for ever bright, with the meridian sun of his own presence and glory. Thence, shall you look back Then let the scoffers come, walking after their own lusts and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? Where? Why here. They ask, and it is the Lord that replies; the Lord himself: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh, will I grant to sit with me on my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne." "He hath Where we began, there let us end; remembering the solemnities of this season. And God help us poor sinners, and be merciful unto us; for the Jews and others, after all, were but accessaries to the death of our Lord; we are the principals, and sin alone is the murderer. The guilt of a felon world, hath been imputed to him. borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquities of us all ;-ALL, ALL.-Whether those I who have transfixed him with a spear, or those I who have betrayed him with a kiss. Wretched. sinners as we are, may his grace then pierce our hearts also; may we live, while we live, mourning but trusting, hoping, loving, serving, and waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins with his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. ! LECTURE XI. THE ADVENT OF MESSIAH. BY THE REV. W. DALTON, M.A., PSALM CII. 13-16. “ Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come. For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof. So the heathen shall fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth thy glory. When the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory." "BEHOLD, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.”* 66 Say among the heathen that the Lord reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not *Isaiah xl. 10. be moved: he shall judge the people righteously. Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof. Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein; then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice before the Lord: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.”* "Ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you."+ "Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come."+ "Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown." § Such, my brethren, is the strain of the Old and New Testament revelation on the all-important doctrine of the Messiah's advent in glory; echoed as it has been from patriarch to prophet-from the great Master of the house to his inspired apostles -from Enoch, the seventh from Adam, to the concluding witness of the inspired canon-from the suffering saints of the early Church to the professed followers of Christ in this generation-a subject so plainly revealed by God, and so fraught with momentous prospects to the Church and the world, that we can only feel surprised that apathy † John xvi. 22. § Rev. iii. 11. *Psalm xcvi. 10. 13. to guide her among all the sons whom she hath brought forth; neither is there any that taketh her by the hand of all the sons that she hath brought up."* Oh, who can say the amount of guilt the Gentile Churches have contracted by this neglect of plain duty? What highmindedness they have shown in despising their elder sister! What withering formality has followed from not listening to the word of the Lord: "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; they shall love thee." prosper that When these things are brought in the shape of grave accusations against the past or present Church, there are many of tender consciences who inquire, of what Jerusalem we speak? and whether we mean the personal coming of the Lord when we reiterate the words of Christ: "Behold, I come quickly?" They seem to hope that by identifying Jerusalem with the Church of Christ, they may acquit themselves of want of interest in the prophetic word, and by dwelling on the spiritual presence of Christ in the heart, they need not investigate the future prospect of Israel, nor be careful about discovering what coming in glory is intended in my text or similar passages. Now, this mode of stating the question brings us to the root of the whole matter. If we *Isaiah li. 17, 18. |