God is reigning for Him; He is the end of rule: and this is an explanation of the difficulty; He is now the end of rule; hereafter the Father shall be the end of rule and there shall be in fact a delivering up of the kingdom: then, I say, He is sitting there until God shall have completed the giving of the dominion of all things to Him; shall, according to the testimony so often adduced in the New Testament, have put all things under his feet: He is sitting there only till that moment;—and then He shall come to proclaim his victory, having his own proper throne in subordination to the Father's throne. It shall be a rule, but it shall be a rule with a Superior manifested. He shall then be reigning for God, even as God is now reigning for Him. Then Psalm cxxxii. 11, 17. "The Lord hath sworn in truth unto David; He will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne." Now I affirm this will be fulfilled by Christ's coming as the King of the Jews to sit upon the Jews' throne, according to what is also testified in the annunciation of his nativity in Luke i. 32, 33: "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of his father David: and He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end." There is a little nicety perhaps here; the king of the Jews may not seem to imply Lord of the whole earth sitting in the midst of his spiritual people; but the truth is, He shall reign over the people of David, over the house of Jacob, even

by the very fact and circumstance of sitting in his aerial city, a spiritual King, an administrator of the government of the Holy Ghost, which is the government of the God and Father. Well then, in the 17th verse of that same Psalm: "There will I make the horn of David to bud: I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed." Now you know, if God's Word be true, this will be fulfilled; it has not been fulfilled; it shall be fulfilled; and how, without Christ's personal coming in the world? The last passage which I shall adduce to you from the Old Testament is one which contains rather more verses. It is from Isaiah lxiii. 1-6. "Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat? I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come. And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me. And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth." There can be no question

that this is a prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ; and as little question, that it represents Him in the state yet to come; for He never yet has been exhibited in the attitude, gesture and carriage of a conqueror. It in fact agrees with the descriptions given in the book of the Revelations, so distinctly marking his coming out of heaven with the hosts of heaven after Him, to spoil his enemies, in the character of the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Now I pass from hence to the New Testament, where I shall be rather more particular. And I entreat you to bear with me. I will endeavour to abstain from all remark, and simply to give you the words of the sacred writers. I had intended to have adduced some extracts from Matthew x; where, if I mistake not, allusion is made to the Lord's second coming. But I shall begin with Matthew xxiv; and take first verses 30, 31. "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. And He shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." Then verses 36-51 of the same chapter. "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they

were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of man cometh. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, that he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Now you must have observed what frequent mention of the coming of the Son of man here recurs; and how surely it is implied when it is not in terms expressed. Com

pass,

pare with this passage Luke xvii. 22-37. Turn next to Luke xxi. 25-36. "And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; when they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves, that summer is now nigh at hand. So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged 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." I cannot understand how the word "generation" as inclusive of the race of man,"this race of men, such as it is in state, in character, in principle, in relation, shall not pass away, till all these signs of woe shall have been fulfilled," -can mean the persons of that generation, as