called your attention, will apply only to the people of God, or those who are in Christ Jesus. I have, therefore, only. been proving to you the object of Christ's coming as it respects his people. And I think I have plainly proved that when Christ shall appnar in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, he will raise the righteous dead, change the righteous living, gather them from among all nations, where they have been scattered during the ages of persecution and trial," in the dark and cloudy day," and receive them unto himself in the air, when they will ever be with the Lord. I will

2ndly, Show that the wicked will be destroyed from the earth by fire, and the world cleansed from the curse of sin by the same means, and prepared for the reception of the New Jerusalem state, or the glorious reign of Christ with his people. That the wicked will be destroyed by fire, at his appearing, we prove by the following texts: Deut. xxxii. 22, "For a fire is kindled in mine anger and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains." II. Samuel, xxii. 9, 10, 13, "There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens and came down, and darkness was under his feet. Through the brightness before him, were coals of fire kindled." Psalm xcvii. 2, 3, "Clouds and darkness are round about him, righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne. A fire goeth before him and burneth up his enemies round about." Isa. lxvi. 15, 16,For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh and the slain of the Lord shall be many." Danl. vii. 11, "I beheld then, because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake; I beheld even till the beast was slain and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame." Again, Nahum i. 5, "The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burnt at his presence, yea, the world and all that dwell therein." Habakkuk iii. 3-5. "God came from Teman, (south,) and the Holy One from Mount Paran, (from glory.) Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise, and his brightness was as the light: he had horns coming out of his hand, and there was

the hiding of his power. Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet. He stood and measured the earth; he beheld and drove asunder the nations, and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow: his ways are everlasting." Also, Malachi iv. 1, "For behold the day cometh that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.' Math. iii. 12, "Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." Math. xiii. "Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into iny barn." 40. "As therefore the tares are gathered and burnt, so shall it be in the end of the world." 49th verse, "So shall it be in the end of the world, the angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just." Again, Paul to the church of the Thessalonians, writes, " And to you who are troubled, rest with us; when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power." II. Peter, iii. 10, "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat; the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burnt up." Rev. xviii. 8, "Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death and mourning and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire; for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her." These passages are but a part of the word of God which prove the destruction of the wicked-of the anti-christian beast, and the cleansing of the world by fire. Yet if scripture proof can be sufficient, surely I have brought enough-and where that can have no bearing on the mind of men, how vain should I be to search the archieves of natural philosophy to give you more evidence; for He who hath all wisdom in heaven and in earth, and who knows what is in the mind of man, hath used the best arguments, the most persuasive means (I had like to have said) in the power of a God to use;

and indeed he says, "What could I have done more than I have done for my vineyard." He has taught us by his own word, by the mouth of his prophets, and by examples; witness his word on Mount Sinia, where the people heard his voice, and saw the fire; witness all the declarations of the prophets which I have read; witness Jesus Christ himself in the parable of the tares and wheat, and the harvest; witness, also, the destruction of the old world by water, and Sodom and Gomorrah by fire; Jerusalem by famine, sword and fire. These all set forth as samples to warn us of the approaching judgment. And yet who believes the report? Who is willing to examine the evidences to reason candidly, and to reflect seriously on these things? Who among us puts implicit confidence in the word of God, especially in that which is unfulfilled? Any may believe in so much as has been accomplished; but where is the virtue in such faith? Where is the blessedness of our hope in the glorious appearing of Jesus Christ? If we are (6 looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ," we shall examine the word of God faithfully, we shall compare scripture with scripture, we shall take notice of the signs which Christ has given us of his coming; that the day may not overtake us as a thief we should live with a steady reference to that day, and rejoice more and more as we see the day approaching.

3d. I will now give some of the evidences concerning the glorious reign which must follow his coming. The earth being cleansed by fire, will, like the phoenix, be revived from its own ashes. The destruction of the wicked, the end of death, sin banished, it will lighten the world of a load of crime which has made it reel to and fro like a drunkard; the internal fires will have spent their force on all combustible matter and have gone out; volcanoes will cease, earthquakes, tornadoes and whirlwinds can no more be experienced or needed, for the cause is gone; the earth nor the heavens can no more be shaken "that those things that cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we, receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire." Heb. xii. 27-29. Then when this earth shall become new, by being cleansed and purified, the New Jerusalem will" come down from God, out of heaven, prepared as a

bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them and be their God." Rev. xxi. 2, 3. "And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the Holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God." 10th verse. "And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof." "And I saw thrones and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark in their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years; but the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished."

and

Much more evidence might be brought to prove the personal reign of Jesus Christ with his people; but this is enough to prove the glorious and personal reign after the resurrection but few dispute it. But say some, do you not believe in a spiritual reign of a thousand years before the resurrection? I answer, I believe in a reign of grace, by the influence of the divine Spirit, for more than 1800 years past, but when you speak of a thousand years I suppose you mean the same time that I call the glorious reign after the resurrection of the righteous, and before the resurrection of the wicked. I know of no spiritual reign mentioned in the word of God, and especially of that duration, we argue that there cannot be a reign of peace glory, until the world is cleansed from all wickedness, satan is chained, and righteousness fill our world, nor until the "glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, even the anti-christian beast will not be destroyed, (according to the texts we have already quoted,) until they are destroyed by the brightness of his appearing." All those passages which speak of this happy period of rest to the people of God, or which in any manner allude to it, describe it as being after the resurrection of the saints, or after righteousness fills the earth, and after the anti-christian beast is destroyed. And even our text more than implies that we shall not realize any great or

11

of

glorious results from our hope, or collectively in a body the church will not receive any important deliverance until the "glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." Is this true? I say the passages scripture already named fixes it beyond a doubt. And any one who will examine the scripture for himself will find that the second coming of Christ is the point to which Jesus Christ, the prophets and the apostles, directed their disciples as the termination of their trials, persecutions and afflictions; and Jesus Christ (6 says, In the world ye shall have tribulation." I say I can find nothing in the word of God to warrant me to believe that we ought to look for or expect a happier period than we now enjoy, until he who has promised to come, shall come the second time without sin unto salvation, and cleanse us, the world, and make all things new. These things are abundantly proved in the unerring word of God. And now, Christians, if these things are so, what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the day of God, "Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." Then let our conversation be in heaven, from whence we expect our Saviour, and stir up each others pure minds by way of remembrance of these things; for the time of the promise draweth nigh, when he will come and receive us to himself, that we may be with him. How necessary, my brethren, we should examine the word of God diligently; see if it does not give some indications, some signs, by which we may know the "Son of man is near, even at the door," and our "blessed hope" is about to be realized in the "glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ." If he comes and finds us, or some of us, in this luke-warm state, hardly having looked into his word, and making our want of talents an excuse, have neglected to trim our lamps, and have been very spare in holy conversation, and are crying peace and safety when sudden destruction cometh, and perhaps have sneeringly mocked and laughingly ridiculed the idea of Christ being near at the door, and perhaps have joined the infidel and unbeliever in their unholy remarks on this subject, and although we have heard the midnight cry "behold the bridegroom cometh," yet we treat it with neglect or disdain or some of us, perhaps, with reproach? I ask again, if the Lord of such servants come and find us