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jected long, their present and almighty Saviour, and, believing, fhall have life through his ever-bleffed name.

10. RIDE on, eternal King of Glory, till all shall bow down before thee; claim a ranfomed world for thine own; affert thy right, maintain thine own cause. Thine the Kingdom, Power, and Glory

Thine the ranfom'd nations are;

Let the Heathen fall before thee;

Let the ifles thy power declare.

Perhaps we are upon the dawn of that blessed day; feveral things feem to encourage us to hope fo. God can over-rule a variety of things which may, at first fight, appear foreign to that bleffed end. The spreading of the Bible up and down in Popish countries, fuch as France and Spain, wears a pleafing afpect; and the foftening of that bigoted zeal, which has been fuch a disgrace to the Christian name, must be highly acceptable to the lovers of a dear Redeemer. The Gofpel begins to find its evening way into various parts, and even among the poor Blacks in the Weft-India islands; and should that long race of fufferers once regain their liberty, we might expect a glorious harvest from thence. Let us be thankful for the leaft glimmering ray of heavenly glory, and hope it will never be clouded again, but will shine more and more to the perfect day. Let us believe that the little one will 'become a thousand, and the fmall one a mighty nation. Do thou, Lord God, haften it in its time. Amen! even fo, Lord Jefus.

The end of the Sermons on the MILLENNIUM.

SERMON

XI.

The Loofing of Satan.

REV. xx. 7, 8.

And when the thousand years are finished, Satan fhall be loofed from his prison, and shall go out and deceive the nations in the four quarters of the earth; Gog and Magog, to gather them to battle, the number of whom is as as the fand of the sea.

N the foregoing Sermons I have ventured to deliver

will chiefly contribute to that most defirable period. It begins with the destruction of Antichrift, in whofe destruction a great part of the ungodly will, in all probability, be cut off: for, it is very likely, peace may be taken from the nations, and that they will kill each other with the fword. For it has often been the order of Providence, that the wicked fhould be the executioners of each other. We fee many inftances of this in the Old Testament, and, no doubt, fomething of that kind may take place in the prefent cafe. Add to this, there is a vial of wrath to be poured out upon the men who have the mark of the beaft, and who worship his image*. And, it is very likely, that may confume

* Rev, xvi. 2.

confume a large number of that dismal fraternity, and thereby open a way for the ample fulfilling the oracles of truth.

3. A FEW things may here be just touched upon which are not mentioned in the former Sermons :-It appears there will be a partial refurrection, namely, of the martyrs and eminent confeffors of Jefus, and may conftitute a preliminary kingdom. Hence we read of thrones, and fuch as will fit upon them, and the honour affigned them, namely, they will be kings and priests, and are to reign during the thousand years. But, it is highly probable, these things will be tranfacted in the invifible world, and, therefore, known to exceeding few here upon earth. Many faints arofe at our Lord's refurrection, who, it is likely, accompanied his blessed humanity into glory; and some were favoured with a fight of them *. So, at this glorious period, many more will arife, that will conftitute the first refurrection, and to which St. Paul may refer, where he fays, The dead in Chrift shall rife firft. But it feems all probation is not yet ended here below, even after a glorious feason of a thousand years, fome will prove defective, even after feeing fo much of the glory of the Lord; the grand Tempter fhall be once more let loose, and, if he could deceive angels-created pure-and who excellin ftrength and dignity,—no wonder that he should prevail among the inhabitants of the earth. His time will be but short, for he is only to be loofed for a little feafon. It feems he will be very fuccessful, and those whom he will feduce are stiled Gog and Magog; for thefe na

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tions were enemies to Ifrael in the days of old, and will be the opposers of the gathering in of the Jews, as we find in the Prophet Ezekiel; Gog feems to be the prophetical name of fome very formidable and daring leader, and Magog feems to be the name of the country or countries where his power or influence may extend. This Gog, and his mighty army, it seems, will be an avowed oppofer of the real converfion of the Jews, and will raise mighty forces for that end, but will be entirely overthrown, and with fo great a flaughter, that feven months; fball the Houfe of Ifrael be in burying of them, and cleaning. the land t.

4. It is very probable Gog may be the grand Turkish leader, and all that he can influence, as the Perfians, Ethiopians, Libyans, and others more northward; for thefe nations are particularly mentioned as taking part with Gog. It feems pretty clear to me, that Rome will be destroyed, perhaps by an earthquake, || which the dreadful volcanos in the neighbourhood may be preparing, and what the earthquake leaves the fubterraneous fire may confume; for these fierce executioners are ever ready to ferve the Lord of the univerfe, and it is faid, Her plagues fhall come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine: and fhe shall be utterly burnt with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her §. This may compleat the deftruction of that Antichrift, and the fword will be the final overthrow of that falfe Prophet: as that doctrine was chiefly propagated and maintained by the fword, fo, in all probability, it will perifh by the fword; and fuch

* Ezek. xxxviii. 16. Ezek. xxxviii. 5, 6.

† Chap. xxxix. 12. Rev. xvi. 18. § Chap. xviii. 8.

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of its abettors, as do not embrace the truth, may fall by the fword alfo.

5. Ir is very likely Jerufalem, and its environs, may be the metropolis of the millennial kingdom, and to which time and place the Pfalmift referred when he said, Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness. Beautiful for fituation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion; on the fides of the north, the city of the great King. God is known in her palaces for a refuge *. This will raise enmity and envy in the minds of the still adverse powers, and they will make a feeble attempt against it; hence it is added,For, la, the kings were assembled, they passed by together. They faw, and fo they marvelled; they were troubled, and hafted away. Fear took hold upon them there, and pain, as of a woman in travailt. Now this may be the laft, dying, and ineffectual ftruggle which the arm of flesh may make against the millennial kingdom of the adorable Redeemer. It feems quite reasonable, that those places which were the fcenes of his labour and toil, fhame and fufferings, fhould be marked out with the peculiar rays of his millennial glory, and that the foundation thereof should be in the holy mountains.

6. Ir is now high time to attend unto the subject of the text. Satan and his infernal crew muft be liberated once more, and will be permitted to make another attempt, in which they will be fuccefsful-for he will deceive; hence there will be a falling away: For after the Philadelphian State, there will come a Laodician State. It will not be, as fome fuppofe, that there will be, many Y 2 hypocrites

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