The New York herald., 1869-04-26
TIE SECOND COMING o. Cll.Sr.

Sermon BIZ Bishop Snow, of I" Mount ZiOn.'
Bishop Snow preached yesterday afternoon in the
University, on "The Sign Of the Son Of Man." from
Matthew, XIV 30-"And then shall appear the sign
Of the Son Of Man in heaven: and then shall all the
tribes Of the earth mourn. and they shall see the
Son Of Man coming in the clouds OF heaven with
power and great glory" From the close connection
of this text with the verse which precedes it, 1t is
evident that the time of the appearance OF the sign
the Son OF Man is when the sun and the moon are
darkened the stars are fallen from heaven, and the
powers OF the heavens are shaken. And these por-
tentous Phenomena OF the heavens were to follow
Immediately after the tribuaton OF those
seifstyed ornoaox teach @ tnat ali these
things were accomplished in connection with the
destruction OF Jerusalem by the Romans; but by
view it is difficult to imagine. They have never
given satisfactory explanation OF the nature Of the
sign OF the Son of Man, though some would have us
think it was the banner or the Romans But that
emblem Of the Roman power. called elsewhere "the
abominatIon Of desolation," did not appear in
called the aign OF the Son Of Man The idea is per-
fectiy absurd Not only so they tell the trlbula
nicted on the Jews by the Roman armies How then
could all these things occur lmmediatey after' that
such se, are the absurdies and
selves by their false interpretations OF the
sacred Writings. The truth Is, the text and
context have nothing whatever to do with the de-
struction of Jerusalem but relate directly and ex-
cusively to the great day OF the second advent OF
Christ. The tribulation OF which he speaks means
the prosecutions and afnIctiOns OF his followers,
which, commencing IN common with the calami.ies
Of the Jewish Church and nation, were to continue
until the times OF the Gentle nations fulfilled.
(See Luke XXI, 20-oS.) When those times are
ended, which is Identical with the end OF the
world or age, the appointed trials Of the
true people OF God, by the hand OF prosecuting
powers are brought to close or shortened for the
elects sake and the signs OF the coming or their
Lord begin to appear: and iirst the signs In the
luminares OF heaven. These are not In the natural
but in the spiritual heaven. The sun s the emblem
Of the Spirit of God the moon signifies the written
word and the stars the ministry. As proof see
Psalm lxxxiv., IL: Isaiah k, TO- 20; Revelaonsi, 90
xii, I, and XXI, %. When the Holy Spirit Is with
drawn the sun Is darkened, consequently the Word
does not mpart spiritual light TO the nominal church
or the world and the ministry fall TO shine no more.
Then II is that the sign OF the son OF Man-that
is. the morning star OF the everlasting day--begns
to appear IN the spiritual heaven OF the
Church OF Mount Zion; and with Him shall appear
q chorus OF stars-the watchmen OF Zion. who shall
eye TO eye, the Lord hath declared. lisa. ILL.,,
T. 10; Rev. H., rs, 2s.) These things have begun to
come to pass The times OF the nations ended In
the autumn OF 1874. The Holy Spirit has departed
from apostate ChristeDdom and she IL left to the
blackness Of spiritual darkness. Her sun has gone
down at noon. lam. Will. 9.) The word gives her
strange children none OF the light OF God: and the
s0-called Christian ministry are utterly destitute
OF the light and power o the Divine spirit as are
the fallen priesthood Of the rebeous, unbelieving
Jews. In Mount Zion alone Is the light OF heaven.
There has appeared the sign OF the son OF Man.