flow unto the mountain of the house of the Lord." And, Jer. iii. 17. That " all nations shall be gathered unto the name of the Lord to Jerusalem, and shall walk no more after the imagination of their evil heart. That all flesh shall come and worship before the Lord," Isai. lxvi. 23. "And that all flesh should see the glory of God together," Isai. xl. 5. "And that all flesh should come to him that hears prayer," Psal. lxv. 2. Christ compares the kingdom of heaven in this world to "leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened," Mat. xiii. 33.

It is natural and reasonable to suppose that the whole world should finally be given to Christ, as one whose right it is to reign, as the proper heir of him who is originally the King of all nations, and the possessor of heaven and earth. And the scripture teacheth us that God the Father hath constituted his Son, as God-man, in his kingdom of grace, or mediatorial kingdom, to be the heir of the world, that he might in this kingdom have the heathen for his inheritance, and the utmost ends of the earth for his possession. Heb. i. 2. and ii. 8. Psal. ii. 6, 7, 8. Thus Abraham is said to be "the heir of the world," not in himself, but in his seed, which is Christ, Rom. iv. 13. And how was this to be fulfilled to Abraham, but by God's fulfilling that great promise, that "in his seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed?" For that promise is what the apostle is speaking of: which shows that God has appointed Christ to be the heir of the world in his kingdom of grace, and to possess and reign over all nations, through the propagation of his gospel, and the power of his Spirit communicating the blessings of it. God hath appointed him to this universal dominion by a most solemn oath; Isai. xlv. 23. "I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that unto me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear." (Compared with Phil. ii. 10, 11.) Though this solemn oath of God the Father is to be understood in so comprehensive a sense, as to extend to what shall be accomplished at the day of judgment, yet it is evident by the foregoing and following verses, that the thing most directly intended, is what shall be fulfilled by spreading the gospel of his salvation, and the power of the Spirit of grace, bring all the ends of the earth to look to him that they may be saved, and come to him for righteousness and strength, that in him they might be justified, and might glory.

God has suffered many earthly princes to extend their conquests over a great part of the face of the earth, and to possess a dominion of vast extent, and one monarchy to conquer and succeed another, the latter being still the greater: it is reasonable to suppose that a much greater glory in this respect should

be reserved for Christ, God's own son and rightful heir, who has purchased the dominion by so great and hard a service: it is reasonable to suppose, that his dominion should be far the largest, and his conquests vastly the greatest and most extensive. And thus the scriptures represent the matter in Nebuchadnezzar's vision, and the prophet's interpretation, Daniel ii. There are four great monarchies of the earth, one succeeding another, are represented by the great image of gold, silver, brass, iron and clay; but at last a stone, cut out of the mountain without hands, smites the image upon his feet, which breaks the iron, clay, brass, silver and gold in pieces, that all become as the chaff of the summer threshing floors, and the wind carries them away, that no place is found for them; but the stone waxes great, becomes a great mountain, and fills the whole earth signifying the kingdom which the Lord God of heaven should set up in the world, last of all, which should break in pieces and consume all other kingdoms. Surely this representation leads us to suppose, that this last kingdom shall be of much greater extent than any of the preceding.

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The like representation is made in the viith chapter of Daniel; there the four monarchies are represented by four great beasts that arose successively, one conquering and subduing another: the fourth and last of these is said to be dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly, and to have great iron teeth, and to devour and break in pieces, and stamp the residue with his feet; yea, it is said, ver. 23, that the kingdom represented by this beast shall "devour the whole earth: but last of all, one like the Son of man appears, coming to the Ancient of days, and being brought near before him, and receiving of him a dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, THAL ALL PEOPLE, NATIONS and LANGUAGES should serve him." This last circumstance, of the vast extent and universality of his dominion, is manifestly spoken of as one thing greatly distinguishing this holy kingdom from all the preceding monarchies. Although of one of the former it was said, that it should devour the whole earth, yet we are naturally led, both by the much greater emphasis and strength of the expressions, as well as by the whole connection and tenor of the prophecy, to understand the universality here expressed in a much more extensive and absolute sense. And the terms used in the interpretation of this vision are such, that scarcely any can be devised more strong, to signify an absolute universality of dominion over the inhabitants of the face of the earth; ver. 27. "And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the most high God." Agreeably to this, the gospel is represented as "preached unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation. and tongue, and kindred, and people." Rev. xiv. 6.

The universal prevalence of true religion in the latter days, is sometimes expressed by its reaching to the utmost ends of the earth, (Psal. ii. 8.) "To all the ends of the earth, and of the world," (Psal. xxii. 27.-lxvii. 7. xcviii. 3. Isai xlv. 22.) "All the ends of the earth, with those that are far off upon the sea," (Psal. lxv. 5.) "From the rising of the sun to the going down of the same," (Psal. cxiii. 3. Mal. 1. 11.) "The outgoing of the morning and of the evening," (Psal. lxv. 8.) It seems that all the most strong expressions that were in use among the Jews to signify the habitable world in its utmost extent, are used to signify the extent of the church of God in the latter days. And in many places a variety of these expressions is used, and there is an accumulation of them, expressed with great force.

It would be reasonable to say, these are only bold figures, used after the manner of the eastern nations to express the great extent of the christian church, at and after the days of Constantine. To say so would be in effect to say that it would have been impossible for God, if he had desired it, plainly to have foretold any thing that should absolutely have extended to all nations of the earth. I question whether it be possible to find out a more strong expression, to signify an absolute universality of the knowledge of the true religion through the habitable world, than that in Isai. xi. 9. "The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." Which is as much as to say, as there is no place in the vast ocean where there is not water, so there shall be no part of the world of mankind where there is not the knowledge of the Lord; as there is no part of the wide bed or cavity possessed by the sea, but what is covered with water, so there shall be no part of the habitable world that shall not be covered by the light of the gospel, and possessed by the true religion. Waters are often in prophecy put for nations and multitudes of people. So the waters of the main ocean seem sometimes to be put for the inhabitants of the earth in general; as in Ezekiel's vision of the waters of the sanctuary (Ezek. xlvii.) which flowed from the sanctuary, and ran east till they came to the ocean, and were at first a sinall stream, but continually increased till they became a great river; and when they came to the sea, the water even of the vast ocean was healed (ver. 8.) representing the conversion of the world to the true religion. in the latter days.

It seems evident that the time will come, when there will not be one nation remaining in the world which shall not embrace the true religion, in that God has expressly revealed that no one such nation shall be left standing on the earth; Isai. lx. 12. "The nation and kingdom that will not serve Thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted."-God

has declared that heathen idolatry and all the worship of false gods shall be wholly abolished, in the most universal manner, so that it shall be continued in no place under the heavens, or upon the face of the earth; Jer. x. 11. "The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens." Ver. 15. "They are vanity, and the work of errors, in the time of their visitation they shall perish." This must be understood as what shall be brought to pass while this earth and these heavens remain, i. e. before the end of the world. Agreeable to this is Isai. liv. 1, 2. "Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear ;-for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord: enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitation; spare not; lengthen thy cords, strengthen thy stakes." Ver 5. "For thy maker is thy husband; the Lord of Hosts is his name; and thy redeemer the holy one of Israel; the God of the whole earth shall he be called."

The prophecies of the new testament do no less evidently shew, that a time will come when the gospel shall universally prevail, and the kingdom of Christ be extended over the whole habitable earth, in the most proper sense. Christ says (John xii. 32.) "I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." It is fit, that when the Son of God becomes man, he should have dominion over all mankind. It is fit, that since he became an inhabitant of the earth, and shed his blood on the earth, he should possess the whole earth. It is fit, seeing here he became a servant and was subject to men, and was arraigned before them, and judged, condemned, and executed by them, and suffered ignominy and death in a most public manner, before Jews and Gentiles-being lifted up to view on the cross upon an hill near that populous city Jerusalem, at a most public time, when there were many hundred thousand spectators from all parts-that he should be rewarded with an universal dominion over mankind; and it is here declared he shall be.

The apostle, in the xith of Romans, teaches us to look on that great outpouring of the spirit and ingathering of souls into Christ's kingdom, in those days, first of the Jews and then of the Gentiles, to be but as the first-fruits of the intended harvest, both with regard to Jews and Gentiles, as a sign that all should in due time be gathered in; ver. 16. "For if the first-fruit be holy, the lump is also holy and if the root be holy, so are the branches." And in that context, the apostle speaks of the FULNESS of both Jews and Gentiles, as what shall hereafter be brought in, distinctly from the ingathering from among both, in those primitive ages of Christianity. In ver. 12. we read of the fulness of the Jews, and in the 25th, of the fulness of the

Gentiles. And in ver. 30-32, the apostle teaches us to look upon that infidelity and darkness, which first prevailed over all Gentile nations before Christ came, and afterwards over the Jews, as what was wisely permitted for the manifestation of the glory of God's mercy, in due time, on the whole world, constituted of Jews and Gentiles, God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. These things plainly shew that the time is coming when the whole world of mankind shall be brought into the church of Christ; the fulness of both, the whole lump, all the nation of the Jews, and all the world of Gentiles.

In the last great conflict between the church of Christ and her enemies, before the commencement of the glorious time of the church's peace and rest, the kings of the earth, and the WHOLE WORLD, are represented as gathered together, Rev. xvi. 14. And then the seventh angel pours out his vial into the air, which limits the kingdom of Satan, as god of this world; and that kingdom is represented as utterly overthrown, ver. 17, &c. In another description of that great battle, (chap. xix.) Christ is represented as riding forth, having on his head many crowns, and on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. Which we may well suppose sig nifies, that he is now going to that conquest, whereby he shall set up a kingdom in which he shall be King of kings, in a far more extensive manner than either Babylonish, Persian, Grecian, or Roman monarchs were. And in ver. 17, and following, an angel appears standing in the sun, that overlooks the whole world, calling on "all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, to come and eat the flesh of kings," &c. And in consequence of the great victory Christ gains at that time, "an angel comes down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand, and lays hold on the devil, and binds him, and casts him into the bottomless pit, and shuts him up, and sets a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more." Satan being dispossessed of that highest monarchy on earth, the Roman empire, and cast out in the time of Constan tine, is represented, (chap, xii.) by his being cast down from heaven to the earth: but now there is something far beyond that; he is cast out of the earth, and is shut up in hell, and confined to that alone so that he has no place left him in this world of mankind, high or low.

Now will any be so unreasonable as to say, that all these things do not signify more than that one third part of the world should be brought into the church of Christ: beyond which it cannot be pretended that the christian religion has ever yet reached, in its greatest extent? Those countries which belonged to the Roman empire, that were brought to the profession of christianity after the reign of Constantine,