good and evil, converted and unconverted, shall at length be divided into two distinct bodies. The visible Church shall no longer be a mixed body. The wheat and the tares shall no longer grow side by-side. The good fish and the bad shaU at length be sorted into two bodies. The angels shall come forth, and gather together the godly, that they may be rewarded ; and leave the wicked behind to be punished. "Converted or imcon- veorted," wiU be the only subject of enqiiiry. It will matter nothing that people have worked together, and slept together, and lived together for many years. They will be dealt with at last according to their religion. Those members of the family who have loved Christ, will be taken up to heaven ; and those who have loved the world, will be cast down to hell. Converted and un- otmverted shall be separated for evermore when Jesus comes again.
Let us lay to heart these things. He that loves his
relatives and friends is specially bound to consider them.
If those whom he loves are true servants of Christ, let
him know that he must cast in his lot with them, if he
would not one day be parted from them for ever. — If
those whom he loves are yet dead in trespasses and sins,
let him know that he must work and pray for Iheir con-
vamon, lest he should be separated from them by and
bje to all eternity. Life is the only time for such work.
Xiife is fast ebbing away from us all. Partings, and sep-
ajnations, and the breaking up of families are at all times
painful things. But all the separations that we see now
ajne nothing compared to those which will be seen when
Chnst oomes again.
346 stPuoxoaT raoviMtB
Nooi. LojLM XYU. 36—9!.
26. — [Ai U was in the days of Noe, So!] The whole passage, from this verse down to the end, applies exolusively to the second personal advent of Christ, when He shall come to set up His glorious kingdom. The Pharisees had inquired about Messiah's Kingdom. The disciples themselves thought much of it, and were full of ignorant expectations. Our Lord thought it good to show them that Messiah's kingdom in glory would be a far more solemn event than they supposed, and that it would find the vast majority of mankind utterly uuprepared. Instead of indulging' in carnal speculatious, and looking for carnal rewards, they would do well to study an unworldly frame of mind, and to take heed that they were ready for the kingdom in heart and life. Its setting up would be attended by such a sifting and separation as tbey had not considered. For that day of sifting they would do well to prepare.
Let it be noted, that our Lord speaks of NoaVs days as an illustration of the days of His own second advent, in the 24th chapter of St. Matthew. But the discourse which He delivered then was delivered on a totally different occasion from that before us. It is plain therefore that He used the illustration twice.
To apply the conclusion of this chapter, as many do, to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Bomans, appears to me an un- waiTantable, and violent straining of Scripture.
27. — {They did eat, they drank, Sc] These expressions would per- haps be more literally translated, " They were eating, they were drinking," &c. It was the habit of living, in which they were absorbed.
[Noe entered into the ark, do.] Let it be noted, that both here and in the two following verses, our Lord speaks of the history of Noah's ark, and of Lot and the destruction of Sodom, and of Ijot's wife, as real, true historical facts. The idea of modem scep- tics, that the events recorded in Genesis are nothing better than myths and fables, finds no countenance here. Specially let it be observed, that the modern notion of Neologians, that Sodom was destroyed by an earthquake, is completely overturned here. Our Jjord expressly asserts, that " It rained fire and brimstone from heaven." It is a dangerous thing to be wise above that which is written.
81. — [He which shall be upon the house-top, Sc.] This expression is remarkable. It is exactly like that which our Lord uses upon another occasion, where He is foretelling the destruction of Je- rusalem, and the miseries of its sieges, both the siege when the Bomans took it, and the siege foretold by Zechariah, (Zeoh. xiT.) which is yet to come. Yet in the passage before us there is no reference whatever to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Bo-
LTTKSy CHAP. xvn. vxA. 36—37. 349
numB. Tkd whole passage is exclnsively confined to the second •dTent of Christ, and the circumstances attending it.
What then are we to understand by the language which our Lord uses, both in this verse and the five which follow it?
The most probable* solution appears to me to be this. Our Lord desired to teach His disciples that His own second advent in glory would not be a time of carnal ease to everybody, as the Jews thought, but a time of trial to men's religion, and of sifting and separation to the visible church. — It would be ushered in by such a period of tribulation and suffering, that none but those who were sitting loose to the world, and ready to give up every- thing for Christ's sake, would come out of it unscathed. — It would be a time when believers must give up ail thought of worldly
foods, and beware of lingering and looking back to the world. Tothing but singleness of eye, wholeness of heart, and unworld- lioess of spirit would abide the fire of that day.
The verse before us, in short, appears to me a proverbial ex- pression. It shows the sort of thing which Christians must not do, and the sort of spirit which they must beware of, if they would come safely through the day of the Lord's appearing.
The house-tops in Eastern countries, be it remembered, are generally flat, and much used by the inhabitants. The stairs were often outside, and a man need not come down through the house to flee away. Moreover he might flee over the flat roofs of his neighbours' houses, and thus escape, in any sudden time of danger.
Whether in all this there may not be some reference to that fnture siege of Jerusalem, which is so closely connected with our Lord's second advent, (Zech. xiv.) I am not prepared to decide. There is perhaps a deeper and fuller meaning in the ▼erse than has yet been discovered. There are to be circum- stances attending the second advent of Christ, in all probability, of which at present we have very inadequate conceptions, and which perhaps are mercifully withheld from us now, because we could not bear them.
9& — [Whosoever shall seek^ Se.l This verse appears to point out that there will be a fiery trial of men's religion at the time of Christ's second advent, and that none will come through it safely, but those who are prepared to give up everything, even life it- self, for Christ's sake.
[Preserve if.] The word so rendered is very peculiar. It means literally " to bring forth alive." It is only found in one other place in the New Testament. Acts vii. 10.
M. — [Two vx)men,.,grinding together.'] This expression may seem vtrange to an English ear ^t first hearing. It is an exact des- cription of what may oommonly be seen Ia Eastern countries.
250 EXFOSnOBT THOUOHIS.
Major quotes the following passage from Dr. Clarke. *' Scaroely had we reached our apartments at Nazareth, than we beheld tw^o women grinding at the mill, in a manner most fully illustrating the saying of our Saviour. They were preparing nour to make bread, as is always customary when strangers arrive. The two women seated on the ground held between them two round flat stones. In the centre of the upper stone was a cavity for pour- ing in com, and by the side of this an upright wooden handle for moving the stone. One of the women with her right hand pushed this handle to the women opposite, who again sent it to her companion, thus giving a rotatory and very rapid motion to the upper stone. Their len hand was all the while employed in supplymg fresh com, as fast as the bran and com escaped from the sides of the machine.** See Exod. xL 5 ; Isai. xlvii. I — 3.
37. — [WTufret Lord?] The question of the disciples appears to show that they were entirely perplexed by the words which our Lord had just spoken. The answer tJiey received seems intended to keep them purposely in ignorance of our Lord's full meaning. At present they were not able to bear it.