all the empire of the Almighty. Amen! Hallelujah! "And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great; and I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia! for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth." (Rev. xix. 5, 6.)

THE MILLENNIUM.

"They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” (Isaiah xi. 9.)

THE church of God in our world has, for many ages, passed through the deep waters, and through fiery trials. Satan has, for a long season, led the nations at his will. Barefaced impiety has stalked undaunted through the earth, and flung defiance at Heaven. To support and cheer the hearts of his children during this season of spiritual desolation and darkness, God was pleased, at an early day, to pledge his word to the church, that he would grant her a brighter day; that a period should come when Satan should be bound, and the whole earth be filled with the knowledge of the Lord.

This was clearly implied in that notable promise, "The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head." The head is the seat of intelligence, and, as such, the seat of counsel. By "bruising the serpent's head," is evidently meant giving an entire defeat to the counsels of the old serpent.

"In

The promise to Abraham more fully announced God's design to make his church triumphant. thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed." Abraham believed God. Wonderful instance of the power of faith! He stood in the midst of a revolted

world. He looked around; he saw the nations, on every hand, casting off the fear of God, and sinking down into idolatry. He looked back on the past history of the world; he saw that in all former ages the impetuous current of depravity had swept the children of men away from God, and from heaven. He saw that the flame of piety, which was kindled, at first, among the children of Seth, had dwindled to a spark -the spark that glimmered in the house of Noah, while the whole earth was covered with darkness, The earth had now been peopled anew, from that one pious family. Abraham had lived till he was a hundred years old among them. them. The mournful fact was now notorious, that all the terror of God's wrath, displayed in the destruction of the old world, was forgotten. He saw the children of pious Noah, in crowds • and nations, turning away from the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and worshipping serpents, and four-footed beasts, and fowls, and fishes, He saw that such was their predilection for idolatry, that they would take their hammer and chisel, and make themselves gods of gold, and silver, and brass, and iron, and then fall down, and worship them. They would take their axe, and their saw, and make gods of logs and stumps, and then prostrate themselves, and pay divine honors. Such were the circumstances, when the Lord comes to Abraham, and tells him, that, aged and childless as he now is, he shall be the father of many nations; and that among his descendants a deliverer shall arise, who shall turn away ungodliness from the earth; and all nations shall forsake their idolatry, and worship the living and true God. Such were the words of the Almighty; and, dark as prospects were, Abraham

"staggered not at the promise of God, but was strong in faith."

Is any one ready to say, "The Lord is slack concerning his promise; and the day that Abraham expected will never come"? I reply, the Lord has made good his word, when, to the view of man, it appeared altogether as unlikely as in the present case.

On the last clear day that preceded the deluge, it appeared as unlikely to scoffers of that age, that the huge vessel which Noah had built should float fifteen cubits above the top of the tallest mountains, as it can appear to infidels now, that the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth, as the waters cover the sea. Such a thing had never been heard of since the day that God created man upon the earth; and the finger of derision was pointed, and the lip of scorn was curled, while Noah, "warned of God, and moved with fear, prepared an ark, to the saving of himself and house." But on the same day that Noah entered into the ark, the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened, and the scream of a drowning world was unheeded by an insulted God; and, at this day, the infidel who would deny the Bible is constrained, by the science of geology, to acknowledge that, for some cause, this earth has been overwhelmed with a universal deluge.

That the kingdom of Jesus Christ shall yet triumph in every nation, is not more unlikely now, than the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, and their settlement in Canaan, were on that day when Moses turned aside to gaze on the burning bush. Egypt was at this time, perhaps, the most powerful monarchy on earth. Israel was trodden into the very mire of the streets.

So

But grantEgypt, how

That land is

completely dispirited and heart-broken were they, that officers and men of note among them were beaten without resistance, and tamely submitted to the unreasonable demands of Pharaoh's taskmasters. The land of their fathers, the graves of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, seem to have been forgotten. How unlikely that such a people would burst the chain that bound them, and march forth in all the majesty of freedom! ing they were freed from the grasp of shall they obtain possession of Canaan? possessed by seven nations, "greater and mightier" than Israel, (Deut. vii. 1,) — nations that dwelt in cities that were walled, and strongly fortified-nations terrible in battle, and trained in all the arts of war, of which the sojourners in Egypt were utterly ignorant. Could any thing have been proposed, that, in the view of short-sighted man, would have appeared more egregiously fanciful and extravagant, than an attempt by this people to shake off the fetters of this gigantic monarchy, and conquer and take possession of the land of seven warlike and powerful nations? Pharaoh and his courtiers laughed at it, and pronounced the whole scheme a mere whim of idleness and folly. But the hand of God is made bare. Egypt is shaken with judgment after judgment. Pharaoh and his lords rebel and blaspheme. But the hand of God is heavier and heavier upon them. It was midnight. The laborers. had sunk in deep repose. But "He that keepeth Israel' neither slumbers nor sleeps." At his bidding, the angel of death goes abroad. Every family is visited. The king, and all his servants, spring from their couches in the night. "There is a great cry in Egypt." In every. house, the first-born is dead. Moses and Aaron are