gers of the churches, to bring gifts and offerings to the house of God, and to worship before him. Nor shall one nation be jealous of another; "for the Lord shall be king in all the earth. His dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. The kingdom, and dominion, and greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the Most High; whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this," Psal. xxii. Dan. vii. Isa. ix. 6.

Rise, crown'd with grace, imperial Salem, rise!
Exalt thy tow'ry head, and lift thine eyes;
See a long race thy spacious courts adorn,
See future sons and daughters yet unborn!
See barb'rous nations at thy gates attend,
Walk in thy light, and in thy temple bend;
See thy bright altars throng'd with prostrate kings,
And heap'd with products of Sabæan springs!
For thee Idume's spiey forests blow,
And seeds of gold in Ophir's mountains glow.
See heav'n its sparkling portals wide display,
And break upon thee in a flood of day!

The light himself shall shine
Reveal'd, and God's eternal day be thine.

РОРІ

What a glorious and desirable state of things is here before us!!! A world-full of people, and full of plenty. No demons in the air to enflame the passions, foment insidious factions, and kindle war among the nations. Virtue and truth reigning in society; and health, peace, and joy, blooming on every counteBut they must have their day of probation. God hath largely diversified his dispensations towards mankind, but never interrupted our moral liberty, or accepted any services of man which were not voluntary. Accordingly, at the expiration of the thousand years, Satan shall be loosed out of prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations, &c. Rev. xx. 7—10.

nance.

An awful obscurity veils these events, which are 30 distant and indistinct; and at present it seems too daring to comment, on the loosing of Satan, further than to say, that the piety of that happy age shan

thereby be put to the test. However, it is conjectured, that he will not presume, at first, to seduce them into gross wickedness. But, finding them dwelling under a benignant sky, and on a soil which might vie with paradise, he will endeavor to insnare them by the luxuries of their table, which must speedily produce effeminacy, idleness, and want; and want may induce them to extort supplies from those who have plenty. From depredation and plunder, they may easily measure back their steps into the follies and vices of the apostate ages. At least, it is apprehended this may be the case with great numbers in different parts of the earth. This conjecture seems the more probable, because this happy age will not be wholly free from wickedness; and by consequence, not free from lukewarmness in religion. How needful, even then, for every one to watch, and to see that his soul be truly alive to God, lest he fall on the day of trial. These apostates having caused severe afflictions to the church in many places, may at length be hardened to rebel against the Lord, and against the beloved city, which will be stored with riches and plenty, and be led on by the devil to their own destruction, as the first army of Gog and Magog were led on by the lying spirits.

Whether this notion of the apostacy be proper or improper, or whatever success Satan may have among the nations, we are assured, by many promises, that he will have little success against the church in Judea. "As I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I will not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord, that hath mercy on thee. Thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon wane; for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended," Isa. liv. 9, 10. lx. 20.

Short, indeed, will be this last struggle of the comon enemy; for the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from

heaven in flaming fire, to surprise and punish the apostate multitudes. "As it was in the days of Noah, so shall the coming of the Son of man be. They were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, and the flood came and destroyed them all," Luke xvii. 27. "I saw," says John, “a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heavens fled away, and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life, was cast into the lake of fire," Rev. xx. 11-15.

What a train of solemnities is here! The dissolution of heaven and earth. A world of spirits receiving their bodies a second time from the dust and as the shepherds used to clear the forests, and separate the sheep from the goats, so are the wicked for ever separated from the good. How glorious and how qualified is the judge! He searcheth all hearts, and there is no secret but is manifest to the eyes of him with whom we have to do! The books are opened, and correspond with the copy in every man's bosom : as a person walking over soft ground, leaves the print. of his steps behind, so are all the motions of our hearts recorded here. Every man is judged according to bis works, his talents, and his dispensation. The heathen is judged according to the law of nature; the Jew according to the law of Moses; and the Christian according to the gospel. In righteousness God shall judge the world.

And oh how will the wicked bear to see him, whom they have rejected and blasphemed, now exalted to ineffable glory and dominion? His members, whom they have persecuted and contemned, now seat ed on thrones? How will they bear to see the incom.

parable love of Christ, now turned into high disdain; his long-suffering and meekness changed into fury and revenge; to hear that voice which so often pronounced blessings, and said, "come;" now say, "depart ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." They have despised his mercy, and must revere his justice; they have hated the light, and darkness is their dwelling; they have rejected eternal happiness, and everlasting misery is their portion. What! separated from God-from all good, and hope for ever lost!!! Oh! how insupportable the thought! Let the sinner timely hearken to Moses and the prophets, to Christ and the apostles, that he come not into that place of torment.

The scene shall close by the accession of the righteous to the new and everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Their bodies shall be inconceivably beautiful, perfect, and luminous, like the glorified humanity of Christ. Their capacity of happiness shall be matured and enlarged: the many powers and affections of the soul which are now obscured in ignorance and infirmity shall then be unfolded, and gratified with consummate happiness. The soul shall be ennobled with a proper degree of intuitive knowledge, immutably fixed in the love of God, and no more assailed with temptation, or afflicted with evil. Consequently, the mediatorial kingdom shall cease, and be delivered up to God, even the Father. Then shall we see (and O that God may count us worthy to see!) the Lord Jesus, who is above every name that is named, at the head of his church, which is his body, and the fulness of him that filleth all in all. Rivers of knowledge, and pleasure, and happiness, and life, shall flow from his throne, and deluge the kingdom with the fulness of eternal joy. In the administration of his eternal providence, he shall continue to disclose the amazing wonders of his love, which shall charm the happy worlds before the throne, and inspire them with boundless variety of happiness, ever new and increasing in delight. Bu I contitnoo

here, like infant princes, who are unacquainted with the dignity of their birth, we are unable to anticipate the felicity of that better world. It hath not entered the heart of man, the things that God hath prepared for them that love him. May the Almighty assist us to apprehend them more strongly by faith, and by a larger enjoyment of them in our hearts; that we may rejoice in hope, and trample on the vanities of this world, for the glory that fadeth not away.

We shall close our views of the scripture prophesies with a caution, not to indulge ourselves in rash and fruitless inquiries concerning the time of Christ's approach. We are ever ready to ask, with the disciples, when these things shall be, and what signs there shall be when these things come to pass. The signs of his coming to destroy the wicked city, he condescended to give, that they might improve them for their own safety; but concerning the time he deemed it sufficient to say, "this generation shall not pass away until all these things be fulfilled." And when they asked, on another occasion, whether he would, at that time, restore the kingdom unto Israel; he told them plainly, that the times and seasons for the restoration of the kingdom were concealed in the counsel of the Father; that, previously to the introduction of that happy age, the gospel must be preached to the Jews at home, and to the heathen in the uttermost parts of the earth. Hence we may be fully assured, that the time of our Saviour's coming to restore righteousness to a sinful world, cannot be discovered by the most accurate calculations of the prophetic numbers. Such a disclosure would too much take off our attention from present duties, and discompose the whole system of moral freedom, with regard both to believers and unbelievers. The signs of his coming are all that heaven has thought proper to reveal; and they are quite sufficient to raise the hopes, and excite the activity of the church.

We are indeed told, that the anti-christian empire should continue a thousand two hundred and sixty