of as one of the great mysteries (1 Cor. 15:51), do the words at the head of this discourse refer. "I saw," says John, "and behold, a door set open in the heaven, and the former voice which I heard as of a trumpet, speaking with me, saying, Come up hither." That door opened in heaven is the door of the ascension of the saints. That trumpet voice is the same which Paul describes as recalling the sleepers in Jesus, and to which the Saviour refers as the signal by which His elect are gathered from the four winds, but which we have no reason to suppose shall be heard or understood except by those whom it is meant to summon to the skies. And that "COME UP HITHER " is for every one in John's estate, even the gracious and mighty word of the returning Lord himself, by virtue of which they that wait for Him shall renew their strength, and mount up with wings as eagles. (Is. 40: 31.) And thus, as the Psalmist sung, the Lord will hide them in the secret place of His presence from the vexation of man, and screen them in a tabernacle from the contradiction of tongues. (Ps. 31: 19, 20.)

Such, then, is the termination of the carthly career of God's elect, for which the saints of every age have waited, longed and prayed.*

* "At the voice of the archangel, the dead saints rise from the dust; the living saints, in a moment—in the twinkling of an eye-are changed; and both together are rapt up far above the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, long before He is seen

And such is the next great scene which may now be any day expected. I know of nothing in the prophecies of God, unless it should be the mere deepening of the signs that have already appeared, which yet remains to be fulfilled before this sudden summons from the skies: "Come, my people,

by the inhabitants of the earth."—Cunningham on Apocalypse, 3d ed., p. 491.

"The being taken up to meet the Lord before the time of trial and judgment, would seem to be the manifest import of the promise to the faithful, in the Epistle to the Church at Philadelphia, as also that of our Lord's exhortation in Luke 21: 36."-Richard Chester, Vicar of Ballyclough, Mallow.

....

"Ere judgment comes on Christendom, the true Church will have been, like Enoch, translated to heaven. ... We are not comforted by the assurance of our being gathered to the grave in peace, but by the hope of being gathered to meet the Lord in the air, so that, when the judgments come, we shall not be amid the scene on which they are poured, but in the heavens whence they issue."—Plain Papers, pp. 94–96. It is evident, from 2 Cor. 5: 4, that we are not to conceive of the transfiguration of the body as taking place at the end and in the general resurrection, for the apostle wishes it for his own person instead of death."-Auberlen on Dan. and Rev., p. 332.

"Daniel appears to be a type of those kept out of the hour of temptation. When all nations, kindreds and people are required to worship the image of the plain of Dura, he is not there."-Apocalypse Expounded, vol. i, p. 207.

"John 14: 1-3, doth absolutely require an assumption from the earth of all the saints, after the same manner as Christ was taken up. And to this great head of doctrine, all those legends of the Catholic Church, concerning the assumption of the blessed Virgin, and other saints, do point. By being taken up, to be clothed upon by our house which is from heaven, I believe that Christ's people will be delivered out of their tribulation."-Irving on the Apoc., vol. ii, p. 1024.

enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were a little moment, until the indignation be overpast; for, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity." (Is. 26: 20, 21.) Any one of these days or nights, and certainly before many more years have passed, all this shall be accomplished. Some of these days or nights,-while men are busy with the common pursuits and cares of life, and everything is rolling on in its accustomed course,— unheralded, unbelieved, and unknown to the gay world, here one, and there another, shall secretly disappear, "caught up" like Enoch, who "was not found because God had translated him." Invisibly, noiselessly, miraculously, they shall vanish from the company and fellowship of those about them, and ascend to their returning Lord. Strange announcements shall be in the morning papers of missing ones. Strange accounts shall be whispered around in the circles of business. and society. And for the first time will apostate Christendom, and the slow in heart to believe all that the prophets have written, have the truth brought home, that no such half-Christianity as theirs is sufficient to put men among the favorites of the Lord.

Brethren and friends, these are neither dreams nor fables. They are realities, set forth in the infallible truth of God, and as literally true as anything else in the inspired Word. And as you value the prize of our high calling in Christ Jesus,

and take this holy book as an unfailing guide, be not faithless, but believing. And if you feel yourself unready for such events, do not think of setting them aside by scoffs and sneers. If they are in the purpose of God, as He so plainly says they are, and as I conscientiously believe they are, your unbelief cannot alter them. Better bestir yourself to be prepared, with your loins girded and your lamp trimmed and burning. There is chance for you yet to be among these favored ones whom God has engaged thus to keep out of the judgment plagues and sorrows; but that this opportunity shall remain to you for another year, or month, or week, or day, or hour, no living man or angel of heaven is authorized to promise. What you do must be done quickly. To your knees, then, to your Bibles, and to the mercy seat of your God, O man, O woman! "Rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God." Let not another day pass leaving you still in your sins; "for in such an hour as you think not, the Son of man cometh." And may God in mercy grant us each the grace and diligence to be found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless.

LECTURE NINTH.

THE MIRACULOUS TRANSLATION-A HEAVENLY SCENE-RELATES TO A TIME SUBSEQUENT TO THE PRESENT CHURCHPERIOD-COMES BEFORE THE JUDGMENT OF THE WORLDIS TRULY PROPHETIC-THE THRONE OF JUDGMENT-THE RAINBOW ENCIRCLING IT THE SEVEN TORCHES -THE GLASSY SEA-THE TWENTY-FOUR ELDERS-SUCCESSION IN THE GATHERING OF THE SAINTS-THE FOUR LIVING ONESTHE BANNERS OF ISRAEL-THE CHERUBIM-THE HEAVENLY ADMINISTRATORS OF THE NEW ORDER-THE DIGNITIES PROPOSED BY THE GOSPEL-AN APPEAL TO EMBRACE THEM.

saw, and be

REV. 4:1-11. (Revised Text.) After these things I hold, a door set open in the heaven, and the former voice which I heard, as of a trumpet, speaking with me, saying, Come up hither, and I will show thee the things which must take place after these things.

Immediately I became in the Spirit, and, behold, a throne was set in the heaven, and upon the throne one sitting; and he that was sitting [was] like in appearance to a jasper and a sardine stone, and a rainbow encircled the throne, in appearance like to an emerald; and around the throne twenty-four thrones, and upon the twenty-four thrones elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and on their heads golden crowns. And out of the throne go forth lightnings, and voices, and thunders; and seven torches of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God: and before [or, the prospect from] the throne as it were a glassy sea, like unto crystal; and amidst the throne, and around the throne, four living ones, full of eyes before and behind; and the living one the first like a lion, and the second living one like a young ox, and the third living one having the face like a man, the fourth living one like a flying eagle. And the four living ones, each one of them had around them six wings apiece, and within they are full of eyes; and they have not rest day