kingdom nearly eighteen hundred years ago, and put an end to the ceremonial law, by destroying the temple consecrated to ceremonial worship, by rendering to the Jewish and other nations according to their works, and by commencing the judgment of the world by his Gospel, and his judgment or reign, which then began, is to be continued and pass upon succeeding generations.

SERMON XXVII.

THE SECOND DEATH ILLUSTRATED.

[Continued.]

We now perceive, that there are two principal judgment days revealed in the Bible. The first was under the ceremonial law instituted by Moses, which judgment day lasted till it was abolished by the coming of Christ, and then the judgment day under the Gospel commenced. This point I believe has been generally overlooked. I would here observe, that God is "judge of all the earth," and employs in this work no agent, only so far as to reveal to men the laws of his kingdom, which rule over all. He revealed the laws, appertaining to the first dispensation, to the Jewish nation, through the agency of Moses. And the continued enforcement of these laws was the continued reign or judgment of Moses over the Jews. Consequently, Moses is represented as being among them, and judging. Christ says, "They have Moses and the Prophets, "—that is, they had the laws and will, which God revealed to the Jewish nation, through the agency of those servants. Again he says, "Think not that I will accuse you to the Father, for there is one that judgeth you, even Moses, in whom ye

trust." We are not to understand by this, that Moses, being dead, had any thing to do with the government of the Jews. We are only to understand that God judged, or in other words, ruled his people for two thousand years by those laws, which he had revealed to them by his servant Moses, who sat, as it were, upon a throne of judgment among that people.

God, through Christ, revealed to the world the doctrine of life and immortality. He established a dispensation that far exceeded the former in glory. The first was temporal, the second eternal; the first embraced one nation, the second the universe. Christ has taken a glorious throne, and still continues to judge the world by the spirit and truth of his Gospel. His reign is the last, and his kingdom shall consume and break in pieces all other kingdoms, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. That Christ received his throne, and commenced the judgment of the world by his Gospel at the destruction of the Jewish state, is certain from his own words, "The Son of man is as a man travelling into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and return. And when he was returned, having received the kingdom, he commanded his servants to be called, so that he might reckon with them," &c. From this it is evident, that he commenced the judg ment of the world when he received his kingdom.

And if this judgment is not to take place till the end of time, then till that period Christ will be without a kingdom. If this be so, then he is as yet no king, nor has he commenced his reign. But as he came in his kingdom before his disciples had "gone over the cities of Israel," it is certain, that he then commenced the judgment of the world, he then "reckoned with his servants," and "then rewarded every man according to his works." The judgment day under the law by Moses then closed, and God is now judging the secrets of men's hearts by Jesus Christ.

The prophet says, "He shall not fail, nor be discouraged, till he hath set judgment in the earth." Jesus says," For judgment am I come into the world." Yes, he declares, that "now is the judgment of this world; now shall the prince of this world [the Jewish hierarchy] be cast out, and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." All the rites and ceremonies of the first covenant, which Moses established by the direction of God, were to pass away before the gospel covenant could be established, and the judgment, that is, the reign of Christ, commence. Paul says, "He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second." And the moment he was seated on his great white throne of gospel purity, the Jewish earth and heaven fled from his face, and there was no place found for

them. We now understand the expression,"Zion shall be redeemed with judgment and her converts with righteousness,"

that is, by the things in heaven and earth are to be reconciled to God, and God shall be all in all.

judgment, or reign of Christ, all

Having explained by the Scriptures of truth what we are to understand by the earth and heaven passing away, and shown that such language, being figurative, was not designed to teach the literal destruction of the earth, and having shown that the coming of Christ in his kingdom has no reference to the end of time, but to the commencement of his reign, - and having noticed the scripture doctrine of God's judging the Jews by Moses under the law, and lastly of his judging the secrets of men's hearts by Jesus Christ, under the Gospel, we now pass on to notice the second death, which of course implies a first.

In doing this, I shall pursue an untrodden path. On this subject I have had my opinion made up for several years, and on perusing the many expositions given to the public, I have had no occasion to change that opinion.

Our opposers suppose, that by the first death is meant the death of the body, and by the second is meant an eternal death in the future world, which consists in the most exquisite sufferings that the imagination can conceive. It must be