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the departed saints, or to the church of Christ on earth, to have the bodies of all who have died before the millennium raised from their graves, and come to live a thousand years in this world before the general resurrection. They are now perfectly holy and happy; and so far as can be conceived, it would be no addition, but a diminution to their happiness, to come and live in this world in the body, to eat and drink, and partake of the enjoyments of the world. This would be a degradation which on no account can be desirable to the spirits of the just, now made perfect in heaven; and it would be no advance in the work of redemption, which is then to be carried on in a greater degree than ever before. Nor would this be any advantage to the church in that happy state to which it will then be brought; but the contrary, as they would take up that room in the world which will be then wanted for those who will be born in that day; and the spirits of the just could not know or enjoy so much of the prosperity and happiness of the church in the salvation of men, were they to live in bodies on earth in that time. The inhabitants of heaven have a more particular and extensive knowledge of what takes place in favor of the church on earth than any in this world have, or than they could have, were they to come and live here. They know of every conversion that takes place in this world, and they must have the knowledge of the state of the church on earth and of every event which comes to pass in favor of it, and see the whole of its prosperity; and they have great joy in every thing of this kind: "there is joy in heaven, in presence of the angels of God, over one sinner that repenteth." How greatly will the happiness and joy in heaven be increased, when all the inhabitants of the world shall be converted to Christ, and the church of Christ shall fill the earth, and appear in the beauty of holiness! Agreeably to this, the inhabitants of heaven are represented as greatly rejoicing in the prosperity of the church on earth, and the overthrow of all her enemies. Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets, for God hath avenged you on her. And I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; salvation, and glory, and honor, and power unto the Lord our God; for he hath judged the great whore, etc. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him; for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready." (Rev. xviii. 20; xix. 1-7.) Surely none will desire to leave that place of knowledge, light and joy, and come and be confined in the body in this world, which will be darkness and solitary, compared with that; such a change of place could be no privilege or reward, but rather a calamity.

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Therefore, it is not to be believed, unless it be plainly, and in express words, revealed; which, it is presumed, it is not. This leads to another observation.

6. There is nothing expressly said of the resurrection of the body in this passage. The apostle John saw the souls of them. which were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, etc., and they lived and reigned with Christ. The resurrection of the body is nowhere expressed in Scripture by the soul's living; and as there is nothing said of the body, and he only saw their souls to live, this does not appear to be a proper expression to denote the resurrection of the body, and their living in that. This, therefore, does not seem to be the natural meaning of the words, and certainly is not the necessary meaning; we are, therefore, warranted to look for another meaning, and to acquiesce in it, if one can be found, which is more easy and natural, and more agreeable to the whole passage and to the Scripture in general. Therefore,

7. The most easy and probable meaning is, that the souls of the martyrs and all the faithful followers of Christ who have lived in the world, and have died before the millennium shall commence, shall revive and live again in their successors, who shall rise up in the same spirit and in the same character in which they lived and died, and in the revival and flourishing of that cause which they espoused and spent their lives in promoting, which cause shall appear to be almost lost and dead previous to the introduction of that glorious day. This is, therefore, a spiritual resurrection, by which all the inhabitants of the world will be made spiritually alive where spiritual death before had reigned; and they shall appear in the spirit and power of those martyrs and holy men who had before lived in the world and who shall live again in these their successors, and in the revival of their cause, and in the resurrection of the church from the very low state in which it had been before the millennium to a state of great prosperity and glory.

This is agreeable to the way of representing things in Scripture in other instances. John the Baptist was Elijah, because he rose in the spirit of Elijah, and promoted the same cause in which Elijah lived and died, and Elijah revived and lived in John the Baptist because he went before Christ in the spirit and power of Elijah. (Luke i. 17.) Therefore, Christ says of John, "This is Elijah who was to come." (Matt. xi. 14.)

It is also to be observed, that the revival and restoration of the church to a state of prosperity, from a dark, low state, is represented by a resurrection to life, or as life from the dead.

"Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust; for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead." (Isa. xxvi. 19.) In the thirty-seventh chapter of Ezekiel, this is represented by bringing dry bones to life, and from them raising up a very great army. This is a metaphorical or figurative resurrection. Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost; we are cut off for our parts. Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel." The apostle Paul, speaking of the conversion of the Jews to Christ at the millennium, says it shall be as "life from the dead." (Rom. xi. 15.)

In the millennium, there will be a spiritual resurrection, a resurrection of the souls of the whole church on earth and in heaven. All nations will be converted, and the world will be filled with spiritual life, as it never was before; and this will be a general resurrection of the souls of men. This was represented in the returning prodigal. The father says, "This my son was dead, and is alive." And the apostle Paul speaks of Christians as raised from the dead to life. "But God, who is rich in mercy, for the great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ." (Eph. ii. 4, 5.) "If ye then be risen with Christ." (Col. iii. 1.) And this will be a most remarkable resurrection of the church on earth, from a low, dark, afflicted state, to a state of great life and joy. It will be multiplied to an exceeding great army, which will cover the face of the earth. And heaven will, in a sense and degree, come down to earth; the spirit of the martyrs, and of all the just made perfect, will now revive and appear on earth, in their numerous successors, and the joy of those in heaven will be greatly increased.

This is the first resurrection, in which all they who have a part are blessed and holy. "Blessed and holy is he who hath part in the first resurrection. On such the second death hath no power." It is implied that they only are blessed and holy who share in this resurrection; and, therefore, that all the redeemed in heaven and earth, who are blessed and holy, are the subjects of it, or have part in it. All who have been or shall be raised from death to spiritual life, have by this a part in this first resurrection; and they, and they only, shall escape the second death. This is a further evidence that this first resurrection is a spiritual resurrection, a resurrection of the

soul; for, if it were a literal resurrection of the body, no one would think it would include all the happy and holy, all that shall be saved.

The second resurrection is to be the resurrection of the body, in which all shall have part, both the holy and the unholy, the blessed and the miserable, which is to take place after the first resurrection is over and the millennium is ended, and after the rise and destruction of Gog and Magog, when the day of judgment shall come on, of which there is an account in the latter part of this chapter. "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them; and they were judged every man according to their works." "But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished." The rest of the dead are all the dead which have no part in the first resurrection; that is, are not holy, and partakers of spiritual life. This includes all the wicked who shall have lived and shall die before the millennium, the last of which will be slain, and swept off the earth previous to the millennium, and in order to introduce it, of which there is a representation in the words immediately preceding the passage under consideration. "And the rest 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." In our translation, it is the remnant. It is the same word in the original, of kotol, which is translated the rest, in the words transcribed above, and the lat ter seem to have reference to the former. The rest of the dead are the wicked dead, in opposition to the righteous, who lived again in their successors, who take possession of the earth and reign, and in the revival and prosperity of their cause, and the kingdom of which they are members. During this thousand years, the rest of the dead, all the anti-Christian party, and the wicked enemies of Christ, who lived and died in the cause of Satan, do not live again; they will have no successors on earth who shall rise in their spirit, and espouse and promote their cause; but this will be wholly run down and lost, till the thousand years shall be ended; and then they shall live again a short time in their successors, Gog and Magog, who shall arise in their spirit and cause, and increase and prevail, while Satan is loosed again for a little season. This is implied in the words, "But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished." It is supposed that they will live again then, which must be during the time in which Satan shall be loosed; for the general resurrection of the bodies will not be till this is ended. These dead will live, then, just

as the souls of the martyrs, and all the faithful followers of Christ who had died, will live in the millennium.*

That this prophecy respects all nations, and the whole of mankind who shall live in the world in that thousand years, is evident, in that the binding of Satan respects them all. "That he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled." And this answers to a prophecy in Isaiah. "And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations." (Isaiah xxv. 7.) All nations, the world of mankind, therefore, who shall then live on the earth, will have part in the first resurrection; and this warrants the application of all the prophecies which have been mentioned in the preceding section, and others of the same tenor, to this time. And there is good reason to believe that this prophecy in the first six verses of the twentieth chapter of the Revelation is expressed in language best suited to answer the end of it, if it be understood as it has been now explained. The meaning is as obvious and plain as is desirable and proper that of prophecy should be, when compared with other prophecies. And it is in the best manner suited to support and comfort the followers of Christ, who live before that time, and to animate them to faithfulness, constancy and patience, under all their sufferings in this cause, while the wicked prosper and triumph, and Satan reigns in the world, which is one special end of this revelation. Here they are taught that an end is to come to the afflictions of the church and to the triumph of all her enemies; that Satan's kingdom on earth shall come to an end, and the church shall rise and spread, and fill the world; that the cause in which they labor and suffer shall be victorious, and that all who suffer in this cause, and who are faithful to Christ, shall live to see this happy, glorious day, and have a large share in it, in proportion to the degree and length of their sufferings, labors, and persevering patience and fidelity in the cause of Christ and his church.

The way is now prepared to consider and show more particularly in what the happiness and glory of the millennium will consist, and what particular circumstances will attend

"It is very agreeable to the design and connection of this prophecy to understand the rest of the dead, who lived not again till the thousand years were finished, of the rest or remnant, viz., of those who were slain with the sword of him that sat on the horse. Thus the dead church, raised to life, and living and reigning for a thousand years, and the enemies of the church remaining dead, and not living again till the thousand years were finished, will exactly agree in the same figurative meaning. This will be a sense consistent with the resurrection of the anti-Christian party again, for a little season, after the thousand eyars shall be finished. Lowman's note on Rev. xx. 5.

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