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ment and punishment of his own and his people's enemies, and the final destruction of death, the last enemy which shall be destroyed, he shall deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father. And that," then shall the Son also himself be subject to him who did put all things under him, that God may be all in all."

From the above, it is evident some change is to be effected in the character of Christ, after the final conquest of all his enemies. That change is to be from supreme authority to a state of subjection to God, even the Father. But if Christ, as the Son of God, is truly divine, and is one with the Father, co-equal and co-eternal, then in what sense can he become subject in which he was not eternally so? But if the human nature of Christ only is the Son of God, and in him dwelt the Logos, or "all the fullness of the Godhead bodily," according to Dr. Clark's opinion, then indeed there is a sense in which the Son may become subject, and God be all and in all. The object of the incarnation was, the destruction of the works of the devil; and when that object is fully accomplished, the union between the human and divine nature of Christ, if he is only the Son of God in his human nature, may cease. But Christ, as the " Son of God," and "the son of David," shall still reign on "the throne of his father David forever," subject himself only to God.

If this view of the subject is correct, then what is meant by the saints' reigning with Christ and God a thousand years, is very plain: that is, during that period, Christ, as perfect God and perfect man, shall reign over the redeemed world.

And subsequently to the final judgment, Christ shall only reign as the Son of God, and the Son of David. But in the condition of the righteous there shall be no change; for "blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power."

But who, it is asked, are Gog and Magog, if none of the wicked are to be left on earth during the thousand years, and none of the righteous are to apostatize at its expiration? And in reply, I ask, what is the meaning of the following text? "But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished." What is it but asserting that when the thousand years are ended, the rest, that is, the wicked dead, shall live again? But when Satan finds Gog and Magog in the four quarters of the earth, the thousand years will have ended; for Satan is not to go out until they are. Gog and Magog, then, are all the wicked of the earth, in their resurrection bodies, preparatory to their final punishment.

But at the end of the thousand years, both Satan and his servants will be released from their prison. The devil will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle. They will go up on the breadth of the earth, and compass the camp of the saints and the beloved city. But as they will be gatherea by deception, the object for which they will assemble will not be gained. Before any battle ensues, fire is to come down from God, out of heaven, and devour them. The final judgment of God, in the midst of their anticipated battle, will be poured on them, and they be swept away as with the besom of destruction.

But perhaps the question may arise, "Is it not absurd to suppose that, after the wicked are raised from the dead, with all the knowledge they may be supposed to possess of the character of the devil, and the consequences of believing him, that he will have sufficient influence over them again to deceive them?" By no means! We know that men in this life are hardly ever deterred from an evil course by any consequen⚫ ces they may have brought on themselves by their sinful indulgences: on the contrary, they are overcome more easily by the next temptation, than by the first. And can we suppose they will be any more disposed to resist temptation after all the restraints of grace are taken off, than they are in this life? Certainly not.

We are told, Matt. xxiv. 31, that the Son of Man, at his appearing in glory, "shall send forth his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." Here let it be observed,-1. None but "the elect " of Christ are to be gathered. 2. The angels are the agents employed in this work. So also when, at the voice of the Son of God, the wicked live or come forth, their old master and father is made the agent of gathering them to their final doom. And this he accomplishes, as he did their ruin, by deception.

After the accomplishment of the work for which the devil "must be loosed for a little season," he is again to be "taken and cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever."

I do not know how the scriptural doctrine of two resurrections, that of the "just and unjust,' could be more forcibly illustrated than it is in this chapter. But not one word does it contain about the conversion of the world, or a spiritual reign of Christ for a thousand years. But the souls of all who had not received the mark of the beast or his image were seen, &c., “and they lived."

DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE RESURRECTION AND JUDGMENT.

But it may be said, "The latter part of the twentieth chapter is irreconcilable with the above explanation; that in the 11th, 12th, and 13th verses, and not until then, the judgment and resurrection are introduced."

The difficulty arises from confounding the resurrection and judgment, or at least from giving the resurrection the precedence in the order of time; whereas the Scriptures place the judgment first. The case is this: the first part of the chapter is taken up in illustrating the order of the resurrection, and in making perfectly plain what had been before stated without illustration, that there is to be a resurrection of the just and the unjust. There is in the course of that description nothing said of the judgment: that subject was to be introduced and explained subsequently. Accordingly, it is presented in the 11th, 12th, and 13th verses.

Verse 11. "And I saw a great sat on it, from whose fled away, and there

white throne, and him that face the earth and heavens

was found no place for them." Verse 12. "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of the things written in the books, according to their works."

1. The Revelator saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it.

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2. He saw THE DEAD," small and great, stand before God.

3. The books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life. By the testimony of the book of life the condition of mankind is to be decided; and by the testimony of the book of their works, their reward or punishment is to be graduated.

4. "THE DEAD" were judged. Not those who had been dead, but were then alive and before

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God, but " THE DEAD stood before God; and "THE DEAD" were judged. After the judgment is passed, verse 13th, the resurrection is presented. "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, (judgment was executed,) every man according to their works."

Nor is this a solitary text which teaches the same doctrine. Heb. ix. 21. "It is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment." Also Acts x. 42. "It is he (Christ) which was ordained of God to be the judge of quick (those who are alive when he leaves the throne of grace) and dead," (those who shall have died. before that event.) 2 Tim. iv. 1. "I charge thee, therefore, before God, and the Lord Jesus

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