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."*" If ye then be risen with Christ." 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 farther 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. † Col. iii. 1. Eph. ii.4, 5. It is the same word in the original 'O λool, which is translated the rest, in the words transcribed above; and the latter 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 antichristian 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.”† 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 "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 antichristian party again, for a little season, after the thousand years shall be finished. Mr. Lowman's Note on Rev. xx. 5. 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 labour 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, labours, 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 the church at that day What is revealed concerning this by express prophecies, and what is implied in them, or may be deduced as consequences from what is expressly declared. It will be no wonder if some mistakes should be made on this point; but it is hoped if there should be any, they will not be very hurtful: And it is apprehended that the greatest error will be in falling short, and not coming up to the reality, in the description of the happiness and glory of that day; for doubtless, our ideas of these, when raised to the highest of which we are at present capable, fall vastly short of the truth. There is good reason to conclude, however, that the church, and christians, will not be perfectly holy in that day; but that every one will be attended with a degree of sinful imperfection, while in the body, however great may be his attainments and advantages in knowledge and holiness. Doubtless the inspired declarations, that "There is no man which sinneth not-There is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good and sinneth notThat if any who professes to be a christian, say he hath no sin, he deceiveth himself, and the truth is not in him," will remain true to the end of the world, even in the Millennium; and there will be no perfection on this side heaven. The apostasy which will take place at the end of the Millennium can be better accounted for, on the supposition that the saints will not be perfect in that time, and seems to suppose it. Though they may, and doubtless will, have vastly higher degrees of light and holiness, than any shall have before that time; yet they will be far from being wholly without sin. It is most probable, that every individual person who shall then live will be a real christian; and all will doubtless be members of the church in that day. That is the time when "all shall know the Lord, from the least to the greatest." God says to his church, speaking of that day, "Thy people also shall be all righteous."* "Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion, put on thy beauti ⚫ sai. Ix. 21. ful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: For henceforth there shall no more come unto thee the uncircumcised and the unclean."* The following things will take place in the Millennium in an eminent degree, as they never did before; which may be mentioned as generals, including many particulars, some of which will be afterwards suggested. I. That will be a time of eminent holiness, when it shall be acted out by all, in a high degree, in all the branches of it, so as to appear in its true beauty, and the happy effects of it. This will be the peculiar glory, and the source of the happiness of the Millennium. The prophet Zechariah, speaking of that day, says, "In that day, shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots of the Lord's house shall be like the bowls before the altar. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the Lord of hosts."t In these metaphorical expressions, is declared the eminent degree of holiness of that day, which will consecrate every thing, even all the utensils and the common business and enjoyments of life, unto the Lord. Holiness consists in love to God, and to man, with every affec tion and exercise implied in this, which being expressed and acted out, appears in the exercise of piety towards God, in every branch of it; and of righteousness and goodness, or disinterested benevolence towards man, including ourselves. This, so far as it shall take place, will banish all the evils which have existed and prevailed in the world; and becoming universal, and rising to a high and eminent degree will introduce a state of enjoyment and happiness, which never was known before on earth; and render it a resemblance of heaven in a high degree. This will be effected by the abundant influences of the Holy Spirit, poured down on men more universally, and in more constant and plentiful effusions, than ever before; for all holiness in man, is the effect of the Holy Spirit. That day will be, in a peculiar sense, the dispensation of the Holy Spirit, when he will appear as the author of all holiness, by whose influence alone divine, revealed truth, and all religious institutions and means, become efficacious and salutary; by which he will have peculiar honour, in the holiness and salvation which shall then take place. The prophecies of scripture which respect the Millennium, represent it in this light. God, speaking by Isaiah of that time, says, “I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring. And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses." And the same time and event is mentioned as the effect of the Holy Spirit, poured out upon the church. "Neither will I hide my face any more from them : For I have poured out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God." The same event is predicted by the pro† Chap. xiv. 20, 21. + Ezek. xxxix. 29. * Isaiah lii. 1. phet Joel. "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh. And also upon the servants, and upon the handmaids in these days, will I pour out my Spirit."☛ The apostle Peter applies this passage in Joel to the pouring out of the Spirit on the Apostles and others on the day of Penticost.t But this prophecy was fulfilled only in a small degree then. This was but the beginning, the first fruits, which will issue in that which is unspeakably greater, more extensive and glorious in the days of the Millennium, to which this prediction has chief respect, and when it will have the full and most complete accomplish >ment. II. There will be a great increase of light and knowledge to a degree vastly beyond what has been before. This is indeed implied in the great degree of holiness, which has been mentioned. For knowledge, mental light, and holiness, are inseparably connected; and are, in some respects, the same. Holiness is true light and discerning, so far as it depends upon a right taste, and consists in it; and it is a thirst after every kind and degree of useful knowledge; and this desire and thirst for knowledge will be great and strong, in proportion to the degree of holiness exercised: And forms the mind to constant attention, and to make swift advances in understanding and knowledge; and becomes a strong guard against mistakes, error and delusion. Therefore, a time of eminent holiness must be a time of proportionably great light and knowledge. This is the representation which the scripture gives of that time. The end of binding Satan, and casting him into the bottomless pit, is said to be, "That he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled." This will put an end to the darkness, and multiplicity of strong delusions, which do prevail, and will prevail, till that time, by which Satan supports and promotes his interest and kingdom among men. Then "the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil spread over all nations, shall be taken away and destroyed :""" And the eyes of them that see, shall not be dim; and the ears of them that hear, shall hearken. The heart also of the rash, shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly."|| The superior light and knowledge of that day is metaphorically represented in the following words: "Moreover, the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be seven fold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound."S In that day," The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea."¶ The holy scriptures will then be attended to by all, and studied with care, meekness, humility and uprightness of heart, earnestly desiring to understand them, and know the truth; and the truths they contain will be received with a high relish and delight; Joel ii. 28, 29. Acts ii. 16, &c. + Isa.i xxv. 7. Isaiah xi. 9. |