the abominations of Sodom and Gomorrah are revived. And to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life speedily join themselves; and in the pursuit of these till lately despised baits, men begin to jostle one another: and thence arise disputes; and from disputing they come to blows:-the ploughshare is beaten back into the sword, and the pruning-hook into the spear: WARS are seen, and RUMOURS OF WARS heard throughout the world:-Intestine commotions divide the once united families of earth: NATION RISES AGAINST NATION, AND KINGDOM AGAINST KINGDOM:-And so loud are their contentions, so fierce are their disputes, that the monitions of an angry God, the FAMINES AND PESTILENCES which sweep, and the EARTHQUAKES which shake the world, pass unregarded. The second foul spirit, that which in days of old went forth out of the mouth of the beast and whore, again holds sway on earth.

And next comes Satan's grand device. It is not to be supposed, that the people of God, now but one in five, stand idle spectators of such a scene as this : Those who know the certainty of the life and judgment to come, won't be easy till they have done all in their power to oppose such a state of things as this. They have again become HATED OF ALL NATIONS FOR THE NAME-SAKE OF THEIR LORD; they have been AFFLICTED, and even KILLED: and worse than all, some have become offended; some have gone backward, and have BETRAYED and HATED their former brethren; and the LOVE OF MANY HAS WAXED COLD. Nevertheless the Lord God of Hosts has left them a remnant, and these persevere :-They

preach, they pray, they exhort, they even threaten; they point to prophecy, and endeavour to show that this is the very frenzy predictive of the last times. But prophecy is nought without the Spirit which impresses it upon the heart, and these men have Him not; He has ceased to strive with them; and they walk in the blackness of judicial darkness. Nevertheless, the preachers, like all faithful preachers, are not the less troublesome; it is your sleepy one who is the favourite of the majority;—he who tells his hearers that they have good things in them by nature, whilst Paul saith, I know that in me dwelleth no good thing.' thing.' Besides, natural conscience they can't wholly stifle :-they find that it may exist as a prophet of evil, long after it has ceased to speak one particle of peace; and it would therefore be desirable, at once to rid themselves of this troublesome companion, and of the preachers :-to prove for a fact, that there is neither God nor devil, heaven nor hell :-to this complexion have they come at last. Thus much Satan undertakes to put them in the way to do: Lo!' says he, [drawing a Bible from his pouch, the single one reserved for the occasion,] the thing is easy; the success certain : - Christ hath declared, Upon this rock will I build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it ;'-the meaning whereof I take to be this: that whilst time endures, that abstract idea called evil, personified by Christ under the name [Satan winced] of Devil, shall never so prevail, that in this wide world there shall not always be found some to hold fast the christian faith. The prediction falsified, the authority and the fear of the prophet fall with it:

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the written law once abolished, the scruples which still disturb some of our weaker brethren, need give them little trouble. Now give these Christians their choice; let them apostatize or be put to death. In all probability they will rather become live atheists than dead Christians; if they will not, why then, upon the grand principle of the utilitarian hypothesis, the greatest happiness the greatest good, they must infallibly be put to death; it being clear that this experiment (for of its success what reasonable man can doubt) is the only method whereby exact peace of mind can be procured, not only for the present generation, but for the successions of men which are to follow in sæcula sæculorum. They adopt this advice, applauding the philosophical spirit in which it is conceived, and they decree a general Bartholomew massacre throughout the world. The third foul spirit, that which theretofore went out of the mouth of the false prophet, pervades the earth.

And now, THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION

THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY-THE MAN OF SIN-ANTICHRIST THE WICKED ONE-THE SON OF PERDITION

-stand revealed in the men of the last days, and their designs: The desolating wickedness, war, now swelled to giant size, stands, as in the days of Titus and of Antiochus Epiphanes, on HOLY GROUND; whilst men, numberless as the sand of the sea, go up on the breadth of the earth, and compass the camp of the saints about, and THE BELOVED CITY. The word is, FLY

Fly, faithful people-fly ;-God's servants, fly; fly, and fight not :--all carnal weapons vain; with

the sword spiritual faith alone may strive. This is God's battle; He must fight it out:-But though Jehovah be a man of war-the Lord of hosts his name-He fights not yet :-as yet the Lord looks on and idly laughs; nor strips his sleeve, nor yet makes bare his arm. Soon though, like giant just refreshed with wine, He'll rush into the broil: Messiah then, fights the last battle that the world will see-fights it alone; with weapons all his own :-confused noise, and garments rolled in blood, betoken common war; in this great fight, lightnings and fires shall mingle with the fray. The last day is at hand :-The Lord is nigh:-The sun that scarce hath risen, looks like blood--seems like a great red dragon in his wrath :'Tis Armageddon with the Church of Christ: and earth becomes one heap of slaughtered saints. Therefore fly-fly save nothing but God's word:-Hold fast by prophecy-prophecy fulfilled:-The argument from miracles will fail: Satan can now work miracles -raise the dead. False Christs, false prophets, will anon appear :-Hold fast by prophecy-prophecy fulfilled :-Fly to the deserts; Satan soon will come ; and where he fights the battle must be hot :-They that live now, and yet preserve the faith, more honour God than those that die therein. -The work commences: few are they that fly-the Devil takes care of that.First to the aged they propose their terms-- Deny or die.' With Polycarp they cry-Eighty and six years have we served the Lord; shall we deny him now?'-and down they go. The matrons next, spouses of Christ, are caught Blaspheme-have many husbands.'

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These reply-Christ's spouse, the Church, is faithful

to her vows:'-and straight are butchered.'Young men and maidens, come and live like us; perpetual pleasures wait: We are content,' say they, to taste God's pleasures:'- and their throats are cut. The little children too must honour God:- Say, God is not-Christ but an empty name: We are God's children, and may not tell lies; we are Christ's children, and will live with him:'-and Herod's sword falls on them.- -But chiefly in the deserts lies real war-war spiritual -last trial of the elect. Lo, Satan comes! soldier of Christ, be firm; down on your knees, and clasp the Bible fast. See now; he cures the blind, he heals the lame; deaf hear, dumb speak: horror of all! the dead-the dead arise; and each is straight dismissed, to revel in the slaughter:- Yield ye then : did Christ do more than this?' Now boldly thrust ; the fiend forgets the charge. Begone,' said Christ, and sin no more:' but these are all sent forth and go to join with Satan; swim in blood.

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Beside thee stands the Lord-extends his hand-absolves thee from thy vows:- Deny, yet live; the fight too hot for man I ask no more-deny, yet live— live everlastingly.' 'Tis a false Christ! prick him with prophecy, the very sword of the Spirit now :— prick him with this, 'He that denies on earth, must stand denied before the host of heaven :'-he bursts! and is but devil after all! Cheer up-fight on-the faith that now holds out-is Peter; and the rock whereon Christ builds. Lo, prophets throng around! pervert God's word: keep hold on prophecy; ply them well with that. See, Matthew comes; best ply him with his own; he can't get out of them :