unto salvation (Rom. i. 16) will then enjoy, in all its fulness and manifestation, the blessing of being present (vers. 6, 8) with the Lord, and accepted by him; while all who have lived and died under the character of doing evil, will receive accordingly at that same time*. First inference: As the doers of good, who shall have died, must be raised, in order that they may appear before the judgment seat of Christ, and receive accordingly; so also must those who have died among the doers of evil be raised, in order that they may appear before the judgment seat of Christ and receive accordingly. Consequently, as the passage obviously implies that the two classes will appear, at one and the same time, before the judgment seat of Christ, the evident inference is, that they will be raised at one and the same time, and that the resurrection of those who have done good will not take place before those who have done evil are raised, and receive accordingly. But what is called the first resurrection is more than a thousand years before the ungodly are cast into the lake of fire therefore it must also be more than a thousand years before the resurrection of the saints. Second inference: The account which the Holy Ghost gives us in 2 Cor. v. 9-11, harmonizes with the description which he also gives us in Rev. xx. 11-15. First, All standing before the judgment seat of Christ, harmonizes with the dead small and great standing before Christ, upon the throne of judgment. Secondly, Each then receiving according to their works, harmonizes with the books being opened, and the dead being judged out of the books according to their works; and those who are found written in the book of life enjoying the blessedness described Rev. xxi. 1-6, and those who are not written in the book of life, being cast into the lake of fire (ver. 15). These descriptions so harmonize, that I cannot but feel convinced, that the Holy Ghost hereby marks to us that they foretell one and the same event. Consequently this proves to my mind, that the time when the people of God will, in all fulness and manifestation, be present with Christ, and accepted by him, is the same as that when the dead small

* On this subject the reader will bear in mind the observations in the latter part of Note G, page 12, and in Note N, page 38.

and great stand before the throne of judgment, and, consequently, cannot be the same as that of the first resurrection.

XV. 1 Thess. v. "2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 3 For when they shall say, Peace, and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. 4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief."

From this I collect, First, sudden destruction will come upon the ungodly, the children of darkness (vers. 4,5), who shall be living when the day of the Lord comes, and they shall in nowise ( μn) escape. The obvious inference from this is, that as the ungodly, living at the coming of the day of the Lord, will be destroyed, no ungodly persons can remain or spring up after that time: consequently the gathering together of the nations of ungodly persons in the four quarters of the earth, and whose number is as the sand of the sea, which is described in Rev. xx. 7, 8, cannot be after, but must be before, the coming of the day of the Lord. But the first resurrection is, at least, a thousand years before this gathering together of these nations (Rev. xx. 4, 5): consequently it must also be before the coming of the day of the Lord by the whole thousand years, and by the period during which this gathering together of the nations takes place; and, therefore, it must equally precede the resurrection of the saints, which will take place at the coming of the day of the Lord (1 Thess. iv. 14).

XVI. 2 Thess. i. 88 5 Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer: 6 seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; 7 and to you who are troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, 8 in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: 9 who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and

from the glory of his power; 10 when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day."

From this I collect,-First, God will recompense (or render) tribulation to those who, in that age, and in all other ages, have troubled his people; and will recompense, or render rest (or the kingdom of God, ver. 5), to his people of that and all other ages, who have been troubled, at one and the same time; which time is that when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels (vers. 6,7). Secondly, At the time when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven, he will in flaming fire take vengeance upon the ungodly of that and all other ages, who are all included under the two-fold description of such as have not known (eidoσi) God, and obey not the Gospel of Christ (ver. 8). Thirdly (vers. 9, 10), The ungodly of that and all other ages will be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of Christ, at the time of his coming; the same time as that in which he will confer upon his people of that and all other ages, who are all included under the two-fold description of saints and believers, the blessings represented by his being glorified and admired in them.

From this the following inferences appear to follow incontrovertibly. First inference: All who have troubled Christ's people in that, and every other age previous to his coming, must be raised at the time when he shall be revealed from heaven, in order that he may render tribulation to them at that time; even as his people of that, and every other age previous to his coming, must be raised at the time when he shall be revealed from heaven, in order that he may render rest to them. Second inference: All the ungodly of that and every other age, who have died before his coming, must be raised when he comes, in order that they may then be punished with everlasting destruction; even as all his saints of that and all other ages who have died before his coming, must be raised, in order that he may then be glorified and admired in them. Consequently the resurrection of the saints will not be before the resurrection of the ungodly, nor will the resurrection of the ungodly be after the coming of Christ. Therefore, what is called the first resurrection,

which is more than a thousand years before the ungodly are destroyed by fire (Rev. xx. 11-15), cannot be that of the saints, nor any thing which will take place at the coming of Christ. Third inference: The coincidence between the description which the Holy Ghost has given us in this passage, of the events which will take place at the coming of Christ, and the description which he has given us of the events which will take place at the time of the judgment foretold in Rev. xx. 11-15, is so great, in many striking particulars, that I cannot but conclude, he thereby intimates to us, that the events and times are one and the same. 1. As the Lord Jesus comes and is revealed (vers. 7, 10), so he sits upon the great white throne (Rev. xx. 11). 2. As an exact and complete distinction of judgment between the godly and ungodly, according to their character, takes place (vers. 5-7), so the books are opened, and the dead are judged according to their works (Rev. xx. 12). 3. As a glorious manifestation of his people is foretold by his being glorified and admired in them, in the presence of the angels, of one another, and of all the ungodly [ver. 10. Note S.]; so the book of life is opened, and it is manifested who are written therein, (Rev. xx. 12, 15). 4. As the Lord Jesus takes vengeance in flaming fire upon all the ungodly (ver. 8), and they are punished with everlasting destruction from his presence (ver. 9); so those who are not written in the book of life will be cast from his presence when sitting upon the white throne, into the lake of fire. 5. As God will render rest, or his kingdom, to his saints, when Christ is revealed from heaven (ver. 7), so, when he sits upon the white throne, all who are written in the book of life, will enter into the blessed rest described. (Rev. xxi. 1-6, &c.) As there is such a striking coincidence be tween the two descriptions in these five points, I cannot but conclude that the Holy Ghost intends hereby to

[S.] I need scarcely remark to the reader, how inconceivable it is that such a glorious manifestation of those who are written in the book of life, as the Holy Ghost describes in this passage, as taking place in the presence of Christ, and of the angels, and of the whole body of the saints, and of all who know not God, can be one moment before the time in which he describes the book of life to be opened, and the discovery to be made of those who are written in it (Rev. xx. 12).

mark to us one and the same event and time; and consequently that the first resurrection, which is more than a thousand years before the time of the judgment (Rev. xx. 11-15), must be also some event more than a thousand years before the coming of Christ, as described in 2 Thess. i.

Fourth inference: As the Lord Jesus will in flaming fire take vengeance upon all the ungodly at the time of his coming; and as they will at that time be punished with everlasting destruction from his presence, no ungodly persons can remain or spring up after the time of his coming. Therefore the gathering together of the nations to battle, which is described in Rev. xx. 7-9, must be before the time of his coming. But the first resurrection is a thousand years before the gathering together of the nations: consequently it must also be before the coming of Christ, both by the whole period of a thousand years, and by the time during which the events noticed (Rev. xx.7—10) take place.

XVII. 2 Tim. iv. 1: "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." [Note T.]

[T.] Although the kingdom over enemies noticed 1 Cor. xv. 24, Note R, which Christ will deliver up after the last enemy death has been destroyed at the resurrection of his saints, will, perhaps, receive its most glorious manifestation in the complete and everlasting destruction of all his enemies, the devil, the world of the ungodly, and death and hades, which will take place at his appearing, yet, I conceive, his kingdom signifies that over his saints, called (ver. 18), his heavenly kingdom, which will then not only receive its full manifestation and glory, but will continue for ever and ever. In 1 Cor. xv. 24, the expression is the kingdom. Here the expression is his kingdom, which appears to me to signify his kingdom of the Gospel in this life, and of eternal glory in the life to come. The reader will find light by consulting the following passages, which are, I believe, all in the New Testament, in which the kingdom peculiarly his is mentioned, Matt. xiii. 41, and xvi. 28; Luke 1. 33, and xxii. 30; John xviii. 36; Eph. v. 5; Col. i. 13; 2 Tim. iv. 1, 18; Heb. i. 8; 2 Pet. i. 11. These seem to point out that his kingdom does not refer to the kingdom over enemies which he will deliver up, but to his kingdom which he will never deliver up, and in which he will reign for ever, as king of saints (Rev. xv. 3). The expressions in what is called the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene, and the Athanasian, noticed in Note C, appear evidently to be taken from 2 Tim. iv. 1.