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were written in the books, according to their works.

13 And the fea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

14 And death and hell were caft into the lake of fire: This is the fecond death,

15. And whofoever was not found written in the book of life, was caft into the lake of fire.

After this laft conflict and the final defeat of Satan, there follows (ver. 11-15.) the general refurrection and judgment, reprefented in a vifion of a great white throne, great to show the largeness and extent, white to fhow the juftice and equity of the judgment, and one fitting on it, who can be none other than the Son of God, for (John V. 22.) the Father bath committed all judgment unto the Son; from whofe face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them, fo that this is properly the end of the world. The dead, both fmall and great, of all ranks and degrees, as well those who perished at fea and were buried in the waters, as those who died at land and were buried in graves,

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are all raised, and ftand before the judgmentfeat of God, where they are judged every man according to their works, as exactly as if all their actions had been recorded in books. They who are found not worthy to be inrolled in the regifters of heaven are caft into the lake of fire; whither alfo were caft death and bell or the grave, who are here perfonified, as they are likewise in other places of holy fcripture. It may seem ftrange that death fhould be caft into the lake of fire which is the fecond death; but the meaning is that temporal death, which hitherto had exercised dominion over the race of men, shall be totally abolished, and with refpect to the wicked be converted into eternal death. Then, as St. Paul faith, (1 Cor. XV. 54, 26.) shall be brought to pass the Jaying that is written, Death is fwallowed up in victory: for the last enemy that shall be deftroyed is death.

I

A

CHA P. XXI.

ND I faw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth were paffed away; and there

was no more sea.

2 And I John faw the holy city, new Jerufalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven, faying, Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they fhall be his people, and God himself fhall be with them, and be their God.

4. And God fhall wipe away all tears

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from their eyes; and there fhall be no more death, neither forrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are paffed away.

5. And he that fat upon the throne, faid, Behold, I make all things new. And he faid unto me, Write: for thefe words are true and faithful.

6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end: I will give unto him that is athirst, of the fountain of the water of life freely.

7 He that overcometh fhall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my fon.

8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and forcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, fhall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the fecond death..

A new

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A new heaven and a new earth (ver. 1.) fucceed in the room of the first heaven and the firft earth, which passed away (XX. 11.) at the general judgment. In the new earth there is this remarkable property, that there is no more fea, which whether it fhall be effected by the means which the (2) theorifts of the earth have prescribed or by any other, time muft difcover but it is evident from hence, that this new heaven and earth are not defigned to take place till after the general judgment, for at the general judgment (XX. 13.) the fea gave up the dead which were in it. Many understand the expreffion figuratively, that there fhall be no troubles or commotions in this new world. In this new world too the new Jerufalem appears (ver. 2.) in full glory and fplendor. It is described as coming down from God out of heaven; it is a city, whofe builder and maker is God; and is adorned as the bride of the Lamb, the true church of Chrift: and the new Jerufalem, the true church of Chrift, fubfifts as well during the millennial kingdom as after it. At the commencement of the millennium it was faid (XIX. 7.) The marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife bath made herself ready. At the

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(2) Burnet's Theory. B. 4. Chap. 2. Whifton's Theory. B. 4. Chap. 5.

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conclufion of the millennium Gog and Magog went up (XX. 9.) against the beloved city: And here it is represented as the metropolis of the new heaven and the new earth. The new Jerufalem fhall be the habitation of the faints of the first refurrection, and it fhall alfo be the habitation of the faints of the general resurrection. The church of Chrift fhall indure through all times and changes in this world, and likewise in the world to come; it fhall be glorious upon earth during the millennium, and shall be more glorious still in the new earth after the millennium to all eternity. Earth fhall then become as heaven, or rather it fhall be a heaven upon earth, (ver. 3.) God dwelling vifibly among men: and (ver. 4.) there shall be no more death, which cannot come to pass, till death fhall be totally abolished (XX. 14.) by being caft into the lake of fire, and till the former things, the first heaven and the firft earth, are paffed away. He who fat upon the throne as judge of the world (XX. 11.) declares (ver. 5.) Behold, I make all things new? He is the author of this fecond as well as of the first creation, and he commands these things to be written for the edification and confolation of his church with a firm affurance of their truth

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(3) γεγονοτων δε καινων απαντων 85LV αλλά κοσμε αρχην. Novaυπο κυρια αρχην ἡμέρας ογδόης, tis vero cun&tis a Domino

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