mented them that dwell on the earth.” As Rome is compared to Egypt, so the Pope will be like Pharaoh, and will harden his heart against the Lord. "Power has been " indeed "given him to make war with the saints and to overcome them; and in many parts of Europe Protestantism has been annihilated vi et armis. But, when his dominion is at an end, he "will make war" with the Scriptures themselves, those two great Protestants," and overcome them and kill them." The Pope will know that every person possessed of a Bible will see therein these words written: "And power was given him to continue (practise) forty and two months," and he will find to his cost that these "forty and two months" have come to an end. The words of God being now fulfilled, the kingdoms of Europe will no longer submit to the Bishop of Rome.

The times of the Gentiles being now fulfilled, Jerusalem will be no longer trampled under foot. The Jews, being converted, will be most zealous Missionaries; they will proclaim loudly to heathen nations that Jesus is the Messiah: they will proclaim as loudly that the Pope is Antichrist, and will refer to the prophecies of the Old and the New Testament. The Scriptures combining against the Papacy, the Papacy will combine against the Scriptures, as if by this combination it could elude the fulfilment of prophecy.

St. John has informed us what the result will be. "After three days and a half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet;

and great fear fell upon them which saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither! And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies beheld them." Whilst the Bishop of Rome pours contempt on the Scriptures, God will honour them. They shall revive and stand again upon their feet, not to prophesy, as before," clothed in sackcloth," but to be exalted to the highest possible dignity and power. "The Spirit of life from God" will accompany them; and the vain attempt of the Papacy to quench the light of the Gospel will only tend to make it blaze brighter than ever.

"And the same hour there was a great earthquake ; and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake there were slain of men seven thousand and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly."

Their re

The Witnesses are slain, A. D. 1987. surrection will therefore take place, A. D. 1990, or A. D. 1991. This will be accompanied by a heavy judgment upon Rome, 7000 names of men, or men of name, being killed by an earthquake. The wrath of God will have been pouring out upon Rome during the whole time that the dead bodies of the Witnesses are exposed in the streets: for in the year 1987 the Seventh Angel pours out his vial into the air. But greater woes yet remain. "The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly."

CHAPTER XXII.

THE THIRD WOE EXPLAINED. THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON.

AND POWER WAS GIVEN UNTO HIM TO CONTINUE

(PRACTISE) FORTY AND TWO MONTHS."-Verse 5.

IN the ninth chapter of Revelation, we have an account of the rise of the Mahomedan religion, and the success which attended the arms of Mahomet, and the Caliphs his successors. Power was given to Mahomet "to hurt man five months,” i. e. 150 prophetical days, or 150 years. (Rev. ix. 5, 10.) "Accordingly, the Saracens made their greatest conquests between the year 612, when Mahomet first opened the bottomless pit, and began publicly to teach and propagate his imposture, and the year 762, when the Caliph Almansor built Bagdad, to fix there the seat of his Empire, and called it the city of peace." (See Bishop Newton in loco.) This period of five months, or 150 years, was the duration of the first woe. the expiration of this period it is added, "one woe is past, and behold there come two woes more hereafter." (verse 12.)

At

As Mahomet is one Antichrist, so the Pope is another. And as power was given to Mahomet and his successors "to hurt men five months," or 150 years, so power was given" to the Pope to practise forty and two months," or 1260 years. This period commences in the year 727, and ends in the year 1987. During this period the second woe lasts, and does not end till the resurrection of the witnesses, which will happen A.D. 1990, or A.D. 1991. The first woe ended A.D. 762: the second woe will end A.D. 1990, or A.D. 1991. Accordingly we read, after a description of the resurrection and ascension of the witnesses, "the second woe is past; and, behold! the third woe cometh quickly." (Rev. xi. 14.)

The first woe was the Mahommedan woe. The second woe is the Popish woe. The third woe will be the Infidel woe. It will be the final and desperate struggle of Satan to maintain his kingdom. Satan's muster-roll will be then called over. Mahommedan

and Papist will merge all minor differences and combine in one unholy confederacy against Christ and his gospel. The black standard of infidelity will be raised, and all the powers of darkness, whether in earth or hell, will be summoned to the battle. "Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! For the devil is come down unto you having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time." (Rev. xii. 12.) Popery will then throw off the mask and show itself in its true colours: the Pope will then be the Standard-Bearer and Commander-inChief of the Army of Infidelity. What a sight will

that be! the Vicar of Jesus Christ and the successor of St. Peter openly opposing Christ and the Holy Apostles! And yet this, however strange and anomalous it may seem, will really take place. Though the Pope can dispense with Scripture, we cannot ; and St. John has declared, "I saw the Beast, and the Kings of the earth, and their armies gathered together to make war against HIM that sat on the horse and his army." (Rev. xix. 19.) If ever there was a time when that text applied, "woe unto him that striveth with his Maker," it will be then. If ever there was a time when the second Psalm applied, it will be then. "The Beast," and "the Kings of the earth set themselves, and the Rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, Let us break these bonds asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath and vex them in his sore displeasure.--THOU shalt break them with a rod of iron: THOU shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." Time was, when a Pope (Boniface VIII.) could apply these words to himself, and maintain that, as Vicar of Christ, he had power to rule kings "with a rod of iron, and to dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." It will be then seen to whom they apply, and in what respect the Pope is concerned in them.

Another favourite text of the Popes has always been, See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down,