That the restored Jews are to be greatly instrumental in producing this change, I can cherish no doubt; for they are to be "as a dew spread over the earth;" and "the receiving of them back into their own land, will be to the world" as life from the dead.* But this use of external and usual instruments will not, I imagine, be unaccompanied by the direct renewal of miraculous agency. Such will be the condition of the world subsequent to the second advent of the Messiah; a period of faith and holiness, which is characterized by the prophet Isaiah as constituting "a new heaven and a new earth."

This hallowed and renovated state of the earth is the theme of hope and joy to every true believer in the revelation of God; and, to the view which I have hitherto given of that state, no such believer, I imagine, will be reluctant to yield his full assent: but many will, perhaps, differ from the view which I must now proceed to illustrate, as to the government of that world. I have briefly explained the condition of those who are to be the subjects, the governed of the kingdom, men in their mortal state, but now penitent, converted, humble, affectionate, pious to God, and charitable to their kindred and their neighbour; men temperate, consistent, prosperous without pride, and happy without ingratitude; men still associated in civil order and government, living without injustice, and dying without alarm; forming a pleasant and a joyous family, united in bonds which the faith of Christ and the Spirit of truth have formed and consecrated; men, to whom self-control, virtue, kindness, and public and private concord will mitigate disease, and much diminish sorrow; men, to whom life will be felicity, and death full of peace; men, in fine, realizing that lovely and soul-rejoicing scene, depicted by the skilful hand of the evangelic prophet: (Isaiah Ixv. 17.) "Behold I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create; for behold I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people; and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old, but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. And they shall build houses and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not

* Indeed the belief of the primitive church was, that their restoration would be cotemporaneous (or nearly so) with the first resurrection; and so they explained Rom, xi. 15.

build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree, are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them. And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer, and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt, nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord."

Such is the condition of the governed, the happy subjects of the kingdom of Christ, and the kingdom of his glorified saints. To the method of this government I shall next solicit the attention of the Christian reader. I have already offered a very decided opinion as to the personal reign of Christ; and I have hinted at the return of miraculous agency into the world. I have intimated that while I refer the happiness and the purity of this kingdom to an INWARD INFLUENCE, to the powerful agency of the secret and eternal teacher, the great Comforter; and while I hold, with other interpreters, the effective conversion of the human character to be, not by the might of miracle, but by "the Spirit of the Lord;" yet I gather beyond this, from the language of scripture, that this casting out of Satan will be effected, and this wise and harmonious fabric of social order and of religious happiness will be reared, under the visible dominion of the glorified Messiah and his elect church. I gather, that the sovereignties and authorities of the earth will recognize and delight in the visitations, counsels, and favour of the redeemed princes of the earth, and hold their own authority beneath their acknowledged sceptre; and that thus the government of the world, in its daily and peaceful course, will be under a miraculous dispensation, and the kingdom be established in the hands of him, who will "personally reign as KING OF KINGS, and Lord of Lords.

It is with humility, and an anxious desire to abide entirely by the word of God, that I now state this opinion, and shall proceed to explain it, as far as the light that shines upon the sacred page will enable me to discern its import.

29*

CHAPTER VIII.

The Government of Christ and his Saints.

THE prophet Isaiah has recorded (Isaiah xxiv. 23) this remarkable declaration. "Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of Hosts shall reign in Mount Zion, and before his ancients gloriously."

Upon this passage a pious and learned commentator has made the following observations: "This is no other than the Lord Jesus Christ, the true Jehovah, the Lord of hosts or armies, of the sun, moon, and stars, the host of heaven, and of the heavenly hosts of angels and of men on earth; who was king from eternity, and reigned during the Old Testament dispensation; came a king into this world, though his kingdom was not of it: upon his ascension to heaven was made and declared Lord and Christ; and now rules in the hearts of his people, by his Spirit and grace, and whose spiritual reign will more manifestly appear in the latter day. But here it is to be understood of his reign on earth, which will be personal, visible, and glorious, and in a different manner from what it now is, when he will be king over all the earth. Zion, and Jerusalem, where he will reign, may be literally understood as the chief place of his residence during this state, the spot of ground where he was most despised and ill-treated. Here he will reign before his ancients gloriously, or in glory, in his own glory, both as God, and man, and mediator; and in his Father's glory, and in the glory of his holy angels, in which he will come and appear, and therefore his appearing is called a glorious one: (Luke ix. 26. Tit. ii. 13.) and this before his ancients, the ancient patriarchs, both before the flood, as Adam, Abel, &c., and after the flood as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and others; the old Jewish church, the prophets and saints of the Old Testament dispensation; the apostles and elders of the gospel churches under the new; the four-and-twenty elders, the representatives of the gospel churches, so often spoken of in the book of the Revelations, very probably with reference to this text; and all the saints in all ages, who will now be raised from the dead and live and reign with him. These are his ancients, who are loved with an everlasting love, chosen in him before the foundation of the world, with whom a covenant was made in him, and grace given to them in him, before the world

began; in the midst and presence of these he will reign, and they shall behold his glory; yea, they shall appear in glory, so may the words be rendered, before his ancients, who are glory, or in glory; for they shall appear with him in glory, both in soul and body, having the glory of God upon them." Gill's Com. on the Bible, in loc.)

In accordance with the view of this commentator, I expect the personal and visible kingdom of Christ, and this to rise out of the desolation and ruin of the fourth monarchy, in the last days of its divided state. I believe that no fifth, dominant sovereignty, similar to the four monarchies of Assyria, Persia, Greece, and Rome, will ever be established upon earth; but that the power of Christ, when it smites to shivers the last of these monarchies in its divided state, will establish upon their subverted thrones, the everlasting throne of his grace and mediatorial strength. This throne will admit, I imagine, the subordination of other human sovereignties, and will corroborate and support the blessings of civil government and concord through the world; while the glorified saints "of the first resurrection" will be associated with Christ in the direction and consolidation of his peaceful empire: and the world will thus exhibit a gladdening spectacle of a vast population of men, still, indeed, mortal, and subject to occasional ill, but generous, disinterested, living in concord and heartfelt union: attributing all their blessings to the grace and power of Christ, and recognizing his will and love, alike in the exercise of power, and in the submission of obedience. The higher management and control of this world will, however, be in the hands, first of Christ himself, and, under him, in the hands of men-of men, once like the mortal sojourners they govern, but now glorified like their Lord, and living amidst their mortal kindred, as benefactors, princes, and kings. It is not needful to suppose their presence to be always apparent to their happy subjects; but still their visible manifestations to be sufficiently frequent, to sustain the mutual allegiance and concord of mankind; to cheer the intercourse of life; and to perpetuate an abiding recognition of their intense benevolence and their sovereign authority.

I have felt it to be very difficult, during many past years, to admit the entrance into my mind of a recurrence to miraculous intercourse between heaven and earth. The influence of prejudice, and the habits of mental associations, are exceedingly powerful; and this influence, at the same time, is easily increased, by a dread of enthusiasm, or of weakness of judg

ment.

The human mind, since the degradation it has experienced

through sin, has, more or less, been disposed to shrink away from any direct manifestation of God. Even good men, renewed by grace, seem still too much entrammelled by this fear; a fear, which is, perhaps, enforced by the apprehension of reproach from their fellow-creatures, who, while they recognize a distant, stately, and indistinct notion of providence, as vehemently oppose a domination which would overawe their passions, and render painful the pursuits of ambition, pleasure, or wealth. Men love to live under a liberal feeling of independence, and to confine their notions of power, or of submission, to the existing authorities, to the existing means of science, and sources of emolument. Under this trammel, even good men are greatly disposed to defer any miraculous agency to the last scene of things; to the demolition of the world; to the final judgment; to the translation of all human interests to another and altogether different world. With the concerns of the present scene, they love to associate, exclusively, an unseen and spiritual superintendence; a superintendence which may amalgamate more easily with the views of philosophy, and with the current habits of human thought and action. Perhaps this disposition in good men has done much to strengthen the arm of infidelity, and to render the practical authority of Christ in the world, like an evanescent and powerless speculation. The strong and decisive assertion, "By me kings reign, and princes decree judgment," loses all its grasp upon the heart, by its connexion with the indistinct and vague notion of providential appointment; and the practical results of dependance and responsibility are nearly lost. The separation of the kingly power of Christ from the visible occupancy of the throne of this world, seems to afford a powerful auxiliary to the workings of ambition and pride. The real and pressing conviction of his return to erect a tribunal of abiding justice upon this earth, would go far to awe rebellion of heart into subjection, and to reverse the practical estimate of power, influence, distinction, and wealth. To transfer the ultimate rectification of good and evil to another orb-to a different world, weakens the sanctions of revelation upon the human heart, by throwing them to a distance. We speak of another world, and the atheist heart, binding down all its hopes and fears to the present scene, smiles in scorn at the misty and untried futurity.

In opposition to this current mode of thought, I desire strongly to affirm, that the expectation of the reign of Jesus Christ, is not unaccordant with a rational philosophy, while it harmonises with the history and the analogies of the past dispensations of God.