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CHRIST'S SECOND COMING,

which the word of God presents. Everywhere, it is the second coming of our Lord.

Are ministers exhorted to be faithful in their work? It is: "I charge thee, therefore, before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom, preach the word," etc. 2 Tim. iv. 1. And what an appeal is that! I am to preach; and you to hear; as in view of the judgment-seat of Christ!

Are careless souls to be aroused? "What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul: or, what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of His Father, with His angels: and then shall He reward every man, according to his works." Matt. xvi. 26, 27.

"Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him, also, shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when He shall come in His own glory, and in His Father's, and of the holy angels." Luke ix. 26.

"The Lord is long-suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night." 2 Pet. iii. 9, 10.

Are men commanded to repent? It is, "Because He hath appointed a day, in which He will judge the world, in righteousness." Acts xvii. 31.

Are we cautioned, how we build on the true foundation? It is because, "Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it: because the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is." 1 Cor. iii. 13.

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Are saints exhorted to holiness of life? It is,

THE BIBLE-POINT OF APPEAL.

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"That when He shall appear, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him, at His coming." 1 John ii. 28.

"When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye, also, appear with Him, in glory. Mortify, therefore, your members," etc. Col. iii. 4, 5.

"And every man that hath this hope in Him, purifieth himself," etc. 1 John iii. 3. What hope? "We know, that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is." (Ver. 3.) And what is the secret of a holy life? "Ye come behind, in no gift, waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Cor. i. 7.

Were they to be comforted? "Be patient: stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh." Jas. v. 8.

"Wherefore comfort one another with these words." 1 Thess. iv. 16. What words? "For the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven, with a shout, the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then, we who are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them, in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and, so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort," etc.

And so, brethren, I might multiply instances, to almost any extent. Everywhere, this is the point of appeal. The position of this great truth, is one of central and commanding importance. It stands forth in the word of God; unequalled in its power to arouse the careless; to comfort the mourner; to incite to holiness of life; and to exalt the Saviour and His cross!

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And can you substitute death for this glorious hope of the coming of our Lord? Never. Look at the vastness of the contrast between the two. Even to the believer, death is a humiliation. Of every one, who goes down to the grave, it is said: "It is sown in dishonour." It is a season of unnatural separation, between the soul and body. But the coming of the Lord is a time of blessedness and glory. It puts an end to this separation. It brings body and soul together again; but not as they were before. It unites a sinless soul to a new and glorified body.

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There is hope in the believer's death. There is the fulness of blessedness and glory for him at the coming of the Lord. The one event frees him from toil. The other introduces him to "the inheritance of the saints in light." Death breaks the chains of sin. The coming of the Lord makes him perfect in his Saviour's likeness. The one event puts a period to his warfare. The other gives him his crown. sees his body laid in the tomb. The other finds it, made like unto Christ's glorified body. The grave, the spade, the worm, attend the one. Light and blessedness and glory; the presence of the Saviour, and the companionship of His saints, are the incidents of the other. They can no more change places in the believer's regards, than the one can be substituted for the other in the word of God. He has put them asunder. And you cannot bring them together.

And this is the coming of which the text speaks; and at which the kingdom of the God of heaven is to be set up.

We learn from this subject, The position of glorious

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prominence which the doctrine of Christ's second coming holds in the word of God. What could more clearly teach us this, than the passages which have just been named? And many others, equally strong, equally clear, equally decided, might be cited. For, you will bear in mind, that not one single text has been given from the Old Testament. And it abounds in them. "All his holy prophets, since the world began," have borne their testimony to this great truth. Indeed, the first and second coming of Christ, stand out as mountain peaks on the plain of God's word. They catch the first and last rays of its light. The earliest beams of His truth play upon them. And the latest rays from heaven linger and glow on their summits. Long before the plain between them receives the light; long before the truths which are intermediate to them, are revealed; they are made known. The living sunlight of revelation brings them distinctly out; while yet, other truths-and great, practical, and glorious truths too-are in the dark. The first has long since been fulfilled. And now, all the prophecies turn to the second, as the one living hope of the Church. Preparation for it is everywhere our instant duty. It gives point and power to every appeal. It underlies every hope. It urges to, and quickens in, every duty. It is the consummation of the first; the harvest of the world; the "gathering together in one, of all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth." All before it is but a preparation for it.

Well, brethren, what is all this to you? This coming of the Lord of glory? What is your relation

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to it? It is just the one question, infinitely more momentous than any other. Gather together all the interests of earth. Place them in the light of this truth. And how utterly worthless they appear! Its riches and honours and pleasures; what are all these? Will they avail you, at that hour? Will the honours of the great man; and the wealth of the rich man; and the wisdom of the wise man, profit him then? He may have wielded earth's mightiest sceptre. Armies may have moved at his command; or senates thrilled with his eloquence; or nations trembled at his power. But what will all this avail? The victories of Alexander and Cæsar and Napoleon, will give them no importance before the bar of God. The wisdom of earth yields no answer to the question, Who shall stand when He appeareth? There is no wisdom but that which prepares for this. He only is the wise man, who so lives that he "may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming." Brethren, is this your state?

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