Lord hath faid unto me, thou art my fon, this day have I begotten thee. Afk of me, and I fhall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermoft parts of the earth for thy poffeffion. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou fhalt dafh them in pieces like a potter's veffel. Be wife now, therefore, O ye kings; be inftructed, ye judges of the earth; ferve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kifs, the fon, left he be angry, and ye perifh from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Bleffed are all they that put their trust in him."

This pfalm gives fuch a plain account of the authori ty of Chrift, and how he will break in pieces all authority and power which shall rise against him, that we have only to read and believe.

Left any fhould doubt the meaning of this Pfalm, I will quote an explanation of it given by an apoftle, under the direction of the Holy Ghoft. Acts iv, 24, 25, 26, 27,28,"And when they heard that they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which haft made heaven and earth, and the fea, and all that in them is; who by the mouth of thy fervant David haft faid, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth ftood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. For of a truth, against the holy child Jefus, whom thou haft anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Ifrael, were gathered together, for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counfel determined before to be done."

When thefe powers fet themselves against the Lord, and his Christ, did they fucceed? No, they were broken to pieces. The Jews have been fcattered, and fo they remain to this day, and every power which has risen a gainst Chrift's reign, gofpel, or followers, have been bro ken in doing it, and this will be the cafe until the Jaft oppofition is made againt Chrift, when fire from heavens will devour his adverfaries.

Since Chrift afcended his throne, the powers of the earth, as it refpects what they call religion, and government, have grown weak to what they once were. There is more of the knowledge of his kingdom in the earth than there once was, and as this knowledge increafes, oppreffion diminishes. There are certain things which Christ will put down, before he gives up the kingdom.

1. Idolatry, which is now in a great part of the earth. 2 The delufion of Mahomet. 3 The delufion of the church of Rome, called the man of fin. 4 The fuperftition of thousands who profefs to believe in Chrift. 5 All the forms of government, which are in oppofition to his. 6 All who uphold thefe things and refufe to fubmit to Chrift and own him as their Lord.

All these things will not take place until the laft judgment. Chrift is now preparing the way to put down what is against him; but when he comes to reign on the earth, what a terrible overthrow will there be of rule and wicked rulers, when he fhall wound the heads over many countries, and fill the places with their dead bodies, All these things have been noticed in this work.

There will be a time before Chrift delivers up the kingdom, when there will not be one thing in oppofition to Christ. He will fubdue all things to himself; those who do not fubmit to his government will be destroyed, like the tares in the fire. Many people talk of Christ's sub. duing all things to himself, flaying all his enemies, and yet hold that wicked men and devils will be eternally hating him! According to this, instead of fubduing them, their rage, and oppofition will increafe forever. This is folly in the extreme. The last thing which Christ will do to put down all rule, put all things under his feet, and prepare the way to deliver up the kingdom to God is this, to raise all the dead, cast all his enemies into the lake of fire, and make an end of fin, by punish. ing his enemies with everlasting deftruction; when the heavens and earth fhall be on fire, which will make an eternal end of them; his indignation and anger will then ceafe in their destruction. In addition to this, all his

Ꮓ

friends will be raised from the dead, and thus death or the grave, will be fubdued, and his children will then be prepared for the new heaven and earth, with the new Jerufalem, where they will dwell forever.

I come now to the third particular.. .viz....

3. What is meant by delivering up the kingdom to God, and how in this the fon fhall be fubject to him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

In the first state of the kingdom, Jefus Chrift was appointed to preach righteoufnefs, to work miracles, choofe the apoftles, and inftruct them into the mysteries of the kingdom, fet an example to all his followers; to fuffer the juft for the unjust that he might bring us to God, and to offer himself unto God an acceptable facrifice to God. This was what God appointed him to do before he laid down his life. He told the people he had a work to do on earth, and that it was his meet to do and finish it, John iv. 34, "Jefus faid unto them, my meat is to do the will of him that fent me, and to finish his work," In his prayer to his Father he mentions the work he had to do on earth, and that he had finished it.

John xvii. 4, "I have glorified thee on the earth; I` have finifhed the work which thou gaveft me to do; when he came to the laft of his fufferings, on the cross, he cried out, "It is finished! and gave up the Ghost." In all this he appears to be subject to him that appointed him for the work he had done.

This work on earth, in the kingdom in the blade, prepared him for that power which he now has to fubdue all things, and which will last through the next state of the kingdom, when it is like the corn in the ear. This will begin with his reign on the earth, and continue till he has gathered out of his kingdom all things that offend, who will be cast into the furnace of fire. When all this is done, all the faved will be by Christ presented to his Father, without "fpot and blamelefs, and delivered from all their enemies, from pain, death, and mortality, and will be equal to angels, to die no more. All this is mentioned in the feriptures. Eph. v. 27, "That he might prefent it to himfelf a glorious church, not having

fpot, or wrinkle, or any fuch thing, but that it should be holy, and without blemish." Col. i. 22, "To prefent you holy, and unblameable, and unreproveable in his fight." Jude 24, 25, "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to prefent you faultlefs before the prefence of his glory with exceeding joy; to the only wife God our Saviour, be glory and majefty, dominion and power, both now and ever, Amen."

1

When this mortal puis on immortality, then death will be fwallowed up in victory, death will be the laft enemy Christ will subdue. When the faints are equal to angels, are prefented before the throne, the work Chrift is exalted to do, will be done,and having done this, he will give up his authority to him that gave it to him, and be fubject to him that put all things under him. Here God will be all in authority, and in all who are prefented before him.

If I may be allowed to exprefs my mind upon this glorious fubject, and to reprefent Chrift fpeaking to his Father, when he delivers up the kingdom, it fhall be in thefe words.

"O my Father, here I am, and the children thou haft given me. When I first appeared on earth in form of a fervant to preach righteoufnefs, I did thy will, and pleased thee in all things. When I was by thee railed from the dead, to fet on thy throne, I ruled in righteoufnefs, interceded for man, protected my followers, and dif appointed their enemies. When I reigned on earth, I fubdued my foes, gladdened the hearts of my friends, and spread the knowledge of thy glory through the earth. When the nations, deceived by fatan, compaffed the cantp of the faints, I delivered them, and overthrew their foes. When the time of the dead was come that they should be raised, the faints made immortal, the enemies judged and deftroyed, I by thine appointment, executed judgment,and they are now destroyed. All rule, power and authority but thine is now by me put down.

Thefe bleffed of thee, I prefent faultlefs before thee, with exceeding joy to me, thee and them. "Thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever. To thee

I fubmit, and with fubmiffion ask for that which is thine to give. Let me under thee, reign over these thy children, and my brethren, in the new Jerufalem forever." All this by his father will be granted.

O the glory of that immortal ftate when the faved fhall be prefented faultlefs before his throne !!

4. I come now to fhew how Chrift will reign forever, and have a kingdom which will never end, after he has given up the kingdom to God the Father.

As Chrift fuffered on earth to enter into his glory, and as his fufferings laid a foundation for his being highly exalted, fo his giving up the kingdom at the laft, will lay a foundation for greater glory to follow that, which he gives up. It has been fhown that after the day of judg. ment, there will be a new heaven, and earth, and a new Jerufalem, where the faved nations will walk, and that in the new Jerufalem there will be the throne of God and the Lamb. This throne of the Lamb, is where Christ will reign king of faints, after he has given up the authority he had to put down all rule authority and power.

Chrift told his hearers that the kingdom was like a net which gathered good and bad, and that when it was drawn to the fhore, they gathered the good into veffels and caft the bad away, fo fhall it be in the end of this world, he thall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, then fhall the righteous fhine forth as the fun in the kingdom of their Father.

This kingdom of Chrift will never end. Here all the faved will behold the king in his beauty, fee his face, and go no more out forever.

I think these things must appear plain, rational and fcriptural to all who believe the fcriptures mean as they fay. God grant we may at last appear with him in glory, Amen.