CHAPTER V.

BY WHOM THE KINGDOM IS TO BE GIVEN TO MESSIAHBY THE LORD GOD.

"The Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David; and He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end.”—LUKE i. 32, 33.

THE glorious and eternal kingdom to be given to Messiah upon His return to earth, is not in the possession of men, nor to be bestowed by the people. The nation of Israel still in covenant favour with Godthe combined kingdoms of the earth, will not, cannot even if they were disposed, which they will not be, bestow the kingdom upon Jesus. According to the angel Gabriel it is to be given to Him by a greater created all things,

than they; by the Lord God who

and in whose hand is the breath and destiny of all flesh living. He gave it to Him by covenant and promise, through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, and His virgin mother-He gave it by covenant and promise

unto Himself; and at the appointed time, He will give it to Him by actual gift and possession. The Lord has now set Him at His right hand, till He make His enemies His footstool; and after that great work is achieved He will give Him the kingdom. "Ask of me and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron: thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." "He shall judge among the heathen; he shall fill the places with dead bodies; He shall wound the heads over many countries."

These, and many other passages of scripture teach, that the kingdom is to be given to Prince Messiah, by God the Father; but it is deemed unnecessary to enter further into this.

Daniel in vision beheld this glorious transaction ;the Lord God giving the kingdom to the SON ̧ of the highest, to Prince Messiah, and describes it in these words, Dan. vii. 13, 14. "I saw in the night visions, and behold one like the Son of Man, came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought Him near before Him. And there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations and languages should serve Him." According to this then, the kingdom will be given to Messiah, the Son of the highest, the prince of peace by God the Father. And without going further into this, that Gon the father will give the kingdom to Messiah,

His beloved Son, according to the covenant made with Him, He having perfectly fulfilled the conditions of that covenant; it may be remarked that the Lord will give it, as we have seen, at the time when the thrones are set for judgment; when the last remnants of the fourth Monarchy-the ten kingdoms are destroyed. The kingdom which he has purchased, by humiliation, suffering and death: the earth which has been watered by His compassionate sorrowful tears, and baptized with His piacular blood, and redeemed by the merits. of the same, shall be given to Him by the father. "I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant, thy SEED will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations." 'The LORD hath sworn in truth unto David, he will not turn from it. Of the FRUIT of thy body will I set upon thy throne." And when the Lord God gives to Messiah, this kingdom His by promise and covenant, His by redemption, He may address Him in sentiments like these, so beautifully expressed by the poet

"Come then, and added to thy many crowns,
Receive yet one, the crown of all the earth,
Thou who alone art worthy! It was thine

By ancient covenant, ere nature's birth;

And thou hast made it thine by purchase since,

And overpaid its value with thy blood.

Thy saints proclaim THEE KING; and in their hearts

Thy title is engraven with a pen

Dipt in the fountain of eternal love."

In conclusion, it may be remarked, that from all this, there are some very important lessons to be learned, and some very precious consolation to be derived; and to these it may be proper and profitable briefly to advert.

1. Notice then for a moment the blessedness that shall prevail upon the earth when the kingdom shall be given to the Son of the Highest.

The KING of righteousness, mercy and peace seated upon the throne of His father David, and swaying the sceptre of equity over an emancipated and redeemed world, every petty tyrant that would lord it over his fellow men, shall be crushed to the dust: every arm of oppression that would make the helpless tremble and groan under its power shall be broken, and all enjoy the glorious "liberty of the sons of God"-all feel that they are the freemen of Him, who has redeemed them with His blood, and unite in singing the song, "unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood; and hath made us kings and priests unto God, and His father, to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever." The light of divine truth, streaming in cloudless splendour from the pure fountain of eternal truth—emanating from the face of JESUS like brightness from the sun-chasing away ignorance and error from all hearts and conduct; the kingdom of the LORD shall shine in unclouded perfection upon every soul, filling all with the enrapturing knowledge of Him. Then shall men know even as they are known.

Hatred too, the offspring of hell, shall find no lurk

ing-place in any bosom; no home in any heart of any inhabitant of that kingdom, for it is the kingdom of Messiah-the kingdom of pure, holy, sincere universal love. Oh! love is the atmosphere, the law, the language, the very nature of that kingdom, for Christ who is love will be all in all. This omnipresence of divine love, everywhere dominant, and every where supremely felt will unite all-all earth's inhabitants in its perfect bliss-inspiring confederacy, and make all perfectly happy in its undisturbed and endless reign, and realize the scene of beauty and bliss so graphically depicted by the Hebrew prophet, and so sweetly poured forth by Israel's harp. "Righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and faithfulness the girdle of His reins. The wolf 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. And the cow and the bear shall feed, their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice's den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all God's holy mountain." Perfect happiness shall have its undisturbed habitation in every breast-shall be the portion of every soul; and every tongue shall join with rapture in the world's epithalamium, when the universal song of love and blessedness ascends to Him, who reigns in righteousness over its.