over created nature in working miracles-"insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect, behold, I have told you before, wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert, go not forth"-Christ will not come to be seen only by the beasts of the field and forest-" Behold, he is in the secret chambers, believe it not"-Christ will not come to be hidden in men's houses"for as the LIGHTNING COMETH out of the east, and shineth even unto the west, SO SHALL ALSO THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN BE."

Behold, as LIGHTNING shall be the coming of the Son of Man, sudden, quick, glorious, universally visible." As lightning cometh out of

* Paul says, in a passage referring to the time and events of which Christ is here prophesying, “Know this also, that in the last days perilous times shall come, for men shall be" full of every evil word and work (as there enumerated), “having” in the midst of their exceeding wickedness, "a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. for of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth; now as Jannes and Jambres," Pharaoh's magicians, "withstood Moses"—by shewing great signs and wonders, Exod. vii. 11, 12, 22-viii. 7-" so do these also resist the truth, men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith, but they shall proceed no further"—they shall be restrained from proceeding so far as to deceive the elect--" for their folly shall be made manifest as theirs"--as the folly of Pharaoh's magicians, Exod. viii. 18-ix. 11-" also was," 2 Tim. iii. 1--9.

the east, and shineth even unto the west," so shall be HIS coming-universally visible from the east even unto the west, and shining from heaven unto earth, yea, "every eye shall see him," Rev. i. 7, yea, "all the tribes of the earth shall see the Son of Man," Matt. xxiv. 30,— "As lightning cometh," so shall be His coming, shining in the awful "brightness" of his own exceeding glory, yea, "all the tribes of the earth shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory," ver. 30.—But "as lightning COMETH," so shall be His coming, quick, sudden, rapid-vision cannot follow it. O! my brethren, thus shall be the coming of Christ in HIS DAY. Can you realize in faith this LIGHTNING-COMING, this breaking forth of the Lord from heaven to earth in one sudden moment, in one moment of time undivided from its fellow-moments by space, undistinguished from them by circumstance? You have gazed upon an unclouded evening sky, and suddenly, in an instant, you have seen lightning shoot athwart it without any change therein-so shall be the coming of the Son of Man in HIS DAY.-Or you have beheld the heavens and the earth, the trees and the fields, man and beast, the winged fowl and the busy insect, and the cattle on a thousand hills, rejoicing

in the bright beams of the Bridegroom-sun, and you have seen burst over you a storm of lightning, discharging itself in thunder, which, although it had gathered on and rolled on in visible preparation, has overtaken you suddenly, because the note of it had been unheeded by you, or disbelieved in.-So in HIS DAY shall be the coming of the Son of Man upon a heedless, unbelieving world.

O! when shall that day be? Nay-it is not given unto man or angel to know. It is not revealed. It is the Father's secret-" the secret things belong unto the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong unto us, and to our children for ever," Deut. xxix. 29. The signs and preparations, that precede and usher in THE LORD'S DAY, are "revealed," and "belong unto us and to our children," and the Lord's people are brought to "know them." But the day itself is the Father's secret, because it is to come suddenly, and no man is to know it. The Father hath put it in his own power. So did Christ answer the same question, the very hour he left this earth-"it is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power," Acts i. 7. Then ask not the question. The Father has in mercy and wisdom hidden it from his child.

Child of God, hear Christ, and be content to watch for the day-Ver. 36, "Of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only; but as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 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"-until the very day; no cessation of wickedness, and worldliness and wanton pleasure, no belief in the coming judgment, no looking for it-on they went, poor souls, eating and drinking and marrying, merry and lighthearted, singing and dancing, blind and heedless, like the moth to the candle, until the day that Noe entered into the ark-" and KNEW NOT until the flood came, and took them all away." KNEW NOT! wretched men! KNEW NOT! Noah, and the seven other saved souls knew, knew it all "perfectly." But THEY knew not-they cried "peace and safety," and so "sudden destruction" came upon them; "so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be." O my soul, what a dreadful truth! In the DAY OF THE LORD, shall the QUICK be so found, "eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage," gay, careless, living in pleasure, regardless of eternity, swallowed up in "all

that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life," 1 John ii. 16—and they will NOT KNOW until THE DAY comes, and the Lord comes, and the unsparing vengeance-storm comes, and takes them all away.

Men and brethren, Christ here says, as it was in the days before the flood, so shall it be in the coming of the Son of Man. Open the 6th chapter of Genesis, and there learn the Lord's dealings with men in those days before the flood. "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 the Lord

said, I will destroy man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth. .. But Noah found grace in the sight of the Lord"-" a remnant according to the election of grace," Rom. xi. 5, was to be preserved, for God had from everlasting purposed to form out of men, through the blessed Incarnate Son, a church of "kings and priests" unto Himself.. "and God said unto Noah, the end of all flesh is come before me, for the earth is filled with violence through them, and behold I will destroy them with the earth; make thee an with thee will I establish my cove

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