LECTURE THE SECOND.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2621, 2 June 1877, Page 4

LECTURE THE SECOND.

The leading ideas which I endeavored to impress upon your minds in my previous lecture were —•

Ist. The lawless and disobedient condition of the unregenerate heart of man. 2nd. The necessity and difficulty of obedience (counterbalanced by its ample reward). 3rd. The obedience and liberty which characterise the fast approaching Kingdom of God."

4th. The desirability of abstaining from judgment in our present condition upon the character and work of the good or evil agents employed in the carrying out of God's great purposes. sth. The position occupied by Nebuchadnezzar with respect to the people of God, the inheritors of His Kingdom, as the scourge employed by God in chastising their misdoings;' as the instrument , of God's wrath upon the then existing nations of the earth generally ; and the appointed holder for the time being of the delegated Divine authority. 6th. The similarity and resemblance between Nebuchadnezzar the first and Antichrist the last great head of the recognised world power; and I. warned you of the near approach of this last great personification and representative of the antagonistic power of the evil which is in the world, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit or word of His mouth, and shall destroy by the manifestation of His presence. "These latter points will, if time permit, be more fully entered into in the present lecture, .ft is because we look for Christ that we watch to behold the Antichrist, who must first be revealed. It is because we wait for the coming of the Lord to establish the Kingdom of God upon the earth that we await and watch with the prophetic word in hand the development and completion of the last phases of that great world power, antagonistic to God and to His Christ, whose rise, progress, and destruction is so vividly pourtrayed before us in the chapters we are about to conconsider. I invite your attention tonight " TO \ '■■.: : ■ : Nebuchadnezzar, as represented ,in the second chapter of Daniel, the first great head and type of the world power of this and past ages, a power not necessarily in itself hostile to God, but which has, as a matter of fact, become so, and having become at enmity with God must perish accordingly. 7 : We have before intimated that Nebuchadnezzar was a most remarkable man ; we have already said that he was in his day the head, type, and representative of the world and the world power generally. Of that world I mean (you will be good enough to remember this) which Christ alluded to as apart and distinct from the people of God when he said to his disciples, " Ye are not of the world, even as I am " not of the world." We are accustomed to look upon the noteworthy characters of Scripture as having, each and all of them, a more important office than the mere occupancy of a casual place in Sacred History. The Word of God possesses a wonderful power of embodying geueral principles, offices, or the characteristics of a nation, of the world, or of .the Deity, in the history or in the person of an individual. Such an individual becomes at once a type, or specimen, or example, of the class, the principles, or the superior being whose acts or workings are exemplified in him, and we come to regard his acts as the acts arid doings not only of himself, but as the acts and doings of the class, power, or being of whom he is the representative. Thus we are accustomed to consider Isnac as a type of Christ the Son of God, and Joseph as a type of Christ the Son of Man ; Joshua a type of Christ the victorious leader of His people into the Heavenly rest,' and Abraham a type of God the Father yielding up His only begotton Son to death, a sacrifice for a guilty world. Nebuchadnezzar occupies in Scripture History the position of head and type of the world power generally, and it is in this relationship that all the interest in him, his acts and doings, rests. Upon this relationship all the moral significance and force of the story of his history depends. Apart from this relationship, who cares about the dreams and visions of a man, however high and exalted his position, who lived and died some 2500 years ago ? But in the relationship hero, spoken of is that which concerns every man. I do not say that it concerns the child of God as such, yet where is the child of God whom it does not concern ? In the history of Nebuchadnezzar is the history of your friend, of your brother, possibly of yourself, certainly of the tvorld at large, and in this fact lies the supreme interest of the narrative.

Looking, then, at the history of Nebuchadnezzar in this aspect, we should expect to find, and we do find, prominently brought out in him the various qualities and vices, not unmixed with some redeeming ,virtues, which usually characterise a worldly man, and have from all times been manifested in the mass of humanity. Looking first at his virtues, as being the n.ost agreeable to contemplate, and, alas, by far the most easily enumerated, we find all history allows him to have been brave, skilful, and occasionally even generous (see his offers of mercy to submitting cities, and his treatment of the deposed King of Judah). . His treatment of the. prophet Jeremiah shows that he was at least possessed of the not altogether common, yet by no means unknown virtue of gratitude toward one's friends, which even publicans and sinners may possess, and wliich, yet, alas, many a professing child of God is sadiy deficient in: his patrcnage, and protection of the prophet.

Daniel shows, that he .could value and appreciate wise and wholesome counsel, even if he did rot follow if,;_ and there is a touch of kindly sympathy in his exclamation to (In- it'.an'of God, now growing together -.viili him-jol;' into .years : "Oh ! Daniel, iot not the tlreum nor the interpretation thereof trouble thee ! " and I do thiuk he cannot have been altogether destitute of other good qualities, for the whole tenor of the bold and outspoken prophet's reply on that memorable occasion is marked by an underlying feeling of personal regard which the king's position could not command, and which his sins could not altogether efface. So God in his dealing with the world at large, denouncing sin and executing vengeance upon it, yet loves the sinning world, and so loves it as to sacrifice for it His only Son, His almost very self, as I have no doubt Daniel would have done for Nebuchadnezzar could he have thereby saved him from the wrath of God. Besides this, Nebuchadnezzar possessed the gift of caridonr nnd straightforwardness, but as the evidence of this comes after the tale of his abasement, I cannot say it was his natural disposition or otherwise. But, alas! this is the bright side of the picture; on the other side of the medal we find a man who, though remarkably shrewd and energetic, as the world also is, was, like the world in its natural condition is and always has been, ignorant and impatient, cruel and credulous, superstitious and idolatrous, a slave of priestcraft, and teiror stricken by .that which he cannot comprehend ; yet withal proud and vain, selfish and "ambitious, fond of wealth and power, ostentatious, vain glorious and passionate, and unable to brook the slightest delay or opposition to his will. These arid many' other unenviable traits of character are to be found in the few chapters which delineate with short, rapid and powerful touches the character of the world's representative, the power and pride,"/strength* glory and wisdom of this world personified. .; : . j-

" Thou art this Head of Gold—Daniel ii. 38." (Read tit length Daniel, 2nd chapter.) .. -

Nebuchadnezzar began life, as an idolator, and as the world; ; power itself, of which, he was the head and type, has been from the remotest ages, was under the control and influence of false priests, magicians, astrologers and sorcerers. Yet it pleased God to address Himself and make known the future, events which it was tlie purpose of His mind and will should come to pass even unto him. This fact shows that the Divine Being does not regard the world itself, or tlie properly constituted authority of the World, in the light of an enemy, but wars only with the sins and passions of man. There is a controversy between God and man, and this chapter contains a brief but concise and clrar account of its outcome, and the mode and manner of its decision. But why should there be any such controversy between man and his Creator, God and His servant? and where and how is Ihe matter settled P Sin is the cause, punishment is the result. The world in which sin is committed is the scene of action, and the restoration of the original and righteous Kingdom of God over His rebellions viceroy man is the final and happy termination. For man has a Kingdom, and the power and authority was deputed by God nnto him; but he has turned aside and rebelled, and assumed unto himself the chief authority which belonged to God only, or the properly constituted authority of the world.. (V. 37.) All this in effect is "pointed out to Nebuchadnezzar by Daniel, as it has been time after time pointed out to the world at large by the servants and witnesses of the Most High, and with a like result. The world "always admits in general terms, the supremacy of God; so did Nebuchadnezzar ; so do you and I, but with what result? Why, just as Nebuchadnezzar, did we fall down and worship, not the God that made us, but the man that told us, and say : What a wonderful man ! What wonderful truths ! What a wonderful preacher! And we not only,, as Nebuchadnezzar did, make our Daniel a great man and give him many great gifts, such as smoking caps, worked slippers, and the like, but find him a purse of sovereigns to boot, and bow him out of the country.

I never could do other than admire the smartness of Nebuchadnezzar with the magicians, astrologers and sorcerers^ Nebuchadnezzar was a sharp, shrewd man. Once placed upon its trial and fairly tested, the nakedness of any other faith than that of the one true God is soon manifested. Nebuchadnezzar soon detected the hollowness of priestly pretensions, and tho'world itself has lost all faith in them some time ago. But, alas again, with what result? Infidelity and Atheism, Kationalism, Sociniariism, Demon-Spiritualism, and a host of other evil things, are occupying the swept and garnished mind of man, from which the former superstitions were expelled, and for want of the introduction of a saving faith in the one and only Lord Jesus Christ/ the last state of that wondrous being •' man," who was made in the image and likeness of God, is rapidly becoming " worse than the first." Nor can you stay the process. Do what you will, educate as you please, legislate as best you may, you may as well try to stop the rising of the ocean tide as try to stem the ocean flood of wickedness which is fast rising over the surface of the earth, and must rise, like the leaven in the parable, until He comes whose right it is to reign. O, Lord Jesus, come quickly !

Of the image, itself wliich forms the subject matter of this chapter, and which is, «s I may say, the starting point of all futurist prophetic calculations, you would, perhaps, be disappointed were I not to say a few words. I do not propose, however—at any rate in this lecture—; to lead you into the consideration at any length of the details of such an intricate subject. You all know, probably, how that the head of gold represents the Babylonish Kingdom under Nebuchadnezzar ; the breast and^arms, the MedoPersian Kingdom; the^,belly ;and the thighs, the Macedo-Grecian Kingdom; the legs, the Eoman Kingdom with its two divisions of the JJastern and the Western Empires ; and the toes the ten Kingdoms of the restored Uoman Empire, five in the east and five in the west, which shall presently be revived under the great Antichrist, the progressive marking out and gradual yet rapid development of wliich and resuscitation from their slumber of past centuries is one of the great signs of the time and age in which we live. But the consideration'of the details of this important and deeply, interesting prophetic image, accompanied as such consideration of those details, would of necessity be by reference to .various other explanatory and confirmatory passages of the Word of God, is j

somewhat beyond.the limits and purposes of the present lecture. Iv following out the line of thought in which you have been kind enough thus far to accompany me, I have more especially to speak of the world power as a xvlwle, which in this image is presented for our consideration as one object and one being, " man," under one head,.one ruler, ono governorship, which .office of headship of- the human race, rulership or governorship of the world, is notably occupied at certain stated successive epochs of the world's history by three several individuals: first, Nebuchadnezzar, the natural, rightful, and appointed head of the world power in his day; afterwards (he Antichrist, foreshadowed, as we shall see, by Nebuchadnezzar in one portion of'his history, the appointed but emphatically unnatural head of the world power in his day ; and finally the Lord Jesus Christ, the appointed, just, and righteous Heir of all things, who must reign until He hath subjected unto Himself all rule and all authority and all power: the Alpha and the Omega, in whom is to be " headed up in one " all things, both which are in Heaven and which are on earth, even in Him, Amen. .

This image, then, represents that great and wondrous being " man•"' in. all the glory and the pomp and pride of power, under one head. Man is a dependent being. With all the glory of his intellect, the pride of his heart and the power of his knowledge; he na'urally seeks to lean on one above Him, and to rest in the shadow and protection of a higher than himself...,. Man looks for a leader, and a leader is supplied. Man (the world), as a whole, is God's creature equally with those commonly underslood aud called the people or Church of God, and man, as a whole, is undergoing equally with the people or Church of God, who rightly or wrongly appropriate the name, a discipline not greatly differing from that through" which those are called to pass who profess to be the chosen people of God; but the world at largo, as it occupies a lower place than does.the Church in the future Kingdom of God, to which all are by. different pathways tending, so the discipline through which it passes to fit it for that position is of a less complex character. I would, if I dared (but time does not permit), in illustration and confirmation of this position, carry you back to the glorioustypes of the law, which is as the beautiful moonlight of to-night reflecting back the sunlight of the Gospel, wherein is set forth the different degrees of knowledge and the different degrees of responsibility resting upon and required from the different orders of the Hebrew nation, the priests, the Levites, and the common people. Search and look for yourselves, for you will be well repaid, " for the commandment is a lamp, and the law is light, and reproofs (or counsels) of instruction are the way of life."—(Proverbs vi. 2, 3.) While-the discipline of the people ox Church of God is threefold by threefold, the discipline of the world is more simple, and is threefold only. Yet it is similar in character, and produces like results. The early (Adamite) world under the direct personal rule of the Divinty rejecting God as its King, succeeded by a long, long period of correctionary rule under kings and despots of its own, that is, of the human race, resulting, as it is rapidly doing, in utter apostacy from God on the part of both king's and peoples, and bringing, about a retributive discipline under one of another, that is, of Satanic race, so severe in its character that except the time of that punishment were mercifully made of short duration " no. flesh should be saved," is the tale of the more simple yet sterner and more severe threefold discipline of the lawless and disobedient Esaulike child of God, "man," the world at large,»and corresponds to the discipline of Israel; and the result is similar. 'Destruction at the hand of an offended God befel His chosen people, who, as I have said before, were nevertheless His people, are still His people, and shall, in virtue of His plighted word, continue to be His people till time itself shall be no more and iniquity shall be no longer. So with man, the world, his power and glory, his pride and boasted power of intellect aud reason, shall all bow down, crumble into dust, perish and be destroyed before the face of Him of whom man is now desiring to assert his independence, and before whom he has dared to rise up in impious and rebellious antagonism.

But although man himself under his appointed head has dared, like Israel of old, to fly in the face of his Creator, and shall receive, as Israel did receive, the full measure of punishment which his rebellious attitude merits, and which is required to bring back his lawless and disobedient heart to a condition,of subjugation and obedience, I would have you know that God can not only create but re-create, that lie can not only destroy but restore from destruction. Taking up the language of Moses in his beautiful prayer to the Almighty : " Thou turnest ' man. to destruction ; again, Thou sayest, return, ye children of men." Jerusalem is not done with yet j Jericho, the accursed, was ultimately restored ; Sodom and Gomorrah have yet to occupy again a pluce upon the renewed face of. God's earth, and "man" himself, though crushed into the dust and made to bow before the footstool of his offended Judge,yet man, the image and glory of God, the work of His hand and the object of His tcnderest solicitude, can never be blotted out of existence or finally cut off from before the face of Him who "doeth all things well." Go to the Apostle Paul, proud Pharisee, and read the burning pleadings of his heart poured forth, in consolatory argument for the final restoration of Israel in the 9th, 10th, and 11th chapters of the Romans, of that Israel which, notwithstanding its numbers, is but a small fraction of the people of God's earth, of whom He says, " All the earth is mine," and with charity apply the same gracious pleadings to the case of the world at large. For this image represents man's destiny. With feeble and imperfect outline, shadowy and indistinct as the mirage of the desert, distorted, represents the. golden minarets and towers of many an Eastern City of the Plain, there is yet a 6rm and solid basis of substantial truth in the visionary superstructure. Endued with powers of reason and of intellect, with a mighty mind, and conscious of the possession of powers within himself, which, while he cannot fathom, so neither can he comprehend^ man ceaselessly strives forward $, upward and onward, ever onward, ever upward, is the laboring yet rejoicing motto of his heart, and to rest and be contented with his past achievings and attainments man knoweth not how. From the cradle to the grave, from the rude toy boat to the construction of the mighty ironclad, from the

limited possession of a fe.w petty acres to the undisputed empire- of a world, from the stepping sfone of the rudiments of education to the ineitHuremcnt; and knowledge of the foundations of the universe, there if no limit to the mind of. man, no resting ph*ce Id iiis ambition, no length nor breadth nor height marked out large enough for the er. et'ou of that temple in which he is prepared to enclose and shut in the capnbiity of his being; mndo in the image and likeness of God, with the likeness of i)iviniljr and the self-con-sciousness of origin, obscured bufc not altogether obliterated even by the Fall, nothing loss than Divinity itself will .satisfy the'*heart of man. Alas, that in the image before us, which truly represents a natural man's natural idea of the God he seeks to be, that his conceptions of the Deity should fall so low as to be satisfied with this ! Destitute of the knowledge oT a God:of Love and Mercy, Truth, Justice, Peace and Righteousness. Man's god' is pictured here before us, great enough, indeed, and terrible, and strong exceedingly, full of a certain sort of majesty, bright, shining, ar;d glorious, a god of power only, brute force Deified, and which, while it appears to man's beclouded eye in the aspect of a god, stands revealed before therface of the Almighty, and is fully described in other parts of ! Scripture'simply as a wild beast. 0, uu^ happy man! who Deifies himself as a brute power wild beast to be worshipped as a god ; and yet, O happy man, creature and child of such a God as our God, Who fan smite down with the missile of His anger, as He is about to do the false Deity which we, man, the world, have set up for ourselves to worship, and, chastening us, indeed> severely, as He is about to do, not for His pleasure, buf for our profit, will restore us, man, the world, to that condition of obedience to Himself which constitutes our perfect liberty. 0, our Father, Who art in Heaven, Thy Kingdom come! From whence, then, comes this restless, ceaseless_striving after Deity; this feeling after the secret spring of ihe Godhead which exists within us, which characterises, : perplexes, and besets poor humanity ? Is man a .Divine being ? Alas ! In man's present condition J dare not answer this question in the affirmative, but I do declare on Scripture authority that"man is the offspring of God, and I say that man is, so to speak, the natural son of the Divine Being. If I may use the words without irreverence I would so far express myself as to say man is a spark from the eternal fire, a drop from I the ocean of..'the Godhead, a halfdeveloped bud from the Lebanon Cedar of Divinity itself; and I say—

" Rivers to the ocean run, .. - ; .. : . Nor stay in all their course. .. _. Fire ascending seeks the sun, Both speed them to their source." ■ ; .0, it is correct, it is a fact (hat there is of God in man ; aud wonderful thought— there shall be man. in God. Man is not wrong, in fact, in setting up before him an idea, a vision in Deity, in striving to resemble and to be like God, in hoping ultimately in.the.far distant ages of a future eternity to be one with God, but he is wrong in everything else.. He is wrong in time ; he is wrong in place; he is far astray in his conception of the Deity; and he is wrong in his method of attainment thereunto. . You will : never attain, I shall never attain,: to the position which the yearnings of our inmost heart warn us, that we strive after and that we endeavour to attain unto in the way we are now proceeding, in; the pathway we are now treading. There is a JDivinty in store for man, but it.is.not by self-seeking, not by self-worship, not by that boasted independence which w.e ; .vainiy strive after that it is to be attaned unto. . It is to be attained by perfect union with the Godhead in the person of Christ. No other way lies open for the attainment of that object which our secret consciousness wares us to strive after; and this secret consciousness is the silent voice within us of the Deity from'" whence we Sprang, calling us onward, upward, and homeward to Himself. Those who would attain unto the high and holy calling of inheritors of the Kingdom of God rather than to the more lowly and loss honorable position of merely the subjects of that Kingdom, entitling, as such inheritorship of the Kingdom must certainly do, to a higher heavenly rant and a closer union with the Almighty, Being to all eternity, must be united by faith to Christ here: below, not byword only, but in such a way as shall justify the Lord Jesus Christ in claiming them as individual members of that one body of which He is still more especially the Head than He is of the whole race of man ; that body, I mean, which He is pleased to designate as the Church; His Bride, the Lamb's Wife. That way of union with Him is by the manifestation of just such loving obedi-. ence to His Heavenly mind and will asshould be manifested, and is not only required to be, but is, manifested; by. a faithful, loving wife to a faithful, loving husband. The holy ordination of married life on earth is given and was ordained as a type and symbol of the holy Heavenly life here spoken of, and as two who are joined together in this life are indeed and verily one flesh, so he that is joined to Christ by the obedience of faith is one spirit. Perfect obedience to Christ is our onlyclaim to the inheritance of the fast approaching Kingdom of God. Who among us will lay claim to thp inheritance ?

The stone which smote the image is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the true and final head of the human race. Adam, " the man," of course, was the admitted head of the human race in his day. We have been speaking of .Nebuchadnezzar as occupying the same position in his day. Of the great Antichrist who shall precede the coming of Christ we may, if time permit, speak presently. Of the Lord Jesus Christ, the second man, we have yet a few words to say. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God. John and Paul both tell us the creation of the world was His work. He is, therefore, Lord of the world, and as such-He has from the first taken the deepest interest y in the spiritual affairs ©f the world. He many times appeared on earth beforh the time that he .permanently took upon Himself our nature and was born a babe at Bethle-

lem. He is, as Sou of God', the lledeetner of the world as one great whole, in which capacity, as the first born Son of the Divinity, He suffered-and died, as typified in the Jewish Law, for the later horn son of the Divinity, man. In this capacity, therefore, He claims, and has a claim, upon and to the possession of every member of the human race, and the God of Justice will see to it that this general and first claim of Christ's shall be satisfied to the letter, spite of the devil and all his works. As Son of Man, the first born of the human race, the only perfect and sinless man that, ever was,

Christ died for each individual. The consent of God was required that Christ, as Sou of Gocl, should die for tho world, as a whole.--J hiil, was obtained. The consent, of oach -individual is required that Clsiist, as Pom of Man, should die for carls indivijiuti. To those only, tha-ru-{'ore, mho consent unto tho death 7 of Christ i'ur their own personal sins, and yield unto Him the g'atilude such an action requires, is the sacrifice of Christ as Son of Man of its full value. The acceptance or non acceptance of Christ as their substitute individually for their sins constitutes the difference between the Church and the world., and determines their relative position in the Kingdom of God. Do not suppose, however, that your non-acceptance of Christ individually, while it deprives you of your inheritance of the Kingdom, frees you from Christ's claim upon you as one of the atoms composing the whole world, for which, as Son of God, He died. Christ is entitled to your obedience as Son of God, if you will not yield Him your gratitude and love as Son of Man. Receive Christ as your individual Saviour, you shall not only be saved, but shall receive a reward, a share in the inheritance of the Kingdom. Reject Christ and you shall not only receive no reward, but you shall he justly punished for your sins .which you have refused to have pardoned, and that obedience which you refuse to yield to His love you shall be , compelled lo yield to His power. Make your choice ! .

Jesus Christ earned by His obedience to God the position of head of the human race and King over humanity. He has claimed this position and Kingdom, but has not yet received it. He has gone to Heaven to receive the power and authority over the Kingdom of God, and lie; will return presently to earth to establish it. His first. coming was a literal fact upon the, earth ; His life on earth was a literal fact; His death was a literal fact; and His second coming will be a literal fact, just as much as you sit there or I stand here before you. The second coining of Christ must of necessity be a literal fact, for the following among many other reasons : —

Ist. Christ has never yet smitten the world power, of which the image before us is the figure'and representative. I know 'there are plenty of foolish people whose faith is small, who try to prove that the smiting of the image has been going on ever since Christ's first advent. Such a thing is an absurdity, for immediately following the smiting the image, that is, the world power, fell to pieces, and. was nowhere found. I thiukwefind, however, that what with taxes, law*, bylaws, compulsion this way and compulsion that, the world power is in pretty full vigor yet, and you will find it worse presently. Further, the smiting a blow represents a sudden thing, and-a grinding away for 1800 y>ars with but little perceptible progress bjr no means represents the idea intended to be conveyed.

2nd. Christ has not yet smitten the image, because the blow was to be delivered on the ten toes of the image, whereas.the ten divisions of the world power repres.eniing the ten toes have never yet been so clearly defined as to be unmistakable.

.3rd. Christ could not at His first com-; ing have smitten. the image on the ten toes, because the Boman Empire, representing the legs of the image, was then in the height of its prosperity, and would at the time of His first coming be about the time of the knees of the image. The feet and toes had then yet to be developed; for if the image were not perfected .before its destruction, according to the representation of it, it ceases to be of any value as a matter of instruction, and would be liable to mislead instead. "

God dop.s all things in their proper places, and the times of the Gentiles only commenced when Jesus Christ was crucified. Furthermore, Jesus came not to "smite, but to be smitten; Hot to reign, but to I Buffer and to die. The destruction of the world power, when it occurs, will be sudden, immediate, complete, and unmistakeable, and will be followed by the immediate setting up of the Kingdom °f God and the personal reign of Christ on earth in peace and righteousness. There is a predicted sequence of events which will mark the rapid course of the. few short years in which all these things shall be fulfilled, which, when they dobegin, will follow each other with terrible rapidity. The only thing which is hidden from our gaze and not revealed into us is the exact time of their commencement,: but the proximate time of. their fulfilment is patent to every student of Scripture prophecies. Events are no w occurring over. the face of the earth, more especially in Europe, which warn us that the time is at hand. The dissolution of the Turkish Empire, an event prominently connected witti these: things, may occur almost at any moment. I believe there will be no permanent peaco now until these things come to pass, and even since I last spoke to yoo—only three weeks ago, when you will remember I referred to the proximity of these things, events have taken place in Europe which may be the means of setting Europe herself at large and bringing to the surface all those terrible characters and beings who are to play a prominent part in the supernatural troubles which are to come upon the. earth in the last days of her present history. If this, should be so, do not think that you will escape free. England occupies "a prominent place in these things, and we shall not escape. There is trouble looming visibly ahead. Whether or no it be the actual time of trouble spoken of I cannot certainly say. If it be,,it is the shipwreck of a world ; and if not, it cannot be long delayed. See that ye prepare to meet it. , Christ's words on this same subject, when questioned by His disciples as to the time of His second coming and of the end of the age, vrece what I now say to you :—

"Take ye heed; walch and pray, for ye, know not when the t;me ie." '

V Lest, coming euddenlj, Ho find jou elepping." \ ■''•*■'■ " And what I saj uritc> you leayunto all"—

-WATCH!