PERIOD VII.

FIRST ASPECT-FIRST PROPHECY.

WHAT is to be understood by the true church was briefly noticed in the Fourth Period: what is to be understood by Popery, its awful counterfeit, may be correctly gathered from the following quotations.

St. Paul, in 2 Thess. ii., speaking of the speedy expectation of the second coming of Christ, says; "Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that MAN OF SIN be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God."-In writing this verse, I am reminded of the comment made upon it by a friend, who, in a letter lately written from Rome, thus expresses herself: "I only saw the Pope once it was the last day of the year, at sunset, when Te Deum was sung in the Jesuits' church; and as there was no Mass, I took that opportunity of going. This splendid church,

which is one of the richest in Rome, was hung with draperies of crimson and gold. The three altars were blazing with wax-candles, and covered with silver ornaments and flowers and pictures, besides their richly decorated crucifixes. The long processions of priests, some clothed in white and scarlet, some in blackthe soldiers, fully armed the train of livery servants attending the cardinals-the fine opera music and singing, which went on all the time -reminded me so strongly of the scenes in a theatre, that I determined never again in the house of God to be a willing witness of such awful mockery. Some of the ceremonies in the magnificent church of St. Peter, which I have heard described, surpass any thing I could have imagined. When there was a new Pope, last year, he was placed above the high altar above the crucifix; while crowds prostrated themselves before him, and kissed his toe. This ceremony is called the adoration of the Pope. Can any thing be more clearly described than this is in the Thessalonians?"

But to return from this digression. The Apostle thus proceeds: "Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth, that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work only he who now letteth, will let, until he be taken

X

out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: even him whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie."

Again, in 1 Tim. iv. 1-3, some other characteristics of Popery are given. "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth."

In the book of Revelation this apostate power has a more definite form given to it, and is described thus: "And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them that dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth

great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he caused all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred three-score and six" (Rev. xiii. 11-18). Which description, divested of metaphor, and as illustrated by the quotations above given from St. Paul's writings, may be read thus: "And I beheld another tyrannical power come up out of the earth, possessing both civil and ecclesiastical authority and dominion; having in appearance the meekness and humility of a lamb, but in reality the fury and ferocity of a dragon; and he exerciseth all the power of

the ten kingdoms of the Western empire, and causeth the earth and them that dwell therein to worship the revived imperial headship which had been set up. And he pretended to do great wonders and miracles, by which he deceived the degenerate visible church; commanding all that dwell on the earth to make an image, or ecclesiastical form of government, in exact likeness to that of the secular government, with all its gradations of rank and wealth. And he had power to give life to this hierarchy, consisting of cardinals, legates, archbishops, bishops, abbots, monks, priests, friars, &c. throughout the whole range and extent of the ten kingdoms; so as that this image should not be a mere bare resemblance, like a picture on a wall or a statue in a gallery, but that it should, in all its gradations, be able to exercise the cruel, tyrannical, and oppressive power of the secular empire, even unto death, and that in its most cruel forms. And he caused persons of every description openly to avow and declare their allegiance to his authority, and to practise his worship, laws, and decrees; suffering no one even to traffic who refused to comply. And the number of his name is Latinus, descriptive of the language in which he seals up religious worship and the word of God, and of the empire of which he is the head."

Such was Popery described in the language