The substance of a Sermon by G. BURRELL, of Watford.

"Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ."-Titus ii. 13.

HERE is, in the first place, a two-fold object, "That blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; and secondly,here is an act described,-looking. The two-fold object is1st. That blessed hope.

2nd. The glorious appearing of Christ.

There is something very expressive and comprehensive in these three words, "that blessed hope." It is hope-a blessed hope—and THAT blessed hope. The emphasis must be laid upon the word "that," and all that is included therein I apprehend no tongue can tell. The question arises, what is intended by the words, "that blessed hope ?" The apostle evidently does not refer to hope as a. grace. This is a very blessed reality, a good hope through grace, wrought in the heart by the Holy Ghost. It is a treasure; it is a part and parcel of our salvation; for we are saved by hope. This hope, however, is in the heart of the vessel of mercy as the anchor is in the ship, and forms a necessary part of the vessel, being attached to the vessel by the cable. Thus precious faith and precious hope, as graces, are united, and both so really one with the soul of the believer, that all must be lost together if the believer is lost-if the vessel of mercy could become a wreck; but this is impossible. This hope the apostle describes as an anchor of the soul. Which hope we have. This hope we are not looking for, because we have it in possession, and learn its use and value while sailing on the stormy sea of time. This hope, as an anchor, entereth into that within the veil; grasps and holds on Christ; and Christ, the eternal Rock, holds fast and firm this believing, God-wrought hope. This anchor is proved by various storms and tempests to be good; and so is the ground on which it anchors. Both are sure and stedfast; but neither the grace of hope, nor the foundation on which a good hope rests, is exactly the blessed hope described in our text. What, then, is the meaning of the apostle, and what is the nature of the hope here looked for? It is evident it is something to come, something in prospect, something looked for; and as it stands connected with the glorious appearing of the great God our Saviour, I take this blessed hope to embrace and mean heaven, eternal glory, a state of blissful perfection; that which faith and hope have in view, and which, when realised and gained, will be the great climax of all that hope, with all its grace-expanded powers, could expect the full and everlasting fruition of a gracious hope. "That blessed hope" comprises all that God has prepared for, and promised to his saintsan inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away. It is the full and everlasting possession of a grace-given inheritance. We are begotten to a lively hope, says Peter, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, to this."Be sober, therefore," he says, "and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you, at the revelation of Jesus Christ. This is the blessed No. 570.-JUNE, 1880.

hope in our text-the glory that is to come, the grace that is to be brought There is grace in its highest form to come, in its fullest manifestation to be brought unto us, when Christ shall appear in His glory. It will be the full manifestation and possession of that glorious life we have in Christ; that life which is now to a great extent hid and concealed. "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall we also appear with Him in glory." Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Here are things hoped for. Now what are they? Well, all God has promised in His word; and they are exceeding great and precious things. Faith believes in their existence, and hope, as an expectant grace, looks out for the possession and enjoyment of them. The apostle Paul, in his Epistle to the Romans (viii. 18), speaks of a glory which shall be revealed in us. "For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God." Here is a manifestation and a revelation to be made; and what is this but the entrance into, and full possession of the prepared kingdom and glory given us in Christ before the world was. The apostle further describes in the same connection what is included in this glorious revelation, namely, "the redemption of our body," waiting for the adoption; that is, the blessed results of rich adopting grace. We were constituted sons before the world began, "Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will." We received the nature of our Father when we were regenerated, and then actually became sons. "Because ye are sons God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father," so that, as the beloved John says, "Now are we the sons of God; but it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when He shall appear we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." This, then, is that blessed hope, the object looked for, the open and clear manifestation of the sons of God. Redemption in its full completion, body and soul in a glorified condition like Him, and with Him. "I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness." All the grace and all the glory that was given us in Christ is to be brought to us by Christ. This is the climax of gracious hope, and a blessed hope indeed it is. This is that of which the apostle writes to the church at Colosse. 66 For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven;" all the unsearchable riches of Christ; all the covenant goodness of God. "Oh how great is thy goodness which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee, which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men.". This is the matter or object of a good hope. "Knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance"-a solid reality, and that which shall for ever endure. "Rejoicing in hope of the glory of God;" and this glory is said to be a weight, an eternal weight, an exceeding and eternal weight of glory. "The glory which thou gavest me I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are one." We are now perfect in Christ. Then our Christ will be relatively perfect-perfect in all His members, and all His members eternally perfect in Him; the whole family perfect and complete. "Here am I and the children whom thou hast given me." One unbroken family--not a child missing, not a seat empty, not a mansion vacant, not a want unmet, not a wish unsatisfied, not a desire unrealised; the great and godlike end for which we were predestinated accomplished, namely, perfect conformity to our great Head

and Lord; as free from sin and all possibility of ever sinning as Christ Himself, and as eternally free from sorrow as from sin. Every tear dried. Every power in full and sweet employ; every fear for ever silenced; every foe for ever banished. In body and soul like him. This is the blessed hope for which the saint looks and longs. We look for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ, "who shall change our vile bodies, and fashion them like unto His glorious body, according to the power by which He is able to subdue all things to Himself." It is the end of the journey, and the realisation of the sweet rest; the end of the conflict, and the reception of the crown; the marriage day; the open coronation day of Christ and His bride; the great presentation day. "She shall be brought unto the King in raiment of needlework, with gladness and rejoicing shall she be brought." She shall enter into the king's palace, and be presented by her glorious Bridegroom without fault, blemish, spot, wrinkle, or any such thing. In a word, it is to see His face, to be in His embrace, to sit with Jesus on His throne. Oh, this is indeed a glorious object and a blessed hope. They shall walk with me in white for they are worthy; the Saviour not ashamed of His bride, nor she at all ashamed in His presence. It is the full enjoyment of His presence which makes eternal noon. His smile will constitute eternal spring. There shall

be no night there.

"There we shall see His face,

And never, never sin;

There, from the rivers of His grace,

Drink endless pleasures in."

2. Connected with this blessed hope is another object stated here,—“ the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." His glorious appearing: the appearing of whom? The Great God and our Saviour. What do we understand by this? The great God as one object, and our Saviour as another? No; that is not meant; but one and the selfsame glorious person. He is the great God, our Saviour. He appeared once with sin. He was no less God then-God manifest in the flesh. He appeared then, to bear sin and put it away. He appeared then in the character of a servant; now He will appear as Lord of all. He appeared the first time as a sin-bearer; He will appear the second time without sin unto salvation. He appeared the first time to be despised and rejected of men; He will appear the second time to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all that believe. He appeared the first time in certain places, and only some beheld Him; He will appear the second time where every eye shall behold Him. He appeared the first time at the bar of His creatures, and received His sentence from a sinful judge; at His second appearing all creatures shall appear at His bar, and receive a righteous sentence from His mouth. At His first appearance His glory was shrouded beneath a veil; at His second appearing His glory will be all unveiled. He shall come in His own glory, in the glory of His Father, and in the glory of all His holy angels. Will not this be a glorious appearing? He shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from His presence and from the glory of His power, when He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and

admired in all them that believe. It will be a glorious appearing indeed. The trumpet shall sound, and all that are in the graves shall come forth; the sea shall give up her dead; death shall be swallowed up in victory; the graves shall be emptied and defeated; the heavens shall be on fire, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat; the earth and all the works that are therein shall be burned up; the final separation shall take place between the righteous and the wicked; Anti-christ shall be destroyed; every enemy shall appear before Him and be judged, and receive their sentence from Him; the books shall be opened; every mouth shall be stopped; every wrong avenged; every difficulty solved; the wicked receive their just reward, and go away into everlasting punishment, and the righteous into life eternal. His first appearance was fixed and sudden, and so will be His second appearing: “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise. "For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night; for when they shall say, peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them-" This glorious appearing is His second coming in person. "The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the dead in Christ shall rise first." Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

This, then, is the two-fold object-"that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ."

Now a few thoughts upon the act-"looking." "Looking for that blessed hope," &c.

1. This is an act of faith.

It would be absurd to look for that which we did not believe existed. Therefore, in the first place, the existence of faith is implied. This precious faith is the substance of the things hoped for. God has revealed them in His word. Faith embraces the message, and hope looks out for the fulfilment and realisation of the same. Old Testament saints received the promise of Christ's first coming, and they looked for Him. They all died in faith of His coming. They received the promise by faith, but did not receive the actual fulfilment. They saw them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and practically proved the reality of their faith by their conduct, for they confessed they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth; for they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. Abraham not only saw Christ's day, but the blessed result of Christ's work. He looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. And thus, till the Saviour actually appeared, they were prayerfully and anxiously looking for Him, as we see in the case of Simeon and Anna the prophetess, who departed not out of the temple, but waited for the consolation of Israel. It is a believing look, a prayerful look, and a watchful look. Just as Israel looked for the return of the high priest when he went in to the holy place to officiate there, so the Church of God is looking for our Great High Priest, who is the minister of the sanctuary, and who has a certain work to perform within the veil of heaven itself, which, when done, He will come again to bless His people; and to receive them unto Himself. Hence it is said, "Whom the heavens must receive until the times of the restitution of all things."

He has taken His seat, and must reign till all His enemies are made His footstool. Therefore we are looking for the accomplishment of all these great things first. Then cometh the end, when He shall deliver up the kingdom, as Mediator; when He shall put down all rule, authority, and power. We are looking, therefore, for His return. Christ was once offered, to bear the sin of many. He has entered into heaven itself, there to appear in the presence of God for us; and to them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

Looking patiently. "Be patient, therefore, brethren," says James the apostle; "the coming of the Lord draweth nigh." The Thessalonian church conceived His coming was at the door, by Paul's first epistle; an error which he corrected in the second letter to that church. Waiting, therefore, as well as looking is the position of faith; and it is a sign of health to be thus looking, as taught by our Lord Himself,-"Take heed, therefore," He says, "to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell upon the earth." "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." Looking for, with earnest expectation and prayerful desires. Looking for and hastening unto-not fleeing from. The wicked will and must flee; but when the signs appear of the approach of that day, "then," says our dear Lord and Master, "lift up your heads, for the day of your redemption draweth nigh. Blessed is that servant whom the Lord when He cometh shall find so doing." Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus.

REMARKS ON GEN. XLI. 40, &c. From President Edwards' Interleaved Bible; hitherto only privately printed amongst other selections from his unpublished writings. Communicated by S. K. BLAND.

"And Pharaoh said unto Joseph-Thou shalt be over my house, and according to thy word shall all my people be ruled; only in the throne will I be greater than thou."

THIS may be taken to signify the Father's investing of Christ the Mediator with the government of the church and the world. Joseph was exalted out of the dungeon to be a prince and a ruler over all the land. So Christ was exalted from being a prisoner of vindictive justice out of the grave, and as it were out of the pit of hell, to be a prince, and to have all things put under Him. Pharaoh set Joseph over his own house. So God exalted Christ, and set Him over His

church, which is the house of God (Heb. iii. 6) and made Him King of heaven itself, which is the palace of God.

He

According to Joseph's word, Pharaoh's people were to be ruled; only on the throne Pharaoh was to be greater than he. So Christ is made the Head and Ruler of angels and men; but yet God the Father is greater than Christ as Mediator; as Christ says, "My Father is greater than I." is greater in His economical office than the Son, in that He is the Person that sustains the dignity and maintains the right of the Deity. Pharaoh took off the ring from off his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand. So God the Father invested Christ with his own honour and dignity, that all men should honour the Son as they honour the Father. And they cried before him, "Bow the knee,' as it is said concerning Christ, "Let all the na