three hundred and sixty, or sixty five thousand years, and the whole world, rid of its tormenter, and blessed with the benign rays of the son of Righteousness, will live in peace, love, and perfect harmony without pain, trouble, or persecution, or any thing to disturb the happiness, and comfort of the glorious kingdom of God. We have been so long accustomed to the dark reign of Satan and the Pope, that it seems as if the world will feel lonesome without them.

The reign of Christ, in point of duration, compared with the reign of Satan will be sixty, to one; for every year that Satan has reigned, Christ will reign sixty years, and for every thousand years of Satan's reign, Christ will reign sixty thousand. Not only so, but Satan had twice to begin the world; once with Adam and Eve; and again with Noah and his three sons. Moreover during the reign of Satan, how few of mankind have ever come to maturity, a very great part of the human race die in a state of infancy, and youth; thousands die in battle, thousands of lives are cut off by intemperance, plagues, famines, and fevers; so that the human race, during the reign of Satan, never had half a chance to multiply. But it will be far otherwise in the happy kingdom of Christ. There will be no untimely deaths, no woes, plagues, pestilences, famines, fevers, consumptions, nor fatal intemperance; but health, long life, prosperity, happiness, love, and friendship, will abound all over the face of the earth. Add to all this, Christ will begin his reign with the world full of people; and consequently population will begin at once all over the earth, and go on with incredible rapidity; all will be of the elect number, and under the kind care, and the benign blessing of Jehovah. There is indeed no possible way, that I know of, by which we could calculate, or even guess at the number that will be saved; but I have no manner of doubt, but there will be more than a thousand of the human family saved, for one who will be lost, and even this calculation may prove to be very far under the mark.

SECTION II.

A very important objection may, perhaps, be brought forward against this doctrine, which requires a serious answer. It may be thought, that the above statement relative to the duration, magnitude and incalculable numbers of the kingdom of Christ contradicts the statement given by our Lord himself, of his flock being a little flock, and that few will be saved, and many travel the broad road to destruction, while few travel the narrow way and find the strait gate that leadeth unto life.

These are indeed very solemn and awful declarations; and daily experience witnesses the truth of what our Lord has declared. These passages of scripture seem, at the first sight, on a superficial view of the subject, to destroy and obliterate all that we have said. But to have a right understanding of such passages of God's word, we ought honestly to inquire, whether they have a general application, or whether they relate to any one particular age or circumstance in the church. To make a general application of them, would be a miserable way to understand the scriptures, for they would contradict the one half of the express declarations of the prophets, as we have clearly seen. But to limit them to suitable circumstances, in which the church is, and has been, would be natural, and easy, and would correspond with other scriptures, and with facts; but otherwise they contradict both. The great art, and wisdom of a commentator, is to make particular texts bear on the particular point to which they are directed, by the great author of the bible. But to make a text say every thing, is the fatal way of making it say nothing. The church has passed through various scenes, and been under various dispensations, and the scriptures have been written in various ages of the world, and it contains doctrines, rules, declarations, and predictions suitable to all the various states in which the church has been, or may be hereafter; and our wisdom is, to make a proper application of scripture, to the times, and circumstances which they were intended to answer. we miss this point, we will never understand the bible. But by a proper application of all the various parts, we will find a perfect agreement, and a divine beauty in the word of God. Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, Ezra, and all the prophets, the evangelists, and the apostles of

If

Christ, who were men living many years distant from each other, have written the most admirable book in the world; but if we do not apply what they have said to the proper objects intended, we will make a sad hand of the oracles of God, and make this infallible standard of truth, establish a thousand falsehoods, contrary to their original meaning.

There is nothing more evident than the necessity of applying those texts, or sayings of Christ, which speak of the comparative smallness of his flock, or people, to the dark and gloomy ages of the church. But they cannot with any propriety, be applicable to the times predicted by the prophets, when all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of God, and when the dominion of Christ shall extend from the rising to the setting sun. When Christ said to his disciples "Fear not little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." (Luke xii. 32.) His flock was then indeed a little flock, and it ever had been a little flock, and has been so ever since. It was then very proper for Christ to encourage his suffering people, while they were poor, weak, and small, and constantly surrounded with danger, and oppressed with persecution. The length of time in which the church had been small, and in which it would be small, and the remarkable fewness of its numbers at the time our Saviour delivered this discourse, was quite sufficient to justify the appellation of a "little flock." But Christ did not say a word that would give the least intimation that his flock would always be small. And the whole length, numbers, and glory of the Millennium will not contradict a syllable of what Christ said to his disciples. What he said was true, and has continued a truth for eighteen hundred years; but nothing hinders the church, in process of time, to become great and glorious.

Wide is the gate and broad the way that leads to destruction, and many there be who go in thereat, but strait is the gate and narrow the way that leadeth unto life, and few there be who find it. (Mat. vii. 13, 14. Luke xiii. 23, 24.) Many are called, but few are chosen. (Mat. xx. 16. and xxii. 14.) Christ spoke these things in a particular allusion to the Jewish nation. Neither would it be true as to the Gentiles, that many of them had been called; the whole Jewish nation had been called, but only a remnant were chosen to salvation; but the Gentiles had

not then been called at all. As to the gospel among the Gentiles, during the dark reign of Satan, Christ may be considered as speaking prophetically; for it is still true that many are called but few are chosen, and the broad road is travelled by thousands, while but few enter in at the strait gate. But does this prove that it will be always so? Christ does not say so; and we have no grounds to believe it, nay the prophecies forbid us to believe it.

When Christ spoke of his church, during the dark and gloomy reign of Satan, he spoke in low diminutive terms; he said that his people were a little flock; and this was true, as to the Jewish nation, and it is still true as to the Gentiles, and will be true while ever Satan's kingdom prevails in the world. But we are to consider that our glorious Redeemer has engaged by promise to bruise the Serpent's head; and that he was revealed to destroy the works of the devil. But if there are but few to be saved eventually, Christ would have to give up the dominion to Satan, and yield the palm to the old dragon, and content himself with a little pitiable flock, and a few diminutive scraps of Satan's extensive empire. And he could have no other way of getting the victory over Satan than to wreak his vengeance on the poor blinded multitude, in sending them by thousands to hell. Surely this would be a miserable way to construe the scriptures; and nothing could please Satan better than such a determination; it would be fully up to his wishes. His object is to counteract the kingdom of Christ, and to drag poor sinners by crowds down to the regions of despair; and if Christ would only kill them as fast as Satan could make them wicked, they would work to one another's hands, and the old Serpent would cheerfully compromise matters with our Saviour, and agree to give him up a little flock, and a few scattering travellers here and there, if he would agree to kill all the rest and send them to hell, instead of saving them, according to his promise.

But this is not the view that Christ has of the business. When he speaks of the great object of his death and the glory of his gospel, he changes his diminutive mode of speaking, and instead of few, he says, many, and instead of little, he says, all the world. Let us attend to what he says, when he is speaking in his word of the glory of his church, and the extent of his kingdom, and not confining his views to the Jewish nation, nor to the dark

times of paganism, or popery, but comprehending the millennary glory of the church and the universal triumph of his gospel. "And 1," says he, "if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me;" alluding, no doubt, to the old prophecy of Jacob, "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah-until Shilo come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be-Look unto me all ye ends of the earth, and be ye saved-The Son of man came to give his life a ransom for many. This is the blood of the New Testament which is shed for many for the remission of sins. God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. The Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. When he (the Comforter) is come, he will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. All power is given unto me. Go ye therefore and teach all nations-Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature-I am the light of the world. The bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."

God said to Abraham "In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." A poor, miserable blessing indeed, compared to the curse, if the church is to be a poor dwarf all the days of her life; a little flock; a few here and there entering in at the strait gate; while all the families, and nations of the earth, instead of being blessed in Christ, the seed of Abraham, are travelling the broad road, under the curse of God, to eternal destruction! St. John said, "That was the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." John the Baptist said "Behold the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world." The angel said to the shepherds, "I bring you glad tidings of great joy which shall be to all people;" and the heavenly host sung, "Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, good will to men." Old Simeon took the Child Jesus in his arms and said, "Mine eyes have seen thy salvation which thou hast prepared before the face of all people. A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people, Israel." Paul said "as judgment came upon all men to condemnation, so the free gift came upon all men to justification. As sin hath reigned unto death, so might grace reign unto