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suddenness: the unprepared state in which the great mass of the people should be found. Its certainty must be taken on trust: the exact period would never be revealed.

36. "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

37. "But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

38. "For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, 39. "And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 40. "Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

41. "Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken and the other left.

42. "Watch, therefore; for ye know not at what hour your Lord doth come."

Those who pay no heed to Revelation, are, of course, occupied in earthly things, and will be so to the end. But even in those who believe, a perpetual conflict is to be maintained between the passing concerns of time, and the more important but unseen interests of eternity. Men must be eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage: some must be employed in the field, and others in domestic services. These are not sins, but duties-but these duties become sins, these lawful things unlawful, by the degree in which they engross the mind; the seed of life is choked with the cares and the pleasures of the world, and "brings no fruit

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to perfection." St. Paul has given the rule: Brethren, the time is short: it remaineth that both they that have wives, be as though they had none; and they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not; and they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away."

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Our Lord continues to enforce this in words which are meant to carry on our thoughts from His first coming, when Jerusalem should fall, to His second coming, when heaven and earth shall pass away, and make room for "new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness."

43. "But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.

44. "Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

45. "Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his houshold, to give them meat in due season?

46. "Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.

47. "Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.

48. "But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;

1 Cor. vii. 29.

49. "And shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken ;

50. "The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,

51. "And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

The resemblance in many points, between an overthrow such as that of Jerusalem, and the end of the world, leads to a transition in our Lord's discourse from one event to the other. Of either day and hour knoweth no man. both cases, multitudes would know not, till the flood came and swept them all away. In both cases there is but one and the same way of safety, to watch and be ready.

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It has pleased God to try the faith of His people, by requiring them to be always ready. Their death is, to them, the end of this world; it is their summons from the Son of man, and cometh in such an hour as they think not. Therefore like the master who goes into a far country, and leaves his servants in charge, he tells them to watch, that the lord may not come and find them unprepared. This is all that justice requires: account must be rendered-the time alone is uncertain. The master is not obliged to acquaint his steward on what day the account is to be taken; he warns him, that he hold himself ready. And to him who is ready, it little matters whether his lord's summons be sudden, or be long delayed. Blessed is that servant

whom his lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing, as was his duty in the post assigned

him.

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It may seem indeed desirable, even for the best and most watchful Christian, to have some time for reflection, some season for renewing repentance and confirming faith, before he goes hence and is no more seen. But in real fact, it is an advantage which belongs to very few. Such is the nature of those maladies which separate the soul from the body, sometimes lulling the senses asleep, sometimes racking the whole frame with pain, and often leaving a very short interval between the first seizure and dissolution, that, to reckon on the season of illness as the season of preparation for death, would be no wiser than to put off the preparing money to answer a debt, till we were summoned to pay it. And this is the exact meaning of our Lord's warning. Whenever He speaks on the subject, He always takes it for granted that there will be no time at last to make a change in a man's condition. Know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.

One, however, who is ready against the summons, cannot be taken by surprise, however unexpectedly he may be called. The sentinel, who is awake and under arms at his post, is not

"Hence the prayer in our Liturgy, to be delivered from sudden death.

taken by surprise, though the enemy come in the dead of the night, and in the most unexpected manner. The servant who, during his lord's absence, rules the household as if his lord were at home, is not taken by surprise though the lord may come in a day when he looketh not for him. Neither is the faithful Christian taken by surprise, though the day of the Lord come to him "as a thief in the night." Like the faithful sentinel, he is found watching. Like the trusty servant, he is about his lord's business; and whenever the Lord shall say, "Give an account of thy stewardship," he is ready. For having believed that he had an account to give, he has prepared to meet it. He has secured an interest in the Redeemer's sacrifice; and he has not abused his lord's trust, or lived unworthily of the service which he had entered. He has not begun to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken. He has denied worldly lusts, and renounced covetousness. He will be found having "the righteousness which is through the faith of Christ." He will be admitted "into the joy of his Lord."

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