bound with love, and let your bosoms burn with gratitude. Think of the hours of penitence; then think of the good-will of God, and go on your way with the prophetic song, " O Lord, I will praise thee; though thou wast angry with we, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortest me." Think of affliction; and then think of the good-will of God, and come to the conclusion of the apostle, when he said, "Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." Think of the hour of death; and then think of the good-will of God to man, and confront the last enemy with the triumphant exclamation, "O grave, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?" Think of the judgment-day, of the conflagration of the globe, of the melting of the elements, of the passing away of the heavens, of the burning of the earth, of the rearing of the great white throne, and of the pronunciation of the irrevocable destiny of the whole human race; and then think of the goodwill of God, and anticipate the utterance of the words, "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." Think of the ages of eternity, rolling for ever and for ever, either in heaven or in hell; and then think of the good-will of God, and you may turn to" the peace of God, which passeth all understanding," flowing from his throne, interminable like the perfections of his nature, and passing all knowledge like the heights and depths of his love.

Thus you see, my dear friends, that, if you advert even to the surface of the subject, if you even contemplate it as it presents itself to the most superficial observer, you find abundant reason why the song of the angels at the birth of the Savior should be, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will toward men."

Ah! my

Now it would ill become me to apply these principles to the matter that has convened us this evening, if I did not, before I proceed, make my appeal to this numerous auditory, while I ask of all the individuals of whom it is composed, if they have any acquaintance with the mediation of Christ, thus bringing "glory to God," thus diffusing "peace on earth," and thus connected with "good-will to men." dear hearers, it will be of no consequence to you who may be saved if you are not; and it will be of no avail to you who may pass through the golden gates of the celestial city into the new Jerusalem, if you are not there. Allow me this evening to make my appeal to you. I remember how, two and twenty years ago, in this place, I first commemorated the Savior's dying love, at a Missionary Communion; since that time I have never been within the walls of this edifice; and such is the uncertainty of human life, that it is exceedingly probable we never shall be collected together again, until we stand before the judg

-I

ment-seat of Christ. Now I must be permitted, under these circumstances, though" in weakness, and in fear, and much trembling" must be permitted, before I bring this discourse to a conclusion, to make one appeal to you. Now I ask you - I ask you if you have -I any experimental and personal acquaintance with the mediation of Christ, the sum and the substance of which are presented to you in the song of the angels. Yonder, I fear, may be found an individual, who, after having heard the gospel month after month and year after year, has only realized one influence from it, hardening his heart and preparing him as fuel for the flame. And I fear, many in this place at the present time, know not the power of prayer, have never uttered the words, “Lord, save us, or we perish," and are still at a distance from the shelter of the Redeemer's love. Poor, unfortunate individuals! have pity, have pity upon yourselves; if you turn aside from the Savior, there is no other sacrifice for sin, and you are actually perpetrating, with suicidal hands, the murder of your everlasting peace. Poor, unfortunate individuals! have pity, have pity upon yourselves; days are passing; time is receding; eternity is advancing; many, on your right hand and on your left, have recently been taken to their long home. O, why are you unconcerned? If the stubborn knee has never bent in prayer before, O let it begin to bend to-night. If the callous soul has never uttered the exclamation for mercy before, O let it plead to-night. By all the perfections of God, which have this evening been presented to your view-by all the sweet influences of the gospel of everlasting peace - by all the immensity of the love of God-by all the songs of angels - by all the transports of the redeemed on the one hand, and by the weeping, and the wailing, and the gnashing of teeth of the damned on the other, I entreat you, I implore you, I charge you, that this evening you begin to attend to the things which belong to your peace. Spirit of the living God! descend and rest upon this congregation. Spirit of grace and of supplication! descend and rest upon this congregation. Spirit of power, and of love, and of a sound mind, and of holiness, and of peace! descend and rest upon this congregation. Spirit of glory and of God! descend and rest upon this congregation. Oh! that now-oh! that now there may be a shaking among the dry bones. Oh! that now oh! that now it may be said of many of you, "Behold, he prayeth!" Oh! that now-oh! that now there may be rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God, over many sinners that are repenting here. Then our meeting together will have been for the better and not for the worse; and then, in a brighter world of loveliness and of day, we shall strike together our golden harps to the Savior's praise, and cast

our starry crowns at his feet, while, with the whole celestial universe, we unite in the acclamation, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain! worthy is the Lamb that was slain!"

Now, my friends, the engagements of this Sabbath have drawn to a close. Now the shadows of the evening have gathered around us. Now we are another Lord's day nearer to eternity. How long we may be spared we cannot tell; how many more opportunities we may have of hearing of the glad tidings of great joy we cannot tell; how long we may live to call upon the mercy of God, and to present ourselves before the throne of grace, we cannot tell. But as you go out at those doors to-night, and as you return to your respective places of abode, let the following inquiry dwell upon your minds, and be connected with your prayers: "The friend or the foe of the Savior, which am I?" I have heard to-night of the angelic ascription, now let me bring the matter to a test and to a close. "The friend or the foe of the Savior - which am I?" All eternity, all heaven, all earth, all hell, await your reply. "The friend or the foe of Christ- which am I?"

Arise, O God, and plead thine own cause! arise, O God, and plead thine own cause!

SERMON XII.

A COMING LORD.

BY REV. JOSEPH WOLFF, D. D.,

A CONVERTED JEW.

And, behold,
He shall be

"And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary for thou hast found favor with God. thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end."-LUKE i. 30–33.

You perceive, my friends, that this is prophecy.

Therefore, for the better understanding of it, we must first of all give you the definition of prophecy. Prophecy is a prediction of an event, which is still to come; a prediction of history.

Now how must such a prophecy be construed, in order to find out the real sense of it? We must try to find out the grammatical meaning of it; and then we must examine whether such a prophecy has really been fulfilled. This is quite common sense; and every one of you will agree with me. Moses himself gives us, in Deuteronomy,

If the

this direction, how we may know that a prophet has spoken. event he predicted has come to pass, then we may know that a prophet has been among us; if the event does not come to pass, then he has spoken presumptuously and rashly.

Let us now examine this prediction; which had been given already in the twenty-third of Jeremiah, and seventh of Isaiah.

"Fear not, Mary; for thou hast found favor with God." And in what was this favor to consist? "And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus." This verse needs no interpretation at all. Every one knows, it is admitted by all, by profane history, by the Jews, in Josephus and in their other writers, the most deadly foes of Christ, that Jesus was born, and that the Virgin Mary was his mother.

"He shall be great." Every one will admit this again—will admit that he was great. The mode of establishing his religion by twelve fishermen, proved that he was great. His conduct on the cross proved that he was great; he looked down upon his enemies and prayed for them. His resurrection proved that he had some higher power than a mere creature. That he was great, Infidelity has witnessed in a most remarkable manner. I was struck lately in reading a book I brought from Bokhara; where it is said that Mahomet has predicted that his religion shall altogether pull down the religion of the Nazarene throughout the East, and the religion of the Koran be established. Now it is very remarkable, that when his mighty officer and general went into Armenia, and tried to sweep away Christianity there, (where there was a convent which is still existing, as some travellers who are here well know, and where the great Ignatius Alnoorane, "the enlightener," had preached the gospel in the second century,) he was not able to convert to Mahomedanism one single district of that territory. Continually their exclamation was "Christ, God and very Christ, God of very God!" Voltaire also tried to pull down Christ; his exclamation was "Down with the infamous;" has he succeeded? That this church is full now, is witness that Christ is great in the nineteenth century, as he was proved in the seventeenth, and in the middle ages, when he still had servants who "worshipped him in spirit and in truth." This has taken place, then; it is no more prophecy; it has become history.

How do you, mem"Son of the Highest."

"He shall be called the Son of the Highest." bers of the Church of England, call him? The Independents? "Son of the Highest." The Kirk of Scotland? "Son of the Highest." I have seen Nestorians in their own mountains, and I asked them - How do you call Christ? Their answer

was-"Jesus, the Son of the living God; Jesus, the Highest." So far, still, the text has become history. go on.

Son of the
But let us

"And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David." Has this taken place?

In the

Before we give any opinion, let us examine how he was the son of David. It is wonderful how Scripture explains Scripture. first of the Romans we read, in the fourth verse, that he was "declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit;" but how was he the Son of David? Why, in the third verse we read that he was "made of the seed of David"— according to the Spirit? no"according to the flesh." Then if he was the son of David according to the flesh, the throne of David which he has must also be according to the flesh. And that he is to sit upon the throne of his father David "according to the flesh," is decidedly predicted also in the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles: "Therefore being a prophet," (speaking of David,) "and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne."

Here let us examine what is "the throne of David." Now the New Testament is the inspired commentary on the Old, and let us not depart from it; but let us lay altogether aside all human opinions, whether of antiquity or of modern times. "The throne of David " in the whole of the books of Samuel and the Kings, and in Isaiah and all the prophets, refers us to Palestine, of which Jerusalem is the capital. If this, after Christ's coming, in the dispensation of the New Testament, was to be something quite different-if there was to be another "throne of David," the New Testament, which is a commentary, would have given us quite different words for it. But does it? No; you have the same words "the throne of David" in the Old Testament," the throne of David" in the New.

Then, is this prophecy fulfilled? No: it is not yet fulfilled; and shall not be fulfilled until his second coming in glory.

Here I give you two axioms, which are carried through the whole of the Old and New Testament. Christ was anointed to the threefold office of priest, prophet and king. As High Priest, he was anointed, and visibly manifested; he was sacrificed on the cross, and passed visibly into heaven. As prophet, he was also anointed and visibly manifested; he spake as "never man spake," and he stood upon the mountain, and multitudes saw the great prophet-"the prophet," as he was called. As king, he was also anointed, but is not yet visibly manifested. Just as David his father, and the type of Christ, was