SERMON I. THE DAY WHICH IS AT HAND. [AN ADVENT SERMON:] ROMANS xiii. 12. The day is at hand. My brethren, were it announced to you, that there is a day at hand which would not only impose upon you the highest worldly obligations, but advance you to temporal prosperity, or sink you in temporal woe, you would surely regard its approach with no small degree of solicitude. An inspired Apostle declares, that a day is at hand, compared with the momentous character and issues of which, the most serious and interesting concerns, that can mark a day of the world, do not appear worthy of a moment's consideration. The day which the text declares is at hand, though perhaps strictly denoting the day of vengeance executed on the guilty city of Jerusalem, would lose much of its significance, if it were not also considered as the day of our Lord's first coming, as a Saviour-and the day of his second coming, as a Judge*. I. The day of the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. This was the day fixed, in the counsels of the Godhead, before the world was; and which, shining with the radiance of heavenly mercy, was to remove the curse and the woe of that dark day, when "sin entered into the world, and death by sin." It was the day on which the Host of Heaven, witnessing the stupendous incarnation of the Son of God, and his descent to the world to redeem it, were to raise the song of "Glory to God in the highest;" and on which a world redeemed was to respond the gratulatory strain, "Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given." It was the day on which the human race, labouring under the bondage of sin, were to be restored to the glorious liberty of the sons of God; and on which the gates of Heaven, closed by the transgression of the first Adam, were to be opened by the divine representative of human nature, the second Adam, the "Word made flesh, and dwelling among us." It was the day which was to witness the downfal of error and superstition, of the kingdom of sin The Church takes this view of it, as she appoints the passage, where this text occurs, for one of the Epistles of the holy season devoted to the commemoration of the first and second Advent of our Lord. * and Satan, and the establishment of truth and righteousness, of the kingdom of the blessed Emmanuel, the Prince of Peace. It was the day, the promise of which kindled hope in the bosoms of the sinful parents of our race; and which, in distant prospect, patriarchs and prophets celebrated and hailed, and kings and princes eagerly waited for. For it was the day, when "mercy and truth were to meet together, righteousness and peace to kiss each other;" and the Saviour, "promised long," to commence his everlasting reign. It was, emphatically, the day of salvation; and therefore a day of triumph in heaven, of jubilee on earth. 66 This was "the day" which the Apostle announced, was" at hand." It had, indeed, already commenced, with regard to the Christian converts. But, in respect to the greater part of mankind, to whom it was not as yet promulgated, it was at hand; for its heralds were going out into all lands, and their words to the end of the world." It was the day of salvation to Jews and Gentiles. It was the day of salvation to the believing Jews. They were released from the yoke of those rites and observances, which neither they nor their fathers were able to bear, and engaged in the service of him, whose "yoke is easy, and whose burden is light." They beheld him, of whom Moses and the Prophets bare witness, Jesus of Nazareth, the prophet greater than Moses both in his character, and in the object of his mission; for he was 66 the Son, and not the servant of the Highest, and by him came grace and truth,”—and the king greater than David or Solomon; for he was David's lord; in whose days the spiritual "Judah should be saved, and Israel dwell safely," and whose "" kingdom was an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion that which should not be destroyed." It was the day of salvation to the believing Gentiles. They who were "in darkness" were brought into "marvellous light." They who were "dead in trespasses and sins," were " quickened," made spiritually alive. They who, in ignorance and superstition, had worshipped the creature, were led to the acknowledgment and worship, in spirit and in truth, of the one living and adorable Creator. They who were once "afar off," the bond-slaves of Satan, and under the dominion of death, were advanced to the station of "sons of God, and heirs of Heaven." And they who had poured forth "rivers of blood, and ten thousands of rivers of oil," who had given their " first-born for their transgression, the fruit of their body for the sin of their soul," and yet felt not the sting of conscience allayed, nor the apprehensions of guilt quieted, now found peace in the "blood of Jesus ;" and by "this new and living way entered into the holiest," even into the presence of God, and beheld him, surrounded, not with the terrors of an incensed Judge, but with the radiance of a reconciled Father. |