ing. Therefore, thy gates shall be open continually, they shall not be shut day nor night, that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought. For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish: Yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted." No such event has been yet. When this shall take place, all nations, all mankind, must belong to the church; for all others shall be utterly wasted. The same thing is foretold by the prophet Zachariah.*

The sixty-first chapter of Isaiah is on the same subject, and the sixty-second throughout. Upon such promises made to the church, she breaks forth into joy and praise, in the prospect of the good that is coming to her. "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation; he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with jewels. For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God I will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all nations." "For Zion's sake, I will not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake, I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, -and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: And thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name. I have set

watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night. Ye that make -mention of the Lord, keep not silence, and give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. Go through, go through the gates; prepare you the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway, gather out the stones, lift up a standard for the people. Behold, the Lord hath pro

* Chap, iii, 14, 19,

claimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. And they shall call them, The holy people, the redeemed of the Lord: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.”* "Who hath

heard such a thing? Who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day, or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the Lord. Shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God. Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her; rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her: That ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory. For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream."§

In the prophecy of Jeremiah, the following passages are found, which predict the utter abolition of idolatry on earth, and the conversion of all nations to Christianity, which events have not yet come to passa "At that time they shall call Jerusalem (i. e. the church) the throne of the Lord (i. e. the Lord shall reign in and by it.) And all nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem; (i. e. shall become members of the church.) Neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart." They shall wholly renounce their idolatry, and all their wickedness. Thus shall ye say unto them; The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the

In the time of their vis

earth, and from under those heavens. They are vanity and the work of errors. itation they shall perish "

*Isa, Ixii. 1, 2, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12. Jer. iii. 17.

According to this proph

§ Isa. Ixvi. 8, 9, 10. 11, 12 Chap. x. 11, 15,

ecy, this will take place while this earth and the heavens remain, and therefore before the day of judg

ment.

This subject is set in a very clear light in the book of Daniel the prophet. It is there repeatedly declared that the church or kingdom of Christ, shall be the last kingdom on earth; that it shall succeed four preceding monarchies, become great, and fill the world, and exist in a very happy and glorious state on earth. By the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, and the interpretation of it in the second chapter of Daniel, the kingdom of Christ is set in this light. The image which Nebuchadnezzar saw represents four kingdoms or monarchies, viz.-1. The Babylonian. 2. The Medo Persian, or that of the Medes and Persians. 3. The Macedonian or Grecian. 4. The Roman. These are all to pass away and be destroyed, to make way for a fifth kingdom, which shall be great, and fill the world; which is described in the dream, by the following words: "Thou sawest till a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and break them in pieces. Then were the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver and gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors, and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them. And the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth." This is interpreted by Daniel in the following words: "And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: And the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces, and consume all these kingdoms, and it shalt stand forever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver and gold, the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter." That this last

kingdom is the kingdom of Christ, there can be no doubt.* The same is called in the New Testament, "The kingdom of God, or the kingdom of heaven." This is to succeed the kingdom of the Romans, and to fill the whole earth, in which all nations, all mankind will be included. The Roman empire or kingdom, is not yet wholly destroyed; therefore what is here predicted of the kingdom of Christ is not yet accomplished, but shall take place in some future day. Nothing can be plainer and more certain than this.

In the seventh chapter of this book there is a rep resentation of the same thing in a vision which Daniel had. He saw the same four empires or kingdoms in their succession, represented by four great, wild, fierce beasts, coming up from the sea. The last kingdom turned into a little horn which came up last; and Daniel "beheld till this fourth beast with the little horn was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame." And then the vision proceeds; I saw in the night visions, and beheld one like the son of man, come with the clouds of heaven, and came to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations and languages should serve him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." This vision is briefly explained to Daniel in the following words: "These great beasts, which are four, are four kings (i. e. kingdoms) which shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever." Daniel requested a more particular explanation of the fourth beast, and of the ten horns, and of the little horn, "Even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout

• See Newton on the Prophecies, vol. i. pp. 426, 427, &c.

than his fellows. And the same horn made war with the saints and prevailed against them; until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom." And he is then told, "That the fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth. And the ten horns out of this kingdom, are ten kings that shall arise: And another shall rise after them, and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws: And they shall be given into his hand, until a time, and times, and the dividing of time. But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it to the end. 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."

As in Nebuchadnezzar's dream, so in this vision, the fifth and last kingdom, is the kingdom of Christ, consisting wholly of saints. It is Jesus Christ whom Daniel saw: "And behold, one like to the son of man came with the clouds of heaven. And there was given him dominion and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations and languages should serve him." His kingdom and dominion is universal; including all the inhabitants of the earth. And these shall be all saints or holy persons; as no others can be the proper subjects of this kingdom. "The saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever. 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." The strongest expressions are used and repeated, to assert the universality of this kingdom, comprehending all mankind who shall then live on earth. And it is repeatedly declared, that this