with an argument in support of indefiniteness as to time, it has supplied us with unanswerable evidence of its instant approach, inasmuch as such a precise state of coldness and forgetfulness was repeatedly foretold by our Lord and His apostles. Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many should wax cold. It is those only who endure steadfastly unto the end that shall be saved. It was the disciples themselves, those who should in that day be professing to be waiting for the Lord, to whom the words of warning were addressed :"Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life; and so that day come upon you unawares: for as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth." Were, then, your joy and zeal so short-lived that they could not survive the delay of a few years ? "Can ye not watch one hour?" Have the objects of sense, the pursuits and occupations of things visible, wholly drawn away your attention and affections from the glorious realities which once absorbed your souls ?-or, when ye received the truth of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, was it merely as a doctrine? Did its faith rest solely in the understanding ?-or did ye too easily follow the teaching of some favourite and beloved preacher; and thus, when its novelty has ceased, the temporary interest it excited has terminated also? If the love of the coming Bridegroom if the glorious realities of that

kingdom can no longer inspire your heart and excite your expectations--cast a prophetic glance at the frightful horrors of that day of the Lord which is close at hand, even at the door, and then recall the words of our Lord himself "Watch ye therefore, and pray always that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man." The Lord appeals to us as men, to whom suffering is obnoxious: we appeal to thee, reader, as a man! Do ye not desire to escape these things, and stand before the Son of Man, exempt from the gloomy horrors, the intense agony of that day?—or, will you persist in turning a deaf ear to the continual warnings which have reached you, for a succession of years, that the day of the Lord is at hand, and treat its advocates as dreaming enthusiasts? But, remember, so the world thought of Noah and all the prophets who foretold of coming judgments. Well! Be it so: for we feel the day of warning and preparation is fast closing upon us, and the day of fulfilment is at hand there is a time for all things-a day for delay—but there is also a day of completion and accomplishment. But still there is hope for thee: and, amidst the overwhelming fear which shall then come upon thee as a flood, remember the words of the heavenly Messenger—" Worship not the beast, neither his image; neither receive his mark upon your foreheads, nor in your hands ;" and in that fiery trial through which ye

shall assuredly have to pass, strengthen your heart with the remembrance that there was a fourth seen with the children of Israel in the furnace, "and the fourth was like unto the Son of God;" and cry for, and await patiently, that succour and consolation which shall surely be dispensed from Him who dwelleth in the clouds of heaven. It may be, you may be called on to scal your testimony with your blood; but be of good cheer, for it is written-"They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they LOVED NOT THEIR LIVES UNTO THE DEATH:" and, if called on to resist unto the death, support your hearts with the assurance of Him who is the true and faithful witness, and who cannot lie, that "ALSO THE

SOULS OF THEM THAT WERE BEHEADED FOR THE

WITNESS OF JESUS, AND FOR THE WORD OF God, AND WHICH HAD NOT WORSHIPPED THE BEAST, NEITHER HIS IMAGE, NEITHER HAD RECEIVED HIS MARK UPON THEIR FOREHEADS OR IN THEIR HANDS; AND THEY LIVED AND REIGNED WITH CHRIST A

THOUSAND YEARS: BUT THE REST OF THE DEAD LIVED NOT AGAIN UNTIL THE THOUSAND YEARS WERE

FINISHED. THIS IS THE FIRST RESURRECTION."

Ye shall assuredly have to undergo "that hour of temptation which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth; but if ye overcome in that fearful trial, ye likewise shall have part in the blessedness of the first resurrection; for there is an express promise and

declaration made to those who refuse to worship the beast or his image: and, though your brethren have entered into their rest before you, it is as a "first fruits unto God and the Lamb❞—as a pledge and assurance to you, amidst the extremities of your fearful ordeal, of the certainty of your final participation in their blessedness. For we are all baptized into one hope; and, though your unwatchfulness and unfaithfulness have excluded you from the joyous anticipations of the wedding by your absence from the marriage feast, yet you shall still have need of that oil, which, as the five foolish Virgins, ye have obtained, to keep alive your lamps through that dark and gloomy day of the Lord, sustaining your hope of ultimate blessedness.

We will not enter into any speculations as to the question if you shall ever attain to the high standing and condition of these "first believers" who, by their superior faithfulness, have preceded you; or whether their exemption from the miseries of the seventh Vial of wrath constitutes exclusively the substance of their priority of reward; but we declare, upon the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ himself, as recorded in the book of the Revelation of St. John-(and we remind all that a curse is pronounced upon him "THAT SHALL

TAKE AWAY FROM THE WORDS OF THE BOOK OF

THIS PROPHECY")-that, if you will not worship the beast or his image, "or receive his mark upon your forehead or in your hands," shall

you

LIVE AND REIGN WITH CHRIST A THOUSAND YEARS;

and be filled, to the full measure of your capacity, with the joy and the blessedness of that kingdom of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

But, doubtless, we are addressing some whose hearts burn within them at the prospect of soon meeting their Lord. Reader! art thou one? If so, lift up your head and rejoice, for your redemption draweth nigh. Art thou rich? Be not high-minded, but remember thy poor brother, and sit loose to thy riches. Art thou poor? Forget not that thou art the heir of God-joint heir with Christ-the inheritor of all things. Art thou in joy? Be sober-minded-rejoice with fear and trembling. Art thou oppressed with care and sorrow? Behold! He is at hand who shall speedily wipe the tear from thy face, before whose countenance sorrow and sighing shall flee away. Hold fast the beginning of thy confidence, steadfast unto the end; and be not ashamed of expressing your hope, that men may hear your witness, that the truths you avow with your lips constitute the joy of your heart; and be assured "that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." EVEN SO, COME, LORD JESUS.

W. E. Painter, 342, Strand, London, Printer.