You know that the Lord is coming, and shall come; but you know not the time. "Watch, therefore: if the good-man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore, be ye also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh." It is very evident that the disciples and first Christians lived under this lively impression, and were persuaded that the day of the Lord's coming was at hand. They turned from idols to serve the living God, and to wait for his Son from heaven. Their conversation was in heaven, from whence they looked for the Lord Jesus Christ to come and change their bodies into the likeness of his risen body. The Apostles, instead of referring to the believer's death, and holding out the disembodied state as the object of the church's proximate hope, addressed the brethren on this wise: "Ye come behind us in no gift, waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." "The Lord is at hand. Be patient, therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord." "Stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh." "Be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." "And I pray God, your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."

And the church of the Thessalonians was so impressed by this and similar language, that the Apostle Paul was taught of the Holy Ghost to explain to them, that the great tribulation, spoken of by the Lord Jesus, must intervene: for that the Son of Man would not come until first the man of sin was revealed, arrogating to himself the incommunicable attributes of God. This is the subject of 2 Thess. ii. 1-8. But, to guard the faithful against the despondency in the first instance, and afterwards the unbelief likely to arise from this, a detailed description of the progress of the great tribulation was revealed, as we have seen, to St. John, and by him communicated to all the churches.*

Now, then, that the man of sin has been revealed: now that the mystery of iniquity has been working, not in its secret spirit only (in which sense it is in the nature of every fallen man, and did begin to oppose the Gospel, even in the Apostles' days), but also in its open form, as the manifest usurper of the government of Melchisedek, wearing on the same head, in anti-christian combination, the crown and the mitre: now that

* John omits in his Gospel, the prophecy on the Mount. If he wrote it after his return from Patmos to Ephesus, one reason for the omission may be, the more full developement of the same events which he had already recorded in the book of Revelations-our Lord's prophecy being but the outline of which

the Revelations contain the details.

the great tribulation has been running its course, and such signs as are predicted to mark the termination of it, are starting into more and more manifest existence in every kingdom of Europe: now, the impression which animated and supported the first disciples in all their troubles, but which afterwards died away in the church, should revive and reanimate us, and set us upon such a course of holy devoted activity and selfdenial, as would require the very impression which caused it to support us under it. For, mark! let the prophetic numbers be calculated as they may, at the longest feasible calculation the time is now short; and the Lord Jesus has said distinctly, that the last days of the time shall be shortened, for the elect's sake-how much shortened he has not said. Therefore, if we could surely calculate the numbers of the times given by Daniel and John, and if we could successfully demonstrate that our calculation is correct to a day and an hour; yet, still, of the exact time of our Lord's coming no man could know: but one thing we know, the time covered by the prophetic numbers shall not be lengthened. The impression made upon the disciples, therefore, is exactly the impression which should be made upon us. Combined with the certainty of the event, and the well-grounded conviction of its nearness, there remains uncertainty as to the time; and my mind has been much effected by observing how this, like every other branch of divine truth, works two ways. To those who are watching, the uncertainty, by keeping them watching, is a savour of life unto life: to those who are careless, the uncertainty, by leaving_them in their carelessness, is a savour of death unto death. It was to deepen the impression of these points, that the parable of the Ten Virgins was spoken. It marks the state of affairs at the time of the end among those who had received warning. THEN (mark the connection with the xxiv. chapter-then) shall the kingdom of heaven be likened, &c. All the ten had so far taken warning, and embraced the hope, that they seemed to be waiting for the expected Bridegroom. Had he arrived at that instant, all the ten would have entered into the marriage: but he tarried: his delay put their constancy to the test. It is endurance that proves principle. It is "to him that overcometh," the promises are made. They sunk under the trial, five of them to rise no more. The day of the Lord's coming will prove, to many avowed expectants of it, a day of surprise, and a day of separation. This is the connection of the fortieth and forty-first verses with the thirty-ninth. There shall two be in one field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two virgins shall be waiting for the

marriage; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two ministers shall be officiating in the church; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two magistrates shall be sitting on the bench; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Twe farmers shall be bargaining in the market; the one shall be taken, and the other left-"Where, Lord? And Jesus answered, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together." (Luke xvii. 37.) "Watch, therefore; for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh."* But is this all? And are we to stand on tiptoe, gazing, like the men of Galilee, for the opening of the cloud to reveal the Son of Man? And are we to be so engrossed on this watchtower, as to neglect or despise all the surrounding duties of the present time? This leads to the next clause in our Lord's application of his discourse, and also to the next parable by which that clause is enforced: Who, then, is a faithful and wise servant, whom his Lord hath made ruler over his household, to

* It has been already proved, that the coming of the Lord here spoken of, can be no other than his last personal advent: and how, I ask, could such language as this be used, if the Millennium be antecedent to that advent? Should it be replied, that after the Millennium, Satan is again to deceive the nations of the earth, and re-introduce a state of things similar to that in the days of Noah and Lot, and that, to that period the language before us applies; I observe, first, that this supposition implies that during some intervening period a different state of things shall have been introduced. In fact, it asserts that the Millennium shall intervene. I then compare it with the Lord's description of the whole interval between his first and second coming (Matt. xiii. 24-30, 38-43): Let both grow together UNTIL the harvest. The harvest is the end of this dispensation; when the Son of Man shall return, with the holy angels, who are the reapers. Let both tares and wheat grow together, is characteristic of the whole period of the Lord's absence. Now, I ask, is this phrase, let both grow together, equally characteristic of the Millennium and of this dispensation? If it be answered, yes; I cannot for a moment dispute that such a Millennium will precede the coming of the Lord: we have it already. The Millennium predicted by the Holy Ghost is not, however, such a mixed state of things as this would make it. Its characteristics are, the people shall be ALL righteous―They shall all know the Lord, from the least of them unto the greatest of them-They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain-The earth shall be covered with the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea-From the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same, my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in EVERY place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a PURE offering; for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts. These, and similar predictions, manifestly describe a state of things contrasted with the present. That state is the Millennium. The tares must be removed previous and preparatory to the Millennium. The season of the removal of the tares is the harvest. The harvest is the period of the Lord's coming with the holy angels. Consequently, the Lord's coming must be previous and preparatory to the Millennium.

It may here be remarked, how every sectarian effort to get what is called a pure church, is an abortive attempt to antedate the Millennium by the removal of the tares. In all such attempts the wheat is also removed, or tares are mistaken for wheat, or both, and the scheme proves to be a failure. A visible church, and open communion, correspond with our Lord's, let both grow together until the harvest. Then, indeed, "the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous."

give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, that he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My Lord delayeth his coming, and [mark the connection between this state of heart and the life consequent thereupon] shall begin to smite his fellow-servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; the Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of; and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." For as a man, travelling into a far country, called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods, and said, Occupy till I come; and when he came, reckoned with them according to their diligence or negligence: so, when the Son of Man shall come in his glory, shall he do with all the nations (there is no mention of the resurrection of the dead), separating them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats.* Occupy till I come, is therefore the Lord's answer to the inquiry now before us; and it loudly calls to an honest, conscientious, self-denying, and persevering faithfulness in the use of all the opportunities which God has given us, of improving ourselves or benefitting others. What shall we do, then? That must depend upon who and what we are, and what talents we have received to trade withal. This opens a wide field of social, relative, and professional details, concerning many of which the Scripture is express and clear. Let diligent search be made, therefore, among God's precepts, for those which are peculiarly applicable to our case; and let no compromising casuistry warp the verdict of our conscience. There must, indeed, remain many particulars concerning which we shall find no express commandment, and in the management of which we are consequently left to the exercise of a discretion, which is the best possible trial of our love. Love is fruitful in devising expedients to please: and it is worthy of remarknay, it should never be lost sight of that the slothful servant

*The 14th verse of this xxvth chapter, is an unfinished form of sentence, beginning with the relative ωσπερ. Ωσπερ γαρ ανθρωπος αποδήμων εκάλεσε τους ιδιους δουλους, και παρεδωκεν, &c. There is no correlative to ωσπερ to be found in the whole context of the parable; the sentence, therefore, is still an unfinished one at the 30th verse; and I understand the parallel statement, from verse 31 to the end, as supplying the correlative to the parable of the talents. This latter statement is usually called the parable of the sheep and the goats: but it is not a parable at all. The language describes the literal facts of the case-the coming of the Lord in person; the righteous and the wicked standing before him-and the mention of the sheep and the goats is merely a simile illustrative of the separation which he will then effect between the righteous and the wicked.

and the goats are described as perishing, not for any disobedience to a positive command, but for such OMISSIONS as betrayed a want of active ingenuous love: Inasmuch as ye did it not to the least of these my brethren, ye did it not to me.

In conclusion, I request the reader to advert to the opening observations of this paper, and to mark well that the question at issue is too vital in itself, and too comprehensive in its inevitable connection, for any Christian man to turn away from with impunity. With the unfeigned affection of a brother, and the lawful authority of a minister of Christ's church, I charge him to guard against allowing his convictions concerning these great things of God to remain adrift, like a vessel without a helm: and as a beacon of warning, I here record a small but fruitful incident; fruitful, because characteristic.

After discussing the subject of this paper, and other similar topics, with an Evangelical Clergyman who denied and opposed my views, I ceased to occupy the defensive position, and asked him his view of several of those passages of Scripture which are the turning points of the whole debate. The substance of his reply on each of these occasions was, The passage is very important; very important, indeed: but I have not made up my mind as to the meaning of it!

When such ignorance is felt, and the consequent necessity for inquiry is admitted, all is well-(this is the condition of the most advanced, at some point or other)-but when it is accompanied by ill-dissembled self-complacency on the score of spirituality of mind, as though spirituality were an excuse for ignorance (and that in a teacher, too)! and not only so, but as though advancing intelligence were necessarily an enemy to spirituality; and when, together with all this, the interpretation of those very passages offered by a brother is peremptorily and confidently denied as carnal and worldly; then, certainly, there is ground for severe animadversion, more severe than I choose to write in this place.

Luther said, "Charity beareth all things, faith nothing." This was well said. True faith is jealous for the honour of her Lord, and can bear no compromise. True charity is selfdenying for the salvation of men; and therefore, gentle unto all, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves, if God, peradventure, will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. (2 Tim. ii. 24, 25.)