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of his other epistles and common candour requires, that we should put that construction upon his words which will make him most consistent with himself. Now, in his second Epistle to the Corinthians, he speaks of his own expectation of a resurrection from the dead: Knowing that he that raised up the Lord Jesus, shall raise us up also by Jesus, and shall present us with you. And in the same manner to the Philippians: If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. And in his second Epistle to Timothy, he intimates, that his own death was certain, and even approaching: For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

I think, therefore, that we may very safely adopt that explanation of this difficult passage, which has been very generally admitted by the commentators, though it certainly differs from its plain and obvious meaning. That by

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the phrase, we which are alive, and remain unto the coming of the Lord, St. Paul must be understood as not speaking literally of himself, and those whom he was addressing, but of Christians generally, and referring to such of them as should be alive at the coming of the Lord. That such was his meaning, however loosely he may have expressed it, is more than probable, by what he immediately adds respecting the uncertainty of the period when that event should happen: But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. And that he had expressed himself upon this point, in this Epistle, so as to be misunderstood at least by some of the Thessalonians, is rendered quite evident by what he says to them in his second Epistle: Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, that ye not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Such being his decided opinion, and it being easy to shew (did time permit it) that

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it exactly accorded with that of the other Apostles, we can by no means assent to the assertion, that the near approach of the end of the world had been predicted by either of them. Whether, when the historian speaks of that event as being one and the same thing as the kingdom of heaven, we are to ascribe it to negligence, or to intentional misrepresentation, I know not. Certain it is, that in general they have no such identity of signification; the latter expression usually denoting only the preaching of the Gospel, and the establishing its dominion in the hearts of men. Upon the whole, we may conclude, that to whatever extent this erroneous opinion may have been entertained by the early Christians; and however incautiously it may have been attributed to the Apostles by some distinguished' believers, or artfully employed by infidels to discredit Christianity; neither our Saviour, nor his Apostles, are justly chargeable with it: and, consequently, that our faith should in no degree be shaken upon this ground.

But, whatever may have been thought formerly of a future judgment, and of the pe

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1 Macknight's Preface to 2 Thessalonians.

riod when it shall take place, it is above all things incumbent upon us to be thoroughly convinced of it, and to regulate our lives by that conviction. The general belief of it, if it be sincere and well founded, is abundantly sufficient for this purpose. But it will probably be much confirmed, by examining more particularly, what the Scriptures teach respecting it, as connected with the second advent of our Saviour; in which it will appear, that there is no inconsistency between the doctrine of Christ and that of his Apostles upon this subject. But this, with the discussion of some collateral points, will furnish matter for future consideration, and will prepare us for the celebration of the nativity of him who has been the Author, and will be the Finisher of all these things.

Let us, for the present, rest with this reflection, that if a future judgment were a matter which could be shewn only to be in some degree probable, how lamentably weak we must appear, even in our own eyes, if we do not suffer it to have the same influence upon our conduct, which other probable events have in our worldly transactions; and that in proportion to the infinitely greater importance

of the one than the other. But since no man can pretend to prove that it is not certain, (for upon Scriptural grounds it is certain, and to disprove them seems impossible,) we ought, in common prudence, to act as if it were unquestionable. For if, after all, it were an error, it is not only a harmless error, but a highly beneficial one. Even upon that supposition, such and so many are the blessings conferred upon us by our religion, of which this doctrine is a fundamental article, regarded only in a temporal point of view, that every wise and good man must be ready to ask with Dr. Paley, "who would not wish his son to be a Christian?" The end of all such discussions then as these, is to add strength to our faith, and to advance probability towards certainty; to smooth difficulties, and to reconcile apparent incongruities. So that the study of the Scriptures may not terminate in barren and unprofitable speculations, but may become an efficient principle of action; and by improving our moral nature to the utmost in this life, may enable us, after death,

to meet the judgment, in humble but earnest expectation of happiness and immortality in the world to come.