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mountain, therefore, if Christ rose, the saints shall be manifested in immortal and incorruptible bodies; as it is written"The redeemed of the Lord shall return and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head; they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away:"-just as before written, "He shall wipe away tears from off all faces."

As the historical part of this subject shews, that this place has been designed and pointed out to the Church at various periods as a place of manifestation; so the prophetical passages just quoted prove, that all these different circumstances were but as the earnest of a future glorious manifestation and possession of it by Christ and his saints,-who are the real house of God, the heavenly Jerusalem, who shall come down from God out of heaven.

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There are many other circumstances, which evince a peculiar appropriation of this place to the Lord Jesus. As he, by anticipation, was said to have been slain before the foundation of the world; so, by a similar anticipation, he is said to have rejoiced in this earth (cv) before it was made.* It is called, by the same anticipation, the holy land, the Lord's land, and Immanuel's land. Zion is declared also to be 'the city of God," "God's hill," "the mount which he loveth," the perfection of beauty,'e 'his rest for ever, where he will dwell, because he hath desired it." Here indeed he is said to have dwelt already, before he became flesh; giving to his people the cloud, as the symbol of his presence-the very symbol also of his return. Here we know, likewise, he did sojourn, when in the flesh, loving more especially to retire to that part of it called 'the Mount of Olives,'-where was 'the garden;" from whence also he took his departure on a cloud; and where he will again descend; as it is written, "His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof towards the east and towards the west; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal; yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled before the earthquake, in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD MY GOD shall come, and ALL THE What can be more explicit than this

SAINTS WITH THEE.

I Rev. xiii. 8. lxxxvii. 3.

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y Zech. ii. 12.

z Hosea ix. 3. C Ps. lxviii. 15. d Ps. lxxviii. 68. Ps. lxxiv. 2, 3. h Acts i. 9-11; Rev. i. 7.

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* A comparison of Proverbs viii. 23, 31, in the Septuagint version will shew, that it is open yn here spoken of-the habitable land or earth;

μ being

also the word, which, in Hebrews ii. 5, is translated "world" to come.

prophecy? Mr. Faber, who does not concur with me in the view of the personal reign, admits, nevertheless, of this prophecy, that it must be literal, "and designed, by its circumstantial clearness, to cut off the possibility of figurative interpretation." And immediately after this prophecy it is added "And the Lord shall be KING over all the earth"-proving most decidedly, when the kingdom will be manifest; (viz. at his coming with the saints, before named;) and where, viz. on earth.

n

Many other Scriptures prove that the Lord's kingdom is to be manifested on earth: for example, Jer. xxiii. 5,—“A king shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth." Again, Ezek. xliii. 7, when the Lord, on granting to him a vision of Jerusalem, says,-"Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet." Wherefore our Lord forbids his disciples to swear by Jerusalem, because it is THE CITY OF THE GREAT KING.m Nor must I omit to notice, when speaking of the throne, that Isaiah says: "Of the increase of his government there shall be no end, upon the throne of DAVID, and upon his kingdom." Thus the angel Gabriel announces to Mary;-"He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father DAVID." And where was the throne of David? surely not in heaven; for St. Peter tells us plainly, "that David is not ascended into the heavens;" but that, "being a prophet, he knew that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne." The Lord, however, certainly did not sit on David's throne at his first coming; for Herod was then in it: and this promise therefore remains to be fulfilled at his second coming.

2. It is now time that I should notice an objection, which it will be useful to consider, not merely in reference to this particular argument, but likewise as affecting in some measure general principles of interpretation.

There are passages of Scripture, relating to this matter, which are undoubtedly to be understood only in a spiritual sense, and must be so interpreted. Such, for example, as when St. Paul says of gentile believers, "that they are fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, and are built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord; in whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God through the

Vol. vii. p. 267. 1 Zech. xiv. 9.
» Acts ii. 30, 34, &c.

• Luke i. 32.

m Matt. v. 35.

n Isa. ix. 7.

Spirit." And St. Peter also, speaking of Christ as of ‘a living stone," adds, "Ye also are built up a spiritual house."

Persons who do not consider, that such a spiritual view is reconcileable with other texts, which must, for reasons equally manifest, be literal, at once conclude, that every reference to the house, or city, or mount of God must be figurative; just as some others, collecting a few passages, the nature of which is unquestionably literal, thence conclude that none are figurative. There are passages, which speak of a spiritual resurrection, relating to the raising of the soul from the death of sin, unto the life of righteousness; whence believers are said to be already risen with Christ:r but we must not thence conclude that there is not a bodily resurrection revealed also. The spiritual resurrection is the pledge and earnest of the bodily one, rendering it more sure; just as things which are first literally fulfilled, are pledges of the like spiritual things. It was the exclusive consideration of such Scriptures that caused many among the Corinthians to err, supposing the spiritual resurrection to be the first resurrection promised, and therefore that it had taken place: which opinion is apparently the very one St. Paul denies and combats, in the fifteenth chapter of his first Epistle to them; wherein he insists, that their faith was vain were this the case.

Prophetic Scripture, and all Scripture, must be judged of by its context and general scope. For example, when it speaks of a man, we understand a being who possesses a spiritual soul, dwelling in a mortal body. The chief commands and promises of Scripture are addressed to his spiritual part; but that does not prove, that the soul will not hereafter be manifested in a body, any more than it proves, that it is not now in the body. When therefore we use the word soul for man, we include his body as a matter of course. For who would suppose, because it is written, "that Abram took Sarai, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the SOULS that they had gotten in Haran, and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan;"who, I say, would conclude, that they took only the spirits of these persons, and left their bodies behind? And who again, because St. Paul exhorts the brethren to present their bodies a living sacrifice unto God,' would suppose that he does not include the soul; without which they would be a dead, and not a living, sacrifice?

Now apply this principle to the house of God,-which we have seen is the city, the New Jerusalem, the holy mountain. A city is, strictly speaking, a number of persons dwelling to

Ephes. ii. 19-22.

Rom. vi. 4, 5; Col. iii. 1. › Gen. xii. 5.

t Rom. xii. 1.

gether under certain laws and immunities. Whether they dwell in tents, in ceiled houses, or have the sky only as their canopy is indifferent: houses come to be called the city, only because they are the place of abode of the citizens; just as we call a pile of stones a church, because the real Church of God are presumed to assemble in it. The houses are no more a city when without inhabitants, than a body is a man when the spirit is fled: both are their ruins only. Thus it is written-"Then went out to him Jerusalem, &c. and were baptized of him in Jordan"-which evidently means the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and when therefore a city is said to be preparing in heaven, the saints must be intended, who are destined to form it, and are now called "Jerusalem which is above;" and which is the same Jerusalem which it is said shall "come down—FROM Godout of heaven." But because they are the real city-the lively stones-it does not follow therefore that they are to have no place of manifestation: on the contrary, there must be some place of visible dwelling if they come in the body, whatever the nature of that place may be. Those who can see nothing but figure in Scripture are compelled to explain, that the great city, the holy Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven, signifies the ascent of the saints into heaven. But this is not only a perversion of language, but a perversion of figure. The scripture figures are remarkable for their appropriate significancy; whereas in this case they would be remarkable, as meaning the very reverse of what they seemed to describe.

It may clear this point to observe further, that there are texts which beyond question refer to a material city, so far as literal language can express it; and yet they primarily aim at the persons who compose such cities, without which they would have no meaning. For instance,-"Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not. Woe unto thee, Chorazin," &c." "And when he was come near he beheld the city and wept over it saying, if thou hadst known," &c." It is here evident that it was the material city—the pile of stones with its towers and domes, which first caught the eye of Jesus; and he appears only to address this mass of materials. But any man of understanding must be aware, that it was the inhabitants of Chorazin, &c. against whom he pronounced the woe; and the inhabitants of Jerusalem over whom he wept. It was her "children" whom he would have gathered: but the one part is included in the other.

Thus am I led to conclude, when Daniel, on "presenting his

■ Rev. xxi. 2. ▾ Matt. xi. 20-24. w Luke xix. 41.

supplications for the holy mountain of his God," couples together the following phrases-"thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain;""Jerusalem, even thy people"-"thy city, even thy people, are called by THY NAME," that these terms are in the first place explanatory of each other; and, secondly, that there is a reference in them, both to the household of God, and to the place of their congregating and future manifestation. So in the following passage, "Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old; the rod of thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed; this mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt;" mount Zion and the congregation are made as one by implication; whilst yet the context shews, that Zion literally, as well as the congregation, are both distinctly referred to.

I add here some texts, shewing the practical use, which the Apostles made of the doctrine of the Kingdom and Inheritance to be manifested on the earth. I could greatly increase the list were I to turn to the Old Testament; (particularly in reference to the land, the promise of which, in one Psalm only, is practically applied six different times;) but, for obvious reasons, I prefer keeping at present to the New Testament. Grounded then on these truths are Exhortations

to Repentance.

"And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matt. iii. 1.

"Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God." 1 Cor. vi. 9, 10.

"Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulation, wrath, strife, sedition, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." Gal. v. 19-21.

"For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God." Ephes. v. 5.

to Holiness and to seek Grace.

"Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." John iii. 3.

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* In both these instances, I take the vau of the Hebrew, and the xa of the Septuagint necessarily to mean even, (as they often do,) not and.

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