With respect to their city, it has remained for the most part in a state of ruin and desolation, from its destruction by the Romans to the present time; and has never been under the government of the Jews themselves, but oppressed and broken down by a succession of foreign masters, the Romans, the Saracens, the Franks, the Mamalukes, and fast by the Turks, to whom it is still subject. It is therefore only in the history of Josephus, and in other ancient writers, that we are to look for the accomplishment of our Lord's predictions; we see them verified at this moment before our eyes, in the desolated state of the once celebrated city and temple of Jerusalem, and in the present condition of the Jewish people, not collected together into any one country, into one political society, and under one form of government, but dispersed over every region of the globe, and every where treated with contumely and scorn. There was indeed one attempt made to rebuild their temple and their city, and restore them to their ancient prosperity and splendour. It was made too for the express and avowed purpose of defeating that very prophecy we have been considering; and the event was such as might be expected from the folly and presumption of the man who dared to oppose the designs of Providence, and to fight against God. This man was the emperor Julian, who, as you all know, was first a Christian, then apostatized from that religion, professed himself a pagan, and became a bitter and avowed enemy to the Gospel. This prince assured the Jews, that if he was successful in the Persian war, he would rebuild their city, restore them to their habitations re-establish their government and their religion, and join with them in worshipping the great God of the universe. He actually begun this singular enterprize, by attempting to rebuild their temple with the greatest magnifiHe assigned immense sums for the structure; and gave it in charge to Alypius of Antioch, who had. formerly been lieutenant in Britain, to superintend the work. Alypius exerted himself with great vigour, and cence. was assisted in it by the governor of the province. But soon after they had begun the work, dreadful balls of fire bursting out from the foundations in several parts, rendered the place inaccessible to the workmen, who were frequently burnt with the flames; and in this manner, the fiery elements obstinately repelling them, forced them at length to abandon the design. The account of this extraordinary miracle we have not only from ancient Christian writers of credit, who lived at the very time when it happened, but from an heathen author of great veracity, Ammianus Marcellinus, who wrote the history of Roman affairs from Nerva to the death of Valens, in the year 378. Though he wrote in Latin, he was a Greek by birth. He had several honourable › military commands under different emperors; was with Julian in his Persian expedition, in the year 363, and was a great admirer of that emperor, whom he makes his hero; yet acknowledges that his attempt to rebuild the temple of Jerusalem was defeated in the manner I have mentioned.* The fact is frequently appealed to by the Christians of those days, who affirm that it was in the mouths of all men, and was not denied even by the atheists themselves; and " if it seem yet incredible to any one, he may repair (say they) both to witnesses of it yet living, and to them who have heard it from their mouths; yea, they may view the foundations, lying yet bare and naked."+ And of this, says Chrysostom, all we Christians are witnesses; these things being done not long since in our own time.‡ Such are the testimonies for this miracle, which are collected and stated with great force by the learned Bishop Worburton, in his work called Julian; and most of them are also admitted by Mr. Gibbon, who in his recital of this miracle, acknowledges that it is attested by contemporary and respectable evidence; that Gregory Nazianzen, who published his account of it before the expiration of the same year, declares it was not dis * Ammianus Marcellinus, 1. xxiii. c. 1. p. 350. Ed. Valesii. 3 puted by the infidels of those days, and that his testimony is confirmed by the unexceptionable testimony of Ammianus Marcellinus.* an account. I now proceed to the explanation of the next chap ter, the 25th of St. Matthew, which begins with presenting to us two parables, that of the ten virgins, and that of the servants of a great Lord entrusted with dif ferent talents, of which they are called upon to render As these parables contain nothing that requires a very particular explanation, I shall content myself with observing, that they are designed to carry on the subject with which the preceding chapter concludes; namely, that of the last solemn day of retribution; and the object of both is to call our attention to that great event, and to warn us of the necessity of being always prepared for it. Thus in the parable of the ten virgins, the five that were wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps, and when the bridegroom appeared they were ready to receive him, and went in with him to the marriage. But the five that were foolish took no oil with them; and while they went to procure it, the bridegroom unexpectedly came, and the door was shut against them. The application is obvious, and is given by our Lord himself in these words, "watch ye therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour when the Lord cometh." In the same manner, in the parable of the talents, he that had received the five talents and he that had received the two, did, during the absence of their Lord, so diligently cultivate and so considerably improve them, that when at length he came to reckon with them they returned him his own again with usury, and received both applause and reward: while that slothful and indolent servant who had received only one talent, and instead of improving it went and hid it in the earth, when his Lord came and required it at his hands, was severely reprimanded for his want of activity and exertion, and was cast out as an unprofitable servant into outer darkness. History of the Roman Empire, v. ii. p. 388. This, like the former parable, was plainly meant to intimate to us that we ought to be always prepared to meet our Lord, and to give him a good account of the use we have made of our time, and of our talents, whether many or few, that were entrusted to the care. After these admonitory parables, and these earnest exhortations to prepare for the last great day, our blessed Lord is naturally led on to a description of the day itself; and it is a description which for dignity and grandeur has not its equal in any writer, sacred or profane. It is as follows: "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory; and before him shall be gathered all nations; and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, and the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in; naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee. drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. shall he also say unto those on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me not in; naked and ye clothed me not; sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or Then a stranger, or naked or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them saying, Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life eternal." Such is the description which our divine Master gives us of the great day of account; and so solemn, so awful, so sublime a scene, was never before presented to the mind of man. Our Saviour represents himself as a great and mighty King, as the supreme Lord of all, sitting on the throne of his glory, with all the nations of the earth assembled before him, and waiting their final doom from his lips. What an astonishing and stupendous spectacle is this! He then at one glance which penetrates the hearts of every individual of that immense multitude, discerns the respective merits or demerits of every human being there present, and separates the good from the bad with as much ease as a shepherd divides his sheep from his goats. He next questions them on one most important branch of their duty, as a specimen of the manner in which the inquiry into the whole of their behaviour will be conducted; and then, with the authority of an almighty Judge and Sovereign, he in a few words pronounces the irreversible sentence, which consigns the wicked to everlasting punishment, and the righteous to life eternal. Before I press this important subject any further on the hearts of those who hear me, I must make a few observations on the description which has been just laid before you. The first is, that all mankind, when assembled before the judgment seat of Christ, are divided into two great classes, the wicked and the good, those who are punished, and those who are rewarded. There is no middle, no intermediate station provided for those who may be called neutrals in religion, who are indifferent and lukewarm, who are "neither hot nor cold," who do not reject the Gospel, but give themselves very lit |
