Tempests of angry fire shall roll And bear upon his naked soul "And great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath." What more could be said of the great day of the Lord's vengeance? Some, indeed, would put far off these terrors of the Lord, and would limit them to Italy, or to the popish countries. But why? Is it not certain that the limits of great Babylon are no less than the utmost boundaries of Satan's kingdom? It is very plain, that great Babylon, used in the Scriptures, as here, in a common sense, represents the whole world of the ungodly and kingdom of the devil; in the same manner as Jerusalem, used in a common sense, represents the whole church and kingdom of God. And should we follow the plainest and fullest Scripture representations, must we not conclude that the day of God's vengeance upon the wicked, which shall destroy them root and branch, will precede the millennial kingdom of Christ, when we find such representations as those just viewed under a preceding date? The expectation of a millennium arises from the prophecies concerning the future kingdom of Christ the kingdoms of this world becoming the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ-his taking to himself his great power, and reigning before all his ancients gloriously. We are plainly told, this glorious event shall take place under the sounding of the seventh trumpet. This none disputes. All agree that the expected reign of Christ on earth, will be in the days of the voice of the seventh trumpet. The question disputed, and which we would examine, is, whether probationary time will end, and the great day of God's wrath will come, at the beginning or at the ending of the sound of the seventh trumpet. It was the expectation of believers anciently that probationary time would end, and the great day of God's wrath would come, before the millennial kingdom, under the seventh trumpet: but, in the last century, an opinion gained currency, that the millennium would be probationary time; and, therefore, the coming of Christ and overthrow of this world of the ungodly would not take place till some time after the millennium. This opinion has constantly prevailed: all hands, learned and unlearned, have been em→ ployed to propagate it, and very little has been done or said to oppose it; and, for about half a century, it has been the most common belief: consequently, people have laid aside all expectation that the day of the Lord is nigh; and old and young, ministers and people, have agreed to say, The Lord delayeth his coming. But so agrees not the voice of Revelation. The angel said, at the beginning, not at the close when the seventh angel shall begin to sound, then there should be time no longer— then the mystery of God should be finished-then, said the elders, thy wrath (O Lord God Almighty) is come, and the time of the dead that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great, and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth. To this testimony, also, you have seen that the other visions of this book, the seals and vials, do most expressly agree. How the sentiment that there must yet be many ages of probationary time, extending even beyond the millennium, has prevailed among all men, good and bad, and how their eyes are shut to the plainest truths of the Bible, is truly wonderful! But so the Scriptures will be fulfilled! So it will come to pass, that the Lord will come as a thief-" at an hour when ye [disciples, wise virgins] think not!" And so that day will come unawares, as a snare on all them that dwell upon the face of the whole earth. Isaiah, whilst laboring to describe the riches and glory of the new heavens and new earth, draws the comparison between God's servants and the transgressors. "Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter; because, when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear, but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not: therefore, thus saith the Lord God, Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty: behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed: behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit. And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen for the Lord God shall slay thee, and call his servants by another name: that he who blesseth himself in the earth, shall bless himself in the God of truth; and he that sweareth in the earth, shall swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from mine eyes. For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered nor come into mind." And "as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord. And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh." And John, in the vision of the beasts, Rev. xiv., whilst describing the happiness and glory of the redeemed in their triumphant millennial state, as standing with the Lamb on the mount Zion, harping with the harps of God, and singing before the throne, and before the living creatures, and the elders, as it were a new song; in the same manner as Isaiah, he attempts farther to set off the happiness of the righteous by the awful contrast of the misery of the wicked: for while the redeemed shall drink the new wine in the kingdom of Christ, freely poured out into the cup of blessing, the worshippers of the beast and his image, and whosoever had received the mark of his name, "shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out, without mixture, into the cup of his indignation." And he very particularly alludes to the last of Isaiah, which we have just quoted, that the wicked, in the millennium, shall suffer in the presence of the holy ones, and shall be an abhorring unto all flesh : they "shall be tormented with fire and brimstone, in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb; and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever; and they have no rest day nor night." About twenty times, in the Scriptures, the great day of God's wrath, and the glorious reign of Christ-the day of vengeance, and the year of the redeemed-are mentioned in close connection; and every time, the day of vengeance is set first. But, as we cannot now go fully into this proof, we shall quote the last of Malachi as an example of the whole: "Behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble, and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise, with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth and grow up as calves of the stall. And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet, in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts." Daniel had clear views of the glorious millennial kingdom of Christ and the saints; but in them, we observe, first, the Ancient of Days came -the judgment was set, and the books were opened, chap. vii. And, chap. xii., a day of trouble is mentioned, "such as never was since there was |