waters cover the sea." And "death," our great destroyer, "shall be swallowed up in victory." Isaiah says, expressly, (Isa. xxv. 6-8,) "In this mountain," the one of which Daniel subsequently speaks as filling the whole earth; and the one called by another prophet," the mountain of the house of the Lord," to be established upon the tops of the mountains; "in this mountain He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away all tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall be taken away from off all THE EARTH; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it."

4. Another feature of the millennium is, there is to be "one Shepherd," "one fold," and the watchmen are to see "eye to eye." "One King shall be king to them all. And David, my servant, shall be king over them, and they shall have one Shepherd." "And Judah, and the children of Israel his companions; Joseph, and Ephraim, and all the house of Israel his companions, shall be ONE;" as so many "sticks joined into one stick;" (Ezekiel xxxvii.) And the several parts of the stick referred to by Ezekiel, and the bones" in the valley, "or plain" of vision, appear to be but one and the same thing, under different emblems, and are, therefore, said to be "the whole house of Israel;" that is to say, all believers; the good of all nations, people, and tongues; all the true Israel: for he is not a Jew who is one out

wardly neither are they all Israel who are of Israel: but the prophet plainly intimates that no distinction is then to be made between Joseph, Ephraim, and Judah, but all

are to be one.

Now Christ represents that "He is the true shepherd.' All that came before him were not shepherds. He also represents to us that when he spake he had two folds; and that the time would come when there would be but "one fold, and one shepherd;" (John x.)-the very language of the prophet Ezekiel. I know not how to apply this language as interpreted by commentators generally; for there are as much two folds now as then, unless every Jew since then perish eternally. Nor even then can it be fully understood. I therefore judge the passage to refer primarily to the gathering of the Jewish and Gentile believers of every age, "in the fulness of time," into one fold, or the gathering of the whole house of Israelnot a part it-into the new heavens and earth. And, therefore, it indicates rather the "gathering" from the "grave" and from the "living" all that are in Christ: or, to use the language of St. Paul, I think God has here "made known to us the mystery of his will, which he hath purposed in himself, 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;" (Eph. i.)

And the "Holy Spirit of promise," he continues, "is the earnest," or pledge, "of our inheritance, until the redemption of the [this] purchased possession."

5. Another feature in the millennial state is, that the will of God is to be done "on earth as it is in heaven." This will probably be conceded on all hands, from the prayer put into the mouth of every disciple of Jesus, "Let thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Such a state would be a blissful one indeed; but it cannot take place while man, in his moral nature, is organized as he now is. From our present structure, children are born with an unholy nature, so that their tendency is wholly evil. And however holy a parent may be, he can no more transmit his acquired moral feelings than he can his education. Take a scion from an apple tree and engraft it upon a thorn, and the scion will bear apples; but if you sow the seed from the apple thus raised, the product will be a thorn, possessed of all the elements of the old, uncultivated, unsubdued thorn. And while children have unholy natures from their birth, it is impossible that the will of God should be done on earth as it is in heaven. But a greater difficulty would arise from the present structure of man in his own case. Such is his present imbecility, that he, from necessity, commits error; and however holy he has become, from these errors, and con

sequent regret and shame, he has never been freed. We need a heavenly state, to do the I will of God as it is in heaven. We need a new heavens and earth. Such a one may God grant, in answer to the prayer of the church, shall soon come!

6. The kingdom of God, when spoken of in the sense of the millennium, was always expected suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye, and as yet future. So the disciples expected so the ancient fathers anticipated. After the resurrection of Christ, and after the disciples had felt th kingdom of grace in their hearts, they said unto him, "Wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" And this, from the answer, was evidently his future kingdom of which they spake. "So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand." In the last passage, the term "kingdom" cannot mean his spiritual kingdom, for that had come; but this was not to come until the signs predicted had taken place, which have not all come to pass yet. Nor could it mean

the establishment of the Christian church on the day of Pentecost, for the same reason. And no stretch of charity, I think, can place it upon the head of the destruction of Jerusalem; that heap of unaccountables, where commentators have cast everything, the topstone itself, when they saw no other place for what they regarded as rubbish, or which

was to them unknown. "The kingdom

that was to come" was different from the occurrences abovenamed. It was the same kingdom for which the thief looked when upon the cross. It was the kingdom for which the patriarchs and apostles looked; theirs was a city out of sight-a "heavenly one, whose builder and maker is God."

And to add no other characteristics--several of which come to our hand-I would ask the reader if he can persuade himself that the above description of the millennium, (and most of the passages quoted can apply to no other event primarily,) will ever be realized with the present organized state of man or the world? It seems

to me demonstrable, that if the millennium have connected with it the above attributes, it cannot take place in time, properly so called. We must look to a new heaven and new earth, wherein from necessity dwelleth righteousness, and the immediate presence of the great Shepherd himself to be the light and joy thereof. Such an event alone can justify the sacred writers in the language they use.

Let us review these passages a moment. "One shepherd," "one fold," "eye to eye." Can this take place while man has his present head? Can we think alike? Were we to have apostolic times and miracles, could we think alike? Did not Paul and Barnabas contend? Was not their contention so