riage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready," (Rev. xix. 7.) Now, at our Lord's second coming, and not before, will the Papal Antichrist and His other implacable enemies, be destroyed, (Rev. xix. 11-21; Dan. vii. 21, 22, 25-27 ; 2 Thess. ii. 3-8.) The beloved city remains on earth also during the millennium, even to its termination, (Rev. xx. 9,) to say nothing now of the eternal ages following.

We should, so far as the present topic is concerned, take notice that "the nations [of them which are saved] shall walk in [or by] the light of it," i.e., of the city; "and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honour into it. . . . . And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it," (Rev. xxi. 24, 26.) ("The nations shall walk," &c., is probably the genuine reading; so it is in A. B. and the Vulgate and Coptic versions. But the Syriac has it as in the English Bible.) Here "the nations" and "the kings of the earth" (perhaps, unglorified rulers subordinate to the risen saints) are distinguished from the city or the royal priesthood. Now, to walk in the light of the New Jerusalem, is, for the kings and nations in the flesh, to be guided by the directions or precepts which the risen saints give, and they receive them from God and Christ who enlighten them; and which they give not only as priests, but as priests and kings combined, or as the royal priesthood. In conformity with this explanation is what we read in Rev. i. 6, v. 9, 10; namely, that "Jesus Christ, the Prince of the kings of the earth, has made," or appointed, His redeemed "kings and priests unto God, even His Father." "Thou wast slain," &c., " and hast made us unto our God kings and priests; AND WE SHALL REIGN ON THE EARTH."

The risen and glorified saints, then, shall be priests of God and of Christ; priests to present the offerings or tokens of the adoration and gratitude of the regenerated nations before the throne of God and the Lamb; priests to bless those nations more and more by the directions they give relative to divine worship and the whole range of human duty.

They shall also reign with Christ. Our Lord, indeed, will be the great King, ruling with supreme authority the nations; but the risen saints are to be His co-regents; or, by His order and appointment, they will govern the nations in the millennial age. And what better governors or priests could be desired? Who better qualified to promote the blessedness of mankind? For these saints will be "equal to the angels," the very highest style of men; pre-eminent in intelligence, justice, benevolence, and holiness, or, "shining forth like the sun in the kingdom" appointed for them by their Father in Christ.

But some ask, "How can these things be?" Whereas the proper question is, " What saith the Scripture?" Nicodemus was a ruler in Israel, a highly-esteemed divine in his day, and yet he, in a conference with our Lord, had difficulties and objections to present with respect to regeneration. That subject was all dark to him. But for all that the doctrine of regeneration was clearly revealed in the Old Testament. It is high time for theologians to become "men of one book, and that the best," as said the meek but learned Melancthon; that is, to make Holy Scripture, not only in name and creed, but in very deed, the only infallible rule of faith and duty. Our argument as to the difficulties of the present subject is brief, but easy to be understood. It stands thus:-All objections against a plainlyrevealed fact amount to nothing, or are worthless; but it is a plainly-revealed fact that the risen saints shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years; therefore all objections to this plainly-revealed fact are worthless.

Moreover, we all know that angels often appeared among men with messages from God in former dispensations; and even of this prophecy it is written, "The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants what must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it” (or explained its meaning)" by an angel to his servant John." If the angels of light, then, often appeared on earth of old, conversed with the saints living in the flesh, and brought them directions and revelations from God,—if they are still "ministering spirits sent for service for the sake of them who shall inherit salvation,"-if such has been and is their office-work, and that with no lowering of their dignity or bliss, why should it be thought a thing incredible that the risen and glorified saints, "equal to the angels," shall perform like offices of love among the regenerated nations and in the renovated earth? And how could their glory or blessedness be at all tarnished thereby? Are any of us determined to believe that the will of God is never to be done on earth as it is in heaven by the regenerated nations, and not even by the risen and glorified saints? If so, two petitions of the Lord's Prayer are prescribed for our daily use in vain.

ART. II. THE IMPRISONMENT OF SATAN.

REV. XX. 1-3.

ONE of the symbols of this vision is explained; for "the dragon, that old serpent," is declared to mean, "the Devil and Satan." Of this, therefore, mistake is impossible, and all agree that it does not denote him alone, but the prince with the host of fallen ones under his control.

I. Who will seize, bind, and confine Satan? or, what agent or agents are meant by an angel with the key of the abyss and the great chain in his hand? Some answer that our Saviour is intended, to which we cannot assent. The mere having or holding the key of the abyss or prison does not imply that that key belongs to the angel by original right, any more than a key of a state prison in the hand of a sheriff would prove that he was the governor or supreme magistrate of the state. Our Lord is not meant by this angel,-first, because a created angel cannot be a fit symbol of his Creator and Sovereign, (Col. i. 15, 16, and ii. 10,)-secondly, Because wherever our Lord is mentioned in the Revelation, He is always described in such a way as to distinguish Him unmistakably from all others. For instance, in the nineteenth chapter, He is said to have a name which none knew but Himself," or Jehovah; He is also called "the Word of God," and "King of kings and Lord of lords;" and in the fifth chapter He is called "the Lion of the tribe of Judah," the Root of David," and the Redeemer of men by His blood. But no such description of the Saviour is here given, or nothing that unequivocally designates Him as the person intended. For the reasons now given, it follows that this interpretation must be abandoned as untenable, no matter how excellent and venerable they may have been who have advocated it.

Men cannot be intended by the angel spoken of in the vision before us, for they are in all respects too weak to seize, bind, and imprison the fallen angels for any period, much less for a thousand years.

Who, then, are designated? We answer, the holy angels; and as one symbolic agent represents many agents, so an angel" may here signify the multitude of the unfallen angels, just as Satan represents the other angels that sinned. And the holy angels appear in the vision in their own persons, since no other agents known to us can symbolise them, and especially in the acts here ascribed to them.

The Lord Christ is "the Head of all principality and power;" and He, no doubt, will send the holy agents to seize, bind, and

imprison the fallen ones. Now, the angels of light are fully competent for this work, since they "excel in strength;" and when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven, His retinue will consist, not only of all His saints, but also of "His mighty angels."

II. The explanation of the other symbols is not hard to be understood. The key of the abyss, or prison, (Rev. xx. 7,) which the angel holds, denotes that the holy angels will receive authority from our Lord to open and shut the prison on the fallen spirits. Christ, so to speak, will hand them the key of the devil's prison, and say, Go, seize and bind Satan, and then open the doors of his dungeon and shut him in. The great chain in the angel's hand denotes the powerful means which the holy angels will be appointed to employ in order to accomplish their mission. What precisely these means will be it is impossible to tell; all that the symbol sets forth is, that it will be like a chain used by men in crippling and overpowering fierce and desperate criminals. The seizing, binding, and casting of Satan into the abyss, denotes the various or successive and direct acts of power which Christ's mighty angels will exert until all the fallen ones are wholly subdued and consigned to the prison appointed for them during the thousand years.

The abyss, or bottomless pit, is the symbol of some part of Tartarus or hell, (compare Luke viii. 31.) The shutting up of the abyss, and the sealing and closing it tightly, upon Satan, signifies the security of the prison, and the utter impossibility of the escape of the prisoners. (The MSS. A. B., with many others, read, "and shut and sealed (it) upon him ;" and so also the Vulgate, Syriac, and Armenian versions. (See Tischendorf's N. T., 7th edit.)

After this brief exposition of the symbols, in which there is nothing forced, some may perhaps wonder that many commentators are not agreed as to the question whether the restraint and imprisonment of the fallen angels will be partial or total during the millennium, whereas the symbols most clearly shew that it will be total. Satan in the bottomless pit, and that pit shut and sealed upon him-how could the complete banishment from earth and the safe confinement of the fallen angels be more strikingly or unambiguously exhibited?

III. The duration of their imprisonment, "a thousand years." Are these words a part of the symbols, or a literal designation of time? In our judgment, the latter. At first sight, it would seem most consistent with analogy to hold that "the time is symbolic, as well as the agents, acts, and objects of the acts.' But still this interpretation seems liable to two objections: first

While it is certain that a day, in this prophecy, is used for a year, and a month for thirty years, it is not certain that a year is used for three hundred and sixty years; second, In the explanation given of the first resurrection, a thousand years are mentioned, and no more, and this explanation is expressed in literal language. We conclude, therefore, that the thousand years are not symbolic, but a literal designation of time.

IV. The design of their imprisonment: "That he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years should be fulfilled." These words are no part of the symbols, but an explanation given by the Holy Spirit. God's purpose in this particular is thus explicitly declared to be that the fallen angels, during the millennium, may be altogether prevented from deceiving the nations; and "the nations" mean only men living in the flesh on earth. It is hardly necessary to add, that the banishment of these subtle and malignant spirits will greatly facilitate the conversion of the world, and that it is in vain to expect that conversion before this prophecy is fulfilled, or before Christ's second advent, since in the thousand years the devil and his angels will not only be confined in hell, but the risen saints reign with Christ on earth.

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V. The necessity of their release after the millennium : And after that he must be loosed a little season." This is a moral necessity, and refers to the decree or purpose of God that so it must or ought to be. The only-wise God always decides with the greatest possible equity, and with the very best possible reasons; and hence the release of the fallen angels would not be permitted by Him unless it should be overruled in such a way as to lead to the ultimate good of those written in the Lamb's book of life, and to all holy intelligences in all places of His wide dominion.

This is a subject, indeed, which even the renewed in this life, because imperfectly sanctified, and therefore to some degree prejudiced through the blinding influence of indwelling sin, cannot be expected to comprehend or fully understand; but they may and should apprehend or lay hold of it as true, because it is clearly revealed. In the release of the fallen angels, a fearful and last demonstration of the severity of God's justice and sovereignty will be given, as in the millennium, of his unspeakable and all-conquering grace. We, as disciples of Christ, should cultivate humility and docility; and when we cannot comprehend we should adore, saying with Paul, "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable his judgments, [or decrees,] and his ways [or modes of executing] them past finding out!”