CHAP- VIII.                                                                                                                          471

OF I'HE MILLENNIUM, OR PERSONAL REIGN OF CHRIST.
~ ~

in heaven, but under it, on earth, and which will ex-
tend to all the earth. Such a kingdom shah be given
to the people of the saints of tlte..most Itigh ; to the
people and saints of Christ, who is'Jehovah, the most
High in all the earth; such a kingdom they never had
yet, nor never will have, till the Son of man comes in
the clouds of heaven; Whose kingdom is an everla.sting
kingdom, and all dominion shall serve and obey him :
which shews, that this kingdom is of the same nature,
extent, and duration, with Christ's, v 14. and in which
the saints will share with him. Brenius {} thinks, that
by one like the Son of man, v 13. is not meant Christ
personally, but his glorious kingdom in the latter-day;
that as the four preceding monarchies are represented
by beasts, for their fierceness, cruelty, and tyranny;
his by a man, for the mildness, gentleness, lenity, and
humanity of it: and that coming in the clouds of
heaven, denotes the divine and heavenly original of it
not rising out of the sea, or earth, as the other king-
doms: and he supposes the Son of man, and the people
of the saints of the tnost High, v 27. to be the same
to whom the dominion will be given. There is a pas-
sage in Micah, chap. iv. 7, 8. which plainly intima.tes,
that when Christ reigns, his church and people shall
reign also; The Lord shall reign over them in mount
Zion,from henceforth even for ever; to which reference
seems to be had by the angel, in Luke i. 32. and then
it follows; And thou, 0 tower of the .flock, the strong-
hold of the daughter of Zion; which may be understood
of Christ, the tower and strong-hold of his people:
Unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; he shall
have the first, the chief, the principal share in this
reign; yet also, the kingdom shall come to the daughter
of Jerusalem, the church of God, the new Jerusalem,
the holy city of the saints. Our Lord tells his dis-
ciples, That ye which have followed me, who had em-
braced him as the Messiah, and received his doctrines,
and submitted to his ordinances: here should be a stop,
and then another clause begin: in the regeneration;
meaning, not the grace of regeneration, or the new-
birth; but a new state of things, the resurrection
state u: the word \~paliggeuesia\~, is used by Greek writers,
both philosophers and the christian fathers {}, for the re-
novation of the world; and the Syriac version of it
here, is, in the new world, that is, the new heavens and
the new earth, the apostle Peter speaks of; in which
new state, the Son of man shall sit on the throne of his
glory, reign in it before his ancients gloriously; and
then also, adds he, .ye shall sit upon twelve thrones,
judging the twelve tribes of Israel; should have posts
and places of honour in the church of God, Matt. xix.
28. similar to this, is what Christ says to them in Luke
xxii. 29, 30. that as his Father had appointed him a
kingdom, so he appointed one to them, in which they
should eat and drink. at his table, and sit on thrones, &c.
which is expressive of great nearness to him, commu-
nion with him in his kingdom, and of great honour
conferred upon them. The saying of Christ, in Luke
xx. 35. refers to this state; where he speaks of some

to Not. in Dan. vii. 13. et de regno Eccl. glorioso, c. 2. fol. 11.
a, Austin says, without doubt the resurrection of the dead is meant,
De Civ. Dei, 1.20. c. 5.

that shall be counted worthy to obtain that world, and the
resurrection from the dead; by which is meant the
world to come, in distinction from this present world,
v 34. even the new world, the apostle Peter's new
heavens and new earth, which will take place upon
the resurrection of the dead; and they that are worthy
of the first resurrection, through the grace of Christ,
those shall obtain, possess, inherit, and dwell in the
new world, and reign with Christ in it. The kingdom
to be restored to Israel, Acts i. 6. which Christ seems
to allow will be, is what will be restored and given to
the mystical Israel, even the whole Israel of God, all
his elect, consisting of Jews and Gentiles. When the
apostle Paul speaks of saints that suffer with Christ, be-
ing glorified together, Rom. viii. 17. he elsewhere ex-
prcssess, by their reigning with him, 2 Tim. ii. 12. and
to this reigning together with Christ, he may well be
thought to have respect in 1 Cor. iv. 8. Ye have reign-
ed as kings without us; treating him, and his fellow-
ministers, with some degree of contempt, as if they
were below them, and they stood iu no need of them:
and adds, I would to God tkat you did reign, in the best
sense, and in the highest degree, even with Christ, in
his personal reign; that we also might reign wz'th you;
iu which state the saints will all reign together. Once
more, Christ promises, Rev. iii. 21. To him that over-
cometh, will I grant to sit with me on my throne; even
as I also overcame, and ant set down with my Father in
his throne: this promise will be made good to every
overcomer; to every one that is made more than a
conqueror through Christ; and will be falfilled in the
kingdom-state, when he will have a throne of his own;
now he sits on his Father's throne with him; then he
will sit on his own throne, and this will be large enough
for all his saints to sit upon with him; which is as
strongly expressive of reigning with him, as words can
possibly be. To all which may be added, the rela-
tions and characters the saints bear in scripture, which
will strengthen the proof of their sharing with Christ
in the glories of his kingdom. They are, and will then
appear to be, the children of God, being the children
of the resurrection, Luke xx. 36. as Christ was declared
to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the
dead; so they will be declared also to be the sons of
God, by their resurrection from the dead; And [f
children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with
Christ, Rom. viii. 17. Christ is heir of all things, and
they are joint-heirs with him; he is heir of the world,
and the world is theirs, Christ being theirs; not the
present world, in which they have but a small share;
but the world to come, the new world, the world that
Abraham was heir of, through the righteousness of
faith; as are also all his spiritual seed, even they that
are Christ's; and these are heirs according to the pro-
mise, and shall inherit the new earth, and reign with
Christ in it. The church and people of God, stand
in the relation of a bride to Christ, being espoused to
him; hence as he is king, the church is queen; and
not only stands at Iris right-hand in gold of Ophir, but

": Antoninus de Seipso, 1. ll. f. 1. Euseb. Praypar. Evangel. i. 15.
c. 19. Basil. de Creat. Orat. 1. Epiphan. contr. Hmres. ~. ~. tom.
hser. 37.