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and he will dwell with them, and his servants shall serve him, and they shall see his face.

Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor hath entered into the heart of man, the glory of this kingdom before it, the fashion of the natural world the heavens and the earth will be wonderfully changed, gloriously renovated! One prophet hath declared, that towards the north, where now are the mountains, the valley of Jerusalem shall reach unto Azal; and towards the south, all the land shall become as a plain, from Geba to Rimmon. And, we think, another beheld the earth, by the hand of the great Potter, stricken to a plain; and not only the valleys filled, but the channels of the sea also covered the islands united to the mains, and the ocean again shut up in his native womb: for John declares, that before this kingdom every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And he saw a new heaven, and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more

sea.

"In robes of judgment, lo, he comes!

Shakes the wide earth, and cleaves the tombs:
Before him burns devouring fire,

The mountains melt, the seas retire."

Now, the whole creation shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty of the children of God. The earth shall no longer groan under the curse- -the ground no longer bring forth thorns and thistles. From thenceforth, there shall be no more death, nor barren land. The wolf shall feed with the lamb, and the lion with the bullock; which denote an entire

change of nature: no foe to man lurks in the serpent, and every poisonous plant shall die. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord. The stone cut out without hands became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. This is the kingdom to comethe Lord's holy mountain: in this there shall be nothing to hurt, or destroy, saith the Lord.

And if nature shall give a sign of the reign of Christ, and, before his kingdom, "break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field clap their hands"-if, "instead of the thorn shall come up the fir-tree, and instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle-tree;" how much more shall the children of Zion give an everlasting sign, and lift up their heads and rejoice. They shall put on their wedding garments-Jerusalem shall be a rejoicing, and her people a joy: she shall be prepared as a bride adorned for her husbandhaving the glory of God: and the days of her mourning shall be ended.

Once more; before this kingdom, the enemies of Christ shall be as stubble before the flame-the proud, yea, all that do wickedly, shall be burnt up, root and branch. When the Lord Jesus shall come in his kingdom, he will be revealed "in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel:" then, instead of the Lamb of God, he will show, to his enemies, the face of the lion of the tribe of Judah -instead of the golden sceptre, he will stretch out unto them the iron rod; and, instead of the trump of jubilee, he will sound the trump of war -the seventh, the last trumpet-the signal of the battle of that great day of God Almighty:

and then his enemies, which would not that he should reign over them, will be slain before himthe cloudy, fiery pillar of his presence, that will have so kind an aspect towards the redeemed, will have an awful face towards the host of the ungodly an angry God will look unto them, through the pillar of cloud and fire, and trouble them, and fight against them; and they shall sink into perdition, as lead in the mighty waters. The prophets testify, that Christ's coming to set up and possess his millennial kingdom, is his second coming even his coming in the clouds of heaven. See Daniel vii. 13, 14: "I saw in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations and languages should serve him." That this is the millennial kingdom, is evident from its immediately following the destruction of Antichrist. And this truth, that the coming of Christ to take the kingdom will be his glorious appearing in the cloud, Jesus confirmed by his own mouth. See Luke xxi.: "And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud, with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. And he spake to them a parable. Behold the fig-tree, and all the trees; when they now shoot forth, ye see and know for yourselves that summer is now nigh at hand. So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand." O sinner, though perhaps

thou hast oft desired the day of the Lord; didst thou realize it, the thunder of the Lord God Almighty, that will rend the heavens at the great day, would not shake you more than this soundThe millennium cometh.

Repent, therefore, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

LECTURE VI.

THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS.

The world to come.-HEB. ii. 5.

"THE times of restitution of all things have been spoken of by all the holy prophets since the world began." They have testified that the creation, which now groaneth under the bondage of corruption, shall be delivered into the glorious liberty of the children of God-that the curse which smote the ground for the sin of man, with all its dreadful effects, shall expire; and the earth shall yet become the land of the livingthe habitation and inheritance of the just.

In this lecture we propose briefly to illustrate the two following points:

I. That, after this world, there will be a restoration of all things-new heavens, and a new earth.

II. That the kingdom of Christ, or millennium, will be in the new earth, or world to come.

The short limits of a lecture will not allow us to point out where, and in what manner, all the prophets have spoken of the times of restitution, and how clearly and determinately they

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