versally, and in more constant and plentiful effusions than ever before; for all holiness in man, is the effect of the Holy Spirit. That day will be, in a peculiar sense, the dispensation of the Holy Spirit, when he will appear as the author of all holiness, by whose' influence alone, divine, revealed truth, and all religious institutions and means, become efficacious and salutary; by which he will have peculiar honour, in the holiness and salvation which shall then take place. The prophecies of scripture which respect the Millennium, represent it in this light. God, speaking by Isaiah of that time, says, "I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring. And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses. And the same time and event is mentioned as the effect of the Holy Spirit, poured out upon the church. "Neither will I hide my face any more from them: For I have poured out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God."* The same event is predicted by the prophet Joel. "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh. And also upon the servants, and upon the handmaids in these days, will I pour out my Spirit."+ The apostle Peter applies this passage in Joel to the pouring out of the Spirit on the apostles and others. on the day of Pentecost + But this prophecy was fulfilled only in a small degree then. This was but the beginning, the first fruits, which will issue in that which is unspeakably greater, more extensive and glorious in the days of the Millennium, to which this prediction has chief respect, and when it will have the full and most complete accomplishment.

"2. There will be a great increase of light and knowledge, to a degree vastly beyond what has been before. This is indeed implied in the great degree of holiness, which has been mentioned. For knowledge, Acts ii, 16, &c.

* Ezek. xxxix, 29. † Joel ii. 28, 29.

mental light, and holiness, are inseparably connected; and are in some respects, the same. Holiness is true light and discerning, so far as it depends upon a right taste, and consists in it; and it is a thirst after every kind and degree of useful knowledge; and this desire and thirst for knowledge will be great and strong, in proportion to the degree of holiness exercised: And forms the mind to constant attention, and to make swift advances in understanding and knowledge; and becomes a strong guard against mistakes, error and delusion. Therefore, a time of eminent holiness must be a time of proportionably great light and knowledge. This is the representation which the scripture gives of that time. The end of binding Satan, and casting him into the bottomless pit, is said to be, "That he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled." This will put an end to the darkness, and multiplicity of strong delusions, which do prevail, and will prevail, till that time, by which Satan supports and promotes his interest and kingdom among men. Then "the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil spread over all nations, shall be taken away and destroyed:" :"*"And the eyes of them that see, shall not be dim; and the ears of them that hear, shall hearken. The heart also of the rash, shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerer shall be ready to speak plainly." The superior light and knowledge of that day is metaphorically represented in the following words: "Moreover, the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be seven fold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound." In that day, "The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea."S

* Isaiah xxv. 7.

Isaiah xxxii. 3, 4.

Isaiah xxx. 26.

Isaiah xi. 9.

"The holy scriptures will then be attended to by all, and studied with care, meekness, humility and uprightness of heart, earnestly desiring to understand them, and know the truth; and the truths they contain will be received with a high relish and delight: And the Bible will be much better understood, than ever before. Many things expressed or implied in the scripture, which are now overlooked and disregarded, will then be discovered, and appear important and excellent; and those things which now appear intricate and unintelligible, wili then appear plain and easy. Then public teachers will be eminently burning and shining lights; apt to teach; scribes well instructed into the things of the kingdom of heaven, who will bring out of their treasures, things new and old; and the hearers will be all attention, and receive the truth in the love of it, into honest and good hearts; and light and knowledge will constantly increase. The conversation of friends and neighbours, when they meet, will be full of instruction, and they will assist each other in their enquiries after the truth, and in pursuit of knowledge. Parents will be able and disposed to instruct their children, as soon as they are capable of learning; and they will early understand what are the great and leading truths which are revealed in the Bible, and the duties and instructions there prescribed. And from their childhood they will know and understand the holy scriptures, by which they will grow in understanding and wisdom; and will soon know more than the greatest and best divines have known in ages before. And a happy foundation will be laid for great advances in knowledge and usefulness to the end of life. Agreeable to this, the scripture speaking of that day, says, "There shall be no more thence (i. e. in the church) an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days; for the child shall die an hundred years old."* "An infant of days" is an old infant. That is, an old man

*Isaiah lxv. 20.

who is an infant in knowledge, understanding and discretion. Many such aged infants have been, and still are to be found. In that day all shall make advances in true knowledge, discretion and wisdom, in some proportion to their years. "Nor an old man that hath not filled his days.” That is, an old man who has not improved in knowledge and usefulness, and every good attainment, according to his age."For a child shall die an hundred years old." That is, children in years shall then make such early progress in knowledge, and in religion, and in all excelTent and useful attainments, that they shall equal, if not surpass, the highest attainments in these things, of the oldest men who have lived in former ages.

"They will then have every desirable advantage and opportunity to get knowledge. They will all be engaged in the same pursuit, and give all the aid and assistance to each other, in their power. They will all have sufficient leisure to pursue and acquire learning of every kind, that will be beneficial to themselves and to society; especially knowledge of divinity.And great advances will be made in all arts and sciences, and in every useful branch of knowledge, which tends to promote the spiritual and eternal good of men, or their convenience and comfort in this life."

3. Wars shall then cease throughout the universal world. This is not only clear from the conclusion, which we must come to, that universal holiness will produce universal peace, but also from many express passages of scripture. "And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: And they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more: And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.'

Isaiah ii, 4. xxxii. 18,

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the suckling child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice den.*

Those lusts of the hearts of men which now produce wars and fightings, will then be so far subdued by God's grace, and mankind so filled with the spirit of the Prince of Peace, that the inhabitants of the world will no doubt look back on past ages and generations, with the utmost astonishment at such a worse than beastly practice, and more especially when they learn that this horrible carnage, this murderous slaughter, was patronised, countenanced, and even in many instances, carried on by those who have professed the religion of the meek and lowly Jesus, who has positively declared that his kingdom is not of this world, and that his subjects' weapons are not carnal, but mighty through God in the pulling down of the strong holds of Satan. Notwithstanding all the arguments the advocates for war have been able to produce in favour of Christians fighting, I have for a long time been convinced that the practice is inconsistent and perfectly contrary to the letter and spirit of the gospel. It has appeared to me astonishing, that after all our Saviour and the apostles have said about praying for and loving our enemies, that we must not resist evil, &c. that any man who professes to believe in the bible, should pretend to maintain the idea that it is lawful for us to kill our enemies (yes, and perhaps those who are not, strictly speaking, our enemies, but who may have been compelled to come on to the field of battle against their wills) by scores, hundreds and thousands, and thus precipitate them, probably unprepared, into eternity, to be miserable forever and

*Isaiah xi. 6, 7, 8.