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fhall at length prevail over the blindness of Judaifm, the fchifms of Herefy, the superftitions of Idolatry, the fables of Mahometanism, the corruptions of Popery, and the blafphemous philosophism of Infidelity; for our Lord fhall fubdue them with the fpirit of his mouth. The remnant left after the decifive battle will be converted by thefe"figns from Heaven;" and thus the fcene of his humiliation fhall be alfo the fcene of his glory.

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"In the beginning God faw every thing that he had made, and it was very good;' but "the earth became corrupt before the Lord" for "fin had entered in, and death by fin." And in the end, he who created all things perfect-he who redeemed us. from the power of Satan, and conquered fin and death, fhall "make all things new." "The present things fhall pafs away, and a new heaven and new earth," or a new scene of things fanctified by the Lord our Righteoufnefs, fhall receive "the tabernacle of God, when he cometh to dwell with men." The new Jerufalem

fhall

When Christianity triumphed over Paganism, and became the established Religion of the world under 24 Con

shall be separated from the world as the garden of Eden, but the gates of entrance fball fand open. The Church of Christ, represented, both in its state of suffering and of triumph, by the fymbol of a City, will then confist of converted Jews, and Gentile Christians, and the glorious affembly of the faints, "the first-born children of the refurrection," refined and purified from earth and fin, and form one body under Christ their Head; then will commence the glorious Millennium, fo anxiously looked for by the primitive Chriftians-so desired as the fabbatical reft of the people of God→→→ and fo apt a type and anticipation of the happiness of heaven. The glory which refted upon the ark within the vail of the Jewish Temple, was but a type of that Superior glory of the Lord, which shall be displayed in the midst of the new Jerufalem. "In this city there fhall be no temple, for the Lord God Almighty and the. Lamb are the temple of it. God fhall wipe away all tears from the eyes of its

Conftantine, on the opening of the fixth feal, it is said, " And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together;" Rev. vi. 14. to defcribe the change which then took place in the fyftem of the world.

inhabitants; there fhall be no more death, neither forrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; and there fhall be no more curfe, for there fhall in no wife enter into it any thing that defileth; for the throne of God and of the Lamb fhall be in it, and his fervants fhall fee his face, and his name fhall be in their foreheads; and there fhall be no night there, and they need no candle, neither light of the fun; for the Lord God giveth them light, and they fhall reign for ever and ever ""-fhall fuffer no difturbance in their kingdom, while the world endures-"And there shall be no more fea." As the Ifraelites, feparated by God from all other nations, needed no King, for the Lord God was their King, fo fhall these holy people be under the immediate government of God and Chrift. But the Ifraelites forfeited this special blefing by their rebellions ; under this "new heaven" there fhall be no more fea, nothing fimilar to the rebellions, and tumults, and popular commotions, which will mark with peculiar violence the times immediately preceding this wonderful change in the Syftem of the World,

Rev. xxi. 4, 22. and xxii. 3—5· ·

fhall

fhall difturb their "bleffed tranquillity *.” Virtue, holiness, and piety, divine love, perfect harmony, angelic purity, and conftant happiness will reign and flourish in this Kingdom, for death and fin will be fwallowed up in victory”—at leaft their power over "the faints in the camp," or community of "juft men made perfect." Then will the communication between earth and heaven be restored at the conclufion as it exifted at the beginning of the world. Then will "the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, be given to the people of the faints of the Moft High, whofe kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall ferve and obey him "." "And the nations of them which are faved fhall walk in the light of this city-enlightened by the glory of God, and of the Lamb-and the kings of the earth fhall bring their glory and honour to it, and the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day, for there fhall be no night there, and they shall bring the glory and honour of nations into it ".'

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It requires a greater stretch of imagination than seems to be confiftent with, the fober rules of interpretation, to fpiritualize these descriptions into the beatific joys of heaven. Nor will the fimilar defcriptions of the more antient Prophets be more eafily brought to the fame height of Myfticifm. In fact the doctrine of the Millennium fteers clear of two extremes. While fome imagine that the description of the Meffiah's kingdom is to be understood as merely the introduction of the Christian Religion, painted in the lofty ftyle and luxuriant imagery of the Eaft; others imagine, that the inconceivable joys of heaven are thus reprefented, in accommodation to our feeble faculties. Whereas the truth appears to be, that the introduction of the Chriftian Religion into the world, and the marvellous work of Redemption by the death of Chrift, form the primary fubjects of the Prophetic writings; and the train of glorious confequences to follow upon this our carth, their secondary fignification. For

PROPHECY REACHES BUT TO THE GATES

OF HEAVEN. "If I tell you earthly things, and ye believe not, how fhall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly?" was faid by our Lord, to check enquiries into what must

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