be very diligent and induftrious, fpare no pains, be indefatigable in their work; they will be many, and will run to and fro; and by this means knowledge will be increased: this will be the time, even in the Philadelphian ftate, when there will be an open door fet, which no man can shut ; an opportunity of preaching the gospel every where, and which will be taken and used; a wonderful door of utterance will be given to minifters of the word, who will open their mouths freely, and boldly, and with great fuccefs. The doctrines of the gospel are the living waters, fo called for their refreshing and quickening nature, both to dead finners and drooping faints, that at this time fhall go out of Jerufalem, the church of God; half of them towards the former sea, or the eastern sea", as the Targum; the Persian sea, which lay east of Jerusalem, and so before it; and half of them towards the binder fea, or the western sea', as the same paraphrafe; the Mediterranean fea, which lies to the west of Jerusalem, and fo behind it; and both denoting the spread of the gospel in the latter day, east and weft, for the conversion of the eastern nations in China, Tartary, Perfia, &c. and for the converfion of the western nations in Europe; in fummer and in winter shall it be. These waters will be ever flowing, thefe doctrines will be constantly preaching; nor will the ministry of the word be hindered by any heat of perfecution, or by any coldness or indifference to it. 3dly, There will be very large converfions every where, in the feveral parts of the world in all popish countries, and antichristian states; even the ten kings, that have given their kingdoms to the beaft, have been affociates of antichrift, and reigned with him, shall withdraw from him; they and their subjects fhall revolt from him, and be converted, and embrace the pure gofpel: as it will be the chriftian princes and potentates that will pour out the feven vials on antichrist, they will carry the gospel with them wherever they go; or however, the minifters of it will follow closely at their heels, way being made by the former for them; whofe miniftry will meet with great fuccefs every where, and thofe that escape the judgments of God in these nations, will not only be affrighted at them, but will be truly converted by the gofpel, and give glory to the God of heaven. In the Mahometan nations, the Turkish woe being past, and that empire being destroyed, and way made for the gofpel to be carried into the eastern kingdoms, great and large converfions will be made by it; there is a most glaring prophecy of this in Isaiah Ix. 7. which whole chapter concerns the spiritual and personal reign of Chrift; all the flocks of Kedar fhall be gathered together unto thee; the rams of Nebaioth fhall minister unto thee; they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory. Now Kedar and Nebaioth were the fons of Ishmael, Gen. xxv. 13. who settled in Arabia, the country now poffeffed by the Turks"; fo that this is a prophecy of the converfion of multitudes in those parts, whereby the intereft of Christ will be increased, and his church glorified. Moreover, in all Pagan countries the gofpel will make its way, and be successful; the covering and veil of blindness and ignorance, caft and spread over all people and nations", will be removed by it; not only the darkness of Popery and Mahometanism, but the grofs darknefs of Paganifin fhall flee away at the light and brightness of Zion's rifing; the Gentiles fhall come to it; the fulness and forces of them fhall be brought into the church, being converted by the word: and not only vaft multitudes of the common people, but great perfonages also; kings fhall be enlightened by it; these fhall come to Chrift, fall down before him, and worship him; these ihall come into his church, and become members of it; kings fhall be nurfing fathers, and queens nurfing mothers to his people; they fhall bring their riches, honour, and glory into his house; and his faints shall fuck the breasts of kings, be inriched, honoured, and protected by them. This will be the time when the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, fhall be given to the people of the faints of the Most High; not that there will be any change or alteration in the form and order of civil government, which will be the fame as now; there will be kings and queens then, as at this time, as thefe prophecies fhew; it will not be until the perfonal reign of Chrift takes place, that all rule, authority, and power, will be put down: civil magistracy, in the fpiritual reign, will continue as it is; only it will change hands, it will be entirely in the hands of chriftian kings and princes all the world over; and no doubt but it will be better exercised, be more orderly and regular; and that truth and righteoufnefs will prevail every where. But I must not forget the converfion of that confiderable body of people, the Jews, who have been preferved a diftinct people for feveral hundreds of years, for this purpose; the conversion of these people will be fudden, and of them, altogether, a nation fall be born at once. It looks as if their converfion would be like that of the apostle Paul; and he feems to hint that it will, when he fays, that he in obtaining mercy, was a pattern to them which should hereafter believe'; meaning, perhaps, his own countrymen, that should believe in Chrift in the latter day, whofe converfion would be fimilar to his; that as his converfion was fudden, in the midft of all his ignorance, unbelief, and rebellion, and without the word, by the immediate power, and grace of God, fo will theirs be in like manner; nor is it likely that their conversion should be by means of the word, fince there is The Targum paraphrafes thefe words, "all the sheep of the Arabians fhall be gathered unto thee,” &c. as it does the beginning of the preceding verfe; "the multitude of the Arabians fhall cover "thee round about." Ifaiah xxv. 7. Dan. vii. 27. • Isaiah Ix. 1, 2, 3, 5, 11, 16. and chap. xlix. 23. Pfal. lxxii. 10, 11. 91 Cor. xv. 24. Ifaiah lxvi. 8. 1 Tim. i, 16. is fuch an aversion in that people to the hearing of it; and a rare thing it is to fee a Jew in a chriftian affembly. But, however, all Ifrael fhall be called, converted, and faved. There is a famous prophecy of this in Hofea iii. 4, 5. in the first of these verses it is faid, the children of Ifrael shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince; without any civil government of their own, the scepter having departed from them many hundred years ago; and without a facrifice; daily or yearly, or on any occafion; they believing it to be unlawful to sacrifice any where but in their own land, and at Jerusalem, and on the altar of God there; and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim; without any manner of idols, or idol-worship; they being not addicted to idolatry, since their return from the Babylonifh captivity: and now as all these things are exactly fulfilled in them, fo will in like manner that which follows; afterwards fhall the children of Ifrael return, by faith and repentance, from their evil way, from their impenitence and unbelief, and rejection of the Meffiah; and feek the Lord their God, and David their king; the Meffiah, the son of David, their king, as their own Targum paraphrases it; and shall fear the Lord and bis goodness in the latter day; in the fpiritual reign of Chrift; and it is hinted at in the Philadelphian ftate, Rev. iii. 9. then will the children of Ifrael appoint themfelves one bead, which is Chrift, whom they will own and acknowledge to be their head, lord and king; and they shall come up out of the land, or countries, where they are, to their own land, and great shall be the day of Jezreel"; and this will make a confiderable part of the glory of Chrift's fpiritual reign. 4thly, There will be at this time a large effusion of the spirit of God: the prophesy in Joel, quoted in A&ts ii. 17-20. was very applicable indeed to the cafe of the apostles at the day of pentecoft, but was not fully accomplished then; the spirit was not poured upon all flesh; nor were those signs in heaven, in the full extent of them, seen then, predicted in it; the pouring forth of the spirit then was only a pledge and earneft of what will be in the latter days; fome drops as it were, were only let down then; hereafter the Lord will pour the water cut of bis buckets, and his feed fhall be in many waters": it will be owing to this that the above events will have their accomplishment; the deftruction of antichrift will be by the spirit of Chrift's mouth, which will blow a blast upon him; the success of the gospel every where, and the large converfions of men, must be attributed to the plentiful effufion of the fpirit that will attend it; particularly the converfion of the Jews, will be owing entirely to the Spirit of grace and fupplication poured out upon them, when they fhall look on him whom they have pierced, and mourn; and it will be in confequence of this extraordinary pouring out of the spirit, that the following things will take place in this reign. 1. The ↑ Rom. xi. 26. 1 Zach. xii, 10. u Hofea i. 11. Numb. xxiv. 7. 1. The light of the gofpel, both in the preachers and profeffors of it, will be very great, clear, and diftinct; the light of the moon, as in the prefent difpenfation, to which it may be compared, fhall be as the light of the fun, to which that dispensation shall be like; and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of feven days; as if the light of feven days were collected together, and shone out at once; hyperbolical expreffions, fetting forth the exceeding greatnefs of goipel-light in thofe times: not only the watchmen, minifters of the word, shall fee eye to eye, all truths clearly and diftinctly; their ideas and fentiments shall be regular and uniform; there will be an entire harmony, and agreement between them; but even private chriftians, common members, fhall all know the Lord, and the things of the gofpel, in a very clear and comfortable manner, even from the leaft of them, unto the greatest of them; when God fhall lay Zion's ftones with fair colours, and her foundations with sapphires; make her windows of agates, and her gates of carbuncles, and all her borders of pleasant ftenes; then all her children fhall be taught of God, to fuch a degree as they never were before, fo clearly, fully and universally. 2. There will be great purity of gospel-worship and ordinances; the temple of God will be opened in heaven; the true worship of God will be restored, and obferved according to the primitive pattern; the ark of the teftimony will be feen in it; the ordinances of the gospel will be adminiftered according to their original inftitution; there will be no difputes about the form or order of churchgovernment; every thing relating to it will appear evident; the ordinances will be kept as they were delivered; nor will there be any doubts about the manner of performing them, or the subjects to be admitted to them, or the ends to be answered by them; all these things will ftand in a clear light; and there will be no objector to them, or any divifion about them; nor will they be ever corrupted any more. 3. Brotherly love, which is now waxen cold, will be in its height and glory, agreeable to the name of this state, Philadelphia, which fignifies brotherly love: there will be no more contentions, animofities, and quarrels: Ephraim shall n ́t envy Judah; on account of pre-eminence of office, gifts, and grace; and Judab fball not envy Ephraim; by any haughty and over bearing carriage, or with wrangling debates, and opprobrious language; the two sticks of Ephraim and Judah, fhall be one in the hand of the Lord; there will be perfect harmony and love, nothing to disturb, diftrefs, and make uneafy, or tend to alienate the affections of one from another; there will be no pricking briar, nor grieving thorn among them; they will be like the first chriftians, of one heart, and of one foul, being of ane mind, and of one judgment; all studying to keep the unisy of the fpirit in the bond of peace. 4. Holiness, 4. Holiness, which becomes the boufe of God for ever, will now adorn every member in it; nor will there be fo much immorality in the world as at this present time; holinefs will be as common as profaneness is now; in that day there fhall be upon the bells of the horses, holiness to the Lord :-yea, every pot in Jerufalem and in Judah, fhall be bolinefs unto the Lord of Hofts: Chrift therefore takes his titles in writing to the church at Philadelphia, the emblem of the fpiritual reign, suitable to its state; as truth and holiness fhall then prevail, he addreffes it thus, these things faith he that is holy, he that is true; truth and holinefs go together; truth influences the heart, and that the life and converfation. 5. There will be great peace and profperity of all kinds, inward and outward, spiritual and temporal; in those days of the Meffiah's fpiritual reign, fball the righteous flourish, and abundance of peace fo long as the moon endureth": as the faints will enjoy great peace of confcience and tranquillity of mind, fo they will have nothing to disturb them without; there will be no more perfecution; there will be none to hurt or destroy in all the Lord's holy mountain 1; as there will be no discord among themselves, so no diftrefs from any enemies; violence fball no more be heard in their land, nor wafting and deftruction within their. border*: O happy, halcyon days!-I go on to obferve, II. The glorious things which are spoken of, and will be done in the personal reign of Chrift: Towards the clofe of the fpiritual reign, things will be upon the decline; the Laodicean church-ftate will take place; there will be great coldness, and lukewarmness, in spiritual things, which will be very offenfive to Chrift; the Spirit of God will withdraw his gracious influences; and there will be little left but external gifts, and outward riches and honour, on which great stress will be laid; and there will be great boasting and bragging of them, as being rich and increased with goods, and in need of nothing; when, as to spiritual grace and the exercise of it, they will be wretched, and miferable, and poor, and blind, and naked'; and need the advice that Chrift gives them, of applying to him for gold, white raiment, and eye-falves a general fleepinefs will feize profeffors of religion; the wife as well as foolish virgins will flumber and fleep, when the approach of the bridegroom is near; immorality and profanenefs will again fpread in the world; and it will be as in the days of Noab and Lot; and in this condition will Chrift find the world, and the church, when he comes a fecond time; which is what will introduce the glory of the following state. * ift, There will be a personal appearance of the Son of God, and a glorious one it will be: he will perfonally appear; the Lord himself shall defcend; not by his Spirit, or by the communication of his grace, or by his gracious prefence, as before; but in perfon he will defcend from the third heaven, where |