,. ¦

THE SECOND ADVENT.
SUGGESTIONS
FOE SCEIPTUEE STUDY.

WITH A LETTER
BY THE LATE
REV. WILLIAM MARSH, D.D.,
EECTOE OP BEDDINGTON.

REV. JOHN STEVENSON, D.D.,
VICAB OP PATRIXBOUENE-CUM-BBIDGE, KENT.

FOURTH EDITION.

LOND ON:
SAMUEL BAGSTEK AND SONS;
15, PATERNOSTER ROW.

Beckenham Eectory,
April 12th, 1864.
Dear Dr. Stevenson, I like your programme exceedingly.
Number 4 hits the nail on the head ; it removes
the difficulty which arises from not distinguish
ing between Christ's coming into the air, and
His coming on to the earth. As you well
observe, the former may be any day, the latter
not until the Jews are restored, and again vio
lently attacked.
If I go to your Meeting, I shall be Davidical ;
dwelling on our blessed Lord's words, " I am the
Root and Offspring of David." The promise to
David* has not yet received its final accomplish
ment. David never had a throne in heaven;
but when Messiah comes, Whose right it is, as
David's Son and heir, then will the promise be
fulfilled on earth.
If I go to your Meeting, I shall be Astrono
mical. The morning star is the precursor of
the day ; and that " bright and morning Star "
will be the precursor of the Millennial Day.
* 2 Sam. 7. 13. Ps. 89. 20-37. Is. 9. 7. Luke 1. 32, 33.

11

But oh, my dear friend, what a practical sub
ject is the uncertainty of the day of the Coming
in the air, which may be any day ! and what a
joyfal subject is the Coming to the earth! for till
then the great enemy has possession ; but then he
will be bound, and Isaiah xi., Psalm xcvi., and
many other Prophecies will receive their great
accomplishment. I hope to be with you in spirit, though I can
not be in person. I shall go to Heaven for you !
" Prayer is appointed to convey,
" The blessings God designs to give.''
With love to the brethren, and to Mrs. Steven
son and yourself, Ever yours affectionately,
WILLIAM MARSH.
The discussion of such subjects is one of the
signs of the times. " Not forsaking the assem
bling of ourselves together, as the manner of
some is; but exhorting one another: and so
much the more, as ye see the day approaching."
(Heb. x. 25.)

IU
These words, and this last-quoted verse, fall
softly upon our ear as a voice admonishing us
now from the upper Sanctuary, and by them
" he being dead, yet speaketh." This beautiful
and instructive letter containing them, was writ
ten immediately after the perusal of the first
edition of this little work. It was read at the
Meeting to which it refers, and we all felt that
the heavenly spirit it breathed was eminently
worthy of the honoured name it bore — that its
whole tone of thought was peculiarly character
istic of the loving heart, and the lively intellect,
of its venerated Author ! His " conversation "
truly was "in heaven," " from whence also he
looked for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ;"
the " blessed hope " of Whose " glorious appear
ing" filled his heart with joy, irradiated his
sun -lit countenance, and shed a halo of brightness
round his dying bed. May the same " unfeigned
faith" and "lively hope" animate our souls in
life and death !
The information revealed in Holy Writ is
positive as to the fact. " This same Jesus" " shall
so come in like manner as" He was seen to
"go into heaven." (Acts i. 11.) The informa-
2

IV
tion revealed in Holy Writ is not positive as to
the time ; but many, if not most, of the predicted
signs are at this moment thickening around us.
" Watch ye therefore, for ye know not when the
Master of the House cometh, at even, or at mid
night, or at cock crowing, or in the morning;
lest coming suddenly, He find you sleeping.
And what I say unto you, I say unto all,
Watch." (Mark xiii. 35.)
"He which testifieth "—" saith, 'Surely I
come quickly.' Amen. Even so ; Come ; Lord
Jesus!" (Rev. xxii. 20.) J. S.
Patrixbourne Vicarage, near Canterbury.
February 1th, 1866.

THE SECOND ADVENT.

Waiting for further light, the following sug
gestions are humbly offered for study and prayer.
Their object is to endeavour to meet a practical
difficulty connected with the doctrine of the
Second Advent — a difficulty felt by many devout
minds whose desire indeed is to be obedient to
their Lord in watching and praying for His return
according to His Word, but who are hindered
from personally realizing it as a probable, or even
possible, event in their own life time, seeing that
the same Word appears to declare that various
important events must previously take place, as,
the preaching of the Gospel among all nations
for a witness ; the restoration of the Jews to
Judaea, etc.
Preliminary considerations and subjects for
Prayer : — As in the perusal of the Sacred Scriptures
our great object as Christians should be humbly

2 THE SECOND ADVENT.
to endeavour to learn the revealed will of our
Divine Master, and not merely the opinions of
fallible men, and as "all Scripture is given by
inspiration of God," so in studying its truths we
should ever pray for the Holy Spirit: 1. That
we may be made humble and teachable to
understand them aright in His light. 2. That
we may be kept from imposing our own "private
interpretation" upon its statements; like the dis
ciples of old, that the Scriptural expression " Christ's
coming" (John xxi. 22), meant "not dying;" or,
as some modern disciples assert, "it means dying."
3. That we may learn to imitate our Lord in
pausing at the proper place, even in the middle
of a verse (Isa. lxi. 1, 2; Luke iv. 19, 20), be
fore we begin to say, " This day, or that, this, or
the other, Scripture, will be fulfilled:" for juxta
position of announcement does not necessarily
imply juxta-position of fulfilment. 4. That we
may be made ever humbly willing to acknow
ledge our want of knowledge, like our blessed
Lord (Mark xiii. 32), and not deem it necessary
to appear to " understand all mysteries," and to
be able to answer all questions, and to explain all
texts somehow, to suit a favourite system. 5. That

THE SECOND ADVENT. 3
we may be preserved from stretching emblems
and figures of speech beyond their legitimate
and immediate purpose, and from concluding
that because a metaphor has a certain meaning
or aim in one passage, it must necessarily have
the very same in every other. 6. That the
" Gospel may come to us not in word only,
but also in power," enabling us all to "take
heed to ourselves, lest at any time our hearts
be overcharged with" "cares of this life, and so
that day come upon us unawares" — but that
" walking as children of light," " our whole
spirit, and soul, and body, may be preserved
blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ." 1. That as the two great subjects of Inspired
Prophecy are declared to be "the sufferings of
Christ, and the glory that should follow" (1 Pet.
i. 11), and as our Lord (Luke xxiv. 26) re
proved His disciples, for not having made them
selves acquainted with the Prophetic details of
His "sufferings," which were all faithfully ful
filled, so He will regard us as equally blame
worthy, if we apply not our minds to learn the

4 THE SECOND ADVENT.
Prophetic details of His " glory," which will be
all likewise faithfully fulfilled.
2. That in studying the Inspired Records of
this "glory" we find that to Christ, as Man, it
commenced at His Resurrection, and extends
onward through all Eternity, and yet that it
is intimately connected with His return to our
Earth ; and we farther find that this " return "
appears in the Sacred Scriptures to be positive
as ' to the fact, but indefinite as to the time,
and to divide itself into these two parts, first
the Coming of the Lord to the air for His
people (1 Thess. iv. 16, 17): "Por the Lord
Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout,
with the voice of the archangel, and with the
trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall
rise first : Then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the
clouds, to meet, the Lord in the air: and so
shall we ever be with the Lord." And secondly
the coming of the Lord to the earth with
His people, "And the Lord my God shall
come, and all the saints with Thee" (Zech.
xiv. 5), and that in this distinction the solution

THE SECOND ADVENT. 5
of the difficulty appears to lie — first, for, and
second, with, His people.
3. That these two parts, respectively, present
themselves throughout Holy Scripture, in two
divisions with reference to their objects — the
coming into the air having this twofold view
(1) to translate all true disciples, and (2) to
unmask all false disciples (Rev. iii. 18; xvi. 15;
Luke xiii. 26; 1 John ii. 28; 2 Cor. v. 3; Mal.
iii. 17, 18); and the coming to the earth having
likewise a twofold intent (1) to punish all adver
saries, and (2) "to comfort all that mourn."
(Isa. lxi. 2.) And further, that this "trans
lating" has also a twofold aspect (1), of a Resur
rection, and (2) of a Transformation — all the
departed believers from the beginning of the
world being first raised up out of their graves,
and then all the believers who are living on the
earth being changed, and both in one company
translated, taken up together, to meet their Lord
in the air. (1 Thess. iv. 13—18.)
4. That the former, "the coming of the Lord to
the air," appears to be altogether uncertain as to

6 THE SECOND ADVENT.
time (Mark xiii. 32-37), and to have no necessary
preceding signs or events to mark it, or forewarn ;
and may occur " at any time" (Luke xxi. 35);
for as " no man knoweth the day or the hour"
so every man ought to "watch" and "be ready,"
(Matt. xxiv. 42-44) ; but that the latter, "the com
ing of the Lord to the earth," is so far certain as to
time, and has many portentous signs and remark
able events necessarily preceding it (Luke xxi.
25 — 31), and is represented by the Prophet
(Zechariah xiv.) as taking place after the Resto
ration of the Jews to Judaea, " their silver and
their gold with them" (Isa. lx. 9), and just at
that critical juncture when "half" of the city of
Jerusalem has been taken in the siege by the
armies of the nations.
5. That the following passages, among others,
appear to refer to "the coming of the Lord to the
air," declared in 1 Thess. iv. 17 — as, 1 Cor.
xv. 23, " But every man in his own order :
Christ the first fruits ; afterwards they, that are
Christ's at His coming." See also v. 51, 52 ;
"Behold I shew you a mystery; We shall not
all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a

THE SECOND ADVENT. 7
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last
trump ; for the trumpet shall sound, and the
dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall
be changed." Luke xiv. 14, " Thou shalt be
recompensed at the resurrection of the just ;"
xx. 35, "They that shall be accounted worthy
to obtain that world, and the resurrection from
the dead, are the children of God, being the
children of the resurrection." Therefore St.
Paul expresses this earnest desire for himself,
Phil. iii. 11, "If by any means I might attain
unto the resurrection of the dead." And again,
he would rather prefer translation than death
(2 Cor. v. 4), "Not for that we would be un
clothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might
be swallowed up of life." Rev. xx. 5, 6, " 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. This is
the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that
hath part in the first resurrection." Matt. xxiv.
36, " But of that day and hour knoweth
no man, etc. Then shall two be in the field;
the one shall be taken and the other left," on to
ver. 51, and chap. xxv. 1 — 30, The parable of

8 THE SECOND ADVENT.
the ten Virgins. Ver. 6, "Behold the bridegroom
cometh." Ver. 13, "Watch therefore, for ye know
neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of
Man cometh." Rev. xvi. 15, " Behold I come as
a thief." Rev. xxii. 7, "Behold I come quickly."
Ver. 12, "And behold I come quickly." Ver. 20,
" Surely I come quickly." Therefore did our
Lord address such earnest warnings to his dis
ciples, as the following, "Take heed to your
selves lest at any time your hearts be over
charged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and
cares of this life, and so that day come upon
you unawares; For as a snare shall it come
on all them that dwell on the face of the whole
earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that
ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these
things that shall come to pass, and to stand
before the Son of Man." (Luke xxi. 34—36.)
6. That the following passages, among others,
appear to refer to "the coming of the Lord to the
earth," declared in Zech. xiv. 4, as, all those
Prophecies of the Old Testament which speak of
the power, and grandeur, of that period which
they denominate "the day of the Lord" — in

THE SECOND ADVENT. »
which He will destroy His enemies, and gladden
the hearts of His people ; some of which Prophe
cies appear to apply to the morning part, some to
the middle, and some to the evening part, of
"The Day of the Lord," which is evidently an
extended period, as we say " The day of Salva
tion," which has already lasted 1800 years under
the Gospel : Isa. ii. 12, " For the day of the Lord
of Hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and
lofty," etc. (Isa. xxiv. ; xxv. ; xxvi. ; xxvii. ; Joel
iii. 14; Zeph. i. 14—18; ii. 2, 3; Zech. xiv. 1.)
It is called in Acts ii. 20, " the great and notable
day of the Lord." And Enoch, also, the seventh
from Adam, prophesied, " Behold, the Lord
cometh with ten thousand of His Saints, to ex
ecute judgment." (Jude v. 14.) And St. Paul
declares that " That day shall not come except
there come a falling away first, and that man of
sin be revealed," etc. (2 Thess. ii. 1 — 3.) Our
Lord also affirms, Matt. xxiv. 12, " And because
iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax
cold." So that He asks, Luke xviii. 8, when the
Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the
earth? Again we read, Luke xxi. 25, "And
there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon,

10 THE SECOND ADVENT.
and in the stars, and upon the earth distress of
nations, with perplexity." Matt. xxiv. 21, "For
then shall be great tribulation, such as was not
since the beginning of the world to this time ; no,
nor ever shall be." Luke xxi. 27, " And then
shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud
with power and great glory." Rev. vi. 14, "And
the heavens departed as a scroll, etc. And the
kings, etc., hid themselves, etc., and said to the
mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us
from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne,
and from the wrath of the Lamb : for the great
day of His wrath is come ; and who shall be able
to stand ? " And the Apostle thus comforts the
persecuted Thessalonians, " Seeing it is a righteous
thing with God to recompense tribulation to them
that trouble you : 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." (2 Thess. i. 6.) And
St. Peter sums up all with these solemn words,
2 Peter iii. 11, " Seeing then that all these things
shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought

THE SECOND ADVENT. 11
ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness ;
Ver. 12, Looking for, and hasting unto the
coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens
being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements
shall melt with fervent heat? Ver. 14, Wherefore,
Beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be
diligent that ye may be found of Him in peace,
without spot, and blameless. Ver. 17, Ye there
fore Beloved, seeing that ye know these things
before, beware lest ye also, being led away with
the error of the wicked, fall from your own stead
fastness. Ver. 18, But grow in grace, and in
the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ." "When Christ, Who is our life, shall
appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in
glory " (Col. iii. 4), (that is " along with," having
been previously gathered up to Him).
7. That "the coming of the Lord to the air"
appears to be the beginning of "The End" —
and that " His coming to the earth" appears to be
that "notable" and lengthened period, "The
End," itself : and consequently that the discon
nectedness and uncertainty as to time, of the
former, enables us to understand how it can be

12 THE second advent.
either "hastened," or "delayed," without pre
venting, or disarranging, any of the other foretold
events; whereas "the coming to the earth" being
connected, as a great centre link in a chain, with
a series of other events before and after, cannot
happen either sooner or later without disarranging
the whole, and therefore is only to be expected
to occur in its own foretold order, among those
events of which it is the centre ; forming at once
the climax and conclusion of one series, that it
may introduce a new and blessed series of events
upon the earth.
8. That whenever "the coming of the Lord to
the air" may take place, it will lead to — bring on
— be " the hastening of," all the other events of
" the day of the Lord," and consequently that it
explains to us the Scriptural expression, " hasting
unto," or rather " hasting the coming of the day
of God" (2 Pet. iii. 12, margin), and gives great
emphasis to the Scripturally assigned reason of the
present long delay of 1800 years, namely, that God
is "not wilUng that any should perish." (2 Pet.
iii. 9, 15.) " To the praise of the glory of His
grace," a full exhibition is being now given of

THE SECOND ADVENT. 13
centuries of long-suffering patience and endurance
on the part of God. Christ is now waiting,
"expecting," both till His Bride make herself
ready, and " till His enemies are made His foot
stool ; " and we are to enter into fellowship with
Him in that waiting, enduring, and expectant
state, and neither on the one hand to lose heart
at the delay, nor on the other to murmur at it.
Therefore He says, " Because thou hast kept the
word of My patience, I also will keep thee from
the hour of temptation, which shall come upon
all the world, to try them that dwell upon the
earth" (Rev. iii. 10); and St. Paul says, "For
ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done
the will of God, ye might receive the promise."
" For yet a little while, and He that shall come
will come, and will not tarry." (Heb. x. 36, 37.)
And St. James says, v. 7, " Be patient therefore,
Brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold
the husbandman waiteth, etc. Be ye also patient :
stablish your hearts : for the coming of the Lord
draweth nigh." And therefore this earnest
prayer is offered by St. Paul : " The Lord direct
your hearts into the love of God, and into the
patient waiting for Christ;" or, "patience of

14 THE SECOND ADVENT.
Christ" — margin. (2 Thess. iii. 5.) This
"patience," however, is not an idle, inopera
tive state, but an active, diligent, occupying "till
Christ come," and hasting the extension of His
present kingdom of grace, in preparation for His
future kingdom of glory, — according to the com
mand " Prepare ye the way of the Lord " ; and
to this end He gives us as His first prayer to say,
" Thy kingdom come," and as His last, " Even
so, Come, Lord Jesus," and enjoins us all to pre
pare His way in our own hearts, in our families,
in our neighbourhoods, in our country, in all
lands, spreading the knowledge of His grace
through every widening sphere of influence,
"preaching the Gospel to every creature," dis
seminating the Scriptures, and extending mis
sionary effort throughout the earth.
9. That as this "preaching of the Gospel
unto all nations" is declared to be "for a witness"
(Matt. xxiv. 14), so it would appear that God
the Father is the sole judge (Acts i. 7), as to
when this testimony to His beloved Son shall
have been sufficiently delivered : and the Apostles
and early Christians seeing that the Gospel was

THE SECOND ADVENT. 15
preached throughout the whole of the then known
world in their own day (Col. i. 6; Rom. xv. 19),
were not only justified, but bound, and required,
by the Providence of God, as well as by His
Prophecies, and by His own express command,
to watch for, and expect, the coming of their
Master " at any time " (Luke xxi. 34), during
their life on earth; (and so likewise are all be
lievers onwards, increasingly, as time advances,
and especially now, " salvation " being eighteen
centuries "nearer, Rom. xiii. 11;") and that if
they had not done so, they would have been
disobedient and unfaithful servants to their King :
just as in an Army, when " Orders " are issued
for all to " Be ready to move at a moment's
notice," every Officer and Soldier is bound in
stantly to prepare himself, and to continue pre
pared, however long that " Notice " may be de
layed. When the trumpet sounds, each must be
ready to take his post, or be liable to punishment
for "disobedience to orders." It will be no ex
cuse then to say that he is busy at his quarters
preparing. Therefore the Captain of our Salva-
vation forewarns us all to " take heed to our
selves, lest at any time our hearts be overcharged 3

16 THE SECOND ADVENT.
with" (not only gross sins as) "surfeiting and
drunkenness," (but also with common every-day)
" cares of this life, and so that day come upon us
unawares." (Luke xxi. 34. )
As every general rule has some exception, so
in regard to this general statement, "And this
Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all
the world for a witness unto all nations: and
then shall the end come " (Matt. xxiv. 14), it
would almost seem as if the 66th chapter of Isaiah
presented a remarkable exception, by stating that
after the Lord shall have "come with fire" and
pled "with all flesh" (ver. 15, 16); after the
Jews shall have been " comforted in Jerusalem"
(ver. 13), and converted, that God "will send
those of them that escape," (out of the destruc
tion caused by the armies of the nations,) to " the
isles afar off, that have not heard My fame,
neither have seen My glory ; and they shall
declare My glory among the Gentiles" (ver. 19);
and if this be so, what an additional argument
does it present against our taking upon ourselves
to judge, and say, " The Gospel is not yet
preached for a witness unto all nations, therefore

THE SECOND ADVENT. 17
the coming of the Lord cannot be very near;" —
for here are "Gentiles" who shall not have heard
the Gospel till then; see also Rom. xi. 12, 15 —
and obviously none but God Himself can decide
what is the amount of testimony intended by
these words " for a witness."
10. That as the coming of the Lord is declared
to be an event of which " no man knoweth the
day or the hour," it is obvious that we shall be
equally wrong, if, on the one hand, we take upon
ourselves to say, " The Lord will come to-day ; —
to-morrow ; — next year ; two, three, or five years
hence; — in our own life time; — and before the
Jews are restored," etc., and if, on the other, we
take upon ourselves to say, " The Lord will not
come to-day; — to-morrow, etc.; — not till after
the Jews have been restored; — and not till that
instant in which He comes down to the earth in
power and great glory." As "no man knoweth
the time," so no man should venture to make any
positive affirmation regarding it ; but all men
everywhere in the whole professing Christian
Church, throughout the wide extended world,
should, as loyal, faithful, and attached servants,

18 THE SECOND ADVENT.
say in their hearts and lives, in their words and
deeds, " My Lord may come to-day, or to-morrow,
etc.," let me therefore be " diligent to be found
of Him in peace without spot, and blameless;"
and often breathe forth the fervent prayer, "Even
so, Come, Lord Jesus."
11. That this absence of positive information
as to the exact time of the Lord's coming, appears
to be very specially intended, in the wisdom of
God, to be one of the heart-testing doctrines of
His Holy Word for all professing Christians in all
ages of the Christian Church. " The uncertainty
of the time of Christ's coming, is, to those who
are watchful, a savour of life unto life, and makes
them more watchful ; but to those who are care
less, it is a savour of death unto death, and makes
them more careless."' — Matt. Henry. The briefest
statement of this great truth, " The Lord may
come ' at any time,' " (Luke xxi. 34), as soon as
it is uttered in the hearing of any human being,
will infallibly evoke either desire or indifference.
It will not leave him as it found him. He may, or
he may not, question the truth of the assertion,
but he cannot prevent this secret feeling from

THE SECOND ADVENT. 19
instantly rising, " I do not care whether He may
come or not," or, " I do care." — " I wish that
He may not come," or, " I wish that He may."
This word " may " is a testing word. The faith
ful servant hearing it, says " Then He may come
in my life time, let me be daily watching and
preparing." The unfaithful servant hearing it,
says "Then He may not come in my life time,
nor till long after, so the doctrine does not per
sonally concern me." — "The evil servant saith
in his heart, My Lord delayeth His coming."
(Matt. xxiv. 48.)
One great object therefore of the doctrine in
our Saviour's day, and onward " till He come,"
appears to be to keep the Church ever awake.
" What I say unto you, I say unto all, Watch."
(Mark xiii. 37.) Obedience to this one word
would have kept the Church, as a faithful sentinel
between heaven and earth, ever on its guard. It
is a most detaching doctrine. It leaves no room
for trifling, for passionate tempers, for unholy
pursuits, for worldly compliances, for " overcharg
ing of the heart with cares of this life." (Luke xxi.
34.) Like sudden Death in the uncertainty of
its dart, it gives not any professor a day or an

20 THE SECOND ADVENT.
hour to spend in the places of this world's unpro
fitable and sinful amusements, in which he would
not wish to be cut down by death, or in which
he would not wish to be found at the instant of
the coming of the Lord. " Remember Lot's
wife." (Luke xvii. 32.) The "evil servant will
be cut asunder, and his portion appointed with
the hypocrites." (Matt. xxiv. 51.) " Love not
the world, neither the things that are in the
world. If any man love the world, the love of
the Father is not in him." (1 John ii. 15.)
With what loving consideration, therefore, is the
warning given — "Watch ye therefore, lest coming
suddenly, He find you sleeping." And with
what earnest longings of soul is this prayer pre
sented for one's self, for our dear friends, and for
all professing Christians — "I pray God your
(my) whole spirit and soul and body be preserved
blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ." (1 Thess. v. 23.)
12. That while some hesitate and stumble at
the statement in Mark xiii. 32 — " But of that
day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the
angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but

THE SECOND ADVENT. 21
the Father," as if ignorance on this point were a
derogation to the Saviour, we ought rather to
admire and adore Him the more on its account.
For, consider what that point is — the day and
hour of His own personal exaltation, " His own
glory," (Luke ix. 26) — and immediately the
statement in this verse appears in its true light,
as another beautiful exemplification of that self-
denying spirit in which our Blessed Master lived
and acted before God and men. " I seek not
Mine Own glory. There is One that seeketh and
judgeth." (John viii. 50. ) He leaves all impli
citly to His Father. He does not, pry into the
times and seasons of the future, which the Father
hath put in His own power. (Acts i. 7.) He seeks
not as Man to know when His transcendent glory
as God is to commence, and be made manifest
to the world. Having throughout His whole
life virtually said, What Thou wilt — Where Thou
wilt — As Thou wilt — He is here saying in effect,
When Thou wilt ! " My Father knows the time
— ' that day and that hour ' — when I am to come
forth crowned with many crowns, King of kings
and Lord of lords. I know not — Neither do I
seek to know; for My meat and My drink, My

22 THE SECOND ADVENT.
honour and My joy are only to do His will, what
soever, and whensoever, it may be ! "
Oh for this Christ-like spirit — this self-abne
gating spirit — which seeks not to secure exalta
tion by personal effort, nor even to know the
time when it is to be bestowed by another.
He knew then the day of His descending into
a tomb. (Matt. xxvi. 2.) He did not then know
the day of His descending on a throne. Oh to
be like Christ — to be equally willing to know
what God has been pleased to reveal — and to be
ignorant of what He has been pleased to with
hold! What a double lesson does this teach us — first,
never to neglect or despise the study of unful
filled prophecy. Christ did neither. He reproved
His disciples for not studying the Prophets ; and
in " the Revelation .which God gave unto Him to
shew unto His servants," He distinctly declares
" Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear
the words of this prophecy." (Rev. i. 1, 3.)
And, secondly, never to pry too minutely into
the details of the future, beyond what is written ;
remembering always on the one hand that " those
things which are revealed belong unto us and to

THE SECOND ADVENT. 23
our children for ever ; " and on the other, that
"the secret things belong unto the Lord our
God." (Deut. xxix. 29.)
13. That the Sacred Scriptures, by the em
blems employed on the subject of the Second
Advent, may be considered as teaching, accord
ing to their nature, — That " The Harvest of
First Fruits" is to take place when the Lord
comes to the air, but " The Vintage of the Grapes"
when He descends to the earth. (Rev. xiv.
14—20.) That " The Bride makes herself ready," as in
"white" raiment, to be taken up, and then,
"meets" her Lord, when He comes to the air,
(Rev. xix. 7; 1 Thess. iv. 17;) but that she
accompanies Him as " The armies of heaven upon
white horses," when He comes to the earth.
(Rev. xix. 11—16.)
That "The Marriage Supper " commences when
the Lord has taken up His bride into the air ; but
that "The Supper of the Birds " takes place when
He has slain His enemies on the earth. (Rev.
xix. 17.)
That the Lord will come to the air as " The

24 THE SECOND ADVENT.
Morning Star," (Rev. ii. 28, xxii. 16), gladdening
the hearts of the weary watchers ; but that He
will come to the earth as " The Sun of Righteous
ness," (Mal. iv. 2; Is. xxiv. 23), wakening up a
slumbering world.
That He will come to the air as a " Thief,"
(Rev. xvi. 15), taking away His people quickly,
quietly, and the garment of profession from all
mere professors, leaving them unmasked, the
scorn of an infidel and ungodly world, (Rev. iii.
18), "they see his shame," (xvi. 15) ; but that
He will come to the earth as " The Nobleman "
who has " received the kingdom," and has " re
turned" to claim it. (Luke xix. 12.)
That He will come to the air as " The Bride
groom " (Matt. xxv. 6), to receive His Bride,
and to " present her to Himself," (Eph. v. 27);
" I will come again and receive you unto Myself,"
(John xiv. 3) ; but that He will come to the
earth as "The King of Kings," (Rev. xix. 16),
to reign over the whole world with His Bride,
who is called " The Lamb's Wife," (Rev. xxi. 9) ;
that glorious reign to which the souls in heaven
look joyfully forward in their Hymns of Praise,
"and we shall reign on the earth." (Rev. v. 10.)

THE SECOND ADVENT. 25
14. That, following up this view, it would
appear as though some interval of time, we pre
sume not to say whether long or short, may
likely take place between the coming of the Lord
into the air, and His descent upon the earth, — an
interval during which the King has taken His
Bride into His banqueting house, and His banner
over her is love (Song ii. 4); an interval in
which "The Marriage Supper" takes place (Rev.
xix. 9), — that evening gathering, that feast of
love, at the close of the long work-day of grace
from the beginning of the world, when " many
shall come from the east and west, and shall sit
down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the
kingdom of heaven, and the children of the
kingdom (all mere professors) shall be cast out."
(Mat. viii. 11; Luke xiii. 24—30.)
If there be no interval, and if the coming of
the Lord to the air and the earth, be at one and
the same instant, then it would appear that (1)
The Lord will find faith when He comes to the
earth, contrary to the apparent supposition of
His question. (Luke xviii. 8.) (2) There will
be no "escape" of the true Christian Church, any
more than of the Jewish nation, out of that great

26 THE SECOND ADVENT.
tribulation which is to take place before the Lord
comes to the earth (Mat. xxiv. 29), and out of
which He has promised to deliver her. (Luke
xxi. 36; Rev. iii. 10.) (3) There will be no
time for " The Marriage Supper," — no time for
the Bride to enjoy the presence of her Lord,
before she begins to reign with Him over the
earth. (4) The specified uncertainty, and con
sequent need of special watching, will be done
away, for prophecy distinctly declares that the
time of the Lord's descent to the earth (Zech.
xiv. 1 — 5) is not to be till after the Jews have
been restored, for which therefore it would be
our first duty to watch, and then for the Lord's
coming. (5) There is no other period which
can be "shortened" (Mat. xxiv. 22), without
introducing confusion into the whole prophetic
series of events ; but should there be an interval,
it may obviously be lengthened or shortened
without disarranging any of them. The Bride,
God's people making themselves ready, — the
setting-in of the great tribulation, — the coming
of the Lord for His people to take them up out
of that tribulation before it waxes fiercest, — and
the shortening of the interval of " The Marriage

THE SECOND ADVENT. 27
Supper," would evidently be a "hasting of the
kingdom," as foretold, and appears to present a
harmonious combination of events.
15. That the accompanying Diagram is in
tended to show the harmony of those two classes
of apparently opposing Scripture texts, which
appear to announce, the one, the coming of our
Lord, "at any time" (Luke xxi. 34), without
any previous sign, or event whatsoever, as a
warning, for which all His disciples, in all
periods of the Christian Church, are commanded
to be always personally watching and prepared
(Mark xiii. 31 — 37) ; and the other, the coming of
our Lord after various signs and events have previ
ously taken place (Luke xxi. 2 5 — 3 1 ), as, the resto
ration of the Jews to Judaea, etc. ( Zech. xiv. 1 — 5. )
The slip in the centre of the diagram is made
moveable along the whole course of "The History
of the Christian Church," to indicate the uncer
tainty of the time of the coming of our Lord to
the air (1 Thess. iv. 17); for it would appear
from Zech. xiv., that the time of His coming to
the earth is so far not uncertain, inasmuch as

28 THE SECOND ADVENT.
we find it distinctly there revealed that the time
when He is to descend in glory on the Mount of
Olives will be, first, not before, but after, the
Jews have been restored to their own land;
secondly, after they are assailed there by enemies,
not of one nation only, as formerly by the Romans,
but by allied armies "gathered" from "all nations ;"
and lastly, and more minutely, it is specially fore
told that it will take place after a day of fearful
battle, in which, not the whole, but, a large part,
of their restored metropolis shall be taken, " and
half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and
the residue of the people shall not be cut off from
the city. Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight
against those nations, as when He fought in the
day of battle. And His feet shall stand in that
day upon the Mount of Olives," which shall
" cleave in the midst thereof," — " and the Lord
my God shall come, and all the saints with Thee.
And it shall come to pass in that day that the
light shall not be clear, nor dark. But it shall
be one day, which shall be known to the Lord,
not day, nor night; but it shall come to pass
that at evening time it shall be light," — the
effulgent glory of our descending Lord will

THE SECOND ADVENT. 29
dissipate the gathering shades of evening, and
illumine the whole locality with meridian bright
ness; "then the moon shall be confounded,
and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of Hosts
shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and
before His ancients gloriously." (Isa. xxiv. 23.)
16. That some events still in the future,
appear by Prophecy to be as mutually dependent
on, and as closely connected with, each other, as
various events far in the past are proved to have
been by History.
Let the Reader carefully peruse the accom
panying Diagram, without reference, for the
moment, to the moveable slip in the centre, and
in regard to the past "events Historically con
nected," he will perceive in regular sequence,
first, that our blessed Lord's ascent to heaven
was necessary in order to His sending the Holy
Spirit; as He said, " It is expedient for you
that I go away ; for if I go not away, the Com
forter will not come unto you ; but if I depart,
I will send Him unto you" (Jno. xvi. 7) ; se
condly, that this coming of the Spirit was neces
sary in order to form and guide the Christian

30 THE SECOND ADVENT.
Church ; and, thirdly, that this spiritual existence
and guidance of the Christian Church were neces
sary in order to its occupying the forfeited place
of the Jewish Church for these eighteen hundred
years, onward to the present moment.
So likewise in regard to the future "events
Prophetically connected," he will clearly per
ceive, in regular sequence, that, whensoever the
Lord's time may come for the fulfilment of His
many promises to the Jews, of restoration to
Judaea, to "plant them in this land assuredly"
(Jer. xxxii. 41), it is self-evident that the natural
and necessary result of the gathering together in
Judaea and Jerusalem, of Jews from all coun
tries — " their silver and their gold with them "
(Isa. lx. 9), will be the concentration there of
long-accumulated and incalculable wealth — that
this wealth will there present a strong and over
powering temptation to the wicked and infidel
nations — that this temptation will lead them to
devise some pretext for invading Judaea — "things
will come into their mind, and they will think
an evil thought " " to turn their hand upon the
desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon
the people that are gathered out of the nations,"

THE SECOND ADVENT. 31
"to carry away silver and gold," "to take a great
spoil" (Ezek. xxxviii. 10 — 12), which invasion,
we learn by Prophecy, will terminate in a suc
cessful assault on one "half of the city" of Jeru
salem, and the reduction of its inhabitants to
extreme misery, and to utter despair of all human
help ; that this misery and despair will cause the
Jews to cry earnestly for the great Messiah, the
Deliverer — that this cry will be answered by the
glorious Advent of our true Christ as their true
Messiah, as it is written, "And the Lord my
God shall come, and all the saints with Thee"
(Zech. xiv.), — and that this advent will introduce
His Kingly Reign over all the earth, and the
period of Millennial blessedness.
All these events appear to be thus historically,
or prophetically, connected together, and cannot
occur but in their respective order; but there is
one great event which does not appear in
Scripture to be necessarily connected with any
previous earthly circumstance whatsoever; and
which, for anything that the Word reveals, might
have happened in the past, may happen in the pre
sent, and (though probably sooner) which may not
happen till just before Christ's visible descent in
4

32 THE SECOND ADVENT.
glory. Mark xiii. 35-37. "No man knoweth the day
or the hour." We can make no positive assertion
regarding it ; and have therefore presented it on
a moveable slip, to denote the great uncertainty
of this most solemn, rousing, and remarkable
event, regarding which our most blessed Saviour
gives us this needful and emphatic warning,
" Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your
hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunk
enness, and cares of this life, and so that day
come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall
it come on all them that dwell on the face of the
whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always,
that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all
these things that shall come to pass, and to stand
before the Son of man." (Luke xxi. 34 — 36.)
17. That the Scriptural statements regarding
our Lord coming to the air in 1 Thess. iv. 17,
and to the earth in Zech. xiv. 4, do not make
two comings, -as some conceive, but form only
one coming of our blessed Lord and Master,
as the God-man, to take the full and final, the for
mal and personal, possession of our air and earth,
which rightfully belong to Him. ( Matt, xxviii. 18.)

THE SECOND ADVENT. 33
Satan was the first to rebel, and it appears
that he will be the first to be punished. He is
called in Scripture " The prince of the power of
the air." (Ephes. ii. 2.) And Jesus the King
of kings is revealed to come first into the air, to
cast down the usurper and all his host; and then
to take up His saints to meet Him in the dis-
tenanted and purified atmosphere, and to descend
with Him to the earth, where, we learn from the
Second Psalm, He will cast down also all the
might and power of man.
Isaiah appears to have foreseen these events
when he thus graphically wrote, xxiv. 21, "And
it shall come to pass in that day (first) that the
Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that
are on high, and (secondly) the kings of the
earth upon the earth," and take possession of it
also, as completely as He shall have taken posses
sion of the air.
W'hat therefore some erroneously object to as
two comings, constitute only the two principal
parts of one continued progressive coming, as may
be clearly illustrated by a Royal Progress on earth.
A Monarch for instance is about to visit a dis
affected Province of his Empire, and sends his

34 THE SECOND ADVENT.
messengers to invite some of its most loyal
inhabitants to meet him at its border, and to
accompany him to its Metropolis. These loyal
and devoted subjects meet their Sovereign at the
confines of their country, and they enjoy the
honour and happiness of his presence there, of
accompanying him on his progress, and of sharing
in the glory of his entrance into the chief city.
This does not make two comings, but only one
coming of that Monarch to his disaffected Provmce
and its Metropolis.
So with The True King, whom the great
Usurper has disowned throughout the whole of
our rebel world. He will call (not some, but)
all His loyal people, who have faithfully loved
and served Him here, to " meet Him in the air,"
— the confines of our world; they wili enjoy the
honour and happiness of His presence there, of
accompanying Him in His royal progress ("fol
lowing the Lamb whithersoever He goeth,"
Rev. xiv. 4), and of sharing in the glory of His
descent upon Mount Olivet, and of His taking
possession of the earth.
It is only one coming of our glorious King,
from the heaven where He now is, to the air

THE SECOND ADVENT. 35
(1 Thess iv. 17), through which He will pass, in
His way to the earth, on which He will descend.
(Zech. xiv. 4.)
18. That "the coming of the Lord to the air"
will be a most discriminating event, by the Spirit
of God testing the spirits of men, searching into
the actual state of every heart as before God,
entering into every family and separating be
tween the nearest and closest relationships of
life, universally and individually throughout the
whole inhabited world, wherever any human
being has heard the Gospel.
The words of our blessed Master are deeply
searching and emphatic. "I tell you, in that
night there shall be two in one bed; the one
shall be taken and the other left. Two shall be
grinding together; the one shall be taken, and
the other left. Two shall be in the field ;
the one shall be taken, and the other left" —
(Luke xvii. 34); "bed" represents the night —
"grinding" indicates the morning and evening
occupation in Eastern countries, and the " field "
points to the daytime.
The Omniscient Saviour shows by these words,

36 THE SECOND ADVENT.
that His eye surveyed the universal globe, and
its actual state, as it will be at the moment of
His coming. Whensoever that event may take
place, there will, as a natural geographical fact, be
" night" at some one place, " day" at its antipodes,
and "morning and evening " in the east and west.
What a solemn moment will that prove in
human history, when from off the whole earth,
the Lord will take unto Himself all them that
truly love Him ! " For as a snare shall it come
on all them that dwell on the face of the whole
earth." Luke xxi. 35.
How awful will it be to be "left" — How blessed
to be " taken" ! One individual loves the world,
and is "left" to the world he loves : another loves
the Lord, and is "taken" to the Lord he loves!
In regard to all the faithful departed since
the beginning of the world, wheresoever they
may have been buried — in the sea, or on the
land, they will assuredly be made alive again at
the coming of their Lord. " The dead in Christ
shall rise first ; then we which are alive and re
main, shall be caught up together with them in the
clouds, to meet the Lord in the air : and so shall
we ever be with the Lord." (1 Thess. iv. 17.)

THE SECOND ADVENT. 37
In regard to all the living, it will be, as it
were, the Lord saying to every professing
Christian on the face of the earth, " Is thy heart
right (sincere), as My heart is with thy heart?"
And whoever truly, as in His sight, can answer
"It is," to such He will say "Give Me thine
hand," and He will "take him up." (2 Kings
x. 15.)
It will be as we see on a table covered with
dust, and bits of wood, lead, stone, etc., with
filings of steel interspersed, that the moment a
Magnet is passed over the table, each bit of true
steel flies up and clusters round it, while every
thing else remains unmoved : and that it is not
as particles of matter, but as particles endowed
with a certain quality and affinity, that these
steel filings thus rise to the Magnet.
So it is with each true believer. It is not as
a man that he ascends to Christ, but as a man
endowed with the Holy Spirit. "If," says the
Apostle, " the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus
from the dead, dwell in you, He that raised up
Christ from the dead shall also quicken your
mortal bodies, by His Spirit that dwelleth in
you." (Rom. viii. 11.) Christ is the great

38 THE SECOND ADVENT.
Magnet, and if there be true love, and union, and
affinity, between our hearts by the Holy Spirit,
and His heart, now ; — then, when He comes here
after, we shall rise, " be taken," " be caught up,"
by*the same Spirit, to cluster round Him for ever.
God grant it !
19. Deeply must we feel how inadequate are
earthly words and emblems to do justice to
these high and heavenly themes, which like the
most exquisite flowers wither in our hands, and
are sullied by our breath. And I cannot but
tremble lest the glorious doctrine of the Second
Advent should consequently suffer by my im
perfect advocacy.
The more I study the Holy Word, the . more
deeply convinced do I become of the revealed
certainty of that "blessed hope, the glorious
appearing of the great God and our Saviour
Jesus Christ" (Titus ii. 13), — when He is to
"receive unto Himself" all them that have truly
loved Him from the beginning of the world unto
that moment, to be the members of His " Bride,"
and to be " for ever with Him," — and when He
is to punish every enemy, and to put down all

THE SECOND ADVENT. 39
hostile authority and power, that He may in
troduce a glorious reign over the earth, and
give occasion to the "great voices in heaven"
to say " The kingdoms of this world are become
the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ ; and
He shall reign for ever and ever." (Rev. xi. 15.)
And the more I meditate on the truths of
Revelation, and the state of Christendom, the
more deeply am I persuaded that as the disciples
in our Saviour's time erred in overlooking the
humiliating doctrine of the " sufferings of Christ,"
that they might delightedly expatiate on the
exalting doctrine of "the glory that should
follow " — so that we also in our day, are tempted
to overlook the rousing, heart-searching, world-
excluding, doctrine, which requires us all to be
perpetually and personally on the watch for the
coming of the Lord to the air, at any moment,
— " at even, or at midnight, or at the cock-
crowing, or in the morning" (Mark xiii. 35) —
to take up His true disciples out of the mass
of mere professing Christians, — we are tempted
to overlook all this, and to luxuriate in thought
upon the glorious picture of that coming king
dom, presented to our view in other portions

40 THE SECOND ADVENT.
of holy Scripture, when "they shall not hurt
nor destroy in all God's holy mountain: for
the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the
Lord, as the waters cover the sea" (Isa. xi. 9);
for before that day of joy shall dawn upon our
world, the forty-sixth Psalm informs us that
the "heathen shall rage," and "the kingdoms
be moved," and invites us to " behold what
desolations God hath made in the earth;" and
then, but not till then, it announces the blessed
fact that "He maketh wars to cease." And
startling and significant in the sixteenth chapter
of Revelation, is the sudden and apparently
unconnected introduction of that note of warn
ing, with which the fifteenth verse thus interrupts
the narrative of the preparations and gathering
for battle " of the kings of the earth and of the
whole world," depicted in the fourteenth and
the sixteenth verses : — " Behold, I come as a
thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth
his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see
his shame."
Solemn also and portentous is this thrice-
repeated warning in the last chapter of God's
most Holy Word ; —

THE SECOND ADVENT. 41
"Behold I come quickly" (ver. 7);
"And, behold, I come quickly" (ver. 12);
" Surely I come quickly" (ver. 20).
God give us all grace daily and heartily to say,
" Amen. Even so, Come, Lord Jesus ! "
Dear Reader, may "thine eyes," and mine,
that day, "behold the King in His beauty."
(Isa. xxxiii. 17.)
20. Daily and most earnestly let us pray " that
we may be found of Him in peace, without spot,
and blameless." (2 Pet. iii. 14.) " Blessed," said
our gracious Master, " Blessed are the pure in
heart, for they shall see God." (Matt. v. 8.) Dili
gently, therefore, let us "follow peace with all
men, and holiness, without which no man shall
see 'the Lord." (Heb. xii. 14.) The Holy Spirit
is now " The Power " that is freely given to
" work in us " every holy thought and word and
work, then He will be the all-penetrating Power
that will sever those who have worked with Him,
by "perfecting holiness in the fear of God"
(2 Cor. vii. 1), from those who have worked
against Him, by indulging unholy thoughts and
worldly affections. Therefore let us "pray with
out ceasing " that " the very God of peace may

42 THE SECOND ADVENT.
sanctify us wholly," and that our " whole spirit
and soul and body may be preserved blameless
unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Blessed be His name that our confidence and
sufficiency in the great warfare against sin, and
for the attainment of holiness, are not in our own
strength, or virtue, or fidelity, and that His
Apostle has taught, and His Spirit has enabled,
us to add, " Faithful is he that calleth us, Who
also will do it." (1 Thess. v. 17, 23, 24.)
Dear Reader, aid me by your prayers, your
counsel, and your corrections, in the study of
this most solemn and important doctrine. We
have much, very much to learn regarding it.
The Lord deliver us from all error, and guide us
into all truth. Earnestly and daily let us "watch
and pray" that our hearts may be prepared for
the coming of our Lord. And, Oh, that we may
all now "in heart and mind thither ascend,"
"whither our Saviour Christ is gone before,"
that hereafter also in body and soul we may be
privileged to ascend, and with Him continually
dwell, Who liveth and reigneth with the Father
and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without
end. Amen.

Preparing for publication, as a sequel to the present volume,
THE DAY OF JOY.
" The Night is far spent— The Day is at hand."
"Joy cometh in the Morning."
" Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.'1
WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR.

Christ on the Cross.
An Exposition of the Twenty-second Psalm. Twenty-third
Thousand. Post octavo, cloth, price 5s.
The Twenty-second Psalm proves itself to be emphatically one of
those passages of Holy Writ, in which the Prophets, by the Spirit of
Christ within them, " testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and
the glory that should follow:"
Written, as the Jews admit, at least one thousand years before
the Christian sera, it stood till then an Inspired Revelation waiting
for.its accomplishment, and remains since then an Inspired Demonstra
tion that the Old Testament is God's Prediction, and that the New
Testament is God's Fulfilment.
This Exposition is divided into two parts: — first, Christ on the
Cross in Darkness, — and Second, Christ on the Cross in Light. It
opens with sorrow, and concludes with joy. The change in the middle
of the Psalm is most important and consolatory. It teaches that
the Redeemer did not actually die under darkness, but that His very

Samuel Bagster and Sons, 15, Paternoster Row, London.
latest moments were those of peace and communion. And the
Christian's heart is made happy to know that his adorable and
gracious Lord departed not out of this life in bitter anguish of spirit,
complaining as at the first that His Father had "forsaken " Him,
ver. 1 ; but in gratitude and exultation of soul, testifying at the last
that He had "not hid His face from Him," but had "heard" and
answered His petition, ver. 24.
The Lord our Shepherd.
An Exposition of the Twenty-third Psalm. Twenty-sixth
Thousand. Post octavo, cloth, price 3s. 6d.
The Twenty-third Psalm is probably the very earliest, extant,
of David's compositions. It Buits the transition period of his life,
when he first passed from his Father's nook at Bethlehem to the royal
palace of Saul. It exhibits God as a Shepherd and a King, and it
represents the beUever as an inmate of a Fold, and as a guest at a
Banquet ; and accordingly in this twofold aspect it is treated in this
Exposition. The Psalm commends itself to the heart of the believer
by its own internal excellence. The memoirs of departed Christians
amply testify to this fact. How often has the Twenty-third Psalm
been cited by the dying believer as a most appropriate expression of
his past experience, his present feelings, and his future hopes !
To multitudes of the faithful, this Psalm has doubtless proved,
by the Spirit of grace, a rich source of consolation in every age since
it was composed by the sweet singer of Israel.
Gratitude.
An Exposition of the One hundred and third Psalm. Eighth
Thousand. Post octavo, cloth, price 3s. 6d.
The hundred and third Psalm is an universal song. It is suited for
all ages, appropriate to all persons, and applicable to all conditions.
Every nation under heaven may equally adopt its language. With
the single exception of the seventh verse, it might have been written
by the first Adam, to be sung by him and by all his descendants to

Samuel Bagster and Sons, 15, Paternoster Row, London.
the days of David, by whom it was written, with that verse, to be sung
by the second Adam and all His posterity to the end of Time. Jesus
used this Psalm in the days of His flesh. The Spirit of God inspired
it, and the Son of God employed it, to express the gratitude of the
whole family of the redeemed. The Head of that family is the
chief singer on this well-tuned instrument. He leads the prayers,
He leads also the praises, of His household. The only pure and
perfect thanksgivings, ever uttered in our fallen world, issued from
the lips of Jesus of Nazareth. His human heart beat high with
holy gratitude. He was the High Priest of the Church, not only to
intercede, but also to offer thanks. He has acknowledged, in our
name, all the known and unknown mercies for which we stand
indebted to the God of love.
Sanctification through the Truth.
Crown octavo, 6d., or 5s. per dozen ; and in cloth, on fine
toned paper, Is.
"Truth is the most gentle, but the most powerful— the most
unpretending, but the most uncompromising, thing in the whole
world ! It is the most faithful friend— but the most formidable foe !
Light and darkness are not more opposite to each other, than truth
and error. ' He that hath My word, let him speak My word faith-
fully. What is the chaff to the wheat ? saith the Lord. Is not My
word like as a fire? saith the Lord : and like a hammer that breaketh
the rock in pieces ?' "
The Second Advent.
Crown octavo, cloth, price Is.
The object of the Author is to endeavour to meet a practical diffi
culty connected with the doctrine of the Second Advent— a difficulty
felt by many devout minds whose desire indeed is to be obedient to
their Lord in watching and praying for His return according to His
Word, but who are hindered from personally realizingit as a probable,
or even possible, event in their own lifetime, seeing that the same
Word appears to declare that various important events must pre
viously take place, a3, the preaching of the Gospel among all nations
for a witness; the restoration of the Jews to Judsea, &e.

Samuel Bagster and Sons, 15, Paternoster Row, London.
Perfect Love.
Memorials of John and Elizabeth Wolfe. Second Edition.
Foolscap octavo, cloth, price la.
" The Author trusts that he need not disclaim for himself all inten
tional exaggeration, or claim for every one connected with the
Memoir all possible integrity of statement. Oh, it is truth which we
seek ; that truth without which the brightest picture is but a moral
deformity. And herein we only follow God, the God of truth. He
it is who gives the rose its fragrance, and imparts an infinite variety
to the fohage of the forest. The same God, who clothes the lihes of
the field, arrays the human soul with a superior loveliness, and adorns
His children with the unrivalled beauties of holiness. To the natural
and spiritual historian alike, the path of duty, therefore, is plain ; the
injunction is obvious and appropriate, — ' Follow the God of nature :
follow the God of grace. Tell what His hand hath done : tell what
His Spirit hath wrought.' And it is not on what these children
were in amiable natural endowments, that we would fix the atten
tion of the reader, but on what the Lord had made them by His
grace. The details of His workmanship in their souls, we felt deeply
persuaded, were admirably calculated, by His blessing, to do good
to the souls of others, and especially of the young."
Joy in God.
Crown octavo, cloth limp, price Is.
Tenfold Blessings be Tours.
A Letter to a Friend. 32mo., sewed. One Halfpenny, or
3s. per 100.
Happy and Blessed is the True Believer.
32mo., sewed. One Halfpenny, or 3s. per 100.
LONDON:
SAMUEL BAGSTER AND SONS;
15, PATEKNOSTEE KOW.j

YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

3 9002 09863 0099