CHAPTER XXXII.

Millennium.

Q. 1. What is meant by the Millennium? A. A time in which the Church of God in this world will be in a state of far greater prosperity and happiness, than it ever yet has been, and in which all the families, kindreds, and nations of the earth shall be blessed in Christ.

Q. 2.

the case?

What is the evidence, that this will be

A. The full and explicit predictions of it contained in the word of God.(a)

(a) Rev. 20. 2, 3. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled; and after that he must be loosed a little season. Ps. 2. 8. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Ps. 72. 8-11. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river, unto the ends of the earth. They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents, the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts; yea all kings shall fall down before him; all nations shall serve him. Isa. 2. 2. And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. Mal. 1. 11. For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same, my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense

Q. 3. What will be some of the principal characteristicks of the Millennium?

A. There will be great out-pourings of the Holy Spirit; large increase of divine light and knowledge, and a consequent removal of intellectual darkness and delusion; universal love, friendship, peace, and harmony; great agreement respecting the doctrines, duties, institutions, and practices of religion; great temperance, enjoyment and happiness; the earth will yield bounteously, and be replenished with people, who will voluntarily submit to the rules of the Gospel; and there will be a conversion of all nations, if not of all individuals, unto the truth and the salvation of Christ.(b)

shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering; for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord. Dan. 2. 34, 35. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet, that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like chaff, of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them; and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. Rev. 11. 15. And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.

(b) Isa. 44. 3, 4, 5. For 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 thy offspring; and they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the watercourses. One shall say, I am the Lord's; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel. Jer. 31. 34. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for they shall know me from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. Isa. 25. 7. And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations. Isa. 30. 26. 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

Q. 4. Is the Millennium the time, in which Christ, with those of the first resurrection, will reign on the earth?

A. It is. By this is not to be understood, that Christ will personally appear in human nature, and reign on the earth; for this would be to divest Himself of His celestial glory, and become like man in his unglorified state, as man in this condition of existence could not behold Him in His heavenly effulgence, nor have intercourse with Him. His

his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound, Isa. 2. 4. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. Isa. 11. 6-9. The wolf also 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 den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Eph. 4. 5, 13, 15. One Lord, one faith, one baptism. Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him, in all things, which is the head, even Christ. Isa. 25. 6. And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. Isa. 55. 12. For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Zech. 8. 12. For the seed shall be prosperous; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. Isa. 33. 24. And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick; the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity. Isa. 30. 23. Then shall he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal, and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous; in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures. See reference (a).

present glorified nature wholly renders it improbable and impossible, that He should personally appear and reign on the earth.-Neither is it to be supposed, that those who are said to reign with Christ a thousand years, will literally rise from the dead, and reign here on the earth with Christ. For, if they are literally raised, their bodies must be corruptible and mortal, or incorruptible and immortal. The former does not comport at all with the description of the resurrection bodies of the saints, given in the Bible, and the latter, being only fitted for heavenly mansions, would be wholly unsuited to this earthly state. Christ's reign on the earth therefore, will be spiritual. He will most emphatically reign in the hearts and lives of men by His Spirit for a thousand years.- -The first resurrection, also, will be spiritual. There will be a revival of the prosperity, reign, and triumph of the cause of religion in those, who live on the earth. The martyrs, confessors, and eminent Christians will rise in their spirit, in the Christians of that day, as Elias rose in John.(c)

Q. 5. Will all Christians in the Millennium be perfectly holy, or arrive at sinless perfection?

A. They will not. It will be as true then as now, that no man liveth and sinneth not; though sin will not greatly abound.(d)

Q. 6. Will children in this time be born depraved, as they now are?

(c) Rev. 20. 4-6. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them; and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again, until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

(d) Eccl.7. 20. For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good and sinnèth not.

A. They will. It is agreeable to Divine constitution, that all of the human race should partake of the nature of fallen man. .(e)

Q. 7. Will there be any pain and sorrows in the Millennial days?

A. There will. All will have more or less tribulation. It is incompatible with a state of probation, that men should be free from troubles and distresses.(f)

Q. 8. Will there be any need of a preached Gospel, and the administration of the sacraments in the Millennium?

A. There will. A preached Gospel will thenas now, be the usual means of the conversion and sanctification of the hearts of men. Baptism will then be, as it now is, the initiatory ordinance into the Church, and the Lord's Supper is to be observed till Christ's second appearance-till He comes in judgment.(5)

Q. 9. When will the Millennium commence? A. The particular day or year, perhaps, cannot be ascertained. Probably it will begin before the seventh thousand years of the world commence. The prophecies of Daniel and of John the Divine, lead to this conclusion. According to these predictions, the Church is to be oppressed by Papal superstition and Mahometan delusion 1260 years. These are to commence, continue, and close together. The Papal superstition, most probably, commenced in 606, when Phocas constituted the Bishop of Rome, universal Bishop, and Mahomet

(e) John 3. 6. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Job 14. 4. Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one. (f) Job 14. 1. Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble.

(g) Matt. 28. 19. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. 1 Cor. 11. 26. For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come.