In the 24th chapter of Matthew Jesus clearly describes the dreadful scene. He says- "Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains. Let him which is on the house-top not come down to take any thing out of his house. And woe unto them that are with child and to them that give suck in those days!" [Why? Because they could not remain in the mountains during the period that the city was besieged by the Romans.] "But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter neither on the Sabbath day." [Why? Because in the winter you would perish with cold—and if your flight from the city be on the Sabbath day, the Jews will stone you to death for travelling more than three miles.] "For there shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened there should no flesh be saved;" [Saved from what? Ans. from death.]" but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened." That is, for the sake of the christians who fled to the mountains, God shortened the days of the siege. Let us hear Dr. Adam Clarke, a Methodist Commentator, on this-" Josephus computes the number of those who perished in the siege at eleven hundred thousand, besides those who were slain in other places; and if the Romans had gone on destroying in this manner, the whole nation of the Jews would in a short time have been entirely extirpated; but for the sake of the elect, the Jews, that they might not be utterly destroyed, and for the christians particularly, the days were shortened. These partly through the fury of the zealots on the one hand, and the hatred of the Romans on the other; and partly through the

difficulty of subsisting in the mountains without houses or provisions, would in all probability, have all been destroyed,either by sword or famine, if the days had not been shortened."

Let us hear Clarke explain how these christians were scarcely saved. "But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved." "It is very remarkable that not a single christian perished in the destruction of Jerusalem, though there were many there when Cestius Gallus invested the city; and had he persevered in the siege, he would soon have rendered himself master of it; but when he unexpectedly and unaccountably raised the seige, the christians took that opportunity to escape." Clarke says "unto the end" means "to the destruction of the Jewish polity." Therefore when Peter says, the righteous are scarcely saved, he had reference to the dreadful judgment which was coming upon "the wicked and ungodly” inhabitants of Jerusalem for shedding the blood of the righteous, and from this destruction the christians escaped with their lives in their hands to the mountains of Judea for safety as Jesus had directed them. They but just escaped-they were scarcely saved.

The christians also suffered persecution from the Jews; and Peter draws this inference from it-If we, who obey the gospel of God, have to endure so many persecutions from the Jews-if this judgment begins at us, us, how much sorer punishment will our enemies have to endure, who obey not the gospel of God? And if we the righteous are scarcely saved from this long-predicted destruction, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear? But how did Peter know that it was at hand? Because the persecutions,

which Jesus had given them as a sign" or "token" had then commenced at the house of God. The reader will now perceive that Peter was not speaking of a judgment at the end of time, because the judgment of which he was speaking had then commenced-"The time is come. 99 Neither was he speaking of christians generally, nor of salvation in the future world; but of those christians only who lived previous to the destruction of the Jewish polity, and of their being saved with difficulty by watching the signs and fleeing to the mountains of Judea as Jesus had forewarned them.

Luke records the language of Christ more plainly to be comprehended than that of Matthew. "In your patience possess ye your souls. And when ye shall see Jerusalem encompassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains, and let them which are in the midst of it depart out," &c. We should be led to suppose that, after the walls of the city were surrounded by an army, it would then ⚫ have been too late for the christians to save themselves. But Christ as a prophet knew that Cestius Gallus would raise the siege, and fall back to make preparations for a more decisive attack, and thus afford the christians an opportunity to escape. It is evident to every candid reader that Luke expresses in chap. 21st, all that Matthew does in chap. 24th and 25th. And that Luke does not refer to a judgment at the end of time is certain from the manner in which he concludes, which is as follows: "And take heed lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and the cares of

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this life, and so that day come upon you unawares * 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." Here we perceive that not the least allusion is made to a judgment at the end of time; because there would be no propriety in warning his disciples not to be drunk or overcharged with the cares of life at a judgment day thousands of years after their death. The day when the christians were to stand before the Son of man" was at the destruction of the Jewish polity, and it was to take place in the life time of some of the disciples. Christ says, "there be some standing here that shall not taste of death till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom." The day of Christ was therefore at hand, and the apostles were warned to keep it in view, and watch the signs that were to precede it. Peter was faithful to these wȧrnings, and when he saw the signs, presaging its near approach, he exclaimed-"The time is come," &c. This was the day of tribulation, when the christians were scarcely saved from the dreadful fate that overtook their own countrymen, who remained blind till the things that made for their peace as a nation were hidden from their eyes.

Concluded in our next.

SERMON XX.

"For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God; and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" 1 Peter iv: 17, 18.

In our last, we have attended to the first two divisions of our subject-viz: what we were to underssand by judgment beginning at the house of God, and who were the righteous, and in what sense they were scarcely saved. We now invite the attention of the reader to the remaining division of the subject. Third-who were the ungodly, and where they appeared. By the ungodly and the sinner, we are to understand the unbelieving Jews, the murderers of Christ and the persecutors of his followers. It has exclusive reference to them and not to the ungodly who lived subsequent to the destruction of Jerusalem, much less does it refer to all the wicked that have ever existed, or shall hereafter exist, as common opinion asserts. This needs no further explanation.

Under this head, we were also to show where the ungodly and the sinner appeared. We have already had occasion to state, that Peter in our text refers to the destruction coming upon the Jews. The time was come when that judgment of persecution, which began at the christians, was to be returned upon the heads of their persecutors in seven fold vengeance and suffering. Their city

and nation were to be destroyed, and their magnificent temple, where their devotions were offered, was to be laid even with the