ties, for the simplicity and purity of the Gospel of Christ. Let us now turn to another passage, where the same power is spoken of (2 Thes ii. 3-12), here you perceive is a similar prophecy to the last we have been considering, or rather a description of the same character, he is here called "the man of sin," and is at once proved to be identical with "the little horn" of Daniel, by his character of blasphemous assumption as described in verse 4, and more particularly by the similarity of his end, which is described in verse 8, "whom the Lord shall consume by the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming." Indeed, the identity of these two characters is so evident, that I need not detain you longer with the proof suffice it say, that it is admitted by all expositors, ancient and modern, and hence, the observations we have made on "the little horn" apply with equal force to "the man of sin;" and we have here another decided proof, that the coming of the Lord, must take place previous to the millennium; for (I repeat) understand, one or both of these characters, of whom you will, it is evident that they are to be in existence at the end of this dispensation, and that no room is left for the milennium, until their destruction by the second advent of Christ; for, in addition to what has already been said on the prophecy of Daniel, we are here told, that "the mystery of iniquity," of which the appearing of the man of sin is to be the development, or "revelation" (see verse 8), begun to work even in the Apostle's days, and consequently there is no room for the millennium, until the appearing of the Son of Man. There can be no universal diffusion of Gospel truth, until this "mystery of iniquity"—this hidden working of Satan "the spirit who now worketh in the children of disobedience," (Eph. ii. 2) "the God of this world, who blindeth the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them"-until this, his hidden and mysterious influence over the mind of men is removed; and, in order to this, it must first be apoca

*For a satisfactory proof of the identity of "the man of sin" with "the little horn," and also "the wilful king" of Daniel, see Bishop Newton's 22nd Dissertation, in the work be. fore referred to.

lypsed, and brought into open manifestation in "the man of sin," upon whom the Lord himself shall descend in terrific judgment; and after the overthrow of his deluded followers, all "who have not received the love of the truth that they might be saved (2 Thes ii. 10)—all "that know not God, and obey not the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ," (2 Thes. i. 8)-among whom shall be found "kings, and captains, and mighty men-and all men both bond and freeboth small and great," (Rev. xix. 18)— men of all ranks and conditions, assembled in the blasphemous coalitionfor (in the words of Bishop Horsley) "after much suffering of the faithful, and bloody struggles of the contending parties, our Lord himself will come from heaven, visibly, and in person, to effect the deliverance of his servants, and, with his own arm, cut off the Anti-christian armies with tremendous slaughter"-See Horsley's Sermons on the 45th Psalm, the third of the series, where he truly observes, that "the terrible things to be achieved by Messiah's own right-hand, and the slaughter of his armies in the latter ages, is the subject of many prophecies." Time would fail us, were we to attempt to quote one-half of the passages which refer to this period, and I conceive that those already referred to are sufficient to prove the fact (to which I wish, at present, to confine your attention,) that the second advent of our Saviour must be expected to take place before the milennial period. Our fourth proof is as follows:

Proof 4. The church is always described in the New Testament as in expectation-anxious-continual expectation of the coming of the Lord, but if this coming were described as not to take place until after the millennium, it would fasten a palpable inconsistency upon the sacred Scriptures; for how, I ask, could the people of God be described as in a position of continual expectation of an event, for the fulfilment of which they must not only wait until the world is evangelised, but, moreover, for a thousand years, after the looked-for consummation! This has been felt-and, in order to evade the natural inference from it, another hope, that of death, has been substituted for the Lord's coming. "Is not death," some persons say, "the same to me as the coming of the Lord,

and therefore may I not understand this to be the meaning of expressions which at first sight would seem to point to the second advent ?" Now, in answer to such, I observe, that even supposing that death, and the coming of Christ, were one and the same thing to the believer, and that his position was the same, while expecting the one as the other, that still this is no answer to the argument it does not solve the difficulty; the question is not at present concerning the practical bearing of the subject, but concerning an inconsistency which the supposition that the Lord is not to come until after the milennium, fastens on God's word; and nothing can remove that inconsistency, until it is proved that the New Testament does not describe the church as in continual expectation of the Lord's coming; now, this can never be done, unless we blot out from the Bible such passages as the following:"So that ye come behind in no gift, waiting for the coming (marg.“ revelation," which shews that it cannot mean death,) of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ," (1 Cor. i. 7, 8); and again, "How ye turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven," (can this mean death?), even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come," (1 Thess. i. 10.) Numerous other passages might be quoted to the same effect, which, by no ingenuity of interpretation, can be distorted into signifying death; and therefore, even granting that there is no difference between the practical bearings of the two different objects of expectation, the difficulty still presses upon you who hold the post-millenial advent of Messiah: you cannot escape it, and retain your present views; renounce them then, I beseech you, as you value the consistency of Scripture truths away with a doctrine, which is not only inconsistent with Scripture, but which makes the Bible inconsistent with itself. But how can you think that death is the same thing to the believer as the coming of his Lord? Death is the temporary triumph of Satan-the execution of that sentence, dust thou art, and unto dust thou must return." And will you substitute this for the glorious hope of the resurrection morning, "when the Lord

himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout-with the voice of the archangel and the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air?" Are these two things the same? Is it the same to leave our bodies mouldering in the dust, as to receive them glorious like our Lord's own body? Blessed release it is indeed to the believer to get rid of "the body of this death" and with it of that "sin which doth so easily beset him ;"-but, surely, this is not the same as to have another body-another, and yet the same, emancipated from the bondage of corruption into "the glorious liberty of the children of God," (compare Rom. viii. 19, 21, 23, with Luke xx. 36).-Blessed truly, and grateful to the weary soldier is an interval of rest, succeeding to a long campaign, but it is not this which the faithful soldier pants for; it is not the anticipation of his winter quarters, that supports him under all his toil, oh, no! it is the prospect of victory-of glory, that cheers his panting bosom; even so it is with the faithful soldiers of Christ, they do not spurn the blessed rest with Jesus, which awaits them should they die before the advent of the Lord, but this is not the prospect which supports them in their conflict here they long for nothing short of "victory." And this is what the Captain of our salvation presents unto our minds; he does not tell us to expect "to die," but "to be changed". he does not encourage us to the conflict, by telling us that our winter quarters are at hand, but he stimulates us with the hope-thrice blessed-joy-inspiring hope, of "victory!" There is nothing in the New Testament to lead you and me, my dear brethren and sisters in Christ, to expect to die before the glorious advent of the Son of Man. Again, I refer you to the inspired promise "the dead in Christ shall rise first, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them, to meet the Lord (when he comes) in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord." So then, I say, death is not the same as the coming of the Lord-neither can it be substituted for it, without violating the language of Scripture, and materially altering the bearing of God's truth. But

OR

"We preach Christ crucified

THERE is, perhaps, no subject which is better calculated to furnish important matter for meditation to the pious and devout mind than the history of the Jews. They are, indeed, a people in many respects wonderful from their beginning hitherto. The attributes of God are remarkably, and ever have been remarkably manifested in his dealings with this people. The sovereignty of God was exhibited in his selection of them from the other nations of the world, that they might be his peculiar people above all the rest of mankind. The mercy of God was exhibited in his conferring upon them the most valuable blessings both temporal and spiritual through many successive generations. The truth and VOL. V.

justice of God were manifested in regard to this people by his executing merited vengeance upon them, when they had filled up the measure of their iniquities; then he poured out upon them those judgments which had been predicted in his own word. The providence of God has been, not less remarkably manifested, and is still remarkably manifested, in the preservation of this people distinct from all others, scattered and dispersed, and mingled as they are, among all the nations of the world.

But, if we look forward to future times we shall find that the faithfulness of God will also be manifested in reference to this extraordinary people. For we have the strongest reason on the evidence of

L