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From the imprisonment of Satan, the prophet proceeds to the kingdom of Chrift, and the firft refurrection of the jutt. "And," fays he, "* I faw "thrones, and they fat upon them :" evidently alluding to the thrones promifed by Chrift, when upon earth, to the apoftles, and to the juft made perfect, through faith in him. When Peter heard the parable of the rich man, he afked Chrift, faying, "We "have forfaken all and followed thee, what fhall "we have therefore? And Jefus faid unto them, Verily I fay unto you, that you who have followed me in the regeneration, when the SON OF MAN "fhall fit in his glory, ye fhall fit on twelve thrones,

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judging the twelve tribes of Ifrael." Again, "He that overcometh, and keepeth my words unto "the end, to him will I give power over the na"tions." So the prophet, fpeaking of Chrift, tells us, § And he hath made us (the apostles, mar

tyrs, and faints) kings and priefts unto our God, "and we fhall reign upon earth." And farther, "I / "faw (in this kingdom) the fouls of them that were "beheaded for the witness of Jefus, and for the word "of God;" meaning all the prophets, apoftles, faints, martyrs, and righteous men, who fhall have fuffered death, before the fecond coming of Christ, either by the pagan powers, whether Babylonian, Perfian, Grecian, or Roman, or by the apoftate powers of Mohamedanifm and popery," for the "witnefs of Jefus and the word of God;" and alfo the fouls of thofe "which fhall not have worshipped "The beaft; neither his image; neither fhall have "received his mark upon their foreheads or in their "hands;" that is, which fhall not have been corrupted from the" fear and love of God into the

* Chap. xx. 4, 5, 6.

Rev. ii. 26.

Matth. xix. 27, 28. § Rev. v. 10.

Rev. xiii. 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17.

"filthy

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filthy and blafphemous impurity of atheism;" and these "lived and reigned with Chrift a thousand years*. But the reft of the dead" (meaning, as I humbly apprehend, all thofe who fhall not have feared God and given glory to him," according to the merciful invitations of Chrift himself, and, in particular, the black and hardened children of atheism) lived not again until the thousand years were "finished. This is the firft refurrection." "Blessed "and holy is he that hath part in the firft refur"rection;" bleffed, indeed, for they are now feparated from, and placed above, all the troubles, vexations, misfortunes, and deftructive evils of the world, and even above the temptation and power of Satan! bleffed, indeed, because they have now recovered that glorious ftate of innocence, felicity, and perfection, which they had forfeited through the disobedience of their first parents; and bleffed above measure, for they have now found their loft Shepherd, and are now to be fed by him, and repofe in the funshine of his perfection for ever and ever! and holy indeed! for they are pardoned and juftified by his blood, and anointed and fanétified by his righte oufnefs, and fo perfectly holy, that the fecond "death," or the wrath of God, which fhall be poured out upon the wicked in The laft day, to their eternal punishment, "fhall have no power over "them; but they fhall be priests of GoD and of "CHRIST, and fhall reign with him a thousand years §."

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Having foretold the reign of Chrift upon earth, the prophet paffes to the next, the moft awful, important, and decifive events of the providence of God contained in the prophecies, which are to come

* Ver. 5.
+Chap. xiv. 7. xi. 18.
§ Pfalm ii. per totum. Isaiah xxxv.

↑ Ver. 6.

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to pass at or immediately after the termination of it. He does not mention what are to be the effects of the merciful reprieve of the "lives" or fuperftitious rites of the pagan nations; nor was it a matter of any moment for us to know; it would only be one among innumerable inftances of the mercies of God in the course of his government of mankind; and if the abundant proof of that truth displayed before our eyes has not convinced us of it, a knowledge of the facts omitted would not anfwer that purpose; however, as a God of infinite wifdom does nothing in vain, we may reasonably fuppofe that many of thofe nations, now no longer fubject to the temptations of Satan, but left to their free will, and having, as it were, before their eyes the beatitude of the children of God, will, upon a comparison of their fallen, finful, and miserable state, with the ineffable righteoufnefs, peace, and felicity of the kingdom of Chrift, forfake their ancient and deep rooted prejudices and habits, and their fenfual and abominable idolatry, embrace the truths of the ever living God, and, at the laft, be faved, and thus fulfil one of the parables of Chrift himself when foretelling his kingdom, and alluding, among others, to this very event: he there * compares his kingdom to a " Lord "of a vineyard and his labourers, fome of whom he "called in at the first hour, others at the third, and "the fixth, and the ninth, and the eleventh and "when at night he called them in to receive their reward, he paid thofe that came at the eleventh "and last hour first; and those that were called in "first he paid the laft, and gave to all the fame re"ward;" and then adds, fo the last fhall be firft, and the first laft; for many be called, but few chofen." Thus he foretels, as I humbly interpret the parable, that the Pagan nations and the

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*Matth. xx. I-16.

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† Ver. 16.

Jews

Jews the latter of whom are to remain in a difperfed state among the former, until after the coinmencement of the reign of Chrift), who were the firft tranfgreffors of the word of God, fhall be the laft called, faved, or punished, as they shall receive or reject the Gospel of Chrift; "for many be called "but few chofen;" and that the obftinate and perverse followers of the Mohamedan and the papal apoftafies, and of the atheistical fyftem, and of the great confederacy, who have been the last in tranfgreffion, fhall be the first punished. But whether or not any of thofe nations thall avail themselves of the merciful opportunity of coming over to Chrift in his kingdom, we fhall prefently find that many of them, a mighty hoft, "the number of whom is to "be as the fand of the fea," fhall not only remain refractory, preferring their filthy idolatry to the adoration of the true God, but fiirred up and led on by Satan, fhall make a laft effort to deftroy the kingdom of Chrift. Let us therefore return to the prophet.

* That the restoration of the Jews is not to take place until after the coming of Christ to reign, feems probable from the affurance given by him to the apoftles, that when "he fhall fit in

his glory, they fhall fit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve "tribes of Ifrael." For it feems, from fundry parts of the prophecies relating to that bleffed event, which I have not now leifure to explain, they will be called and restored at fome time during the period of a thoufand years; that fo the two churches of God may be united under Chrift, and then they fhall be " judged" by their own twelve elders, who, together with the twelve apoftles, are the four and twenty elders, having on their heads crowns of gold. who the prophet reprefents, in divers places, as being with Chrift in heaven. Befides, we are told that "their plagues fhould be "of long continuance, and their fore fickness of long continuance, "and that they fhould be for a fign and a wonder upon their feed for ever" that is, during the whole period of the Chriftian difpenfation.

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Matth. xix. 27, 28.
Deut. xxviii. 46. 59.

b Rey. iv. 4. v. S. 14. xi. 11. xix. 3.

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Ver. 7, 8." And when the thousand years "are expired, Satan fhall be loofed out of his prifon, and fhall go out to deceive the nations "which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together "to battle, the number of whom is as the fand of the fea. And they went up on the "breadth of the earth, and encompaffed the camp of the faints about, and the beloved city: and FIRE came down from GOD and "devoured them."

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Here we have a brief account of the last battle which will ever be fought upon the earth: a battle between TRUTH and FALSEHOOD, between the Son of the Moft High God, his faints and juft men made perfect, and redeemed from a fallen finful world. The account of this battle the prophet begins by informing us, that Satan will be releafed from his imprifonment, and fuffered to refume his loft power at the expiration of the thoufand years; and that he will go out to deceive the nations, Gog and Magog; meaning, as I humbly conjecture, the idolatrous nations, who having, as it were, had ocular demonftration of the bleffed fruits of the word of God in the kingdom of Chrift, fhall despise and reject it; for, according to prophetic hiftory, all other nations are to be deftroyed before this event by the judgments and wrath of an offended God, except thofe that fhall have obeyed his divine will revealed by Christ. This conjecture feems to receive a degree of probability from the text itfelf; for the nations here referred to are defcribed by the terms Gog and Magog. And we learn, from ancient hiftories, facred as well as profane, that "Magog" was the country of the Magogians, Gomerians, and Tubalines, the defcendants of Magog, Gomer, and Tubal, the fons of

Japhet

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