CHAPTER V.

AND now we would offer a word or two as to the probable period when all that our eyes behold, shall for ever be removed out of its place, and eternity shall succeed-when "the angel which the beloved apostle saw in a vision stand upon the sea, and upon the earth, and which lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware by Him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven and the things that therein are, and the earth and the things that therein are, and the sea and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer."

That the hour when all these things shall be accomplished, is known to no one "save the Father only," we have the unequivocal declaration of Scripture. Yet Christ Jesus, in whom all fulness dwelt, has himself acquainted us with the signs of his coming, and of the end of the world.

In Luke xxi. 25, 28, is found the following prophetic announcement. "And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with great power and glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”

hardly be disputed agreement with the The passage has

Now if the whole of this sublime and remarkable text be scrutinized, and the general plan of prophecy be borne in mind, it would seem as if the present age bore no very distant resemblance to the "beginning" of the times herein prefigured. Nay more, it can that there is a most striking whole prophetic narrative. sometimes been referred to the destruction of Jerusalem, and doubtless not without good reason. In the whole history of the children of Israel, there is a striking symbolical resemblance to the Church of Christ, from the rearing of the altar on which Abraham was called to sacrifice his only son, to the destruction of the holy city. And, therefore, in common with many other remarkable

passages, the one in question has also a twofold application. To the consummation and final application of the prophecy, however, and to that view of the subject exclusively, it is now intended to invite attention.

That the bulk of mankind should not recognise prognostications though palpable, is not to be wondered at. "As it was in the days of Noah, so also shall it be at the coming of the Son of man," we are expressly warned to expect will be the case. And therefore, because the tokens pass away unregarded, is by no means any proof that they have not occurred, and are occurring. In every period of the world there have been those with eyes who saw not, and those with ears who heard not. At the time of the Messiah's first advent, there was the utmost disinclination to believe anything which related to him in that character. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. The people were offended at his outward want of dignity, at his lowly parentage, and at his unpretending simplicity. Like the whole race of man, they could not disconnect moral worth from extrinsic appendages-nay, could not even disunite supernal power from the poor pre-eminences which distinguish men from each other. Yet there was some slight resemblance in the period immediately preceding the birth of

The

our Lord to that of our own time. There was a general expectation of some great event. coming of the Deliverer was looked for, and with longing expectation, although, when he appeared, the people "hid as it were their faces from him.”

The Jews looked forward to their being reinstated in temporal dominion at the period in question-to their nation being restored to its original power and authority, if not even to a more distinguished situation than it had ever before occupied. And at this moment are not millions in Christendom looking forward to a renovated state of society as hopeless, it is to be feared, as the expectations of the Jews were proved to be groundless. That the real event of our Saviour's incarnation led to the most important and most glorious consequences-to no less than the spread of the everlasting Gospel, and the reconciliation of man with his Maker, is certain ; but that which the Jews looked forward to-the restoration of their national importance-not only was not fulfilled, but the very opposite resulted. The vineyard of the Lord of Hosts was let out to other husbandmen, and the Jewish nation was broken up and dispersed to the four winds of heaven!

And so, it may be feared, will the expectations of many at the present day terminate. There

seems an idea abroad, that the world is but in its infancy as regards science and art, if not in respect of every species of human knowledge; and that ages of superior intelligence, freedom, and enjoyment, are in store for the race hereafter to be born. Alas! it is to be feared such persons are but puffed up with their own vain imaginings, and have not considerately weighed the grounds upon which they rear their superstructure. Their very precipitancy betrays them: for, amid all this assumed march of intelligence, there is a feverish restlessness and anxiety, which betokens anything rather than either happiness or sound wisdom. The philosophy which is in fashion, while it has professed much, has yet added nothing to the sum of human comfort. Nay, so far from this having been the case, it must be admitted that all her propositions have been belied by facts, and all her philanthropic intentions cut short by the veriest selfishness. Liberality, whether applied to politics or to trade, has proved a signal failure. The latter, which, conducted on safe principles, ought to have been the right arm of our strength, has become enfeebled through mismanagement; and the former, which the lapse of ages hitherto had never once endangered-even moderate men now perceive to be in the most imminent peril.