It is desirable also for the humiliation of his enemies. How will they, who so triumphed in his destruction, stand appalled, when they shall see " the stone which they rejected, become the head-stone of the corner ! " when they shall behold him seated on his throne, and hear him say, " Bring hither those that were mine enemies, who would not that I should reign over them, and slay them before me ! "
It is desirable also /or the comfort of his people. Unspeak- able is the comfort of reflecting, that He who was our Saviour will be our Judge. If we believe in him, and confide in his promises, will he deceive us ? If we plead the merit of his blood, will he not admit that plea ? Yea, will he not rather be a witness for us in that day, that, whilst we were in this world, we " lived by faith in the Son of God, as having loved us, and given himself for us ? " ]
Nor is it less certain, than it is desirable —
[" God has given us assurance of it, in that he has raised up Christ from the dead." Had Jesus not been raised, we might well have doubted all that he had spoken respecting his future advent : but this was such a confirmation of his word as did not admit a doubt : it was a proof that could not be counterfeited, and that must carry conviction to every mind. However strange, therefore, our Lord's predictions respecting his second coming must have appeared to those who saw him only as a poor despised mang, and however confident his judges were in pronouncing such assertions to be blasphemy11, we may be fully assured, that all judgment is committed to him, and that we shall all stand at his judgment-seat, to receive from him our final doom.]
Since then this awful day is fixed in the Divine counsels, and is so rapidly approaching, let us indulge the following reflections :
I. How earnestly should we engage in the great work of repentance !
[This is a work necessary for every child of man : and " God hath commanded all men every where to repent." He will no longer " wink at " our blind security : he has now given us the last and fullest revelation of his will ; and, if we improve it not to the salvation of our souls, he will visit us with his heaviest displeasure1. Let us not, like the Apostle's auditors, "mock" at these tidings, or defer the attention they deserve k :" but let us " seek the Lord whilst he may be found, and call upon him whilst he is near." We " know the terrors
s Luke xiii. 3. Rev. xiv. 10, 11. h ver. 32.
1 2 Cor. v. 10, 11. k Gal. vi. 7, S.