in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years."

3d. The resurrection of the body will be accompanied with the transformation of all the living saints-the premillennial will not.

No one pretends that all the living saints will be changed when the first resurrection (as it is called) transpires; and no one can deny that Paul says both the living saints shall be changed and the dead raised, and both ascend together to meet the Lord in the air.

4th. The participants of the resurrection of the saints will live and reign forever; while the participants of the premillennial resurrection are only to live and reign one thousand years.

I need not prove that the phrase, "we shall be ever with the Lord," applies to the subjects of the "resurrection of the just," nor need I prove that the limitation of the life and triumphs of the saints to one thousand years, precludes the idea of its being an eternal life and endless reign. If I promise a person a lease of an estate for 10 or 20 years, it is by common consent understood that those years expired, his lease and occupancy terminated with that period. Now as it is said they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years, it must be understood that that being transpired, the life and reign with Christ are necessarily completed.

5th. The resurrection of the body, its transformation and that of the earth, are almost coincident events; while the premillennial resurrection is neither accompanied nor succeeded with any such transformations; nay, it is to be succeeded by another resurrection of the souls of the wieked, called "the rest of the dead."

"The rest of the dead lived not again till the thousand years were expired." Now as the phrase, "they lived a thousand years," intimates that in that sense and state they lived no more than a thousand years; so the phrase, "the rest of the dead lived not again till the thousand years were expired," intimates that as soon as the thousand years were expired they lived again. And, no doubt, this their life was like that of their predecessors-their spirits lived after the thousand years, as the spirits of the just lived during the thousand years. It was a resurrection of wicked souls, as the first resurrection was of souls beheaded for Jesus.

The loosing of Satan and this resurrection are contemporaneous events as the binding of Satan and the first resurrection of the souls of the witnesses, are contemporaneous events. And the peculiarity of this second figurative resurrection is, that it is not at the ultimate and final close of time, but at the end of the thousand years. The spirits that disturbed the just before the first resurrection now appear

in the field again, and encamp against the saints. And this, too, before the final consummation. For after this second spiritual resurrection, the souls under Satan, "who live and reign with him," go out to deceive the nations-to gather Gog and Magog to battle against the saints-a host as numerous as the sand of the sea.

6th. The resurrection of the dead immediately precedes the destruction of the last enemy; but the premillennial resurrection leaves not only Satan, but death in the field, to gain new triumphs, more than one thousand years after its consummation.

So far from Death, the last enemy, being destroyed before the Millennium-so far from Satan being forever crushed by the first resurrection, it is intimated that he will be loosed, and that he will deceive the nations and raise a war against the saints even after the thousand years shall have been fulfilled. Can any one reconcile this with Paul's affirmation while expatiating on the resurrection of the dead? "Death, the last enemy, shall be destroyed." "Death is swallowed up for ever." "Grave, where now thy victory!"

7th. It was before shown that the final conflagration and the new creation of a heaven and earth more congenial with the new bodies of the saints, will immediately accompany the resurrection of the body; while the premillennial resurrection indicates a residence on the present earth for a thousand years after it is burned up!

These seven specifications of antitheses between the literal and figurative resurrections, may suffice for the present. There are other points that have occurred to us besides these; but these, we presume, incontrovertibly show that the Lord cannot possibly come in person before the Millennium; and that with me, at present, is all that I wish to establish. The events that do accompany, and those that must, according to the very plainest oracles, precede his personal return, are such as forbid any one well read, or profoundly attentive to the sub. ject, to believe or teach the personal coming of the Lord, or a literal resurrection of any portion of the saints, before the Millennium.

The views given by the "Reformed Clergyman," some volumes back, on the most prominent points, are amply corroborated and illustrated in some of the latest works, both from the American and European press. I read both sides.

Among the most recent works I have read with pleasure and profit, are the works of Dr. Urwick, of Dublin, 1839, an ably written and well digested volume of about 300 pages; the work of David Campbell, Boston, 1840; pictatorial, containing 400 pages. This, too, is a work of considerable merit, Also, on the opposite side, William Miller's "Evidence from Scripture and History of the second coming of Christ

about the year 1843: Boston, 1840;" and "The coming of the Messiah in glory and majesty, by Juan Josafat ben Ezra, a converted Jew: Dublin, 1833." While something in debt to all, I am addicted to call no man Father or Master, save the Great teacher himself. Still I would have my readers to know that I endeavor to keep up with the times, and that I am one of those who read both sides of all important questions. A. C.

1

FAMILY CULTURE.

CONVERSATIONS AT THE CARLTON HOUSE.

No. XV.

THE 12th and 13th chapters of Genesis being read, Olympas called upon Reuben for a description of the Promised Land.

Reuben. It lay between the Mediterranean sea and the mountains of Arabia, and extends from Egypt to Phenicia. It is bounded on the east by the mountains of Arabia; to the south, by the wilderness of Paran, Idumea, and Egypt; to the west, by the Mediterranean, called in Hebrew the Great Sea; and to the north, by the mountains of Libanus. Its length from the city of Dan, since called Cesarea Philippi, which stands at the foot of these mountains, to Beersheba, is about seventy leagues, or 210 miles; and its breadth from the Mediterranean sea to the eastern border, in some places 30 leagues, or 90 miles. This country, though small, lying in the very midst of the then known world, was chosen by God wherein to work the redemption of mankind. It was first called the Land of Canaan, from Canaan the son of Ham, whose posterity possessed it. Afterwards it was called Palestine, from the people, whom the Hebrews called Philistines, and the Greeks and Romans corruptly Palestines, who inhabited the sea coasts, and were first known to them; the Land of Promise, from God's promise to Abraham of giving it to him;-the Land of Israel, from the Israelites, who afterward possessed it;-the Land of Judah, or Judea, from the tribe of Judah, the most considerable of the twelve tribes, and the only one that remained after the Captivity;-and lastly, the Holy Land, from being the scene of the birth, miracles, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Olympas. It is well repeated, and I presume you have traced these lines accurately upon the map. How many names had this land according to the desorption and history which you have heard?

William. No less than six-Canaan, Palestine, Land of Israel, Land of Judea, Land of Promise, and the Holy Land.

Olympas. The Land of Promise was then the family estate of Abraham in virtue of this divine charter. It was, however, his as yet only in promise: for at that time seven nations called it their own country. When, James, was Abraham called to go and sojourn in this land? James. When he was 75 years old.

Olympas. He left Haran at that age; but the question is, At what time was Abraham called to forsake his native land, his kindred, and home?

William. We are not informed at what time, only that the Lord at some previous time "had said." This phrase allows even years to have intervened. He was, Indeed, 75 years at the time of his departure from Haran; but how long before that time he was called, we cannot tell.

Olympas. But as Paul says, "Abraham, when called, obeyed and went out, not knowing whither he was going," are we not allowednay, constrained to think that as soon as he was called he obeyed?

William. If the call was to do it immediately, he could not have obeyed the call but by immediately rising up and commencing his journey. But the words seem to indicate that at some previous time to his departure the Lord had intimated to him his views and will, and that now the time was come to comply with them.

Olympas. True, the style so intimates; and we are allowed to infer that before he came to Haran, and while he was yet in Ur of the Chaldees, this call had been given to the Patriarch. We may have use for this distinction again, and whether or not, I would have you always to note dates accurately, for often much depends upon them. This is one of the most remarkable passages in the life of any man, and I would have you to mark it with all care. Tell me, Thomas, how would you understand and classify the blessings promised to Abraham, the belief of which induced him to forsake all; and to follow the guidance of the Sheckinah, or divine manifestations?

Thomas. There appears to me but two distinct promises in this transaction-the one special, the other general-the one personal, the other national-the one temporal, the other spiritual.

Olympas. Some might say there are six promises. Does it not read, 1st. "I will make of thee a great nation, 2d. and I will bless thee, 3d. and make thy name great, 4th. and thou shalt be a blessing, 5th. and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee, 6th. and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed "

Thomas. These are but the amplification or detailing out of the contents of two distinct promises; for example, your 1st, 2d, 3d, and 5th make one, and your 4th and 6th make another. "I will make of

thee a great nation, and I will bless thee and make thy name great, and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee," are all personal, special, and temporal. These might have been, and were all fulfilled, in Abraham as a prince and renowned ancestor of nations. But "I will make thee a blessing, and in thee shall all nations be blessed," are general and spiritual, and concern all mankind as much as the natural offspring of Abraham.

Olympas. So far you are correct: but might it not be said that in making Abraham a blessing no more was intended than temporal advantages-as, for instance, in the case of Joseph who was made a blessing to Egypt?

Thomas. Had it never been explained, it might, perhaps, have been doubtful; but its connexion with all families being blessed in the seed or son of Abraham, and especially Paul's speaking of the blessing of Abraham coming on the Gentiles through faith, determine its acceptation to be spiritual and not temporal.

Olympas. Well, Reuben, what do you learn from these remarkable verses not already stated?

Reuben. Nothing, sir, not embraced in what has been said. I see that Abraham is treated as "the friend of God." He is a root of two sorts of blessings; and these two include all things temporal and spiritual. Abraham's flesh and Abraham's faith are the stocks on which are grafted the scions of all good. Temporals are conveyed by fleshly relation, and spirituals by spiritual relation. Flesh and faith in the Father, and flesh and faith in the offspring, constitute the connective principle and reason of inheritance.

Olympas. Abraham, then, is truly a grand father. Nations descended from his flesh are accounted honorable for his sake; and they of all nations who believe in God, and obey through faith, are reckoned his spiritual progeny. Two Covenants, two Wills, two Testaments, and two Dispensations are based on these two classes of promises, Gen. xii. 2, 3. Other, indeed numerous arrangements, special providences, and peculiar covenants-such as the priesthood in one of Abraham's natural descendants-the royalty in another, grew out of these grand promises, just as the blessing of Abraham through faith included justification, sanctification, adoption, salvation, resurrection, immortality. Still as these two promises are the basis and root of all blessings, they ought to be distinctly marked, understood, and remembered by all students of the Bible. I will, therefore, endeavor to place them before you in various forms and under a vari ety of circumstances as we proceed.

Eliza. Did you not say, father, when we last read through Genesis,