of his glory, ye also shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel."

Here, then, are special privileges assigned to the apostles. They seem to be specially concerned with redeemed, restored, converted Israel.

The other saints, as I understand it, will rule over the remnant, those who are converted during the Millennium, those who are born during the Millennium, and who, though obedient, are not converted. We may gather this, amongst other passages, from Jer. iii. 17,-" At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart." This event, upon which we have now been dwelling, shows us that, in speaking of the period described in Scripture as THE DAY OF THE LORD," we cannot limit it to an isolated act, taking place at a particular period; but look upon it rather as a term describing a much longer period, namely, commencing with the Advent, but continuing through the Millennium; and therefore, as it contains the First Resurrection and reign of the saints, so, also, it includes the SECOND RESURRECTION AND JUDGMENT OF THE WICKED DEAD. For "the rest of the dead lived not again until

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the thousand years were finished."

Then it is

that the judgment of the great white throne will commence, of which we read, Rev. xx. 11-15, "I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." And thus what is generally spoken of as the day of judgment will be completed.

There is one other remarkable characteristic of THE DAY OF THE LORD to which the text specially alludes, but to which I have not as yet referred, THE NEW HEAVENS, AND THE NEW EARTH. Upon this point, opinions are of the most varied character. Are the new heavens and new earth of Peter the same as those of Isaiah? Do they appear at the beginning or at the close of

the Millennium? Are they created by progressive development, or at once? These are all questions of great interest and great difficulty, but they would lead me too far from my particular thesis. All agree they mark distinctly the day of the Lord.

I will not, however, hesitate to say that my own view is, that this new creation takes place at the beginning of this period. The context in St. Peter appears to leave us no option as to adopting this conclusion. As for the inquiry, What is to become of the Lord's people during the time of the great conflagration? probably the answer may be found, Isaiah li. 16, "I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people." In other words, the Lord can and will specially protect them. Moreover, why should not that new creation take place during the period of the rapture of the saints, to which allusion has already been made?

We must not forget that this new creation does not involve the annihilation, but only the renovation of the earth, and that there is no more reason why the Lord should not protect his people during the progress of this great change, than there was for his not protecting and preserving

them during "the destruction of the old world" in the time of Noah.

From all these points, then, we may draw this conclusion: the day of the Lord opens with the Advent of our Redeemer, which is Premillennial, and closes with the final judgment of the wicked, and the casting Satan bound into the bottomless-pit.

There is, however, another question connected with the subject, namely, Does not the Lord reign for ever and ever? and if so, can the day of the Lord ever be said to end? To this I answer, that a great change seems to be intended to take place at the close of the thousand years. For then, when death is finally overcome, Christ will deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father. (1 Cor. xv. 24.) And without discussing what that kingdom is,-indeed, it has been already done in a previous Lecture on "The kingly power of our Lord Jesus Christ in different seasons,"-I would infer, that then the period designated in Scripture as, "The DAY OF THE LORD," may be said to be finished.

I would enter a most decided protest against any rejection of these views, merely because we cannot make every point agree, or because we cannot altogether remove every difficulty. The Gospel itself might have been

rejected justly, on such an argument as this. In other ages, the mystery of the Gospel "was not made known unto the sons of men; as it is now revealed unto his holy Apostles and Prophets by the Spirit." But this did not remove all guilt from either the Jew or the Gentile; and the Word of God tells us, that in the latter day, knowledge shall be increased. Increasing light seems already to have been thrown on Prophecy in the last few years, and I doubt not that difficulties will gradually be withdrawn; and if not, let us bear in mind, that "with God all things are possible," and that difficult or not difficult, "the counsel of the Lord that shall stand."

Let us now pass on to the second question, proposed for our consideration,

WHAT IS THE DAY OF THE LORD?

I would observe that it is AN UNEXPECTED DAY. The text says, "The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night." St. Paul says (1 Thess. v. 2, 3),-"For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape."

This doubtless implies, that men will be so engaged about their worldly business, their