How supremely must the heart of such have been fixed upon an unseen state! It is commonly held sufficient to be assured of a part in that resurrection, "for blessed and holy is he that" hath it. But, in the case before us, how far does this holy emulation outstrip that of the majority of professors! Here it was not enough to obtain the crown of life; but, "as there is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars;" so, in the resurrection of the dead, the glory of one saint shall differ in degree from the glory of another, as one obtains "a better resurrection," and upon this their hearts were fixed.

The prediction of Haggai is quoted in the xiith chapter, and St. Paul adduces it in connection with the events which occurred at Mount Sinai, when Jehovah, having shaken the nation of Egypt with his judgments, and, being about to shake the nations of Canaan out of their place, to make way for the fulfilment of his promises to Abraham and his seed, points to another event, which, after the overthrow of the Jewish polity in church and state, shall mark the conclusion of the gospel times: when He will shake the political heavens far and wide, and all the kingdoms of the earth shall be moved and melt away for the Lord cometh out of his

1 Rev. xx. 6.

place, at that time, to establish "a kingdom which cannot be moved," one " which shall break in pieces and consume all other kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever." Dan. ii. 44.

In the faith and expectation of these things he winds up his testimony; "For here we have not continuing city, but we seek one to come:" the same for which Abraham and the fathers looked: the same which was after shewn to John in vision, even a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.'

It is sometimes asked, What will be the nature of that great city, the New Jerusalem, which is represented as coming down from God out of heaven? I conceive no satisfactory reply can be given to this; for though all the figures are employed to describe it which convey to our minds whatsoever is brilliant and glorious, we can conceive in our present state nothing of its reality. Some have thought that the term is used to represent the glorious inhabitants, as we sometimes find, the whole city was moved, i. e. the inhabitants: the whole city came out to meet Him, i. e. the inhabitants. But, as it is spoken of in the Scriptures, as the place of residence for which Abraham and others looked, this cannot be. Wherefore, I conclude, that it must be those "many mansions," which our Lord said He was about to go to prepare for his people, John xiv. 2, 3: which when He had completed, He would come again and receive them to himself. From all which one only answer can reasonably be given to the preceding inquiry, namely, that if it is designed to represent the place in which the glorified saints shall congregate about their Lord, it will be of a kind befitting their state, which it can hardly enter into the heart of man to conceive in his present condition; and which, therefore, the pen of man cannot possibly describe.

CHAPTER III.

ST. JAMES.

THE epistle of James, the first Bishop of Jerusalem, addressed to the twelve tribes which were scattered abroad, contributes its testimony to the great Scripture truth of the Lord's return in glory. Having spoken of "the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him," the mind is naturally carried on to the day of his appearing; because it can intend no other crown than that which St. Paul had described as "the crown of righteousness;" and he informs us when that crown shall be bestowed, even "in that day" when the Lord shall be made manifest as "the righteous judge." In the next chapter he proves that his heart also was fixed, in common with his brethren, upon "the kingdom," of which so much had been said in the Scriptures of truth. He moreover speaks of it in the prevailing phraseology, of God's Word, as an inheritance, and therefore yet to come, teaching that such an inheritance is promised to the poor of this world, who are also poor in spirit, but rich in faith, and who love God. "Hearken,

3

1 Chap. i. 12.

2 2 Tim. iv. 12.

3 Chap. ii. 5.

66

my beloved brethren, hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which He hath promised to them that love Him?" He also writes, further on, of "the last days," shewing the vanity of “ heaping treasure together" in them.2 He tells those, who thus made a god of their wealth, of the event of such labour, and more especially where it is collected by unrighteousness and oppression. He directs their eyes to "the last days" in which they were living, and the man who follows his counsel and brings every thing to that standard, will find that the things which are heaped together in those days cannot be an enduring portion. He will also learn to change his own estimate of them; for the Spirit of truth will convince him that in the judgment, which shall follow those days, every thing shall be tested by God's standard of eternal truth. Hence he will be taught the absolute necessity of calling things now by their right names, and not as the world doth, by false ones of valuing things according to their real character, the character which they bear in the sight of God, and not that which the

Chap. v. 3.

2 The original words are ἐν ἐσχαταις ἡμεραις, in the last days, intimating that the time is fast wearing away during which such treasure will be of any worth, and such labour must be in vain. This meaning of the words is more consistent also with the way in which they are employed by St. Paul, Heb. i. 2: Acts ii. 17: 2 Pet. iii. 3.

world gives them. Thus he will learn the important lesson of godly sincerity; and, though his future conduct may condemn the past, and thus become a silent reflection upon the habits of thought and practice of the world in which he lives, still he will be right and the world wrong; and he has only to "be patient, therefore, unto the coming of the Lord." "Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient: stablish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh." ver. 7, 8.

The word employed by this apostle to express "the coming" must decide his meaning in this passage; and, as the word here used means a personal presence, there can be but one coming of the Lord intended.

Hence, therefore, the nearness of that event, in those days, must be that comparative nearness of which we have before spoken, which, as we have also shewn, is one of the most common modes of speech in use amongst ourselves. If, therefore, compared with the centuries which were passed and gone, the final coming of the

This word occurs Matt. xxiv. 3, 27, 37, 39: 1 Cor. xv. 23: 1 Thess. ii. 19: iii. 13: iv. 15, 23; and always means the personal appearing.