ecclesiastical commotions throughout the empire, or real miraculous appearances in the heavenly bodies, or both the mode of prediction, as we find it in St Luke, favours the supposition of the former. But whatever they are, they shall usher in the great climax of all, the glorious appearing of the Son of man. I do not believe that any of the late or present commotions in Europe have fulfilled the signs here predicted, because I cannot subscribe to that view of the prophetic chronology which supposes the times of the Gentiles to have already expired. For this I have many reasons: it will be sufficient at present to assign this one; Jerusalem is still trodden under foot of the Gentiles; whereas, from the terms of the prophecy before us, it appears undeniable that the restoration of the Jews, and the re-establishment of the holy city, either in its actual consummation, or at the least in such obvious progress as cannot be gainsayed, must be contemporaneous with the termination of the times of the Gentiles, which times, we have seen, are identical with the duration of the great tribulation. I thank God, the interests of Jerusalem are attracting increased and increasing attention, and the last great step of this prophecy may be at the door.

Agreeing most cordially with the observation of the learned prelate above quoted, that it is of great importance to rescue the phrase of the Lord's coming, in this 30th verse, from the refinements of modern expositors, I shall here compare the passage with a parallel prediction

"Be

from the first chapter of the Apocalypse. hold," saith the Spirit, by the beloved disciple, "He cometh," He, the faithful Witness, the First-Begotten of the dead, the Prince of the kings of the earth; He who loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father,— He cometh with clouds: and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him; and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, amen!" Here, as in the passage before us, we have the Lord Jesus coming in the clouds of heaven, every eye seeing Him and the kindreds (puλal in both texts) of the earth mourning (Koovтa in both texts) because of Him. And we have one additional circumstance predicted : among the spectators of the glorious scene, they who pierced the Son of Man are specified as a distinct group.

Now what coming of the Lord is this? Not His providential visitation at the destruction of Jerusalem; for then, instead of coming in the clouds of heaven, He did not come at all, but by His Spirit He stirred up the hearts of the Roman emperors to come and bring their armies to destroy Jerusalem; and instead of every eye seeing Him at that time, no eye saw Him, for He remained in the invisible world: and instead of the Jewish nation seeing and knowing Him as the person whom they had pierced, they were still rejecting Him, and for rejecting Him were destroyed; and instead of all the nations of the earth wailing

because of Him, they have all been rejoicing ever since, and making merry, regardless of Him. And further, as Horsley argues from the narrative in St Matthew, "It is evident that the coming intended in these similitudes, [the lightning, and the eagle and carcase,] is that coming, of the time and hour of which none knows, said our Lord, 'not even the Son, but the Father.' But since the epoch of the destruction of Jerusalem was known to the Messiah by the prophetic Spirit-for He said that it should take place before the generation with which He was living on earth should be passed away-the coming, of which the time was not known to the Messiah by the prophetic Spirit, could be no other than the last personal advent." To these conclusive arguments we may add, that, according to the best and most careful investigation, it appears that Jerusalem had been already destroyed previous to the giving of the revelations to John, in Patmos, and was consequently a matter of history in the Church, and not of prophecy.

What coming, then, of the Lord is this? Not His spiritual coming, as it is called, to His Church: because, in what is meant by that phrase, instead of coming in the clouds of heaven in manifested manhood, as He went away, He reveals Himself by the Spirit in the hearts of His elect, as present with them in all places at the same time; consequently, not in His manhood, which can be only in one place at a time;---and instead of every eye seeing Him, no eye sees Him: the elect walk by faith, not by sight;-and instead of the Jewish

nation, who pierced Him, seeing Him, they have rejected, and do reject Him to this day;-and instead of all the nations of the earth wailing because of Him, they still rejoice and make merry, regardless of Him, and scoff with disdain at the pretensions of His people to any inward revelation of His presence by the Spirit. It is manifest that similar arguments would prove that the coming of the Lord cannot mean the death of the individual man, as has been absurdly maintained.

What coming, then, of the Lord is this? Clearly His personal coming in visible manhood, when that shall be brought to pass which was spoken by the angels to the apostles, on the day of the ascension; when Jesus, being parted from them on the Mount of Olives, and received into a cloud out of their sight, two men stood by them in white apparel, and said, "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven, shall So SO come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven."

"Behold, he cometh with clouds!" This exclamation of the apostle's is grounded upon the last of those sublime visions which had been presented to him, and with the glory of which he was so filled when he came to testify the truth to the churches, that he is interrupted by, as it were, involuntary bursts of feeling. In his benediction, he called Jesus Christ "the Faithful Witness,' "the First-Begotten of the dead," "the Prince of the kings of the earth," with evident allusion to

the threefold revelation of the Lord which he had received the great Bishop of the Church, the Lamb as it had been slain appearing in heaven, and the King of kings returning to the earth. Then out of the abundance of his inspired heart bursts forth the doxology," Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood," &c. But this was not enough to satisfy his ardent, holy enthusiasm. A chart had been laid before him, marking the course of the voyage by which God had fore-ordained to carry on the world and the Church through this dispensation. Both are seen sailing together; the one exulting in her pride, the other meek and lowly; the one glittering in all splendour of costly ornament, the other in sackcloth: the one changing its aspect under successive commanders, and increasing, as it proceeds, in luxury and pride; the other always the same, under one Captain, neither imitating nor envying the pageantry of its companion: the one ringing with the sounds of revellings and banquetings and blasphemies; the other breathing into every gale the tender accents of earnest, humble prayer. They sail on together: the one pleased with the voyage, and wishing it to last for ever; the other sore buffeted and weary, almost to death, longing for the haven. The whole voyage being traced before the apostle's eye, the port at last appeared, and there, behold! the Master of both vessels rushes forth with flaming fire! Every eye beholds Him. The crew of the little tempest-tossed bark shout for joy, saying,