and now the Lord will not confess their names before His Father which is in Heaven. They who rejected Him must be themselves rejected. They who dishonoured Him must be themselves dishonoured. They who set at nought His counsel, and would none of His reproof, must "eat the fruit of their own ways, and be filled with their own devices." They will plead, "Lord, have we not eaten and drunk in Thy presence, and hast Thou not taught in our streets? Have we not in Thy name cast out devils, and done many wonderful works ?" But their pleading will be all in vain. The door of MERCY will be shut by the stern hand of JUSTICE; and the word of Christ will be, "I never knew you, depart from Me, all ye workers of iniquity," and, as it is elsewhere given, "Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” And they shall go away into everlasting punishment,2 in the LAKE OF FIRE.

1

O that the ungodly, the careless, the worldly, and all those who have put off the matters of salvation to a future day, would think whether it is worth their while to live as they are living, when at any moment they may be called hence, and nothing but a fearful looking for of this tremendous sentence must be their portion till that day in which they shall receive it! O that they Matt. vii. 22; Luke xiii. 26.

2 Matt. xxv. 46.

would calmly think whether it is not the part of wisdom to break off at once from all iniquity, accept the full salvation freely offered to whosoever will, and give their hearts to God! Forgive me, reader,-"Who can dwell with devouring flames? Who will be so great a fool as to allow his NEVER-DYING SOUL to glide on smoothly towards so TERRIBLE A CONDEMNATION, when the Great Lord Himself has promised him a full and free salvation, through His own priceless blood and righteousness, if he will come from the unholy paths which worldlings tread, and in sincerity and truth accept it at His hands.

With this dread sentence on the wicked, it appears that the last session of the great Almighty Judge will terminate. And now what further shall prevent the Son of Man resigning the Millennial Throne? He has reigned till all His enemies have been put beneath His feet, and DEATH has been consigned for ever to the lake of fire. Christ was to reign till all this should be done; as it is written,-"Then cometh the end, when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He hath put all His enemies under His feet. THE LAST ENEMY THAT SHALL BE DESTROYED IS DEATH." 1 But, clearly, it is as the SON OF MAN, reigning over the children of Adam upon the earth, and in this sense alone, that His reign is then to terminate.

1 I Cor. xv. 24-26.

Having, as the Son of Man, put down and thoroughly subdued all evil principalities, authorities, and powers, and put all enemies—even death-under His feet; He will, as Son of Man, deliver up the earthly kingdom, wherein these opponents of His reign existed, into the hands of the ETERNAL FATHER. Still He will be King; still He will reign; still, exalted high upon the Throne of Glory, He will sit and rule. The NEW- THE HEAVENLY-JERUSALEM will be the place wherein, among the true and holy ISRAEL redeemed from every nation of the earth, He will delight to manifest His presence and exalt His love. There shall it be recorded for the everlasting age, that the Redeemer lives and reigns; there, upon the throne of David, although not after any earthly manner, He will sit "to order it and to establish it . . . for ever;" and there shall it be seen that "OF THE INCREASE OF HIS GOVERNMENT

PEACE THERE SHALL BE NO END."

AND

And thus, although it will be true that "the Son also Himself shall be subject unto Him that put all things under Him, that God may be all in all;"1 yet will it be only a subjection of the MANHOOD for the magnification of the GODHEAD. And so the reign of Christ will be as actual then and for the everlasting age, as when God gave to Him "the heathen for His inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for His possession.

With this resignation of the earthly kingdom into the Eternal Father's hand will the momentous EVENING of the Day of JUDGMENT close; upon this will follow instantly (for there will be no night except in Hell) THE DAWN OF THE ETERNAL DAY OF GLORY. Then will be the shout, "Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of Glory shall come in." Then will be the blissful welcome from. the Hosts who never fell, to the Redeemed from earth; then will "a multitude no man can number, out of all nations, and kindreds, and people and tongues "— gathered, not from the great tribulation only, but from the Millennial period also-stand forth before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands, and giving heavenly praise for their salvation, render blissful service to the Lord who bought them. Glorious and supremely happy shall their portion be. No care, no cross, no fear, no sin; but blessings, richest blessings, such as eye hath never seen, nor ear heard, nor heart conceived; for in their Father's House shall be their glorious abode, and in His manifested presence they shall offer praise; and "THE LAMB, WHICH IS IN THE MIDST OF THE THRONE, SHALL

FEED THEM, AND SHALL LEAD THEM TO LIVING FOUNTAINS OF WATERS; AND GOD SHALL WIPE AWAY ALL TEARS FROM THEIR EYES."

CHAPTER IX.

The New Jerusalem.

"And I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of Heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband."

REV. xxi. 2.

HE heaven and the earth shall flee away, from the bright shining of His face who will be

seated on the Great White Throne of Judgment. This is a plainly stated fact, on which we need not be ashamed to decline offering comment. No thoughtful person will be disposed to blame us for receiving it as it is placed before us in the language of the inspired St. John, without remark.-"I saw," said he, "a Great White Throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them." It is enough for us, that we are again and again forewarned of this amazing fact in Holy Scripture; so that if we receive the testimony of the Word of God at all, we cannot but

1 Rev. xx. 11.