scope of all his endeavours, and the substance of all his hopes. The condemnation of the fallen angels, the universal Flood, the overthrow of Sodom, the deliverance of Noah, and of Lot, are set before the church and the world, not as types and figures only, but as patterns for imitation, and examples to deter, under a dispensation yet to come, for the recompense of the just, and the perdition of the ungodly. The recapitulation of the whole is summed up in this practical exhortation: "Seeing, then, that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be, in all holy conversation and godliness; looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of. God?" 2 Peter iii. 11, 12.

The limits of this section, already extended beyond its due proportion by the copious matter which a practical view of the subject affords, will not admit of a general analysis of these Epistles, which, if accurately made, would mainly conduce towards the settlement of a question of which the last chapter of the Second Epistle may be deemed the scriptural key.

The question itself, concerning either advent, seems to be propounded in the first chapter of the First Epistle, and the character of each is distinguished. By an attentive perusal of the first thirteen verses, it will appear, that two kinds or degrees of salvation are spoken of. In verse 9, we read of a salvation received, even the salvation of the soul: "Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you." In verses 5 and 13 we read of another salvation, and another grace: a salvation "ready to be revealed in the last time," and "the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." The Spirit of Christ "testified beforehand of the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow." The Apostle calls himself "a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed." He exhorts others to "rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings, that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding great joy." He sets before them the pattern and pledge of this glory in the power and coming of Christ, as exhibited in the holy mount, where Moses and Elias "appeared in glory." is to come, according to another Apostle, "to be glorified and admired in them that believe;" to "change our vile bodies, that they may be fashioned like unto his glorious body:" and, again, if we suffer, with him, we shall also be glorified together; "if we suffer, we shall also reign with him."

He

On this glorious epiphany, and on this kingdom, both yet to come, does St. Peter, in perfect harmony with St. Paul, direct the church to fix its scriptural expectation. He speaks under one view of "The appearing of Jesus Christ," "The everlasting kingdom," "The day of judgment," and "A thousand years:" thus connecting the second advent, the reign of the Messiah upon earth, and the judgment of quick and dead, with the Millennium;-a combination and coincidence already exhibited in these papers, and illustrated from scriptural evidence. On these grounds, and in expectation of a state so different from the present, that it is denominated "new heavens, and A NEW EARTH, ," the Apostle exhorts the church in general to pay a practical attention to the following duties: patience under trials; constancy in affliction; holiness in all manner of conversation; careful circumspection; the laying aside of malice and hypocrisy; growth in grace; edification in the faith; abstinence from fleshly lusts; good works; honest conversation; submission to lawful authority; loyalty and philanthropy; family subjection and domestic authority; endurance of injuries; meekness of temper; unanimity; compassion; charity; courtesy; the returning good for evil; restraint of the tongue; the suffering for righteousness sake; the bearing of the reproach of Christ; sobriety; vigilance; hospitality; gratuitous superintendence and support of Christ's flock; mutual subjection; entire resignation to God; and steadfast resistance of the devil.

Such are the practical injunctions of the First Epistle: and they are all virtually included in that brief but comprehensive summary of Christian faith and practice contained in 2 Peter i. 5-8: "Giving all diligence, add to your faith, virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance, patience; and to patience, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, charity," &c.: "for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into THE EVERLASTING KINGDOM of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."

The Apostle informs the church, that in both his Epistles it is his object to call to their remembrance "the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets." The prophet Daniel speaks of a time when "the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever.' "The kingdom, and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is AN EVERLASTING KINGDOM, SO called because it shall not be destroyed by

any other, appears to be that which is given to the Son of Man at his coming in the clouds of heaven; into which "an abundant entrance" is promised to the church by St. Peter, and which Daniel speaks of as taken and possessed by the saints. This appears to be no other than the glorious reign of the Messiah and his redeemed, on the destruction of the prophetical and apocalyptic beast, or Roman empire: and that it is a kingdom on earth, and not in heaven, is manifest from the expression, "under the whole heaven:" and it is over the whole EARTH; otherwise how are all people, nations, and languages to serve therein?

If, on a prophetical view of the subject, it should appear, that, according to any and every scriptural and possible calculation, this kingdom cannot be very far distant; if it should appear highly probable, that it is nigh at hand; then it must be admitted that a practical view must now, or never, be "exceedingly affecting to the mind," and powerfully influential on the conduct. If THE DAY OF THE LORD, which St. Peter tells us "will come as a thief in the night," be "the coming of the Son of Man" couched under that figure, in Matt. xxiv. 43, and Rev. iii. 3, and xvi. 15: if the exhaustion of the Turkish power be signified by the drying up of the Euphratean waters under the sixth vial of the Apocalypse-all which appears not only plausible, but in the highest degree probable;-then, indeed, though we know neither the day nor the hour, the time is come, when, as Noah preached righteousness, and Jonah repentance; as John came baptizing with water; so ought those disciples, who are not in darkness that that day should overtake them as a thief, to be even Now "like unto men that wait for their Lord:" for "blessed are those servants whom the Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching, (Luke xii. 36, 37.) Not to discern "this time" under existing circumstances, can arise only from that species of hypocrisy to which such blindness is attributed in Scripture.

Here then we might leave the subject, as far as it concerns the church in general; for if the Epistles of St. Peter do not, for the most part, justify the expectations contended for, and his view thereof be not practical in the highest degree; all such opinions, from whatever source derived, may be deemed merely speculative, and consequently of doubtful obligation. But the scriptural evidence, as to faith and practice, is not confined to the testimony of this Apostle, satisfactory and conclusive as it must appear to every unprejudiced mind. In addition to the many qualifications contained in the parables and discourses of our Lord, and replete as they are with practical admonitions

with reference to his coming as the Son of Man to take his kingdom, there is a great body of evidence to be collected, not only from the whole book of the Apocalypse, but especially, as to the practical view, from the epistolary admonitions addressed to the Asiatic churches.

Whatever may be the opinions of learned expositors as to the prophetical character of these remarkable addresses to the church in general, there can be no diversity of sentiment as to their practical import, and their application to the various circumstances and conditions of individual believers, "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches,” is the monitory voice addressed to every one of the regenerate at the conclusion of each address; and the commencement of each is as practical as the conclusion is personal: "I KNOW THY WORKS." In the characters of these primitive churches, the backslider, the false professor, the hypocrite, the covetous man, the idolater, the spiritual adulterer, the formalist, and the lukewarm, are personally admonished. In each, "he that overcometh" is individually encouraged with a specific promise; and therein all true believers are included, for "who is he that overcometh, but he that believeth?" A very simple consideration of the nature and quality of these promises will be sufficient to shew that many of them were not fulfilled to the churches originally addressed; and that, having received no adequate fulfilment since, their ultimate and full accomplishment is yet in reserve to the collective body of the faithful, in "the dispensation of the fulness of the times," and at "the restitution of all things," in "the regeneration," when the Son of Man shall sit on the throne of his glory, and the reign of the saints commence.

The promises to "him that overcometh," that "he shall eat of the tree of life," and "not be hurt of the second death," might alone illustrate the position. Whatever may be the spiritual and inchoate reference of the first to the daily sustenance of the faithful even now by the body and blood of Christ; we read, in Rev. xxii. 2, that in the New-Jerusalem state, "in the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was the TREE OF LIFE." This and the preceding chapter are considered, by the generality of expositors, as figurative of the heavenly state alone; but the view now taken from their internal evidence will go far towards the refutation of that exclusive reference, and shew that a time-state on earth is shadowed forth under this expressive imagery. Of this "tree of life," it is said, "the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations;" and few, it is conceived, if any, who maintain that the New Jerusalem is the celestial glory, will expect the heal

ing of the nations after the translation of the church to heaven itself. But the second promise, "He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death," is still more conclusive as to a prior condition of the redeemed upon earth. By Rev. xx. 6, it appears that exemption from the second death is one of the high privileges of the first resurrection: "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; on such the second death hath no power." It is well known, that the doctrine of the first resurrection had such a practical influence in the early ages of the church, that many suffered patiently, and even desired martyrdom, that they might ensure a part in it; and St. Paul clearly intimates the same, when he says, "others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a BETTER resurrection." Heb. xi. 35. Its practical influence on his own conduct is recorded by himself, in his Epistle to the Philippians, chap. iii.-See also Bishop Newton's reference from Dodwell, vol. III. p. 379.*

Another promise is equally conclusive: "He that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, unto him will I give power over the nations." It may be asked, When have believers, as such, ever yet had power over the nations; or how can they be expected to administer such power in heaven? Surely such an authority can only be exercised "when the meek shall inherit the earth, and the earth shall be fitted as an habitation for the righteous; when the kingdom and dominion shall be given to the saints, "to execute the judgment writtenThis honour have all his saints." Psalm cxlix.

Another promise may, with equal propriety, be referred to the dispensation in question: "He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father and his angels."

The New Jerusalem is represented as "a bride adorned for her husband;" and "to her was granted, that she should be arrayed in fine linen, white and clean: for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints." (Rev. xix. 8.) "Whosoever shall be ashamed of me, and of my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father, with his holy angels." These two passages sufficiently prove the time and circumstances of the fulfilment of the promise.

* Jam in Millennii regno primam fore resurrectionem corporum crediderunt primævi Christiani. Et ut justorum propriam cum crediderunt resurrectionem, ita martyrum in ea portionem longe esse præcipuam. Hæc cum ita crederentur dici nequit quantum martyres illius ætatis martyrii studio inflammarint. Dodwelli Dissert. Cyprian. XII. de Martyrum fortitudine, sect. 20, 21.