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SERMON LIII.

Preached on the Evening of a Communion Sabbath, March 16, 1783, a few days before the Author's death.

HEBREWS ix. 28.

CHRIST was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall he appear the second time, without sin, unto salvation.

THERE are two things which we are taught to believe concerning Christ. The first is, That he once appeared in this world, clothed with our nature; that he published to sinners of mankind a pure and heavenly doctrine; and after exhibiting, in his own conduct, a fair and unblemished example of holy obedience, at last offered up himself a sacrifice to God, to expiate our offences, and purchase our eternal redemption. The second is, That this same Jesus, who was dead, is now alive, and sitteth on the right hand of the Majesty on high, from whence he shall come at the end of the world, crowned with glory and honour, and attended with all the host of heaven, to judge the quick and the dead.

We were this day commemorating, in the Holy Sacrament of the Supper, what Christ hath already done for the redemption of his people. There we beheld him "evidently set forth as crucified before our eyes," bearing our griefs, and "wounded for our transgressions." And now to display the riches of his grace, and our infinite obligations to love and serve him, let us with joy

contemplate what he is farther to do, as it is shortly expressed in the latter part of my text: "Unto them that look for him, shall he appear the second time, without sin, unto salvation." The

First thing that claims our attention is the certainty of our Lord's return. "He shall appear the second time." And, blessed be God, this comfortable truth doth not depend upon any doubtful process of reasoning, but is both supported and illustrated by a variety of the most clear and express declarations of holy writ. The apos tle Jude informs us, that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, by faith foresaw this great event, and said by divine inspiration, "Behold, the Lord cometh ten thousand of bis saints, to execute judgment on all." It was Christ's promise to his disciples, "In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself, that where I am there ye may be also." The angels who attended him at his ascension into heaven bare witness to the same truth. "Ye men of Galilee," said they, "why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." Nay, we are told, that the Father hath appointed the very day in which " he shall judge the world in righteousness, by that man whom he hath ordained." In a word, this doctrine is not only frequently asserted in Scripture, but is so intimately connected with all the other parts of revelation, that the whole must stand or fall with it. Is not the Sacrament of the Supper a visible pledge of our Lord's return, as well as a memorial of his sufferings and death? And do we not profess an equal belief of both, every time we

partake of that holy ordinance. "For as often as we eat this bread, and drink this cup, we do show the Lord's death till he come;" that is, we commemorate his death in the faith of his second and glorious appearance.

This, my brethren, is an interesting truth, and doth justly challenge our most serious attention. It is not more certain that we are met together in this place, than that we shall all meet again at the tribunal of Christ, where every one of us shall appear in his true colours, without any mask or disguise. At present we are but little acquainted with ourselves, and frequently mistaken by others; but the sentence of the supreme Judge will rectify all mistakes, and at once put an end to the presumptuous hope of the hypocrite, and to the fears and anxieties of the humble self-suspecting soul. Whom he then justifies, none can condemn; and whom he then condemns, none dare justify, neither is there any that can deliver out of his hand. What a mighty influence ought this to have on our temper and practice? Were any of us to be tried for our lives at a human bar, I am persuaded that the thoughts of it would so fully possess our minds, as to leave room for almost nothing else. Yet the most that the judge can do in such a case, is to determine the day beyond which we shall not live; while neither he, nor any man in the world, can say with certainty, that we shall live till that day come. One of a thousand accidents may cut us off, and prevent the execution of his sentence; so that the legal date of our lives may be considerably longer than the term which the Author of our lives hath appointed. But the issue of that trial, which we must undergo at the second appearance of Christ, is of eternal consequence to us. Our final state is determined by it; and no power in heaven or on earth is able to defeat or alter the sentence.

And is it possible that we can banish the thoughts of this for one moment, or that we can think of it with cold and unaffected hearts? The

Second thing that deserves the peculiar notice of be. lievers, is the gracious design of our Lord's appearance. -"He shall appear the second time unto salvation." Some may, perhaps, be at a loss to conceive what should remain to be done for the salvation of the saints, after their souls are admitted into heaven. But if we reflect a little, we shall be sensible, that even after the soul's admission into heaven, there are several things to be done by Christ for his people, which will increase their happiness, and render their salvation more perfect.-For,

1st, At his second coming, Christ will raise the dead bodies of his servauts, which will, without doubt, be a considerable addition to their felicity. The souls of the saints are represented in Scripture as waiting and longing for the resurrection of their bodies. Hence their flesh is said to rest in hope; and, therefore, when this hope is fulfilled at Christ's second appearance, we may justly conclude, that the joy of the soul shall be heightened and improved; especially when we consider the wonderful change which shall be wrought upon the body itself. When, in the morning of the resurrection, the trumpet shall sound, and the graves shall be opened; when that which was sown in weakness and dishonour, shall be raised in power and glory; when the formerly vile body shall not only be refined, but fashioned like unto the glorious body of the Redeemer, with what triumph and exultation shall that song be sung! "Death is swallowed up in victory.""O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ."

2dly In that day the Church, which is called the body of Christ, shall be complete; which must add to the happiness of every saint in particular. For the several members of that spiritual body being closely united, not only to the head, but also to one another, each of them must necessarily partake of the happiness and glory of the whole. Must not every child of God be more joyful when the whole family is assembled in the immediate presence of their Father, and not one member is wanting? If there is joy in heaven at the conversion of one sinner, though afterwards he hath a waste and howling wilderness to pass through, and many a toilsome and dangerous step to take, ere he arrive at the end of his journey; how much greater joy shall there be in the heavenly Jerusalem, when the many sons of God are all brought home to glory?

3dly. Then also shall believers be solemnly acquitted by the Judge himself, and publicly acknowledged in the presence of an assembled world. "They shall be mine," saith the Lord," in that day when I make up my jew. els." Having washed them with his blood, and sanctified them by his Spirit, he will not be ashamed to call them brethren, but will confess them before his Father, and present them at his throne without spot and blemish.-And

4thly, To complete the happiness of the saints, then shall there be the clearest discovery of all God's works, and the most full and open manifestation of his glorious perfections. When all his great designs are accomplished and brought to their intended issue, then shall the wise order, and harmonious contexture, of divine Providence be clearly discerned, the most intricate and perplexed dispensations shall be explained and vindicated; and it shall then appear, to the full conviction of the