unto the Lord, and others, in the veteran fulness of years, are just about to resign the conflict, He, who was touched with the feeling of our infirmities, remembers that we are but dust, he graciously intercedes for us to the Father, and though in the very grasp of the last enemy, he cheers us on, and finally gives us victory in the battle. Are we not, then, dearly beloved, the Lord's soldiers and servants? if we are, let us from this moment "live unto the Lord;" and when the hour comes, may we "die "unto the Lord."

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TWO COMBINED MEANS OF PREPARATION TO STAND BEFORE THE SON "OF MAN."

LUKE XXI. 36.

"Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man."

OUR last topic upon Living and dying unto "the Lord," is closely connected with the great article of faith which runs throughout the sublime chapter from whence the present text is selected. For no one can be said either to have "lived or died unto the Lord," unless he has acted upon the certain persuasion of the forthcoming judg ment, and the reality of future retribution: We

say, unless he has acted upon the certain persuasion, and not merely professed the belief: because every member of our Church, who repeats his creed, declares that he "believes in the Resurrection of "the body and the life everlasting," and that the Lord "shall come again to judge the quick and the dead." We may assert, indeed, that most, if not all, of professing Christians, entertain no more doubt upon the certain accomplishment of this future event, than upon the fixed appointment of their own death. A man, however, requires no argument to prove to him that he must die, and yet we often find him living just as though he believed he never should die: and in the same way he may believe in the judgment to come; it may be an article of his creed-no doubt may ever rise up against the truth of it and yet it may have no more hold upon his life than the sounding of a tinkling cymbal. And, therefore, we deem it to be the duty of a Christian preacher strongly to impress the practical application not only of the past facts, but also of the coming events professed to be believed. He should often strive, we think, to bring the hearer's conscience into contact with the bar, and the books, and the judgment, so as to aim at making him feel as much personally concerned and interested in the result, as prisoners do at the approach of an earthly assize. Whilst at one time he speaks comfortably of " peace," when addressing a troubled

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soul, at another he must sound the trumpet of alarm, and rouse the spiritual slumberer into some such reflections as these:-What will become of me after I am dead? is there, indeed, another state of existence? cannot this immaterial thing, called the soul, by any possibility escape from immortality? I know that I must die-that is a terrible plungethis body must turn into a corpse-but must it also be changed into an indestructible tabernacle, and be re-united to its former soul, so that the same being shall be re-constructed which acted upon earth? and shall I then really come forth, the entire creature, body and soul, to give an account of my stewardship, and "to stand before the Son "of man ?" Let me reflect then whilst the breath of life is still in my mouth: if there be some things connected with this futurity which I cannot escape, let me consider the other things which I can escape, and search for effectual means to secure so vital an object.-Now if such thoughts as these, my brethren, have ever held possession of your hearts, you will take an interest in the solemn text which we proceed to introduce to your attention.

Our Lord is urging the combined duties of prayer and watchfulness upon a principle most awakening to the hopes and fears of his followers, viz. that they may escape temporal judgments, and stand without dismay before the final tribunal of the Son of Man. And, with the view of enforcing

immediate and constant preparation, he draws in this chapter a vivid and powerful description of two events, first, the destruction of Jerusalem, which was the great temporal judgment inflicted upon the Jews; and, secondly, the final assize which shall bring up the whole world to trial. If we examine the whole of this chapter, together with the parallel accounts recorded by St. Matthew and St. Mark, it is clear that some parts of the prediction referred exclusively to the Jews, and were fully accomplished at the overthrow of their city, whilst other portions could not be satisfactorily interpreted as having had a complete fulfilment in that catastrophe. The scene is evidently carried on to another period, the fulfilment of the one part being a forerunner of the future accomplishment of the other. Indeed, this two-fold design in the application of the prophecy, with respect to the day of judgment, is in accordance with the two-fold sense of many prophecies in the Old Testament, especially with regard to the first rising, growth, and full maturity of the Messiah's kingdom upon earth. For example, in the wellknown prophecy of Isaiah, with respect to a bright era of universal peace, a partial fulfilment of it took place almost immediately after its announcement, by the deliverance of King Ahaz from his enemies, and by the event of a peace; but that was only the sign or token of a still happier age, under the first dawn of the Gospel reign; and again, to