deed wherein father and mother, wife and children, houses and lands, yea life itself must be given up for Christ's sake; but these cases occur only when father and mother, or whatever else is dear to us, would come between us and Christ, and would separate us from him.

ARTICLE IX.

THE DURATION OF CHRIST'S KINGDOM. AN EXPOSITION OF 1 COR. 15: 24, 28.

By Rev. D. Van Valkenburgh, E. Richfield, N. Y,

WHILE the most essential truths of God's word are so clearly revealed that he who runs may read, and become wise unto salvation, some passages are obscure and liable to perversion. We have the testimony of an inspired apostle that in the Epistles of Paul "are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures, unto their own destruction."

The above passage may perhaps be considered as one of the number. The exposition usually given of it by the friends of evangelical truth is far from being satisfactory; while by the "enemies of the cross of Christ," it has been extensively employed to rob the exalted Redeemer of his rightful honors, and to give currency to the fatal delusion which flatters the slaves of sin with the pleasing dream of universal salvation.

The grand design of the apostle in this chapter is to prove the future resurrection of believers. The doctrine of a general resurrection of both saints and sinners is abundantly taught in the New Testament, and by this very apostle; yet in this chapter he evidently has reference only to those who "are Christ's at his coming." It appears that some in the Corinthian Church denied this important article of the Christian faith. To present this truth in its proper light, and to

establish it on a permanent foundation, he enters into an extended discussion of the subject. After speaking of the resurrection of Christ as lying at the foundation of the Christian system, and without which all their hopes were vain, and those who had fallen asleep in Christ had perished, he adds: "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection from the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." He here draws a parallel between Adam and Christ. As in Adam, all, of whom he was the head, die, so in Christ all of whom He is the Head shall be made alive. "But every man in his own order; Christ the first fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule, and all authority and power. For he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet." The apostle here evidently alludes to the hundred and tenth Psalm, where it is written, "The Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool." This passage is a prediction of Christ's exaltation to supreme dominion. At his ascension into heaven he was exalted at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having all power in heaven and on earth committed to him. This universal dominion he must exercise till he hath put all enemies under his feet. From this clear prediction of Christ's final victory over every enemy, the apostle draws a conclusive argument in favor of the resurrection of the righteous dead. Death is an enemy that has long triumphed over the people of God. It is indeed true that the spirits of the redeemed, when they leave the body, are immediately admitted to the joys of heaven; yet their happiness is not fully consummated until reunited to their bodies, when raised incorruptible and immortal. Death, therefore, while he maintains his dominion over the bodies of the redeemed is an enemy. If then the dead rise not, this prediction will fail of accomplishment-death the last enemy would not be vanquished, and one great end of Christ's exaltation to the mediatorial throne would be defeated. Therefore there must be a resurrection at least of the righteous. That great enemy whose resistless hand has laid in the dust the successive generations of God's people

must be subdued, and those whom he has so long kept imprisoned in the grave must be rescued from his power. This Christ will effectually accomplish, and then cometh the end or final consummation predicted by the prophets, when the triumph of Zion's anointed King over all his enemies will be completed amid the exulting shouts of a countless multitude: "Alleluia, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth."

To arrive at the true interpretation of this passage the main point of inquiry is, What is intended by Christ's delivering up the kingdom to the Father? Having administered the government of God's unbounded empire until he has gained such a splendid victory over every enemy, shall he now lay aside the sceptre of universal dominion, resign his seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high, and leave the Father sole possessor of the throne? So the passage has usually been understood. But this interpretation appears to be at variance with other passages of Scripture which represent Christ's kingdom as being an everlasting kingdom. Says Daniel, "I saw in the night visions, and behold one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." Again, the angel who appeared to Mary bringing the joyful tidings that she was to be the mother of the promised Messiah, says, "The Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end." How shall we reconcile these passages with the opinion that Christ will deliver up his mediatorial kingdom when he shall have put all his enemies under his feet? Will it be said he may still reign as King and Head of his Church, and that in this sense, his kingdom shall have no end? This answer will not remove the difficulty, for in the passages just quoted his mediatorial kingdom is evidently intended. He is to reign for ever, not merely as Head of his Church, but as head over all things. He is to reign for ever upon that very throne to which he was exalted when he sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high, which is far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that

is named, not only in this world but also in that which is to

come.

Again, his exaltation to the throne is spoken of as the reward of his humiliation and obedience unto death: "Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth: And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father." Here is great humiliation and unparalleled obedience connected with a gracious reward. But is this reward to be limited to the comparatively short period that intervenes between his exaltation and the end of the world? Are not the gifts and calling of God without repentance? Shall he so soon grow weary of honoring his Son? Shall the obedience of his people be crowned with eternal rewards, and the obedience of his Son unto death, even the death of the cross, be crowned with only a temporary dominion and glory? And shall he cease to be Lord and King at the very time that every knee shall bow to him, and every tongue confess that he is Lord? Shall that kingdom, which he first purchased with his own blood, and then secured to himself by putting down all rule and all authority and power opposed to his reign, be surrendered at the very moment when every tongue shall confess that he is the rightful Sovereign of the universe?

Again, Christ is exalted to the throne as "Heir of all things." He is God's "first born, higher than the kings of the earth"-yea "the first born of every creature," or of the whole creation. Now does an estate after it has once come into the possession of the rightful heir ever revert again to the original owner? Christ has received the sceptre of the universe as the rightful heir. Shall he ever then be disinherited, or shall he voluntarily surrender that kingdom which has come into his possession by inheritance? Does not heirship denote perpetuity? And if the Father has intrusted him with supreme dominion for only a limited period, with what propriety can he be called "Heir of all things?"

It appears therefore more agreeable to the Scriptures of truth to conclude, that by his delivering up the kingdom to God the Father, is intended his recovering the supreme dominion of the entire universe from its usurpers. The latter clause of the verse may be understood as explanatory of the former: "Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, that is, when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power," and thus shall have restored to the Godhead the long contested dominion of the universe. When Christ shall have put all enemies under his feet, and shall reign without a rival, then "the kingdom," the supreme dominion, will be restored to the Godhead, or to the Father, inasmuch as the Son acts by the Father's appointment. An important portion of God's dominions is in a state of revolt. The standard of rebellion first erected on the very battlements of heaven has since been erected on earth, and for nearly six thousand years its inhabitants, almost with one consent, have rallied around it, scornfully rejecting the claims of their Maker, and obstinately refusing to return to their allegiance, and acknowledge him as their rightful King. Earth and hell are leagued in one grand conspiracy against the throne of the Most High. Christ is exalted to the throne to put down these enemies and opposing powers, and thus recover the kingdom from its usurpers. And as the enemies of Christ and of the Father are the same, when he shall have subdued his enemies, rescued the dominion from the hand of its usurpers, and compelled every tongue to confess that HE IS LORD; it will still be true that the Father, by whose appointment he has all along acted, is the Universal Sovereign. The Father, when he exalted the Son at his own right hand, and constituted him Heir of all things, did not resign his own supremacy. For when he saith, "all things are put under him," it is manifest that he is excepted which did put "all things under him."

But

It may perhaps be objected to this interpretation, that the expression" he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet," implies a limitation of his reign. from the use of the word till or until, in the Scriptures, it is evident that its use here can furnish no valid objection to the perpetuity of Christ's reign. Christ says: "Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise