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dissensions, pestilences, and probably raging elements let loose upon man, will be among the fatal judgments of that day. The scenes of vengeance will be seen to come from the hand of God. It is the battle which Christ will fight; and men will know that the people thus destroyed are "the slain of the Lord." As Jer. xxv. 33, “And the slain of the Lord shall be, in that day, from one end of the earth, even unto the other end of the earth." This is the scene, when God says, "I will gather the nations, and assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignations, even all my fierce anger; and the whole earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy." "The light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame; and they shall burn and devour his thorns in one day." Of these thorns and briers, David said, when predicting the Millennium, and the antecedent ruin of Antichrist, "But the sons of Belial shall be all of them as thorns thrust away, because they cannot be taken with hands; but the man that would touch them must be fenced with iron, and the staff of a spear; and they shall be utterly burned with fire in the same place." And the prophet Malachi, upon the same, says, Behold, the day cometh which shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly shall be as stubble; and that day that cometh shall burn them up, and leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise, with healing in his wings; and ye shall tread down the wicked, and they shall be as ashes under the soles of your feet." The prophet Isaiah says of this day, "Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land (earth) desolate; and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it." "Howl ye, for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as destruction from the Almighty. Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt." "The earth is utterly broken down; the earth is clean dissolved." "For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations; and his fury upon all their armies; he shall utterly destroy them. For it is the day of the Lord's vengeance; and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion." "Behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with chariots, like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebukes with flames of fire; for by fire and by sword will the

Lord plead with all flesh." In Dan. ii. 34, 35, the event is given thus; "Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, and smote the image upon the feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them in pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floor, and the wind carried them away, and no place was found for them; and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth."

The time of this vial, we learn in Dan. xii. will be at the close of the 1260 years; and relative to this period, see Lecture XVIII. on Rev. xiii. 11, to end, on the number of the beast. It probably will not take place till after the close of the 19th century. The event of this vial, it has been shown, is the same in the second division of the Revelation, with the seventh trumpet in the first. It is the same with the harvest and vintage in chap. xiv.; and the battle with Christ in chap. xix. It is a great event in prophecy; and it impresses such Bible language as the following; "The Lord is a man of war; mighty in battle." "He ruleth by his power for ever; let not the rebellious exalt themselves." "Fear ye not me? saith the Lord; will ye not tremble at my presence?" "Who would set

the briers and thorns against me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together." God came from Teman; the Holy One from mount Paran. His glory covered the heavens; the earth was full of his praise. Before him went the pestilence; and burning coals went forth at his feet. He stood and measured the earth. He beheld and drove asunder the nations. The everlasting mountains were scattered. I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction. Thou didst ride upon thy chariots of salvation. Thy bow was quite naked. The mountains saw thee, and they trembled. The deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high." "Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people." "The Lord is jealous; the Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries." "The mountains quake at him; the hills melt; the earth is burned at his presence!"

Behold then the madness of Antichrist and of the infidels of the last days, to contemn and challenge such an antagonist! May Christians come out from among them;

may they clearly discern the signs of the times, and well improve them. Of this period the Saviour kindly says, "Ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars. There shall be signs in the heavens, and in the earth;-fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven-famines, earthquakes and pestilences-the sea and the waves roaring, men's hearts failing thern for fear, and for looking after those things that shall come; for the powers of the heavens shall be shaken." Warnings like these should not be overlooked. To improve them is of solemn interest; and to neglect them is the way to death.

LECTURE XXX.

REVELATION XVII.

Ver. 1. And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters;

2. With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.

A further view is, in this chapter, given of the destruction of the papal hierarchy, and of the beast from the bottomless pit, as her executioner. One of the angels who had poured out the seven vials is sent to exhibit to John the judgment of popery as the mother of harlots, whom God has taken in hand to execute upon her his wrath. This is a system of idolatry; and idolatry is noted in the word of God as spiritual adultery. This is one reason at least why that hateful system of false religion is known as the mother of harlots, as here represented. This wretched

character sits on many waters; or, has deluded and led to ruin many people, nations, tongues, and multitudes, by her idolatries under the Christian name,- -as though she had intoxicated them with her philtered wines prepared for the vilest purposes.

Ver. 3. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet-coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

4. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:

The papal power had driven the true church of Christ into a wilderness state, as chap. xii. 6. And John now, to find this wild bewildering system, must go into a wilderness, where she in her turn is immured; or, she is in trouble under the judgments of God. "I will show thee the judg ment of the great whore." I will present her to you as on her way to execution, on the back of that beast whose horns shall soon destroy her, shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire; for strong is the Lord who judgeth her. She is here reduced from her predominance, from being herself a beast, as in chap. xiii. 11–18, and is taken into the possession of another beast just risen from the bottomless pit, and she is carried by him at his will. This beast is of imperial scarlet colour, and is full of the names of blasphemy, and is, by his seven heads and ten horns, identified with the old secular Roman beast. This harlot now sits upon his back as a mere tool of his wicked policy, while she is at the same time on her way to execution, which this beast is to accomplish. Her gaudy array, and her infatuating enticements are here given, to indicate what she has been in her prosperous days, even as the newly risen beast is said to be of seven heads and ten horns, to show that he is the old pagan beast revived.

Ver. 5. And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, Ff

THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABO MINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

6. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

:

We have here her true character as revealed and known; and not concealed as it had been for many centu ries, while she was deemed the holy mother church! Her mask has been taken off, and she is exhibited to the nations as Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth !" She is the same that has been for many ages drunken with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus! Here is exhibited her desert of the fatal judgment, soon to be executed upon her by the horns of this beast now bearing her. Dr. Lardner and Bishop Pearson have shown, relative to the superscription upon her forehead, that it was a custom with the Romans to place on the foreheads of capital criminals, or over their heads when executed, a label of their character and crime. The superscription over the head of Christ, when he was crucified, was upon the same principle. This shows, then, that the papal harlot was here presented for execution. "I will show thee the judgment of the whore!" And soon, below, the horns of this beast eat her flesh, and burn her with fire! Dreadful to her was the event, when the beast from the bottomless pit first arose, filled her kingdom with darkness, and as it were, flung her upon his back, to convey her to the place of her destruction. This beast of infidelity originated in her fatal corruptions, and was there forged as a rod of iron to dash in pieces the enemies of God, and itself. One description here given of this mother of harlots is, that she " reigneth over the kings of the earth!" Not that she now reigns over them when mounted on this beast for execution, any more than she reigned over them when John wrote the passage. This clause must be construed by its history. She reigned over the kings of the Roman earth while she was the papal beast; while they cheerfully submitted to her superstitious sway; and before the fifth vial was discharged upon her throne and overturned it. It is a thing now

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