of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day." 2 Thess. i. 6-10. This vengeance was to be taken at the coming of Christ; and taken on those who troubled the Christians of Thessalonica. Observe; "To you who are troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven in flaming fire, taking vengeance." Here you see the apostle encourages them to bear up patiently under their troubles, for Christ would come and deliver them; he would come and recompense tribulation to those that troubled them. This tribulation is called everlasting destruction. It is also called everlasting fire, and everlasting punishment. Perhaps the hearer is ready to say, This is proof positive, that the judgment here is not past, but future. I would ask, however, if we are to set aside those numerous scriptures given in our first Lecture, declaring, that Christ should come to judgment at the destruction of Jerusalem, because the punishment to be inflicted then is called everlasting? Would it not be much more reasonable to inquire, if everlasting is ever applied to a temporal calamity?

Suppose we turn to a few passages in the Old Testament. Jeremiah says; "But the Lord is with me as a mighty terrible one; therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail; they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper; their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten. But, O Lord of hosts, that

triest the righteous, and seest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them; for unto thee have I opened my cause." Jer. xx. 11, 12. He also says; "But since ye say, the burden of the Lord; therefore, thus saith the Lord, Because ye say this word, the burden of the Lord, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, the burden of the Lord; therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence. And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten." Jer. xxiii. 38 - 40. Here, then, are two instances in which everlasting is applied to temporal punishment. Besides, the word is often used in a limited sense. The possession of Canaan by Israel is called everlasting, yet Israel does not now possess the land. manner of the high priests' offering is called everlasting; yet offerings and sacrifices were long since abolished. The priesthood of Aaron was called everlasting, yet it was superseded by the Gospel.

The

I have not time to give the arguments which may be offered to show, that the word is often limited; and I will only add to the texts quoted one from Habakkuk ; "He stood and measured the earth; he beheld and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered; the perpetual hills did bow; his ways are everlasting." iii. 6. I quote this text for the special benefit of all who believe the world shall be destroyed in 1843. They do not believe that mountains or hills are endless; and, of course, they must admit, that the word is used here in a limited sense,

as I believe it is. Therefore, the circumstance, that the punishment inflicted at the coming of Christ is called everlasting, is no proof, that the judgment which we are considering did not take place at the destruction of Jerusalem.

Again; we find this judgment described at considerable length in Matt. xxv. There, it is said, at the coming of Christ all nations shall be placed before him, and he shall separate the righteous from the wicked, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats; he shall place the sheep on the right hand, and the goats on the left. See Matt. xxv. 31-46. All this was to be done at the coming of Christ, which we have proved was at the destruction of Jerusalem.

But the author of the Lecturés says these things did not occur at the destruction of Jerusalem, and he asks how all nations could have been gathered before him; how the separation could have been made; how the punishment could have been inflicted, and no mention be made of these things in history. If he had read an eighth part of the history that he has the appearance of having read, he never would have asked such questions. When Jerusalem was destroyed, there was virtually such a judgment. We do not pretend, that it was literally so. There was neither a visible throne, nor a formal assembling before it. These do not belong to the process of divine justice, and when the inspired writers use such language, it is figurative, borrowed from the customs of eastern courts, before which the parties under trial are arraigned in propria præsentia. Thus the Psalmist says; $6 Say among the heathen, that the Lord reigneth; the world also shall be established, that

it shall not be moved; he shall judge the people righteously. Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof. Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein; then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice before the Lord; for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth; he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth." Ps. xcvi. 10 - 13.

He was not seated upon a throne, yet he judged the nations. And so the Son of man. He was not literally placed upon a throne, yet he executed judgment; the nations were the subjects of a special retributive administration. Nor is this all. There was just such a separation as is here described. Josephus gives us the particulars of it. He says the Christians, when the Roman army came against Jerusalem, fled and escaped all evil. Eusebius teaches the same. Indeed, history distinctly teaches, that not a Christian suffered in that awful siege by which Jerusalem was laid in ruins. They observed the signs, and fled from danger. Thus they were placed on the right hand, or a place of safety. The Jews were involved in ruin, and thus placed, on the left hand, or a place of disfavor.

But we are told, all nations were not placed before Christ, or were not the subjects of this judgment. I answer, the phrase all nations is explained in the connexion, where Christ says to his disciples, ye shall be hated of all nations, and that their preaching should be for a witness to all nations, before the destruction of Jerusalem. The phrase is used in the same sense as all the world in the following text; "There went out a

decree from Cesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed." But all the world, here, could only be the Roman empire. We find a similar expression in Matt. x. 22, 23. "And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake; but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another; for, verily, I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come." Now, there can be no doubt respecting the meaning of this. It is used in a restricted sense, to signify all men round about Judea. Josephus repeatedly uses the word world in this limited sense. The phrases, all the world, all nations, and all men, are the same as every man in our text. "The Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, with his angels, and then he shall reward every man according to his works." Here it is said, he shall reward every man according to his works; and this is certainly as strong as all men, and all nations.

The

Here, then, the difficulty is entirely removed; for every man, as used in the text, means the Christians who lived at the destruction of Jerusalem and their enemies. This we know; because the last verse places it beyond all question. The author of the Lectures could not refute this, and therefore he chose not to quote the verse. text reads thus ; "The Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, with his angels, and then he shall reward every man according to his works. Verily, I say unto you, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom." Here, then, it is proved beyond the possibility of dis