 
 
134 THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS. 
 
 verse" under which he writes, " The creature 
 at the day of judgment shall be restored (as 
 before) to that condition of liberty which it had 
 in its first creation. See Acts iii. 19, 21. 2 Peter 
 iii. 13." 
 
 Mr. Poole mentions also the other interpreta- 
 tion of this place, that the creature is to be under- 
 stood of the Gentiles, and the subjection to vanity, 
 of their idolatry and vain superstitious worship ; 
 but as this interpretation is not now received, we 
 believe, by any, it need not be farther quoted. 
 
 " We profess and believe," says Doctor Good- 
 win, " not only that Christ by his death made a 
 purchase of all, and by his sacrifice procured the 
 standing of the world for the elect, and so the 
 creatures' preservation comes to be included in 
 the elect's covenant and promises ; but there is by 
 Christ a liberty one day to be conferred upon the 
 whole creation, in their being delivered from the 
 bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty of 
 the sons of God ; so as, in their capacity, they 
 shall have a share in the privileges of the new 
 world that world to come." ^ 
 
 And upon Rev. v. 13, And every creature 
 heard I, saying, Blessing, &c., he writes 
 " Every creature in its kind shall worship Christ, 
 Phil. ii. 10, 11. Every creature comes in here, 
 because, when Christ's kingdom is set up, they 
 shall be renewed, (Eom. viii. 21,) and be deliv- 
 ered into a glorious liberty "\ 
 
 It is with no small difficulty the modern mil- 
 lenists get over this passage. They acknowledge 
 that this, and others of the same import, favor the 
 
 * Of Election, p. 61. f Expo. p. 16. 
 
THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS. 135 
 
 doctrine of a restoration of the natural world ; 
 and also, that " it is the opinion of many, and of 
 great authority too, that, after a purification by fire, 
 this world will be restored to a far more glorious 
 state than that in which it is at present, and will 
 forever be the place of the residence of holy and 
 happy beings."^ Undoubtedly, Henry, Poole, 
 Goodwin, and a thousand others we might name, 
 ought to be esteemed great authority ; when they 
 believe and profess none other thing than that 
 which all the prophets, since the world began, 
 have said should come ; namely, a restitution of 
 all things. 
 
 If there be such a restitution of all things, it is 
 properly called a world to come ; and that there 
 must be such a world, is argued, not only from 
 the plain declarations of Scripture, such as, " I 
 create new heavens and a new earth " " I make 
 all things new " " times of restitution of all 
 things " " the creature itself also shall be deliv- 
 ered from the bondage of corruption, into the 
 glorious liberty of the children of God " " and 
 every creature which is in heaven, and on the 
 earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the 
 sea, 'and all that are in them, heard I, saying, 
 Blessing," &c., but, also, from what is said of a 
 world to come as being put under Christ : For 
 what world is th'is, put under him, where our 
 Savior is absolute sovereign ? It must be a world 
 before the close of the day of judgment ; for then 
 the government which was put into his hand will 
 be put out of it ; the kingdom which was given 
 and delivered to him will be delivered up into 
 
 * Dr. Edwards. 
 
136 THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS. 
 
 the hand which put all things under him ; and 
 then will Christ also himself be subject* And 
 it is not the present world, because the apostle 
 calls it future, THE WORLD TO GOME ; so we read it ; 
 but, rendered more strictly, it is, the habitable 
 earth to come. And it cannot, in the nature of 
 things, be this world, or earth ; for here are to be 
 the wicked them that transgress and offend to 
 the end of it : the tares and the wheat are both to 
 grow together until the harvest, which is the end 
 of this ivorld. Nor will death be put under the 
 feet of Christ and his saints till then. And whilst 
 yet we see transgressors, and them that offend, 
 in the earth ; and the bodies of the saints lying 
 
 * The saints in glory will shine forever, as 1 the bright- 
 ness of the firmament ; and their eternal felicity and ex- 
 altation is frequently expressed by their being kings, and 
 reigning ; they shall reign forever and ever. And as one 
 star differs from another in glory, so will saints differ. 
 The prophets and apostles, and they who have turned 
 many to righteousness, will shine, or reign, with distin- 
 guished lustre ; but in the midst of this firmament of 
 glory, Jesus will forever shine as the sun ; he will be the 
 first-born among many brethren the head and husband 
 of the church ; and, in this sense, the king of glory. He 
 will undoubtedly enjoy degrees of holiness and happiness 
 above what are enjoyed by all the saints and angels : he 
 will receive the everlasting honors of his personal worth, 
 mediatorial offices and work ; and be admired and adored 
 in all the infinitely glorious character of Redeemer : and thus 
 he will reign forever. But this is a very different idea of 
 reigning, from that absolute and universal sovereignty 
 over the world to come, ascribed to him in the 8th Psalm, 
 2d of Hebrews, &c. This sense of his reigning forever 
 and ever is as consistent with his giving up the dominion 
 and sovereignty of the world to come, and himself being 
 subject, as is the subjection of all saints with their reigning 
 forever and ever. 
 
THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS. 137 
 
 under the power of death ; we see not all things 
 put under him, according to the promises. 
 
 It appears therefore necessary, for the fulfilment 
 of this most glorious promise to Christ, that after 
 this world of his kingdom militant, where he rules 
 among his enemies in arms all around him, 
 another world of his kingdom triumphant should 
 come, hefore the end of his delegated or media- 
 torial royalty, where all his enemies, disarmed, lie 
 under his feet. 
 
 Modern millenism greatly eclipses the glory of 
 Jesus Christ; it robs him of his most glorious 
 kingdom. According to this scheme there is no 
 world put under him all in subjection under his 
 feet : for the present is not ; " we see not yet all 
 things put under him :" he is now waiting or 
 expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. 
 Nor will the millennial world be put under him ; 
 for though, according to this opinion, his enemies 
 will then be fewer and weaker, yet he will rule 
 as now in the midst of his enemies : sin will not 
 wholly be subdued in the hearts of his people ; 
 there will be still in them the company of two 
 armies still the law of sin and death : the curse 
 will still lie upon the earth, and in some measure 
 have its effects ; and the king of terrors the 
 great enemy death will still reign. * And at 
 
 * Some of these millenists have supposed that the saints 
 would generally live all the millenary, and that at or near 
 the close would generally die off; but this is not in the 
 least getting over the difficulty j for, should they outlive 
 Methuselah in a mortal state, death would in fact reign 
 over them all the while. And should he not reign over 
 the living, certainly he must reign over the dead saints, 
 the bodies of whom they all agree to consign over to 
 death and the grave, the whole thousand years. 
 
 12* 
 
138 THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS. 
 
 the close of this, or at the opening of the following 
 state, he will deliver up the kingdom, and all 
 dominion will take its eternal state. Therefore, 
 as we said, according to this hypothesis, there is 
 no world put in subjection to Jesus Christ. 
 
 This modern sentiment of the millennium does 
 exceedingly eclipse the glory of Christ. It leaves 
 out of view the consummating goodness of the 
 covenant of royalty the chiefest diamond of the 
 crown of David : what Christ himself is now 
 waiting with earnest expectation to see, even his 
 times his own day, the day of Christ ; what all 
 his saints in heaven raise up their immortal 
 desires to, by singing, and saying, We shall reign 
 on ike earth ; what all the lower creation is reach- 
 ing after, groaning for, and to which it is travailing 
 in pain ; and what, also, the saints on earth, who 
 have the first-fruits of the Spirit, with unutterable 
 aspirations of soul, are waiting and looking for; 
 that then, with the completion of the glory of the 
 Son of God, they also may receive the last accom- 
 plishment of their adoption, by the redemption, or 
 resurrection of their body. 
 
 The kingdom of Christ to come was the great 
 object of his humiliation and suffering : " For to 
 this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, 
 that he might be Lord." " He humbled himself, 
 and became obedient unto death, even the death 
 of the cross : wherefore, God also hath highly 
 exalted him, and given him a name which is 
 above every name ; that at the name of Jesus 
 every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and 
 things in earth, and things under the earth ; and 
 that every tongue should confess that Jesus 
 Christ is Lord, .to the glory of God th@ Father." 
 
 
THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS. 139 
 
 This high exaltation of Christ over all things, as 
 it respects the earth or world, is evidently meant 
 of the world to come, spoken of in the eighth 
 Psalm, and the second chapter of Hebrews. And 
 to inquire when his times the glorious day of 
 Christ shall come ; when and where a promise 
 to him, which was the reason and end of his 
 humiliation unto death, and is now the new song 
 of saints in glory, shall have its perfect fulfil- 
 ment ; must be interesting to Christians. 
 
 II. The kingdom of Christ, or millennium, will 
 be in the new earth, or world to come. 
 
 Before we attend directly to the proof of this 
 doctrine, we shall mention some advantages it 
 possesses above the modern doctrine, which sup- 
 poses the millennium, or future kingdom of 
 Christ, to take place in the present world. 
 
 Placing the millennium in the world to come 
 removes it from the objection that the present 
 constitution of nature will not bear the happiness 
 then promised, " or is not consistent with it." 
 
 Should we grant that this natural world might 
 be somewhat meliorated ; * yet it is a dissolving 
 
 * The expectation that the natural world will be 
 remarkably changed for the better before the restitution 
 or new creation of all things, has no support, either from 
 nature or from the word of God j but, on the contrary, 
 both agree that there is an analogy between the whole 
 and the parts ; and we have no more reason to expect 
 that the general constitution of nature, when waxing 
 old, should become more healthful and vigorous, than we 
 have, that the particular constitution of the human body, 
 after growing old, should recover the strength, beauty 
 and sprightliness of youth yea, have a health and 
 vigor that it never before enjoyed. There will be a 
 
 
 J " OF 
 
 ' 
 
140 THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS. 
 
 world, at its best estate corruptible, waxing old, 
 and fading " The fashion of this world passeth 
 away." All nature is smitten by the curse, the 
 wound is mortal, and all hope of the creatures, 
 short of a resurrection, is vain, and must be dis- 
 appointed. 
 
 The modern millenists would make us happy, 
 in spite of nature ; the saints in the millennium 
 must be in bliss, though death were opening his 
 path into the life of nature, and his shafts were 
 cutting their way to the heart of a friend, a 
 partner, or a darling child. 
 
 They must not sorrow nor cry, they must feel 
 no anguish, the taste of death itself must not be 
 bitter to them nature must dissolve now without 
 a convulsion, a struggle, or a groan. 
 
 The Stoics talked of being happy in Phalaris's 
 bull ; but Jesus Christ was not a Stoic ; and it 
 is all mistake that his people are without natural 
 affection, or that grace takes away a feeling of 
 natural evil. Christians are the most unlike 
 Stoics of any people in the world. The more 
 grace we have, the softer will be our hearts ; and 
 the softer, the more tender are our hearts, the 
 mere feeling we shall have of human wo of evil 
 natural as well as moral. These millenists join 
 things together which are really inconsistent " a 
 natural world of one color, and a moral world of 
 another" a natural world of corruption and 
 misery, and a moral world of holiness and hap- 
 piness. I cannot be persuaded that " such a state 
 
 resurrection of our body ; but first it must die : and there 
 will be a restoration of the whole creation ; but first it 
 must be dissolved. 
 
THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS, 141 
 
 as our present life, where an aching tooth or an 
 aching head does so discompose the soul as to 
 make her unfit for society, business, study, or 
 devotion ; and that all the powers of the mind, 
 all its virtue, and all its wisdom, are not able to 
 stop these little motions, or to support them with 
 tranquillity ; was ever designed for a state of 
 happiness." 
 
 So long as the body is mortal, and its habita- 
 tion so incommodious as this corruptible natural 
 world ; so long as the ground is cursed for man's 
 sake, and in sorrow he eateth of it, and it 
 bringeth forth thorns and thistles unto him ; so 
 long as the worm lieth at the root of the gourd, 
 and the seed of death floweth in the stream, 
 groweth in the plant, and leaveneth every morsel 
 of our daily bread " call it millennium, or what 
 you please, but there will be still diseases, pains, 
 cries, and tears, sorrow, and death ; and if so, 
 'tis a millennium of your own making, for that 
 which the prophets describe is quite another 
 thing." They shall not hurt nor destroy in all 
 my holy mountain, saith the Lord. They will 
 hurt and destroy in all this world ; but from all 
 this evil Christ's millennium, his holy mountain, 
 is secured by placing it in the world to come. 
 This idea is most beautifully and comprehen- 
 sively expressed in a verse of Doctor Watts, 
 upon the eighth Psalm : 
 
 " The world to come, redeemed from all 
 The miseries which attend the fall, 
 New made, and glorious, shall submit 
 At our exalted Savior's feet." 
 
 Placing the millennium in the world to come 
 
142 THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS. 
 
 secures it from "being abused, and the occasion 
 of abuses, by those who, under the notion of 
 being saints, and dreaming of sensual pleasures 
 in the kingdom of Christ, such as they see in this 
 life, give disturbance to the world," invade the 
 civil rights, and attempt revolutions to make way 
 for their own pretensions to dominion to reign 
 on the earth. Such abuses have taken place by 
 expecting the millennium the reign of Christ 
 and the saints in the present earth, and in the 
 present state of nature, to the great discredit of 
 the millennial doctrine ; " but all such preten- 
 sions are cut off, and these abuses prevented, by 
 placing the millennium aright, namely, in the 
 new creation, where will dwell peace and right- 
 eousness." 
 
 We, who look for another world, in the govern- 
 ment of which there will be ample room to prove 
 the principles of the doctrine of Christ, can cheer- 
 fully leave this world to its own selfish, oppressive 
 politics. 
 
 Placing 'the millennium in the world to come 
 has this other advantage we shall know when it 
 begins ; but if it shall be in this world, and all nature 
 continue the same, it will be difficult to " discern 
 when we slip into the millennium." " St. John 
 makes the first resurrection introduce the millen- 
 nium ; and that is a conspicuous mark and boun- 
 dary : but as to the modern or vulgar millennium, 
 I know not how 'tis ushered in." It creeps upon 
 us so gradually and insensibly, that it will be very 
 difficult determining when we are in it, or when 
 we are out of it. 
 
 Accordingly, we find many are already much 
 embarrassed with this difficulty : some are confi- 
 
THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS. 143 
 
 dent that the millennium has not begun, that the 
 bright day has not yet dawned ; whilst others 
 are as confident that it has. One writes, " This 
 joyful and most glorious year [the millennium] 
 is just at hand, undoubtedly begins to dawn 
 upon us, and, in the language of prophecy, may 
 be said to be already come ! The exertions of 
 mankind to recover their natural rights, the 
 wounds given to popery, the frequent revivals of 
 religion, the little enthusiasm and extravagance 
 seen among professing Christians, and the unu- 
 sual continuance of serious impressions, all indi- 
 cate the binding of Satan, and the dawn of the 
 most glorious day of grace the world ever saw, 
 or ever will see ! O my soul, how exceedingly 
 oughtest thou to rejoice and be thankful, that 
 thou art permitted to see, in all probability, the 
 dawn of this glorious morning ! that thou art 
 permitted to see the year of the redeemed, and to 
 rejoice and be glad in it ! " 
 
 Another ventures " to assert, that appearances 
 are not only now favoring the introduction of 
 the regnum montis" (that is, the millennium,) 
 " but that it has already begun, and is considera- 
 bly advanced in its progress." According to this 
 writer, this glorious kingdom, " the regnum mon- 
 tis, the kingdom of the mountain, begun on the 
 fourth of July, 1776."* But whether the millen- 
 
 * This author was not the first who dated the regnum 
 montis, 1776. About that time, one that was stiong in 
 the figurative millennial faith proclaimed that the heav- 
 ens were rolling away with a great noise ; the elements 
 were melting with fervent heat 5 and the saints were 
 rising, and reigning with Christ upon the earth. Is the 
 kingdom of the mountain come, in the United States of 
 
144 THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS. 
 
 mum has begun or not, we shall leave for the 
 modern millenists to dispute, not knowing any 
 way of determining the point upon their princi- 
 ples. For to " appeal," as the writer last quoted 
 does, "to existing facts, to the demonstration of 
 present events," to prove that what we now see 
 taking place in the world is " entitled to the style 
 of the dawn, if not to the morning of the day," 
 is, to me, exactly the same thing as to appeal to 
 the convulsions and groans of a dying man to 
 prove that he is in perfect health. 
 
 But to pursue our design and argue this doc- 
 trine more closely : 
 
 The times of the millennium are the times of 
 the kingdom of Christ: then he will assume his 
 great power, and reign. But his kingdom is not 
 of this world now we see not all things put 
 under him : not the present, but the world the 
 habitable earth to come, is put under him. 
 The glorious kingdom of Christ is expressly said 
 to be in the world to come ; of which we speak, 
 said the holy apostle of which all holy, inspired 
 
 America, and now considerably advanced in its progress, 
 even outwardly ? (See the Downfall of Mystical Babylon, 
 by the Rev.'D. Austin.) They shall not hurt nor destroy 
 in all that holy mountain ; but do they not hurt and 
 destroy in all this, may I not say, unholy mountain ? Mr. 
 Austin supposes, " that, in order to usher in the dominion 
 of our glorious Immanuel, two revolutions are to take 
 place ; the first outward and political the second inward 
 and spiritual." The first, he doubts not, has already taken 
 place in this country, and that we enjoy its happy effects ; 
 though not the second. That Christ should reign among 
 us, outwardly and politically, and the devil, at the same 
 time, should reign inwardly and spritually, is a sentiment 
 of the millennium quite modern ; and is a species of 
 mixed government hard to be understood. 
 
THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS. 145 
 
 men have spoken ; called by Peter the times of 
 restitution of all things, and new heavens and, 
 a new earth. 
 
 The dominion, or kingdom, ascribed to Christ 
 as the Lord Jehovah, being from everlasting to 
 everlasting, is not said to be given, delivered, ap- 
 pointed, or put into his hands ; but the world to 
 come is said to be put under him. Over those 
 works of God's hand he is set, exalted, crowned ; 
 which denote his kingdom given, or appointed: 
 but his future given or appointed kingdom is the 
 millennium; the millennium, therefore, will be 
 in the new creation, or world to come. 
 
 The millennium cannot be in this world, be- 
 cause Antichrist is to reign to the end of it ; 
 and till Antichrist be wholly destroyed we may 
 not look for the future kingdom of Christ. 
 " Christ and Antichrist cannot reign upon earth 
 together; their kingdoms are opposite as light 
 and darkness: besi<$es, the kingdom of Christ is 
 universal, fills the whole earth, and leaves no room 
 for other kingdoms at that time." There was given 
 him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all 
 people, nations, and languages should serve him. 
 And the kingdom, and dominion, and the great- 
 ness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall 
 be given to the people of the saints of the Most 
 High and all dominions shall serve and obey him. 
 The beast and the false prophet, before the mil- 
 lennium, (Rev. xix. 20,) are cast into a lake of 
 fire burning with brimstone ; which must signify 
 utter perdition. And Babylon, whose destruction 
 is closely joined with the destruction of Antichrist 
 before the millennium commences, falls is made 
 an utter desolation and is " absorbed as a mill- 
 13 
 
146 THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS. 
 
 stone thrown into the sea." But Antichrist will 
 not wholly be destroyed till the end of this 
 world. The seed of the woman and the seed 
 of the serpent will both grow together until the 
 harvest ; and the harvest is the end of this world. 
 That wicked (Antichrist) the Lord shall consume 
 with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with 
 the brightness of his coming. " He will not be 
 destroyed before the corning of our Savior; and 
 that will not be till the end of the world. For the 
 heavens must receive him until the times of res- 
 titution of all things ; that is, the renovation of 
 the world." Moreover, his coming will be in 
 flaming fire, 2 Thess. i. 7, 8, and therefore we 
 are not to look for it till the conflagration ; " in 
 which flames Antichrist will be universally de- 
 stroyed. Agreeably to John's representation of 
 the worshippers of the beast, they are tormented 
 with fire of Babylon, her smoke rose up the 
 sjnoke of her burning and okthe beast and false 
 prophet, these both were cast alive into a lake of 
 fire burning with brimstone. And in the same 
 manner Daniel describes the final destruction 
 of Antichrist, or the beast ; his body ivas given to 
 the burning flame that fiery stream which is- 
 sued and came forth from before the Lord, when, 
 as in the vision, he approached to judgment, and 
 the books were opened. As, therefore, Christ and 
 Antichrist cannot reign together ; and as Anti- 
 christ will not he destroyed till the end of this 
 world ; it follows, that the promised kingdom of 
 Christ will be in the world to corne.^ 
 
 * " First, the monarchs and great men of the world 
 are to have their time here ; and then Christ's time, and 
 the time of his saints, is to begin when the kingdoms of 
 
THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS. 147 
 
 Again, the future kingdom of Christ will not 
 be till the judgment and the resurrection; but 
 they will not be till the end of this world : there- 
 fore, neither the kingdom of Christ. By the 
 judgment here, we do not mean the final and 
 general judgment ; nor, by the resurrection, the 
 last and universal resurrection : but we mean 
 that judgment called the battle of that great day 
 of God Almighty, and that resurrection called 
 the first resurrection.* That the millennium 
 will not be till the judgment and resurrection, in 
 this sense, we have the testimony of both Daniel 
 and John. In Daniel, chap, vii., the beast is 
 
 this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of 
 his Christ; and the time of the dead will come, that they 
 should be judged : when this world's hour-glass is run out, 
 then that of another world is to be turned up to run. 
 whan there shall be a new heaven and a new earth." 
 
 DR. GOODWIN. 
 
 God Saw fit to allot this world, called the times of 
 the Gentiles, to his enemies, to rule and reign ; but the far 
 more glorious world to come, called the times of restitu- 
 tion of all things, he has reserved for his friends. These 
 were the sentiments of this great divine. See Expo, 
 pages 19, 20. 
 
 * The millenarians hold, that, in the millennial day, 
 there will be a morning and an evening resurrection and 
 judgment, each, together with other most solemn and 
 glorious scenes, included in that great and dreadful day 
 of the Lord. "The seventh trumpet, with the whole 
 space of one thousand years thereto appertaining, signi- 
 fying the great day of judgment, circumscribed within 
 two resurrections, beginning at the judgment of Anti- 
 christ, as the morning of that day, and continuing during 
 the space of one thousand years granted to New Jerusa- 
 lem (the spouse of Christ)" upon earth, till the universal 
 resurrection and judgment of the dead." 
 
 MR. J. MEDE. 
 
148 THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS. 
 
 supposed to live and rule till judgment shall sit , 
 and then they shall take away his dominion, and 
 it shall be given to the people of the saints of 
 the Most High. And Rev. xx. 4, thrones were 
 set, as for a judicature, and they who in Daniel 
 are said to take away the dominion of the beast 
 sat upon them. Judgment being ready to com- 
 mence, there was a resurrection from the dead; 
 " and those that rise reigned with Christ a thou- 
 sand years. Here is a judicial session; a resur- 
 rection and the reign of Christ joined together." 
 In the same manner, the judgment, the kingdom 
 of Christ, and the reward of the saints, are 
 joined together in the eleventh chapter of Reve- 
 lation. " And the seventh angel sounded, and 
 there were great voices in heaven, saying, The 
 kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms 
 of our Lord, and of his Christ. And the nations 
 were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time 
 of the dead that they should be judged, atid that 
 thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the 
 prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear 
 thy name, small and great." " Here the judging 
 of the dead, and the kingdom of Christ, wherein 
 the prophets and saints are rewarded, are plainly 
 expressed and linked together; but the judging 
 of the dead is not in this life, neither is the reward 
 of the prophets and saints in this life ; as we are 
 sufficiently taught in the word of God ; therefore 
 the reign and kingdom of Christ, which are 
 joined with these things, cannot be in this life, 
 or before the end of the world. And, as a 
 farther testimony and confirmation of this, we 
 may observe, that Paul to Timothy hath joined 
 together these three things : the appearance of 
 
THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS. 149 
 
 Christ, the reign of Christ, and the judging of 
 the dead : I charge thee, therefore, before God 
 and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the 
 quick and the dead at his appearing, and his 
 kingdom, 2 Tim. iv. 1." 
 
 Once more: " The new Jerusalem state is the 
 same with the millennial state ; but the new 
 Jerusalem will not be till the end of the world, 
 or till after the conflagration ; therefore neither 
 the millennium." 
 
 " That the new Jerusalem state is the same 
 with the millennium, is generally agreed upon 
 by millenaries, ancient and modern. Justin 
 Martyr, Ireneus, and Tertullian, speak of it in 
 that sense ; and so do the later authors. And 
 for this they have good authority ; for John said 
 the camp of the saints, and the beloved city, were 
 besieged by Sitan" and his Gog at the end of 
 the millennium. That beloved city is the new 
 Jerusalem ; and the camp of the saints is that 
 holy assembly. " Besides, the marriage of the 
 Lamb was in, or at the appearance of, the new 
 Jerusalem ; for that was the spouse of the Lamb, 
 Rev. xxi. 2. Now this spouse was ready, and 
 this marriage was said to be come, at the destruc- 
 tion of Babylon, before or at the beginning of 
 the millennium, chap. xix. 7 ; therefore the new 
 Jerusalem ran all along with the millennium, 
 and was, indeed, the same thing under another 
 name. 
 
 And what is this new Jerusalem, if it be not 
 the same with the millennial state ? It is prom- 
 ised as a reward to the suffering saints of Christ, 
 Rev. iii. 12, and you see its wonderful privileges, 
 chap. xxi. 3, 4 ; and yet it is not heaven above, 
 
150 THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS. 
 
 for it is said to come down from God out of 
 heaven, chap. xxi. 2, and chap. iii. 12. It can, 
 therefore, be nothing but the glorious kingdom 
 of Christ upon earth, where the saints shall 
 reign with him a thousand years. And " that 
 the new Jerusalem will not come down from 
 heaven till the end of the world, we have this 
 plain proof: John places it in the new heavens 
 and new earth, which come after these are passed 
 away, Rev. xxi. 1, 2. And I saiv a new heaven 
 and a new earth : for the first heaven and the 
 first earth ivere passed away ; and there was no 
 more sea. And I John saw the holy city, neio 
 Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, 
 prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 
 When the new earth was made he saw the new 
 Jerusalem coming down upon it; and this reno- 
 vation of the earth not being till the conflagration, 
 the new Jerusalem could not be till then neither. 
 Isaiah, long before, had said the same thing, 
 though not in terms so express. He first says, 
 Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, 
 wherein you, my servants, shall rejoice ; then 
 subjoins, Behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, 
 Isa. xlv. This ' rejoicing is still in the same 
 place ; in the new heavens and new earth, or in 
 the new Jerusalem. And John, in a like method, 
 first sets down the new earth, then the new Jeru- 
 salem, and expresses the sense of the prophet 
 more distinctly." 
 
 Therefore, let the heavens rejoice, and let the 
 earth be glad ; let the sea roar, and the fulness 
 thereof; let the fields be joyful, and all that is 
 therein; let the trumpets sound before the Lord 
 the King ; for he cometh to judge the earth- to 
 
THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS. 151 
 
 judge the world of the ungodly with righteous- 
 ness, executing upon them the threatening^ of his 
 holy law ; and his people with his truth, fulfilling 
 to them his glorious promises of new heavens 
 and a new earth, a millennium and Jerusalem ; 
 in which there shall be a reward, their names 
 shall be written among the living ; they shall be 
 made unto our God kings and priests, and shall 
 walk with our Redeemer clothed in white raiment; 
 and they shall eat of the tree of life, and shall not 
 be hurt of the second death. 
 
 11 These arguments, taken together, have, to me, 
 a satisfactory evidence, that the blessed millen- 
 nium cannot obtain in the present earth." When, 
 therefore, we are to look for the millennium, we 
 are to look for the coming of Christ for the battle 
 of that great day of God Almighty for them 
 that destroy the earth to be destroyed and for 
 the prophets and saints to be rewarded. 
 
 And have we evidence of the approach of the 
 kingdom of Christ? Have we reason to look 
 for the millennium ? Are we, according to the 
 promises, looking for and hasting unto that day? 
 We are, then, "looking for and hasting unto the 
 coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens, 
 being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements 
 shall melt with fervent heat ;" and shall be 
 changed, and fashioned into new heavens, and 
 a new earth, ivherein dwelleth righteousness. 
 
 " That these things are approaching, and we 
 within the reach of them, let an indefinite warn- 
 ing suffice for to move us to prepare for them ; 
 which is the only use of knowing them. It may 
 be said of the time of these things, as it is said 
 of the day of death, the day is hid, that it may be 
 
152 THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS. 
 
 expected every day ; the day and year of the 
 accomplishment of these great matters are hid 
 from us, that so each day and year we may be 
 found ready, whenever they shall come upon us, 
 (as in this age wherein we live they are likely to 
 do.) And although we may think this dismal 
 and black hour of temptation not likely to come 
 so soon, (seeing the clouds rise not fast enough 
 so suddenly to overcast the face of the sky with 
 darkness ;) yet we are to consider, that we live 
 now in the extremity of times, when motions and 
 alterations, being so near the centre, become 
 quickest and speediest ; and we are on the verge, 
 and, as it were, within the whirl of that great 
 mystery of Christ's kingdom, which will, as a 
 gulph, swallow up all time; and so, the nearer 
 we come to it, the greater and more sudden 
 changes will Christ make, now hastening to make 
 a full end of all." 
 
 GOODWIN. 
 
 " The groans of nature in this nether world, 
 Which heaven has heard for ages, have an end. 
 Foretold by prophets, and by poets sung, 
 Whose fire was kindled at the prophet's lamp, 
 The time of rest, the promised Sabbath, comes. 
 Six thousand years of sorrow have well nigh. 
 Fulfilled their tardy and disastrous course, 
 Over a sinful world. And what remains 
 Of this tempestuous state of human things 
 Is merely as the working of a sea 
 Before a calm, that rocks itself to rest. 
 For He, whose car the winds are, and the clouds 
 The dust that waits upon his sultry march, 
 When sin hath moved him, and his wrath is hot, 
 Shall visit earth in mercy ; shall descend 
 Propitious, in his chariot paved with love, 
 And what his storms have blasted and defaced, 
 
THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS. 153 
 
 For man's revolt, shall with a smile repair. 
 Sweet is the harp of prophecy ; too sweet 
 Not to be wronged by a mere mortal touch j 
 Nor can the wonders it records be sung 
 To meaner music, and not suffer loss. 
 
 Oh scenes, surpassing fable, and yet true ; 
 Scenes of accomplished bliss ! which who can see, 
 Though but in distant prospect, and not feel 
 His soul refreshed with foretaste of the joy ? 
 Rivers of gladness water all the earth, 
 And clothe all climes with beauty. The reproach 
 Of barrenness is past. The fruitful field 
 Laughs with abundance ; and the land, once lean, 
 Or fertile only in its own disgrace, 
 Exults, to see its thistly curse repealed. 
 The various seasons woven into one, 
 And that one season an eternal spring ; 
 The garden fears no blight, and needs no fence, 
 For there is none to covet, all are full. 
 The lion, and the libbard, and the bear, 
 Graze with the fearless flocks. All bask at noon 
 Together, or all gambol in the shade 
 Of the same grove, and drink one common stream. 
 Antipathies are none. No foe to man 
 Lurks in the serpent now. The mother sees, 
 And smiles to see, her infant's playful hand 
 Stretched forth to dally with the crested worm, 
 To stroke his azure neck, or to receive 
 The lambent homage of his arrowy tongue. 
 All creaturfes worship man, and all mankind 
 One Lord, one Father. Error has no place ; 
 That creeping pestilence is driven away, 
 The breath of Heaven has chased it. In the heart 
 No passion touches a discordant string, 
 But all is harmony and love. Disease 
 Is not. The pure and uncontaminate blood 
 Holds its due course, nor fears the frost of age. 
 One song employs all nations, and all cry, 
 Worthy the Lamb, for he was slain for us. 
 The dwellers in the vales, and on the rocks, 
 Shout to each other; and the mountain-tops 
 From distant mountains catch the flying joy ; 
 Till nation after nation, taught the strain, 
 
154 THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS. 
 
 Each rolls the rapturous hosanna round. 
 Behold the measure of the promise filled. 
 See Salem built, the labor of a God ! 
 Bright as a sun the sacred city shines. 
 All kingdoms, and all princes of the earth, 
 Flock to that light ; the glory of all lands 
 Flows into her ; unbounded is her joy, 
 
 And endless her increase 
 
 Praise is in all her gates. Upon her walls, 
 And in her streets, and in her spacious courts, 
 .Is heard salvation. Eastern Java there 
 Kneels, with the native of the farthest west ; 
 And Ethiopia spreads abroad the hand. 
 And worships. Her report has travelled forth 
 Into all lands. From every clime they come, 
 To see thy beauty, and to share thy joy. 
 Oh Zion ! an assembly such as earth 
 Saw never, such as heaven stoops down to see. 
 
 Thus heavenward all things tend . For all were once 
 Perfect, and all must be at length restored. 
 So God has greatly purposed ; who would else 
 In his dishonored works himself endure 
 Dishonor, and be wronged, without redress. 
 Haste, then, and wheel away a shattered world, 
 Ye slow revolving seasons ! We would see 
 (A sight to which our eyes are strangers yet) 
 A world that does not dread and hate his laws, 
 And suffer for its crime ; would learn how fair 
 The creature is that God pronounces good, 
 How pleasant in itself, what pleases him. 
 Here every drop of honey hides a sting, 
 Worms wind themselves into our sweetest flowers, 
 And even the joy that haply some poor heart 
 Derives from heaven, pure as the fountain is. 
 Is sullied in the stream ; taking a taint 
 From touch of human lips, at best impure. 
 Oh for a world in principle as chaste 
 As this is gross and selfish ! over which 
 Custom and prejudice shall bear no sway, 
 That govern all things here, shouldering aside 
 The meek and modest truth, and forcing her 
 To seek a refuge from the tongue of strife 
 In nooks obscure, far from the ways of men ; 
 
THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS. 155 
 
 Where violence shall never lift the sword, 
 Nor cunning justify the proud man's wrong, 
 Leaving the poor no remedy but tears. 
 
 Come, then, and, added to thy many crowns, 
 Receive yet one, the crown of all the earth, 
 Thou who alone art worthy ! " 
 
 COWPER. 
 
LECTURE VII. 
 
 THE NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH. 
 
 Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for 
 new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth right- 
 eousness. 2 PET. iii. 13. 
 
 IT appears from the context that St. Peter 
 " had met with some men that scoffed at the 
 future destruction of the world, and the coming 
 of our Savior ; and they were men, it seems, that 
 pretended to philosophy and argument;" and 
 they endeavored to support their infidelity by 
 this argument: " all things continue as they were 
 from the beginning of the creation ;" that is, 
 seeing there hath been no change in nature, or in 
 the world, from the beginning to ihis time, why 
 should we think there will be any for the future ? 
 
 After observing that we should riot be surprised 
 to meet with such persons, knowing from God's 
 word " that there shall come in the last days 
 scoffers, walking after their own lusts," the 
 apostle undertakes to overthrow their reasoning; 
 and he denies the proposition upon which it is 
 founded, that all things have continued as they 
 
THE NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH. 157 
 
 were from the beginning; and declares it to be 
 contrary to fact, and imputes the error to their 
 lusts, yea, to wilful ignorance. " For this they 
 willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God 
 the heavens were of old, and the earth consisting 
 of ivater, and by water. Whereby the world 
 that then was," (having a watery constitution,) 
 " being overflowed with water, perished. But 
 the heavens and the earth which are now, by the 
 same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire 
 against the day of judgment and perdition of 
 ungodly men." 
 
 The present heavens and earth are different 
 from the first which perished by water ; are of 
 another constitution, fitted by the word or wisdom 
 of God, and reserved, under the divine conduct, 
 to another fate, namely, to perish by fire. This 
 world, therefore, though different from the old 
 world, is yet dissolvable, and like that must also 
 perish according to the nature of its constitution ; 
 and may be viewed as a pile, or store of fuel, 
 " reserved unto fire against the day of judgment 
 and perdition of ungodly men." 
 
 " The day of the Lord will come as a thief in 
 the night, in the which the heavens shall pass 
 away with a great noise, and the elements shall 
 melt, with fervent heat; the earth also and the 
 works that are therein shall be burnt up. Never- 
 theless, we, according to his promise, look for 
 new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth 
 righteousness." 
 
 Having described the dissolution of this world 
 
 in full and emphatical terms, as, the passing away 
 
 of the heavens, the melting of the elements, and 
 
 the burning up of the earth and all the works 
 
 14 
 
158 THE NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH. 
 
 therein, the apostle subjoins, nevertheless not- 
 withstanding this total dissolution of the present 
 world, " we, according to his promise, look for 
 new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth 
 righteousness." As if the apostle had said, " not- 
 withstanding this strange and violent dissolution 
 of the present heavens and earth, which I have 
 described to you, we db not at all distrust God's 
 promises concerning new heavens and a new 
 earth that are to succeed these, and to be the seat 
 of the righteous" the dwelling-place of the 
 just. 
 
 Let us therefore attend, 
 
 I. To the promises made to God's people, of 
 new heavens and a new earth, wherein they shall 
 dwell ; 
 
 II. To the happiness and glory of that state. 
 
 The new heavens and new earth were doubtless 
 fully contained in that ancient, first promise, 
 respecting the seed of the woman, couched in the 
 threatening to the serpent, Gen. iii. 15 : It shall 
 bruise thy head. Man was the lord of this lower 
 creation. The serpent, by conquering man, had 
 just made himself master and lord of these 
 dominions : hence he is called the prince of this 
 world; and therefore the ground was cursed, 
 and all the lower creation laid under the bondage 
 of corruption, or death, because it had fallen 
 into his cursed hands. But in this first promise, 
 we behold the conqueror conquered the prince 
 of this world losing all his dominions, and cast 
 out; the seed of the woman triumphing over 
 him the prey taken from the mighty captivity 
 led captive, and delivered from the curse and 
 
THE NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH. 159 
 
 bondage of corruption : which restitution is that 
 glorious new state of the creation, spoken of in 
 the text, wherein dwelleth righteousness ; and 
 which, according to this promise, the seed of the 
 woman, which comprehends all the righteous, 
 shall enjoy ; and therefore triumph over their 
 enemy Satan, in dominions where once he tri- 
 umphed over them. This will be most emphati- 
 cally setting their feet upon the serpent's head; 
 and thus, shortly, the Lord shall bruise Satan 
 under their feet. 
 
 The promises made to Abraham and to his 
 seed more particularly unfolded a future state 
 of the world, that should be the possession and 
 habitation of the just. God Almighty promised 
 to give to him, and to his seed, the land of 
 Canaan, flowing with milk and honey. The 
 Lord said unto Abraham, " Lift up thine eyes, 
 and look from the place where thou art, north- 
 ward, and southward, and eastward, and west- 
 ward ; for all the land which thou seest, to thee 
 will I give it, and to thy seed forever. Arise, 
 walk through the land, in the length of it, and in 
 the breadth of it ; for I will give it unto thee. 
 
 God's promising the land to Abraham, as far 
 as his mind could reach to the utmost extent of 
 his knowledge, is not to be understood as bound- 
 ing the promise there, as it respected God ; for 
 we often find, in the Scriptures, the same pro- 
 mise as unlimited as the earth; though, as it 
 respected Abraham, it could go no farther. But, 
 that his mind might be enlarged, and his ideas 
 enriched with the largeness and richness of 
 divine grace, God bid him look northward, and 
 southward, and eastward, and westward, and 
 
160 THE NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH. 
 
 travel far and wide, as he could not go beyond 
 the length and the breadth of the promises. 
 
 Yet was Abraham a stranger and a pilgrim in 
 the earth ; and wherever he went, the wicked 
 Canaanite nourished on every side ; at every new 
 stage he met with new difficulties and trials : 
 but, as oft as his difficulties and trials were 
 renewed and increased, the Lord God appeared 
 unto him, and renewed and assured to him 
 the promises, saying, the land which thou seest 
 the land thus and thus marked to thee will I 
 give it, and to thy seed forever : I will give unto 
 thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein 
 thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for 
 an everlasting possession. But, notwithstanding 
 all this, Abraham died, possessed of no part of 
 the earth, except a burying-field bought with his 
 money. 
 
 But, being strong in faith, he staggered not at 
 the promises, believing him faithful who had pro- 
 mised and therefore, though he died, the land, 
 in which he had been a stranger, " he should after 
 receive for an inheritance."^ Wherefore, refer- 
 
 * The words of Stephen are very remarkable, and we 
 think must have been designed to convey the idea of the 
 promises here proposed: "And he gave him none inher- 
 itance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on ; yef he 
 promised that he would give it to him for a possession, 
 and to his seed." If it were answered, that this promise 
 was to be fulfilled to Abraham in his seed, we should ask, 
 Why then was it so expressed, to him, and to his seed ? For 
 if by him was meant his seed, it is only repeating the same 
 thing to his seed, and to his seed. Or, if answered, that 
 this promise was fulfilled to Abraham in money, cattle, 
 &c.; But, with as much propriety, may it not be said to 
 be fulfilled to the present Hebrews, who are rich in money 
 
THE NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH. 161 
 
 ring all to future things, he looked for a holy, 
 heavenly country, wherein no Canaanite should 
 dwell, and " a city which hath foundations, whose 
 builder and maker is God." 
 
 This better country, which Abraham desired, 
 is plainly the new heavens and the new earth, 
 wherein dvvelleth righteousness ; and the city, 
 which from the promises he looked for, which 
 hath foundations, is plainly the holy city, new 
 Jerusalem, which, prepared in the heavens, shall 
 descend out of heaven from God, having twelve 
 foundations garnished with all manner of precious 
 stones having the tabernacle of God, and the 
 glory of God, the glory of the holy of holies, 
 unveiled ; and in which God will dwell with men, 
 and they shall be his people, and God himself 
 shall be with them, and it is added, referring to the 
 promise to Abraham, and be their God. 
 
 Thus it appears, Abraham, being not weak in 
 faith, looked for the same things for which we 
 now look, according to the promises, viz., new 
 heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth 
 righteousness ; and that great city, the holy Jeru- 
 salem, coming down from God out of heaven, 
 prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 
 
 Also, " Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of 
 the same promise," dwelt in tents, " and confessed 
 that they were strangers and pilgrims on the 
 earth " their days u few and evil." 
 
 to a proverb ? Or should any say it was fulfilled to him 
 in heaven ; we again ask, Is that the land in which he 
 was a stranger ? God promised a land to Abraham for a 
 possession, in which, to the day of his death, he had none 
 inheritance, no, not so much as to set his fcrot on. Let God 
 bfc true. 
 
 14* 
 
162 THE NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH. 
 
 And when we look forward, we find their seed 
 after them making the same confession before 
 God. " I am," says David, u a stranger with thee, 
 and a sojourner, as all my fathers were." 
 
 Thus they continued from generation to gejne- 
 ration, distinguished from other people, by trials, 
 distresses, wants, persecutions, captivities, and 
 dispersions ; rather than by possessions, inher- 
 itance, and rest in the earth. 
 
 But their faith failed not. David, though he 
 confessed himself a stranger and a sojourner, as 
 all his fathers were, exhorted his brethren to be 
 " mindful always of his covenant, the word which 
 he commanded to a thousand generations ; even 
 of the covenant which he made with Abraham, 
 and of his oath unto Isaac : and hath confirmed 
 the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an 
 everlasting covenant, saying > Unto thee ivill I give 
 the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance." 
 
 Some, indeed, of that chosen race, not so strong 
 in faith, at least in some dark hours, were greatly 
 perplexed to find an interpretation to. the promises 
 to Abraham and to his seed, that they should 
 inherit the land and dwell therein forever : even 
 Isaiah once uttered this complaint, " The people 
 of thy holiness have possessed it but a little 
 while : our adversaries have trodden down thy 
 sanctuary." 
 
 But God continued to confirm the faith of his 
 people, by the fullest and most express decla- 
 rations, that the righteous should inherit the 
 earth, and be blessed upon the earth ; even when 
 they were poor and destitute greatly oppressed, 
 and in want of almost all the comforts, and even 
 the- necessaries of life pilgrims and strangers 
 
 
THE NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH. 163 
 
 still and still the God of truth repeating over 
 and over his promise, that they should inherit 
 the earth. The thirty-seventh Psalm is very 
 remarkable " For evil-doers shall be cut off: 
 but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall 
 inherit the earth." " For yet a little while, and 
 the wicked shall not be : yea, thou shalt diligently 
 consider his place, and it shall not be. But the 
 meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight 
 themselves in the abundance of peace." " The 
 wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth 
 upon him with his teeth. The Lord shall laugh 
 at him, for he seeth that his day is coming. The 
 Lord knoweth the days of the upright ; and their 
 inheritance shall be forever." " The wicked shall 
 perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as 
 the fat of lambs: they shall consume ; into smoke 
 shall they consume away. For such as be 
 blessed of him shall inherit the earth." " The 
 seed of the wicked shall be cut off. The righteous 
 shall inherit the land, and dwell therein forever." 
 " Wait on the Lord, and keep his way, and he 
 shall exalt thee to inherit the earth : when the 
 wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it." 
 
 The wicked have been, and still are, the pos- 
 sessors of the world ; but " the wealth of the 
 sinner is laid up for the just." " Though he heap 
 up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the 
 clay ; he may prepare it, but the just shall put it 
 on, and the innocent shall divide the silver;" for 
 they shall inherit the earth. 
 
 It is evident that David got hold of this clue to 
 the promises of a future state of the world re- 
 served for the righteous, and that he often had in 
 view such a new state of the creation ; particularly 
 
164 THE NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH. 
 
 in the eighth Psalm, which the apostle to the 
 Hebrews applies to " the world to come, whereof 
 we speak:" contemplating which, the sweet 
 Psalmist breaks out in this pleasing rapture " 
 Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all 
 the earth ! who hast set thy glory above the 
 heavens. When I consider thy heavens, the 
 work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which 
 thou hast ordained ; what is man, that thou art 
 mindful of him, and the son of man, that thou 
 visitest him ? For thou hast made him a little 
 lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with 
 glory and honor. Thou madest him to have 
 dominion over the works of thy hands ; thou hast 
 put all things under his feet." 
 
 Now in the secpnd chapter of the Hebrews we 
 have this passage introduced thus " For unto 
 the angels hath he not put in subjection the world 
 to come, whereof we speak. But one in a certain 
 place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art 
 mindful of him ? or the son of man, that thou 
 visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower 
 than the angels ; thou crownedst him with glory 
 and honor, and didst set him over the works of 
 thy hands : thou hast put all things in subjection 
 under his feet. For in that he put all in subjec- 
 tion under him, he left nothing that is not put 
 under him. But now we see not yet all things 
 put under him." 
 
 Therefore we are to understand David, when 
 he says, thou hast put all things under the son of 
 man in actual subjection " under his feet " as 
 speaking, not of the present world, but of the 
 world to come. Which world to come must be a 
 new state of the visible creation ; for this world to 
 
THE NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH. 165 
 
 come, which is put in actual subjection under the 
 Son of Man, David particularly describes as the 
 visible heavens and earth; and, after describing 
 the heavens of the world to come, by the well- 
 known marks of the natural heavens the moon 
 and the stars ; and the earth, by its natural history 
 -sheep and oxen, the beasts of the field, the fowl 
 of the air, and the fish of the sea ; he conclude* 
 as he begun, " O Lord our Lord, how excellent 
 is thy name in all the earth ! " 
 
 In this constructive manner we find the pro- 
 mise of new heavens and a new earth, from the 
 first opening of the revelation of God : and thus 
 said Peter, Acts iii. 21 : The times of restitution 
 of all things, " God hath spoken by the mouth of 
 all his holy prophets, since the world began." 
 
 But Isaiah, who, from the clearness and open- 
 ness of his visions, has been called the first evan- 
 gelist, or the gospel prophet, spake of this glorious 
 state the restitution of all things as it is spoken 
 of in the New Testament, by the name of new 
 heavens and a new earth, Isaiah Ixv. 17, 18, 19 : 
 " For behold, I create new heavens, and a new 
 earth: and the former shall not be remembered, 
 nor come into mind. But be you glad and rejoice 
 forever in that which I create ; for behpld, 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 no more be heard 
 in her, nor the voice of crying." And again, 
 Isa. Ixvi. 22, 23, 24 : " For as the new heavens 
 and the new earth, which I will make, shall 
 remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your 
 seed and your name remain. And it shall come 
 to pass, that from one new moon to another, and 
 
166 THE NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH. 
 
 from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come 
 to worship before me, saith the Lord. And they 
 shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses of the 
 men that have transgressed against me : for their 
 worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be 
 quenched, and they shall be an abhorring unto all 
 flesh." 
 
 Having, therefore, the sure foundation of the 
 word of God, in the promises, the apostle is con- 
 fident and unshaken ; though he should see the 
 whole creation under the bondage of corruption, 
 and the fashion of this world passing away ; 
 though he should behold it doomed to fire, and 
 could expect nothing more from this world than 
 a fiery deluge, according to its constitution ; and 
 were " looking for and hasting unto the coming of 
 the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire 
 shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt 
 with fervent heat ! Nevertheless," according to 
 God's promise, he looked " for new heavens and 
 a new earth, wherein dvvelleth righteousness."^ 
 By faith in the everlasting promise, he beheld 
 new heavens and a new earth a new and glo- 
 rious world by the new-creating power of Jesus, 
 rising from the ruins of the old, a fit, desirable, 
 and everlasting habitation for the just. 
 
 But this promise of new heavens and a new 
 earth is unfolded more clearly still by John, in 
 the close of the Revelation. " And I saw (said 
 John) a neiu heaven, and a new earth: for the 
 first heaven and the first earth were passed 
 away ; and there was no more sea. And I John 
 saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down 
 
 * Appendix, No. III. 
 
THE NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH. 167 
 
 from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride 
 adorned for her husband. And I heard a great 
 voice out of heaven, saying, Behold, the taber- 
 nacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with 
 them, and they shall be his people, and God him- 
 self shall be with them, and be their God. And 
 God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes ; 
 and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, 
 nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain : 
 for the former things are passed away.^ And he 
 that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all 
 things new," &c. 
 
 This new heaven and earth that John saw is 
 the new heavens and earth that Isaiah prophesied 
 of: it is the same glorious new world, more 
 clearly and particularly brought into view; and 
 the difference of plainness and clearness is all 
 the difference we observe between Isaiah and 
 John. 
 
 They compare thus : 
 
 ISAIAH. 
 " For behold, I create 
 
 new heavens and a new heaven and a new earth : 
 
 earth : and the former 
 shall not be remember- 
 ed, nor come into mind." 
 
 " But be you glad and 
 
 JOHN. 
 "And I saw a new 
 
 for the first heaven and 
 the first earth were pass- 
 ed away ; and there was 
 
 no more sea. 
 
 ; 'And I John saw the 
 
 * If the new heaven and earth, and the new Jerusalem, 
 were merely moral things, why did both Isaiah and 
 John so particularly testify, that, in that holy place, there 
 should be no natural evil that the voice of weeping shall 
 be no more heard in her } nor the voice of crying? 
 
168 THE NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH. 
 
 rejoice forever in that 
 
 holy city, new Jerusa- 
 
 which I create : for be- 
 
 lem, coming down from 
 
 hold, I create Jerusalem 
 
 God out of heaven, pre- 
 
 a rejoicing, and her peo- 
 
 pared as a bride adorned 
 
 ple a joy." 
 
 for her husband." 
 
 "And I will rejoice in 
 
 "And I heard a great 
 
 Jerusalem, and joy in 
 
 voice out of heaven, say- 
 
 my people." 
 
 ing, Behold, the taberna- 
 
 
 cle of God is with men, 
 
 
 and he will dwell with 
 
 
 them, and they shall be 
 
 
 his people, and God him- 
 
 
 self shall be with them, 
 
 
 and be their God." 
 
 "And the voice of 
 
 "And God shall wipe 
 
 weeping shall be no more 
 
 away all tears from their 
 
 heard in her, nor the 
 
 eyes ; and there shall be 
 
 voice of crying. There 
 
 no more death, neither 
 
 shall be no more thence 
 
 sorrow, nor crying, nei- 
 
 an infant of days, nor an 
 
 ther shall there be any 
 
 old man that hath not 
 
 more pain : for the for- 
 
 filled his days." 
 
 mer things are passed 
 
 
 away." 
 
 "They shall build hou- 
 
 " I am Alpha and 
 
 ses, and inhabit them; 
 
 Omega, the beginning 
 
 and they shall plant vine- 
 
 and the end : I will give 
 
 yards, and eat the fruitjunto him that is athirst 
 of them. They shall of the fountain of the 
 not build and another \water of life freely. He 
 
 inhabit; they shall not 
 plant and another eat : 
 for as the days of a tree 
 are the days of my peo- 
 ple, and mine elect shall 
 
 that overcometh shall in- 
 herit all things." 
 
THE NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH. 169 
 
 long enjoy the work of 
 their hands." 
 
 " For the child, a 
 hundred years old, shall 
 die:" 
 
 " But the sinner, be- 
 ing a hundred years old, 
 shall be accursed." 
 
 " For as the new hea- 
 vens and the new earth, 
 which I will make, shall 
 remain before me, saith 
 the Lord, so shall your 
 seed and your nam^ re- 
 main." 
 
 " As the days of a tree 
 are the days of my peo- 
 ple." Or, as by some 
 it has been read, " the 
 
 " But the fearful and 
 unbelieving shall have 
 their part in the lake 
 which burneth with fire 
 and brimstone : which 
 is the second death ."^ 
 
 "And the abominable, 
 and murderers, and 
 whoremongers, and sor- 
 cerers, and idolaters, and 
 all liars, shall have their 
 part in the lake which 
 burneth with fire and 
 brimstone." 
 
 "And he that sat upon 
 the throne said, Behold, 
 I make all things new. 
 And he said unto me, 
 Write : for these words 
 are true and faithful." 
 
 " Blessed are they that 
 do his commandments, 
 that they may have 
 right to the tree of life." 
 
 * He that overcometh not, though a hundred years 
 old, is a child ; fearful and unbelieving. And what may 
 we call the old sinner, abominable, &c. I should have 
 thought it strange, had not John, under the head of the 
 new heavens and new earth, noticed Isaiah's old child 
 and sinner ; and if he has noticed them, he interpreted 
 their death to be the second death. 
 
 15 
 
170 THE NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH. 
 
 days of my people shall 
 be as the days of the 
 tree of life."^ 
 
 There are but few parts of Scripture, taken 
 the one from the other, which so nearly compare, 
 as these prophecies of Isaiah and of John. 
 
 It may also be observed, that both Isaiah and 
 John, describing the new heavens and earth, and 
 the new Jerusalem, allude very particularly to 
 the promise made to Abraham and to his heirs : 
 " They shall be his people, and God himself 
 shall be with them, and be their God" They 
 shall inherit and inhabit " mine elect shall long 
 enjoy the work of their hands" " For they are 
 the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their 
 offspring with them" "As the new heavens 
 and the new earth which I will make shall 
 remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall 
 your seed and your name remain" " He that 
 
 * It has appeared to me a thought unworthy of the 
 promise of life to which it relates, that this tree is a com- 
 mon or natural tree. Perhaps the greater part of these 
 do not live the age of man, threescore years and ten ; or 
 perhaps, taken together, their ages would not average so 
 high : and if some natural trees live several centuries, 
 what is that? Would it not be dishonorable for him 
 that inhabiteth eternity to make a promise of life to his 
 people who all have laid down their lives for his sake, 
 of which such a poor-lived thing as even the oak or the 
 pine could be a surety and pledge? Would God say his 
 elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands, in a life 
 chat was merely as the life of the oak or cedar ? From 
 a careful examination of this passage, I am persuaded 
 that this promise of life, as the days of a tree, is as per- 
 fect as even that, as I live : but this is the life of the 
 millennial saints. 
 
THE NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH. 171 
 
 overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be 
 his God, and he shall be my son." 
 
 Doubtless, the new heavens and new earth 
 was the country promised to Abraham and to his 
 seed ; which neither he nor they received, but 
 desired and sought, having seen afar off. And, 
 doubtless, this great and holy city, the new Jeru- 
 salem, prepared in heaven, and coming down 
 upon the new earth, adorned as a bride for her 
 husband, having the glory of God, &c., is the 
 very city promised to Abraham and his heirs ; 
 which they looked for, and on account of which 
 God was not, and is not, ashamed to be called 
 their God." 
 
 We shall now take a view of the happiness 
 and glory of the world to come the land of 
 Emmanuel. 
 
 No natural evil shall be there ; the voice of 
 weeping shall no more be heard among the 
 Lord's people, nor the voice of crying. God 
 shall wipe away all tears from their eyes ; and 
 there shall be no more death : for the former 
 things are passed away. 
 
 The whole creation, which now groaneth and 
 travaileth in pain together, shall then " be deliv- 
 ered from the bondage of corruption into the 
 glorious liberty of the children of God." 
 
 They which shall be accounted worthy to ob- 
 tain that world, and the resurrection from the 
 dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage, 
 neither can they die any more ; for they are 
 equal unto the angels, and are the children of 
 God in the full extent of the promise made to 
 Abraham ; " being the children of the resurrec- 
 tion." 
 
172 THE NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH. 
 
 Weakness shall not be there ; either of infan- 
 cy " there shall be no more thence an infant of 
 days;" or of disease "neither shall there be any 
 more pain'* " the inhabitant shall not say, I am 
 sick ;"* or of age " nor an old man that hath 
 not filled his days." As, on the one hand, there 
 shall be no more an infant of days, weak and 
 helpless ; so, on the other, there shall not be an 
 old man who has outlived his strength, useful- 
 ness, and enjoyment whose days are empty, 
 both to himself and others. 
 
 No weak, crying children, or old, sighing men, 
 shall be seen in that happy world. No helpless, 
 weeping babes shall be found there, rocked in a 
 cradle, carried in the arms, or " wrapped in 
 swaddling clothes, lying in a manger :" nor shall 
 be found there old men whose days are not filled 
 with high praise to God with unabated useful- 
 ness to others, and with rich blessedness to them- 
 selves. All shall be in strength, health, and 
 immortal vigor.t 
 
 * " The inhabitants shall not so much as say, I am 
 sick." Bellamy on the Millennium. How can we look 
 for so healthful a country upon the shores of mortality ? 
 Surely this must be the incorruptible, deathless world. 
 If the pale horse, sickness, enter not the millennial world, 
 neither will his rider, death. And then will the good 
 soldier throw off the harness and triumph, when he 
 has conquered and gone beyond the reach of his last 
 enemy ; but one who has been bereaved repeatedly of 
 the dearest objects of his affections in the world, must 
 feel his wounds too sensibly to enter freely into the mil- 
 lennial triumphs whilst the king of terrors is still before 
 him. 
 
 f We would not be understood, that, in the resurrec 
 tion, there will be no distinction among those that died in 
 
THE NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH. 173 
 
 I know some take the sense of Isaiah, res- 
 pecting the old man in the millennium, thus : 
 Nor an old man who is not an old man there 
 shall not be found then, as sometimes now, an old 
 man in weakness and infirmities, who in days is 
 not an old mail. But if this be the sense, how low 
 and trifling is the thought in such a connection ! 
 Would we keep up the greatness and grandeur 
 of Isaiah's present theme the new heavens and 
 the new earth must we not prefer the sense 
 which we have given, viz., that age will not then 
 impair none will then have retired, through 
 age, and left their posts empty, and, as it were, 
 their days and lives a blank : but the ancients 
 shall say respecting their powers and capacities 
 to serve and enjoy God and his people, as the 
 oldest man in Israel once said respecting the 
 work of his day "I am this day fourscore and 
 five years old : yet I am as strong this day as I 
 was" at forty ; " as my strength was then, even 
 so is my strength now, for war, both to go out 
 and to come in." 
 
 age and in infancy. Of such a distinction we cannot easily 
 divest our minds and it is often made in the language 
 of the Scriptures. But, though in some respects there be 
 this distinction of the old man and the child, yet it will 
 not be in respect of either infirmity or weakness. Thy 
 children shall come again to their own border. See Jeremiah 
 xxxi. 15, 16, 17. That the loss of children, and mourn- 
 ing, is here to be understood literally, and therefore that 
 their coming again means their resurrection from the 
 dead, appears from its being applied by the evangelist to 
 the little children that Herod slew. Ramah ; s little chil- 
 dren, in the time of the restitution of all things ; shall 
 come again to their own border. 
 
174 THE NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH. 
 
 There shall be no want : " Thus saith the Lord 
 God " " My servants shall eat " " My servants 
 shall drink " " My servants shall rejoice " 
 " My servants shall sing for joy of heart " 
 " They shall have right to the tree of life, and 
 shall enter in through the gates into the city 
 mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants 
 jshall dwell there;" and " the Lamb, which is in 
 the midst of the throne, shall feed them, and shall 
 lead them unto living fountains of waters." 
 
 The serpent shall die, and the deceitful herb 
 of poison shall die.* " Instead of the thorn shall 
 come up the fir-tree, and instead of the briar shall 
 come up the myrtle-tree." " The wolf and the 
 lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat 
 straw like the bullock : they shall not hurt 
 nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the 
 Lord." "And ye shall go out with joy, and bo 
 led forth with peace ; the mountains and the hills 
 shall break forth before you into singing, and all 
 the trees of the field shall clap their hands." 
 
 " There shall be no more curse ;" because no 
 sin shall be there. " Dust shall be the serpent's 
 meat." "And there shall in no wise enter into 
 it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever 
 worketh abomination or maketh a lie : but they 
 which are written in the Lamb's book of life." 
 
 They shall live : as the days of a tree are the 
 days of my people. The sign and pledge of 
 immorta ity to our first parents was a tree ; and 
 Isaiah gives the same token of immortality to 
 God's people, who shall obtain that world as 
 
 * Occidet et serpens, et fallax herba veneni 
 Occidet. VIRGIL. 
 
THE NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH. 175 
 
 the days of the tree of life, which is in the par 
 adise of God, shall be their days " because I 
 live, ye shall live also." 
 
 " Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of 
 God." " The wall of the city had twelve foun- 
 dations, and in them the names of the twelve 
 apostles of the Lamb;" and it was great and high 
 a hundred and forty and four cubits, according 
 to the measure of a rnan the angel ; " and the 
 building of the wall was of ^jasper ; and the city 
 was pure gold, like unto clear glass." " And the 
 foundations of the wall of the city were garnished 
 with all manner of precious stones." " And the 
 twelve gates were twelve pearls ; every several 
 gate was of one pearl : and the street of the city 
 was pure gold, as it were transparent glass." 
 And " the Lord God Almighty, and the Lamb, 
 are the temple of it." 
 
 " And the city had no need of the sun, neither 
 of the moon, to shine in it : for the glory of God 
 did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. 
 And the nations of them which are saved shall 
 walk in the light of it ; and the kings of the earth 
 do bring their glory and honor into it. And the 
 gates of it shall not be shut at all by day : for 
 there shall be no night there. And they shall 
 bring the glory and honor of the nations into it." 
 
 There flows the " pure river of the water of 
 life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne 
 of God, and of the Lamb. In the midst of the 
 street of it, and of either side of the river, was 
 there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner 
 of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month : and 
 the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the 
 nations." 
 
176 THE NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH. 
 
 " And there shall be no night there, and they 
 need no candle, neither light of the sun ; for the 
 Lord God giveth them light : and they shall reign 
 forever and ever." "Then the moon shall be 
 confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the 
 Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount Zion, and in 
 Jerusalem, and before his ancients, gloriously." 
 
 Jerusalem ! thou shalt be called the city of 
 the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. 
 'And I will make the place of my feet* glorious," 
 saith the Lord. " For brass I will bring gold, 
 and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood 
 brass, and for stones iron : I will also make thy 
 officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness. 
 Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, 
 wasting nor destruction within thy borders ; but 
 thou shalt call thy walls salvation, and thy gates 
 praise. The sun shall be no more thy light by 
 day, neither for brightness shall the moon give 
 light unto thee ; but the Lord shall be unto thee 
 an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory." 
 " Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, 
 and shalt suck the breast of kings, and thou 
 shalt know that I the Lord am thy Savior and 
 thy Redeemer, the mighty one of Israel " I will 
 make thee an eternal excellence. 
 
 u Thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall 
 thy moon withdraw itself: for the Lord shall be 
 thine everlasting light; and the days of thy 
 
 * I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall 
 stand at the latter day upon the earth." Job xix. 25. 
 The righteous, "when their Redeemer shall stand at the 
 latter day upon the earth } shall be exalted forever ; then 
 they shall shine forth as the sun, and be made kings and 
 priests unto God." 
 
THE NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH. 177 
 
 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." 
 
 O Lord our Lord, the Son of Man, we look for 
 thy world ; and now, by faith, behold all things 
 created new, all things in subjection under thy 
 feet ; thy glory set above the new heavens. O 
 Jesus, how excellent is thy name in all the new 
 earth ! The Lord hasten it in his time. 
 
 Seeing, then, that we look for such things, 
 what manner of persons ought we to be in all 
 holy conversation and godliness: and, beloved, 
 let us be diligent that we may be found of him in 
 peace, without spot, and blameless. 
 
 * They shall inherit the land forever, which is the inher- 
 itance promised to Abraham, and to his heirs the branch 
 of my planting, which is the tree of life planted by the 
 hand of God in Paradise the work of my hands, which is 
 the city that Abraham sought, whose maker is God. 
 
LECTURE VIII. 
 
 THE NEW JERUSALEM. 
 
 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, com- 
 ing down from God out 01 heaven, prepared as a bride 
 adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out 
 of heaven, saying. Behold, the tabernacle of God is with 
 men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his 
 people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their 
 God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes ; 
 and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor 
 crying, neither shall there be any more pain : for the for- 
 mer things are passed away. REV. xxi. 2, 3, 4. 
 
 THE writings of the modern millenists, upon 
 this doctrine of the new Jerusalem, afford mofe 
 evidence of the fruitfulness of their imaginations 
 than of the truth of their system, and are a strik- 
 ing instance of the liberties they take in hand- 
 ling the prophecies. 
 
 They confess that things are said of the new 
 Jerusalem too perfect for this world, and also 
 that things are said of it that undeniably describe 
 its situation in the earth. And the method they 
 have devised to reconcile these things, without 
 adopting the sentiment of a restoration of the 
 
THE NEW JERUSALEM. 
 
 179 
 
 natural world, is to pass it backward and forward, 
 from earth to heaven, and from heaven to earth, 
 keeping it continually on the dance : in one sen- 
 tence it is here, and in another sentence it is 
 there. When they meet with things in the new 
 Jerusalem too perfect for this world, such as the 
 tree of life, which must exclude from it all want, 
 sorrow, tears, pain, and death, it is only to carry 
 it to heaven, and all is consistent. Again, when 
 they meet with the nations walking in its light, 
 and healed with the leaves of its tree of life, and 
 with the kings of the earth bringing their glory 
 and honor into it, they have only to bring it back 
 into the earth again, and all is natural enough; 
 but when they behold the tabernacle of God, yea, 
 God himself there, and the Lord God Almighty 
 and the Lamb are the temple of it ; and there is 
 no night there, but one eternal day ; and it has 
 no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine 
 in it, for the glory of God lightens it, and the 
 Lamb is the light thereof; then it must be carried 
 back to heaven again : and when they find it com- 
 passed about by Gog and Magog, it must be 
 brought back again to the earth, and all things 
 are as they fancy they should be. 
 
 All this we view as play, and still look for a 
 city which hath foundations, too solid to be thus 
 moved and tossed.^ 
 
 But, it is said, there is a necessity for under- 
 standing the new Jerusalem sometimes of the 
 
 * " The new heavens and new earth is that heavenly 
 country which the patriarchs looked for. When the great 
 God promised them that he would be their God and bless 
 them, they understood it of his bringing them into this 
 deathless and sinless world." DR. COTTON MATHER. 
 
180 THE NEW JERUSALEM. 
 
 church on earth, and sometimes of the church in 
 heaven, or to mean the church in different 
 states ; but this necessity arises from misconcep- 
 tions of the Scriptures and of the millennial state. 
 " They who expect the rest promised for the 
 church of God upon earth to be found anywhere 
 but in the new earth, and they who expect any 
 happy times for the church in a world that hath 
 death and sin in it, these do err, not knowing the 
 Scriptures nor the kingdom of GOD."^ With 
 these gross ideas, they stumble at the millenarian 
 doctrine of the new Jerusalem, and start difficul- 
 ties to their advancing consistently in our path, 
 as insuperable as the Sadducees did to their 
 getting along with their matrimonial connections 
 in the resurrection. 
 
 They, however, who attend to the Scriptures 
 as revealing new heavens and a new earth the 
 world to come, the world of the power and glory 
 of Jesus Christ can easily believe their united 
 testimony, that in the new Jerusalem there shall 
 be no want, no weakness, no error, no sin; but the 
 fulness of joy and blessedness heaven upon earth 
 yea, in many respects, heaven improved by 
 coming upon earth into a redeemed natural world 
 as well as by the accession to it of thousands of 
 glorious resurrection bodies, and of all the saints, 
 changed into the same glory, that are alive and 
 remain at that day upon the earth. 
 
 Millenarians believe that the seat of the new 
 Jerusalem will be in the earth the new earth to 
 come and that it will be a perfect state. 
 
 For these sentiments we offer the following 
 
 * Mather. 
 
THE NEW JERUSALEM. 181 
 
 reasons ; observing, at the same time, that our 
 whole system is so connected, that whatever ar- 
 gument supports any part, supports the whole. 
 The arguments which support the doctrine of the 
 restitution of all things, and the arguments which 
 support the first resurrection, or the coming of 
 Christ at the recalling of the Jews, and the de- 
 struction of Antichrist at the sound of the sev- 
 enth trumpet ; the arguments that the kingdom 
 of Christ will be perfect in the earth as in hea- 
 ven, and that the new Jerusalem will be there in 
 all its glory ; these all support each other, and 
 add strength to the whole : for these doctrines 
 are evidently so connected, that if any one be 
 proved, the system is proved ; and the proof that 
 may be wanting to any one separately, may be 
 found in them collectively. 
 
 The new Jerusalem will be in the earth. 
 
 St. John, describing the new Jerusalem, con- 
 stantly refers to passages of the prophets, which 
 all agree are prophecies of the millennium ; which 
 proves that they are one and the same thing, or 
 at least are contemporary. 
 
 It comes down from God out of heaven ; and 
 therefore is not heaven above, but heaven upon 
 earth. 
 
 What is said of the presence of God in the 
 new Jerusalem, is in the style of Emmanuel, 
 God with us : Behold, the tabernacle of God is 
 with men, and he will dwell with them, and they 
 shall be his people, and God himself shall be with 
 them, and be their God. This style in the Scrip- 
 tures uniformly denotes the presence of God with 
 his people in the earth. In heaven above, he is 
 not said to be with us with men ; but there we 
 16 
 
182 TI^E NEW JERUSALEM. 
 
 are ever said to be with him with Christ. The 
 propriety of this style may be discovered in the 
 115th Psalm, 16th verse : The heaven, even the 
 heavens, are the Lord 's ; but the earth hath he 
 given to the children of men. When we go to 
 another's habitation, we are with him ; but when 
 he comes to ours, he is with us. When we go 
 into the heavens, we are with Christ ; but when 
 he comes down to dwell on earth, he is Emman- 
 uel. Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men. 
 
 Again : The nations will walk in the light 
 of this holy and beloved city ; and the kings 
 of the earth will bring their glory and honor in- 
 to it. These passages, especially when compared 
 with those in the Old Testament whence they 
 are taken, (not to mention its being surrounded 
 by the Gog and Magog army,) do strongly con- 
 clude for its being seated in the earth. 
 
 But we should not enlarge here, as it is gene- 
 rally agreed by millenaries, ancient and modern, 
 that the new Jerusalem is the millennial church, 
 therefore seated in the earth. 
 
 The new Jerusalem will be a perfect state. 
 
 The representation of the marriage of the new 
 Jerusalem signifies, in the strongest language, 
 that it is a perfect state the church's perfection 
 and consummation. 
 
 It is a sinless state ; for there shall in no wise 
 enter into it anything that defileth, neither what- 
 soever worketh abomination or maketh a lie. 
 
 The prophet Hosea expressly confirms these 
 truths, that the new Jerusalem shall be in the 
 earth, and shall be a perfect state. Undoubtedly 
 his great day of Jezreel, (i. e. of the seed of God,) 
 is the millennium ; for in that day, saith the 
 
THE NEW JERUSALEM. 183 
 
 Lord, I will make a covenant for them with the 
 beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, 
 and with the creeping things of the ground ; and 
 I will break the bow and the sword, and the bat- 
 tle out of the earth, and ivill make them to lie 
 down safely. And this Jezreel is the new Jeru- 
 salem, which appears by the marriage : And I 
 will betroth thee unto me forever ; yea, I will be- 
 troth thee unto me in righteousness, and in 
 judgment, and in loving kindness, and in mer- 
 cies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faith- 
 fulness ; and thou shalt know the LORD. This 
 remarkable passage of Hosea is evidently referred 
 to and confirmed by Christ, when speaking of 
 the marriage at his second coming; and by John 
 also, when speaking of the marriage at the com- 
 ing of the new Jerusalem. 
 
 And this holy, espoused city by the prophet 
 is seated in the earth : in the earth the blessed 
 Jezreel shall flourish. / will sow her unto me 
 i?i the earth. " And it shall come to pass in that 
 day, I will hear, saith the LORD; I will hear the 
 heavens, and they shall hear the earth ; and the 
 earth shall hear the corn, and the wine and the 
 oil ; and they shall hear Jezreel.'' 
 
 And that Jezreel will be perfect, appears not 
 only from her marriage, but also from her pure 
 language. Her language will be pure shibbo- 
 leth thou shalt call me Ishi and no Baali sib- 
 boleth shall be lisped. Ishi and Baali both ex- 
 press the marriage relation ; but Ishi is the word 
 that expresses the most perfect love the sweetest 
 and the most perfect union of that relation. And 
 it is thought that John refers to the pure lan- 
 guage of Jezreel, when he says, there shall in no 
 
184 THE NEW JERUSALEM. 
 
 wise enter into the new Jerusalem whatsoever 
 maketh a lie. Thus both Testaments agree that 
 the holy city, which is the name of the new Jeru- 
 salem, is perfectly holy. 
 
 It will be an immortal state. God shall wipe 
 away all tears from their eyes ; and there shall 
 be no more death, neither sorroiv, nor crying, 
 neither shall there be any more pain : for the for- 
 mer things are passed away. The immortality 
 of the new Jerusalem and its holy inhabitants 
 is most emphatically expressed by the tree of 
 life being there, yielding her fruit, and their 
 having right to it. 
 
 The perfection of the new Jerusalem appears 
 from its being the promised reward of the saints 
 the faithful. Upon him that overcometh I will 
 write the name of my God, and the name of the 
 city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which 
 cometh down out of heaven from my God : and I 
 will write upon him my new name. And under 
 the head of the new Jerusalem, in the 21st chap- 
 ter of Revelation, the same promise is repeated : 
 He that overcometh shall inherit all things, and 1 
 will be his God. Again, it is said, " Blessed are 
 they that do his commandments, that they rnay 
 have right to the tree of life, and may enter in 
 through the gates into the city." 
 
 The new Jerusalem being the promised re- 
 ward of the faithful, it can be no other than the 
 city Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob looked for, which 
 Jiad foundations, whose builder and maker is God 
 the city prepared for them wherefore God 
 is not ashamed to be called their God. 
 
 In the same manner, the future kingdom of 
 Christ on earth the millennium is spoken oi 
 
THE NEW JERUSALEM. 185 
 
 in the Scriptures as reward, which awaits the 
 Lord's people the prophets and the saints, and 
 all them that fear his name. " The seventh 
 angel sounded, and there were great voices in 
 heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are 
 become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his 
 Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. And 
 
 the elders worshipped God, saying, We give 
 
 thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, because 
 
 thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast 
 reigned. 
 
 " And the nations were angry, and thy wrath 
 is come, and the time of the dead that they 
 should be judged ; and that thou shouldest give 
 reivard unto thy servants the prophets, and to the 
 saints, and them that fear thy name, small and 
 great." 
 
 The kingdom of Christ to come, and the new 
 Jerusalem, being both spoken of as the reward 
 of the saints, shows their kindred that they are 
 really the same thing under different names : in 
 the expectation of which, we have an easy and 
 literal sense for the promise, often repeated, that 
 the righteous the meek the blessed of the Lord 
 shall inherit the earth. When he laid the 
 foundation of the world, he prepared for them a 
 kingdom ; and he then rejoiced in the habitable 
 part of his earth, because the righteous should 
 inhabit it, and dwell therein forever. 
 
 We shall here attend to an objection often 
 made to the sentiment that the righteous shall 
 inherit the earth in this literal sense, which is, 
 that it is undesirable it can be no exaltation, 
 but must be great degradation, for the dead in 
 "- 
 
186 THE NEW JERUSALEM. 
 
 Christ, whose spirits are gone into heaven, to 
 return, and again live on the earth.* 
 
 This objection is founded in ignorance of the 
 Scriptures, and of the power of God, respecting 
 the new heavens and the new earth, and the 
 new Jerusalem, or millennial church state. For 
 it is certain that nothing can be said more of 
 heaven than is said of the millennium ; nothing 
 is said, or can be said, in the language of mortals 
 more sublime of heaven above, than that it is full 
 of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover 
 the sea, and nothing is there to hurt or destroy. 
 But this is said of that holy mountain, the mil- 
 lennial church. Yea, is it not plainly intimated, 
 that the earth will then outshine the upper 
 worlds? that those upper worlds of light will 
 then be confounded by the light and glory of the 
 earth ? For the moon shall be confounded, and 
 the sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall 
 reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and 
 before, his ancients, gloriously. 
 
 The sun and moon are the brightest emblems 
 of the still higher worlds, and are used in the 
 Scriptures for language to express the highest 
 ideas of heavenly glory. The evangelist could 
 say no more of the glory of Christ in the mount 
 of transfiguration, than that his face did shine as 
 the sun. And to say that the sun will be over- 
 powered ashamed by the glory of the millen- 
 nial world, is saying all that can be said of the 
 third heaven; and, to me, strongly implies that 
 the redeemed new earth will be the brightest of 
 all worlds. 
 
 * This is the objection stated page 67, in the note. 
 
THE NEW JERUSALEM. 187 
 
 * 
 
 The Lord made the earth for the children of 
 men ; and, as he knew what kind of habitation 
 would be most convenient and pleasant for them, 
 why may we not conclude, that, when it is 
 redeemed and restored, it will be the happiest 
 seat for the saints in the universe ? 
 
 As Christ was ascending up to Jerusalem, and 
 his disciples were expecting that the kingdom of 
 God should immediately appear, they began to 
 rejoice, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David 
 peace in heaven, and glory in the highest. 
 This highest sentiment of heavenly glory the 
 angels respond on earth peace ; expressing their 
 good will to the earth wishing it the enjoyment 
 of glory in the highest. 
 
 And the redeemed in heaven sing, We shall 
 reign on the earth; expressing also their good will 
 to, and desire for, a kingdom of glory on the earth. 
 
 And we on earth also pray that heaven should 
 come on earth : thy kingdom come, thy will be 
 done in earth as it is in heaven. 
 
 The millennial kingdom is the Son of David's 
 highest hosanna : and though a sense of unwor- 
 thiness may check the thought, it must be desi- 
 rable to his people to reign with him, and there 
 to see, and sing the hosanna glory in the 
 highest. 
 
 Having attempted to answer the objection, as 
 it is made to us, we shall offer the same against 
 the modern millennium, that it is undesirable to 
 the people of God. 
 
 The modern millennium, on the one hand, is 
 represented too imperfect for a state of liberation. 
 The people of God, in the exercise of faith, do 
 not wish to rest till they enter into God's rest ; 
 
188 THE NEW JERUSALEM. 
 
 on the contrary, in their right exercise, they 
 would first accomplish as a hireling their days, 
 and then enter into his rest, and cease from their 
 own labors or works, as God did from his. And 
 on the other hand, it is described too indulgent 
 for a state of discipline far more fit for the 
 nurture of bastards than of sons. While I am 
 occupying for my Lord, on probation, let me 
 agonize and wrestle hard, says the Christian 
 soldier ; and when my sabbath comes, let me 
 have an unclouded sky, and let my sun no more 
 go down. The friends of Christ choose to be in 
 th' world as he was, and desire to tread after him 
 and his people the thorny path to glory. 
 
 But, it is said, good people must be pleased 
 with this millennium, because it is expected that 
 millions of souls will then be converted; and, to 
 them, this must be desirable. 
 
 That such vast multitudes are yet to be con- 
 verted to Christ as some have calculated and 
 numbered, is what I have not been able to dis- 
 cover in the Scriptures.* For ought I know 
 
 * The argument, that the church of Christ, for his 
 honor, and for the illustration of divine benevolence, 
 must yet be increased by the amazing population of a 
 millennium, until it outnumbers among the human race 
 them that perish, has also been advanced for universal 
 salvation, and we see not but with as much propriety ; 
 for if the advantage of Christ over Satan his enemy, and 
 the exercise of divine benevolence in him, depend on 
 numbers, to make the glory of his victory complete, and 
 ihe exercise of benevolence perfect, we must conclude all 
 will be saved. But this is not the ground of arguing the 
 honor of Christ, nor the divine benevolence : the argu- 
 ment, therefore, is nothing to the purpose, either of the 
 modern millenists or the Universalists, 
 
THE NEW JERUSALEM. 189 
 
 (though to me it appears very improbable) these 
 calculations may be accurate, and the uncalled 
 elect may be so many millions. Still, we do not 
 see that this proves their scheme ; for we know 
 not why God may not call in all his elect, be 
 they more or less, whilst the world continues in 
 its present state, without introducing for them a 
 state so indulgent and improper for a life of 
 faith a state so unlike the glorious warfare in 
 which the worthies, through grace, have won 
 their immortal honors and unfading crowns. 
 
 Affliction worketh for us a far more exceeding 
 and eternal weight of glory. This weight of 
 glory they must lose without our affliction, and 
 with it their millennium is imaginary. 
 
 Tribulation worketh patience, and patience 
 experience. But what experience can these mil- 
 lennial converts attain, without our tribulation ? 
 Can they know Christ in the fellowship of 
 his sufferings? Can they be made, conformable 
 unto his death ? Can they glory in his cross ? 
 Can they rejoice that they are counted worthy to 
 suffer shame for his name ? Or, wherein can 
 their lives be brought into a conformity with the 
 lives of his people that have followed him in his 
 temptations ; which conformity will open in their 
 hearts such sources of sweet fellowship to all 
 eternity ? 
 
 The seed of Jacob in all ages of the world have 
 been wrestlers ; but these millennial converts at 
 best can be but fondlings. They are represented 
 as a sort of Christians that I never admired : 
 they are born without travail; their baptism is 
 not the baptism of Christ, for it is without fire ; 
 they have not the refinement of the furnace, nor 
 
190 THE NEW JERUSALEM. 
 
 the purification of the fuller's soap ; they have 
 not the spots of God's Israel the scars of the 
 fight of faith ; and should it be asked, Whence 
 came they ? it could not be answered, These are 
 they which came out of great tribulation. There- 
 fore, they must stand without a palm or a wreath, 
 for, no fight, no victory no cross, no crown. 
 
 I have often heard worldlings express earnest 
 desires to share a portion of the glory of this 
 millennium ; and have often heard saints say 
 they did not desire it, either for themselves, or 
 for their seed after them. I am persuaded, the 
 people that have given the most evidence of being 
 born from above, have had a spirit, that, were 
 they cast into such a state, they would regret it, 
 and say, 
 
 Should we be carried to the skies 
 
 On flowery beds of ease, 
 When others fought to win the prize, 
 
 And swam through bloody seas ? 
 
 But there is no danger ; for all that in vision 
 stood before the throne, clothed with white robes, 
 
 and palms in their hands came out of great 
 
 tribulation.* 
 
 The modern millennium, therefore, appears 
 undesirable, as being fit neither for the one thing 
 nor for the other ; neither for labor, nor for rest ; 
 neither for trial, nor for triumph. 
 
 * "The bush burned. What is that for? It showed 
 that Christ's church, while in this world, will be a bush 
 burning with fiery trials and afflictions." "The burn- 
 ing bush is typical of the church of God in all ages." 
 
 WHITEFIELD. 
 
THE NEW JERUSALEM. 191 
 
 It has been a frequent error to look for rest 
 short of God's rest. Good Zacharias and his 
 brethren fondly looked for a rest in this life ; 
 that, being delivered out of the hands of their 
 enemies, they might serve God without fear, in 
 holiness and righteousness, all the days of their 
 life. This appears to have been an error among 
 the tribes that entered into Canaan, which Joshua 
 endeavored to remove, by speaking of another 
 day that is, the rest of God, which is rest in- 
 deed ; all short of which is labor and war. 
 
 People, therefore, in the present expectation of 
 a millennium, are looking for either too much, 
 or not enough. To be consistent, they must give 
 up the idea either of its being a sabbath a rest, 
 or of its being probation time ; for these ideas 
 will never harmonize. There remaineth a rest 
 to the people of God ; but he that enters into it 
 ceases from his labors. 
 
 I know such arguments as these will be little 
 felt by them that are at ease in Zion, whose con- 
 dition I pray I may never envy ; but they that 
 endure hardness as good soldiers will think more 
 of them. 
 
 The doctrine of the millennium is truth ; and 
 the prevailing expectation, that it is fast approach- 
 ing, and is now very near, is doubtless rational. 
 And is the millennial state of the church the 
 new Jerusalem the blessed and holy Jezreel? 
 Is it a dowry for the faithful, of such richness a 
 promised reward for the prophets and saints, 
 small and great, so truly estimable wherefore 
 God is not ashamed to be called their God ? Is 
 the millennium the day of marriage the day of 
 the consummation of redeeming love ? Is it the 
 
192 THE NEW JERUSALEM. 
 
 day of the joy of the Lord the day of the glad- 
 ness of his heart? Is it the day when his espoused, 
 blessed of the Father, shall enter into his joy, and 
 when the righteous shall shine forth as the sun in 
 the kingdom of their Father ? Ye that love the 
 appearing" of Christ, lift up your heads, and 
 rejoice; your redemption draweth nigh. Comfort 
 one another with these words. Antichrist, that 
 is now pining away with the spirit of his mouth, 
 shall soon be destroyed with the brightness of his 
 coming. And when ye shall see this, though 
 now ye are so dispirited, ye shall rise and shout ; 
 your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall 
 flourish. These heavens and this earth must 
 away. Nevertheless, we, according to his 
 promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, 
 wherein dwelleth righteousness. He that sat 
 upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things 
 new behold, I create new heavens and a new 
 earth : and the former shall not be remembered, 
 nor come into mind. But be you glad and rejoice 
 forever 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 no more be heard 
 in her, nor the voice of crying. Therefore, 
 rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, 
 all ye that love her ; rejoice for joy with her, all 
 ye that mourn for her ; for ye shall be satisfied 
 with the breasts of her consolations, and shall be 
 delighted with the abundance of her glory. 
 
 ^Lo, what a glorious si^ht appears 
 
 To our believing eyes ! 
 The earth and seas are passed away, 
 And the old rolling skies. 
 
THE NEW JERUSALEM. 193 
 
 From the third heaven, where God resides, 
 
 That holy, happy place, 
 The new Jerusalem comes down, 
 
 Adorned with shining grace. 
 
 Attending angels shout for joy, 
 
 And the bright armies sing, 
 Mortals, bthold the sacred seat 
 
 Of your descending King. 
 
 The God of glory down to men 
 
 Removes his blessed abode ; 
 Men, the dear objects of his grace. 
 
 And he the loving God. 
 
 His own soft hand shall wipe the tears 
 
 From every weeping eye ; 
 And pains, and groans, and griefs, and fears, 
 
 And death itself, shall die. 
 
 How long, dear Savior, how long, 
 
 Shall this bright hour delay ? 
 Fly swifter round, ye wheels of time, 
 And bring the welcome day." 
 
 WATTS. 
 17 
 

 LECTURE IX. 
 
 GOG AND MAGOG 
 
 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. REVELA- 
 TION xx. 7, 8. 
 
 THE objections against what has been advanc- 
 ed in these Lectures have chiefly been brought 
 into view as we have proceeded; but there re- 
 mains one, and the principal one, yet to be con- 
 sidered. 
 
 The Gog and Magog army is thought to be 
 formidable to our doctrine of the millennium, 
 and is often set in battle array against our belov- 
 ed city. And although for its defence we mar- 
 shal host on host, under the banners of the proph- 
 ets and apostles, yet at the very mention of Gog 
 and Magog our opponents shout for victory, like 
 the Philistines at the appearance of the giant of 
 Gath. 
 
 The objection is this : If the judgment of the 
 great day to come before the millennium shall burn 
 
GOG AND MAGOG. 195 
 
 as an oven, and the proud, yea, and all that do 
 wickedly, shall be stubble, and that day shall 
 burn them up, and leave them neither root nor 
 branch ; and if the kingdom of God shall then 
 come on earth, in which the church of Christ 
 shall shine forth in all the perfection and glory 
 foretold of the new Jerusalem ; whence comes 
 Gog and Magog ? 
 
 As Gog appears to be the champion of the 
 modern millenists, I have let him stand by for a 
 single combat ; which will be our principal task 
 in this lecture. And as it will become a strip- 
 ling like me to encounter this old warrior with 
 great caution, and guard my first approaches, 
 you will give me time to fortify my posts, and 
 cover as I advance. 
 
 Our surest knowledge of the Scriptures is 
 obtained by comparing spiritual things with 
 spiritual. The Scriptures themselves afford the 
 best interpretations of the Scriptures. The Gog 
 and Magog of the Revelation is, perhaps, almost 
 the only passage of Scripture that stands singly 
 and alone, and that has no spiritual things to 
 compare with ; therefore we cannot be so sure 
 that we understand it as we may be of other 
 parts of Scripture, of which the sense is cleared 
 by being expressed in different connections and 
 words. 
 
 Some, indeed, have supposed that the Gog and 
 Magog of the New Testament must be the same 
 as the Gog and Magog of the Old ; but upon this 
 supposition it is not at all in the way of our 
 millennium, for the Gog and Magog of Ezekiel 
 are to be dead and buried, every bone of them, 
 before the millennium. The last work done 
 
196 GOG AND MAGOG. 
 
 before the millennium there, is to bury Gog. 
 See Ezekiel, 39th chapter. But when we care- 
 fully attend to Ezekiel, it appears that this Gog 
 is the antichristian apostasy; whilst the Gog of 
 the Revelation appears to be an attack made by 
 the devil upon the millennial church the holy 
 city, new Jerusalem of which this is the only 
 prophetic record. 
 
 Now, let them be asked who make so much 
 of this objection, whether a passage upon which 
 they themselves confess they can find neither 
 root nor limb, ought so boldly to be opposed to 
 other passages, the sense of which is cleared and 
 supported by their concordance ? 
 
 This consideration has availed with many, 
 though they could not set their face against Gog 
 to hold fast, notwithstanding the faith for which 
 we contend. For, though one cannot conquer, 
 he may keep the field ; and though none of us 
 should be able to give an account of Gog, that 
 surely ought not to be thought the destruction of 
 our cause. 
 
 Sad indeed would be our situation, might we 
 not believe any part of the Scriptures until we 
 understood the whole, or until we were able to 
 answer every objection that might be made to it. 
 
 Dr. Burnet confessed that Gog and Magog was 
 a difficulty. He called it a strange doctrine, an 
 army of giants ; but observed, at the same time, 
 that it was a common difficulty to all equally 
 great to the modern millenists as to him : and, 
 further, he observed, " that it is no more than 
 what is found in all other matters remote from 
 our knowledge. Who can answer all the que- 
 ries that may be made concerning heaven, or hell. 
 
GOG AND MAGOG. 197 
 
 or paradise ? When we know a thing as to the 
 substance, we are not to let go our hold, though 
 there remain some difficulties unresolved ; other- 
 wise we should be eternally sceptical in most 
 matters of knowledge. Therefore, though we 
 cannot give a full account" of the future world,^ 
 of some particulars of the new earth, the first 
 resurrection, &c., " we ought not to deny or 
 doubt whether there will be a new earth or a first 
 resurrection ; for the revelation goes clearly so 
 far, and the obscurity is only in the consequences 
 and dependencies of it; which Providence 
 thought fit, without further light, to leave to our 
 search and disquisition." 
 
 Having thus fortified our citadel and secured 
 ourselves a retreat, should we not be able to 
 vanquish our enemy and drive him from the 
 field, we advance to reconnoitre and survey the 
 ground of contest. Here we observe, that the 
 whole field for which we need contend lies with- 
 in the walls of the holy city, the new Jerusalem. 
 
 It is the millennial church, the city of God, 
 that all the glorious things are spoken of in the 
 millennium. It is this city, and this only, of 
 which we wish to say that there shall be no sor- 
 row, crying, pain, nor death ; and into which 
 there shall in no wise enter anything that defil- 
 eth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination or 
 maketh a lie : but they which are written in the 
 Lamb's book of life. This great city, the holy 
 
 * How many questions might have been asked Noah 
 concerning the world promised to him after the flood of 
 waters, which, after a hundred and twenty years' study, 
 he could have answered. And yet he believed the 
 promise. 
 
 17* 
 
198 GOG AND MAGOG. 
 
 Jerusalem, is what we wish and believe to see 
 one day on the earth, in the presence of the 
 Father and of the holy angels, married to the 
 Lamb by the bands of eternal glory. 
 
 To the walls and gates of this city, therefore, 
 we fly for our defence, and think we may safely 
 trust to them our cause, for they are " great and 
 high." 
 
 The modern millenists, regardless of the diffi- 
 culties and dangers of forcing jasper walls, that 
 have twelve foundations, and at least are three, 
 some say tivelve thousand furlongs high ; and 
 gates of pearl, strengthened by angelic guards ; 
 have attempted to bring Gog and Magog into the 
 midst of the city yea, they would hatch this 
 dire insurrection out of the bowels of those saints, 
 and make even the monster, Gog himself, the 
 child of the millennial church ! 
 
 Of all the conjectures respecting Gog, which 
 are almost without number, this, perhaps, is the 
 most extravagant. I could even adopt ihe fanci- 
 ful hypothesis of his being hatched out of the 
 mould, mud and slime of the millennial world, as 
 the heathen fabled of the old giants, in prefer- 
 ence to this. 
 
 But whatever there be dark respecting the 
 question, Whence comes Gog ? we are happy to 
 say, so much at least is cleared by the Scriptures, 
 that he comes not from the millennial church, 
 that holy city his genealogy, or generation, 
 cannot be traced there ; but to other far distant 
 dwellings. 
 
 This is the clearest thing respecting Gog and 
 Magog, and almost the only thing in the proph- 
 ecy that is cleared, as should seem, beyond all 
 
GOG AND MAGOG. ! 
 
 doubt. They are a people, as represented by the 
 prophet, " distinct and separate from the saints, 
 not in their manners only, but also in their seats 
 and habitations ; for they are said to come up 
 from the four corners of the earth upon the 
 breadth of the earth, and there to besiege the 
 camp of the saints and the beloved city." 
 
 The papal Antichrist is an apostate from the 
 church of God ; and as such he is clearly and 
 particularly described in the prophecy, by his 
 falling away. How art thou fallen from heaven, 
 O Lucifer, son of the morning ! by being with- 
 in, even within the holy temple ; and by planting 
 the tabernacles of his palace in the glorious holy 
 mountain.* No circumstance respecting this 
 enemy of Christ is more insisted upon in the 
 prophecy than that of apostacy from the church. 
 We shall quote one passage only, 2 Thess. ii. 3, 4. 
 " Lei no man deceive you by any means ; for 
 that day shall not come [the day of the coming 
 
 * It has been the expectation of some, that the Chris- 
 tian apostates, the Papists, &c., will in the end throw off 
 the mask, and join boldly with the open and avowed An- 
 tichrists, the Pagans, Mahomedans, Unitarians and De- 
 ists ; who all together, with dreadful wrath, will attack the 
 witnesses those who hold the truth (the Jews, perhaps, 
 with the Gentile believers, being now united) and bring 
 upon the church that severe conflict, and deadly treading 
 down in the courts and streets, so often mentioned of the 
 time of trouble a little before the coming of Christ even 
 the time of Jacob's trouble. It has also been thought, that 
 this combination against the church, or the head of it, is 
 most emphatically called the Antichrist ; whose triumph, 
 however, will be short, not exceeding three years and a 
 half; and that to this, particularly, these words of Daniel 
 refer " He shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and 
 utterly to make away many. And he shall plant the tab- 
 ernacles of his palace/' &c. 
 
200 GOG AND MAGOG. 
 
 of Christ see 1st chap., 7, 8, 9, 10] except there 
 come a falling away first, and that man of sin be 
 revealed, the son of perdition, who sittetk in 
 the temple of God." But how very different is 
 the prophecy concerning Gog ! Not a word there 
 of & falling away in the church of a going out 
 from us of his planting the tabernacles of his 
 palace in the glorious holy mountain of his 
 sitting in the temple of God, or of his showing 
 himself there : on the contrary, an account of an 
 invasion by a foreign force, raised as should seem 
 afar oh 1 ', very far from her gates of Satan, at the 
 close of the millennium, being loosed from prison, 
 rallying his legions, deceiving them with new, 
 vain hopes, that by a united exertion they might 
 give themselves some relief, or at least might 
 give Christ and his blessed saints some disturb- 
 ance ; and of their marching to war with the 
 beloved city the kings and priests of God. 
 
 Whilst in one of these cases there is the most 
 clear and particular account of the enemy's rising 
 up from within, in the other there is the most 
 clear and particular account of the enemy's rising 
 up from without. We ask, therefore, if Gog and 
 Magog be also an apostasy from the church, why 
 does the Holy Ghost so clearly and particularly 
 represent Antichrist as an apostasy within ; but 
 this as an attack from without? 
 
 Some late writers represent the saints of thai 
 beloved city put in great fear by the Gog and 
 Magog army so terror-struck as to forget not 
 only the invincible strength of their fortress, but 
 also the sure promise of the fire of heaven : they 
 represent them apparently in as bad plight as 
 were the inhabitants of Jericho, with their walla 
 laid flat with the ground diminished and reduced 
 
GOG AND MAGOG. 
 
 to a handful -on the brink of ruin ready to 
 sink to be swallowed up and totally destroyed. 
 But where is any such thing in the Bible ? Old 
 Babylon broke down the walls of Jerusalem 
 broke up the city, and burnt her holy and beau- 
 tiful temple with fire ; new Babylon also has 
 made wide breaches in the walls of Zion fearful 
 wastes in her streets, and has trodden down her 
 sanctuary ; but search the Scriptures, and see if 
 any such feats be done by Gog and Magog if 
 any such loss be sustained by the new Jerusalem : 
 walk about this new Zion, and go round about 
 her ; examine well her gates, consider her towers, 
 mark ye her bulwarks, that ye may tell if one 
 bar of her gates be broken if one breach be made 
 in her bulwarks if one stone be jostled from her 
 walls. 
 
 It does not appear from the Scriptures that the 
 inhabitants of the beloved city will suffer any 
 more alarm or distress from the wrath and de- 
 sign of Gog and Magog, than the inhabitants of 
 heaven now do from the rage and vain imagina- 
 tions of wicked men and devils : no, the new 
 Jerusalem still shines undiminished in all its 
 immortal strength and splendor. 
 
 And not content with this, they represent the 
 saints of the new Jerusalem, at this time, doubly 
 exposed exposed, apparently, on either side ; 
 both by the fire of the enemy, and by the fire 
 upon him But all this is fancy ; from the Scrip- 
 ture account, nothing appears of their being thus 
 exposed, either to the one or to the other. 
 
 We have but a small geography of the world 
 to come ; but what we have furnishes us clearly 
 with one distinction of places, which is sufficient 
 
202 GOG AND MAGOG. 
 
 for our purpose, viz., within and without. " And 
 there shall in no wisfe enter into it anything that 
 defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomina- 
 tion or maketh a lie ; but they that are written 
 in the Lamb's book of life." " Blessed are they 
 that do his commandments, that they may have 
 right to the tree of life, and may enter in through 
 the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and 
 sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, 
 and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh 
 a lie." 
 
 It is not, surely, incumbent on us to show that 
 there will not be wicked ones existing somewhere 
 in the millennial age ; but that they will not ex- 
 ist in the millennial church, nor rise up as an 
 apostasy out of it ; which we think not a hard 
 task. Such, no doubt, there will be in the mil- 
 lennial world, as represented by John, who shall 
 have no rest day nor night, but shall be torment- 
 ed with fire and brimstone, in the presence of the 
 holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb. 
 Agreeably to this, Isaiah says that the millennial 
 church, the seed, or saints of the new Jerusalem, 
 shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses of the 
 men that have transgressed against me : for their 
 worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be 
 quenched, and they shall be an abhorring unto 
 all flesh. Malachi says the wicked shall be 
 ashes under the soles of the saints' feet in the mil- 
 lennial day. 
 
 The people called by Isaiah carcasses, and by 
 Malachi ashes, are the very people called by John 
 dogs, sorcerers, &c. And these vile carcasses, 
 ashes, dogs, and sorcerers, who through the mil- 
 lennium are tormented in the presence of the holy 
 
 
GOG AND MAGOG. 
 
 angels and of the Lamb, and are an abhorring 
 unto all the saints, are, we doubt not, the Gog 
 and Magog army; which, about the close of the 
 millennium, the triumphant kingdom of Jesus, 
 shall be mustered by his old enemy the devil ; and 
 which, with all the rage and fury inspired by a. 
 gnawing worm and a quenchless flame, shall 
 surround the camp of the saints and the beloved 
 city ; but shall be able to do no more than breathe 
 out their curses against it and its King, and 
 show their weakness, wickedness, and folly. 
 
 It is related of Dr. Cotton Mather, that he 
 was " much displeased with those who, propos- 
 ing rather to carp than to search, think they have 
 at once routed all hopes to understand the Scrip- 
 tures, and secured an unintelligible obscurity and 
 ambiguity to the divine Oracles, only by demand- 
 ing, with an air of contempt, Where will you find 
 Gog and Magog ? They are not ordinarily 
 capable of receiving a rational answer, till they 
 have more seriously thought on what is to arrive 
 a thousand years before the rising of Gog and 
 Magog. Suppose (what indeed the Doctor would 
 not allow) the question to be unanswerable : he 
 would then ask, Is there no question concerning 
 the raised bodies of the faithful which these people 
 confess cannot yet be answered ? And yet, con- 
 tinued he, they will.not renounce the faith of the 
 resurrection. 
 
 " The Doctor used to say, I will also ask you 
 one thing, which if you can tell me, I will in 
 like wise tell you : The bodies of the raised, shall 
 they be furnished with teeth, or no ? Or I will 
 only ask, Where will you find the nations over 
 which the raised saints (or the overcomers) are 
 
204 GOG AND MAGOG. 
 
 to have power? Tell me that, and I will tell 
 you where to find Gog and Magog."* 
 
 It is easy asking questions. 1 have often been 
 asked questions about Gog and Magog, and now 
 in my turn will ask one : Where is that place 
 called (Rev. 22d chapter) without ; and who are 
 the vile carcasses of Isaiah, and the dogs of John, 
 that inhabit it? Whoever will answer me this, 
 to him will I stand engaged to answer expressly 
 the question, Whence, and who, are Gog and 
 Magog ? 
 
 But you will say, perhaps, the part we have 
 taken requires us to answer, rather than ques- 
 tion ; and this we are free to do, whenever an 
 answer is seriously and candidly asked. Gog 
 and Magog come from their own place the 
 place of graves. " I will give unto Gog a place 
 there of graves in Israel," Ezek. xxxix. 11, and the 
 place there of graves is tophet ; and " tophet is 
 ordained of old : yea, for the king it is prepared, 
 he hath made it deep and large. The pile thereof 
 is fire and much wood ; the breath of the Lord, 
 like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it." And 
 this place, called by the Hebrews the place of 
 graves, or hades, we call hell. Our answer to 
 
 * Though the modern doctrine of the millennium had 
 become very popular before Dr. Mather's death, yet he 
 saw cause to renounce it. A little before his death, he 
 wrote his sentiments upon this subject, in a book entitled 
 Triparadisus j which was sent to London to be published, 
 and was unfortunately lost. I can easily conjecture, from 
 some strange reports that have circulated concerning my 
 own sentiments upon this subject, that, if the Doctor's 
 Triparadisus had been published to the world, we should 
 have had, in some respects, a different report of his sen- 
 timents upon the subject. 
 
GOG AND MAGOC. 
 
 the question, Whence comes Gog after the mil- 
 lennium ? is, He comes from the place given to him 
 before the millennium, tophet, the place of graves. 
 And as tophet was within sight of old Jerusalem, 
 so likewise it will be within sight of the new 
 Jerusalem. " They shall go forth and look upon 
 the carcasses of the men that have transgressed 
 against me : for their worm shall not die, neither 
 shall their fire be quenched, and they shall be 
 an abhorring unto all flesh." u The same shall 
 be tormented with fire and brimstone, in the 
 presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of 
 the Lamb." This is the Scripture account of the 
 place of Gog ; and though a veil and shadow of 
 darkness overspread the place of graves the 
 valley and region of death, we are satisfied with 
 the account ; for wiser concerning a future state 
 than what is written we wish not to be, till we 
 reach the other world. ^ 
 
 From a view of these things, you will judge 
 if Dr. Burnet's observation be not just, that the 
 Scripture doctrine of Gog and Magog does as 
 much embarrass the modern plan of the millen- 
 nium as it does ours. But there are many 
 other difficulties in the way of the modern plan 
 
 * The valley of the giants (a part of which, the part 
 contiguous to Jerusalem, was called tophet, or the valley 
 of the son of Hinnom) extended far and wide, beyond 
 the borders of Judea and shores of the Dead sea. Here, 
 (according to the epitaph in Ezek. 39th chap.) in this vast 
 burying-ground and region of death, before the millen- 
 nium, will be laid the carcasses of Hamon-Gog. And it 
 is not, perhaps, mere conjecture, that Gog was the proper 
 name of the son of Hinnom, whose place was tophet : 
 but, whose son soever he be, we are sure he is not of the 
 natural seed of Israel. 
 
 18 
 
206 GOG AND MAGOG. 
 
 in this very place, and peculiar to it ; one or two 
 of which we will mention. 
 
 According to the modern doctrine of the mil- 
 lennium, the coming of Christ will be at the time 
 of the destruction of the Gog and Magog army ; 
 but the circumstances of things, both within and 
 without, at that time, compare not with the 
 prophecies of his coming. At the coming of 
 Christ, according to the prophecies, the people of 
 God will be found dispersed abroad, and scattered 
 over the earth, as they are now ; and they are 
 then to be gathered together. " And he shall send 
 his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and 
 they shall gather together his elect from the four 
 winds, from one end of heaven to the other :" but, 
 at the date of Gog and Magog, they appear 
 already gathered together compact as a camp or 
 city. 
 
 Also, the prophecies represent that at the 
 coming of Christ the wise and foolish the saints 
 and sinners will, as now, be intermixed, and all 
 slumbering and sleeping together : but, at the 
 time of Gog and Magog, there is a very different 
 representation ; they will then be separate 
 encamped on different ground, and so far from 
 all slumbering and sleeping, that they will be all 
 up in arms, host against host. 
 
 Again. The prophecies represent the coming 
 of Christ to be at a time of great tranquillity and 
 worldly rest all slumbered and slept. " As in 
 
 the days that were before the flood, they were 
 
 i i i j 
 
 eating and drinking, marrying and giving in mar- 
 riage;" and "as it was in the days of Lot, they 
 did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they 
 planted, they builded ;" even thus shall it be in the 
 day when the Son of Man is revealed. All shall 
 
GOG AND MAGOG. 207 
 
 be quiet and still, like the unwatched house at the 
 hour the thief cometh ; even the servant the 
 ruler over Christ's household at so tranquil a 
 moment may begin to say, My Lord delayeth his 
 coming, and to eat and drink with the drunken. 
 But is it at such a time that the judgment will 
 commence upon Gog and Magog ? The holy city, 
 new Jerusalem, we doubt not, will then be peace- 
 ful and tranquil enough ; but its peace and tran- 
 quillity will not be such as is described in the 
 church at the coming of Christ : and as for the 
 surrounding army, it will be all in motion upon 
 the breadth of the earth. 
 
 Perhaps, to search the Bible through, two 
 periods could not be found more unlike, than that 
 when Christ will come, and that when the fire of 
 heaven will fall upon Gog and Magog. 
 
 We shall now leave this objection of Gog and 
 Magog for your consideration ; who will judge if 
 we have not removed it from us, as far at least as 
 those who oppose it to us can do from themselves ; 
 and proceed to make some general observations 
 upon the great and interesting subject of these 
 Lectures. 
 
 Our blessed Lord spake of it as a great calamity 
 a thing much to be dreaded indeed not to 
 know the signs of the last times, and so not to be 
 apprized of his coming. Luke xxi. 34 : " And take 
 heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts 
 be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, 
 and cares of this life, and so that day come upon 
 you unawares." " And as he sat upon the 
 mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him 
 privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things 
 be ? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, 
 and of the end of the world ? And Jesus an- 
 
2UO GOG AND MAGOG. 
 
 swered and said unto them, Take heed that no 
 man deceive you" Matt. xxiv. 3, 4. And tlm 
 solemn discourse concerning- his coming 1 he con 
 eluded, as in Mark, chap, xiii.: " Take ye heed 
 watch and pray ; for ye know not when the time 
 is. For the Son of Man is as a man taking a far 
 journey, who left his house, and gave authority 
 to his servants, and to every man his work, and 
 commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye. 
 therefore, lest, coming suddenly, he find you 
 sleeping. And what I say unto you, I say unto 
 all, watch." 
 
 How affecting was the circumstance respecting 
 the old world and Sodom, that they were unap- 
 prized they knew not until the storm came, and 
 took them all away: we feel at the recollection 
 of this. And that mankind will generally be 
 deceived as to the great event of the coming of 
 Christ, is often told us in the Scriptures : we are 
 plainly told that, " as in the days that were before 
 the flood, they knew not until the flood came and 
 took them all away ; so shall also the coming of 
 the Son of Man be." Strange ! that it should be 
 said of them destroyed by the flood, they knew 
 not they were ignorant of the matter when 
 they had been plainly told of it so often ; and no 
 less strange that this should be exactly the case 
 at the coming of the Son of God, when the ap- 
 proaching event shall be made certain, and plainly 
 marked out, by infallible signs in the earth, 
 and by wonders in the heavens ! But such is the 
 blindness, unbelief, and stupidity of man ! Faith 
 will then be most rare ; scarce one Noah pre- 
 paring for it will then be found on the earth ; of 
 the few wise the few people of God many will 
 
GOG AND MAGOG. 209 
 
 be off their watch, slumbering with the foolish 
 and ungodly. 
 
 The Lord is coming, according to his word, in 
 a day men are not aware of at an unlooked-for 
 hour : their hearts will be overcharged with the 
 cares of this life, and that day will come upon 
 them unawares. " For as a snare shall it come 
 on all them that dwell on the face of the whole 
 earth." And especially the wicked will be as 
 the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the 
 birds that are caught in the snare that falleth 
 suddenly upon them. 
 
 Some reasons of the blindness and strange 
 infatuation of the world at this time are men- 
 tioned in the Scriptures : one of the chief is, that 
 the sentiment with great assurance should be 
 propagated, and should very generally prevail, 
 that the Lord delay eth his coming : This event 
 is a great way off. Sudden destruction will come 
 upon them when crying peace and safety. 1 
 Thess. v. 3. 
 
 Another sentiment greatly conducive to the 
 general delusion of men respecting this event is, 
 that prophecy cannot be understood. It is so 
 dark and mysterious that nobody can know any- 
 thing certain about it. To us it is all sealed up, 
 and is no more a revelation than if it were not 
 written. Only the weak and ignorant will pay 
 attention to prophecies ; and therefore, since the 
 superstitious, whimsical fathers fell asleep, these 
 subjects are laid aside, and all things continue as 
 they were. But, in opposition to all this, John, 
 in the introduction of his prophecy, writes, " Bles- 
 sed is he that readeth, and they that hear the 
 words of this prophecy, and keep those things 
 18* 
 
210 GOG AND MAGOG. 
 
 which are written therein : for the time is a f 
 hand." 
 
 But though the world in this situation will 
 hear but little of their danger, their sleep will be 
 so sound, and the warning voice so drowned by 
 the cries of peace and safety ; yet God's elect will 
 hear the voice of Christ, though it be a still small 
 voice, and will be deaf to the loud cries of peace 
 and safety, and to the scoffs of the world : they 
 will learn the parable of the fig-tree, and will see 
 it putting forth they will hear the voice an- 
 nouncing the Lord's coming, in season to prepare 
 to flee to the mountains, and to save every man 
 his soul. 
 
 We have not pretended to fix directly the time 
 of the coming of Christ, for, though this has often 
 been done, it has been done without any warrant; 
 but, according to the Scriptures, we fix the 
 time by events and signs. We do not say, look 
 for the coming of Christ at such a day such a 
 year such a century, or at such a millenary ; but 
 when you look for Antichrist to be destroyed 
 for the Jews to be converted for the battle of 
 that great day of God Almighty, the Armaged- 
 don battle, and for such and such signs and 
 wonders, then look for the appearing of the Son 
 of God : for within a very short time from these 
 things beginning to come to pass, all will be 
 accomplished.* 
 
 * It is observed, that the angel answering Daniel, chap 
 xii., concerning the fulfilment of his blessed hope, men 
 tioned two numbers of prophetic days, which are years, 
 namely, 1290 and 1335, the last of which is forty-five 
 most ; from which some have inferred, that, from these 
 signs beginning to appear, or from the recalling of the 
 
GOS AND MAGOG. 211 
 
 We expect oppositign, but know of but one way 
 of successfully opposing our doctrine of the mil- 
 lennium, that is, the way of troping and allego- 
 rizing the Scriptures ; by which, for a long time, 
 too successful an opposition has been made, not 
 only to this, but to almost every doctrine of divine 
 revelation. By such means chiefly Universalism 
 has been introduced, and old arianism has been 
 revived: as, that eternity does not mean eternity, 
 nor everlasting everlasting the mighty God does 
 not mean the mighty God, nor the everlasting 
 Father the everlasting Father; and them that were 
 beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word 
 of God, lived and reigned with Christ a thousand 
 years, does not mean that those that were be- 
 headed for the witness of Jesus, and for the word 
 of God, lived and reigned with Christ a thousand 
 years. 
 
 Jews, which appears to be the glorious event of this era 
 1290, there would be so many years to the most glorious 
 event of 1335, which is the first resurrection and comple- 
 tion of the new Jerusalem. And it is thought by some 
 that Christ intimated that about so much time should 
 elapse from the beginning to the end of these things, in 
 his observation, This generation shall not pass away till 
 all be fulfilled. Caleb ~and Joshua, who saw the begin- 
 ning of the work of redemption from Egypt, saw it per- 
 fected in the settlement of the tribes in Canaan, which 
 was about forty-five years ; and they who heard the gos- 
 pel of the kingdom first preached, saw this dispensation, 
 in the militant church state, perfected by the descent of 
 the Holy Ghost at Pentecost and by the settlement of the 
 gospel among the Gentiles ; which settlement of the gospel 
 in the organization of the Gentile churches, from the 
 preaching of John, was about the same length of time, 
 forty-five years. 
 
 Doctor Goodwin understood these two periods set as 
 two posts) the one at the beginning, and the other at the 
 
212 GOG AND MAGOG. 
 
 This way of turning the Scriptures into tropes 
 and figures is called explaining them ; hut it 
 ought rather to be called a way of contradicting 
 the Scriptures. They will tell you, however, for 
 their justification, that Christ spake parables; 
 that some things the apostle Paul mentioned he 
 called an allegory ; and that John in the Revela- 
 tion often introduced, as it were, similitudes. 
 But does this warrant them to make any part of 
 Scripture a parable, or allegory, at discretion, 
 and to insert their own as it were at pleasure ? 
 We have a more sure word of prophecy, where- 
 unto ye will do well to take heed, and never leave 
 the literal se?t.se, when the subject-matter will bear 
 it without absurdity or incongruity. 
 
 ending of that whole stage of time, which is allotted for 
 the despatch of these great things prophesied of, to fall 
 out afore the kingdom of Christ. The first, twelve hun- 
 dred and ninety years, shows when the first turning of 
 the course of things for the accomplishment of all should 
 begin. The other, thirteen hundred and thirty-five years, 
 shows the time of the full and final end, and complete 
 accomplishment of all that the angel had foretold :" which 
 end, said he, " shall be the great resurrection, and the thou- 
 sand years of Christ's kingdom. So that this interim of 
 forty-five years is a time which begins with a resurrec- 
 tion," [the resurrection of the witnesses, in which glorious 
 grace he expected both Jews and Gentiles would share,] 
 "and also ends with a resurrection, and that an infi 
 nitely more glorious one ; and in the middle course of 
 which time the greatest things are accomplished' that 
 ever were done upon the earth, even the ruin both of the 
 Turk and the pope, the enemies of both, [Jew and Gentile,] 
 which is to be completed by the new Jerusalem, as the 
 accomplishment of all." 
 
 And Doctor Mather had the same thought, and expected. 
 the time of the end, when Daniel and every other good man 
 is to rise and stand up in his lot, within one century from 
 the fall of the papal empire. 
 
GOG AND MAGOG. 213 
 
 1 have written these things with great trem 
 blin^ ; not so much because I know they must be 
 unpopular, and must be considered by this earthly- 
 minded generation as the height of fanaticism 
 and the most consummate folly ; and that to all 
 careless, unbelieving, busy worldlings I must 
 seem like Lot to his sons-in-law, as one that 
 mocketh ; but fearing most of all lest I should 
 add unto or take from the word of prophecy. Yet 
 I dared not be silent, and see the world slumber- 
 ing until the day of God break. 
 
 I have also experienced great discouragement 
 in thinking to attempt something of this kind, 
 from the consideration that if I am right I shall 
 not be believed ; on the contrary, the songs of 
 peace peace happy times yet in this world 
 will still prevail, and prevail until the end. 
 Deceived the world must be, for the Scriptures 
 must be fulfilled. But the further considerations 
 have engaged me to proceed, that possibly some 
 few may be benefitted, and also what I owed 
 myself to some attempts of this kind by others, 
 which were the means of opening my eyes, that 
 had been held in errors, as I now think them, for 
 a number of years of adult age. 
 
 Committing therefore all to the Lord, I shall 
 only add my Amen. So come, Lord Jesus. 
 
 

APPENDIX. 
 
 No. I. 
 
 MANY people have a veneration for antiquity, 
 and have strong prejudices against doctrines 
 which are new, which should seem favorable to 
 truth ; for perhaps it is not without reason that, 
 next to the inspired writers, the sense and testi- 
 mony of the primitive fathers have been accounted 
 of good authority. But, unfortunately, it has 
 often happened, that an old, venerable doctrine, 
 having for a while been rejected, has to encounter 
 all the same prejudices as if it were really new. 
 It may therefore be proper, and a satisfaction to 
 some, to show briefly the sense and testimony 
 of the primitive Christian church concerning the 
 millennium, or future kingdom of Christ. 
 
 Papias, bishop of Hierapolis, and martyr, 
 taught the doctrine of the millennium, and " that 
 Jesus Christ was to appear on earth, and there 
 to reign with his saints in great glory, for the 
 space of a thousand years." # 
 
 * Nisbet's Church History, page 46. 
 
216 APPENDIX. 
 
 Papias was " one of St. John's auditors, as 
 Ireneus testifies, Iren. lib. 5. c. 33. And he was 
 the familiar friend of Polycarp, another of St. 
 John's disciples; and either from him, or imme- 
 diately from St. John's mouth, he might receive 
 this doctrine. That he taught it in the church, 
 is agreed on by all hands." 
 
 Papias says of himself, in his book called The 
 Explanation of the Words of the Lord, as St. 
 Jerome gives us an account of it, (De Script. 
 Eccles.) that " he did not follow various opinions, 
 but had the apostles for his authors ; and that he 
 considered what Andrew, what Peter said, ivhat 
 Philip, what Thomas, and other disciples of the 
 Lord ; as aho what Aristion, and John the senior, 
 disciples of the "Lord, what they spoke : and that 
 he did not profit so much by reading books as by 
 the living voice of these persons ." 
 
 Ireneus, bishop of Lyons, and martyr, was by 
 birth a Greek, and had the happiness to be from 
 his infancy a disciple of St. Polycarp, bishop of 
 Smyrna ; and by him, also, this doctrine is tradi- 
 tionally derived from St. John. " For, arguing 
 the point, in the chapter quoted above, he shows 
 that the blessing promised to Jacob from his 
 father Isaac was not made good to him in this 
 life, and therefore he says," " Without doubt, 
 those words had a farther aim and prospect upon 
 the times of the kingdom ; (so they used to call 
 the millennial state;) when the just, rising from 
 the dead, shall reign ; and when nature, renewed 
 and set at liberty, shall yield plenty and abundance 
 of all things, being blessed with the dew of hea- 
 ven and a great fertility of the earth, according 
 as has been related by those ecclesiastics or clergy 
 
APPENDIX. 217 
 
 who saw St. John, the disciple of Christ, and 
 heard of him WHAT OUR LORD TAUGHT 
 CONCERNING THOSE TIMES." "This, 
 you see, goes to the fountain-head." Ireneus 
 received it from the elders of the churches in 
 Asia, who received it from the mouth of St. 
 John, and St. John related it from the mouth of 
 our Savior. 
 
 Justin Martyr, cotemporary with Ireneus, and 
 his senior, witnesses himself to this doctrine, and 
 also that it was the catholic doctrine in the pri- 
 mitive church. ** He says, that himself, and all 
 the orthodox Christians of his time, did acknow- 
 ledge the resurrection of the flesh, (suppose the 
 first resurrection,) and a thousand years 1 reign in 
 Jerusalem restored, or in the new Jerusalem 
 Dial, with Tryphon the Jew according as the 
 prophets Ezekiel and Isaiah, and others, attest 
 with common consent ; as St. Peter had said 
 before, Acts iii. 21, that all the prophets had 
 spoken of it. Then he quotes the 65th chapter 
 of Isaiah, which is a bulwark for this doctrine 
 that can never be broken. And to show the Jew, 
 with whom he had this discourse, that it was the 
 sense of our prophets, as well as of theirs, he tells 
 him that a certain man amongst us Christians, 
 by name John, one of the apostles of Christ, in a 
 revelation made to him, did prophesy that the 
 faithful believers in Christ should live a thou- 
 sand years in the new Jerusalem, and after that 
 should be the general resurrection and judgment. 
 Thus you have the thoughts and sentiments of 
 Justin Martyr, as to himself, as to all the re- 
 puted orthodox of his time, as to the sense of the 
 prophets in the Old Testament, and as to the 
 19 
 
218 APPENDIX. 
 
 sense of St. John in the Revelation ; all conspir- 
 ing in confirmation of the millenarian doctrine." 
 
 Some would have Papias to be the inventor 
 of this doctrine ; but if Ireneus and Justin Martyr 
 may be credited, it was received from St. John, 
 and by him from the mouth of our Savior, and 
 was the orthodox sentiment in the age immedi- 
 ately following the apostles. Ireneus, the youngest 
 of these three witnesses, was acquainted with the 
 age immediately succeeding the apostles ; John 
 is thought to have lived till the beginning of the 
 second century ; Polycarp, his disciple, lived till 
 the middle of the second century, and died a 
 martyr; and Ireneus, who was the disciple of 
 Polycarp, suffered martyrdom about the year of 
 Christ 203. 
 
 We might add more authority from this age 
 of the church ; but perhaps it will be sufficient to 
 say, that there is not extant, either the writing, 
 name or memory of any person in the first or 
 second century, that called in question the mil- 
 lenary doctrine, or that held to it in a sense 
 different from those we have quoted ; unless 
 such as denied the resurrection wholly, or the 
 divine authority of the Revelation. 
 
 In the third century, there is a cloud of wit- 
 nesses to this doctrine, several of whom, as 
 Tertullian and Lactantius, are particular in speak- 
 ing of the millennium as being after the renova- 
 tion of the world. And though we find some 
 who did not hold to any millennium, yet, among 
 the millenaries, (who were by far the most numer- 
 ous, and in other respects most orthodox,) we do 
 not find any that materially differed from Papias, 
 Ireneus, and Justin Martyr. 
 
APPENDIX. 219 
 
 The fourth century began with the fathers of 
 the Nicene council, which sat at Nice, in Bythinia, 
 A. D. 325, and consisted of three hundred and 
 eighteen bishops, who assembled together with 
 great solemnity, and gave in a noble testimony 
 to the faith which was once delivered unto the 
 saints. " In their ecclesiastical forms, or constitu- 
 tions, in the chapter about the providence of God, 
 and about the world, they speak thus : The world 
 was made meaner, or less perfect, providentially ; 
 for God foresaiu that man would sin : wherefore 
 we expect new heavens and a new earth, according 
 to the holy Scriptures, at the appearance and 
 kingdom of the great God, and our Savior Jesus 
 Christ. And then, as Daniel says, (chap. vii. 18,) 
 the saints of the Most High shall take the king- 
 dom, and the earth shall be pure, holy, the land 
 of the living, not of the dead. Which David fore- 
 seeing by the eye of faith, cries out, (Ps. xxvii. 
 13,) I believe to see the good things of the Lord 
 in the land of the living. Our Savior says, 
 Happy are the meek, for they shall inherit the 
 earth, (Matt. v. 5.) And the prophet Isaiah says, 
 (chap. xxvi. 6,) The feet of the meek and lowly 
 shall tread upon it. So you see, according to 
 the judgment of these fathers, there will be a 
 kingdom of Christ upon earth ; and, moreover, 
 that it will be in the new heavens and the new 
 earth, and, in both these points, they cite the 
 prophets and our Savior in confirmation of 
 them." 
 
 After this age, much opposition was made to 
 the doctrine ; it maintained, however, for a long 
 time, good credit. St. Jerome, its greatest adver- 
 sary, who wrote towards the close of the fourth 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 century, confessed, though he did not follow, yet 
 he could not condemn it, because a great multi- 
 tude of Christians, and many of their clergy and 
 martyrs, held this doctrine; and he said that he 
 foresaw how many would be of ended with him t 
 for what he had spoken against it. 
 
 Here we would insert a remark of Dr. Burnet, 
 who, after taking a view of the opposition made 
 to the millenary doctrine, the latter part of the 
 third and in the fourth century, observed, "As 
 we have reason to blame the partiality of those 
 that opposed this doctrine, so, on the other hand, 
 we cannot excuse the patrons of it from all indis- 
 cretion. I believe they might partly themselves 
 make it obnoxious, by mixing some things with 
 it from pretended traditions, or the books of the 
 sibyls, or other private authorities, that had no 
 sufficient warrant from Scripture, and things, 
 sometimes, that nature would not easily bear. 
 Besides, in later ages, they seem to have dropped 
 one half of the doctrine, namely, the renovation 
 of nature, which Ireneus, Justin Martyr, and 
 the ancients, join inseparably with the millen- 
 nium; and, by this omission, the doctrine hath 
 been made less intelligible, and one part of it 
 inconsistent with another." 
 
 As popery rose up, this doctrine grew into dis- 
 credit. It never pleased the church of Rome, for 
 they suppose Christ reigns on earth now, by his 
 vicar, the pope, and quote the promises of his 
 future kingdom and power in the world to sup- 
 port the authority of the pope. But were the 
 tradition of those ages in our favor, it would add 
 little ; we shall therefore pass over them. 
 
 At the Reformation, this doctrine was revived 
 
APPENDIX. 221 
 
 and we may judge, from the unreserved manner 
 in which the millenarian sentiments are expres- 
 sed by many protestant writers, that they were 
 not thought new or doubtful. I do not recol- 
 lect that Dr. Goodwin, in all that he wrote upon 
 this subject, ever once suggested that it was in 
 dispute. 
 
 It doesjiot appear that what we call modern 
 millenism gained much ground till after the mid- 
 dle of the last century. Since that time, it has 
 found many advocates. Among its supporters, Dr. 
 Whitby and Mr. Lowman are distinguished ; of 
 whom, though we greatly respect their learning 
 and ingenuity, we are constrained to say, that the 
 former, in handling many doctrines besides this, 
 has been greatly faulted for unwarrantably 
 departing from the literal sense of Scripture ; and 
 perhaps no divine more deserved to be censured 
 for this fault than the latter. But the sentiment 
 we oppose did not generally prevail, especially 
 among the common people, till the present cen- 
 tury. Even as late as the great earthquake in 
 New England, many Christians were looking, not 
 for the modern millennium, but for the second 
 coming of Christ ; and with this expectation they 
 arose and trimmed their lamps. Many Christians 
 were then in an exercise of faith like that related 
 of the reverend and godly Mr. P , who, awak- 
 ing from sleep, said to his consort, My dear, 
 the Lord is come ; let us arise and go forth to 
 meet him. I have had the testimony of elderly 
 Christian people, in several parts of New England, 
 that within their remembrance this doctrine was 
 first advanced in the places where they lived, 
 and have heard them name the ministers who 
 19* 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 first preached it in their churches. No doctrines 
 can be more indisputably proved to have been the 
 doctrines of the primitive church, than those we 
 call millenarian ; and, beyond all dispute, the 
 same were favorite doctrines with the fathers of 
 New England ; with the words of one of whom, 
 writing upon this subject, we shall conclude our 
 observations upon their antiquity: "They are not 
 new, but old ; they may be new to some men, but 
 I cannot say it is their honor." 
 
 It is well known that the learned Mr. Mede 
 believed and defended the millenarian doctrines ; 
 particularly, <k that the seventh trumpet, with the 
 whole space of the thousand years, and other 
 prophecies thereto appertaining, do signify that 
 great day of judgment, much spoken of by the 
 ancient church of the Jews, and by Christ and 
 his apostles : a day to begin at the particular, 
 and as it were morning judgment of Antichrist, 
 and the rest of the living enemies of the church, 
 by the glorious appearing of our Lord in flaming 
 fire ; and then at length to determine, after the 
 thousand years, and after the utter destruction 
 of the new enemies yet to arise, (the great day 
 waxing toward evening, and Satan being again 
 loosed,) at the universal resurrection and judg- 
 ment of all the dead." 
 
 This sentiment he confirmed by the opinion 
 of the Christians of the next age after the apos- 
 tles, concerning the resurrection of the body, and 
 the thousand years' reign in the new Jerusalem, 
 and by the opinion of the learned Hebrews con- 
 cerning the day of judgment ; and then said> 
 
APPENDIX. 223 
 
 " Who, hearing the opinion of the ancient Jews 
 touching the thousand years of the day of judg- 
 ment, cannot but think with himself that he is 
 moved to believe it, as the apostle Peter with them, 
 (for both his epistles are directed to the Jews,) 
 speaking of the day of judgment, and presently 
 after the mentioning thereof adding, you are not 
 ignorant that one day with the Lord is a thousand 
 years, would confirm the tradition of the Rabbins 
 touching that matter ? yea, he will further think, 
 unless Christ the Lord and his apostles had used 
 the name of the day of judgment, being derived 
 from the Rabbins, in the same sense with them, 
 why have they not somewhere declared it ? Is 
 it not a dangerous matter, yea, the highway to 
 deceive men, to use in doctrine the words and 
 phrases of such as are erroneous without all cau- 
 tion and note of dissent?" 
 
 He observed also, " This indeed is that time of 
 the wrath of God .upon the Gentiles, and of judg- 
 ing the cause of them that died for Christ, for 
 which the triumphing elders give thanks at the 
 sound of the seventh trumpet, chap. xi. 18 : For 
 that then God would give reward to his servants 
 the prophets and saints, and them that fear his 
 name, small and great, and ivould destroy them 
 which destroy the earth. This is that day of 
 judgment and perdition of wicked ones, of which 
 Peter speaking,^ presently addeth,t but be not 
 ignorant of this one thing, beloved, that one day 
 (to wit, the day which I even now spake of) is 
 with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand 
 years as one day. In which same day, indeed, 
 
 * 2 Epist. chap iii. ver. 7. f Ver. 8. 
 
224 APPENDIX. 
 
 the apostle, with his brethren the Jews to whom 
 he writeth, expecteth that new form of things to 
 come, of which by and by he saith,^ But we look 
 for new heavens and a new earth, according to 
 his promise, wherein dwelleth righteousness. 
 Observe, according to his promise. But where 
 was this promise of new heavens and a new earth 
 extant, (when John had not yet seen the revela- 
 tion,) except that of Isaiah Ixv. 17 and Ixvi. 22 ? 
 Which promise surely whosoever shall read, I 
 should marvel if he should judge that it shall be 
 fulfilled elsewhere than on earth. This also is 
 that kingdom joined with the appearance of 
 Christ ready to judge the world, of which Paul 
 to Timothy, 2 Epist. iv. 1: I charge thee before 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, ivho shall judge the quick 
 and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom. 
 For after the last and universal resurrection, 
 according to the same apostle, 1 Cor. xv, Christ 
 (the last enemy being destroyed, that is, death) 
 shall deliver up the kingdom to his Father, that he 
 may be subject to him, who subdued all things to 
 himself. So far is he from being said then to enter 
 upon any new kingdom. That kingdom, there- 
 fore, which neither shall be before the appearance 
 of our Lord, nor after the last resurrection, is 
 necessarily to be included between them. 
 
 " This is that kingdom of the So?i of Man 
 which Daniel saw, who, when the times of the 
 horn of Antichrist were fulfilled, or the times of 
 the Gentiles come to an end, (Luke xxi. 24,) shall 
 appear in the clouds of heaven, when there shall be 
 given him power, glory, and a kingdom, that all 
 
 * Ver. 13. 
 
 
APPENDIX. 225 
 
 people, nations, and languages should serve him ; 
 or when, as the angel expoundeth it, a kingdom, 
 power, and greatness of kingdoms under the whole 
 heo.ven shall be given to the people of the saints of 
 the Most High. Dan. vii. Neither yet (as I said) 
 shall this kingdom be after the last resurrection ; 
 since the Son of Man is not to enter upon a king- 
 dom then, but, as Paul witnesseth, to lay it down 
 and deliver it to his Father. Now that the same 
 kingdom is handled in both places, as well by 
 John as Daniel, may be proved by these two 
 arguments. First, that both begin at the same 
 term, to wit, the overthrow of the fourth or Ro- 
 man beast ; that of Daniel when the beast, gov- 
 erning under that last regiment of the horn with 
 eyes, was slain, and his body given unto the burn- 
 ing flame ; that of the Revelation, when the 
 beast and false prophet (that wicked horn in 
 Daniel, having mouth and eyes as a head) are 
 taken, and loth cast alive into a lake of fire burn- 
 ing with brimstone. Secondly, from the same 
 session of judgment premised to both. For it will 
 appear that the one is borrowed from the other, 
 and altogether tend to the same purpose, by com- 
 paring the words of the description of both. 
 
 DAN. chap. vii. 
 
 " I beheld till the 
 thrones were set. ^ For 
 so it is to be rendered. 
 
 " The judgment was 
 setA That is, the jud- 
 ges, as in the great san-\ 
 
 REV. xx. 4. 
 " And I saw thrones. 
 
 "And they sat upon 
 
 * Ver. 9. f Ver. 10. 
 
226 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 kedrim of the Jews, to 
 the rule whereof the 
 whole description is 
 framed. 
 
 "And judgment was 
 given to the saints on 
 high; * that is, power of 
 judging. Hence is that 
 of Paul, the saints shall 
 judge the world. 
 
 "And the saints ob- 
 tained the kingdom ; that 
 is to say, with the Son 
 of Man, who came in the 
 clouds of heaven. 
 
 "And judgment was 
 given unto them. 
 
 " And the saints lived 
 and reigned with Christ 
 a thousand years. 
 
 " Furthermore, I would have the reader under- 
 stand this : Whatsoever almost is found from 
 the Jews, whatsoever is delivered by the Lord in 
 his gospel, or anywhere in the New Testament 
 by the apostles, concerning the day of the great 
 judgment, that is taken out of this vision of 
 Daniel, to wit, that judgment to be accomplished 
 by fire, Christ to come in the clouds of heaven, 
 to come in the glory of his Father with multi- 
 tude of angels, the saints with him to judge the 
 earth, Antichrist to be abolished with the bright- 
 ness of his coming, &c. So that they go about 
 wholly to undermine the pillars of the evan- 
 gelical faith concerning the glorious coming of 
 Christ, who, neglecting the ancient tradition of 
 the church, endeavor to turn this prophecy to 
 another end. 
 
 * Verse 22. 
 
APPENDIX. 227 
 
 " Lastly, that I may conclude : this is that 
 most ample kingdom which, by Daniel's inter- 
 pretation, was foreshowed to Nebuchadnezzar in 
 that prophetical statue of the four kingdoms ; not 
 that of a stone cut out of a hill whilst yet the 
 series of monarchies remained, (for this is the pre- 
 sent state of the kingdom of Christ,) but of the 
 stone when they were utterly broken and defaced, 
 to become a mountain and to fill the whole 
 world." 
 
 The Rev. Thomas Prince, of Boston, made the 
 prophecies a favorite study through life, and was 
 far from adopting the modern plan of the millen- 
 nium. Concerning Gog and Magog, he made the 
 following observation : " For near forty years I 
 have beeji more and more inclined to think that 
 the Gog and Magog in Rev. xx. will be the 
 wicked raised at the end of the thousand years, 
 whose rancored and malicious spirits, with all the 
 devils then brought out of the dark abyss together, 
 possessing, infatuating and en/laming them, will 
 be permitted to rage against the saints for a very 
 little season, till the general judgment comes on 
 and quells them." This agrees with the lecture 
 upon that subject ; but as it is not one of the mil- 
 lenarian sentiments, and we attend to it only as 
 an objection to them ; though I have preferred 
 this answer, and am sure it is preferable to the 
 hypothesis of the modern millenists; yet I am 
 not very tenacious to it. Many of the millena- 
 rians have given a different one, and it is not un- 
 likely that the truth respecting Gog and Magog 
 as yet, in a great measure, is undiscovered by all. 
 
228 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 The modern millenists interpret the 21st and 
 beginning of the 22d chapters of Eevelation to 
 mean heaven above, bui the 60th and 65th 
 chapters of Isaiah, from which almost every 
 thought and a great part of the words of those 
 chapters are borrowed, they interpret to mean the 
 millennium on earth ! In the seventh lecture, 
 we compared several passages of Isa. Ixv. with 
 Rev. xxi. We will here compare some passages 
 of Isa. Ix. with the same. 
 
 ISAIAH Ix. 
 
 " Arise, shine, for thy 
 light is come, and the 
 glory of the Lord is risen 
 upon thee the Lord 
 shall arise upon thee, 
 and his glory shall be 
 seen upon thee." 
 
 " I will glorify the 
 house of my glory I 
 will make the place of 
 my feet glorious I will 
 make thee [Jerusalem] 
 an eternal excellence 
 for brass I will bring 
 gold," &c. " The glory 
 of Lebanon shall come 
 unto thee to beautify 
 the place of my sanc- 
 tuary," &c. 
 
 " The sun shall be no 
 more thy light by day, 
 neither for brightness 
 shall the moon give 
 light unto thee; but thej 
 
 REV. xxi. 
 
 " Having the glory of 
 God ; and her light was 
 like unto a stone most 
 precious, even like a 
 jasper stone, clear as 
 crystal." 
 
 Compare the whole 
 description of the new 
 Jerusalem, from ver. 11 
 to ver. 22. 
 
 " And the city had no 
 need of the sun, neither 
 of the moon, to shine in 
 it, for the glory of God 
 did lighten it, and the 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 229 
 
 Lord shall be unto thee 
 an everlasting light, and 
 thy God thy glory. Thy 
 sun shall no more go 
 down, neither shall thy 
 moon withdraw itself ; 
 for the Lord shall be 
 thine everlasting light, 
 and the days of thy 
 mourning shall be end- 
 ed." 
 
 " Thy gates shall be 
 open continually, they 
 shall not be shut day nor 
 night, that men may 
 bring unto thee the for- 
 ces of the Gentiles, and 
 that their kings may be 
 brought. Thou shah 
 also suck the milk of the 
 Gentiles, and shalt suck 
 the breast of kings." 
 
 " I will also make thy 
 officers peace, and thine 
 exactors righteousness. 
 Violence shall no more 
 be heard in thy land, 
 wasting nor destruction 
 within thy borders ; but 
 thou shalt call thy walls 
 salvation, and thy gates 
 praise. Thy people also 
 shall be all righteous." 
 20 
 
 Lamb is the light there- 
 of." 
 
 " And the gates of it 
 shall not be shut at all 
 by day, for there shall 
 be no night there ; and 
 the nations of them 
 which are saved shall 
 walk in the light of it ; 
 and the kings of the 
 earth do bring their 
 glory and honor into it 
 and they shall bring 
 the glory and honor of 
 the nations into it." 
 
 " And there shall in 
 no wise enter into it any- 
 thing that defileth, nei- 
 ther whatsoever worketh 
 abomination or maketh 
 a lie ; but they which 
 are written in the Lamb's 
 book of life." 
 
230 APPENDIX. 
 
 "They shall inherit 
 
 the land forever, the shall inherit all things, 
 
 branch of my planting, 
 the work of my hands, 
 
 ; He that overcometh 
 
 and I will be his God 
 and he shall be my son." 
 
 that I may be glorified." 
 
 Now, what is the difference between these 
 promises in Isaiah and in the Revelation, that 
 the former should be understood of things in the 
 earth, but the latter of things in heaven ? Can 
 the immortality and glory of the world to come, 
 and the best things to be expected in a world 
 that has sin and death in it, and is therefore 
 under the bondage of corruption, afford descrip- 
 tions so similar as these of Isaiah and of John ? 
 As to myself, I am unable to determine, in these 
 passages, which has given the highest descrip- 
 tion of heavenly glory, the prophet or the apos- 
 tle ; and whether they refer to things in heaven 
 or to things in earth, they most certainly refer to 
 the same things. 
 
 It may also be observed, that the modern mil- 
 lenists expect, after the millennium, a day of as 
 great trouble and distress to the church, if not 
 greater, than ever it before saw ; even that day 
 of thick darkness and great tribulation to precede 
 the second coming of Christ. Therefore, according 
 to this expectation, it cannot be said of the church 
 in the millennium, thy sun shall no more go down: 
 violence shall no more be heard in thy land, 'wast- 
 ing nor destruction within thy borders : and the. 
 days of thy mourning shall be ended. But these 
 things are said of the millennial church by the 
 prophets, and often repeated, without the least 
 reserve. Turn where you will, you will find the 
 difficulty equally great, to apply what the prophets 
 
APPENDIX. 231 
 
 have said of the millennium to the modern scheme, 
 as to apply it to the new Jerusalem of St. John : for 
 where do we find greater or more perfect things 
 promised the people of God in the Revelation, or 
 anywhere else, than are those in Isaiah's pro- 
 phecies of the millennium ? 
 
 The rnillenarians are agreed in their leading 
 sentiments of the millennium, that, before that 
 day, Christ will come in the clouds of heaven 
 the wicked will be destroyed the saints raised 
 the world burnt up ; and all things will be 
 made new, and restored to the people of God ; 
 that in the millennial church there will be no 
 sin, pain, sorrow, nor death ; they will all speak 
 one language, and all know the Lord, from the 
 least to the greatest. With respect to some of 
 the objections made to those sentiments, such as 
 Gog and Magog, &c., they have given different 
 answers : and this we observe is ofte.n the case 
 with respect to other doctrines of divine revela- 
 tion, of the truth of which we may be assured, 
 and see therein eye to eye ; whilst we remain in 
 the dark, and judge very differently, as to some 
 of their relations and dependencies. The great- 
 est appearance of difference among them respects 
 the day of judgment ; some have spoken of that 
 day as being before, others as being after the mil- 
 lennium : but, perhaps, this apparent difference 
 may be reconciled in the view which they have 
 more generally given of it, as a day consisting of 
 the whole term of the sounding of the seventh 
 trumpet a day including several scenes open- 
 ing with the battle of that great day of God 
 Almighty at the final destruction of Antichrist, 
 and the first resurrection; and, after the reign of 
 the saints with Christ a thousand years the 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 rising of Gog and Magog, &c. finally closing 
 with the sentence of Christ, passed upon the whole 
 universe assembled before him : and, that the 
 words so often used in the Scriptures, that day, 
 that great day, the day of the Lord, the day of 
 Christ, the day of judgment, &c., refer sometimes 
 to one of those scenes separately, and sometimes 
 to all taken together. When we say the millen- 
 arians are agreed, it may be necessary to note, 
 that we do not reckon among them Dr. Gill and 
 others, who have attempted to reconcile both 
 schemes ; which cannot be done ; for the millen- 
 nium doctrine new modelled (as Dr. Watson calls 
 it) retains nothing of the old model but the name. 
 
 But we have not found the modern millenists 
 so much agreed in their most leading sentiments 
 of the millennium. Whether the wicked will be 
 generally destroyed before the millennium, or 
 be converted; whether the natural world will 
 be regenerated, or remain the same as now; 
 whether the saints in the millennium will be 
 sinless, or will still have remaining corrupt 
 nature a body of death, and a spiritual warfare ; 
 whether they will be subject to disease and mor- 
 tality ; whether they will speak one language ; 
 and whether all the inhabitants of that glorious 
 mountain will be saints ; these are points not 
 so fully settled among themselves ; and I know 
 of but one point in which they have agreed, that 
 is, that the millennium will be before the second 
 coming of Christ. 
 
 This subject, we doubt not, is capable of a 
 much clearer illustration than is contained in 
 these Lectures; but, after all, the subject of a 
 future world cannot be fully understood by beings 
 
APPENDIX. 233 
 
 of our limited capacities till it comes. Before 
 the flood, many questions might have been asked 
 Noah concerning the world after the flood, which 
 he could not have answered ; yea, many things 
 concerning the world before the flood have been 
 matter of great dispute among people of the 
 greatest learning and knowledge. And if so, 
 surely it must not be expected that we solve to 
 the satisfaction of all every question concerning 
 a world beyond the conflagration a world that 
 eye hath not seen a world so different from this, 
 that, to use the emphatical words of the prophet, 
 this shall not be remembered nor come into mind.^ 
 But some will then ask, If those things in their 
 nature are so far removed from the present 
 scenes, and in some respects must remain to us 
 all matters of doubt and uncertainty, what shall 
 we be profited by attending to them ? To which 
 I answer, they are things given by inspiration of 
 God, and to attend rightly to all such things is 
 profitable. Something may be known of them 
 which will be of present and eternal advantage 
 to our souls ; for the Spirit saith expressly, Bles- 
 sed is he that readeth and they that hear the words 
 of this prophecy r , [the Revelation,] and keep those 
 things which are written therein : for the time is 
 at hand. Others will object to our calling their 
 attention to those things, as not being of the 
 highest importance. To such I say, though 
 some things may be of higher importance than 
 others, yet no part of truth but is of importance : 
 "And he respects not any part of truth as he ought, 
 that hath not respect to every part of it :" and he 
 
 * Isa, Ixv. 17. 
 20* 
 
234 APPENDIX. 
 
 that thinks those things of little importance, will 
 he found to he mistaken. 
 
 The disagreement of the modern millenists 
 has made it difficult to state the modern doctrine, 
 but I have studied to represent that which among 
 them is the most prevailing sentiment; and if I 
 have misrepresented anything, I shall be happy 
 to see and acknowledge my error. 
 
 In this work I have attempted to bring forward 
 the leading arguments in favor of the ancient 
 expectation of the coming and kingdom of Christ, 
 and to answer the most material objections which 
 I have met with against it ; and have also taken 
 notice of some objections against the modern 
 doctrine. And though conscious of the imper- 
 fection of the work, and also that it is opposed 
 to prevailing sentiments, as strongly riveted in 
 the human mind as, perhaps, sentiments can be, 
 it is published with very little anxiety how it 
 may be viewed, excepting what concerns the 
 glory of God and the eternal welfare of souls. 
 
 And as I preferred giving to the world these 
 sentiments concerning the coming and kingdom 
 of Christ as they here appear, rather than in the 
 form of a treatise, that I might more frequently 
 apply them, and call on all men, especially them 
 that look for redemption at the glorious appearing 
 of the Son of God from heaven, to be prepared 
 for that day, I shall even here repeat the exhor- 
 tation, "Take heed to yourselves, lest at any 
 time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, 
 and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so 
 that day come upon you unawares." I say unto 
 all, watch. " Behold, the Lord cometh with ten 
 thousands of his saints, to execute judgment 
 
APPENDIX. 235 
 
 upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly 
 among them of all their ungodly deeds which 
 they have ungodly committed, and of all their 
 hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spok- 
 en against him." 
 
 Then " shall the God of heaven set up a king- 
 dom, which shall never be destroyed, nor pass 
 over to another people, but shall stand forever, 
 and become a great mountain, and fill the whole 
 earth." Then Christ shall reign in righteous- 
 ness, and Jerusalem shall be the throne of the 
 Lord. Israel then shall dwell in safety alone in 
 their own land. The Lord will have mercy on 
 Jacob, and will again choose Israel ; and the 
 Gentile-elect shall be joined with them: and the 
 saints shall be raised, and live and reign with 
 Christ in his appointed kingdom a thousand 
 years. Their eyes shall see the King in his beau- 
 ty ; they shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, 
 and behold Jehovah, our Judge, our Lawgiver, 
 our King, and our Savior. Then the inhabitant 
 of Zion shall not say, I am sick ; the people that 
 dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity. 
 Then there shall be a way, the tvay of holiness ; 
 the unclean shall not pass over it ; but the re- 
 deemed shall walk there. "And the ransomed of 
 the Lord shall return and come to Zion with 
 songs, and everlasting joy upon their heads ; they 
 shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and 
 sighing shall flee away" Then God will create 
 new heavens and a new earth Jerusalem a re- 
 joicing, and her people a joy and his elect shall 
 inherit the earth, and enjoy the work of their 
 hands: all their labors shall be rewarded, and 
 their expectation shall not be cut off. Wait, there- 
 
236 APPENDIX. 
 
 fore, for the coming of the Bridegroom. The 
 time of the final destruction of Antichrist ap- 
 proaches, and therefore the time of the redemp- 
 tion of the purchased possessio?i draws nigh. Then 
 the kingdom shall be restored to Israel, the 
 dominion shall be given to the saints, and the 
 kingdom shall be the Lord's. 
 
 Wait, therefore, yea, watch, ye that love the 
 Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. At midnight 
 was the cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh 
 take ye heed, watch and pray. He that shall 
 come will come at the time appointed the time 
 of the final destruction of Antichrist and will 
 not tarry. " The evil servant did not say in his 
 heart that his Lord would never come, but he 
 thought (as many good servants now do) that it 
 would be a great while first not till the general 
 judgment, and then he knew he would come. 
 Oh, let none of Christ's good servants say as he 
 did, My Lord delays his coming." Whaljoy and 
 gladness will there be when we shall see him 
 face to face ! When he shall appear we shall be 
 like him, and see him as he is, in all his glorious 
 excellencies and perfections see him coming 
 the second time, without sin, in the clouds of 
 heaven, with power and great glory, to our sal- 
 vation see him that hath loved us and died for 
 us, and is now appearing as an advocate with 
 the Father for us ! Oh what a heart-ravishing 
 sight will this be to all his friends! Abraham 
 rejoiced to see his day ; by faith he saw it afar 
 off, and was glad. And how did Job comfort 
 himself in this, in the midst of all his misery, 
 that his Redeemer lived, and that he should stand 
 at the latter day upon the earth; and that in his 
 
APPENDIX. 237 
 
 flesh he should see God he should see him for 
 himself and his eyes should behold him, and not 
 another ! And how were the disciples ravished 
 with but a glimpse of his glory when they were 
 with him in the holy mount ! and again, when 
 they saw him ascend up on high and received 
 into heaven; toward which their gazing eyes 
 were so steadfastly fixed, that nothing but an 
 angel's voice could call them down to the earth ! 
 And it will be but a little while before he will 
 so come in like manner as they saw him go into 
 heaven. 
 
 Wherefore, O ye his saints, lift up your heads, 
 and comfort yourselves with these words. And let 
 us " pray with greatest instancy and importunity, 
 and that continually, for the accomplishment of 
 these things : pray that Christ's kingdom may 
 come and his will may be done in earth as it is in 
 heaven ; pray for the peace of Jerusalem ; keep 
 not silence day nor night, give the Lord no rest, 
 till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth ; 
 pray for the coming of the new Jerusalem down 
 from heaven; pray for the destruction of the 
 kingdom of darkness ; pray for the bringing in 
 both of Jews and Gentiles to the obedience of 
 the gospel ;" pray that the Holy Spirit may de- 
 scend from on high, that God himself may dwell 
 with men ; pray for the restitution of all things ; 
 pray that the times of refreshing may come from 
 the presence of the Lord, when he will send 
 Jesus ; pray for the accomplishment of all prom- 
 ises and prophecies : in one word, pray for the 
 coming and kingdom of Christ, in which all will 
 be fulfilled. Blessed is that servant whom his 
 Lord, when he comet h, shall find so doing. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 No. II. 
 
 In connection with the allusion of Mr. Spalding to the 
 conversion of the Jews at the sign of the coming of the 
 Son of Man, we wish to give the following articles 
 from a distinguished correspondent of the " Signs of the 
 Times." EDS. 
 
 [From the Signs of the Times.] 
 
 PLEROMA, OR FULNESS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 " Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, 
 and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles, 
 how much more their fulness ? Blindness in part has 
 happened unto Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be 
 come in." Romans xi. 12, 25. 
 
 IN a few words let us search, the meaning of 
 the above passage. That it is obscure, the diver- 
 sity of views respecting it is evidence. And the 
 obscurity seems to lie in the sense of that word, 
 pleroma, rendered " fulness" in the text. What 
 means the pleroma of the Jews, and the pleroma 
 of the Gentiles? 
 
 According to Greenfield's Greek Concordance, 
 the word pleroma occurs fourteen times in the 
 New Testament, in the following places : 
 
 In Matt. ix. 16, and in Mark ii. 21, in the para- 
 ble of the old garment tattered and patched with 
 new cloth, where pleroma implies the patch. 
 
 In Mark viii. 20, it expresses the fulness of 
 baskets of fragments. In the above instances 
 the sense of the word pleroma seems to be com- 
 pletion, complement, full quantity. 
 
 It next occurs in John i. 16 : " Of his pleroma, 
 or fulness, have we all received, and grace for 
 
APPENDIX. 239 
 
 grace." Hers it seems to mean full quality or 
 perfection, a*i attribute of God. 
 
 It next occurs in our text ; and again Rom. 
 xiii. 19, " love is the pleroma, or fulfilling of the 
 law." And in Rom. xv. 29, " I shall come in 
 the pleroma, or fulness, of the blessing of the 
 gospel of Christ." And in 1 Cor. x. 26, " For the 
 earth is the Lord's, and the pleroma, or fulness, 
 thereof." The sense in the above passages seems 
 to be completion, full measure. 
 
 Again, in Galatians iv. 4, " But when the ple- 
 roma, or fulness, of time was come, God sent forth 
 his Son." And Eph. i. 10, "That in the dis- 
 pensation of the pleroma, or fulness, of times, he 
 might gather together in one all things in Christ, 
 both which are in heaven and which are on the 
 earth, in him." In these two passages, pleroma 
 seems to mean fulness in the sense of end ; the 
 completion of any time being the end of that 
 time. 
 
 " The fulness of him that filleth all in all." 
 Eph. i. 23. 
 
 " That ye might be filled with all the fulness 
 of God." Eph. iii. 19. 
 
 " Unto the measure of the stature of the ful- 
 ness of Christ." Eph. iv. 13. 
 
 " In him should all fulness dwell." Col. i. 19. 
 
 " For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the 
 Godhead bodily." Col. ii. 9. 
 
 In the last five instances, the word pleroma, 
 translated fulness, seems to signify perfection, an 
 attribute of God. 
 
 From the use of the word pleroma in these 
 twelve places, we may be assisted to understand 
 its meaning in the only two remaining, found in 
 the text. 
 
24U APPENDIX. 
 
 When applied to persons or character, the word 
 seems to signify fulness in the sense* of quality, 
 i. e. perfection ; when applied to things, it signi- 
 fies fulness in the sense of quantity, full measure ; 
 and when applied to times, it seems to signify 
 fulness in the sense of completion, or end of the 
 times. 
 
 The question is, In which or what sense is it 
 to be understood in the text ? What is the ple- 
 roma, or fulness, of the Jews ? And what is the 
 pleroma, or fulness, of the Gentiles ? 
 
 1. Of the Jews. ^Does the pleroma of the Jews 
 apply to their personal character or quality ? Then 
 it would seem to express the perfection of that 
 character in a heavenly sense ; full quality, per- 
 fection, an attribute of God. 
 
 Does it apply to their times ? Then it would 
 seem to imply the end of their times. The ful- 
 ness of a time is the end of that time. 
 
 Does it apply to their number, or quantity ? 
 Then it would express the completion of that 
 number or quantity ; full measure. 
 
 In one or the other, or all of these senses, it 
 does probably apply to the Jews, and it seems to 
 apply mainly to their character or quality ; and 
 also to their times and quantity. For, 
 
 The apostle has spoken of their "fall" and 
 " the diminishing of them," which is to be under- 
 stood religiously of their quality and depravity, 
 and not physically or politically of their quantity 
 or number, or national power.* 
 
 * The word rendered "fall" is paraptoma, which, 
 according to Greenfield, occurs twenty-one times in the 
 New Testament, and is, in every other place but this 
 
APPENDIX. 241 
 
 "The fall of them," (to paraptoma autoon,) 
 means " their transgression," in the sense of 
 Adam's fall, or transgression ; and u the dimin- 
 ishing of them," (to ettema autoon,) means " their 
 fault," in the sense of depravity. It is of their 
 conduct and character the apostle is speaking, 
 when he names their paraptoma and their ettema, 
 their transgression and depravity ; and it is of 
 their conduct and character he speaks when he 
 also names (to pleroma autoori) their fulness. 
 So that "fulness" in Rom. xi. 12, conclusively 
 to my mind, is to be understood of the character 
 of the Jews, in the sense of full quality, heavenly 
 perfection, an attribute of God. But this fulness 
 is only by faith, now in the fulness of time it will 
 come in fact. " In the dispensation of the fulness 
 of times," the blindness of the Jews will be cured, 
 their "deliverer" will "turn away ungodliness 
 from Jacob," and " take away their sins," accord- 
 ing to this same chapter of Romans, verse 26 and 
 the rest. 
 
 The apostle reasons from their sin to their 
 perfection. The sin and depravity of the Jews 
 opened the way of salvation to the Gentiles ; 
 
 chapter, translated "offence, sin, or transgression;" and 
 in that sense, "fall of them," in the text, is explained by 
 "their offence" "their sin, or transgression" 
 
 So likewise the word ettema, translated " the diminish- 
 ing" of them, occurs, according to Greenfield, in one 
 other place only in the New Testament, viz., 1 Cor. vi. 7, 
 where it is translated "a fault." Let our text so be 
 translated, and it would read, "If their offence be the 
 riches of the world, and their fault the riches of the Gen- 
 tiles, how much more their fulness." To carry out the 
 contrast of the words "offence" and "fault," "fulness" 
 must be taken in the sense of perfection, full quality. 
 
 21 
 
242 APPENDIX. 
 
 now much more shall the perfection of Israel 
 open the way of salvation. " For if the casting 
 away of them he the reconciling of the world, 
 what shall the receiving of them be but life from 
 the dead?" The apostle argues from the less to 
 the greater: if the Lord's rejection of the Jews 
 be made the adoption of Christendom into his 
 favor, what will their restoration be, if not the 
 resurrection of the dead and the marriage supper 
 of the Lamb ? This I humbly take to be the 
 meaning of the apostle. I know it is surrounded 
 with difficulties ; but I am not at liberty to alter 
 the text, to make it read as " life from the dead," 
 in order to escape from the force of the conclu- 
 sion which the apostle draws. 
 
 It is no hyperbole to say, if the offence of the 
 Jews be the riches of the world, and their trans- 
 gression be the riches of the Gentiles, that their 
 perfect obedience will open the gates of heaven 
 for the risen dead. If their fault in rejecting 
 Christ be the riches of the Gentiles, it may well 
 be that their perfect reception of him will over- 
 flow with benefits to the sleeping dead. If the 
 rejection of them be the occasion of the recon- 
 ciling of the world, the restoration of them may 
 also be the occasion of the crowning of the saints. 
 And the apostle intimates as much, when he 
 places it in the time of " the fulness of the Gen- 
 tiles," when " all Israel shall be saved : as it is 
 written, there shall come out of Zion the deliv- 
 erer." No coming remained at the time when 
 the apostle wrote, but the second time, without sin 
 unto salvation, when all that are in the graves 
 shall hear the voice of the Son of Man and come 
 forth. 
 
APPENDIX. 243 
 
 When he that will come has come, he will 
 save all Israel, and perfect them with his fulness, 
 when he takes away their sins ; but this would 
 seem to be only in heaven and eternal life, where 
 neither paraptoma or ettema, offence nor fault, 
 can enter, come, or happen. At the same time 
 is the fulness of the Gentiles to come in ; they 
 are not left out of the kingdom. The end of their 
 time is their fulness ; after their fulness is come 
 in, no more can enter; otherwise full is not full, 
 which is absurd. The end of their time is the 
 beginning of " the dispensation of the fulness of 
 times," in " life from the dead." Then all 
 things in Christ, both in heaven and earth, are 
 to be gathered together in Christ, constituting 
 the pleroma of Him that filleth all in all. O 
 glorious day ! happy hour ! 
 
 " How long, dear Savior. how long, 
 Shall this bright hour delay ! " 
 
 Here many things rush on the thoughts. We 
 are despised for regarding this state of things 
 above any temporal millennium, and above the 
 conversion of this world. We cannot help it. 
 Let the truth run through the earth, and God 
 will be glorified. Our prayer is for the pleroma 
 of Israel, and also of the Gentiles, with Christ in 
 earth on the throne of his glory. 
 
 How this interpretation of the text sorts with 
 the restoration of Israel in the flesh, no matter ; 
 it appears to be both for and against it; and 
 another time, we may be allowed to examine that 
 point more accurately, together with the pleroma 
 or fulness of the Gentiles. W. 
 
244 APPENDIX. 
 
 THE PLEROMA, OR FULNESS OF THE 
 GENTILES. 
 
 ROMANS XI. 12, 25. 
 
 The works of the blessed God are wonderful ; 
 his ways are past finding out. It is vain to foretel 
 like him, or to be sure that we fathom his plans. 
 The wise he takes in their own craftiness ; he 
 reveals himself to babes. His ancient prophets 
 diligently sought to know ivhat time and how the 
 things concerning Christ should be fulfilled, by 
 themselves predicted. If they perceived, their 
 believers did not. Confounded by the bright 
 promises of his glory* the chosen people slew 
 him as a pretender and a deceiver of the people ; 
 and thus fulfilled their own Scriptures, and also 
 the measure of their sins. The Gentiles, made 
 rich thereby in the faith of Christ, will be glori- 
 fied together with Israel at the Lord's appearing ; 
 but whether we better understand the time and 
 manner of his appearing in the clouds than the 
 Jews did of his appearing in the flesh, may be 
 doubted. They looked for him ; so do we. 
 Many acknowledged him, though all forsook 
 him : and who can stand when he appears in his 
 glory ? Who can be more trusted than Judas 
 was ; who more confident than Peter ; who closer 
 to the bosom of his Master than John ? They 
 trusted it had been he who should have redeem- 
 ed Israel ; and they were right in the main 
 thing ; but they were wrong in the manner and 
 time. Yet if any might be confident of knowing^ 
 they might ; and their error is a caution to the 
 faithful, which no follower of Christ need despise. 
 
APPENDIX. 245 
 
 It would seem as if the pleroma of Israel, and 
 also of the Gentiles, must occur at Christ's ap- 
 pearing. The stricter sort of natural Jews so 
 expect for themselves, (though they do not believe 
 that Jesus is the Christ,) and they also expect 
 the resurrection of their holy dead at the same 
 time. Why should not we Gentiles expect the 
 same ? Where is our promised fulness save in 
 Christ the Lord ? We have proved in our pre- 
 vious article, that the word pleroma, as applied 
 Romans xi. 12 to the Jews, has reference mainly 
 to character, and not to their civil polity and 
 national power ; has reference to their future 
 perfection, in contrast with their past disobedience 
 and unbelief. Reasoning from the benefit de- 
 rived to the Gentiles from their depravity, the 
 apostle inquires, What may we expect then from 
 their pleroma or perfection ? If their paraptoma 
 or offence has been.such a blessing to the nations, 
 and their rejection for that offence has been the 
 reconciling of the world, what will be the effect 
 of their fulness of obedience " but life from the 
 dead?" 
 
 The offence of Israel is visited with blindness 
 in part, "until the fulness of the Gentiles be 
 come in : then all Israel shall be saved." (Rom. 
 xi. 25, 26.) Thus the fulness of Israel and of 
 the Gentiles seem to be coetaneous. % That of 
 Israel is a pleroma of character ; but what is the 
 pleroma of the Gentiles ? 
 
 " Until the pleroma of the Gentiles be come in." 
 
 We have seen by our previous article that 
 thirteen times out of fourteen in which the word 
 pleroma is used in the Greek Testament, it means 
 as applied to character, perfection of character, 
 
246 APPENDIX. 
 
 as applied to things, perfection of quantity ; ! and 
 as applied to time, perfection of time, completion 
 or end. That pleroma which " comes in" is the 
 pleroma of the Gentiles, and the form of expres- 
 sion, " be come in," is more naturally understood 
 of time and things than of character. Fulness 
 of character is not said to come in; but fulness 
 of time and fulness of number may be well said 
 to come in. And with Him by whom the hairs 
 of our heads are all numbered, there is a perfect 
 number,^ chosen, elect, and sanctified, which are 
 to be sealed in the earth and mustered on Mount 
 Zion in heaven ; and when this perfect number 
 is once all gathered in, the body of the elect may 
 be supposed to " be accomplished," (as the prayer- 
 book of England has it,) and the pleroma of the 
 Gentiles to " be- come in;" the temple of the 
 Lord is finished then, and ready to receive the 
 headstone with shoutings of grace, grace unto it. 
 
 There is a pleroma or fulness of number and 
 quantity requisite to complete with " lively 
 stones" the Lord's house, and requisite to com- 
 plete with due proportions in all his members 
 the Lord's glorious body ; and this pleroma 
 agrees well with the pleroma of the Gentiles, 
 which comes in just when all Israel shall be 
 saved, and the Savior appears as the Deliverer, 
 to put away ungodliness from Jacob. Romans 
 xi. 27. 
 
 There is likewise a fulness of the times of the 
 Gentiles, mentioned Luke xxi. 24, until which 
 
 * This perfect number is represented in the Apocalypse 
 by the one hundred and forty-four thousand, or twelve 
 thousand of every tribe. 
 
APPENDIX. 247 
 
 period Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the 
 Gentiles. The pleroma of a basket is a basket- 
 ful ; the pleroma of a rent in a coat is a patch 
 sufficient to cover it ; the pleroma of any time is 
 the completion of that time; and if it be the 
 times of the Gentiles, it seems to mark the end 
 of their times. " The fulness of the Gentiles," 
 as applied to their time, must be understood of 
 the end of their time, which is also the end of 
 this dispensation, and probably of this world. ^ 
 
 Therefore " the fulness of the Gentiles" being 
 come in, seems to mean the completion of their 
 coming in, the end of their coming in ; as the 
 fulness of their times means the end of their 
 times. " So all Israel shall be saved, as it is 
 written, There shall come out of Sion the De- 
 liverer," &c. Israel are the seed of Abraham 
 by faith, and not by flesh ; not all the carnal 
 Israel will be saved, but all the faithful in Christ. 
 If he do not turn away ungodliness from Jacob 
 only as from Hebrews born, where is the salva- 
 tion of the Gentiles ? The Lord is our Lord, 
 and he loves and will save them who obey him, 
 of whatever lineage they come, Shem, Ham, or 
 Japheth. In the end of this dispensation, the 
 Lord our " Deliverer will come out of Sion ;" 
 likewise, he will come when the fulness of the 
 Gentiles be come in ; and seeing that he comes 
 
 * "The fulness of the Gentiles" is commonly taken 
 for their entire and universal conversion. It probably 
 does mean the conversion of all who are to be converted, 
 for their fulness being come in, no more can enter ; their 
 conversion being complete, no more can be converted : 
 but whether this conversion is universal or elect, men 
 will yet dispute. It seems to be elect, and not universal. 
 
248 APPENDIX. 
 
 only once again, the second time, (Heb. ix. 28,) 
 the two events, to wit, the fulness of the Gen- 
 tiles and the end of this dispensation, are coeta- 
 neous. Again, there is a dispensation to follow 
 this, called " the dispensation of the fulness of 
 times," (Eph. i. 10,) in which all things in 
 Christ are to be gathered together in him, wheth- 
 er they be in heaven or in earth. Not only the 
 fulness of the Gentiles will be come in then, but 
 also the pleroma, or full quality of character, of 
 Israel, the perfection of Israel : and so all Israel 
 shall be saved, and all faith shall be turned to 
 sight, all hope shall be turned to fruition, and 
 charity alone shall abide forever. If that dispen- 
 sation is not the fifth and never-ending monarchy 
 of the prophet Daniel, if it is not in that the 
 saints possess the kingdom forever and ever, if 
 it is not in that we shall judge the world, and 
 shall even judge angels, (1 Cor. vi. 2, 3,) we 
 are wholly at a loss when those glorious things 
 spoken of Zion and her King are to come to 
 pass. 
 
 Again, the pleroma of the Gentiles is coetane- 
 ous with the salvation of all Israel, and so with 
 the pleroma or perfection of the character of all 
 Israel, which is also coetaneous with " life from 
 the dead," or the resurrection of the dead, and 
 the second coming of Christ, the Deliverer, who 
 will then take away the sins of his chosen Jacob 
 according to the covenant. Now observe that 
 during all the, gospel dispensation the Jews are 
 enemies for our sake, (Rom. xi. 28,) which en- 
 mity does not cease until their fulness comes, in 
 the end of times and of the Gentile dispensa- 
 tions ; and then their sins are to be taken away. 
 
APPENDIX. 249 
 
 When they cease to sin they will cease to die ; 
 when their ungodliness is turned away, the effects 
 of it must also be turned away. When sin is 
 taken away, death cannot abide; death itself 
 must die. The sins of Jacob receive the wages 
 of death in common with the race of Adam ; but 
 when the work is not done the wages will not be 
 paid ; where sin does not work, death cannot 
 slay ; where sin is taken away, death cannot 
 tarry ; sin and death can never be separated. 
 Of course, the Deliverer having taken away the 
 sins of his chosen, they must be in eternal life ; 
 they cannot die any more. 
 
 " For this is my covenant unto them when I 
 shall take away their sins." (Rom. xi. 27.) 
 Whoever removes the cause, removes also the 
 effect. A fever prevents our appetite ; whatever 
 removes the fever tends to restore the appetite. 
 Gravity causes heavy bodies to sink in water 
 and to fall suddenly to the earth ; take away 
 their gravity, and they float on the wave, or fly 
 in the air wherever the wind drives them. The 
 cause being removed, the effect ceases invariably. 
 When God takes away their sins from Jacob, it 
 will not be done partially, for all Israel are to 
 be saved ; and when their sins are wholly taken 
 away, they will be changed instantly, " in a mo- 
 ment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last 
 trump ; for the trump shall sound, and the dead 
 shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be 
 changed." 1 Cor. xv. 52. What can their ful- 
 ness, their perfection of character, be, " but life 
 from the dead," to die no more forever ? What 
 a pleroma is here ! It is nothing " but life from 
 the dead ;" for " we that are alive and remain 
 
250 APPENDIX. 
 
 unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent 
 them that are asleep ;" (Thess. iv. 15 ;) for all 
 Israel shall be saved and caught up in the clouds 
 to meet the Lord in the air. When their sins 
 are taken away they will be changed, and they 
 will tend upward toward their Lord as the Spirit 
 moves them : gravity not more certainly than 
 iniquity holding corruptible man down to this 
 clod of earth. 
 
 "The time is fulfilled." (Mark i. 15.) That 
 time which was fulfilled was a time ended, a 
 time that gave way to another time, the time of 
 the law to the time of the gospel. An hour 
 fulfilled is a full hour ; and the pleroma or ful- 
 ness of the hour being come in, there is the end 
 of it ; that hour cannot continue beyond its 
 fulness ; it must give place to another. The 
 pleroma or fulness of a man is in stature when 
 he ceases to grow ; in strength, when his ener- 
 gies have .ceased to increase ; and in time, when 
 his time runs out and he gives up his spirit. So 
 the pleroma or fulness of the Gentiles is in num- 
 ber when they cease to increase ; in faith, when 
 they cease to be converted ; and in time, when 
 their time runs out. The fulness of a thing 
 being come in, no more of that thing can come 
 in. The fulness of a basket being come in, the 
 basket is full. The fulness of the harvest being 
 come in, no more will be gathered this year. 
 And the fulness of the Gentiles being come in, 
 it is impossible that any more should come in ; 
 otherwise fulness is not fulness, or that which is 
 fulfilled has not come to pass ; which is a perfect 
 absurdity. 
 
 The fulness of a thing is a certain quantity, 
 
APPENDIX. 251 
 
 definite and not indefinite, fixed and not left to 
 chance : fixed by the law of the land in the 
 matter of weights and measures ; fixed in the 
 motions and gravity of the heavenly bodies by 
 the divine law; fixed in the times and seasons 
 of the deluge, the law and the gospel, and by no 
 means left at random. In the set time the flood 
 came, in the appointed time Messiah was cut off, 
 and in the end of time is the great day of the 
 Lord, when the Israelites will have attained to 
 their fulness or perfection of character by their 
 Deliverer's taking away their sins ; and the 
 Gentiles' pleroma will have come in by the con- 
 version among them of all that are heirs of the 
 great salvation, and of all that are necessary to 
 complete the temple of the Lord's body. 
 
 The fulness of the Gentiles, therefore, seems 
 to " be come in" when no more Gentiles can come 
 in ; otherwise fulness is not fulness, whether it 
 refers to their manner, time, or number, or these 
 all together. When the pleroma of the Gentiles 
 is in, the harvest is past, the summer is ended, 
 and they that are not gathered unto the Lord's 
 granary will nev*er be. Now is the day of salva- 
 tion, now is the harvest season ; these are the 
 times of the Gentiles, this is the gospel summer : 
 but when the pleroma of the Gentiles is once in, 
 the harvest is over, the gospel dispensation is 
 ended, and a new dispensation begins, whether it 
 be in this world or the world to come. 
 
 The pleroma of the Jews and also of the Gen- 
 tiles would seem to occur at the same time, in 
 the end of time. Many of the most devout 
 among the Jews now, as in all past ages of their 
 dispersion, are looking for their restoration in 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 the coming of Messiah and the resurrection of 
 their holy dead. Our fulness is in Christ, and 
 in none other is the fulness of the Jews and also 
 of the Gentiles. This pleroma will appear and 
 be complete when Christ appears ; and we shall 
 see him as he is, and be like him. This appears 
 to be the fulness of the true Israel, when the ful- 
 ness of the Gentiles has been gathered into the 
 house of Jacob, and the kingdom, and dominion, 
 and the greatness of the kingdom under the 
 whole heaven, shall be given to the saints of the 
 Most High. 
 
 Many suppose the fulness of the Jews and of 
 the Gentiles indicative of a state of things in 
 time. Others suppose it to be indicative of a 
 mixed state of men in carnal and of men in 
 spiritual bodies, some risen from the dead and 
 others doomed to die. Yet others suppose it to 
 be indicative of that state in which the saints 
 judge the world, to come in the new heavens and 
 the new earth. (Compare 1 Cor. vi. with 2 
 Peter iii.) Much may be said for and against 
 each of these different suppositions. With the 
 first our reflections are not reconcilable ; of the 
 second they admit ; and in the third they take 
 delight. W. 
 
 No. III. 
 
 These texts, 2 Peter iii. 12, 13, " being so ex- 
 press, there is but one way left to elude the force 
 of them ; and that is by turning the renovation 
 of the world into an allegory, and making th 
 
APPENDIX. 253 
 
 new heavens and new earth to be allegorical 
 heavens and earth, not real and material, as 
 ours are. This is a bold attempt of some mod- 
 ern authors. There are allegories, no doubt, in 
 Scripture ; but we are not to allegorize Scripture 
 without some warrant, either from an apostolical 
 interpretation, or from the necessity of the mat- 
 ter ; and I do not know how they can pretend to 
 either of these, in this case. However, we will 
 examine whether they are or can be turned into 
 an allegory, according to the best rules of inter- 
 pretation. The question is, whether the new hea- 
 vens and earth here promised are to be real and 
 material heavens and earth, or only figurative 
 and allegorical. The general rule of interpreta- 
 tion is, not to recede from the literal sense unless 
 there be a necessity from the subject-matter ; 
 such a necessity as makes a literal interprelation 
 absurd. But where is that necessity in this case ? 
 Cannot God make new heavens and a new earth 
 as easily as he made the old ones? Is his 
 strength decayed ? No necessity can be pre- 
 tended of leaving the literal sense upon an inca- 
 pacity of the subject-matter. 
 
 " The second rule to determine an interpreta- 
 to be literal or allegorical, is the use of the same 
 words or phrase in the context, and the significa- 
 tion of them there. Let us then examine our case 
 according to this rule. St. Peter had used the 
 same phrase of heavens and earth twice before in 
 the same chapter : the old heavens and earth, 
 ver. 5 ; the present heavens and earth, ver. 7 ; 
 and now he uses it again, ver. 13, the new hea- 
 vens and earth. Have we not then reason to 
 suppose that he takes it here in the same sense 
 22 
 
254 APPENDIX. 
 
 that he had done twice before, for real and mate- 
 rial heavens and earth ? There is no mark st 
 of a new signification, nor why we should altei 
 the sense of the words. That he used them 
 always before for material heavens and earth, I 
 think none will question; and therefore we are 
 bound by this second rule also to understand 
 them in a literal sense. 
 
 " Lastly, the very form of the words, and the 
 manner of their dependence upon the context, 
 lead us to a literal sense, and to material hea- 
 vens and earth. Nevertheless, says the apostle, 
 we expect new heavens, &c. Why nevertheless ?, 
 that is, notwithstanding the dissolution of the 
 present heavens and earth. The apostle foresaw 
 what he had said might raise a doubt in their 
 minds whether all things would not be at an end; 
 nothing more of heavens and earth, or of any 
 habitable world, after the conflagration ; and to 
 obviate this, he tells them, notwithstanding that 
 wonderful desolation that I have described, we 
 do, according to God's promises, expect new hea- 
 vens and a new earth, to be a habitation for the 
 righteous. 
 
 " You see then the new heavens and new earth, 
 which the apostle speaks of, are substituted in 
 the place of those that were destroyed at the con- 
 flagration ; and would you substitute allegorical 
 heavens and earth in the place of material? 
 What an equivocation would it be in the apostle, 
 when the doubt was about the material heavens 
 and earth, to make an answer about allegorical. 
 " Lastly, the timing of the thing determines the 
 sense. When shall this new world appear ? After 
 the conflagration, the apostle says. Therefore it 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 255 
 
 cannot be understood of any moral renovation, to 
 be made in the times of the gospel, as these alle- 
 gorists pretend. We must, therefore, upon all 
 accounts, conclude that the apostle intended a 
 literal sense ; real and material heavens, to suc- 
 ceed these after the conflagration ; and I know 
 not what bars the Spirit of God can set to keep 
 us within the compass of a literal sense, if these 
 be not sufficient." 
 
 "The apostle in this discourse does formally 
 distinguish three worlds, (for it is well known 
 that the Hebrews have no word to signify the 
 natural world, but use that periphrasis, the hea- 
 vens and the earth,} and upon each of them en- 
 graves a name and title that bears a note of 
 distinction in it. He calls them the old heavens 
 and earth, the present heavens and earth, and the 
 new heavens and earth. 'Tis true these three 
 are one, as to matter and substance ; but they 
 differ as to form and properties." BTJRNET. 
 
NOTE BY THE EDITORS, 
 
 ON THE TWO THEORIES NOW ADVOCATED BY THE 
 BELIEVERS IN THE ADVENT NEAR. 
 
 It is well known to the students of prophecy that there 
 are now two prominent theories advocated by the be- 
 lievers in the pre-millennial advent. The first teaches 
 that the consummation will not take place till the close 
 of the millennium. The second teaches that the consum- 
 mation will take place at the commencement of the 
 millennium. 
 
 There is considerable difference between these theo- 
 ries ; both agree, however, in the personal reign and 
 speedy coming of the Bridegroom. We think it im- 
 portant to the future mutual co-operation of the friends 
 of the advent nigh, that they should have a perfect under- 
 standing of the leading traits of both theories. We here 
 give them. 
 
 I. The theory teaching that the consummation will not 
 take place till the close of tlie millennium. 
 
 This is given in the works of James A. Begg, of Glas- 
 gow, Scotland ; and may be stated in substance as fol- 
 lows : " The Jews shall return to their own land, and 
 Jerusalem shall be rebuilt. The Lord will descend from 
 heaven and dwell in Jerusalem. < Then the moon shall 
 be confounded and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of 
 hosts shall reign in mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and 
 before his ancients gloriously.' He will continue his 
 personal presence on earth certainly 1000, and probably 
 365,000 years. The nations will go to see him, and to 
 worship in Jerusalem, and keep the annual feasts. The 
 man of sin shall be destroyed by the Lord in person or 
 by the brightness of his coming, and the race of evil- 
 doers shall generally be cut off. A resurrection of the 
 saints and martyred witnesses of Christ precedes the 
 millennial rei^n. This is the first resurrection, and shall 
 
NOTE. 257 
 
 precede the second from 1000 to 365,000 years. The 
 earth and the atmosphere will be changed. A more 
 genial climate and a more fruitful soil will reward the 
 labors of the husbandmen. Still the earth's identity and 
 its present localities shall continue; and ' although it 
 will be a period of unprecedented holiness and happiness, 
 neither sin nor death will be wholly excluded.' 'The 
 child shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner being 
 a hundred years old shall be accursed.' And, therefore, 
 during the millennial dispensation, this world will be the 
 abode of men in the flesh, who will have intercourse 
 with the immortal men who are reigning with Christ. 
 But of the nature of the employment of the reigning 
 saints, and of their intercourse with mortal men, he has 
 no knowledge. 
 
 "A short apostasy will succeed the millennium. Satan 
 will be set free from his captivity, but will ultimately be 
 destroyed. Then comes the general resurrection of all 
 that died during the millennium, and those who were not 
 raised at its commencement, which will be followed with 
 the general judgment and eternal rewards and punish- 
 ments." 
 
 II. The theory teaching that the consummation takes 
 place at the appearing of Christ, in the beginning of 1he 
 millennium. It is stated by Mr. Miller as follows : "I 
 believe that the Scripts r es do reveal unto us, in plain 
 language, that Jesus Christ will appear again on this 
 earth ; that he will come in the glory of God, in the 
 clouds of heaven, with all his saints and angels j that he 
 will raise the dead bodies of all his saints who have slept, 
 change the bodies of all that are alive on the earth that 
 are his, and both these living and raised saints will be 
 caught up to meet the Lord in the air. There the saints 
 will be judged and presented to the Father, without spot 
 or wrinkle. Then the gospel kingdom will be given up 
 to God the Father. Then will the Father give the bride 
 to the Son Jesus Christ ; and when the marriage takes 
 place, the church will become the 'New Jerusalem,' 
 the 'beloved city.' And while this is being done in the 
 air, the earth will be cleansed by fire, the elements will 
 melt with fervent heat, the works of men will be de- 
 stroyed, the bodies of the wicked will be burned to ashes, 
 the devil and all evil spirits, with the souls and spirits 
 22* 
 
253 NOTE. 
 
 of those who have rejected the gospel, will be banished 
 from the earth, shut up in the pit or place prepared for 
 the devil and his angles, and will not be permitted to 
 visit the earth again until 1000 years. This is the first 
 resurrection, and first judgment. Then Christ and his 
 people will come down from the heavens, or middle air, 
 and live with his saints on the new .earth, in a new 
 heaven, or dispensation, forever, even forever and ever. 
 This will be the restitution of the right owners to the 
 earth. 
 
 " Then will the promise of God to his Son be ac- 
 complished : { I will give him the heathen for his in- 
 heritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for his pos- 
 session.' Then ' the whole earth shall be full of his 
 glory.' And then will the holy people take possession 
 of their joint heirship with Christ, and his promise be 
 verified, l the meek shall inherit the earth,' and the 
 kingdom of God will have come, and { his will be done 
 in earth as in heaven.' After 1000 years shall have 
 passed away, the saints will all be gathered and en- 
 camped in the beloved city. The sea, death and hell 
 will give up their dead, which will rise upon the breadth 
 of the earth, out of the city, a great company, like the 
 sand of the sea-shore. The devil will be let loose, to go 
 out and deceive this wicked host. He will tell them of a 
 battle against the saints, the beloved city ; he will gather 
 them to the battle around the camp of the saints. But 
 there is no battle ; the devil has deceived them. The 
 saints will judge them 5 the justice of God will drive them 
 from the earth into the lake of fire and brimstone, where 
 they will be tormented day and night, forever and ever 
 'This is the second death.' After the second resur- 
 rection, second judgment, the righteous will then possess 
 the earth forever." See " Miller's Views," pp. 33, 34. It 
 will be seen by the foregoing lectures that Mr. Spalding 
 sustains this latter theory. 
 
 TftriTBBSITY 
 

THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE. 
 STAMPED BELOW 
 
 AN INITIAL FINE OF 25 CENTS 
 
 WILL BE ASSESSED FOR FAILURE TO RETURN 
 THIS BOOK ON THE DATE DUE. THE PENALTY 
 WILL INCREASE TO SO CENTS ON THE FOURTH 
 DAY AND TO $1.OO ON THE SEVENTH DAY 
 OVERDUE. 
 
 JUN 28*335 
 
 31975 
 
 EEC. CIS. JUL 9 '75 
 
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
HI* B 
 
 imjim 
 
 nlmifi