XV. Everlasting Benefits. THE PREPARED THRONE. The Lord hath prepared His throne in the heavens.-Verse 19. The AMID the sins and the fluctuations of the world-the collision of armies-the fall of kingdoms, and the fading away of generations-it is an unspeakable comfort to know that "the Lord hath prepared His throne in the heavens." The history of the world is but a record of its evanescence. Fame informs us only of men and things that were. busy stage of life presents to view a long funeral procession, where the whole multitude of the living are following after the dead. First in the line appear Antediluvian Patriarchs, followed by the descendants of Noah, who pass onward in the pageant before us by successive generations as time rolls. on. Then were kingdoms established and empires founded, and the voice of adulation was heard vainly saying to each successive monarch, "O King, live for ever!" But where now are the flattered and their flatterers? All alike have crumbled into dust. Behold the splendor of the golden kingdom of the Chaldeans-the softer and silver brightness of the Medo-Persians-the stronger and more extensive kingdom of the Macedonians or brazen-coated Greeks-the mighty and universal kingdom of the Romans, breaking in pieces and subduing the whole earth with its iron sceptre. Where are all these now? Where are their royal founders? Where is Nebuchadnezzar? Where is Cyrus? Where is the mighty Alexander? Where are the illustrious Cæsars? Who now bear their names? And where dwell their descendants upon the earth? All is emptiness. Nothing but their history remains to informs us that they were and are not. How solicitious was each of these monarchs to found his kingdom on an indestructible basis. How anxiously did they prepare their thrones that their name and their power might remain. But they prepared them on the earth. The Lord likewise has prepared His throne, but He has prepared it in the heavens. It is a prepared, but not yet a manifested throne. Its power, however, is a present reality. Even now it possesses authority over all yea, it has possessed authority over all from the beginning. Those four great monarchies were ruled and overruled by it, alike in the period of their origin, in the splendor of their progress, and in the circumstances of their decline. They came into being, not by the will, neither by the power, of their human founders, but according to the determined purpose and by the almighty power of the Lord our God. They have stood successfully upon the earth for centuries, and yet appeared long ago in vision to the King and to the Prophet as forming only one huge image. We now are privileged to behold the ten kingdoms of its feet partly strong and partly broken; and we stand in living expectation to see "the Stone that was cut out without hands," smite the image upon its feet and break them to pieces. It is our happy lot to live in the period when all these monarchies have filled up their respective parts in history; and it is our joyful anticipation that, "in the days of these kings" that are now, or that may shortly arise, upon the earth," the God of heaven" will bring forth His prepared throne, and "set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, and which shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and which shall stand for ever." Dan. ii. 44. There is, to the eye of sense, much apparent confusion in the past history, and in the present aspect, of our fallen world. There are sufferings and sorrows, disorders and discords, on every side. The impetuous passions of fallen men appear to be symbolized by the very elements around them. The winds, the storms, the fires of heaven from above-volcanoes, earthquakes, and pestilential vapors from the earth beneath-plagues, fevers, and infections in the air around-form a large pictorial alphabet, an illuminated elemental index, of the evil thoughts, the rapine, crime, and murder that proceed from within. The aspect of society presents the same confusion to our view. The virtuous and honorable are not always the most successful. The vicious and the profligate do not invariably receive an adequate or immediate punishment. Neither prosperity nor adversity are regulated by an unvarying law. So manifest is this confused state of things, that the Psalmist warns us not to be troubled at the sight : "Fret not thyself because of evil doers; neither be thou envious at the prosperity of the wicked." Psa. xxxvii. 1. Cranmer's version. And Solomon declares, that "Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil." Eccles. viii. 11. Amid all this change and confusion to the eye of man, there has been no change, and no confusion, to the eye of God. All has been precision and regularity in His sight. One kingdom has but followed another in the order of His appointed course. Sorrow and suffering, indeed, have marked their progress. Pride and ambition paved their way, and war and bloodshed followed in their track. Men were either dazzled by the vain glory of their advance, or buried beneath the ruins of their decline. They beheld nothing further than their fellow men striving against each other for the mastery and involved, as they felt themselves. to be, against their wills, they could only groan, and bleed, and perish, in the universal struggle. But God seeth not as man seeth. All these things are permitted and overruled by Him. The breaking of sceptres; the overthrow of thrones; the fall of monarchs; and the change of dynasties, are the visitations of nations for their sins, and are visible preparations for His kingdom. "Thus saith the Lord God, Remove the diadem and take off the crown: for this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn it and it shall be no more, until HE come whose right it is, and I will give it HIM." Ezek. xxi. 26, 27. : To the man of the world fortune is indeed pictured with a smile of kindness upon her face, but with the fold of blindness upon her eyes. To the believer, however, there is no blind fortune. His eye of faith pierces the troubled elements of nature, and beholds a calm sunshine beyond. He looks through the vapory ebullitions of human passion, and discerns a heavenly King, causing the very wrath of man to praise Him, and ordering all things for His own glory. The believer can calmly survey the confused aspects of society and of the world. He feels certain that the prosperity of the wicked is but for a moment. And though, by the convulsions and oppressions that surround him, he may be borne down in the flesh, yet will he be lifted upward in the spirit by the assured knowledge of this blessed truth, “The Lord hath prepared His throne in the heavens." Observe that word "prepared,"--not preparing, but prepared. It has been thought of, designed, determined, yea, set up. Whatever may be seen or felt, whatever may be thought or said, there is no lack of government, there is nothing wrong in the administration of the Most High. His sceptre is a right sceptre-a sceptre of righteousness. His throne is a prepared throne, but at present it is in the heav ens. Beyond these visible clouds the throne of God is established. A thin veil of atmosphere conceals it from our mortal view; but still it is as really there as if we beheld it with our eyes. But it is now a throne of mercy, and not of judgment. God has appointed a day for His prepared throne to be set up on the earth, and now He forbears with the children of men, and gives them time, and promises, and |