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SERMON IX.

Description of Christ's kingdom on earth for one thou-

sand years...

....106

SERMON X.

The city and house which will be built when Christ
reigns on earth..

SERMON XI.

..129

The rivers and s eams which will flow through the
land of Canaan when Christ reigns on earth..... 147

SERMON XII.

All nations will meet at Jerusalem from year to year
in the thousand years, and what they will meet
for....

SERMON XIII.

..154

The meaning of satan's being let loose to deceive the

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The lake of fire into which the wicked will be cast, af-
ter being judged out of the books...

SERMON XVI.

The second death described....

SERMON XVII.

187

197

Words used in scripture to describe the dreadful end of

the wicked....

SERMON XVIII.

.212

Expressions used in scripture to describe the end of the

wicked....

228/

SERMON XIX.

The new heaven and earth, which will appear after the
first heaven and earth are passed away........

SERMON XX.

238

The new Jerusalem which will come down from God out
of heaven, after the new heaven and earth are crea-
ted....

SERMON XXI.

.249

The kingdom which Christ will deliver up, and the
kingdom in which he will reign forever after he is
subject to him that put all things under him.....269

SERMON XXII.

The duty enjoined on all which is to take heed to the
prophecies, as a light shining in a dark place, until
the glorious day dawn...

281

ILLUSTRATION

OF THE

PROPHECIES.

SERMON I.

II PETER, 1. 19, 20, 21," We have also a more fure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unt a light that fhineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day ftar arife in your hearts. Knowing this firft, that no prophecy of the fcripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of God fpake as they were moved by the Holy Ghaft."

THE

HE fubject before me, contained in thefe verfes, is great, and important, and worthy of being attended too by every lover of Jefus. With all the light I have received from the fcriptures, and from the wriings of thofe who have fearched the prophecies, I feel a diffidence, while looking through the fcene of prophecies concerning what has taken place, is now fulfilling, and will be accomplished, when "the mystery of God fhall be finished, as he hath declared to his fervants the prophets."

The apostle Peter in thefe verfes, confiders the prophecies the fure word, as it refpects what had already taken place, and as to what could be hereafter.

Thefe words contain three particulars, which I fhall attend too in the following Serinons.

B

I. Explain the meaning of the word PROPHECY. II. Speak of the light it affords us in this dark world. III. The duty enjoined on all, which is, to take heed to it, until the day fhall dawn, and the day ftar arife.

I. The meaning of the word-PROPHECY.

The original meaning of this word is, foretelling future events, or making a thing known before it is feen. This can only be done by him, who can declare the end from the beginning; and thofe to whom God reveals future things. This is the account given of prophecy in the text: Holy men spake, moved by the Holy Ghost". The apoftle has made particular mention of fome of the prophecies delivered by the prophets, concerning the sufferings of Chrift and the glory which fhould follow. It was revealed to them that Chrift fhould fuffer and be glorified, and, that others fhould fee what they knew would come to pafs, and that they fhould not fee the things which the apoftles faw. 1 Peter i. 10, 11, 12, Of which falvation the prophets have enquired and fearched diligently, who prophecied of the grace that should come unto you, fearching what, or what manner of time, the fpirit of Chrift which was in them did fignify, when it teftified before-hand the fufferings of Chrift, and the glory this: fhould follow; unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us, they did minifter the things which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gofpel unto you with the Holy Ghost fent down from heaven; which things the angels defire

to look into."

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Were there no prophecies in the feriptures, fulfilled, we might doubt the truth of thofe which are yet to be accomplished. There are multitudes which have been fulfilled with the greateft exactnefs, others which are fulfilling in our day; and there is no room left to doubt but all will fingly come to país in the most exact order.

The prophecies concerning Jefus Christ from the time he was born until he was taken up into heaven, are af toalbing; and were accomplished in the moft literal fenfe, and this is the most certain way to understand the ecies yet to be fulfilled.

If the prophecies do not mean as they fay, I cannot fee how they are a light fhining in a dark place.

The prophecies concerning Jefus Chrift have certainly been fulfilled in the moft plain and literal fenfe. This may ferve as a rule to understand thofe which are yet to be accomplished.

The account of his birth was literal, or it meant as it faid; though it seemed impoffible that a virgin fhould conceive and bear a fon, yet it was fo, according to what Ifaiah faid, Chap. vii. 14, "Behold a virgin fhall conceive and bear a fon, and thall call his name EMMANU EL." This is a fample of the whole of the prophecies concerning Christ.

The prophecies which Christ and the apoftles delivered concerning the Jews and other nations, have been fulfilled according to the plain letter of the word, and the pref ent fituation of the Jews is a proof of the truth of the prophecies, and cannot be denied by thofe who will ac knowledge the truth of what is plain in our day to every obferver. I might mention the prophecies of the overthrow of Nineveh, Babylon, Tyre, and other places, which have been fulfilled exactly according to the words of prophecy, but this is not needful in this work.

The prophecies yet to be fulfilled, and which will come to pass in the fame manner the others have, refpect a number of great and glorious events, plainly revealed, and recorded in the feriptures of truth; and may be fummed up in the following particulars:

1. The promifes made to Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob, concerning the land of Canaan. 2. The covenant made with their pofterity at Mount Sinai. 3. The new covenant which God will make with the pofterity of Abraham in the latter days. 4. The return of the Jews to the land of Canaan. 5. The appearance of Jefus Christ on the mount of Olives after the return of the Jews. 6. The thousand years of Chrift's reign upon the earth. 7. What will then take place in the world. S. The temporal and fpiritual bleffings which will then be enjoy9. The holy houfe which will then be built in the "land of Canaan. 10. The flourishing ftate of he land

ed.

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