Such is the prospect of abundance and peace when the dominion of Jesus Christ shall be established from the rising to the setting sun. He will make wars to cease unto the end of the earth ; He breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; He burneth the chariot in the fire. (Psalm xlvi. 9.)

This is the true millennium, when the promise shall be fulfilled, They shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all 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. (Jer. xxxi. 33, 34.) At that day, The work of righteousness will be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. (Isaiah xxxii. 17.)

Who will live to see this golden age it were presumptuous to declare. There are those who undertake to prove or divine that it is not very distant; and the signs of the times are variously interpreted as symptoms of its approach. Each expounder of unfulfilled prophecy expresses equal confidence in the accuracy of his own calculations. Who is right, the event only can determine. I pretend not to decide between them. One thing we know, that the kingdom of Jesus Christ is established in the heart of every Christian who loves and serves the Lord; and that such a one will in the mean time realize in his own soul the

prosperity and harmony of the Redeemer's reign. The closer we walk with God, the sweeter and the fuller will be our peace.

Would you, brethren, enjoy this blessing now? It is proffered you freely in the Gospel of reconciliation. Be not diverted from its pursuit by any speculations that would direct you to seek it exclusively in some future scene on earth. To you that future may never arrive. Now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation. The right knowledge of the Lord will always produce the same result. This is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. (John xvii. 3.) The knowledge of God as our Father in Christ, puts to rest all fears of condemnation on that day when He shall call to judgment the impenitent and unbelieving. The possession of His Spirit transforms us into His image, fills us with all joy and peace in believing, and lays the foundation of His kingdom in our hearts. Accordingly, our happiness below will extend just so far, as the dominion of the Lord shall prevail over our thoughts and affections. Would we only let His grace rule in our hearts, our peace would be perfect even in this world of commotion.

Neither think ye this an unfounded notion. It is the promise of Him from Whose word one jot or tittle cannot pass till all shall be fulfilled. Hitherto indeed the earth has not been blessed with one entirely Christian land. The page of

history does not contain the annals of a solitary nation ruled in the fear and love, and by the statutes of Jehovah, and walking in all His commandments and ordinances blameless. There has been an ostentatious display of the cross, indeed : a loud and general profession of the Christian faith: a tithing to the very scruple of the mint and anise and cummin: while the weighter matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith, have been omitted without hesitation, when opposed to the policy and designs of men. Yet do not on this account turn away in despair from the picture which our prophet has drawn. Refuse not to believe that the day will come when kings shall be the nursing fathers, and queens the nursing mothers of Zion. (Isaiah xlix. 23.)

Neither regard this as a delusion invented to defraud you of life's transitory pleasures. Ye who imagine this, little know the happiness and peace of religion. Those who have really sought them, have always found them: and when once tasted, they would not part with them for all that such a world as this can give. For what is a man profited if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul? (Matt. xvi. 26.) Believe me, such felicity as this has always been enjoyed by those who are possessed of the true knowledge of Jesus Christ. He is the Prince of Peace: and He never yet withheld the blessing of peace from any that sought it in earnest. Then why should it not be yours? He is the same yester

K

day, and to-day, and for ever. (Heb. xiii. 8.) He continues as gracious and as mighty to save as He always was. Who then would desist from the search after so much happiness, if only a possibility remained of its being found? Such folly would be great indeed. But seeing that there is no doubt in the case; being assured by the word of the living God that success is certain, the folly of the negligent becomes highly criminal. Lightly to regard such condescension, will assuredly be to treasure up wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. (Rom. ii. 5.) Remember then the Saviour's promise, and you shall be truly blessed. All things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. (Matt. xxi. 22.)

DISCOURSE XII.

THE CHRISTIAN'S FINAL REST.

THERE REMAINETH THEREFORE A REST TO THE PEOPLE OF GOD.-Heb. iv. 9.

WE are naturally disinclined to pay much attention to a subject in which our personal interest is doubtful. How beautiful soever the description of future happiness may appear, yet if we have no reason to hope that we shall participate in its enjoyment, we are disposed to pass it over for something in which we seem to be more immediately concerned. This is, doubtless, the reason why the predictions of universal peace on earth under Messiah's reign are so partially regarded in the church. It is not that Christians question their fulfilment; but they feel so generally uncertain of their own participation in the blessedness of that period, that they prefer giving their minds to matters which they think of more immediate and practical importance.

In reference to the peace of heaven, however,