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the goats; to give unto them that love him a crown of glory, that they may sit with him on his throne, even as He overcame and sat down on the throne of his Father.

The Old-Testament Prophets hold out to us the coming of the Lord as the great object of hope. Never do they teach us to expect any moral improvement in the world till this happy day arrives; but, on the contrary, they speak of the church suffering until then, oppressed by the wicked one, persecuted by the world, opposed by principalities and powers, and by spiritual wickedness in high places. The same things are taught us by the inspired writers of the New Testament. If we turn over the sacred pages, from Matthew to the Revelations, we find the coming of the Lord the one grand hope which is set before us. In one word, the New Testament shuts us up to this blessed hope. It comforts not the church by promising any intervening dispensation-not by holding out to her the false hope, which is now entertained by many, that the world will at length become her friend, and that she shall enjoy a long period of blessedness, unopposed by the world and unmolested by Satan-but, on the contrary, it prepares her for suffering, and tells her to expect no cessation from her conflicts and trials till the Lord come, who shall take vengeance on his enemies, and destroy them that hate her.

Now, this glorious event is the burden of all prophecy. It is also set forth in the Old Testament by various typical events such as the Deluge; Abraham's slaying the kings; the destruction of Sodom, of Midian, of Pharaoh and his host, of Jericho, and of Babylon.

In proceeding to speak on this great subject, I observe, first, That ancient Babylon was a type of mystic Babylon-namely, the Roman or prophetic earth. All the prophecies in the Old Testament, like many in the New, have a near and a distant object. Those which were spoken, first in reference to literal Babylon, seek their complete fulfilment in the destruction of mystical Babylon, the Roman empire, which is now about to be destroyed by the True Cyrus, the Lord from heaven.

If we give to the sacred Scriptures that consistency which we expect to find in a human author, then must mystic Babylon, mentioned in the Apocalypse, be the antitype of ancient Babylon, referred to in the Old Testament. The Old and New Testaments being both the word of God, ought we not to expect one grand design running through both; the New developing, unfolding, and consummating what was contained in the Old? This is just what we do find, and which bespeaks it to be the product of One Great Mind. Turn we, for instance, to the following passages. In Isaiah xiii. it is written, "The Burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amos did see. Lift ye up

a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the, nobles. I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness. The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms, of nations gathered together: the Lord of hosts mustereth the host of the battle. They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the Lord, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land. Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt.... Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light; the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and I will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible." In the xxxiv th it is thus written: "My sword shall be bathed in heaven; behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment. The sword of the Lord is filled with blood; it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of kidneys of rams; for the Lord hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea....For it is the day of the Lord's vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion. And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone; and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever. But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it, the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it; and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness..' The coming of the Lord, to take vengeance on his enemies, is the ultimate object of the lxiiid, which begins thus: "Who is this that cometh from Edom, with died garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine-fat? I have trodden the wine-press alone, and of the people there was none with me; for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come."

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Now, in order that we may see how this prophecy conducts us forward to the great and terrible day of the Lord, let us see what the Spirit saith in that book which is written expressly to shew forth his coming. In turning to Rev. xvii. 1-5, the judgments of the Almighty are said to descend upon “ Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth." In the xvith, the kings of the earth and of the whole world are gathered together to the battle of the great day of God Almighty; and great Babylon comes into remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. In the vi th it is said, " and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood, and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth....and the heavens departed as a scroll." And men seek in vain to hide themselves from the wrath of the Lamb; "For the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?" In the xix th chapter, the Lord Jesus is described as coming forth as an avenger of his people's wrongs: "And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood and his name is called the Word of God; and the armies which were in heaven followed him....and out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations.... and he treadeth the wine-press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God." Then follows the great slaughter; and the "fowls that fly in the midst of heaven" are invited to "gather themselves together unto the supper of the great God; that they may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great." And in chap. xiv. 20 we read that "the blood flowed beyond the city, even unto the horses' bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs." Finally, it is said, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and the cage of every unclean and hateful bird.... Her plagues shall come in one day, death and mourning and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.... Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy Apostles and Prophets; for God hath avenged you on her. And again they said, Alleluia: and her smoke rose up for ever and ever (xviii. 2, 8, 20; xix. 3 ; xiv. 11).

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Thus, in comparing the language of the Old and New Testament, we see that ancient Babylon was made use of by the Spirit to typify mystic Babylon; and that in the destruction of the latter every word shall be accomplished-for not one jot or tittle of God's word can fail-which remains unfulfilled in the destruction of the former.

Seeing, then, that the destruction of Babylon brings the great

and terrible day of the Lord-terrible, indeed, unto the ungodly, but only unto such; for the righteous shall have" a song as in the night, when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the Lord, to the Mighty One of Israel "-let us in the next place make some inquiries relative to the nearness of this great event, and of our deliverance from the impending judgments: and, oh, what a solemn and momentous inquiry!

We arrive at the conclusion, that the day of the Lord is at hand; and which our Divine Master has taught us may be known by attending to the fulfilment of prophecy, even as the approach of summer is known by the trees putting forth their leaves, not from a few isolated passages of Scripture, but from the whole of the inspired volume. We might shew that the great prophetic period of Daniel and John is passed--namely, the 1260 years, during which the Papacy was to triumph; that the midnight cry, "Behold, the Bridegroom cometh," has been made; that the angel flying through the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach, has proclaimed that the hour of God's judgment is come; that the seventh seal has been opened, the seventh trumpet sounded, the seventh vial commenced: but it is only to this last-mentioned portion of prophecy that we shall at present direct our attention. We have, blessed be God, lived to see the commencement of the seventh vial, DURING THE OUTPOURING OF WHICH THE LORD WILL COME!

The commencement of this vial has been marked in a way which we should hope would awaken the attention of every Christian. We were led to remark, from the sure word of prophecy, more than twelve months ago*, that as soon as the Mohammedan power was exhausted the judgments would fall back upon the Western Empire, and complete the destruction of the Papal hierarchy. The French revolution has shewn the correctness of this interpretation. Already have we seen the setting up of one of those kings which shall "hate the whore, and make her desolate, and burn her with fire." It is in the period in which we are now living that "Great Babylon comes in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath;" that Rev. vi. 12-17, and Luke xxi. 25-27, will receive their complete fulfilment: "And, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind; and the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were removed out of their places: and the

*See Doctrine of Second Advent, vol. iii. p. 35,

kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every freeman, hid themselves in the dens, and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the rocks and mountains, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand? And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth; for the powers of heaven shall be shaken, and THEN shall they SEE the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; and when these things BEGIN to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh.' Now these things began to take place at the first revolution in France, in the year 1792. Then the temporal head, the sun of the Roman earth, was eclipsed, and the moon turned into blood; then, too, the stars-the lesser governments -fell to the earth; and then was also great distress of nations, with perplexity. But we are now living in days when these events are drawing to a climax. The second great political earthquake occasioned by the French revolution, and which now strikes terror through the earth, is bringing to perfection that of 1792. These revolutionary movements, therefore, will not stop till those kings described in Rev. xvii. 12-14, and which have received no kingdom as yet, shall be fully established. In France we see one of these governments well-nigh formed. Now, as these kings make war with the Lamb, and as they reign but one hour with the beast, and are destroyed in the battle of Armageddon (Rev. xix. 11-21), which is the great day of God Almighty (xvi. 14), it is clear that the translation of the saints must take place during the setting up of these kings, or, at the farthest, when they shall have united together to give their power and strength unto the beast (xvii. 14). It appears to me, however, most probable, that the translation of the saints-i. e. their removal up into that cloud of which Noah's ark was the type-will not take place till the ten kings are set up. Noah had seven days' warning, and the flood came on the seventh day, the very day in which he entered into the ark (Gen. vii. 4—11). May we not therefore conclude, that the time occupied by the bestial government (xvii. 14) is analogous to the seven days' warning which was given Noah ; and that, when these ten kings are confederate and ripe for destruction, the "short space" during which they shall have power with the beast (according to strict interpretation, fifteen days; one hour being the twenty-fourth part of a day, and a prophetic day being twelve months) will

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