Jesus Christ are all told as simple facts. The habitual language of the Evangelists is, And it came to pass, thus, or thus. In like manner the circumstances connected with his second coming are revealed in prophecies which state facts: (commented upon indeed and vindicated against the objections of unbelief; but in the first instance simply stated as matters of fact:) and to give us a clearer view of those facts which we are taught to anticipate, some of the most important are illustrated by historical examples. Our attention is carried back to review what has been, that we may there read as in a prophecy what will be. This is the mode of instruction adopted by our Lord in the words of our text, and those which immediately follow it. The facts recorded to have taken place in the days of Noah are referred to, as well known; and by examining and applying those facts we are instructed to inquire into, and form our conceptions and anticipations of what will take place at the coming of the Son of Man. "As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man, they did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all." In the next verses another portion of ancient history is made use of, in the same manner, and for the same purpose. "Likewise

also as it was in the days of Lot: they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed." The second personal coming of the Son of Man is incomparably the most important event to every individual of the human race, which will ever come to pass. The day of his appearing will be the great day of detection and separation: the failures of other days may be remedied, the decisions of other days may be reversed; but a failure on that day is irretrievable ruin, the decision of that day is an unchangeable decision. This is what invests with all its real value the day of a man's birth into the world, this is what gives its anxi ous interest to the day of a man's death: this is the grand result which is continually kept in view in the sacred scriptures; and in reference to which every part of revealed truth is stamped with an eternity of importance.

Now my brethren, if you were exceedingly anxious to know in what circumstances you would be placed next year, that you might make your arrangements accordingly; and if a prophet whose authority and truth you could not doubt, were to tell you, that as it was in the year past, so shall it be also in the year coming,

what course would you pursue, that your anxiety might be relieved without deception, and your arrangements made with prudence? You would call to mind and examine the occurrences of last year, and apply them in your anticipations; and what would be the result? If your recollection were complete and your application correct, you could not be disappointed. It would be your wisdom therefore to call to mind with the greatest possible care the occurrences of last year, and to exert the most deliberate unbiassed judgment in applying them to the year coming. Is the day of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ a matter of lively interest to us? are we indeed, anxious, to be acquainted with the events which shall come to pass in that great and glorious and terrible day of the Lord, when our eternal condition shall be irreversibly fixed, and heaven or hell our portion for ever? A Prophet of whose authority and truth we profess to have no doubt, even the Son of God has told us that as it was in the days of Noah so shall it be in that day. It is our wisdom, therefore, carefully to examine what is recorded of those days of Noah, and faithfully and fairly to apply the record.

I. The history of the days of Noah is recorded in the 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th chapters of the book of Genesis, and several allusions are

made to it in the New Testament.

amine the particulars.

Let us ex

1. All men were wicked, and God determined to destroy them from off the face of the earth. "And it came to pass when men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the Lord said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children unto them, the same became mighty men, which were of old, men of renown. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air: for it repenteth me that I have made them.”

2. One small family experienced the distinguishing favour of God, "Noah found grace in

the eyes of the Lord. These are the generations of Noah, Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God." Noah was born of the same corrupt stock with others, and had by nature no good thing in him. The difference that existed between him and his neighbours was a difference made by grace. God in his special mercy influenced the heart of Noah, in a way in which he did not influence the hearts of other men. He made Noah's heart susceptible of lively impressions from unseen and distant objects, in other words he gave him faith, the evidence of things not seen; so that while other men were wholly occupied with the outward visible things of this present world, or in the exercise of those affections which are natural to this world, Noah had the eyes of his understanding enlightened, and the affections of his soul sanctified; he became conversant with the things of Eternity, and he walked with God in the lively exercise of that spiritual principle which God had graciously bestowed upon him. Under this influence Noah became a just man and perfect in his generations, sincere and upright, a man of strict principle and scrupulous integrity, unstained also by any of the gross abominations of his contemporaries. It must, however, be carefully observed, that it was not in consequence of this excellent character that he found grace in the eyes of the