Il. WatcH! FOR THERE Is A PROSPECT OF CHRIST’? REVELATION IN THE FUTURE. Whilst we look back to the Lord’s departure, and his solemn injunctions and his sacred trust, we look forward to his return, according to his promise. 1. This is an assured fact. Our Lord’s second coming has been declared by him under many figures, each having its own shade of spiritual meaning and practical profit. He is s House holder, who will come to take account of his servants; a Proprietor, who will come te learn how his agents have traded and what they have gained; a King, who will come te make inquiry into the conduct of his citizens and great officers of state; a Judge, who will come to summon the people before his tribunal. 2. At the same time, the period of the Lord’s return is Atdden from us, and we are informed that to the unpre- pared it will be sudden and unexpected. Men have been presumptuous enough to foretell, with foolish confidence, what neither the angels nor the very Son of God would communicate. And again and again, in the course of history, there have been out- breaks of millennial fanaticism. But it is easy to see why the close of the age should be reserved as a secret in the Father’s mind. Had the Church been told that the advent was near, Christians would have been unfitted for the sober discharge of the duties of life; had the Church been assured that it was remote, such an ussurance would have prompted sloth and negligence. 3. Yet we may all live under a sense of the nearness of the Lord’s return. The personal interest to us of that return lies in the glory of Christ’s kingdom, and in the acknowledgment of our own faithfulness. This life we know is short, and the day of our account is not far off. And Christ would have us live as though he had but gone from us for a season, and were about
again to come to us,
208 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MARK. (on. xu. 1—37,
«“ And well I know That unto him who works, and feels he works, This same grand year is ever at the doors.”
TY, Warton! FoR THIS Is THE PLAIN DUTY OF THE PRESENT. We have spoken of the past and of the future; of the charge given by our Lord whilst yet on earth, | gnd of the prospect of our Lord’s return from heaven. But both these aspects of our religion bear upon the life and duty of to-day.
“Trust no future, howe’er pleasant ; Let the dead past bury its dead ; Think, act, in the living present— Heart within. and God o’erhead !”
1. Work! “ Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.” Now, whilst strength of body and mind are continued, labour for the Lord who lived and died for ou. Now, whilst you have control of your property, use it as stewards for God. ow, whilst you have infiuence over your domestic and social circle, use that influence for Christ. Ministers of the gospel, parents and teachers of youth, officers of congre- gations, followers of Jesus in every position of life,—be it yours to work for the Lord ou love and honour! ‘To-day is yours; to-morrow may be too late. 2. Pray! This you will do, if you realize your dependence for spiritual impulse and power upon the great Source of spiritual grace and blessing. 8o far from there being any incon- sistency between work and prayer, the two blend in perfect harmony. Prayer without work is mockery, and work without prayer is mechanical and powerless. 38. Watch! That is, keep guard over yourself and your trust; cherish an attitude of expectation and a feeling of responsibility. Oh for grace to live “as ever in the great Taskmaster’s eye” | “ Ye know not when the time is.” Watch! “ lest coming suddenly he find you sieeping | ae «Watch, for the night is long; Watch, for the foe is strong; Watch, for the treasure’s dear; Watch, for the Lord is near!”
“ Bappy is that servant, whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing!”
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS,
Vers. 1, 2.— Temple admiration. in the case of the Jews a natural and venial fault, if not carried to excess. Esteemed the type and pattern of architectural excellence, and one of the wonders of the world. Herod’s rebuilding was on s scale of magnificence unknown to their ancestors. The esvential features of the temple of Solomon were restored, but these were “surrounded by an inner enclosure of great stre and mag- nificence, measuring, as nearly as can be made out, one hundred and eighty cubits by two hundred and forty, and adorned by porches and ten gateways of great magnificence; and beyond this, again, was an outer enclosure, measuring externally four hundred cubits each way, which was adorned with porticoes of greater splendour than any we know of attached to any temple of the ancient world; all showing how strongly Roman influence was at work in enveloping with heathen magnificence the simple templar arrangements of a Shemitic people” (Smith’s ‘ Dictionary of the Bible’). be in his ‘ Antiquities,’ xv. 11, 3, speaks of stones “each in length twenty-five cubits, in height eight, in breadth about twelve ;” and in the ‘ Wars,’ v. 5, 6, of “some of the stones as forty-five cubits in length, five in height, and six in breadth.” Many of these were of sculptured marble. _The reply of Jesus may be read either affirmatively or interrogatively, or with a mixture of both assertion and question. The apodosis is, “There shall not be left here stone upon stone,” etc. Thus their lingering gaze is quietly but grandly rebuked, and their thoughts directed with solemn, practical
earnestness to the Divine future in which all that pomp of masonry and decoration was to have no place.
dH, x10, 1—37.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MARK. 208 a
I, THE NATURAL MIND I8 MOST IMPRESSED BY WHAT IS GREAT AND BEAUTIFUL IK OUTWARD APPEARANCE. The simple Galilean peasants were carried away with enthu- gsiastic admiration of the princely buildings, so unparalleled in their experience. To such an extent was this the case that they were in danger of being ensnared. 1. admiration ts easily confounded with spiritual attachment. The mind, in order to correct this error, must dwell on the spiritual truths of which external objects are but the symbols, and realize that, whilst the latter shall pass away, the former must endure for ever. 2. The world, in its sensuous totality, is similarly pregnant with temptation to the soul that has not learnt to look through the visible into the invisible and eternal.