Dr. John Cumming, (1807-1881), was a devout student and writer on prophecy, although his views on the book of Revelation might be considered sadly out of date to-day. In 1832 he was appointed minister to the National Scottish Church in Covent Garden, London. This extract is from his writings on the coming Millennial Age.

"Some say, is not this [a description of] an earthly heaven? My dear friends, earth is not essentially corrupt: there is nothing sinful in the clods of the valley—there is nothing sinful in a rose, nor in a tree, nor in a stone. I have seen spots upon the earth so beautiful, that if the clouds of winter would never overtake them, nor the sin of man blast them, I could wish to live amidst them forever. Take sin from the earth—the fever that incessantly disturbs it—the cold freezing shadow that gathers around it —and let my Lord and Saviour have his throne upon earth, its consecration and its glory, and what lovelier spot could man desire to live on? What fairer heaven could man anticipate hereafter? To me it is heaven where Christ is, whether He be thronged upon earth, or reigning amid the splendours of the sky— if I am with him, I must enjoy unsullied and perpetual happiness.

"Great and solemn crisis", I cannot but again exclaim. My dear friends, if you like, reject all my views of Apocalyptic chronology, reject all my historical explanations, if you like; but do not reject this, that Christ, who died upon the cross, will come, and when ye think not, and reign, wearing his many crowns, and upon his glorious throne. Look for him, and the same Christ will come again, the husband to the widow, the bridegroom to the bride; He has promised that He will come to us, and we shall be 'forever with the Lord'.

And when I think of the time when He does come, I can scarcely realise that glorious Sabbath which will overspread the earth, that noble song which will be heard when the saints shall sing together 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of Hosts'. What a flood of beauty, magnificence and

glory will roll over this now shattered orb, like the countless waves of an illuminated ocean, illuminated by Christ, the great central Sun, around whom all systems revolve, and from whom all beauty comes.

And, my dear friends, if there be the least probability in what I have said, is it not our duty to pause—to prepare and search if it be so? When men heard that there was a new star somewhere to be detected in the firmament, there were some thousands of telescopes directed every night to the skies, and countless stargazers searching if, peradventure, they might discover it. My dear friends, a star comes brighter and more beautiful than any other, the 'bright and morning star', too long concealed by clouds which are about to be chased away; why should not our hearts look for him? Why should not the believer who has shared in the bitterness and in the blessings of his cross, pray and pant for him, if peradventure, he may share in the splendours of his crown? Is not the Lord welcome to us? Crushed and bleeding humanity, amid its thousand wrongs, cries, 'Come, Lord Jesus'. The earth, weary with its groans, and the sobs of its children, cries, 'Come, Lord Jesus'. The persecuted saints in Tahiti and Madeira, in the dens, and caves, and solitary places of the earth, cry, 'Come, Lord Jesus'. And surely, many a heart that has been warmed by his love—that has been refreshed by his peace, sanctified by his grace, shall raise the same cry, 'Come, Lord Jesus'; and the sublime response will descend from heaven like a wave from the ocean of love overflowing men's hearts. 'Behold, I come quickly'.

My dear friends, I say to many of you 'Farewell'; and I say that in a sense in which it is not often uttered. I say it not lightly, but solemnly. May you fare well in the First Resurrection. May you fare well at the Judgment Day. May you fare well in time; may you fare well in eternity. And at that day when sighs and farewells shall cease, may we meet before the throne of God and of the Lamb, and so be forever with the Lord. Amen, Amen.