will not remain any enemy among men or devils to be destroyed or put down, after the resurrection of Christ's people, but all of them will be destroyed or put down before that resurrection. [Note R.]

[R.] I venture to offer merely for the reader's consideration, some suggestions respecting the kingdom which Christ will deliver up at his coming, to (God even the Father, or Greek) the God and Father, signifying, perhaps, the God and Father of him, his God and Father, which is a common designation in the New Testament. Sec John xx. 17, Gr. and En.; Rom. xv. 6, Gr.; 2 Cor. i. 3, Gr., and xi. 31, Gr. and En.; Eph. i. 3, Gr. and En.; Col. i. 3, Gr.; 1 Pet. i. 3, Gr. and En.; Rev. i. 6, Gr.

In regard to this designation of Jesus, and to his receiving a king. dom, and giving up a kingdom, the reader will of course bear in mind that these things are not spoken of him as God. The Scriptures declare not only that Christ Jesus is equal with God, Phil. ii. 6; but is God, John i. 1. God over all blessed for ever, Rom. ix. 5. God from everlasting to everlasting, Psa.xc.2, Heb.i.11,12. By him all things were made, John i. 3. He it was who, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens were the works of his hands, Psa. cii. 25 to 27; Heb. i. 10; and he upholds all things by the word of his power, Heb. i. 3.

While, however, Jesus is thus expressly declared to be God, yet, as the Son of Man, he has been invested with a kingdom. This is foretold Dan. vii. 14; and he asserted his claim, to sit as the Son of Man, before his death. Matt. ix. 6, and xii. 8, and xvi. 28, and xxvi. 64, John i. 51, and v. 27.

With regard, however, to the kingdom which he will deliver up, we may notice First, It will not be delivered up at the end of the thousand years, described Rev. xx. 4; for he will not deliver up the kingdom till all enemies are subdued, ver. 25. But the Holy Ghost, after defining in three verses of Rev. xx. (3, 5, 7), the ending of the thousand years informs us that enemies remain after that period is thus ended; for the devil is to be loosed, and the nations in the four quarters of the earth, whose number is as the sand of the sea, are to be deceived by him, and to wage war against the saints; and are to be subdued at the time when fire comes down from God, ver. 9. Therefore Christ must continue to retain the kingdom during the whole of this intervening period; and consequently cannot have delivered it up at the end of the preceding period of the thousand years. Secondly, The kingdom, which he delivers up, cannot signify the kingdom of Christ over his own people; for that is an everlasting kingdom, 2 Pet. i. 11: he is to reign over the house of Jacob for ever and ever, and of that kingdom there shall be no end, Luke i. 32, 33. The throne of his kingdom is for ever and ever, Heb. i. 8. He will, therefore, never give up his kingdom over his saints, but will reign in it for ever and ever, Rev. xi. 15; and in it his servants will reign with him FOR EVER. Rev. xxii. 3, 5. Consequently THE kingdom which he will deliver up cannot be the kingdom which he has, and ever will have as King of saints. Rev. xv. 3.

I would, therefore, suggest, by reference to the context, that the kingdom, which he will deliver up at the time when death, the last enemy, shall be destroyed, is the dominion or authority by which he

From this the following inferences appear to me to follow. Inference first: As in the period described (Rev. xx. 7,8), the devil deceives the nations, and gathers them together to battle; and the nations in the four quarters of the earth come

now reigns over all enemies of himself and of his church; and that we may, perhaps, regard it as one branch of that kingdom with which he was invested after his resurrection and at his ascension. First, The declaration in ver. 25, He must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet, evidently refers to Psal. cx. 1: The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand; until I make thine enemies thy footstool. This sitting down at the right hand of God took place at his ascension, after he had overcome, in his own person, every enemy; as appears not only from the declaration in Mark xvi. 19 compared with Rev. iii. 21, but from this passage being expressly applied to the resurrection and ascension of Christ (Actsii. 32-36; Heb. x. 12-14). So also we may observe in the declaration concerning his kingdom in Psalm ii. 2-6, that the time is marked to be that of his resurrection and ascension by ver. 7 of that Psalm being expressly quoted (Acts xiii. 33) as referring to his resurrection. In confirmation of this we find Christ himself, after his resurrection, declaring, All power is given unto me in heaven and earth (Matt. xxviii. 18). And it is plainly set forth, that, at his ascension, he was invested with this kingdom over all principalities and powers (Eph. i. 20, 21; 1 Pet. iii. 22), as the Son of Man (Matt. xxvi. 64; John v. 27), and as a reward of his sufferings (Phil. ii. 7—11; Heb. ii. 8, 9, and x. 12, 13; see also I Pet. iii. 22). The kingdom, therefore, which Christ will deliver up, appears to be that absolute authority over all enemies, with which, as the Son of Man (compare Matt. xxvi. 64; John v. 27), he was invested at his ascension, for the benefit and on the behalf his church (Eph. i. 22, 23, and iv. 8; Col. ii. 15). When, therefore, every enemy to his church, and consequently to himself, is entirely subdued, which will be completed by the destruction of death, the last enemy, at the resurrection of his people, all the purposes of that branch of his kingdom which is over enemies. will have been completely effected; and he will, therefore, deliver it up to his Father and God, who put all things under him: and the Son will himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all (ver. 28).

We may, perhaps, receive light upon the subject of the kingdom by referring to the nature of David's kingdom, which is continually represented as typical of Christ's (Isai. ix. 6, 7; Jer. xxiii. 5, 6 Luke 32). The kingdom of David was twofold. One branch of it was over the house of Israel, over whom he reigned as a willing people. This seems to typify the kingdom which Christ has, and ever will have over the Israel of God (Gal. vi. 16). He makes them his willing people in the day of his power, when they are born again (John iii. 3); and thus delivered from the power of darkness, and translated into his kingdom (Col. i. 13; 1 Thess. ii. 12). Thus they become the subjects of that kingdom of Christ which is not of this world (John xviii. 36); but is righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost (Rom. xiv. 17). And this seems to be that kingdom

F

up, as enemies, and compass about the camp of the saints and the beloved city; all this cannot be after, but must be before the time of the resurrection of the saints, because all enemies among men and devils are to be destroyed

which is in Scripture set forth as his peculiar kingdom.--See note T, on 2 Tim. iv. 1.

The other branch of David's kingdom was that over the enemies of Israel, the Edomites, Moabites, Philistines, &c. whom he subdued in battle, and over whom, though unwilling, he reigned by power. So Christ also overcame in his own person, when manifest in the flesh, every enemy; he continues to reign over and execute judgments upon them; and will, at his second coming, destroy them all with everlasting destruction (Psal. ii. 9-12; xviii. 40--45; and lx. 8, 9, compared with Isai. lxiii. 1-3; lv. 4; Psal. xxiv. 7, compared with Eph. iv. 8). Thus will every object of this branch of his kingdom be completed, and he will deliver it up to his Father and God.

I would conclude these suggestions respecting the kingdom, by observing the striking analogy which appears to me to be set forth in Scripture, between the first and second coming of Christ, in reference to the enemies here noticed. At his first coming he conquered all these hostile principalities and powers as his own enemies; so, at his second coming, he will finally and completely destroy them all, as the enemies of his people. Thus, at his first coming, he in his own person overcame the world (John xvi. 33); and at his second coming, the ungodly world will be punished with everlasting destruction, and be cast into the lake of fire (Rev. xx. 15). At his first coming he overcame the devil, and, through his own death, destroyed him (Heb. ii. 14, the same word, xaτapyew, being used here as in 1 Cor. xv. 24, 26); so, at his second coming, the devil, against whom his people still have to maintain a warfare (Eph. vi. 12), will be cast into the lake of fire (Rev. xx. 10). At his first coming, he, by rising from the grave, broke the dominion of death (Rom. vi 9), and destroyed it (2 Tim. i. 10; the same word, xaTapуew, being used here also as in 1 Cor. xv. 24, 26). And at his second coming, he will finally and everlastingly destroy death (1 Cor. xv. 26), which has continued to have dominion over his people; for he will, at the resurrection of his saints, swallow up death in victory (ver. 54); and death and the grave, or hades, shall be cast into the lake of fire (Rev. xx. 14).

With respect to the end spoken of, I would suggest for consideration, that it appears to me: First, It must refer to something which actually will have, and which is also noticed in the passage itself as having, an end at this time. Secondly, It must, I conceive, refer to something which the Corinthian church could understand; something foretold in those Scriptures which the Holy Ghost had already given; so that on hearing the expression, the end, they might, by reference to some prophecy which was then revealed in the Scriptures, and by comparing this with the fulfilment noticed in this passage, be enabled to collect the, at least, general meaning of the declaration itself.

The use of the expression, then THE end, would appear to me to

or put down before that time. But the first resurrection is a thousand years before the period during which these events take place (Rev. xx. 4-7). Consequently, it

imply some considerations like these just noticed. We may indeed say, in some sense at least, that this will be the end of the world of ungodly men, because they will all be punished at this time with everlasting destruction; though they will, nevertheless, continue to exist where the worm never dieth, and the fire is never quenched. We might also say, that this will be the end of the present earth; for it will be burnt up at the coming of Christ. But as there is no mention in the passage itself, either of the ungodly world or of the earth; and as there does not appear to be any allusion to either in the context, so the end cannot perhaps, strictly speaking, refer either to the world or the earth; though it may, in a general sense, be said that the world, and the earth, and all things have an end.

The end cannot, 1 conceive, refer to the thousand years noticed in Rev. xx. 4, as foretelling their ending, on two accounts:-First, As an exact term of a thousand years is not foretold in any prophecy of the Old Testament; and as the prophecy in Rev. xx. 4, had not then been given, so the Corinthian church could not have understood the expression, then THE end, if it had referred to that. Secondly, The thousand years will not end at but before what is here called the end. For Christ must deliver up the kingdom at or before the end; but he will not deliver up the kingdom either at or before the end of the thousand years, but must retain it, as I have endeavoured to shew, during the whole of the period (Rev. xx. 7-10), which is after the end of the thousand years. Consequently, the end of the thousand years must precede the end here described, by all that intervening period; and though that period be, either absolutely or comparatively, short, yet its intervention would, I conceive, altogether forbid our considering the end of the thousand years to be the end herein signified by the Holy Ghost.

I venture, therefore, to suggest, that the end may have a peculiar reference to the kingdom which Christ will, at this time, deliver up :-First, The kingdom will actually come to an end at this time; and this is expressly noticed in vers. 24, 28. Secondly, Both the kingdom itself and its ending had been foretold in the Old Testament; and also many declarations concerning it had been made by Christ himself; with which prophecies and declarations, the Corinthian church could not, I conceive, but be acquainted. Thirdly, The end is noticed (ver. 25) with an express reference to a prophecy contained in the Old Testament. So that the prophecy and the fulfilment would be connected together in the minds of the Corinthian church on meeting with the expression, the end. And the kingdom will exactly have an end when Christ delivers it up; and he will deliver it up as soon as death, the last enemy, is destroyed; which will be the case at the time, when those who are Christ's are raised at his coming (vers. 23 and 54). On these accounts, therefore, I conceive the end may refer in a peculiar manner, at least, to the kingdom which Christ will deliver up.

must precede the resurrection of the saints, not only by the period of the thousand years, but also by that during which these events themselves take place; and, therefore, must be something entirely distinct from the resurrection of the saints with their incorruptible bodies. Inference second: The event which the Holy Ghost sets forth in ver. 54 as the destruction of the last enemy, Death, and of Hades, or the grave, as connected with death (vers. 55-57), cannot, I conceive, but be the same event as that which he describes in Rev. xx. 14, as the casting of death and hades, or the grave, into the lake of fire (see No. vii. p. 11); and therefore the time of each must be the same. But the resurrection of the saints takes place at the time when death and hades are destroyed (ver. 54); and the dead, small and great, stand before Christ at the time when death and hades are cast into the lake of fire (Rev. xx. 14). Consequently, the resurrection of the saints takes place at the same time as the dead, small and great, stand before God; and therefore this also shews that the first resurrection cannot be the same as the resurrection of the saints; but more than a thousand years before it.

XIV. 2 Cor. v.: "9 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. 11 Knowing therefore the terror of the

Lord, we persuade men."

The word we, evidently, has a special reference to the Apostles and the ministers of Christ, whose office it is to persuade men. The obvious meaning of this passage appears to me: First, That ministers of the Gospel whose office it is to persuade men, and those whom they were engaged in persuading, will all appear at one and the same time before the judgment seat of Christ, that they may receive the things done in the body: Secondly, That a final distinction will be then made between the two classes who composed the all, according to what each did while in the body. Faithful ministers and all those to whom the Gospel which they preached was made the power of God