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that vision of the prophet Daniel: "I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed ".]

2. To carry on and perfect his work for us

[As our great High-Priest, he offered himself a sacrifice upon the cross. But, in order to execute the whole of that sacred office, he must carry that blood within the veil, and offer incense also before the mercy-seat: nor, till he should have done this, would he have any authority to bless his people. Accordingly, in his ascension he performed this remaining part of his priestly office: entering into heaven with his own blood, and offering before God the incense of his continual intercession".

But his kingly office also was now to be executed, in a fuller manner than it had yet been. David had said, "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstooli." And again; "The stone which the builders refused, the same is made the head of the cornerk." This, therefore, now remained to be fulfilled: and for the accomplishment of it, Christ was now exalted to glory. And this accords with the account given us by St. Peter: "This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore, being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom have crucified, both Lord and Christ'." To the same effect St. Paul also speaks: "Unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he gave gifts unto men: he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ till we all come, in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christm.' This

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i Ps. cx. 1. m Eph. iv. 7-14.

then, I say, was the end of his ascension; and in this way was fulfilled what St. Paul had spoken respecting him: "God raised him up, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come; and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the Church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all"."]

In connexion with this, we are of necessity led to consider,

II. The time and manner of his future advent

There are two periods at which the Lord Jesus Christ may certainly be expected to come again, after the manner of his departure from this lower world:

1. At the period of the Millennium, to establish his kingdom

age:

[Christ laid the foundation of his kingdom in the Apostolic and it has been maintained and carried forward, even to the present day. But there is a time coming, when all the kingdoms of the world shall be subdued unto him, and he alone shall reign over the face of the whole earth. That I apprehend to be the season called, in Scripture," the times of the restitution of all things;" till which period the heavens have received him but when that period shall have arrived, "he will again be sent, after the manner of his departure hence," in power and great glory. And it seems, from prophecy, that, as he ascended from the mount of Olives, so on that very mount will he again appear, and not improbably as he did once on Mount Tabor; but certainly to establish his empire over the face of the whole earth. Then will take place what is called in Scripture the first resurrection, when, it is said, all his saints shall rise, in order to reign with him. Whether this shall be spiritually accomplished, as beyond all doubt the resurrection of God's ancient people, spoken of by the Prophet Ezekiel, will bet; or whether any, or all, of them will be summoned to meet him, as Moses and Elias were on the Mount of Transfiguration; I will not take upon me to determine. But I must enter my protest against that bold, confident obtrusion of this matter upon the Church of Christ, which we have witnessed of

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late, and which has tended exceedingly to draw away the minds of many pious people from the more sober and serious contemplation of matters of far deeper interest, and of incomparably greater certainty. I object not to the consideration of any point contained in holy writ: but I deprecate the giving of such extraordinary and almost paramount importance to things which, to say the least, are extremely questionable, and which, if ever so fully established, would tend in no degree to quicken the soul in the service of its God. For, whether we are to enjoy the presence of our God and Saviour in heaven or on earth, it can make no difference in our present duties, nor can it add one jot or tittle to our present encouragements. And the grievous errors which have been broached by some who have been most zealous in propagating their Millenarian notions, are abundantly sufficient to keep all prudent persons from being drawn into their vortex". Of this however we are certain, that" all the ends of the earth are given to the Lord Jesus for his possession," and that in the appointed season, which we hope is now fast approaching, "all flesh shall see the salvation of God." Yes, whether by his personal appearance, or by the operations of his Holy Spirit, "he shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his Ancients gloriously *."]

2. At the last day to judge the world—

:

[Of this our blessed Lord himself has spoken fully. "The Son of man shall be seen coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory." "He shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him: then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory and before him shall be gathered all nations; and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats"." This is the advent spoken of also by St. Paul, who says, "The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God." "He 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

u The sleep of the soul, for instance : the worshipping of idols not being idolatry, provided the worshipper believe them to be God: and other things, which have been stated in conversation to the Author, too horrible to be mentioned; but which, it is hoped, are peculiar to the individual who stated them, and not common to those who maintain the other sentiments. But God alone knows to what all this extravagance may lead. [Written May 1828.]

x Isai. xxiv. 23.

y Matt. xxiv. 30. and xxv. 31, 32.

the glory of his power." "In that day every eye shall see hima," and every soul receive from him his everlasting doom". This being universally acknowledged amongst us, I will wave any further discussion of it as a fact to be established, and call your attention to it only as a truth to be improved.

A mere vacant gaze, like that of the Apostles, or, what I should consider as equally worthless, a mere speculative acknowledgment, I would join with the holy angels in reproving, as altogether unsuitable to the occasion. But I would say, Direct your eyes to the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven, and prepare for his future appearance in the clouds of heaven. You cannot have your eyes too earnestly fixed upon him. Look at him as "your Forerunner," "gone thither to prepare a place for you." Look at him as your Head, that insures to all his members a participation of his glory. Look at him as your Advocate and Intercessor, who maintains continually your peace with God, and secures to you all needful supplies of grace and strength. Look to him as "possessing in himself all fulness for you," that "out of his fulness you may receive all that you can ever stand in need of." Look at him as your very life:" and let your soul rejoice in the assurance, that, "when he shall appear, you also shall appear with him," as "the fruit of his travail," the trophies of his victory," the jewels of his crown." And, whilst looking for his advent, keep "your loins girt, and your lamps trimmed, and yourselves as servants waiting for the coming of their Lord." This is the proper posture of his people, to be "waiting for his appearing," "loving it," delighting in it, and "hastening it forwarde" by all possible means; that, at whatever hour he shall come, you may enter with him into his presence-chamber, and be for ever happy in the fruition of his love.]

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Acts ii. 1-4. And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

IT was not long after the Flood that man retained the knowledge of the true God. No sooner did the posterity of Noah begin to multiply upon earth, than they conceived an idea of counteracting the intentions of their Maker in relation to their dispersion over the world, and actually began to build a city sufficiently large for their accommodation, and a tower which might place them out of the reach of any future deluge. When they had made considerable progress in the work, God was pleased to inflict upon them a judgment, which instantly put a stop to the building, and compelled them to separate themselves to different and distant places. They had hitherto been "all of one language and one speech:" but now "God confounded their language, so that they could not understand one another." This introduced such confusion, that they could not prosecute their purpose, but were necessitated to form themselves into distinct societies, each uniting with the party whose speech he understood. From hence the knowledge of the true God was speedily lost; till in a few generations it seemed to have vanished from among the children of men. This knowledge however was revived in Abraham, and continued in a part of his posterity, till the time came that God had fixed for the diffusion of it over the face of the whole earth. The time so fixed was after the ascension of our blessed Lord then was his Gospel to be preached to all nations and, in order that it might be so, God reversed, as it were, the judgment he had before inflicted; not indeed by restoring an unity of language among all nations, but by enabling his chosen servants to address all people in their native tongue. This miracle is to be the subject of our present discourse and we shall,

I. Make some observations for the illustration of it

The miracle itself was the enabling of the Apostles, without any previous study, to speak with propriety and fluency whatever language was most familiar to their respective hearers; and to communicate

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