the vast possessions of the Society in these days, may serve, however, to shew how vast and extensive will be that commercial system which has yet to be established on the platform of the Roman earth; which the Scriptures seem also to shew will assume an Ecclesiastico-commercial form; and in all probability be also of so exclusive a character, that all who will not conform to its evil requirements, will, as they will afterwards under Antichrist's idolatrous decrees, be prohibited from all benefits to be derived from it;1 or, in other words, according to a modern phrase, be "boycotted!"

And indeed some ominous signs have occurred in these days, which shew us that such an issue is not at all likely to be an improbable one: for "Word and Work," in its issue of the 20th October, 1887, gave an extract from an able address of Dr. H. Sinclair Paterson, at the Evangelical Alliance Conference at Aberdeen, in that month, in which he remarked, "There are ominous signs that the Church of Rome and scepticism will, IN THE NEAR FUTURE, form an alliance against the Gospel. The present Pope does not say non possumus, like the last one. One of the

prominent Romish writers in London wrote a paper in one of our leading monthlies not very long ago, in which he said that notwithstanding Evolution, Darwinism, and all the other contradictions of science against Theology, THE CHURCH OF ROME COULD EASILY ACCEPT THEM ALL! The same writer, two months ago, wrote another article, in which he stated: Suppose the contention of certain critics be true, and that we have no Old Testament; WE CAN DISPENSE WITH IT, FOR WE HAVE THE LIVING INFALLIBLE HEAD IN THE PAPAL CHAIR AT ROME!' He has not been censured for these papers, so far as I am aware. After writing the first he remarked,Several of the leading members of the Roman Catholic Church praised, instead of blaming me.' And the second article has been sown broadcast in the same vein, and not a single whisper has been spoken against it on the part of members of that church. The fact, therefore,

1 Rev. xiii. 16, 17.

remains that Rome is quite willing to accept all the conclusion of scepticism and all the speculations of science, AND

YET MAINTAIN ITS FIRM HOLD OVER THE HEARTS AND CONSCIENCES OF MEN!!"

Now this vast confederacy of evil, which is again described in the 17th Chapter of the Book of the Revelation, under the emblem of a wicked, imperious, whorish woman, then having rule over the platform of the whole Roman earth, including both East and West, Antichrist will in the first instance entirely uphold and support; and in fact be the mainspring of its existence. And this he will the more readily be able to do, in consequence of the revival of the Eastern portion of the Roman Empire; which will then from its geographical position, its vast resources, and the fact of Babylon being the great city and seat of that part of his Empire, far out-rival the West; and give an enormous impetus to trade and commerce. I have already incidentally shown that Antichrist will be a great patron of the arts and sciences; and no doubt, like Nebuchadnezzar of old, he will be the chief builder of the modern Babylon; which will probably far exceed Babylon of old, both in its extent, as well as in its grandeur, glory and magnificence. The account of its fall, as given in the 18th chapter of the Book of the Revelation, gives us some insight into these things, and shews us, not only the vast extent of its riches, and merchandize, but also the effect that the judgment of God upon "that great city," will have upon "the Kings of the earth," and "the merchants," "which were made rich by her," in their "wailing" and "lamenting" her fall; "because no man buyeth her merchandise any more."3

1 Rev. xvii. 3.

2

It

? I believe it was Mr. B. W. Newton, who first called attention to this subject in his "Second Series of Aids to Prophetic Enquiry," entitled "Babylon; its Revival and Final Desolation."

3 I have now before me the prospectus of the Mersina-Adana Construction Co., Limited, which proposes to construct a Railway in Asia Minor, from the former to the latter place, of about 42 miles; and the plans accompanying it shew that it is ultimately intended to continue the line down to the Euphratean valley through Mosul (Nineveh) and Bagdad;

is in consequence of Antichrist having selected Babylon as the capital of his Empire that he is called in Scripture, the King of Babylon;1 and it is in consequence of his having resuscitated the power and energy of the East, and thus, as it were, re-established the old Assyrian dominion and empire, (which began with Nimrod, the introducer of the public worship of idolatry, and will close with Antichrist, in whom it will culminate and end,) that he is called "the Assyrian."2

In order to bring about this state of things, it will of course have been necessary for Satan to reunite his scattered forces, if I may so say, so as to form them into one huge confederacy of evil; and this he will in the end be able to accomplish, mainly through the instrumentality of the demons under him: who are described, as we have seen in the Book of the Revelation, as "going forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty."3 The three main divisions of Satan's army, now on the platform of the Roman earth, consist of "Jesuitism," "Spiritualism," and Infidelity; and these three will in the end be united into one mighty force; which will ultimately be headed by Antichrist himself. Those who have read my book on "Demonology and Witchcraft," will remember that I therein furnished the most conclusive proofs that the demons are now working for the attainment of this very end; in the words of a celebrated professor, " to build a UNIVERSAL SPIRITUAL RELIGION, in which BOTH EAST AND WEST CAN JOIN, BOTH ANCIENT AND MODERN TRUTH CAN BLEND!" And that this hellish system will in the first instance take the form of

and from thence, I suppose, to Babylon and the Persian Gulf. Dr. Sivartha, of Chicago, who has long made it his study to develop not only all Palestine, but all the great Euphrates valley, says that this valley is capable of sustaining 100,100,000 people and of again being the centre of the world's activities!-Montreal Church Guardian, quoted in "Silver Morn," of March, 1889.

1 Isaiah xiv. 4.

2 Isaiah x. 5, 24;

v. 5, 6.

xiv. 25; xxx. 31; xxxi. 8; Hos. v. 13; xi. 5; Micah 3 Rev. xvi. 14.

some religion or other, I think the Scriptures I have referred to clearly shew-that religion being represented by "the great whore" of Rev. xvii., who is described as "sitting upon many waters "-the "peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues" then absolutely ruled over by heran Ecclesiastical system which may possibly arise out of Jesuitism, in combination with the other two forces before referred to, and which Antichrist will of course have to destroy, as we see him doing in that Chapter, before he can be set up as the sole object of worship himself.

As Antichrist will, therefore, not be supreme until he reign also in Jerusalem, I shall have to defer this part of his career until we come to our next Section.

SECTION III.

The connexion of the Antichrist with Jerusalem and the Jews-His awful doom and end.

Rabinowitz the Russian Jew, who is now a Christian, and who has been greatly used of the Lord in enlightening his brethren after the flesh, in one of his addresses to them, urging them to seek the glory of God only, thus speaks:

"The Jews have three great faults of self-glory which hinder them seeking the Lord. The first is self-glory in that they are the children of God, having Abraham their father, and having the prophets. This fault they had when in the land, and both John the Baptist and Jesus spake against it. Then when Jerusalem was destroyed, they took a new glory, the glory of being wise men. They gloried in the Talmud, the Mishnah, the Torah. Who can keep the Sabbaths like us? Who will fast like us? Who make fringes like us? But in the middle ages this selfglory of wisdom was scourged away. Then came a new glory, and they said, we are men of great ability, we will be foremost in commerce, in industry, and banking, and

science. By and by, on this account, they came to look on the scattering of the nation, not as a chastisement of the Lord, but as a God-ordained means of putting them in all places to be the merchants and leaders of the world." This testimony is true; and it is a characteristic of the nation, which is referred to by the prophet Ezekiel, as being their chief characteristic in these latter days; and as being the one which will lead them again into national idolatry— "And that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all, that ye say, we will be as the Gentiles, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone."

In the months of April and May, 1878, while the chief Mildmay Missionary to the Jews was absent in Sweden, I took his place at the meeting of enquiring Jews at Wellclose Square, near the London Docks; and on one occasion, while speaking to them of Jesus, as their Messiah, an English Jew interrupted me by saying,

You are

"You make a great mistake, Mr. Brown. always talking of our Messiah in connexion with sin our Messiah has nothing to do with sin!"

"Has He not?" said I: "then what do you make of such passages as these? "-quoting a number of passages, which referred to the subject. "What sort of a Messiah then are you looking for?"

"Oh!" said he, "Our Messiah is to be a great warrior, who will fight our battles for us, and put us at the head of the Gentiles; and give us back Jerusalem and our own land again!"

"Yes!" I said, "I know whom you are looking for; and I will give you an account of him"-and turning to the Book of Daniel, I opened out some of the. prophecies relating to the Antichrist: whereupon he immediately replied,

"But DANIEL is no prophet!"

"What do you say?" said a German Jew.

"I say Daniel is no prophet," repeated the other.

1 Ezek. xx. 32.