Tation of Jefus Chrift. For then it will be revealed, to the eternal confufion of his foes, and the perpetual joy of his redeemed, what he is and will for ever be. Then will he blaze forth "In all the fplendour of the Deity! Darken the fun, confound the brighteft ftar, The nations then fhall own him for their God, Then will it be feen whom they infulted and reviled, when they faid, "Hail, King of the Jews," and," He faved others, himself he cannot fave." Then will it appear for whofe blood they clamoured, when they cried out, "Away with him, away with him; crucify him, crucify him." Then will Pilate fee who it was that he condemned to die, and Caiaphas whom he charged with blafphemy. Yea, then will the whole race of impenitent tranfgreffors acknowledge, however reluctant, the dignity and power of that man, whom they refused to reign over them. For then will he be revealed as the effulgence of his Father's glory, and the exprefs image of his perfon, even as God over all, bleffed for ever, poffeffed of infinite and unlimited authority, and all possible perfections ! "Ah, how unlike The Babe of Bethlehem! how unlike the man That man of forrows! Ah, how chang'd!" 4. Concerning this matter we can have no doubt at all, the Scripture is fo full and exprefs upon the head. The paflages above quoted, and which I need not here repeat, are a fufficient confirmation of it. Our Lord there fpeaks of his "fitting on the right-hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven" and again, of his "coming in the clouds clouds of heaven with power and great glory; and yet again, of his coming in his glory with all his holy angels with him, when he will fit upon the throne of his glory." I fhall only add here, juft fuch was the reprefentation of him made to St. John when he "faw heaven opened, and, behold, a white horse, and he that fat upon him was called Faithful and True. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns, and he had a name written which no man knew but himself, and he was clothed with a vesture dipt in blood, and his name is called The Word of God. And out of his mouth went a fharp twoedged fword, that with it he fhould fmite the nations, and he thall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the wine-prefs of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture, and on his thigh, a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS." 5. What a glorious difcovery was here afforded the Apoftle! What a grand and moft fublime defeription does he give us! What an auguft Perfonage is here reprefented to our view! But, ah! how much more will the representation ftrike us when it is made by Christ in perfon, and we fhall fee him as he is!-Shall fee heaven open, and the Son of God in the pomp of Majefty ineff able defcending !-Shall fee, "On an empyreal, flying throne, Awfully rais'd, heav'n's everlafting Son! And now what is all the fulfome pride of human greatnefs, and the affected pomp which decorates worms worms of the earth, to this inherent dignity and ineffable majefty of the glorious Redeemer! Ah, how does this refulgent Sun of Righteousness, thus beaming forth in his meridian glory, eclipfe all the borrowed brightness of feeble mortals! Surely all the renown'd Statesmen, victorious Generals, famed Conquerors, powerful Emperors, and mighty Monarchs which have ever dignified the annals of human history, and fhone with faint rays during the dreary night of this world, fhall disappear in the prefence of this God of Glory, when at the morning of the refurrection, the day of Eternity dawns upon us, juft as the ftars vanith before the rifing fun! Ah! how will all the "Kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men," be then athamed of that vain grandeur, on account of which they valued themselves, and confounded at their foolish and unreasonable pride, while they who pierced him, and neglected his great falvation, fhall wail because of him! 6. But further. To give us a ftill clearer view of the dignity of our exalted Savicur, and the glory of his Second Coming, befides his perfonal excellencies and divine majefty, which will be then fully displayed, his Attendants are likewife mentioned in our text, and in other parts of Scripture, and therefore fhould not be paffed over in filence; for they will yet more illuftrate that glorious day of his triumph.-We have already feen how hề fhall be revealed. from heaven, which fhall (as it were) unfold its cryftal ports, or cleave its ftarry plains afunder, and difcover inftantly to our view a ་་ great white throne, and him who fits upon it, from whofe face heaven and earth flee away, and there is no place found for them ;" and at the fight of whom, confternation,-terror and difmay fhall overwhelm the ungodly, and extin guish guish every gleam of comfort and ray of hope, But the Apostle further fays in our text, that he fhall be attended with his mighty Angels, a circumftance which is attefted by our Lord himself in the predictions he gave while upon earth of his Second Coming, (as quoted above,) and which he likewife included in the reprefentation of that event made to his fervants Daniel and John. The latter of whom tells us, he faw "the armies of heaven following him, clothed in fine linen white and clean;" and the former "beheld thousand thousands miniftering unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand tanding before him." What a glorious retinue have we here! How different from the twelve poor fishermen who attended (fhall I fay ?) or rather deferted him in his days of humiliation! Ah me! in how different a cha racter, and in what different circumftances, does the Saviour now appear! How chang'd from him who meekly proftrate laid, Vouchfaf'd to wash the feet himself had made : From him who was forfook, betray'd, deny'd; languish'd, pray'd, bled, thirfted, groan'd, and died; Hung, pierc'd and bare, infulted by the foe, All heaven in tears above, earth unconcern'd below!" 7. Thefe his holy angels will not only accompany him as attendants upon his perfon, to manifeft his divine power and authority, and to display his royal grandeur and magnificence, but likewife as ministers of his will, to execute his purposes of love to his people and of wrath to his enemies. Thefe, as harbingers of his glory, fhall prepare the way before him, and make ready for the appearance of the Univerfal Judge! I faw (fays the Apostle John) a mighty Angel come down from heaven, heaven, clothed with a cloud, and a rain-bow upon his head, and his face was as the fun, and his feet as pillars of fire, and he fet his right foot upon the fea and his left foot upon the earth, and cried with a loud voice as when a lion roareth, and when he had cried, feven thunders uttered their voices. And he lifted up his hand to heaven, and fware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven and earth and the fea, that there fhould be time no longer; but the mystery of God fhould, be finished, as he had declared to his fervants the Prophets." And now before, In grandeur terrible all heaven defcend, 8. Preparation being thus made, the Son of Man appears in his glory, and all his holy angels with him." And now he fends thefe "his angels with a great found of a trumpet, and they gather together his elect from one end of heaven to the other." And as they are employed, as the inftruments of his good-will and condefcending grace to his redeemed, whom they will feparate from the world, and gather as wheat into his garner; fo likewife fhall they be the minifters of his vengeance to the wicked, whom at the time of the general harvest, they fhall gather together like tares, and bind in bundles to burn them. Yes, at the end of the world," the Son of Man fhall fend forth his angels, and they fhall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them who do iniquity, and caft them into a furnace of fire, there shall be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth." 9. Another |