and her people a joy.* This is God's promise, and this God will perform when he comes in glory.

"And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the heavens must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets, since the world began." Here we are told that God has promised a restitution of all things, by the mouth of all his holy prophets, since the world began. Also, that the heavens must receive Jesus Christ until that time. "Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool." "And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet." They shall be Christ's footstool. The earth is to be restored to its paradisical state, and under Jesus Christ, the second Adam, all things are to be subdued. There shall then be no more curse; neither sorrow nor crying; neither shall there be any more death.

"O glorious hour, O blest abode!
I shall be near and like my God,
And sin and death no more control
The sacred pleasures of the soul."

(5.) The fifth object of his advent and abode among men is, to reign upon the throne of David over the house of Jacob forever and ever.

He is Abraham's promised seed, to whom the promise of the land of Canaan was made for an EVERLASTING POSSESSION. But who are the house of Jacob, over whom he is to reign? Not all the literal descendants of Jacob; for "they are not all Israel who are of Israel;" and while they shall come from the four winds, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of God, the Jews, as such, shall be cast out; and only those who are Christ's, and Abraham's seed, will find admission. "Henceforth," says the apostle, "know we no man after the flesh; yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, [as a Jew] yet now henceforth know we him so no more." As a Jew, then, Christ himself will no more be known; but as the head of the whole church, both Jew and Gentile. "Therefore, if any man be in Christ he is a new creature," (not a Jew or Gentile;) "old things are done away, and, behold, all things have become new. The Jewish economy, and distinctions originating in it, are done away, and the subjects of David's throne are new creatures, members of Christ's "body, of his flesh and his bones."

* Isa. lxvi. 15, 16. lxv. 17, 18.
Ps. cx. 1.

† Acts iii. 20, 21.

§ Mal. iv. 3.

"We are the circumcision, who worship God in the spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." From these, and a multitude of other texts of the same import, it is very evident that the subjects of David's throne and kingdom, in its everlasting dynasty, are not the Jewish nation as such, but Christ's redeemed people from among all nations. For in him "shall all the nations of the earth be blessed."

When, therefore, the Son of David sits on the throne of his glory, and says to those on his right hand, Come, ye blessed, and INHERIT THE KINGDOм prepared for you from the foundation of the world, he will say it not to the Jews, but to all who have ministered to him in the person of his disciples.

I am aware of the difficulty of conceiving of the glorious and personal reign of Christ on earth, as a man among men. And I think, also, that I can perceive the causes of that difficulty.

1. The first cause is the fact, that for ages Christ has almost universally been contemplated by the church in the character of some mysterious, glorious, and spiritual personage, seated on his Father's throne, where he shall FOREVER sit. It is true, we have been taught that he will come again to judge the world in the last day: but yet, such has been the manner in which even that truth has been taught, it has appeared more like a dream than a reality. In short, the whole subject of a future state of being has seemed to be wrapped up in mystery; and our teachers and keepers have all but forbidden us to inquire or examine anything in reference to it. The clearest definition I can form of the almost universal feeling and belief on the subject of a future heaven, is, that when we die, we shall go up to heaven, and there our happy spirits shall wear a dazzling crown of glory, have a golden harp, and sing praise to God and the Lamb forever and ever. I have found it one of the most difficult points of doctrine I have ever undertaken to impress on my hearers, to make them understand and feel, that Jesus Christ is a real man, and not a pure spirit, and that at the resurrection the souls and bodies of his saints will be reunited, and, as real men, restored to God's perfect image, that they will really REIGN in glory with Christ. The church, it is to be feared, do not to this day understand and feel the fact of the real, personal, human as well as glorious character of Christ. It is hard to eradicate old, long-cherished, and favorite views.

2. We have so long been accustomed to look at Christ almost exclusively in his Divine character, that, like the wise man, we are filled with wonder and doubt at the very

40

DISSERTATION ON THE SECOND ADVENT.

mention of the idea of his dwelling on earth and among men. Yet such is the glorious mystery, which was hid from ages and generations, but is now made manifest to his saints: "That in the dispensation of the fulness of times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth, even in him."

When, then, the earthly image is reduced to chaff, and the wind carries it away, the stone which smites it shall become a mountain and fill the whole earth. When the four beasts are given to the burning flame, the Son of man shall have given him an everlasting kingdom. The kingdom and dominion under the whole heaven shall be given to the saints. At the end of the world, (age,) when the wicked are cast into a furnace of fire, then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. And when the seventh trumpet sounds, the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ, AND

HE SHALL REIGN FOREVER AND EVER.

* Dan., chap. ii.

A DISSERTATION ON

THE CHRONOLOGY OF PROPHECY.

BY JOSIAH LITCH.

AFTER the exceedingly interesting address with which we have been favored on the doctrine and history of the millenium, it seems to be an appropriate time for the introduction of another topic, viz., about what time may we expect the glorious kingdom of God to be revealed?

I am aware of the fact, that we are not all agreed with regard to time, and that there are strong objections in some minds against designating any par ticular period, as the epoch of the kingdom. And with those brethren who thus differ from me, I have no disposition to stop to contend for one moment, especially while they teach and are endeavoring with all their power to impress the fact, that the day is now specially near at hand, even at the very door; and that we are constantly to look for it. But with my own views of God's word, I can but believe the time to be a matter of revelation, and a proper subject of investigation. But for the views I may this evening present, I do not wish anybody but myself to be held responsible. If they are sound and scriptural, let them have their weight and influence; if unsound and anti-scriptural, let them fall to the ground and be forgotten.

THE Chronology of Prophecy is the theme before us. But what is "the chronology of prophecy?" What but the chronology of TIME? What is prophecy, where does it commence, and how far extend? are questions to be discussed in the present address.

1. WHAT IS PROPHECY? Webster defines it, “prediction," a "foretelling." A prophecy, then, foretells what shall be in futurity.

2. WHERE DOES PROPHECY BEGIN? Prophecy began with the exercise of God's moral government over man. And, 3. Prophecy extends through time, into an eternal state of being.

Having defined the first question, it will be unnecessary to dwell longer on it. We therefore shall proceed to sustain the position taken in answer to question second, viz., that prophecy began with the exercise of God's moral government over man."

Man was the last piece of the Divine workmanship on the creation week. This finished, and a race of moral agents produced, God rested the seventh day from all his works which he had made.

Let us, then, attend to the use the apostle Paul has made of this act of Divine procedure. "For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath if they shall enter into my rest; although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, 'And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.'"* The argument is, that although from the foundation of the world a rest was provided for man, yet those, and those only, who believe shall inherit it. He also draws from the texts he quotes, three inferences :—

1. That God's rest on the seventh day was typically prophetic of a future rest for his believing people; that they should be distinguished from others and enjoy it.

2. That the rest which Joshua gave the Israelites in Canaan was not that promised rest; for had it been, he would not afterward have spoken of another day. But he did, by David, afterward speak of another day. Therefore, there remaineth a rest for the people of God.

Perhaps, however, it may be objected, "although the Sabbath is a type of the future rest which remains for the people of God, yet it does not exactly follow that it is a prophecy of it." But let us look at this point. A type is an image and representative of another and subsequent object. Does not, then, the very idea of a type presuppose the subsequent existence of its anti-type? Unless it does, it is no type at all. Hence, if the Sabbath is a type of a future rest for God's people, the promulgation of that type is a prophecy of the anti-type. It follows therefore that prophecy, and prophecy of a future rest for God's people, began with the exercise of God's moral government over man, the seventh day from the beginning of the creation.

To give the chronology of prophecy, is to trace its history from period to period, from its origin to its consummation.

Let us inquire, then, more particularly, what the Sabbath prefigures and predicts.

1. That it predicts a future rest for God's people, we have already seen.

2. It has been an almost universal opinion of the church, both Jewish and Christian, that the Sabbath prefigures a

*Heb. iv. 3, 4.