however desirable, was rather promised than proved by those great men.'* In fact, the most gloomy notions prevailed on this great subject. Men imagined that they should be removed from one body to another, and be perpetual wanderers, or that the grave would be their eternal habitation. They complained that the sun and stars could rise again, but that man, when his day was set, must lie down in darkness and sleep a perpetual sleep.

A long, long, silent, dark, oblivious sleep,
A sleep which no propitious Power dispels,
Nor changing seasons, nor revolving years.'

In the midst of all this darkness and conjecture, the Desire of all nations appeared! The veil was torn asunder. 'The wilderness and the solitary place were made glad, and the desert rejoiced and blossomed as the rose.'

The great Redeemer has come according to promise, and all admit that his mission is to save all mankind. By his coming, he has raised the expectations of a world. (If all are not saved, he has created hopes that will never be realized. And we see not in what sense he can be called the Desire of all nations. If the work fails, it would have been better, to all human appearance, never to have come. Besides; wherein then would the character of the Messiah be superior to those false Christs against which he warned his disciples? The world now looks to Jesus for deliverance. If he fails, unmingled sorrow and regret will settle down upon the universe forever!)

* Seneca, ep. 102.

An incident occurred in one of the Indian wars that very appropriately illustrates this subject. During the absence of the parents, a family of children were carried away by the savages. The hearts of the parents were torn with anguish and sorrow. An officer and his troops offered their assistance. They fought with the captors. The father and mother waited in trembling anxiety to know the fate of their little ones. But the soldiers failed. The father ran to the waiting mother, exclaiming, 'Our hope is lost! Our desire which was towards our kind captain and his host has failed!' 'O my God!' cried the swooning mother; 'My children ! my children!' We look to Jesus. If he fails, how many parents will be filled with distraction and sorrow!

II. We will now consider the nature of the glory alluded to in the prophecy.

'It could not relate to the first temple, or to that erected after the Babylonish captivity: for in that they had not the Urim and Thummim, the Shechinah or divine glory, as in the first temple. These words must, therefore, refer to a new and spiritual dispensation to be manifested during the continuance of this second temple. It was positively said that "the glory of this latter house should be greater than that of the former." This could not refer to the external part, nor to any thing it contained. A new religion was to be revealed, which should not consist in outward ceremonies, but which should reach the thoughts and desires of the heart. Such is the religion of the true Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. In confirmation of this view, we ask, where is the

second temple now? where is this building in which a display of the divine goodness was to fill it with glory? in which the divine glory was to be greater than the former? It is not possible to understand that the words of the prophet can apply to any circumstance at this age of the world, because the second temple, in which this superior glory was to appear, was laid in ashes by the Roman army eighteen hundred years since.'

Our limits forbid the consideration of the great changes signified by 'shaking all nations.' Such language is prophetic of the revolutions that will take place in the moral and political world. All systems of morals inconsistent with divine truth will be removed. All governments not founded in righteousness will be destroyed. Indeed, the gospel is designed to renovate our world. Before the light of truth, darkness will flee apace. The reign of Christ is strikingly presented by the Psalmist :-'He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass, as showers that water the earth. In his days shall the righteous flourish, and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth.' He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. 'Yea, all kings shall fall down before him; all nations shall serve him.' 'His name shall endure forever; his name shall be continued as long as the sun; and men shall be blessed in him; all nations shall call him blessed.' Amen and Amen.

XXIV. DOOR OF THE SHEEP.

'Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.' John x. 7.

Jesus, during his ministry, frequently employed parabolic language, both because such a mode of communication was popular in his time, and because best adapted to the human mind generally. To us, however, there is a degree of obscurity in this mode, resulting from our ignorance of the customs to which he alluded, and from which he borrowed his imagery. The student of the Bible, therefore, finds it necessary to study the manners and usages of the people among whom our Lord spent his earthly pilgrimage. As the history of the peculiarities and employments of that people become better known, more light will be thrown on the truths communicated and the parables employed.

The Jews sometimes kept the sheep of several persons in enclosures. These folds had a door, under the care of a porter. When the true owner came, the door was opened to him, and as his sheep knew his voice,' they 'followed him.' If a thief came, he would climb up some other way.' If a stranger came, they would 'flee from him, for they knew not the voice of strangers.' In John v. 2, allusion is made to the sheep-market,' which, perhaps, was the place where sheep, when brought to Jerusalem, were

enclosed for safety. Benson says, 'When Jesus was in Jerusalem, near the temple, where sheep were penned up, or kept in folds, to be sold for sacrifices, he spake many things parabolically of the sheep, the true and good shepherd, and the door of the sheepfold; and discovered that he spake of the sheepfolds which were to be hired in the market-place, by speaking of such folds as a thief could not enter by the door, nor the shepherd himself open, but a porter opened the door.'*

By turning back to chapter ix. 40, it will be seen that our Lord evidently spake the parable to the Pharisees.

But what are we to understand by the door? Interpreters have been very fanciful on this point, and perhaps we may not be so happy as to present the true meaning. The word is somewhat frequent in the Scriptures, and is used in a variety of forms. Besides the common signification, it means the sinner's heart:-' Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.' It is used in reference to the season granted by Jehovah to the Jews for receiving the gospel.‡ We read of the 'door of faith,' and 'door of utterance.' The word is used in reference to secret devotions:-'When thou prayest, enter into thy

*Life of Christ, p. 438. With him Sir Isaac Newton agrees. For a more full description of the Jewish mode of taking care of their sheep, see 'Notes and Illustrations of the Parables,' by Rev. T. Whittemore, particularly the parables of 'the Lost Sheep,' and 'the Shepherd and his Flock.'

Rev. iii. 20.
Acts xiv. 27.

See Parable of the Marriage Supper, Matt. XXV. § Col. iv. 3.