SERMON I. REV. OF ST. JOHN, c. xxii. v. 20. THE Canon of Scripture is concluded with this devout petition of the Church for that event which was the substance and the end of all the prophecies, the second and last appearance of the Son of Man. The belief and expectation of this awful crisis is a fundamental article of our faith; and, as instructed by our Lord himself, we daily pray for the coming of his kingdom. All the prophecies which announce the coming of the Messiah, describe with equal clearness and precision his second advent. They manifestly represent him as abased and exalted, the Man of Sorrows, and the King of Glory. Every where we find the sublime descriptions of his magnificence, his triumphs, and dominion, blended with, or immediately subjoined to the pathetic circumstances of his humiliation and sufferings. B Now as these contradictory prophecies seem inapplicable to one and the same person, the Jews have hence taken occasion to imagine two different Messiahs, one the poor afflicted son of Joseph, the other their great deliverer, the royal son of David. They would not however have fallen into this error, if they had distinguished, as we Christians do, two advents of Messiah, once to suffer and to die, and again at the end of the world to put all things under his feet. Thus understood, the seemingly contradictory prophecies are easily reconciled. Of this second coming of the Lord, even Enoch, the seventh from Adam, distinctly foretold, saying, "Behold! the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints, to execute judgment upon all." In the new Testament, our thoughts are continually led to this great crisis, and the day of the Lord is described in language calculated to operate most powerfully on the hopes and fears of moral agents. The Son of Man shall come in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; but how changed his appearance from that of the man of sorrows, buffeted, and spit upon, scourged and crucified. His entrance on this world in circumstances of the most despised poverty and meanness, was planned in di vine wisdom to exercise the faith of his disciples, to pour contempt on the pomps and vanities of a grossly sensual and idolatrous people, and to exemplify in his own person that humility which was to be the characteristic of his divine religion, and the qualification for his heavenly kingdom. But he who was led as a lamb to the slaughter, shall return as the lion of the tribe of Judah, mighty to save, and to destroy. The once despised and insulted Nazarene shall descend from heaven with the voice of an archangel, in tremendous majesty, to judge both the quick and the dead. The curiosity of pious and learned men, has often exercised itself in vague conjectures from the state of the world, and in fanciful interpretations of prophecy, to ascertain the precise period of the Messiah's second advent. Vain curiosity, to discover what is neither profitable nor possible for man to know! Our Lord himself has declared, that of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven. But though it be not for us to know the times and seasons which the Father hath put in his own power, it is still our duty to expect them, and to be prepared for them. And in fact, how distant soever may be the period fixed in the divine counsels for the universal judgment, to every individual man the kingdom of heaven is at hand; since the day of his deathr will be the period of his probation, and the decision of his doom to bliss or woe. In the cold oblivion of the grave there is "no note of time," no consciousness of the lapse of ages; and the eye once closed in death shall open to behold the tribunal of Christ. In this most aweful import the day of death is to each of us the day of judgment. "Blessed then are the dead which die in the Lord, even so saith the spirit, for they rest from their labours." To the glorious army of Martyrs who had trials of cruel mockings and scourgings, of bonds and imprisonments, life itself was one continual agony; they panted for the conclusion of the combat; they endured, as seeing him who is invisible, as anticipating by a glowing faith the day of their triumphant entrance into the joy of their Lord. Though no longer called to these fiery trials, the true member of Christ's Church militant on earth, has to contend with spiritual enemies more powerful than the terrors of the secular arm, since they can destroy both soul and body in hell. In the first stages of his pilgrimage through this world of sensual enchantments, the powers of darkness will beset his paths with their alluring baits, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life; they will strongly tempt him to let go his integrity and deny his faith. He must therefore put on the whole armour of God; he must watch and pray that he enter not into temptation. But the further he advances in this course of discipline, the weaker will his attachment become to the vanities around him, the more will his affections be set on things above, until he can in the language of the holy Psalmist, breathe forth the genuine desires of his heart, "O that I had wings like a dove, for then would I flee away, and be at rest. As the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God; when shall I come to appear before the presence of God?" These, it is certain, however, are no ordinary triumphis of christian faith; and when we appeal to such a criterion of christian perfection, we must beware that we do not disturb with unnecessary doubts and fears the minds of sincere and humble christians. Formed as we are for society, we live not in ourselves alone. Closely interwoven with the cares, and duties, the comforts, and enjoyments of this mortal state, are the tender relations of father and mother, husband and wife, children, relations, and friends. The constitution of our |