A Vision of the Latter-Day Glories |
Delivered on Sabbath Morning,
April 24th, 1859, by the
REV. C. H. Spurgeon
at the Music Hall, Royal
Surrey Gardens.
"And it shall come to pas in the last days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it."—Isaiah 2:2., & Micah 4:1.
THE PROPHETS OF GOD wore
anciently called seers, for they had a supernatural sight which could pierce
through the gloom of the future and behold the things which are not seen as yet,
but which God hath ordained for the last times. They frequently described what
they saw with spiritual eyes after the form or fashion of something which could
be seen by the eye of nature. The vision was so substantial that they could
picture it in words, so that we also may behold in open vision, the glorious
things which they beheld after a supernatural sort. Let us imagine Isaiah as he
stood upon Mount Zion. He looked about him and there were "the mountains that
are round about Jerusalem" far outvying it in height, but yielding to Zion in
glory. Dearer to his soul than even the snow-capped glories of Lebanon which
glittered afar off was that little hill of Zion, for there upon its summit stood
the temple, the shrine of the living God. the place of his delight, the home of
song, the house of sacrifice, the great gathering-place whither the tribes went
up, the tribes of the Lord. to serve Jehovah, the God of Abraham. Standing at
the gate of that glorious temple which had been piled by the matchless art of
Solomon, he looked into the future and he saw, with tearful eye, the structure
burned with fire; he beheld it cast down and the plough driven over its
foundations. He saw the people carried away into Babylon, and the nation cast
off for a season. Looking once more through the glass he beheld the temple
rising from its ashes, with glory outwardly diminished, but really increased. He
saw on till he beheld Messiah himself in the form of a little babe carried into
the second temple; he saw him there, and he rejoiced; but ere he had time for
gladness his eye glanced onward to the cross; he saw Messias nailed to the tree;
he beheld his back ploughed and mangled with the whip. "Surely he hath borne our
griefs and carried our sorrows," arid the prophet, and he paused awhile to
bemoan the bleeding Prince of the House of David. His eye was now doomed to a
long and bitter weeping, for he saw the invading hosts of the Romans setting up
the standard of desolation in the city. He saw the holy city burned with fire
and utterly destroyed. His spirit was almost melted in him. But once more he
flew through time with eagle wing, and scanned futurity with eagle eye; he
soared aloft in imagination, and began to sing of the last days—the end of
dispensations and of time. He saw Messias ones again on earth. He saw that
little hill of Zion rising to the clouds—reaching to heaven itself. He beheld
the New Jerusalem descending from above, God dwelling among men, and all the
nations flowing to the tabernacle of the Most High God, where they paid him holy
worship.
We
shall not, to-day, look through all the dim vista of Zion's tribulations. We
will leave the avenue of troubles and of trials through which the church
has passed and is to pass, and we will come, by faith, to the last
days; and may God help us while we indulge in a glorious vision of that which is
to be ere long, when "the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in
the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations
shall flow unto it." The prophet saw two things in the vision. He saw the
mountain exalted, and he beheld the nations flowing to it. Now will
you use your imagination for a moment; for there is a picture here which I can
scarcely compare to anything, except one of Martin's magnificent paintings, in
which he throws together such masses of light and shade that the imagination is
left at liberty to stretch her wings and fly to the utmost height. In the
present instance, you will not be able to outstrip the reality, however high you
may endeavor to soar; for that which is in our text will certainly be greater
than that which the preacher can utter, or that which you may be able to
conceive.
Transport yourselves for a
moment to the foot of Mount Zion. As you stand there, you observe that it is but
a very little hill. Bashan is far loftier, and Carmel and Sharon outvie it. As
for Lebanon, Zion is but a little hillock compared with it. If you think for a
moment of the Alps, or of the loftier Andes, or of the yet mightier Himalayas,
this mount Zion seems to be a very little hill, a mere mole-hill insignificant,
despicable, and obscure. Stand there for a moment, until the Spirit of God
touches your eye, and you shall see this hill begin to grow. Up it mounts, with
the temple on its summit, till it outreaches Tabor. Onward it grows, till
Carmel, with its perpetual green, is left behind, and Salmon, with its
everlasting snow sinks before it. Onward still it grows, till the snowy peaks of
Lebanon are eclipsed. Still onward mounts the hill, drawing with its mighty
roots other mountains and hills into its fabric; and onward it rises, till
piercing the clouds it reaches above the Alps; and onwards still, till the
Himalayas seem to be sucked into its bowels, and the greatest mountains of the
earth appear to be but as the roots that strike out from the side of the eternal
hill; and there it rises till you can scarcely see the top, as infinitely above
all the higher mountains of the world as they are above the valleys. Have you
caught the idea, and do you see there afar off upon the lofty top, not
everlasting snows, but a pure crystal table-land, crowned with a gorgeous city,
the metropolis of God, the royal palace of Jesus the King. The sun is eclipsed
by the light which shines from the top of this mountain; the moon ceases from
her brightness, for there is now no night: but this one hill, lifted up on high,
illuminates the atmosphere, and the nations of them that are saved are walking
in the light thereof. The hill of Zion hath now outsoared all others, and all
the mountains and hills of the earth are become as nothing before her. This is
the magnificent picture of the text. I do not know that in all the compass of
poetry there is an idea so massive and stupendous as this—a mountain heaving,
expanding, swelling, growing, till all the high hills become absorbed, and that
which was but a little rising ground before, becomes a hill the top whereof
reacheth to the seventh heavens. Now we have here a picture of what the church
is to be.
Of
old, the church was like Mount Zion, a very little hill. What saw the nations of
the earth when they looked upon it?—a humble man with twelve disciples. But that
little hill grew, and some thousands were baptized in the name of Christ; it
grew again and became mighty. The stone cut out of the mountain without hands
began to break in pieces kingdoms, and now at this day the hill of Zion stands a
lofty hill. But still, compared with the colossal systems of idolatry, she is
but small. The Hindoo and the Chinese turn to our religion, and say, "It is an
infant of yesterday; ours is the religion of ages." The Easterns compare
Christianity to some miasma that creeps along the fenny lowlands, but their
systems they imagine to be like the Alps, outsoaring the heavens in height. Ah,
but we reply to this, "Your mountain crumbles and your hill dissolves, but our
hill of Zion has been growing, and strange to say, it has life within its
bowels, and grow on it shall, grow on it must, till all the
systems of idolatry shall become less than nothing before it, till false gods
being cast down, mighty systems of idolatry being overthrown, this mountain
shall rise above them all, and on, and on, and on, shall this Christian religion
grow, until converting into its mass all the deluded followers of the heresies
and idolatries of man, the hill shall reach to heaven, and God in Christ shall
be all in all." Such is the destiny of our church, she is to be an
all-conquering church, rising above every competitor.
We may more fully explain this
in two or three ways. The church will be like a high mountain, for she will be
pre-eminently conspicuous. I believe that at this period the thoughts of
men are more engaged upon the religion of Christ than upon any other. It is
true, and there be few that will deny it, that every other system is growing
old: gray hairs are scattered here and there, although the followers of these
religions know it. As for Mahomet, has he not become now effete with grey old
age? And the sabre once so sharp to slay the unbeliever hath it not been blunted
with time and rested into its scabbard? As for the old idolatries, the religion
of Confucius, or of Budha, where are their missionaries, where the old activity
that made minor idolatries bow before them? They are now content to be confined
within their own limit, they feel that their hour is come that they can grow no
further, for their strong man is declining into old age. But the Christian
religion has become more conspicuous now than ever it was. In every part of the
world all people are thinking of it; the very gates of Japan—once fast
closed—are now open to it, and soon shall the trumpet voice of the gospel be
heard there, and the name of Jesus the Son of the Highest shall there be
proclaimed by the lips of his chosen servants. The hill is already growing, and
mark you, it is to grow higher yet; it is to be so conspicuous, that in every
hamlet of the world the name of Christ shall be known and feared. There shall
not be a Bedouin in his tent, there shall not be a Hottentot in his kraal, there
shall not be a Laplander in the midst of his eternal snow, or an African in that
great continent of thirst, that shall not have heard of Christ. Rising higher,
and higher, and higher, from north to south, from east to west, this mountain
shall be beheld; not like the star of the north which cannot be seen in the
south, nor like the "cross" of the south which must give way before the "bear"
of the north—this mountain, strange to say it, contrary to nature shall be
visible from every land. Far-off islands of the sea shall behold it, and they
that are near shall worship at the foot thereof. It shall be pre-eminently
conspicuous in clear, cloudless radiance gladdening the people of the earth.
This I think is one meaning of the text, when the prophet declares "that the
mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains.
and shall be exalted above the hills."
This, however, is but a small
part of the meaning. He means that the church of Christ shall become awful
and venerable in her grandeur. It has never been my privilege to be able to
leave this country for any time, to stand at the foot of the loftier mountain"
of Europe, but even the little hills of Scotland, where half way up the mist is
slumbering, struck me with some degree of awe. These are some of God's old
works, high and lofty, talking to the stars, lifting up their heads above the
clouds as though they were ambassadors from earth ordained to speak to God in
silence far aloft. But poets tell us—and travelers who have but little poetry
say the same—that standing at the foot of some of the stupendous mountains of
Europe, and of Asia, the soul is subdued with the grandeur of the scene. There,
upon the father of mountains, lie the eternal snows glittering in the sun-light,
and the spirit wonders to see such mighty things as these? such massive ramparts
garrisoned with storms. We seem to be but as insects crawling at their base,
while they appear to stand like cherubims before the throne of God, sometimes
covering their face with clouds of mist, or at other times lifting up their
while heads, and singing their silent and eternal hymn before the throne of the
Most High. There is something awfully grand in a mountain, but how much more so
in such a mountain as is described in our text, which is to be exalted above all
hills, and above all the highest mountains of the earth.
The church is to be awful in her
grandeur. Ah! now she is despised; the infidel barketh at her, it is all he can
do; the followers of old superstitions as yet pay her but little veneration. The
religion of Christ, albeit that it has to us all the veneration of eternity
about it—"For his goings forth were of old, even from everlasting"—yet to men
who know him not Christianity seems to be but a young upstart, audaciously
contending with hoary-headed systems of religion. Ay, but the day shall come
when men shall bow before the name of Christ, when the cross shall command
universal homage, when the name of Jesus shall stay the wandering Arab and make
him prostrate his knee at the hour of prayer, when the voice of the minister of
Christ shall be as mighty as that of a king, when the bishops of Christ's church
shall be as princes in our midst, and when the sons and daughters of Zion shall
be every man of them a prince, and every daughter a queen. The hour cometh, yea,
and now draweth nigh, when the mountain of the Lord's house in her awful
grandeur shall be established on the top of the mountains.
There is yet, however, a deeper
and larger meaning. It is just this—that the day is coming when the church of
God shall have absolute supremacy. The church of Christ now has to fight
for her existence. She hath many foes, and mighty ones too, who would snatch the
chaplet from her brow, blunt her sword, and stain her banners in the dust; but
the day shall come when all her enemies shall die; there shall not be a dog to
move his tongue against her. she shall be so mighty that there shall be nought
left to compete with her. As for Rome, you shall seek but find it not. It shall
be hurled like a millstone in the flood. As for Mahomed's lustful superstition,
they shall ask for it, but the imposter shall not be found. As for false gods,
talk to the bittern and the owl, to the mole, and to the bat, and they shall
tell you where they shall be discovered. The church of Christ at that time shall
not have kings of the earth to bind her, and to control her, as if she were but
a puny thing, nor shall she have them to persecute her and lift up their iron
arm to crush her; but she, then, shall be the queen and empress of all nations;
she shall reign over all kings; they shall bow down and lick the dust of her
feet; her golden sandals shall tread upon their necks; she, with her scepter,
with her rod of iron, shall break empires in pieces like earthen vessels. She
shall say, "Overturn! overturn! overturn! until he come, whose right it is; and
I will give it HIM" The destiny of the church is universal monarchy. What
Alexander fought for, what Ceasar died to obtain, what Napoleon wasted an his
life to achieve, that Christ shall have:—the universal monarchy of the broad
acres of the earth. "The sea is his, and he made it, and his hands formed the
dry land." The whole earth shall come, and worship, and bow down, and kneel
before the Lord our Maker; for every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
You have now, I
think, the meaning of the text,—the church growing and rising up till she
becomes conspicuous, venerable, and supreme. And now let me pause here a moment,
to ask how this is to be done.
How is this to be done? I reply,
there are three things which will ensure the growth of the church. The first is
the individual exertion of every Christian. I do not think that all the
exertions of the church of Christ will ever be able to reach the climax of our
text. I think we shall see something more than natural agency, even though
employed by the Spirit, before the church of Christ shall be exalted to that
supremacy of which I have spoken; but, nevertheless, this is to contribute to
it. In the olden times, when men raised cairns to the memory of departed kings,
it was usual to put a heap of stones over the tomb, and every passer-by threw
another stone. In course of age. those mounds grew into small hills. Now the
church of Christ in the present day is growing something in that way. Each
Christian converted to Christ throws his stone; we each do our measure. By the
grace of God let us each make sure of one stone being deposited there, and
strive to add another by laboring to be the instruments of bringing someone else
to Christ; in this way the church will grow; and as year after year rolls on,
each Christian serving his Master, the church will increase; and it shall come
to pass in the last times, that even by the efforts of Christ's people, owned by
God the Holy Spirit, this mountain shall be highly exalted in the midst of the
hills.
This
however, although all that we can do, is not, I think, all that we have to
expect. We can do no more, but we may expect more. Besides, the
church of Christ differs from all other mountains in this:—that she has within
her a living influence. The ancients fabled that under Mount Etna, Vulcan was
buried. Some great giant, they thought, lay there entombed; and when he rolled
over and over, the earth began to tremble, and the mountains shook, and fire
poured forth. We believe not the fable, but the church of God, verily, is like
this living mountain. Christ seems to be buried within her; and when he moves
himself his church rises with him. Once he was prostrate in the garden; then
Zion was but a little hill; then he rose, and day-by-day as he is lifted up his
church rises with him; and in the day when he shall stand on Mount Zion, then
shall his church be elevated to her utmost height. The feet is, that the church,
though a mountain, is a volcano—not one that spouts fire, but that hath fire
within her; and this inward fire of living truth, and living grace, makes her
bulge out, expands her side, and lifts her crest, and onwards she must tower,
for truth is mighty, and it must prevail—grace is mighty, and must
conquer—Christ is mighty, and he must be King of kings. Thus you see that there
is something more than the individual exertions of the church; there is a
something within her that must make her expand and grow, till she overtops the
highest mountains,
But mark you, the great hope of
the church, although it is reckoned madness by some to say it, is the second
advent of Christ. When he shall come, then shall the mountain of the Lord's
house be exalted above the hills. We know not when Jesus may come. All the
prophets of modern times have only been prophets from the fact that they have
made profit by their speculations; but with the solitary exception of that pun
upon the word, I believe they have not the slightest claim upon your credit; not
even men who are doctors of divinity, who can spoil an abundance of paper with
their prophesies of second Adventism; "Of that day and that hour knoweth no man,
no, not the angels of God." Christ may come this morning; while I am addressing
you Christ may suddenly appear in the clouds of heaven. he may not come for many
a weary age. but come he must; in the last days he must appear; and when Christ
shall come he will make short work of that which is so long a labor to his
church. His appearance will immediately convert the Jews. They have looked for
Messias a king. there he is, in more than regal splendor. They shall see him.
they shall believe on him; he will then tell them that he is the Messiah whom
their fathers crucified. Then will they look on him whom they have pierced, and
they will mourn for their sin, and gathering round their great Messiah in
glorious march they shall enter and be settled in their own land. They shall
once more become a great and mighty nation, nay, a Jew shall become a very
prince among men, firstborn in the church of God. Then shall the fullness of the
Gentiles be converted and all kindreds and people shall serve the Son of David.
Mark, the church is to rise first, and when the church has risen to eminence and
greatness, the nations will flow unto her. Her rising will not be owing to the
nations, but to the advent of Christ, and after she has become great,
conspicious, and supreme, then will the nations flow to her. I am looking for
the advent of Christ, it is this that cheers me in the battle of life—the battle
and cause of Christ. I look for Christ to come, somewhat as John Bunyan
described the battle of Captain Credence with Diabolus. The inhabitants of the
town of Mansoul fought hard to protect their city from the prince of darkness,
and at last a pitch battle was fought outside the walls. The captains and the
brave men of arms fought all day till their swords were knitted to their hands
with blood; many and many a weary hour did they seek to drive back the
Diabolians. The battle seemed to waver in the balance, sometimes victory was on
the side of faith, and anon, triumph seemed to hover over the crest of the
prince of hell; but just as the sun was setting, trumpets were heard in the
distance, Prince Emmanuel was coming, with trumpets sounding, and with banners
flying, and while the men of mansoul passed onwards sword in hand, Emmanuel
attacked their foes in the rear, and getting the enemy between them twain, they
went on, driving their enemies at the swords point, till at last, trampling over
their dead bodies, they met, and hand to hand the victorious church saluted its
victorious Lord. Even so must it be. We must fight on day-by-day and
hour-by-hour; and when we think the battle is almost decided against us, we
shall hear the trump of the archangel, and the voice of God, and he shall come,
the Prince of the kings of the earth: at his name, with terror they shall melt,
and like snow driven before the wind from the bare side of Salmon shall they fly
away; and we, the church militant, trampling over them, shall salute our Lord,
shouting, "Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, the Lord God Omnipotent
reigneth." Thus then, have I explained the first part of the text.
II. The second part
of the text we have to consider, is this sentence—"AND ALL NATIONS SHALL FLOW
UNTO IT." Here is a figure, perhaps not so sublime, but quite as beautiful as
the first. Still endeavor to retain in your minds the picture of this stupendous
mountain, reaching above the clouds, seen by all mankind, in either hemisphere,
a wonder of nature which could not be accomplished by the ordinary rules of art,
but which divine wisdom will be able to perform. Well, wonder of wonders, you
see all the nations of the earth converging to this great mountain, as to a
common center. Once in the year all the people of Israel were wont to go to the
little hill of Zion; and now, once for all, you see, not Israel, but all the
nations of the earth comming to this great hill of Zion, to worship the Most
High God. The white sails are on the Atlantic, and the ships are 'dying before
the wind, even as the bird flitteth through the sky. What bear they? What is
their noble cargo? Lo! they come from far, bringing the sons and daughters of
Zion from the ends of the earth. See you there the camel and the dromedary, the
great caravan passing over the pathless desert? What are these and what is their
costly freight? Lo they are bringing the daughters of God, and the sons of Zion
up to the Most High God, to worship him. From all parts of the earth you see
them coming—from the freezing cold and from the burning heat, from the far-off
islands of the sea, and from the barren sands they come; they come, all
converging towards the great center of their high and holy worship. This we are
not to understand of course, literally, but as a figure of the great spiritual
fact that all the souls of men shall tend to Christ, and to union with his
church.
Again, I beg you carefully to
observe the figure. It does not say they shall come to it, but they shall
"flow unto it." Understand the metaphor. It implies first their number.
Now our churches are increased, converts drop into the churches; drop
after drop the pool is filled. But in those days they shall flow into it; now it
is but the pouring out of water from the bucket; then it shall be as the rolling
of the cataract from the hillside, it shall flow into it. Now our converts,
however numerous, are comparatively few, but then a nation shall be born in a
day. The people shall renounce their gods at once. Whole nations shall of a
sudden by an irresistible impulse flow into the church, not one by one, but in
one vast mass. The power of God shall be seen in bringing whore rations into the
church of God. You have seen the river flowing onward to the sea, with its banks
all swollen, bearing its enormous contribution to the boundless ocean. So shall
it be in the last days; each nation shall be like a river, rolling towards the
foot of this great mountain, the church of the living God. Happy, happy, happy
day, when India and China with their teeming myriads, and all the nations of the
earth, with their multitude of tongues, shall flow into the mountain of
God!
But the
text conveys the idea not only of numbers, but of—(I know the exact word, but
then I do not like to use it, for fear some should not know the meaning of it,
it means that the nations of the earth shall come willingly to
it)—spontaneity. That was the word I wanted to use; but wherefore should
we use big words; when we might find little ones. They are to come willingly to
Christ; not to be driven, not to be pumped up, not to be forced to it, but to be
brought up by the word of the Lord, to pay him willing homage; they are to flow
to it. Just as the river naturally flows down-hill by no other force than that
which is its nature, so shall the grace of God be so mightily given to the sons
of men, that no acts of parliament, no state churches, no armies will be used to
make a forced conversion. "The nations shall flow unto it." Of themselves, made
willing in the day of God's power, they shall flow to it. Whenever the church of
God is increased by unwilling converts it loses strength; whenever men join the
church because of oppression, which would drive them to make a profession of
religion, they do not flow, the church is weakened, end not strengthened, but in
those days the converts shall be voluntarily won—shall come in willingly by
divine grace; they shall flow unto it.
But yet again, this represents
the power of the work of conversion. They "shall flow to it." Imagine an
idiot endeavoring to stop the river Thames. He gets for himself a boat, and
there he stands, endeavoring to push back the stream. He objects to it flowing
towards the sea. and with his hands he tries to put it back. Would you not soon
hear laughter along the banks? Ah, fool, to attempt to stop the stream! Now, the
word "flow," here conveys just the idea. "The nations shall flow unto it." The
Secularist may rise up and say, "Oh, why be converted to this fanatical
religion? Look to the things of time." The false priests may rouse themselves
with all their anger to defy Christ, and endeavor to keep their slaves; but all
their attempts to stop conversion will be like an idiot seeking to drive back a
mighty stream with his puny hands. "All nations shall flow unto it." What an
idea it is! Oh, take your stand to-day, like prophets of the Lord, and look into
the future. To day the church appears like the dry bed of a torrent; here I
stand, and I see a little water flowing in a secret and thread-like stream,
amongst the stones. So little is it that I can scarcely detect it, but I take
the glass of prophecy, I look far onward, and I see a rolling mass of water,
such as is sometimes seen in the rapid rivers of Africa; and there it is, coming
with thundering sound. Wait for a few more years, and that torrent, like
Kishon's mighty river, sweeping all before it, shall fill this dry bed, and
swell on, and on, and on, with tumultuous waves of joy, till it meets the ocean
of Christ's universal reign, and loses itself in God. Here you see, then, you
have more than your imagination can grasp. This stupendous mountain, and all the
nations of the earth—vast numbers with immense force—spontaneously coming up to
the house of the living God.
Now, I shall close by a
practical address, very brief, and I trust very earnest. Is it not a great
subject for praise that the nations of the earth may flow to the hill of
God and to his house? If I were to tell you that all the nations of Europe were
climbing the sides of the Alps, you would ask me, "And what benefit do they gain
thereby? They must pass over the slippery fields of ice and they may lose their
lives in the midst of the bottomless chasms that are overhung by the mighty
precipices; they may suddenly be overwhelmed and buried in the all-destroying
avalanche, and should they reach the summit they must fall down exhausted. What
is there that men should covet in those barren heights; rarefied air and cold
would soon destroy them, should they attempt to exist there." Ah, but it is not
so with God's hill. There shall be no snow upon its summit, but the warmth and
light of Jehovah's love, there shall be no chasms in its side wherein souls may
be destroyed, for there shall be a way, and a highway, (the unclean shall not
pass over it) a way so easy that the wayfaring man shall not err
therein.
The
mountains of which we read in Scripture were some of them such, that if they
were accessible no one would desire to climb them. There were bounds set round
about Sinai, but had there been no bounds who would hare wished to ascend it? A
mountain that burned with fire, and upon which there was a sound as of a trumpet
waxing exceeding loud and long. No, brethren, we are not come to a mountain like
Sinai with its supernatural thunders; we are not come to a hill bare, and
barren, and bleak, and difficult to climb, like the mountains of earth; but the
hill of God, though it is a high hill, is a hill up which on hands and knees the
humble penitent may readily ascend. Ye are come to a mountain which is not
forbidden to you. there are no bounds set about it to keep you off, but you are
freely bidden and freely invited to come to it. And the God who invited you will
give you grace to come. If he has given you the will to come, he will give you
grace to climb the sides of the hill, till you shall reach its upper glories,
and stand on its summit transported with delight. While I am talking about the
nations that will flow to Christ, might we not weep to think that there are so
many in this congregation that are not flowing to Christ but are going
from him? Ah! soul; what are the splendours of the Millennium to thee, if
thou art his enemy? For when he tramples his foes in his hot displeasure, thy
blood shall stain his garments, even as the garments of the wine-pressers are
stained with the blood of the grape. Tremble, sinner, for the advent of Christ
must be thy destruction though it shall be the church's Joy and comfort. Ye say,
"Come quickly." Know ye not that to you the day of the Lord is darkness and not
light, for that day burneth as an oven, and they that are proud and do wickedly
shall be as stubble, and the fire shall consume them with burning heat. Oh! ye
people that to-day hear the words of Jesus! ye are now this day invited to come
to the mountain of his church, on which stands his cross and his throne. Ye
weary, heavy laden, sin-destroyed sin-ruined souls, ye that know and feel your
need of Jesus ye that weep because of sin, ye are bidden to come now to Christ's
cross. to look to him who shed his brood for the ungodly, and looking to him,
you shall find peace and rest; so that when he cometh with rainbow wreath, and
robes of storm, you shall be able to see him, not with alarm and terror, but
with joy and gladness. for you shall say, "Here he is, the man who died for me
has come to claim me, he who bought me has come to receive me; my judge is my
Redeemer, and I will rejoice in him." Oh! turn ye, ye English heathens—turn ye
unto God! ye inhabitants of London, some of you as vile as the inhabitants of
Sodom. turn ye, turn ye to God! O Lord Jesus! by thy grace turn every one of us
to thyself! Bring in thine elect; let thy redeemed rejoice in thee; and then let
the fullness of the nations flow unto then, and thine shall be the glory, for
ever and ever.