tations of the immediate coming of the Messiah will expose you to these dangers.' This part of the prophecy was fulfilled in the years immediately succeeding to our Lord's ascension, when Theudas, Judas of Galilee, and other false prophets arose, and drew away the people after them. Against these delusions, the Lord's disciples had their preparatory warning in this prophecy. "And ye shall hear of wars, and rumours of wars." The wars particularly predicted here, were those of Cestius and Vespasian, which are so minutely detailed by Josephus. In the midst of this description of the calamities which were to befal the Jews, our Lord's disciples had this exhortation, "See that ye be not troubled;" the reason was, that the end of the temple and state was not just yet." The prediction of this short respite was remarkably fulfilled, when Vespasian, in the full career of his success against the Jews, was recalled to Rome. At the time to which I allude, the emperor Nero died, and the commotions which succeeded to it, occasioned by the civil wars between the three generals Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, who successively obtained the purple, were felt at the remotest parts of the empire, and arrested Vespasian in his progress. He left Judea, and returned into Italy. "The end is not yet!" The predicted destruction of the temple was reserved to his son's time. But, although this is the primary meaning, yet the language here swells out, and has an application to greater events. Knowing that the dispensation which was to follow should have a similar end to that of which he was immediately speaking, but which was not then clearly revealed to the disciples, our Lord spoke so, that while his language gave the appropriate warning to his disciples of the end of that one, it should contain the elements of enlargement in its application to his disciples in the end of this dispensation. The language predicts plainly, that the commotions towards the close of the Gentile dispensation, are to be succeeded by a pause of peace previous to the end. Those commotions took place at the time of the French revolution, and we now live in the eventful pause of which I have spoken. "The end is not just yet!" The next verse speaks of those sorrows which began with the close of the jewish dispensation-"All these are the beginning of sorrows." So far the parallel

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passages in the three gospels agree; but we perceive a variation among them; in the next verse Matthew says, " Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you," &c. implying that after the beginning of sorrows, in the destruction of Jerusalem, this predicted persecution of the disciples would take place. Mark says, "Take heed to yourselves for they shall deliver you up to councils," &c.; but Luke says, "But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons,' &c.; implying that the persecution of the disciples would precede the end of the jewish state, and the destruction of the temple. I will not take upon me to reconcile these passages, but I believe that the Lord spoke both of them; and that in one the disciples had warning of their own persecutions; and that in the other, the language swelled out to the disciples in the end of this dispensation. Mark the following words, "Then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another." These words presuppose not only apostates among true disciples, but hypocrites also; so that the effects of the abounding of iniquity was to paralyse the church itself with hateful lukewarmness. These words were fulfilled at the time of the destruction of the temple, but they give as accurate a description of the state of things in Christendom in the days in which we live; for although men do not throw off the profession of Christianity, they do in fact deny him whom they profess to serve, when they are among his enemies. Then, "false teachers were to arise, and to deceive many;" but the next verse supplies our warning, "He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved." Let this sink like thunder

upon your ear. "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." This, as applied to the jewish dispensation, had its fulfilment before the destruction of the temple. One of the things which the Lord had determined upon was, that the gospel should be preached throughout that empire, which was to be the scene of the future dispensation, before that city should be destroyed, which had been the seat of the former. In that respect, too, there is a perfect parallel in the two cases. The whole world is to be the

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scene of the dispensation which will succeed to the present, and as soon as the bible and missionary societies shall have finished their testimony by carrying the truth throughout the globe, Then shall the end come." The next passage is, "When ye, therefore, shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand)"-this is the only place in which this language is used by our Lord, and its intention must, doubtless, be to intimate, that the subject of which he was speaking is worthy the deepest attention"Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains," &c. In Luke it is, "When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies," &c.; thus sufficiently identifying the abomination of desolation," with the destruction of Jerusalem, and preventing its legitimate application to any subsequent event in the early period of the christian church. Here, then, the prophecy gives a warning to those disciples who would be in Jerusalem at the time referred to, not to hope for the deliverance of the city, whatever might be promised by the false prophets, for fall she must! When Vespasian withdrew from its walls, many would take occasion to cry "Peace! peace!" and had a prophet arisen and said, "Vespasian is gone, it is true, but Titus is coming," they would not have believed him. For this exigency this prophecy was provided. And the parallel here holds good. Christendom is as Jerusalem was; the false prophets say, "All is well," and laugh at our predictions of the coming ruin. My brethren, "The abomination of desolation" is set up on the walls of the city; and as it was then, so now, just time is allowed for the Lord's disciples to escape from the impending destruction,

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we find, that Jerusalem was not only to be destroyed; it was to be trodden down also of the Gentiles: "And there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled," Luke xxi. 23, 24. What the disciples would have understood by "The times of the Gentiles," it is difficult to say were I to venture a supposition, I would say, that they entered not into the

meaning of our Lord's words, till they received that Spirit which opened their understandings, with reference to this and some other topics of his discourse. “These are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled." Then was to be begun the "great tribulation," beginning with the Jews, and running on throughout the whole times of the Gentiles." It was to affect the Jews as a nation, the Gentiles as a family, and the elect of God as individuals. During these times, other false prophets were to arise, and to deceive all but the elect; and so consummate would be their skill, and so potent their temptations, that if it were possible they would deceive the elect also. Having proceeded here into the times of the Gentiles, and having got beyond the minds of his disciples, our Lord needed no longer to frame his language to meet the case of Jerusalem; and from this part of his discourse, therefore, we meet with nothing but the end of the present dispensation, and not that of the jewish. He mentions that during this tribulation, the beginning of which would be intelligible to them, but the running course of which would be a puzzle to them, false Christs and false prophets should arise and deceive many. Now this directs our attention to that great apostacy under which the Jews and the elect church have been so bitterly persecuted, and "whose coming was after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness." This is a description too graphic to require any laboured exposition to shew its application; it marks most clearly and strongly the features of the great apostacy-the papacy. Among the delusions to be practised during this period, was to be that of teaching, that the Lord had already come. There was a warning therefore, given against believing that any providential movements were to be considered as the coming of the Lord; for his coming should be like the lightning, attended with righteous vengeance on the ungodly-"Wherefore, if they shall say unto you, Behold he is in the desert; go not forth behold, he is in the secret chamber: believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together."

Hear the language of bishop Horsley on these two verses: "Give no credit, says our Lord, to any reports that may be spread that the Messiah is come, that he is in this place, or in that: my coming will be attended with circumstances which will make it public at once to all the world; and there will be no need that one man should carry the tidings to another. This sudden and universal notoriety that there will be of our Saviour's last glorious advent, is signified by the image of the lightning, which, in the same instant, flashes upon the eyes of spectators in remote and opposite stations. And this is all that this comparison seems intended, or, indeed, fitted to express." Some persons have wished to limit the whole of this discourse to the destruction of Jerusalem, upon which Horsley thus comments: "It hath been imagined that it denotes the particular route of the Roman armies, which entered Judea on the eastern side, and extended their conquests westward. But had this been intended, the image should rather have been taken from something which hath its natural and necessary course in that direction. The lightning may break out indifferently in any quarter of the sky; and east and west seem to be mentioned only as extremes and opposites. And, accordingly, in the parallel passage of St. Luke's gospel, we read neither of east nor west, but indefinitely of opposite parts of the heavens: For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under the heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven, so shall also the Son of man be in his day.' The expression, his day, is remarkable. The original might be more exactly rendered his own day; intimating, as 1 conceive, that the day, that is, the time of the Son of man, is to be exclusively his own,-quite another from the day of those deceivers whom he had mentioned, and therefore quite another from the day of the Jewish war, in which those deceivers were to arise." Here, therefore, we see the prophecy embracing, and strikingly depicting, a winding-up of our present dispensation. The next is the most important part of the whole. In Matthew it is, 'Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man

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in heaven," &c. These things were to happen immediately after the tribulation, beginning with the destruction of the Jews, and running through all the times of the Gentiles :-" Immediately after the tribulation of those days." You will observe the language of Matthew. In Mark it is, "In those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened," &c.; but in Luke it is, "And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon," &c. without any mark of the period at which they were to begin. The reason is, the period is sufficiently marked in the preceding words, in which, alone, "the times of the Gentiles" are mentioned :"And Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars," &c. So that two evangelists say, after the tribulation there shall be signs; and the third says, Jerusalem shall be trodden down until the times of the Gentiles, and there shall be signs. The tribulation, then, began with the days of Jerusalem's overthrow; and when this shall be ended, and the time have arrived for them to be restored to their land, and become a praise in the earth, then the signs shall take place in the sun and the moon. This identifies the great tribulation with "the times of the Gentiles." What these expressions mean, I do not venture to state, for I believe that the events may not be made clear till they arrive. Whether they are intended to describe great political or ecclesiastical events, or real appearances in the heavenly bodies, it is by no means clear. It has been thought by some commentators on prophecy, that the expressions are intended to describe some great commotions in the political and ecclesiastical world; that they have had their accomplishment; and that the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. For this opinion, however, I can see no good reason; Jerusalem is still trodden down under foot of the Gentiles; whereas, it appears to me, that the restoration of the Jews, and the re-establishment of their state, must be contemporaneous with the termination of the times of the Gentiles, which are synchronical with the great tribulation. I look, therefore, for some great, obvious, undoubted interference of God in behalf of the Jewish people.

Having concluded the prophecy, our Lord proceeds to instruct his disciples. by

parables : "Now learn a parable of the fig-tree: When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh." This passage has been supposed to present a difficulty; but the design of the parable is sufficiently plain. From the budding of the fig-tree we infer that the summer is nigh; so our Lord told his disciples, that when they saw the beginning of the great tribulation, they might conclude that the destruction of the temple was at hand: So likewise

ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors,' ver. 33. The "all these things" of this verse must be so limited, or we shall make it include more than is meant. "Verily," added our Lord, "this generation shall not pass away till all these things be fulfilled." The whole prophecy, in all its parts, is presented to our view in the parable of the fig-tree, till the Son of man comes in the clouds of heaven.

II. The practical application of this prophecy is comprehended by our Lord under two heads-WATCHFULNESS and These are stated and enforced by two parables in the following chapter.

DILIGENCE.

We have spoken of the beginning of the great tribulation, and the topics connected therewith; and now we may inquire," Who hath believed our report, and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed," transforming them from matters of doubtful disputation, into matters of faith? The language on which we are staking our souls for justification on Christ is not more plain, and is not so frequently to be found in the New Testament, as that which proclaims the second coming of the Son of man.—Who, then, hath believed our report, and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?" I press this upon you with earnestness and affection, because it is a deeply important inquiry, and because inattention to it is laid down by our Lord as one of the characteristics of the times in which his second coming would take place: "But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not, until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." But had they not been told? Yes: for Noah had

preached the truth often, and had long been building an ark, by which he condemned the world. He had long and often and plainly told them of the coming flood; and yet our Lord says, They knew not till the flood came." As it was then, so it is now. It is possible to be convinced of the general character of the truth, and yet never to realise the warning; never to make it our own-to make it part of ourselves. You, instead of being influenced by what you profess to receive from us, live as if you knew it not, and as they did in the days of Noah. It is, therefore, of importance to press the inquiry, "Who hath believed our report, and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?" I do hope and trust that some of you believe it, and therefore proceed with the application.

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1st. The prophecy is designed to excite us to WATCHFULNESS. We know that the Lord is coming, but we know not when; for "of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but the Father only," ver. 36. "Watch, therefore, for ye know nct what hour your Lord doth come," ver. 42. It is evident that the first Christians lived under the impression that the day of Christ's coming was at hand; They turned from idols to serve the living God, and to wait for his Son from heaven," 1 Thess. i. 9, 10. Their "conversation was in heaven, from whence also they looked for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ," Phil. iii. 20. The language of the apostles was calculated to strengthen such an impression. "Waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,” (1 Cor. i. 7.); "I pray God your whole spirit, and soul, and body, be preserved blameless, unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ," (1 Thess. v. 23); Timothy is exhorted to keep the commandment committed to him "without spot, unrebukable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 1 Tim. vi. 14. Peter speaks of the revelation to be brought to the strangers scattered throughout Galatia, &c." at the revelation of Jesus Christ," (1 Pet. i. 7, 13); and James declares, that 'the coming of the Lord draweth nigh," James v. 7, 8. In writing to the churches, the apostles never speak of the day of death, but of" the coming of the Lord;" and this language so inspired the early church with an idea of the immediate coming of the Lord, that St Paul found it necessary to address a letter to the Thes

salonians, instructing them that the day of the Lord should not come except there came a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition: who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God," 2 Thess. ii. 3, 4. The coming of that power was to be "with all power, and signs, and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish," ver. 9. 10. It was to be a personal coming (rapovσia;) and the mystery of iniquity has already assumed its personal aspect, that wicked one has been revealed. Who was ever a king and a priest, except the bishop of Rome? He dared to take these titles to himself, and thus to exhibit Satan's mockery of Jesus. The falling away has come, the wicked one has been revealed, and therefore we may be assured that the day is at hand. But we must not forget to notice that our Lord has said, Those days of tribulation shall be shortened, for the elect's sake, (Matt. xxiv. 22 ;) thns giving a most awful idea of the trials that shall befal the church; the enemy putting on a religious aspect, and carrying on his plans so deceitfully and speciously, that if it lasted long, it would deceive the very elect. So that if we could calculate correctly the time of the end, and demonstrate the precise day or hour at which it was fixed; yet still it would remain uncertain; for the days shall be shortened. O my brethren, let us not lose sight of this; the time of our Lord's coming shall be shortened not lengthened; how much it may be shortened we know not; but of this we are sure, it shall not be lengthened at all. Combined, then, with the certainty of the coming, is the uncertainty of the time. And this operates in two ways, according as it finds the state of our minds; if we be alive to the deeply interesting and awfully important subject, its tendency is to excite us to watchfulness and expectation; if we are careless about it, or not duly impressed with it, the uncertainty with which it is attended, induces us to put it away from our minds, to the greatest possible distance.

It was to deepen the impression of these words that the parable of the ten virgins was spoken. It is easy to make one bold and courageous rush; but it is not easy to stand and watch for the com

ing of the Lord. It is waiting that tries the spirits, and makes manifest the real character of professing christians. In the outward conduct of the ten virgins there was no difference;-they all had their lamps-they all slumbered and slept. It was the suddenness of the Lord's coming that shewed the difference between them. The whole force of the description here given lies in this, that when the bridegroom did come, their separation took place. Men may, and will, assume the garb of religion now; they will associate with the real, the elect people of God now; but when the day arrives that the Son of Man shall appear, then will the separation take place. Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the same mill; one shall be taken, and the other left. Two persons shall be in one bed; one shall be taken, and the other left. Two magistrates shall be on one bench; one shall be taken, and the other left. Two ministers shall be engaged in one service; one shall be taken, and the other left. Two tradesmen shall be occupied in one work; one shall be taken, and the other left: "When, Lord?" "WATCH; for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come!"

2nd. But is this all? say some; and are we to stand, and keep waiting for the appearing cloud; and be so engrossed by the thought as to neglect our duties? No : and therefore our Lord has made a second application of the parable, enforcing DILIGENCE: Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his Lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season. Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing." In the former application, the careless were put in opposition to the watchful; here the slothful are put in opposition to the diligent. "But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My Lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken," &c. There are some who join with the people of God, and say with their lips, agree with you :" but "in their hearts" they say, "My lord delayeth his coming;" and the consequence is, that they begin to "smite their fellow-servants.' Now this, as well as the former part of the prophecy, is enforced by a parable: "For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country," &c. Matt.

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