straight, and the rough places plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh"-(that is, the whole jewish nation)— "shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it."* This was fulfilled by John's ministry and baptism, and the remarkable manner, and great effect with which he preached repentance of sins past, and faith in him that should come after him ;-whereby, as another prophet says, "be turned the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just" gave the fullest attestation to the person and high pretensions of Jesus to be the Messiah and "Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world." He levelled every existing obstruction that lay in the way of men's giving a rational assent to Christ's doctrine, and yielding their belief to the divine testimony from heaven, that was given. in his miracles.†

*Isaiah xl. 3;

†The great impression that was made at that time, (by the preaching of John,) when the appearance of the Messiah was so universally and ardently expected, appears every where in the gospels, by the multitudes which flocked to his baptism,

But "the coming of the Lord" on this very different occasion, to enter upon his kingdom in the greatness of his strength, and punish the rebellious servants that would not have him to reign over them, but which had again cast him out of his own vineyard, and crucified him afresh, and added to all their other misdeeds, the usurpation of his titles and of his throne, is sounded in notes of alarm and terror. Of that day of severe retribution, an harbinger of another sort of character is foretold; for " God hath created all things for himself, yea, even the wicked for the day of evil,"- -to execute the judgments written, and to "do according to all that I have command

For John (though A FIELD PREACHER) was no raving enthu siast, but hau a real authority, evidenced by prophecy of his own, as well as prophecy preceding him; and by the universal veneration of the people, so strongly manifested, that the scribes did not dare to deny his prophetic authority, even when hard put to it to defend themselves against it.

That all the jewish nation had a knowledge, if not a personal sight of Jesus, by means of the notorious ministry of John, may well be inferred from the known fact of jews coming up at the great feast to Jerusalem, from all parts of the world. So that he may be said to have proclaimed to "all flesh," as well as "to the cities of Judah, behold your God!"

ed him, saith the Lord,"* to those persever ing sinners, who, in the hardness of their hearts, have treasured up unto themselves wrath against the day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.”

The harbinger of this kingdom of the saints, must therefore be expected to appear very differently furnished, and with other accompaniments and opposite qualities, to those which distinguished him who proclaimed the glad tidings of the opening of the approaching kingdom of the Messias. The day of his appearance will be a day of gloominess, a day of storm and tempest: and the instrument of Providence prepared against the occasion, will have talents suitable to his office; not as a preacher of repentance and a proposer of terms of genuine mercy, but as the unrelent ing angel of death, to sweep the devoted world with the besom of destruction. He will bring upon the votaries of imposture, by guile the reward of their own hypocrisy and sanctified

Jeremiah 1. 21,

pay

frauds. By rapine and oppression he will spoil and bring down to the earth the spoiler and weakener of the nations. By taunts and insult, degradation and captivity, he will rethe accumulated debt of spiritual despotism and cruelty. And by blood he will avenge the righteous blood of God's saints and martyrs, which hath long cried for vengeance upon his head.—It is just such a dissolution of the fourth universal monarchy, or ROMAN EMPIRE in its last state, which is intimated by Daniel, (vii. 11,) and he assigns the monstrous impiety of that government at that time, (and in the form he describes, under the reign of the little horn,) as the cause of its punishment. "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,"--(the kingdoms in spiritual confederacy with him were all broken up)—“ and given to the burning flame.”*

* His body means the whole aggregate of popery, and this judgment is now in the full course of its accomplishment upon the papal thrones. But the peculiar territories of the POPEDOM, the very heart of this body of the beast, will be in

The miraculous stone (cut out without hands, and without any known origin,) in this prophecy of Daniel, must in the first sense apply to Christ, by whose power and designation the great effects it produces are virtually wrought, be the angel of destruction, which

he sends as his proxy to work for him

*

оп

this occasion, who or what he may happen to be. He is to fall upon the image, and particularly on its toes, which signify the Roman empire drawn out even to decrepitude of age, and changed from solid iron to a debilitated compound, having been modelled in its extremities out of the miry clay of popery, intimately insinuating itself into the divided remains of the Roman empire, or ten kingdoms. But as it is certain Christ will not do this in person, but by natural causes and a human agent, we may expect the instrument of his Providence to be a very extraordinary one, as the work assigned him is of vast extent, and great and many difficulties.

all likelihood, literally given to the devouring flame of "Tophet, ordained of old" for this momentous occasion,

* Ezekiel xxix, 20.