er says, "All these things may literally apply

to the final destruction of Jerusalem," &c.

This we believe to be the fact. He then refers to Dr. Dodd, Newton, and Lowman, and shows that they apply such figurative language to the destruction of nations; and, in justification of such an application, he refers the reader to the words of Isaiah, Ezekiel, and of our Lord, which we have already noticed.

Perhaps the hearer may now wish to inquire, whether he, who sat upon the great white throne, was not the Son of man? We answer it was. Then asks the hearer, does not the text refer to the end of time, and to the literal destruction of the earth and heaven? It does not. We have shown you, that all the passages in the Bible on which people rely to support that sentiment have no reference to the catastrophe of dissolving worlds. Their contexts will not justify such an application. This may suggest to the mind of the bearer another question. Is not the coming of the Son of man to judge the world to take place at the destruction of the earth? I answer, we have no such revelation. In proof of this, we will here notice the scripture account of the coming of the Son of man given by Christ himself.

The first passage is in Matt. x. 23. "Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel till the Son of man be come." Matt. xvi. 27, 28.

"For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, with his angels, and then he shall reward every man according to his works. Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom." Matt. xxiv. 30, 34. "And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. ***** Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled." See the corresponding passages, Mark viii. 38; Mark xiii. 26, 30; Luke ix. 26, 27; Luke xxi. 27

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We have now referred you to every passage in the New Testament, where Jesus speaks of his coming. It is the language of Christ himself, with which we are not at liberty to trifle. And, as he has solemnly declared in every instance, that he would come in that generation, or in the lifetime of some of the persons he addressed, or before they had gone over the cities of Israel, to reward every man according to his works, you and I have no authority to contend, that his coming is still future, or confined to some last day when the earth and heaven shall literally pass away, and the whole human family be congregated before him for trial. No, he came in his

kingdom nearly eighteen hundred years ago, and put an end to the ceremonial law, by destroying the temple consecrated to ceremonial worship, by rendering to the Jewish and other nations according to their works, and by commencing the judgment of the world by his Gospel, and his judgment or reign, which then began, is to be continued and pass upon succeeding generations.

SERMON XXVII.

THE SECOND DEATH ILLUSTRATED.

[Continued.]

WE now perceive, that there are two principal judgment days revealed in the Bible. The first was under the ceremonial law instituted by Moses, which judgment day lasted till it was abolished by the coming of Christ, and then the judgment day under the Gospel commenced. This point I believe has been generally overlooked. I would here observe, that God is "judge of all the earth," and employs in this work no agent, only so far as to reveal to men the laws of his kingdom, which rule over all. He revealed the laws, appertaining to the first dispensation, to the Jewish nation, through the agency of Moses. And the continued enforcement of these laws was the continued reign or judgment of Moses over the Jews. Consequently, Moses is represented as being among them, and judging. Christ says, "They have Moses and the Prophets, "that is, they had the laws and will, which God revealed to the Jewish nation, through the agency of those servants. Again he says, "Think not that I will accuse you to the Father, for there is one that judgeth you, even Moses, in whom ye

trust." We are not to understand by this, that Moses, being dead, had any thing to do with the government of the Jews. We are only to understand that God judged, or in other words, ruled his people for two thousand years by those laws, which he had revealed to them by his servant Moses, who sat, as it were, upon a throne of judgment among that people.

God, through Christ, revealed to the world the doctrine of life and immortality. He established a dispensation that far exceeded the former in glory. The first was temporal, the second eternal; the first embraced one nation, the second the universe. Christ has taken a glorious throne, and still continues to judge the world by the spirit and truth of his Gospel. His reign is the last, and his kingdom shall consume and break in pieces all other kingdoms, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. That Christ received his throne, and commenced the judgment of the world by his Gospel at the destruction of the Jewish state, is certain from his own words, "The Son of man is as a man travelling into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and return. And when he was returned, having received the kingdom, he commanded his servants to be called, so that he might reckon with them," &c. From this it is evident, that he commenced the judgment of the world when he received his kingdom.