into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night, for ever and ever." Sad would it be, indeed, if we were only to look at the devastation to be again wrought by Satan when loosed, if through the whole we did not trace ulterior blessing resulting. The nations (or at least very many of them) are deceived. Israel, on the contrary, is opposed by the rebel host. The saints, of course, are free from this, for they are in glory with the Lord. Jerusalem is compassed about, and God vindicates His holy city, by a fiery destruction of the enemies. Such a gathering together as this, subsequent to the established blessing of Jerusalem, had been foretold long before:- "Behold they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee, shall fall for thy sake" (Isa. liv. 15). Christ has thus, up to the end of His received kingdom, to maintain its character of putting down all rule. After this, we only read of preparation being rapidly made for the giving-up of the kingdom :-" And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven 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 the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell [hades] delivered up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every man according to their works. And death and hell [hades] 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." Death being destroyed, we know what must have taken place. All other enemies must have been previously destroyed, seeing that death is the last enemy; and we know what must then follow-the giving-up of the kingdom.

66

The defection occasioned by the loosing of Satan is apparently wide-spread, but not universal. Israel will be free, and so surely will any of the nations be who so obey the word, "Rejoice, ye nations, with His people," as to accept it in all its largeness of fellowship in rule, worship, and inheritance. It is not said that these living servants of God are judged, nor yet that they die. What then? Surely they are the germ for the peopling of that NEW EARTH, which is mentioned immediately after. Nor let this be thought a mere fancy. In Isa. lxv. 17, 18, the blessing of the restored Jerusalem is made the pledge of the blessing of the new heavens, and the new earth. Peter bids us (2 Peter iii. 13), according to His promise, to look for new heavens, and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." Where is this promise simply to be found? In Isa. lxv. 17; and thus we see that the blessing of Jerusalem and her people issues in that of the new earth. They are to be rejoiced in for ever, not for a mere temporary space, such as Christ's rule of subjecting; and just so, again and again, the perpetuity of Israel, as God's holy nation upon earth, is stated in the strongest terms:-" They shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they and their children, and their children's children, for ever; and my servant David shall be their prince for ever. Moreover, I will make a covenant of peace with them, it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them; yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the heathen shall know that I, the Lord, do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore" (Eze. xxxvii. 25-28). There would be scarcely any end to the citing

of similar passages, but this one will I give, as speaking of Christ personally :— "The Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David, and He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end" (Luke i. 32, 33). Now I would ask, Do these words of the Holy Ghost mean anything? Is the reiterated statement of perpetuity to be believed, or is it to be confined to the time of Christ's reign of subjecting? Surely this is the direct statement of continuous blessing to Israel as an earthly nation; a blessing not limited, not to be transferred: the throne of David is to be Christ's place of everlasting rule. Greater glories might be superadded, but the things promised cannot themselves fail.

Again, the rule of Christ over the nations is to be "for ever" (Dan. ii. 44). "His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed" (Dan. vii. 14). In Psalm cxvii., the nations are called on to glorify God for His everlasting truth. Surely these things are to be believed, but sure I am, that the saints have thought very little about them.

It may be asked, How can this perpetuity consist with the giving-up of the kingdom? Observe what it is that is given up. It is a kingdom of subjecting. It is given up when there is nothing left to be rendered subject; and thus it leaves Christ in actual possession of all that He had before of authority, and this, too, brought out into actual manifestation: :-"Thou hast put all things under His feet." It is nowhere said that Christ gives up the kingdom over Israel, or over the nations, or over the whole creation. dominions appear to belong to Him, not only while He holds His rule of subjecting, but likewise after every thing has been rendered subject.

These

I have been speaking simply of the subjection of "the world to come;" but I judge, that the full blessing of "the world to come," is when the subjection is complete-when the new earth (Jerusalem its centre) will in all things be fully conformed to God, Israel fully blest in every sense, and the remnant of the nations ruled over in Christ's everlasting kingdom. Then, and not till then, will the purpose of the Father be fully met. He hath made PEACE through the blood of Christ's cross, "by him to reconcile ALL THINGS unto Himself; by Him, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven" (Col. i. 20). This cannot be fully done, so long as aught remains unsubjected. As to the mode of the subsistence, or the nature of those who people this renewed earth, I do not pretend to define anything, although, at the same time, I would be far from affirming that no light is thrown thereon in the Scripture. Strangely enough has the blessing of Israel, when restored, been limited in the minds of many to the defined "thousand years." I would press on those saints who recognise that God is faithful to His promises, that the perpetuity of the established blessing of Israel (to say nothing of any others) far overflows any such boundary line. I would suggest this subject, which is so constantly overlooked, to the consideration of Christians.

If the saints reign with Christ a thousand years, where will they be afterward? Let us bear in mind the portion of the saints :-" So shall we ever be with the Lord." If He reigns in any given dispensational character, they are with Him in it, for the definite limit which belongs to that character of rule. If He reigns in the perpetuity of His kingdom, they reign with Him in it:-" And He shall reign for ever and ever" (Rev. xi. 15). “And they

shall reign for ever and ever" (Rev. xxii. 5. See also Dan. vii. 18). Thus shall the Eve of the second Adam share all the glory of her Lord, of whatever kind it be, or in whatsoever sphere it be exercised. If He hold a temporary kingdom, she reigns there; if He manifest His glory in an eternal kingdom, she reigns there.

It is to be observed that Christ is no where said to be king over the Church when she is in glory with Him; now we have been delivered by the Father from the power of darkness, and have been translated into the kingdom of His dear Son (Col. i. 13); but when the Lord shall have come, "then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father" (Matt. xiii. 43). This is at the very time when "the Son of Man shall send forth His angels, and gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them that do iniquity;"—that is, when He takes His earthly kingdom, and commences His rule of subjecting. I judge that, scripturally, the kingdom of the Son of God would be an expression exclusively applicable to that in which the Church now is—while there is evil yet in the saints, although, by the blood of Christ, they are reconciled to God. The kingdom of the Father appears to embrace whatever is not only reconciled, but, likewise, fully conformed, to God: the kingdom of the Son of Man indicates all that Christ will take in order to bring it into subjection and conformity to God. These three definitions are, I believe, strictly borne out by Scripture; and they help to a clear apprehension of some of the future blessings of the Church, and likewise of "the world to come."

I have especially rested upon Christ as holding the authority of the world to come,—this, of course, is not to the exclusion of the Church; some of the Scriptures already referred to bring this plainly out, and therefore, in confirmation, I will refer to but two passages more: "He that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers; even as I received of my Father" (Rev. ii. 26, 27). "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" (Rev. iii. 21). Thus, let the glory of Christ and his subjecting rule be fully stated, the saints share the whole, as being "members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones" (Eph. v. 30). Let the dispensational kingdom be given up, let the relation of Christ to the house of Jacob-over whom He will reign for everchange in any part of its character, let the new heaven and the new earth exhibit fully the glory of the Lord, the Church is still borne along with Him; for no change can alter His relation to her.

I look on the giving-up of the dispensational kingdom as a very bright point in expectation; not, indeed, strictly in the joy of the saints, but in the full manifestation of the glory of Jesus as the LORD. Then He will not only have had His grace displayed to the Church, but His power in dominion, in subduing this rebel earth, in putting down Satan for ever, and in setting up everlasting blessedness in heaven and on earth. Then the will of God will be fully done on earth as it is in heaven; and all, without one jarring note, will praise His name. The wicked will have been wholly purged out, and all things will declare the power and preciousness of the blood of the Lamb. The coming of the Lord, and His assuming His kingdom, is the full declaration of His glory; but it is the ultimate putting under of all that opposes, that is its full manifestation. The one proclaims His titles, " And on His head were many crowns,” -the other displays His power in subduing all things unto Himself.

Thus are all things to issue in the full declaration of the LORDSHIP of Christ. This is a wide word, comprehending more than any other term of authority;- His kingdom over Israel, over the nations, or over the earth, are but parts of His Lordship; this the Church now knows and owns. The especial title by which the Spirit reveals Jesus Christ is that of LORD (1 Cor. xii. 3); the Son of God, rejected by man, raised by God, and made both

VOL III.

3 z

Lord and Christ. It is not merely that all shall own Christ as being God— this is true-but more than this, He-the rejected man of sorrows-shall be owned as being the constituted Lord of all.

The name of Lord, as applied to Jesus, has ever been precious to the Church; and in the Church owning him as such, one of God's great purposes is so far forth fulfilled. It is as Lord that He now sitteth at God's right hand: "Jehovah said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool:"-and when owned as Jehovah, still His name of Lord is joined therewith: "O Jehovah, our Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth!" Thus widely will He be known in "the world to come" by that name which is so precious, even now, to the Church.

This word of wide dominion is assuredly a perpetual name pertaining to Jesus: now, no one can call Jesus Lord but by the Holy Ghost (1 Cor. xii. 3); now the knowledge of this name is the reception of grace; but when the glory of Christ is manifested, this will have to be owned in power by all. We read thus concerning the ultimate submission (Phil. ii. 9-11): "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 the Father." Amen.

REMARKS ON THE REVELATION.

FROM CHAPTER viii. 6 TO CHAPTER Xi. 18, INCLUSIVE.

[In continuation from page 315].

It is remarkable that the temple in heaven is only thrice mentioned in the revelation to John previous to the opening of the seventh seal, which is the commencement of sorrow to the earth; the three references are (chap. iii. 12), "Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God; and he shall go no more out;" and (chap. vi. 9) under the fifth seal, "I saw under the altar the souls of them that were beheaded," &c., and (chap. vii. 15) in his temple shall dwell the innumerable multitude. This seems remarkable, because during the sorrows and woes of the trumpets the temple holds so very prominent a place. Thus first, in chap. viii., immediately after the opening of the seventh seal, an angel stands at the altar which was before the throne with a censer; and, when his work is done, the seven angels begin to sound; secondly, chap. ix., on the sixth angel sounding a voice from the four horns of the golden altar, which is before God, saying, &c.; then thirdly, in chap. xi., we have the temple of God (ver. 1), and the temple of God was opened in heaven, &c. (ver. 19); again, fourthly, chap. xiv., as to the harvest and vintage of the earth, we have three angels coming forth severally out of the temple (ver. 15); out of the temple which is in heaven (ver. 17); from the altar (ver. 18); fifthly, chap. xv. 5, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened (ver. 6), another angel comes out of the temple with the plagues, and (ver. 8) the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power, and no man was able to enter into the temple; and, sixthly, from the same place, chap. xvi., a great voice proclaims it is done (ver. 17). No one reading these contexts can doubt that one of the objects in the

prominent place given therein to the temple, is to identify the actions with the Divine glory, and to shew that they are more than the actions of God simply as Lord God Almighty upon the throne; though that throne is, in these passages, shewn to be in the temple: they are the actions of God, as God, in the Divine glory, and shewing Himself thus to be the object of worship, though still, through His emissaries, the Over-ruler of all things likewise. Till the close of the 7th chapter the Lamb is upon the throne; and so far the throne, as the seat of the government of one whose glory was, through grace, then fully to be known, stands without mention of the temple, and He that is there is seen as the doer of every thing; but no sooner is the innumerable multitude from among all nations, &c., brought to be in the temple than the throne seems hidden in it, and the actions which follow are seen only in connection with the emissaries of the throne. And this is just as one would have supposed; for every member of the heavenly calling has full access to God, and they are the objects of the former portion; the 144,000 from Israel are the objects of Divine regard during the latter parts, and their standing and privileges are different and lower, and God's dealings to them more intermediate, through angels; and the definite action not openly presented and distinctly described as to us, but set forth in figure, and symbols, and parables. On this account I think that it is likely that while up to chapter xii. all has been literal and no symbol used, henceforth, onward, till the Church of the heavenly calling again becomes involved as the object of action, the description may run in symbol altogether.

In approaching now to the consideration of the trumpets, I would notice one or two general principles connected with the study of truth: our power of understanding Scripture consists in the mind and spirit of Christ, which we, as sons of God, have. The new creation in us has the mind of God, and to it the Spirit, searching all things, yea, the deep things of God, communicates, as he will. Nevertheless it is the written Word wherein these deep things are found. This I believe to be of great importance, as shewing the hindrance which knowledge (as men count it), gained by observation of present circumstances and experience, the study of history or works of man, may be-if not all tested by accordance with the written Word. For instance, in approaching the subject of the seven trumpets, we come with heads full of notions about trumpets, derived partly from the modern every-day use of them, partly from the study of profane history, and it may be partly from books of the customs and manners of oriental nations. Now just so far as these thoughts are different from the thoughts which would be formed in the mind of any simple child of God by the Spirit, in passing through His own mention of trumpets in the written Word, just so far, I say, should we come to the subject with a false medium of communication. I would it were more our habit than it is, to trace out with patience and humility the Holy Ghost's use of words and things ere pronouncing what we believe to be the mind of the Lord on any point. To my own mind, in nature there is nothing more in a trumpet than the idea of "a suitable means of drawing public attention in concourses of people,"-it might thus lead me in thought to warfare, or the field of battle, or the presence of an earthly monarch; but so habituated am I to the sound of it in mere daily life, that these things would be rather the results of thought upon the subject than first impressions; and certainly the highest to which thought in nature would lead Far otherwise are the thoughts awakened by "the trumpet" to the mind which comes fresh from the study of the Word.

me.

The first trumpet was divine, announcing the presence of Divine Majesty. To the holy priesthood the trumpet was given in Israel as an ordinance of the