the waters of the river, how long shall it be to the end of these wonders? [By the wonders, he means the time of trouble, the delivery of those who are written in the book, and the awaking of those who sleep in the dust of the earth. Let us, then, hear the answer to this question.] 'And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and swear by him that liveth forever, that it shall be for a time, times, and a half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.' [Here, then, this heavenly messenger has made solemn oath, that these dead are to awake out of the dust, and that all whose names* are written in the book, are to be delivered at the destruction of Jerusalem, when the Jews, the holy people, were scattered. Is this angel a false witness? God forbid. But we are not yet done with this point. We will read on, and pile evidence on evidence, and let you hear a greater than this messenger settle the question.] 'And I heard, but I understood not; then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? And he said, go thy way, Daniel; for the words are closed up, and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, and made white and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand. And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.'

"Let us now appeal to the words of Christ, and hear him settle the question. Matt: xxiv. 15, 16. • When ye, therefore, shall see the abomination of, desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth let him understand,) then let them which be in Judea, flee into the mountains.' Now here Jesus calls Daniel by name, quotes his words, and points us forward to the destruction of Jerusalem for their fulfilment. The point is then settled, that this res

urrection, and the deliverance of those written in the book, took place in the generation Christ addressed, and when the holy people were scattered.

By the sea giving up the dead, and death and hell delivering up the dead in them, we are to understand that no dark devices, nor secret hiding-places could protect the Jewish nation from that impending judgment which God, in his counsels, had determined to bring upon them. Their national powers of darkness and spiritual wickedness in high places, were to be made manifest to all. They said in their hearts, [Isa. xxviii. 15,]— ' We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us; for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves.' But though they had thus secreted themselves, yet death and hell delivered them up to national destruction. Verse 18, Your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then shall ye be trodden down by it.' Amos ix. 3. And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence I will command the serpent, and he shall bite them.' The above language is used in reference to the living, who are represented as hiding themselves under falsehood and lies, as taking refuge in the bottom of the sea, and as making a covenant with death and hell, to protect them from national ruin, but all in vain; our text says, they were given up, judged out of the books, [the books of the law,] and cast into the second death. They were dead in sin; and this moral death exposed them to national death. 'If ye believe not (says Jesus) that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.' This certainly cannot mean, that they should, in the future tense, die a moral death. They were already morally dead. But it means, in the same sinful condition you now are, you shall die a national death, because

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you believe not that I am he. To believe in Christ, who is himself the word of eternal life, is to have our names written in the book of life. Consequently, all the believing Jews escaped the second death, to which they, as a nation, were doomed. They fled, according to the directions of Christ, to the mountains of Judea for safety, till the dreadful siege was over. Not a solitary Christian perished in that destruction.

"The hearer will bear in mind, that the second death and the lake of fire are used synonymous in our text. We will here show, that God's judgments are not unfrequently represented by the figure of fire. Ezek. xxii. 19-22. Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem, as they gather silver and brass and iron and lead and tin into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it to melt it; so will I gather you in mine anger and in my fury, and I will leave you there, and melt you; yea I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof. As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the Lord have poured out my fury upon you.' Here you perceive, that Jerusalem is represented to be a fiery furnace, in which they were to be melted as metal. But by reading the chapter you may learn, that it has reference to their overthrow, as a nation, and their dispersion among the heathen. We will produce one more instance, where the Scriptures represent a nation in their destruction as having their land turned into a lake of fire. Isaiah xxxiv. 8-10. For it is the day of the Lord's vengeance and the year of the recompense for the controversy of Zion. And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up forever and ever from gen

pass

eration to generation it shall lie waste; none shall through it forever and ever.' Here we perceive, that the dust of the land is represented as turned into brimstone, and all its streams as rolling forth floods of boiling pitch, and yet it means nothing more than the temporal judgment of God upon that people.

"Our text is plain, we presume, to every hearer, and we now dismiss the subject. In conclusion, we simply inquire, are the Jews to remain in this second death? Let Paul answer. Romans chapter xi. 'For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead.' *****For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, (lest ye should be wise in your own conceits,) that blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in, so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, there shall come out of Zion a Deliverer and turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is my covenant with them when I shall take away their sins.'

"Here we have evidence, that these dead are again to be brought to life. They are to come forth from their graves, the dark veil shall be rent from their eyes, and the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion, with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.'

"From this lamentable catastrophe of their overthrow and dispersion, and their present unhappy fate, as a people, let us take warning, and not abuse the choice blessings God has bestowed upon us as a nation. Let us rightly value our civil and religious liberty, and remember, if we become corrupt, as a people, and unmindful of that Being, who holds the destinies of nations in his hand, we too, shall be hurled from our high station of honor to degradation and ruin. Ever bear in mind, that moral death is a sad prelude to national death."

XCII. "If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb; and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever; and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name." Rev. xiv. 9-11. See also, xix. 20, 21. xx. 10; 2 Peter ii. 17; Jude, verse 13.

The only question we shall consider in regard to this passage is, does it furnish any proof that mankind will be punished in the immortal state of existence ?

The beast spoken of in the above passage, is evidently a figure of some false object of worship. If the reader will examine Rev. xix. 20, 21, he will perceive, we think, that this highly figurative language cannot be applied to the future state. "And THE BEAST was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast ALIVE into a lake of fire burning with brimstone." Can this be applied to the future state? Certainly it cannot; for the succeeding words are, "And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth; and all the fowls were filled with their flesh." Such language cannot be applied to the future state with any show of propriety.

Again, let it be observed, that the punishment described in the passage before us, is to take place during the continuance of day and night. "They have no rest day nor night who worship the beast and his image." This language seems to make it certain, that the punishment described was endured upon the earth.

It ought to be observed, that the punishment is evidently suffered while the beast and his image are worshipped. "The smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever; and they have no rest day nor night,