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the accomplishment of the prophecies both of Jesus himself, and his antagonist the man of sin. The removal of the modern stumbling block of popery, seems to be the first step necessary to the conversion and restoration of the jews; and accordingly we find in all the prophecies, that their return to their own land must be preceded and prepared by those great changes amongst the antichristian powers, or ancient confederacy of Rome, of which there is so frequent mention; and these two events, the fall of popery and redemption of Israel, are constantly connected together in prophecy.*

He is to continue till the indignation upon Israel be accom plished. (Dan xi. 7.) Or if we understand the power of the mahommedans, now the possessors of the Holy Land, as the stumbling block in their way, that is to be removed about the same time with popery; their rise having been nearly together, and the same term of 42 months, or 1260 prophetic years, having been allotted to both of them.

SECTION XI.

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Popish miracles proceed from the father of lies. -His design, the support of falsehood and idolatry. Strong delusion, the natural effect and the punishment of religious hypocrisy.God speaks in an unknown tongue to Apostates.-Their covenant with death and bell. -The Popes will the authority of Scripture. -The refuge of lies :—of no avail against the scourge of God.-The divine impartial

ity towards the wicked.

ST. Paul having foretold the coming of the man of sin, and reminded the Thessalonians, and through them the christian world in general, of what he had before communicated concerning Him, and which appears to have been amongst them generally understood, although for good reasons kept pretty close to themselves; that until the departure of the

seat of empire from Rome, he should not be revealed; proceeds in the following verses, to give such a description of him, that he might be easily known when he should arise, for he has never yet had his parallel. "Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders.”

Satan, who is himself the father of lies, is the author of false miracles, and the upholder of all imposture. St Paul ascribes to this spiritual and political king the power of miracles, only they are false ones, and wrought, if there ever was any thing supernatural in any of them, undoubtedly not by the power of God, but of that arch deceiver, who is an overmatch for even the greatest proficients at deception. The ends for which these popish miracles upon record were wrought, (to promote superstition and falsehood, and to inveigle the ignorant into the idolatry of dead saints and images, &c.) evidently declare the source from which they came-the energy of Satan and by a power

Κατ' ενέργειαν τῷ σατανᾶ ἐν πάση δυνάμει, ex efficacia satang cum omni potentia. Predicit apostolus satanam omnes súas

permitted to him thus to deceive those who, for the base ends of ambition and avarice, had deceived their christian brethren, and introduced the most shameful corruptions into the church.

"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 that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." The miracles of the man of sin, like his doctrines, are a mass of the most

vires explicaturum, idque maximo cum successu, &c."—Beza, -"The apostle foretells that Satan would lay out his whole strength upon this hopeful scheme, and that with ample success the wickedness of the world being worthy of such a punishment: yet in such a manner, that only the unbelievers in the genuine gospel should be capable of falling into the snare." So the apostle also declares, that this judgment was sent upon them because they received not the love of the truth, but had pleasure (and an interest) in unrighteousness. The popish authors make miracles a mark of the true church, and pretend to them to this day; but our Saviour gives them as a mark of antichrist, (Mat. xxi. 24.) and St Paul says here the same thing.

monstrous untruths and hypocrisies, contrived by the enemy of mankind to defeat the saving efficacy of the gospel; and permitted of God to take full effect upon the base and wicked minds of those degenerate christians, which, like Balaam," loved the wages of unrighteousness" more than the commands of Christ, and church pageantry and pre-eminence more than the simplicity of the gospel. God, in punishment of such unpardonable neglect of the strong warnings that had been given them, suffers them to become the victims of their own deceptions, and at length to believe the very fallacies and pious frauds as they consider them, which they had invented to bolster up the dignity, and support the high claims of their new-modelled religion,

It is the wise and righteous method of God to place his reasonable and beneficial truth before mankind, but to leave to them the option of following it or not: "See I have set before thee this day life and death, and good and evil.” (Deut. xxx. 15.) Qui vult decipi, decipiatur. "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still

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