Rev. i. 7, "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen."

Rev. xxii. 12, "And behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be."

Jude 6," And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. (7) Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. . . . (14) And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints, (15) To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him."

IV. The End of the World and the Resurrection.

John vi. 39, "And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. (40) And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day."

John xi. 24, “Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day."

V. The End of the World and the Judgment.

Mat. xiii. 36, "Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.

(37) He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man: (38) The field is the world [kóopos]; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; (39) The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world [air]; and the reapers are the angels. (40) As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. (41) The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; (42) And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. (43) Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father."

Mat. xiii. 49, "So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, (50) And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

John xii. 48, “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him : the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day."

VI. The Resurrection and the Judgment.

Daniel xii. 2, “ And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt."

John v. 28, "Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, (29) And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation."

Rev. xx. 13, "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell [adŋs, hades] delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works."

These six heads, it will be observed, present every possible combination of any one of these events with any other. So complete is the evidence of our proposition.

In respect to a distinction of order in the resurrection, the Scriptures are for the most part silent. But there are two passages in the epistles of Paul, which some have understood as implying that the righteous dead would be honored with a certain precedence, or priority, in rising.

1 Cor. xv. 22, "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. (23) But every man in his own order: Christ the first-fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming."

1 Thess. iv. 16, "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first."

Such an interpretation of these passages is by no means free from doubt. Yet there is something appropriate and pleasing in the idea of such a reward of the righteous; for what sovereign, in assembling his subjects, does not give a certain precedence to the faithful and obedient ? And in one of the ecstatic visions of the entranced Apostle in Patmos, this idea of precedence has been expanded into a full picture, prolonged through a thousand years.

Rev. xx. 1, “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. (2) And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, (3) And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive

the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled; and after that he must be loosed a little season. (4) And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judg ment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (5) But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. (6) Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years."

When we consider the false principles which have prevailed in the interpretation of this book, containing so wonderful a series of the most sublime and beautiful visions, and the strange attempts that have been made to convert the boldest and most imaginative poetry into a chronological table, we shall not wonder at the great difficulty which so many have found in the explanation of this passage, or at the various expedients to which they have deemed it necessary to resort, in order to reconcile it with the very different representations elsewhere given. How remarkable it is, that this single unique passage has furnished to the popular doctrine of a Millennium, not only its name, but also its sole foundation!

Before proceeding to our next proposition, it may not be amiss to remark, that even a literal interpretation of "the thousand years" could have no effect to defer the second coming of Christ, since this was evidently to precede them; nor even to defer the commencement of the resurrection and judgment, but merely their close; in other words, to divide them, and prolong them through a thousand years.

PROPOSITION III.

OUR SAVIOUR BOTH VARIOUSLY INTIMATED, AND EVEN EXPRESSLY DECLARED, THAT HIS SECOND COMING (WITH ITS ASSOCIATE EVENTS)

WOULD TAKE PLACE BEFORE THE DEATH OF SOME WHO WERE THEN LIVING.

In support of this proposition, we may appeal to various particulars in our Saviour's discourses to his disciples and others; namely,

I. The repeated warnings to his disciples to be constantly watching and ready for his coming.

Luke xii. 35, "Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; (36) And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that, when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. (37) Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. (38) And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. (39) And this know, that if the good man of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. (40) Be ye therefore ready also for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not."