and there was given him dominion and glory, and a Kingdom, that all people, nations and languages should serve him; Dan. vii, 13, 14. Christ foretold various events, which shall just precede and introduce the Millennium: And then said; "When ye see these things come to pass, know ye, that the Kingdom of God is nigh at hand;" Luke xxi, 31. And the state of glory, after the resurrection, (it has been noted) is called the Kingdom of heaven. A question occurs: For which of these advancements of the Kingdoms of grace, are Christians daily to pray, "Thy Kingdom come?" For this is As it relates to us, it is the Millennium. the next great advancement of the Kingdom of grace. It is not only the greatest of all the advancements this side of heaven; but an advancement evidently not far distant. As Christians of all the gospel ages were to pray, "Thy Kingdom come;" it was to be as though they had said; Let thy Kingdom of grace be supported, and advanced. May the next signal grade of its advancement soon arrive. And may it safely progress through all the rising degrees of prosperity, by heaven designed, till it shall reach its millennial, yea and its heavenly glory. This suggests what ought to be our ideas and desires, relative to this Kingdom, in our daily devotions. They must relate to those advancements of the Kingdoms, which are still future; and particularly to that stage of advancement next before us. And for this event Christians may pray in faith. For the millennial glory of the Church is made certain; and is abundantly held up, in most animating prophetic descriptions. SECTION II. Predictions of the coming of Christ's Millennial Kingdom. To adduce all the predictions of this joyful event, would be to transcribe a large portion of the prophetic scriptures. For it was a darling theme with the prophets. I can here touch only upon a few of those predictions, as a specimen of the great body of them. It might reasonably be expected, that God would make his gospel eventually to become prevalent through the world; that it should finally produce its proper effect, in governing the hearts and lives of mankind on earth. It would be unaccountable, if this should not be the case. Would the merciful God suffer the cause of Satan, and the mystery of iniquity, to triumph and prevail against his darling cause, to the end of the world? Impossible! It would be most unaccountable. No! God will make the world to know what his Gospel and religion can do, for the happiness of man, temporal, as well as eternal:-That the leaves of the tree of life are for the healing of the nations from their madness and ruin; and its fruit for their salvation. That this display will in due time be made, we are abundantly ascertained in the prophets. God engaged to Abraham, that in his Seed, (meaning Christ) all nations, and all families of the earth, should be blessed; (Gen xii, 3; Gal. iii, 8.) The time should come, when all nations and families, living on earth, should be blessed in Christ: An event, which is still future; but which will be accomplished in due time. In Psalm xxii, is a prediction of the sufferings of Christ; and of the glory that should follow. And in verse 27, it is said; "All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn unto the Lord; and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship him." Psalm xxxvii is a striking prediction of the destruction of the enemies of the Church in the battle of the great day. And the great and blessed event to follow is, that "the meek shall inherit the earth, and delight themselves in the abundance of peace." With this idea the Church is there comforted, under all her persecutions and trials. The xlvith Psalm is a prediction of the same events. The political earth is removed. The mountains or kingdoms are plunged in the sea of revolution and ru in. The heathen rage; the kingdoms are moved; God utters his voice; the earth melts. Now the members of the Church call on each other, to "come and behold the works of the Lord; what desolation he hath made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease to the ends of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder, and burneth the chariots in the fire." Now the Church exult; "The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God-God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved." Psalm lxvii, is a prediction of this Kingdom of Christ. There God will cause his face to shine, when his ways shall be known upon earth, and his saving health among all nations. all nations. All the people shall praise him. The nations shall be glad, and sing for joy. For God will govern the nations upon earth. The earth shall yield her increase. Over and over it is repeated, "God will bless us." And it is asserted; "All the ends of the earth shall fear him." In Psalm lxxii, we have this blessed event. Among the predictions of it we read, that Christ "shall come down like rain upon the mown grass, and as showers that water the earth. In his days shall the righteous flourish; and there shall be abundance of peace, so long as the moon endureth. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. All kings shall fall down before him; all nations shall serve him. Men shall be blessed in him; all nations shall call him blessed. The whole earth shall be filled with his glory." In Psalm cii, 13—, we have the same. "Thou wilt arise and have mercy upon Zion. For the time to favor her, yea the set time, is come. So the heathen shall fear the name of the Lord; and all the kings of the earth thy glory. When the Lord shall build up Zion, he will appear in his glory." David in his last words, delivers a sublime prediction of this Kingdom. Various of the saints of old, as they were about to leave the world, were wrapped up in prophetic extasy. The writer of the Psalms was thus, relative to that Kingdom, which he had of ten predicted. 2 Sam. xxiii, 1-4. "Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse, said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said; The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue: The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me:"-Here let it be noted, that this very remarkable introduction must have been for no small purpose. He must have been going to express something far more weighty, than merely a common place-truth, such as, that civil rulers ought to be good men. The sentence that follows, in the original, conveys the following sense; "He, who is to rule over men (or the Messiah) will be just, ruling in the fear of God." The best translators and expositors give it this sense; and make it a prophecy of Christ. "There shall be a Ruler over men, (says one noted interpreter) a just or righteous One, ruling in the fear of God." It is thought the prophetic eye was upon this passage, when various of the most sublime predictions concern. ing the Kingdom of Christ were uttered; particularly the following; Jer. xxiii, 26; "Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise up unto David a rightcous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: And this is the name whereby he shall be caled, The Lord our righteousness." And chap. xxxiii, 15; "In those days and at that time will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth." David, after predicting the Kingdom of this righteous Ruler, as above, adds; "And he shall be as the light of the morning when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth, by clear shining after The introduction of this kingdom of Christ will be like a pleasant morning in the spring, after a dark, stormy and dismal night. The grass is green; rain." the sky and air pleasant; the sun beautiful and reviv ing; and all nature smiles. David then, as is usual, hints the tremendous scenes which just precede that blessed morning: "But the sons of Belial shall be all of them as thorns thrust away, because they cannot be taken with hands. But the men, that would touch them, must be fenced with iron, and the staff of a spear; and they shall be utterly burnt with fire in the same place." (See Mal. iv, 1 for an explanation of this burning of the sons of Belial.) In Isaiah, this Kingdom is abundantly predicted. A few of the many predictions of it I will recite. In chap. ii, 2-we read, "And it shall come to pass, in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it." It there follows, that wars shall cease from the earth; and all the people shall walk in the light of the Lord. The xith chapter is upon this sublime subject. The Rod from the stem of Jesse, (i. e. from David) the Branch from his roots, is presented as governing in righteousness and faithfulness. He comes for the cause of the poor. He reproves for the meek of the earth. He smites the earth with the rod of his mouth; and with the breath of his lips slays the wicked. Then peace and salvation fill the world; predicted under the emblem of the harmony of animals of most discordant natures. The cow and the bear; the wolf and the lamb; the leopard and the kid, unite in peace. The infant plays with the asp; and the child is safe upon the den of the cockatrice. As one expresses it; "The playful child shall ramble in the ring," "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.” A description of the blessed consequences occupies the whole of the following chapter. And it closes thus; |