enjoyed d11ring. the age11 that he.d preceded, yet they were but droppings to the frill fluo<l of goHpel hght and gospel hollne81 that 11hall hleas our earth in the ~k,ry of the latter clay, when all that "aee the light or feel the sun" shall know the Lord and walk before him In the beauty of holine81, Thus the ble88ing commenced at P~nte- cost, conUnuing ever since, shall be consummat.ed in that day when "the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth, 81 the water& cover the sea." II. DAYS OJI' T&lA.L ll'BBQUJIIIIITLY J'OLLOW Tilllll8 OJ' SPIRITUAL BLJll88DIG, The people he.d experience<l a merciful relief after the plagne or lOCU8ts or prostration of their enemies; but they are warned against carnal security, or the vain supposition that all troubles shall be for ever henceforth banished from their border1. 1. Even after the ~reat outpouring of the Spirit in Messianic timee, and specially on the Day of Pentecost there would be great CO'TMTl,()fMmB and terrible convulsions. These took place, as w; know, before the dreadful day of the destruction of Jerusalem ; and similar catastrophes, whether literal or figurative, shall occur before the still greater and more terrible day of the second coming of Christ to jndgment. Through all the interval, times of special spiritual blessing ha-ve been ID the past, and shall be in the future, followed by severe testing-times; "times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord" sliall not exempt us from such; even God's own dear children are not to look for a con- tinuance of halcyon days on earth. 2. Many cauee, contribute to this. After a time of reformation, or religious revival and refreshing, Satan will seek to sift them like wheat, and stir up all his rage against them. Opposed to the progress of the trutb, he will array all the power he possesses and all the agents he can command llj!ainat the Church. God himself will permit such a. winnowing-time a.a will separate the wheat from' the chaff, try the fa.ith, and prove the graces of hie people. We never know our real strength or points of weakness till the day of trial comes. But God will a.lao manifest the gri.atness of his displeasure against sin by humbling on the one hand those who, duriniz a time of rich spiritual blessing, refuse the offers of hie grace a.ad resist his- Spirit, and by punishing on the other lwnd all the enemies, public or secret, of himself and of his people. 3. The coming of Christ to judgment. Whether the wonders in the heaven and in the earth, blood and fire, and pillars of smoke, with eclipses of the eun and moon, be understood literally of the/recursors and presages of on-coming calamities, or figuratively of the calamities an catastrophes themselves, the second coming of the Lord at the general judgment, of which his coming to the destruction of Jerusalem wa.s a sort of dim foreshadow, shall abound with comfort to the saint. as it shall be fraught with terror to the sinner. To the one his coming shall be a day gi:eatly desired, to the other it shall be a day of distress and despair; for while he shall come to take vengeance on them that know not God and obey not the gospel of his grace, he will come to be glorified in the saints, and admired in all them that believe. III. DELIVERANCE FOR THE BEBVANTS OF Goo. 1. The pm-sona delivered are (1) those who ooll upon the Name of the Lord. These are the worshippers of God, who worship him in private as well as in public, with heart as well as head, and the con- fession of whose lips echoes the confidence of the heart. "This calling on God suppose:1 knowledge of him, faith in him, desire towards him, dependence on him, and, as an evidence of the sincerity of all this, a conscientious obedience to him; for without that, crying,·• Lord, Lord,' will not stand us in any stead." (2) They are described a.'I "called of God,"" effectually called "-<:ailed not only by the common and ordinary call of the gospel, but called specially into fellowship with God, Father, Son, and Spirit. Such are effectually called "from sin to God, from self to Christ, from things below to things above," The apostle explains the first characteristic as pertaining to the Gentiles; the second, some restrict to the Jews. We had better refer both to the saints of God, whether Gentile or Jew. (3) The persons spoken of in this Scripture are further particularized 83 persons escaped from destruction, and as a remnant left after some fierce fight or terrible judgment. 'l'he expression "remnant," so often used by the prophets, originally referred to those captives who had survived their brethren who had died in exile, or who formed a contrast to the dwellers in Jerusalem; subse- quently the e~pression contained the germ of the New Testament "elec_tion of grac 7.'' This remnant 1s composed, not only of the small nnmber of Jews that believed m Chmt nt hie first coming, but of" the little flock" (Jew Rnd Gentile) to whom God give:1 the kingdom; the" few that enter in at the strait gate;" tho "little city" and few men 3f\ TJIIE BOOK OF JOEL. [OH, II, 1-32,
in it, delivered l,y "the poor wise man." 2. The pl~ of deliverance. Thie w11e Mount. Zion and ,lc-rne11lem literally, but in a very limited eenae, if the reference be to those who escapc-d from the miseries a.nd c1Lla.mltiee of the fina.l and fea.rful eiege of the holy city, a.s also from ita ruin and destruction; such as believed In Ohrlat a.nd were in the city having e11Caped to Pella, and thua aurvived the common ca.la.mity. It la rnther Zion and Jerusalem in the apiritual eelll!e of the Church of Ohriat where the Deliverer is fonnd, whence salvation proceedA, or rather where a.coording to the alterna- tive rendering, th~ delivered, or such as he.ve escaped, a.re found. 3, The privileges of ~nch are manifold. They ha.ve experienced tokens of God's love upon them tee.chings of God's Spirit within them, the ueefulneee of God's Word and ordinance~, to 1 h<'m; they 11.re favoured with a spiritual frame of soul, and spread the savour of godliness a.round them.