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Now there is nothing of all this hard to be understood, or difficult to reconcile with the known condition of man. It agrees entirely

with the tenour of Scripture and the testimony of an enlightened conscience. But so far as this particular alone is concerned, what shall be said of the millenarian theory? The utmost ingenuity, whether of learning or fancy, cannot relieve it from an intolerable burden of difficulties; yea, the very ingenuity which has been employed has only aggravated them. Each expositor has offered his own explanations, to rid the system of inconsistencies which are an integral part of itself. The consequence is, that the inconsistencies have remained, and the conflicting explanations have increased them, till a sober mind is affrighted to approach the subject.

The Saviour, they say, is to come, not so much" for Judgment as for residence." This residence is to be "real;" it is to be " corporeal;" it is to be "spiritual." It is to be "visible" and "invisible." It is to be "visible at first "" visible at times"-" visible always." His presence is to be "local," but it is" to fill the wide circle of the earth." feet are to stand on Mount Olivet;" he is "to sit on the throne of David in Jerusalem;" and he " may be present to the closet of each

"His

particular saint." His city, the seat of his government, is to be "at Jerusalem "-it is to be "in the air." The world" is to be changed;" it is "not to be changed;" it is to be "changed partially." The wicked are to be "destroyed;" a "remnant of the wicked is to remain." The saints are "to live a thousand years;" "the

saints are to be born and suffer and die as now." There are to be "two resurrections;" there is to be "one Judgment"-there are to be "two Judgments"-there are to be "three" Judgments!*

Could it have been thought credible, that such a mass of contradictions should be uttered on any single subject, and that by the avowed friends of the theory? Must it not satisfy any candid inquirer, that the theory is essentially at variance with truth and reason? And should not those who contend for the millennial scheme yet adopt the modesty of Mede and Burnett relative to this particular portion of it? Much as those excellent and learned men indulged in "the liberty of prophesying," they were restrained here by the accumulated difficulties of the subject. They openly declared that they would "not assert" and "dared not imagine" that Christ by his corporal presence should reign with the saints on the earth.

* See the several publications of Messrs. Irving, Noel, Cunninghame, Drummond, &c.

III. The final division of our subject refers our attention to the ISSUES of the Judgment.

It is allowed by common consent, that the Judgment will be followed by the most important changes in the circumstances of our future being. The creed which has generally obtained in the church relative to these changes, is, that the present world is to be dissolved; that the righteous are to be admitted to the presence of God; and that the wicked are to be cast down to hell. Those who have dissented from the predominant opinion have believed, that the present world will not be destroyed, but that it will be entirely changed. Of the change expected, it has been thought, on the one hand, that the world, though visited by fire, will not be consumed, but will become the hell of the ungodly; while on the other hand, it has been maintained, that the earth will be renovated by fire and become the heaven of the redeemed.

How different soever the opinions here professed as to the future uses of the earth, there is evidently one opinion on its preservation. These persons have a reluctance to think that the world shall be destroyed. They urge that its destruction would leave a void in creation; that we cannot accept the term " perish" in its

literal import; that nothing of the works of God is annihilated; and that therefore we cannot suppose the world annihilated.

To say the least of such a statement as this, it is highly inconsiderate, and much below the elevation of the subject. For any man to maintain that the earth is indestructible, he must know, either that it is the will of God not to destroy it, or he must believe that matter in itself is eternal. But to know, that God has willed never to annihilate any thing he has created, is what they dare not pretend; while to believe in the necessary existence of matter, is to undeify God the Eternal.

Of the uses to which the preserved world will be assigned it is only needful to remark on one; since one only has received any considerable support. It is believed, that the earth will be so purified and transformed by the action of fire as to become what it was before the fall; that as Paradise was at first a fit residence for man when innocent and holy, it may again become so; and that there is a propriety in making the very place which was the scene of man's crime and the Saviour's humiliation, the very place in which the one shall be restored to happiness and the other to honour and dominion. It is to be observed,

that this opinion is not limited to those who may have speculated with rashness on the millennium; it has been adopted by some who, through knowing much and labouring long, have become habitually modest in their conclusions. Of course, with such persons it would be variously modified; but whatever the modifications, it will be admitted, that in substance they lead to one conclusion; that this earth and these heavens which surround us, whatever changes they may undergo, are to remain in identity the same, and are to become the material and everlasting abode of man.

The Scripture introduced to sustain this theory is chiefly the memorable assuranceThat there shall be "new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness;" and the more weight is given to it because it happens to occur three times in the sacred volume. The repetition is a happy circumstance, as it may assist us in ascertaining its real import.

On the surface of the inquiry it may appear strange, that such a passage should be strenuously urged to uphold such an opinion. The opinion to be maintained is, that the world is not to be destroyed, but to be reformed; the evidence to maintain it is, that a new heaven and a new earth shall be created! Is not this

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