Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1858-01-14
An Advent Tboupht-


will again and receive you unto myself: that
where am there ye may be also"
When the Savior comes to His people at
the hour of death. He makes himself visible
to the eye of faith: when He returns to them
at the hour of Judgment, He makes himself
visible to the eye of sense. Every eye shall
then see Him, and they also who pierced Him
and all kindreds of the earth shall wall be-
cause of Him. The same Jeasus who ascend
ed from the Mount of Olives, shall descend
in like manner as His disciples saw Him go
up to heaven. How inconceivable glorious
will be this advent of Christ to His people!
Before, He came +" to take away sin by the
sacrifice of HIMSELF" now, He will appear
" without sin unto salvation" Before, He
came an infant Of days, a weeping babe in
Bethlehem's manger; now, He will come as
the Eternal God. The first time, He is seen
in the humble garb of an obscure Galilean,
attended by few despised fishermen; the
second time, He is recognized clad in the
robes Of divine majesty, and attended by
countless retinue of bri ght immortals. Faith
has wept over Him wearing crown of thorns,
and carrying the reed of mockery; sight now
rejoices in the brlliancy of the crown of
glory on His head, and of the secpter of uni
versal power in His hand. Before, He came
to be Knocked, and seourged, and buffeted, and
spit upon, and nailed to the accursed tree.
But in this hour of His return He is armed
with the terrors of unapeased justice and
scatters disolation and dismay among his enc
mics. This advent of Christ to his people
will be witnessed by an intelligent universe.
What glorious change, what joyful trans
fer Ito be placed at the right hand of the
Judge, to be felow-heirs and brethren of the
; Lord Jesus! This is the day when by all
such shall be heard sound of joy, the voice
of Jehovah calling His elect from the four
quarters of the winds, and when thrones, and
dominions. and principalities and powers,
those ministers of His that do His pleasure,
widening their shining ranks to receive the re-
deemed of Chrisi's blood, shall marshal them
heavenward as hearlds of the sky; wherein
one choir the ransomed of the Lord, shall
unite in a strain Of the sweetest concord, and
what was once separate from God and far
from holiness, shall fill up the chorus of their
song of victory to the Captain of our saliva
ton. Here is the portion laid up for the
righteous, stretching into infnity, and widen
ing by additions of interminabe extent, sur
passing the conjectures of all knowledge, and
transcending the swelling energies of an i'm
mortal hope. Here is the portion: who Of
us will claim this inheritance? To the disci-
pies Of Jesus the inquiry at the time of the
advent season breathes the sweetest consola-
ton and the trucst joy. But to them only
For others, the tempest is gathering in the
heavens. 1t is not as Chrysostom observes,
that the sun shall be darkned, and the stars
shall fall from heaven, which shall cause a
!, dread of the last judgment; but the reason
of alarm and dread will be, that the gers
same God ,cho came to SAGE, wW descend IA
His o,cm person to Judge and to Condemn