part of the creation? Nay. It will indeed be heavenly in one sense, for the curse will have been removed, and Christ will be there; but it will be the actual Canaan, "the land of their pilgrimage, the land in which they were strangers. St. Paul says, in the same chapter of Hebrews to which I have already referred, "By faith, Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed" and in faith he died, "seeing the promise afar off and being persuaded of it," but "not having received" it: and therefore he must come back to receive it; for this promise to him, of the literal Canaan for his inheritance, stands to this day an unfulfilled promise in the pages of the sacred volume.

2. In the next place, have they been fulfilled to the seed ?-Neither Isaac nor Jacob, the immediate descendants of Abraham, received the promises. During Abraham's life-time they "dwelt with him in tabernacles; "heirs with him of the same promise," but never possessors of it; for "these all died in faith, not having received the promise" (Heb. xi.) But it may be asked, Did not his more remote descendants, after the Egyptian captivity, actually inherit the promise? I reply, They did not in the time of Joshua (see Josh. xiii.): they did not in the whole of the time (four hundred years) which intervened between Joshua and David. Even in the time of David and Solomon, the most glorious time which Israel yet has known, it appears to me very doubtful whether they really possessed the land to the full extent of the promise. This was, "from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates." Now, if the promise, as respects extent of territory, was not fulfilled in the time of Solomon, it has undoubtedly never yet been fulfilled at all. But what say the Scriptures on the subject? It is written concerning Solomon (1 Kings iv. 21-24), that he reigned over all kingdoms from the river (Euphrates) unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt......he had domi nion over all the region on this side of the river, from Tiphsah, even to Azzah (Gaza), over all the kings on this side the river." And again (2 Chron. ix. 26), " And he reigned over all the kings from the river even unto the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt." In reference to the first of these texts, Gaza was a considerable distance short of the "river of Egypt,' which is generally supposed to be the eastern or Pelusiac branch of the Nile; and as to the other, if we are to understand by the expression" unto the land of the Philistines," that this land was exempted from his dominion, then Solomon did not possess the land" from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates." It seems therefore very doubtful, to say the least,

whether the Israelites ever possessed the land to the full extent promised *.

But were it even admitted that they did possess the land promised, as to extent, there can be no doubt that they did not as to duration. This promised land was to be "an everlasting possession," to Abraham and to his seed. But, if ever inherited fully by his descendants (which I believe not to have been the case), for how short a time was it in their actual possession! Even in the time of Rehoboam, Solomon's son, Shishak, king of Egypt, took and spoiled Jerusalem (1 Kings xiv. 25). And, to say nothing of the frequent reverses of Israel in the interme diate period, in about two hundred and fifty years after Solomon's death the Assyrian king carried the Ten Tribes captive, and put an end to the kingdom of Israel (2 Kings xviii. 10—12). And within one hundred and fifty years after that, Nebuchadnezzar took and destroyed Jerusalem, and carried the people of Judah captive to Babylon; since which time it certainly will not be pretended that the Jews who returned from that captivity ever possessed the inheritance to its full extent. Indeed, for nearly two thousand years they have been cast out of it altogether, wanderers over the whole earth, whilst Jerusalem, the holy city, has been trodden under foot of the Gentiles.

But supposing, even, that the Israelites had been put in full possession of the promised land, and had kept possession of it to this very day, my argument would not be affected. For I assert, on the authority of St. Paul (Gal. iii. 16), that (although the Israelites had certainly an interest in the promise) they were not the Seed to whom that promise was especially made. "To Abraham and his seed were the promises made; he saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy Seed, which is Christ." Here, then, we are assured, by an inspired commentator, that Christ was the Seed to whom the promise (of an inheritance, ver. 18) was especially made; and not either Isaac or Jacob (although it was also renewed to them personally), or their descendants, the Jews. The promise, then, has never yet been fulfilled, either to Abraham or the Seed; for it will hardly be pretended that Christ has yet had any inheritance in the land of Canaan. When he appeared there, he appeared in the form of a servant;" was born in a common stable, lived a life of suffering, had not where to lay his head, was rejected, persecuted, scourged, spit upon, cast out, and crucified as a malefactor, between two thieves.

* The map of the dominions of David and Solomon, which accompanies the Family Bible of the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, and which is doubtless compiled from the best authorities, makes them fall considerably short of the river of Egypt.

I think, then, it has been fairly proved, that the promise of Canaan, as an inheritance, has never yet been made good either to Abraham or to the Seed. If, therefore, Christ, the Seed, immediately upon his return, destroy that which was promised as the inheritance, how can the promise ever be fulfilled at all? How can it, in short, be otherwise fulfilled than by the return of Christ and his saints to take possession of it, and reign over it for ever? May I not affirm, therefore, that the point is fairly established, which I undertook to prove-namely, that nothing but a personal coming of the Redeemer to reign upon the earth can fulfil the Scriptures which are written concerning him?

I am aware that it is stoutly maintained, by the generality of interpreters, that the land thus promised as an inheritance to Abraham, and to his seed after him, is to be understood spiritually, as they call it, and means "the heavenly Canaan," or "heaven;" by which they understand an abode of glory and blessedness in some distant region of the creation. That the Canaan which Abraham will possess, in fulfilment of the promise we have been considering, will be the "heavenly Canaan," I readily grant; but it certainly cannot be the " heavenly Canaan" in the sense just mentioned; for its locality is far too distinctly marked out. The land promised to Abraham is the same land which God, when he promised it to him, bade him look upon with his eyes (Gen. xiii.); the land in which he was a stranger at the time the promise was made (Gen. xvii.) And when the promise was afterwards renewed, to his son and grandson, it was renewed in these terms. To Isaac the Lord spake thus (Gen. xxvi. 2, 3): "Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of: sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, will I give all these countries; and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father." To Jacob, again, the Lord spake thus (Gen. xxviii. 13): "I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed." Surely the land which Abraham saw, and in which he was a stranger; the land in which Isaac was a sojourner, and on which Jacob lay, can be no other than the literal Canaan, as to its locality, although it will undoubtedly be the heavenly Canaan as to its state, when they shall inherit the promise in the faith of which they died.

And now, perhaps, some may be ready to say, 'You have certainly brought strong reasons to prove that neither Abraham nor his seed have yet received the promise; and therefore, as God is faithful who promised, they must return to the earth to receive it but what has this to do with us? How can it affect us, if they all should appear on earth again to receive the pro

:

mise in its fullest extent?' I answer, "Much every way." The promise which is made to the seed, is made to us, if we are true believers in Christ Jesus. "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.....that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith..... Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made: he saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy Seed, which is Christ." Now this promise does not refer solely to Christ personal; it embraces Christ mystical. All true believers are members of Christ; members of that mystical body of which He is the head; and heirs together with him of the promise made to him. "If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise;" "heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ" (Rom. viii.) of "an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God, through faith, unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time" (1 Pet. i. 4). "For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come" (Heb. ii. 5); but "the saints shall judge " that "world," and "the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace" (Psa. xxxvii. 11); "And the kingdom, and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him" (Dan. vii. 27). This, this is the hope of the Gospel. This is the kingdom of heaven," to which the Christian is called to look forward. Not some shadowy Elysium, the figment of a heathen's fancy, but this redeemed and regenerated earth (fit abode for the glorified and regenerated body), with Christ the King of it; the curse of the fall removed from it; and Satan, sin, sorrow, disease, and death, cast out of it for ever. This is our inheritance; here are the blessed mansions which await the believer. This is that glorious liberty of the children of God, (a freedom from every thing but righteousness, holiness, purity, and bliss), into which (the Apostle says, Rom. viii.) Christ shall deliver the whole creation, when he comes, out of the bondage of corruption in which it at present lies. And he is near to do it. The time hastens apace, when shall be fulfilled the angel Gabriel's announcement to Mary: "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David; and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.'

And now let me address a word of expostulation, to such of my Christian readers as either doubt the soundness of the con

clusion to which we have arrived, or whose minds revolt from it altogether. Men and brethren, why, why, should we turn away from that conclusion as from a thing incredible? Why should it be a marvellous thing in our eyes, whatever it may appear in the eyes of a scoffing world, that God should literally (and that, perhaps, soon) perform the promise we have been considering;' build up the tabernacle of David which is fallen down, and set his King upon his holy hill of Zion? Is it more marvellous that He, the Redeemer, should reign there gloriously, whilst all kings fall down before him, and all nations do him service, than that he should be born as the carpenter's Son, and expire on the cross as a common malefactor? You cannot say that it is. Whence, then, can arise that repugnance, which is openly manifested by so many, to admit the idea of the Redeemer's personal reign on earth; and that anxiety to explain away the plain and numerous predictions relative to it, and resolve them all into some spiritual or figurative meaning, which would cause their fulfilment to be widely and essentially different from the fulfilment of every prophecy whose accomplishment we have hitherto witnessed? These things, I thoroughly believe, arise (I trust you will let me say it without offence) from weak faith, which causes a lurking indisposition in the mind (but little creditable to a humble reader of the word of God) to acquiesce in any system which would seem to involve events out of the common course of things, and contrary to our own commonly received expectations. We all profess to believe in the second personal advent of our blessed Redeemer, in the resuscitation of our bodies from the dust of the grave, and in all the awful realities of the future judgment: but these things have been hitherto removed to such a distance forward, and all visible miraculous interference of God in the world's concerns is viewed at such a distance backward, that faith in these things has almost come to nothing. They are looked upon as things written, indeed, in God's book, and which, accordingly, must necessarily be held as true; but there wants, in general, a realizing of these truths in the minds of believers. And hence it comes, that the majority, if not betrayed by Satan into feelings of contemptuous ridicule, or unseemly levity and scorn, are yet perfectly amazed, startled, alarmed, confounded, when such a thing is propounded to them, as that within a few years, or months, or days, or even hours, they may actually witness the resurrection of the bodies of the just, the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in the clouds of heaven, and all the astounding wonders that shall accompany the day of vengeance of our God, and the day of our complete redemption. And thus it happens that the minds of most turn with more complacency to a system which holds out the prospect of a gradual improvement of the world-of a gradual spread of