"The wolf also 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." Every cause of fear, whether from man or beast, being removed, men will dwell in delightful confidence, security, and repose. "And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land; and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods." "And I will break the bow, and the sword, and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.” “Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field. And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness, quietness, and assurance for ever. And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places." The minds of men, without any vain pursuit of knowledge for its own sake, shall yet be well instructed. "And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the Lord is his treasure." Human life will be greatly prolonged. "There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner, being an hundred years old shall be accursed." What must be the longevity of mankind in those days, for a man to be deemed a child at a hundred years, while every one dying at so tender an age, shall be seen to be cut off by judgment for his sin! Such are some of the ways in which "the Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth," will, in those days of the rule of heaven, make known his beneficence to the sons of men. The true Melchizedec, "king of righteousness" and "king of peace," will be exercising his royal priesthood, blessing men from the Most High God, and blessing the Most High God on behalf of the happy myriads of the earth's teeming population. How wondrous the grace that has assigned to us, poor sinners of the Gentiles, the place of reigning with him, as kings and priests unto God! Happy they who are the subjects in that kingdom! Thrice happy, such as are destined to be sharers of Christ's glory, sitting with him on his throne ! Dublin London Partridge & Oakey, Paternoster Row. No. 22.]Plain Papers on Prophetic[ Oct. 1854. and other Subjects. A RECAPITULATION: Or, A general Outline of prophetic Truth. It has been our endeavour throughout the preceding pages, to present the testimony of Scripture to positive truth, rather than to refute the objections by which it is sought to neutralize this testimony, or to prove it irrelevant to the subject in hand. Our reason for pursuing this method is, that on any subject it seems to us the most upright, straightforward course, to consider in the first place what it is that is affirmed, and what the positive evidence alleged in its support; giving every consideration afterwards to such objections as may be advanced. If there be indeed some prejudice so fully pre-occupying men's minds, as to indispose them for the impartial consideration of the subject, it may be needful to dissipate it at the very commencement or if, in the prosecution of an inquiry, difficulties should arise and objections suggest themselves, which it would be unfair to postpone, it is well to examine such at once. Within these limits, we have not refused to meet objections, and consider difficulties, as the subject of prophetic testimony has unfolded itself before us; but in general, our aim has been to consider the positive rather than the negative side of every question-to establish truth rather than to combat error. And while this is the course which has commended itself to our own judgment, as the most proper to be pursued, so, we are persuaded, it must commend itself to the conscience of the christian reader. It yields to God's word its rightful supremacy over all the reasonings of man's mind, placing the student of prophecy in the becoming attitude of a learner, instead of investing him with the loftier pretensions of a judge. Still, as the inquiry draws towards a close, it will become needful-may we not say indispensable ?-to consider Ꮓ such objections to the truths with which we have been occupied, as may fairly be supposed to have weight with serious, godly minds. We could not undertake to notice every counter-argument which has been employed-every objection which has been advanced. There may be some with which we are not acquainted; and there are some occasionally brought forward which do not call for a serious reply. But as to such as are generally alleged,—as to all such as may be supposed to create a real difficulty with those who humbly read God's word, and desire to be acquainted with its import-we feel bound, as the Lord may enable us, to give them the fullest consideration our limits will allow. As, however, we have hitherto rigidly abstained from personal controversy, we shall still avoid citing authors, or mentioning names: contenting ourselves with stating and considering the objections of our brethren, in such forms as they are known actually to assume in the minds of those who are exercised thereby. Our object is not controversy, but instruction. Our aim is neither to challenge opposition, nor to take up such challenges as may have been thrown down, but, by the Lord's blessing, to meet the difficulties of sincere inquirers after truth-of those who equally shrink from receiving what scripture does not teach, and from rejecting what it does. Before turning thus to the examination of difficulties and objections, it is desirable to present in a condensed form, the substance and general outline of what scripture appears to us to teach on prophetic subjects. The details, and proofs from scripture, have been already furnished, and need not, therefore, be repeated. Our desire is briefly to exhibit the outlines of all that has been taught in the present work. The bearing of the objections will thus be more easily perceived; while for positive proofs the reader is referred to the preceeding pages themselves. The apostle furnishes us in 1 Cor. x, 32, with a classification of mankind, which renders material aid in presenting a condensed view of those future dealings of God which form the subject of prophecy. "Give none offence, neither to the Jews nor to, the Gentiles, nor to the church of God." Mankind are divided thus into three classes. As it repects man's condition before God in reference to eternity, there are but two classes, the saved and the unsaved-the regenerate and those who have not been born again. But with regard to God's government of the world, which is the subject to which prophecy applies itself, there are three As classes-Jews-Gentiles-and the church of God. that with which we have most immediately to do, let us first consider "the church of God." "The church of God" consists not, as is popularly supposed, of all saved persons from the beginning to the end of time. The expression is never so used in scripture. It is its use in scripture which is alone of any importance to our present inquiry; and there it denotes the assembly of true believers from the day of Pentecost, when that assembly was formed, to the descent of the Lord Jesus into the air, to receive it to himself in heaven. Saints, gathered and baptized into the unity of Christ's body-unity with Christ, and with each other-by the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, constitute "the church of God." The saints who thus compose "the church" have, of course, many things in common with Old Testament saints, with the disciples during our Lord's lifetime upon earth, with the Jewish remnant in the coming crisis, and with the saints who shall inhabit the millennial earth. All saints, of all times, are quickened by the Spirit, justified through the blood of Christ, preserved by almighty grace, and destined in resurrection to bear the image of the heavenly, even as in the present life they have borne the image of the earthly. But to "the church" belongs, in addition to these things, the wondrous distinction of being Christ's body-his bride-inhabited by the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost descended not till Christ was glorified. Having descended, he baptized believers into one body, whether they were Jews or Gentiles, one body with each other-one body with Christ, their glorified head. The church, knowing Christ, and being united to him, while he is rejected by the world and hid in God, is associated with him in that headship over all things, both in heaven and in earth, with which Christ is rewarded, and for the open exercise and display of which he only waits the Father's good pleasure, and the arrival of that dispensation of the fulness of times, in which all things, both in heaven and in earth, are to be gathered together in one, even in Christ. Meanwhile, the church is even now quickened together with Christ, raised up together, and made to sit together in heavenly places in him. It has its blessings, whether present or future, in Christ and with Christ, as one body and one spirit with him, not like others, whose portion it is to be blest by him, and under him, as the subjects of his reign. The church has one life, one portion, one home, one glory, one inheritance, with Christ himself; and, whether now or hereafter, is indwelt and actuated by the Holy Ghost, as the essence and power of this oneness with Christ. The existence, calling, and glory of the church of God, is "the mystery," "which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men," but "from the beginning of the world was hid in God." It was to the church alone that "the mystery" of its own calling and glory could be revealed. Accordingly, it was not till Christ had died and risen and ascended, and the Holy Ghost had come down and incorporated the till then scattered disciples into one body-nay, more, it was not till the utter rejection of the gospel by Jerusalem and the Jews had cut off all hope of their being at that time pardoned and restored, that the Holy Ghost revealed to Christ's holy apostles and prophets "the mystery," till then unknown, of Christ having died 66 to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; and that he might reconcile both (Jews and Gentiles who believe) unto God in one body by the cross." It was no mystery that the Jews were to be blest under their Messiah's reign, or that the Gentiles were in a subordinate way, to partake of their blessedness. All this had been fully revealed in the Old Testament. But when the rejection of Jesus by the Jews had closed for the time all prospect of blessing for them, as well as for the Gentiles and the earth, by their means, that God should then by the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, form a new assembly, in which all difference between Jew and Gentile should be swallowed up by the pre-eminent grace, which made both, and both alike members of Christ's body, of his flesh, and of his bones-this was a mystery indeed! Such is the church. During the period in which it exists on earth, whenever a Jew through grace receives the gospel he ceases to be, properly speaking, a Jew; whenever a Gentile is converted, he in like manner ceases to be, properly speaking, a Gentile; each one is taken out of his natural position, whether as Jew or Gentile; and both are brought into the new wondrous position of being one with Christ, and thus members one of another. The terminus of the existence of the church on earth, is the descent of the Lord Jesus to receive it to himself in heaven. This descent of the Lord Jesus into the air is the church's hope. The testimony of the New Testament to this fact is uniform and overwhelming. Whe |