He that does not see the difference between the two casesbetween such brief, rare, and exceedingly partial glimpses of the world of glory vouchsafed to a few, and a thousand years' constant personal access to the glorified Saviour, and open vision of the new Jerusalem in all its effulgence-he that sees no difference between these two cases, or so little that the truth of the one perfectly reconciles him to the belief of the other-is not likely to be convinced by any thing I could say on the subject. Ordinary readers of the Bible, however, will probably be of opinion, that if the millennial state be one of sight, it is no more of faith, otherwise sight is no more sight-Mr Maitland, indeed, seems to go the whole length of that conclusion—and if it be of grace, it is no more of glory, otherwise grace is no more grace. And if some should be disposed to waive this consideration, and say, that any thing looking like probable Scripture evidence in favour of such mixture of faith and sight would go a great way with them, in spite of all their ideas to the contrary, he would find himself miserably put off on referring to their texts. More slender evidence, to use no stronger term, never was advanced in favour of a view of things which nothing but the most explicit testimony could render credible.

Admirable here are the words of JOSEPH PERRY, whose sweet humility in referring to his brother premillennialists, who held the very views expressed in the foregoing extracts, will not give him a lower place in the estimation of the Christian reader:—

Again," says he, "here is another thing looks very inconsistent, for converting work to go forward in this perfect state; and that is, for the saints to live and converse together, while some are in a perfect, and others in an imperfect condition. For if the great apostle John, so much endued with the Spirit of God as he was, could not bear the visionary sight of Christ in the first of Revelations, but fell down as one dead at his feet; how is it possible, then, that any of the saints should behold the glory of Christ's Person in that day,—who will ten thousand times exceed the glory of all created beings, whilst they are un

glorified; and therefore this cannot be so, for how can mortal and immortal, glorified and unglorified, perfect and imperfect, persons converse together? This seems to me to be impossible. I know I am a poor, weak, nothing creature, and not worthy to carry some of these men's books; yet I cannot in this matter but think that my dear brethren must be mistaken concerning these things, and that THE MISTAKE LIES IN HOLDING THE GRACIOUS AND GLORIOUS CHURCH TO BE TOGETHER AT ONE AND THE SAME TIME, which I cannot see nor believe that it will; but that the gracious Church will be first, upon the wonderful pouring out of the Spirit, and that the glorious Church will not be till after Christ's reign by his Spirit in the saints hath been fulfilled, and that then, upon Christ's personal coming from heaven with all the saints, when his wife, the bride, or whole elect, shall be ready, by having all of them the garments or robes of glory and immortality on, will the glorious Church commence, and appear visible in the personal reign and kingdom of Christ.” *

Dr H. Bonar leaves this part of our subject untouched, so far as I have observed; unless the following paragraph be considered as his reply to what I have said :—

"We do not hold that Christ and his risen saints are to dwell in actual houses of lime and stone, such as we dwell in. Their dwelling is in THE PAVILION CLOUD, or residence provided for them in the New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from God, and which rests over the earth just as the pillar of cloud did of old. From that, as the palace of the king in which they abide, they go forth continually, as vice-royal potentates, to rule the nations of the earth. Their position, office, and procedure, will be something similar to angels in the present age, who are ministering spirits sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation. Where is the degradation here? Where is the abhorred mixture' of which Mr Brown speaks?" +

I am afraid this statement of what "we hold" will scarcely be accepted by those, at least, who penned the foregoing extracts—if I understand it aright. If "Christ and his risen saints" are to be shrouded up in this "pavilion cloud" from

* Glory of Christ's Visible Kingdom in this World, pp. 227, 228. I was not aware that any had charged them with coming quite so low as this.

Coming, &c., pp. 59, 60.

the view of the mortal inhabitants of the earth, his brethren, in these extracts, have very much misrepresented the premillennial expectation. The Duke of Manchester compares the view that men in the flesh are to have of our Lord, to that which the disciples had of him in the days of his flesh, and which he says has been happily expressed, as “faith wrapped up in sight." I am not sure that I comprehend this; but one thing is clear-it does not mean the " pavilion cloud." The late excellent Mr Hewitson said to myself that he believed Christ would be as visible to men in the flesh as I was then to him, or as the Saviour himself was to the disciples in the days of his flesh; nor did he see where the difficulty lay.

A word, now, to both at once. "He shall come (we are told) IN HIS OWN GLORY, AND IN THE GLORY OF the Father AND OF THE HOLY ANGELS." (Luke ix. 26.) Who will venture to say that this will not be a glory visible to all men? If it be, what room is there for any rational comparison between such a glorious display, and that to which the disciples were accustomed in the days of his flesh? But if Christ is not to be visible to men in the flesh, we must suppose him first to shine forth before them, when he comes in all his bright effulgence, and then to shut himself in within the "pavilion cloud," and be seen of them no more in their fleshly state. And what vestige of authority is there for that? None what

ever.

I might ask, further, if Christ is to be out of sight of those who people the earth during the millennium, what do they mean by the Personal Reign, and the visible kingdom on the earth? What will it matter to its mortal inhabitants, if their King is invisible to them, whether he hover immediately over the earth, or remain where he now is? Thus, shape this theory how we will, it seems equally unmanageable.

* Finished Mystery, p. 338.

CHAPTER VI.

WAY OF SALVATION NO LESS NARROW DURING THE

MILLENNIUM THAN NOW.

VERY loose is the language indulged in upon this point,language which, though repudiated by some, is nevertheless the prevailing strain in the contrasts which are drawn between the present and the expected millennial dispensation.

Concerning the number of true believers under this dispensation," says Dr M'Neile, "we read, 'Many are called, but few are chosen. Enter ye in at the strait gait, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat; because strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, &c.; and then will I profess unto them, I never knew you, depart from me, ye that work iniquity? Concerning the character of true believers, we read, 'Love not the world, neither the things of the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. The friendship of the world is enmity with God; whosoever, therefore, will be a friend of the world, is the enemy of God. Therefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord.' These passages of Scripture avowedly belong to this dispensation. They have applied in every age, and do still apply to the true disciples of the Lord Jesus: But if the world become Christian, the world will no longer persecute Christians. If all the families of the earth be blessed with eternal life, THE WAY OF LIFE WILL BE NO LONGER NARROW. If the world become Christian, then Christians cannot separate from the world. It is obvious, that in the passage from our present state to a state of universal holiness, these

characteristic sayings of the New Testament MUST CEASE TO HAVE ANY APPLICATION, AND BECOME OBSOLETE, NOT TO SAY FALSE."

"The least consideration," says Mr Maitland, in the note already quoted," will serve to show that the New Testament supposed a suffering kingdom, and that its encouragements, exhortations, warnings, were addressed to a people conflicting with the world, the flesh, and the devil. The Master, as he delivered it, said, 'I am come to send fire on earth, not peace, but a sword;' and on this supposition is the whole revelation founded. Now, if we turn to the promises of God concerning the state of the world, after his ancient people shall have been brought in and made the light of the nations (as given in Isa. xi., xxv., lx., and elsewhere), and carry the exhortations and warnings of our dispensation to a people conditioned as they shall be, we shall at once see how ill adapted they would be to their times and circumstances. Christ says to his Gospel-church in every line, if not in word yet in spirit,' Watch and pray lest ye enter into temptation: Behold I come as a thief—a snare: be ye therefore like ser. vants which wait for their Lord.' Take this thought with you to the sixtieth of Isaiah, and mark the incongruity. If such precepts as these are still needed, the condition there described could not exist. Holy fear and jealousy, from the sense of surrounding dangers, would effectually check the tide which we see flowing there. Their condition is evidently one not militant but triumphant."

"When," says Mr Wood," the nations say, 'Come and let us go up to the house of the Lord,' shall it be true, THEN, that' strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it?'"+ Once more,

"Surely," says Mr Brooks, "the kingdom will be already come, when all the kingdoms of this world shall have become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. With what propriety, then, could men any longer be exhorted to ‘seek' and to lay up treasure,' and 'hope for that which they will already be in possession of !"‡

The confusion of thought which all these passages manifest, is such as can only be accounted for by the difficulty of defining a state which is made up of the most incongruous elements. Let us try to bring order out of it.

*Lect. on the Jews, ut supra, pp. 78-80. † Affirmative Answer, p. 32.

Abdiel's Essays, ut supra.