until

come forth at the powerful word of Immanuel, while he was yet with us; so when he shall come to be with us again, at the same powerful word, shall they be forced to surrender the heavens and the earth, and the whole orb of humanity which they have usurped, though they shall make it shudder and be agonized, and sweat forth its blood as if ready to give up the ghost for ever. After which there will be peace. After which there will be peace, but till then never. For till then Satan shall rack the bowels, and tear the heart-strings of human peace; and stir up wars to the end of the earth for ever, God, born of the Virgin, shall again be with us. That the end of the convulsion, on the edge of which we presently stand, and of all convulsions which shall follow till the consummation, is to bring about peace for ever, is manifest from all the Scriptures, of which I may quote as one instance out of a thousand, these verses of the xlvith Psalm: "The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved he uttered his voice, the earth melted. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah." (Psal. xlvi. 6—11.)

If any one doubt concerning the above interpretation of this the prophecy of the incarnation, I can refer him to high authority, even that of the angel Gabriel to the blessed Virgin, and of Zacharias filled with the Holy Ghost, and of the angel to the shepherds, (interpreting the word Lord, as Jesus himself in the Gospel, and Peter, full of the Holy Ghost, doth in the iid of Acts interpret it,) and of the star to the wise men, and of the great national council when they were called together by Herod, of which witnesses every one beareth the same testimony of this Child, that he was to sit upon the throne of David, and become David's Lord, and rule over the house of Jacob for ever, and become the glory of his people Israel. And if any one doubt that he is to come again to fulfil these things which are written, I can refer him to Simon Peter's discourses in the beginning of the Acts, and to all the New Testament; as, if God giveth me time and permission, I shall yet make manifest to his church.

But this last and crowning attribute of the Child that was born of the virgin, containeth in it a deeper and more blessed mystery than the making of wars to cease unto the ends of the earth; bringing to the troubled ear of my soul the tidings of its peace, and to the church, and to the redeemed world, in the person of the great Mediator and Peace-Maker; in whom God

is present and powerful to reconcile the world unto himself. It presents him to my mind in his character of King-Priest, having accomplished the reconciliation, and reigning over the reconciled; the Melchisedek who, as to his person, is King of Righteousness, and, as to his dominion, is King of Salem, which is King of Peace. It presents him to my heart as the King who reigneth therein by the power of his Holy Spirit, and hath given me the victory over all my enemies: it presenteth him to my flesh as the King who shall yet accomplish my poor body's emancipation from that vile prison house of death, by a still mightier power of that Holy Spirit whereof the residue is in his hand. It presents him to the Church as her Head, who hath broken down the middle wall of partition, which Satan had interposed between man and man, between nation and nation, making us all of every kindred and nation and tongue to love one another as he also loved us; who preserveth the unity and continuity of the Church's life against all the powers of earth, against the evil counsels of the gates of hell; and who shall present her unto himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, holy and without blemish. It presents him also as the Head of the nations, ruling and defending them from the power of Satan; and blessing them with all the inheritance of the new covenant, which hath been confirmed to us in his death, and whereof the present Church is as it were the ark of the testimony, and the tabernacle of the witness, borne up and down the wilderness, not yet having found a place to rest. For I agree with those who think that we are not yet put in possession of that new covenant, described in Jeremiah and Ezekiel, and quoted by Paul in the eighth chapter of the Hebrews, which is made to Israel, and, in her, to all the world; (for she is, as it were, the mediatrix and mistress of the nations, at the time of her restoration) for the fourfold blessing of that covenant will by no means apply to any visible body at present on the earth; and only in the way of an earnest will apply to the spiritual Church, which is invisible, and cannot be said to contain Israel, or, as little, to contain all men. We have had the covenant confirmed in the blood of Christ, and we have received the heavenly manna, and the waters from the rock, and the indestructible righteousness, and, for our faithlessness, we are wayfaring in the desert till the appointed times and seasons shall have been accomplished. We have not yet entered into our rest, any more than Paul or the Hebrew Church had entered into theirs; but we are looking for it in that city whose builder is God. We are under our Prophet, who, like unto Moses, is conducting us we have a Prophet and we have a Priest, but we have as yet obtained no King, because we have not obtained the kingdom which cannot be removed, but look for it.

ON THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST, AS IT SHALL BE EXERCISED DURING AND AFTER THE MILLENNIUM.

WHEN Our King shall return to take possession of his kingdom, "He shall sit and rule upon his throne, and he shall be a Priest upon his throne." Concerning the exercise of his kingly office, we have much set forth in the Scriptures: concerning his priestly office, as it shall be exercised during the Millennium, the details are fewer, and more scattered throughout the sacred volume; yet from the types and shadows of good things to come much may be learnt on this interesting subject. The following brief hints are thrown out, in the hope that they may lead some abler student of Prophecy to discuss it at greater length.

In prosecuting such an inquiry, the first question that naturally arises is, What is a priest? And this must be answered by a reference to what the holy Scriptures have revealed concerning priesthood in general. The first time we read of a priest, is in Gen. xiv., where we are introduced to the great type of our Kingly Priest, Melchizedek: "He was the priest of the most high God." And what did he in this capacity? He received from Abraham tithes of all, and bestowed on him the blessing of the most high God, whom he announced as the "Possessor of heaven and earth." Without going into the details of the Aaronic order of the priesthood, this first and highest order seems to give the simple and radical idea of a priest, which appears to be, a mediator-one who serves as the medium of communication between God and his worshippers; who presents the offerings of the latter, and dispenses the blessings of the former.

But a mediator presupposes some inability in the worshippers to approach God of themselves, and offer to Him immediately their tribute. We have no reason to suppose that the unfallen creature stood in need of a mediator, or that any thing prevented him from going directly to God; but since the Fall, man has needed a mediator in all his approaches to that great and holy Being with whom he has to do. There is enmity between man and his Sovereign: the justice of the latter demands that the penalty of transgression should be paid; the fears of the former make him shrink from coming in contact with One whom they represent as a powerful enemy and there needs "a daysman between them, that may lay his hands upon both."

The mediator must be either really, or by supposition and appointment, different from those for whom he mediates. The most natural idea of a mediator is, one who partakes of the nature both of the worshippers and of the Object of worship:

the former is necessary, in order that they may approach him; the latter is necessary, in order that he may approach the Object of their worship. Such is the Great Mediator: "God and man, in two distinct natures and one person, for ever." All other priests were meant to represent him, and were solemnly set apart to this office by God's appointment: "No man taketh this honour unto himself but he that is called of God, as was Aaron" (Heb. v. 4). Before the separation of the family of Aaron, the head of a family or tribe seems to have officiated in this capacity. It is not said, indeed, that the offerings of Cain and Abel were presented by Adam: but it is probable, either that they were so, or that, at the time of the event recorded in Scripture, the two brothers were heads of separate households.

The nature of the priest's office may be further discerned from the manner in which they were installed into it. Their hands were filled part of the sacrifice, with a loaf of bread, &c., were put into their hands; which they waved, or lifted up, as presenting them to the Lord. But this was not done until, by laying their hands upon the head of the bullock for a sin-offering, they had transferred their guilt to it, and it was wholly burnt. Previous to this, again, they were anointed with oil: perhaps this might signify the eternal predestination to the priestly office of Christ, and those whom He hath, by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon them elected to be "kings and priests unto God." The priest's union with the worshippers was signified by his eating the offerings. The offerer was considered as identifying himself with the offering: the priest, by eating the offering, made it a part of himself, and thus was considered as one with the offerer. This principle of union, also, was exhibited on the day of his consecration by his eating flesh and bread at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

The nature of the various offerings mentioned in Scripture. seems to have been but twofold: they were either expiatory or eucharistic. Many seem to overlook the latter sort of offerings, though they were far more numerous than the former. When a variety of offerings are commanded for the different festivals, in Num. xxviii., a kid for a sin-offering is specially mentioned at each; thereby, surely, intimating that the rest were not sinofferings, but thank-offerings, and tokens of allegiance to a Superior. On the day of atonement, whose rites were preeminently expiatory, it is expressly mentioned, that there is another sin-offering besides this kid-namely, the goat on which the people's lot fell (Num. xxix. 11). We may therefore infer, that at the other festivals this kid alone was considered as the expiatory offering. At all events, it must be admitted that the

flour, the wine, the oil, the sweet spices, were not expiatory, but eucharistic; and the burning of incense clearly was so.

Eucharistic offerings were always preceded by expiatory: "Without shedding of blood there was no remission of sins;" and till sin was remitted, there was no approach to God. But while we diligently observe this peculiarity, let us not forget that the chief object of several of the festivals was eucharistic, not expiatory. Take, for example, the offering of firstfruits, Lev. xxiii. 9, &c. No bread, &c., could be used, till the offering of first-fruits had been brought to the priest, to be waved before the Lord: but with this sheaf of first-fruits was offered a lamb of a year old; indicating, that this duty could not be performed, on account of the offerer's sinfulness, till an expiation was made. This may serve to illustrate several other feasts.

From a careful examination of these particulars, the following doctrine concerning eucharistic and expiatory sacrifices and offerings may be fairly deduced:-Man had been commanded to render unto the Lord a portion of the things of the earth which he possessed, in token that God is the true possessor of the whole, that from Him they are received and at his pleasure they are held. This is due to God, not as fallen creatures, but simply as creatures; and is probably accompanied with praise and thanksgiving, the chief worship that would be required of a perfect human being. But the Fall placed the worshippers in different circumstances: it not only prevented him from approaching God without a Mediator, but he was borne down with a load of guilt, that prevented him from making any movement towards God till this load was taken away. For this purpose, One was appointed, on whom was laid the iniquity of us all: He paid the full penalty; and in virtue of this, all those for whom it was paid are reckoned completely free from guilt. In token of this guilt being thus atoned for, by the penalty having been paid in the person of another, sacrifices were instituted; which are proper to man, not as a creature, but as a fallen creature. Gifts, then, we owe to God as creatures; but as sinners we are unable to offer gifts, sin having completely separated us from God and laid us under his curse: sacrifices, therefore, we owe to Him as sinners, as a preliminary step to our offering him gifts as creatures.

Atonement, then, appears not to be an end in itself, but a mean to a further end. So "the spirits of just men made perfect" are represented as viewing it. In addressing the great Sacrifice, they say, "Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood." Here modern divines insist upon stopping they think it derogatory to the great doctrine of the atonement to proceed further. So think not the spirits above;