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ion shall be recovered by the "Seed of the woman." So it has been up to this hour; all that has been recovered has been recovered by Christ. Not one subject has been regained since Adam fell, except through the work of redemption. So it will be, it is reasonable to conclude, with the whole promised dominion of Christ; and it is highly probable in itself that this dominion will extend over the whole earth. If Satan continue to the end, lord of this world, as he has been hitherto, how is he despoiled of his usurpation? If he hold his dominion as long as the world stands, will he not seem to have maintained his supremacy? Or if the gospel age shall terminate, and Christ appear in power and glory before he is dethroned, will it not be the power of God, not the Seed of the woman, which bruises his head? This thought becomes the more convincing when we consider what vast preparations are made in the gospel for the express end of man's recovery; and, though designed for the whole world, they have been made effectual hitherto only to a limited extent. The command to preach the gospel to every creature, with the promise that in it shall all the families of the earth be blessed, clearly indicates a glorious triumph. If now the success of the gospel continue to be limited, as it has been, will it not seem to be a failure? Will there not be an appearance, at least, of undertaking to build, and not being able to finish? Is it not most reasonable to suppose, after the Son of God has made a sacrifice of his life for the avowed purpose of destroying the works and the power of the devil, that he will, by that sacrifice, accomplish the end?

Is it not also to be expected that Jesus Christ, "who suffered shame and reproach in this world, and was condemned and put to death as a malefactor by man, should have this reproach removed in the sight of all men, and that the cause in which he suffered and died, should prevail and be victorious in this same world where he suffered and died, and he be exalted and extolled and be very high." The enemies of Christ have always hated and derided the cross, and have tried all means to overturn it. They even laugh it to scorn, and insultingly boast that Christ can never reign on the earth by means of the cross. Shall they not be disappointed, and their arrogant falsehood be made apparent? The great question now at issue is, not the supremacy of God, but the supremacy of the cross of Christ. With all his malice, Satan can aspire to nothing greater than to hinder the success and tarnish the glory of the cross. This is his great object. Can it be possible that he will prevail? Another of his cunning wiles is, to make it appear that Christianity is nothing better than any other system of religion, or any moral theory; and more than this, that it is

often evil and mischievous. How shall this artifice, which has so largely prevailed in every age, be overthrown, unless it be shown by experiment on a large scale, in the general spread of the gospel, that this, and this only can renovate the world. Thus will the long delay of the gospel triumph give full opportunity to manifest the insufficiency of all other means, and cover them with merited disgrace, and also ren. der its final triumph much more illustrious. In this way, God will make foolish the wisdom of this world. It is said, all these ends will be attained by Christ's second coming that when he appears "in the glory of his Father with all the holy angels," his enemies will be confounded and Christ be honored. Be it so; yet if it is accomplished by the glory of the Father, it is not done by the cross; nor can we conceive that the glory of the second coming should have any influence to take away the reproach that the cross is of none effect, or to make manifest that it is the power of God unto salvation.

The doctrine that the world will be subjugated to Christ under the dispensation of the Spirit, is also confirmed by the importance given to the work of redemption. This is the grand work of time. For it the world was created and man formed upon it. Its history, drawn by the pen of inspiration, shows that all events look to this as if it were the grand object; and designed, more than all things else, to advance the glory of God. Hence the angels look upon it with so great admiration, and are filled with exalted praises when they contemplate its mysteries. As it is the work of time, so time must last till it be complete. The results also must be commensurate with the importance of the work, and fully answer to what is said of the power of the gospel, which "is as the fire and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces." To us it seems incredible, that a work which the Scriptures so delight to magnify, a work which has been introduced with such an array of preparation, and which gives promise of results so vast, should be brought to a sudden termination when it has scarcely made an impression upon this world of sin, and when the dominion and the greatness of it under the whole heaven is still in the hands of Satan. What becomes of the promise, "It shall bruise thy head," if Satan is forever the oppressor? Does not the Scripture view of the work of redemption carry us forward insensibly to the conclusion that it will make conquest of the world? The Scriptures indeed tell us of" the glory of his power, and the brightness of his appearing," not however as means for carrying on this work, but as results following from its completion. When the work is done, then shall the end be, and then will Christ "come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe." We are aware that it may be said, that

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Promise to Abraham.

661 the results are not small even on the present scale of success-the number who have been redeemed is already immensely great and if in fants are reckoned in the number of the saved, we may fairly estimate the whole company of the redeemed as exceeding that of the lost. This does not in the least abate the force of the argument, because it does not alter the fact that the power and glory of this world is and ever has been in the hands of the usurper; and the cause of Christ is trodden down and oppressed. If all the oppression of Christ and his people in our world is only the bruising of his heel, we again ask, what becomes of the promise, "It shall bruise thy head?"

This remarkable prophecy claims particular notice. It is the first on record, and contains the germ of the whole history of redemption. God says, "I will put enmity between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." This enmity, and the fruits of it, in bruising the heel of Christ, are apparent in the suffering and dishonor which Satan has been instrumental in bringing upon him; and in the opposition he has made to the interest and church of Christ in the world. This determines the nature of the contest, and who are the conflicting parties. It is a war, not between God and Satan, but between the Redeemer and the seducer-the seed of the woman and the seed of Satan. The conflict dates from the day of the curse, and the history of the church is the history of its progress. What is the result thus far? Is the head of Satan yet bruised? This no one pretends. The most brilliant successes of the cross have been in the midst of the most powerful opposition of the Adversary; and the church has felt the bruising of the heel in persecutions, and opposing stratagems at every step of her progress. At no time has Satan's dominion in the world been broken. Past results then show us what is meant, by "bruising the heel." True criticism obliges us to interpret one part of this passage by the other to make the war begun and carried on by the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, to be ended with them and to look to have it continued and ended in the same state and by the same means that it has been thus far waged. It follows that this world is the battle-field, and the gospel and the cross are the means by which the victory is to be gained. Bruising the head" must come in the same order of works with "bruising the heel," and it will come when all the cunning artifices of Satan are defeated, and Christ triumphs by means of the gospel. Can anything short of this answer to the language of his prophecy?

The promise to Abraham is to the same effect "In them shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." This promise, which the VOL. VI. No. 24.

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apostle expressly applies to Christ, carries the blessing to all the kindreds of the earth. The nations of the earth can be blessed in Christ, only by being made subjects of his kingdom; and the promise cannot have its fulfilment unless the nations are subdued by the gospel, and by means of the gospel, Christ reigns over the earth. It is a miserable evasion of the argument from these and similar passages, to rep resent that this promise may be fulfilled by the destruction of the nations which are now upon the earth, and by peopling it again from the multitudes of the pious dead, with nations who receive Christ and are blessed in him. God is able "to raise up children to Abraham from the stones in the street," but had he done this, as being more simple and easy than to convert men by the Holy Ghost, would Christ have seen of the travail of his soul, even though the new creations had exceeded the sands of the sea? God is able to build " new heavens and a new earth,' and to people it again with holy beings, but what has this to do with the promised fruit of Christ's sufferings and death? The promises we have been considering relate to the nature and results of the mediatorial work in this world; and it is absurd to trace their fulfilment in other worlds and by other agencies.

In John 12: 31, 32, we have a strong confirmation of the interpretation we have given to those passages. Then Christ, in anguish of soul prayed, "Father glorify thy Son;" then came a voice from heaven saying, "I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again." As this voice was not understood by his disciples, though expressly designed for their instruction and benefit, Jesus condescends to explain its import. This he does by saying, "Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me;" thus teaching that the voice from heaven was the assurance of the Father, that by means of his sufferings and redemption work, the head of Satan should be bruised, and all the nations of the earth be blessed in him. "By his appearance in this world," says Prof. Tholuck in his Commen. tary, in loc. "by his last passion and death, Christ realizes the highest vnaxon (obedience) and in so doing he breaks down the dominion of sin; the kingdom of God comes in with power; the rejecting judg ment of God against wickedness is fulfilled; and the Saviour beholds Satan like lightning fall from heaven. Luke 10: 8. For if the pow. er of the kingdom of evil is broken down by that great fact of Redemption, then is the power of Satan, who is the ruler of this kingdom, broken with it." The casting out of Satan, and the drawing all men to himself clearly refer to the same event; the one looking more directly to the overthrow of hostile forces, and the other to the salutary effects

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of Christ's own agency through the gospel. The drawing will be coextensive with the breaking down of Satan's kingdom, and in this full accomplishment of both, the glory of the latter day will appear. Such we think must be the import of Christ's words. The whole tenor of Scripture in reference to the nature and ends of the mediatorial work, leads us irresistibly to the conclusion that the great conflict between Satan and the seed of the woman, will be settled under the dispensation of the Spirit. Its great design is to despoil the usurper and give the inheritance to the Redeemer. Hence when Christ appears, Satan falls like lightning from heaven.

Let us now turn to those prophetic promises which speak of what the church is to be. Her future glory is the theme of prophetic rapture in the Old Testament and in the New. "The mountain of the Lord's house shall be exalted above the hills." "The glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it." "The stone cut without hands" shall become a great mountain and fill the whole earth. These are a few out of many Scriptures which speak of the glory which is to come. Shall this be under the dispensation of the Spirit? We appeal to the Scriptures themselves for the answer. The question, be it remembered, concerns not the arithmetic of prophecy, but only the correct interpretation of the language itself; and our eyes are strangely holden, if this does teach us to expect the promised glory before the end of the present dispensation. "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. And many people shall go and say, come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for out of it shall go forth the law, etc." We ask now of what age or dispensation does the prophet speak. The description and imagery is by no means suited to such a heaven. ly state as is supposed to succeed the destruction of this world; neither is it suited to any other age or dispensation. It is appropriate only to the present dispensation, and a time of great and general prosperity to the church. A time when men seek after knowledge, when the law goes forth out of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, when the spirit of war gives place to love of peace, and when the gospel is made effectual to the nations by the Holy Ghost. The present dispensation is exactly fitted for such a time as this; what other dispensation is ?

The time when "the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together," Isa. 40: 5, must be the time of the grand consummation; but the precursor of this renders it certain that it be