The Millennium.

"And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand."—Revelation, chap. 20, verse 1.

"And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years."—Revelation, chap. 20, verse 2.

A sinner may repent; but the dissembling, double-minded heathen should not be seen ministering in the house of the Lord. It is not so very long ago that, at the funeral of a professed Wesleyan (a Free Mason) at tho town of Rangiora, the Church services were performed by two Wesleyan clergymen, and the Masonic service was performed by a Church of England clergyman.

"Nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His. And let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity."—2 Timothy, chap. 2, verse 19.

"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."—Revelation, chap. 20, verse 4.

"But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection."—Revelation, chap. 20, verse 5-

"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."—Revelation, chap. 20, verse 6.

This is doctrine; and thus are the saints honoured. They are associated with Christ in subduing the world by His Gospel, and made confession of their faith only according to the teaching of Christ, and His righteousness (not their own sins) is imputed to them. But when the heathen exhibits openly in the places where Christ is worshipped, it cannot be said the Dragon is bound.

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The Second Death, I believe, is intended to represent sin after baptism (which is regarded as a death unto sin), and the virtue of the sacrament is not lost upon those who have afterwards sinned, and been restored by the mercy and grace of God.

Until the event determines otherwise, it may be considered that the prophecy of the thousand years is intended to represent an exact period of time, from the exactness in the periods of those prophecies which are fulfilled; but the fullest application of the prophecy of the millennial period may not be either at the beginning or end of the period, and yet both beginning and end may be signalised by noticeable succession of events.

Neither was the height of the power of the beast either at the beginning or end of the 1960 years. The strong points of the symbols of prophecy being interpreted or explained, the minor ones may, I think, be given also.

As in chapter 9 of the Book of Revelation, St. John, in his description of the locusts, represents the heathen in the visible church, or its subterfuge, verse 8.

"And they had hair as the hair of women,"—they whisper to one another, and peep: "and their teeth were as the teeth of lions,"—they hold their victims when they have fallen before them.

Verse 10—"And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails,"—the lowest members, morally, of every institution, are those that project, or do the dirtiest work.

"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God" (2 Timothy, chap. 3, verse 16), and the interpretation of prophecy also; and by His providence in His works and in His manifestations; and serve as a key to, and confirmation of, the oracles of God.

It is written in Deuteronomy, chap. 8, verse 3, and in Matthew, chap. 4, verse 4, as also in Luke, chap. 4, verse 4, that "man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live." A knowledge of the Sacred Writings would be as a staff in the hand of every man in Jerusalem, and the practice of the precepts taught in them as old age.

Christian nations who hold dominion, having ceased to contend with one another, the heathen nations subjugated, and the coasts of the earth held by those who acknowledge the "King of Kings and Lord of Lords" (Revelation, chap. 19, verse 16), may it not be said that the prophecy of Isaiah, chap, 2, and of Micah, chap. 4, is fulfilled ? "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."—Isaiah, chap. 2, verse 2.

"And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths; for out of Zion will go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem."—Ieaiah, chap. 2, verse 3.

"And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people; and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."—Isaiah, chap. 2, verse 4.

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"O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the Light of the Lobd."—Isaiah, chap. 2, verse 5.

"Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name."—Revelation, chap. 3, verse 12.

"In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is His name whereby He shall be called, The Lord our Righteousness."—Jeremiah, chap. 23, verse 6.

"In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The Lord our Righteousness."—Jeremiah, chap. 33, verse 16.

"Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand: but the wise shall understand."—Daniel, chap. 12, verse 10.

The victory over the heathen, the infidel, the sceptic, the unbeliever, having been obtained by Him who sat on the white horse, and "went forth conquering and to conquer" (Revelation, chap. 6), in the 20th chapter the saints are represented, in symbol, as having been restored to life, and become the spiritual teachers of the Church and of the world.

"But the rest of the dead" (in a similar symbol) "lived not again until the thousand years were finished."—Revelation, chap. 20, verse 5.

I will not now pursue this subject further, as it relates, in part, to what is to follow after the thousand years are expired; but I look upon the Book of Revelation as containing symbols unto the end.

Now listen to the admonition of the beloved disciple, apostle, and prophet, John.

"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him."—1st Epistle of John, chap. 2, verse 15.

And our blessed Lord, as related by St. Matthew, chap. 6, verse 34, on the mount, taught His disciples thus: "Take therefore no thought for the morrow; for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."