ings of the Temple, he takes occafion to inform them, that in a little time that Place fhould be entirely demolish'd; fo that there fhould not be left one Stone upon another that should not be thrown down. Upon receiving of this Notice, they are very inquifitive to know, When Ver. 3. thefe things should be, and what should be the figus of his Coming, and of the End of the World. The first Enquiry, When fhall these things be? plainly refers to what our Saviour had been fpeaking of before, viz. The Destruction of Jerufalem; but the other Question was, concerning the Signs of Chrift's Coming, and the End of the World.

Now 'tis not improbable, that the Reason of the Difciples putting these two Questions together, might be the Apprehenfion they had, that the general Judgment would be immediately after the Destruction of Jerusalem; for this Opinion feems to have prevail'd in the Apostles Days. But however that was, this I think is very evident, that the Return which our Saviour gave to the latter of the aforemention'd Queries, does refer to our Lord's fecond Coming to judg Angels and Men at the End of the World; as when he speaks of his Coming in the Clouds of Heaven with Power and Ver. 30, 31. great Glory. And he shall fend 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.

Our Lord, a little after this, fignifies how great a Secret the particular time of the General Judgment is; But of that Day and Hour Ver. 36. knoweth no Man, no, not the Angels in Heaven, but my Father only. This could not be spoken with reference to the Destruction of Jerufalem,

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because our Saviour did exactly foretel the fad Catastrophe of the Jewish Temple and State. Now understanding this of our Lord's fecond famous Coming; yet it feems very strange, that any Secrets should be lock'd up from him, who eternally lay in the Bofom of the Father; that He who was the Wisdom of God, and ordain'd to be the Judg of the World, fhould not know the precife time of that Judgment: Of that Day and Hour knows no Man, i. e. the appointed Seafon and Time; No, not the Angels in Heaven, but my Father only. There are many things faid by Learned Men to folve this Difficulty, which I have not time to recite: That which feems beft to clear it, is to distinguish betwixt the Human and Divine Nature of our Saviour; for tho as God he knew all things, yet as Man he did not. The Human Underftanding of our Saviour was Finite, therefore could not be Omnifcient. Moreover, those Communications of Light which the Deity of Chrift made to his Human Soul, were purely Arbitrary; therefore, as Man, he had more Wisdom and Knowledg at one time than at another, or elfe he could not have been faid Lule 2. 52. to grow in Wisdom.

But I go on: Our Bleffed Saviour in feveral Verfes preceding the Text, gives an Account how fudden and furprizing his Coming at the

* The word weg is not to be taken strictly for that measure of time commonly called an Hour; this were to make our Saviour's Expreffion very flat, after that he has deny'd that the Day is known, to deny that they know the Hour: for if they do not know the Day, much lefs the Hour, &c. The four Seasons of the Tear are by the Greeks call'd weg, and in this Senfe the Word is us'd, not only in the aforemention'd Text, but in other Places. ABp. Tillotson in bis 9th Pofthumous Vol. p. 267.

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End of the World would be. But as the days of Noe were, fo fhall also the coming of the Son of Man be. The People of the Old World apply'd themselves to the bufinefs and diverfions of Life, until the Day that Noah enter'd into the Ark; and knew not until the Flood came Ver. 38,39. and took them all away: So fhall also the coming of the Son of Man be. Upon which our Saviour preffes to conftant Vigilancy and in the next words reprefents his fudden Coming, by a Thief's ftealing upon a Man at an unknown and uncertain Hour of the Night, when he has not the least expectation of being disturb'd or injur'd. For (fays he) know this, or, as fome think it may be better render'd, You do know this, that if the good Man of the House had known in what Watch the Thief would come, he would have watch'd, and would not have fuffer'd his House to be broken up. q. d. If every Houfholder would be thus careful to prevent the spoiling of his Goods, and the lofs of his earthly Treasure; how much more reafon is there for your providing against my Coming? for fhould it be while you are unprepar'd, you muft fustain an infinite lofs, that can never be repair'd

Therefore be ye alfo ready; for in fuch an Hour as you think not, the Son of Man cometh.

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Our Blessed Saviour frequently calls himself the Son of Man, who as fuch is to be our Judg, and under that Character he shall come, with all the Enfigns of Pomp and Terror, at the end of the World, to pass a definitive Sentence on the Quick and the Dead. The Nearnefs of our Lord's Approach, above fixteen hundred Years ago, was reprefented by his ftanding before the door. How fuddenly that

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that Door may open, and the Books too, out of which we fhall be judged, remains conceal'd from the World; God having laid up this Secret in Sacred Darkness, that we might be always ready. I allow that the Coming mention'd in our Text does refer to Christ's fecond Solemn Appearance as Judg; yet I fee no reafon but it may be improv'd with refpect to our Lord's other Coming previous to that I mean, to fummon us out of the World by Death, which unalterably binds us over to the final Affize; for the Day of Death does as effectually determine the State of Individuals, as the last Judgment fhall that of the whole World. The fuddennefs of its coming may be the fame, and the State of every Soul will be the fame; for after Death there will be no opportunity for correcting the disorders of Life, and confequently the danger of being unprepar'd for Death muft needs be the fame as to be unprovided for the Day of Judgment.

Therefore be ye also ready, &c. The Words are a genuine Inference from the Confideration of Chrift's fecond fudden Appearance to judg the World. Wherein we may observe,

First, A very Important Duty exhorted to, i.e. To get ready for that Awful Day.

Secondly, A forcible Reafon to perfuade to this Duty, in these words; For in fuch an Hour as you think not, the Son of Man cometh.

I fhall (as God fhall affift) fpeak to each of these, and then make fome Improvement futable to my Text, and the fad Occasion of preaching from it.

First, I am to open this Important Duty to which our Saviour preffes us in the Text; and to tell you wherein confifts a true readiness for Death, or the Second Coming of our Lord Jefus Chrift. And here I fhall not fcruple to make use of the common diftinction of an Habitual, and an Actual Readines.

1. I am to confider a readiness for Death and Judgment as Habitual, which confifts in a relative Change in the State, and a real Change in the Nature of a Man. For we must remember that by the Apoftacy of Adam we are not only made guilty, but polluted Creatures. The former renders us obnoxious to the Juftice, and the latter odious to the infinite Holiness of the Divine Nature; by the one we have loft our Right, and by the other our Meetnefs for the enjoyment of God. Now we cannot be prepar'd for our Lord's coming, unless the former be reftor'd, and the latter be recover'd.

But, (1.) In order to a readiness for Death and Judgment, there must be a relative Change in our State. All the Elect are by Nature legally dead; the Law curfes every one that is not perfectly obedient to it. The Apostle Paul in various places of his Epistle to the, Romans proves, that all Men by Nature are under the damnatory Sentence of the Law.. We have prov'd (fays he) both Jews and Gen- Rom. 3. § tiles, that they are all under Sin. There are not any of the chofen of God, but by Nature are Children of Wrath. The first Adam was related to every one of us, both as a common Father and as a federal Head: fo that we must be confider'd as Parties in the firft CoP 2 venant