1800 years, rather over 25 times 70 years." [Ser. page 21.] This, in connection with what has been said, is sufficient to convince the unprejudiced, that the tribulation of those days yet continues, and consequently that the coming of Christ is yet future.

But I have another argument against the doctrine of the second advent at the destruction of Jerusalem, as based upon this chapter. We are informed in the next verse, that when the Lord comes: "He shall send his angels, with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other;" [Math. 24. 31.] or, as recorded by Mark: "From the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven." [Mark 13. 27.] Stronger language could not be employed, than is here made use of, to express the entire number of all the elect of God, or saints of all ages, Now let me ask: were all the elect of God gathered together at the destruction of Jerusalem? A singular gathering truely! for what few of them were in the city, at the time of its besiegement, were commanded to "flee into the mountains!” If the Roman soldiers scattering the elect, is what is to be understood by the angels of the Lord gathering them together, then I have lost all idea of the meaning of language, and the bible is, indeed, what Universalism makes it to be, a perfect enigma! But if gathering the elect, means scattering them abroad, as Universalism teaches, how, I ask, can it be made to appear that all will be saved, even if we could find positive testimony to that effect? Universalists are bound to admit, on their own principles, that it must mean directly the opposite of what it says; and accordingly, if the bible should teach universal salvation, it would be positive proof that all would be damned! But again: if all God's elect children were gathered at the destruction of Jerusalem, then there have been none elected since; and as there is no promise of salvation to any but those who are elected, through sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth; it follows, therefore, that all who have

lived and died since that time, are eternally lost, and thus Universalism, instead of holding forth a universal salvation, comes much nearer a universal damnation, themselves being judges. But it is not likely that the angel will be commissioned to sound that great trumpet, and gather the elect, as long as there are any more that will be elected; and as there are hundreds and thousands yet being elected through the gospel of the grace of God; it follows, that the coming of the Lord, and the gathering of the elect are yet future. Paul also speaks of the coming of the Lord in the 15th of 1 Corinthians, in connection with the sound of "the last trump," and the "resurrection of the dead;" and in the 4th chap. of 1 Thess. he speaks of the same things precisely; and in the 2d epistle he speaks of the coming of Christ, "and our gathering together unto him;" [2 Thess. 2. 1.] showing plainly and incontrovertibly, that the resurrection of the dead, the coming of the Lord, the commissioning of the angels, the sounding of the great trump, and the gathering of all the elect of God, from the four winds, from the uttermost parts of the earth, to the uttermost parts of heaven, are all simultaneous events; and as certain as the resurrection is yet future, as Universalists admit, so certain are all the others.

But I am referred to verse 34, as the last resort of our opponents upon this chapter. "Verily I say unto you: this generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled." In order to know what is meant by this text, we must come at the true signification of the term "generation." The most common meaning of the word genea, here translated generation, we admit to be an age of 30 years; but we have three reasons to assign, why it is not to be so understood in this case. 1. That generation, according to this definition, had passed away, and ten years over, before Jerusalem was destroyed.Now, either the word generation here, is to be taken out of its common acceptation, or else the destruction of Jerusalem was not included in the things to take place befor that generation passed away. If the latter, then

Universalism must give up the idea of the second advent at the destruction of Jerusalem, and is accordingly refuted; but if the former be the true idea, i. e. that the word generation is used out of its common acceptation, then Universalists gain nothing by the text, and are compelled to admit, that it may mean more than they say it does.

2. Martin Luther and Dr. George Campbell, whose translations are now before me, have the word genea transland race, referring to the Jewish nation, which has not yet become extinct. That race of people yet remain a separate and distinct nation, though scattered amongst all the nations of the earth, and consequently have not yet passed away.

3. The same word, here translated generation, is found in Ph. 2. 15, and is rendered "nation," in the common version. Had it been thus translated in Math. 24. 34, which could have been done with all propriety, then we would read: "Verily I say unto you: this nation [the Jews as a people] shall not pass away till all these things be fulfilled;" that is, till Jerusalem is destroyed, the Jews are scattered among all nations, the son of man comes in power and great glory, and until the angels are commissioned to gather the elect from the uttermost parts of the earth, to the uttermost parts of heaven. And as that race, that generation, or that nation, has not yet passed away, but retain all the peculiar characteristics of a distinct people that they ever did; it follows, that these events, predicted by the Saviour, (the last of which was his own personal appearing, and the gathering of the elect) have not yet all been fulfilled. This text then, so far from favoring the idea of the coming of the Lord at the destruction of Jerusalem, is but another confirmation of its fallacy; and exactly corresponds with the fact of his second advent, immediately after the Jewish tribulation comes to an end; and we have produced insuperable evidence, both from the bible, and a standard author among the Universalists, that the tribulation, there spoken of, yet continues; and that per consequence, the coming

of the Lord is yet future! Having thus entered the fenced city of Universalism, and made it to surrender its very citadel, we shall have but an easy task to break down its smaller fortifications, and make it either retreat from the field altogether, or throw down its arms, and desire conditions of peace!

Univer

Again: We are referred to Math. 10. 23: "But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another; for verily I say unto you; ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come." salists tell us that the coming here spoken of, relates to the sacking of Jerusalem. But this cannot possibly be the idea; for Paul tells us, many years before Jerusalem was destroyed, that the gospel had not only been preached to all the cities of Israel, but had "been preached to every creature under heaven;" [Col. 1. 23,] and "their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the end of the world." [Rom. 10. 18.] Thus, the apostles had gone over the cities of Israel, long before the destruction of Jerusalem; and hence Universalism is compelled to abandon this text, for it declares that this coming is to take place before they shall have gone over the cities of Israel! But if Universalists would take into consideration the context of this verse, they would find that it was spoken under, and with reference to the apostles' first commission; which circumscribed their preaching, and confined it "to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." [Verse 6.] This commission came to an end, when Christ" broke down the middle wall of partition between Jews and Gentiles," and "took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross." [Eph. 2. 14., Col. 2. 14.] Then the Jewish dispensation ceased, and Christ completed his first coming, as Universalists admit, when he arose from the dead. Thus the apostles had not gone over the cities of Israel, until the Son of man had come from the grave! But should the reader feel disposed to quibble just here, and argue that the apostles must necessarily have finished their first mission, before Christ died; and consequently that they had gone over

the cities of Israel, before Christ came from the grave, we reply: this being so, it just as effectually kills Universalism, as it proves, that the coming, here referred to, was accomplished before his death, for he was to come before they had gone over the cities of Israel! This might all be true, and the coming, of which the Saviour here speaks, signify his coming into Jerusalem, as predicted by the prophet Zechariah: "Behold, thy king cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass." [Math. 21. 5, Zach. 9. 9.] It is certainly a little strange, that Universalists can never draw the sword without committing suicide? But in connection with this text they quote Math. 24. 14. “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." They prove that this refers to the destruction of Jerusalem, from the fact that Paul declares that the "gospel had been preached to every creature under heaven." [Col. 1. 23.] But mark the language of the Saviour: " THEN shall the end come." When? Ans. When the gospel shall be preached for a witness to all nations. And in their own proof-text, Paul declares that the gospel had been preached to all nations, many years before Jerusalem was destroyed, which proves, themselves being judges, that "the end [did] come," altogether too soon for Universalism! But what is to be understood by the "end" which is to come when the gospel shall be preached to all nations? If it be understood to signify the end of the Jewish dispensation, then we can prove that the end came just before, or at the day of pentecost; for on that occasion the gospel was preached to all nations, in a very important sense, as there were men present, from " every nation under heaven." [Acts 2. 5.] But if the end here spoken of, refers to the end of the Jewish nation, then the end has not yet come, for that nation yet exists, although their city was destroyed. But if the gospel being preached in all the world for a witness to all nations, is to be understood universally, that is, to mean not only the people that