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from it. Would any man, for instance, looking at our own country, say the Lord hath only one witnessing Church in England? The reverse is notoriously the fact, as the modern terms, Churchman and Dissenter, abundantly prove. I mean not Churchman and Dissenter as they appear at the present moment on the arena of the political world, but as they appear in their Romaines, Topladys, and Scotts; their Wattses, Owens, and Doddridges.

The next four verses, from the seventh to the tenth, describe a most awful tragedy, which it is said is to last for three years and an half; and which will be the fulfilment of the literal 1260 days, for which some persons contend. This tragedy will be a most overwhelming and general persecution of the Lord's two witnesses throughout the whole Western world; and one in which there is every reason to believe the people of this generation will either be the dreadful actors or the unhappy sufferers. That this will be the case appears manifest from the position in which the prediction of it is here placed, which is between the sixth and seventh trumpets; as well as from its being expressly said, at the end of the prophecy, that "the second woe is past;" in other words, that when this prophecy ends, the second woe, or the Turkish empire, will likewise end. It is manifest also from its being said to happen when

the two witnesses shall have finished their 1260 years' testimony, as it must, in this case, form the last three years and an half of this "period;" and this is confirmed by the observations made upon Daniel xi. 35, and xii. 9, 10 (see page 376), where it is said that at the time of the end 'Many shall be purified, made white, and tried."

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The Rev. A. S. Thelwall, speaking of this judgment, says, "I do not pretend to determine the times and the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power;' or to decide how far these things will happen in our own times. I am speaking the words of warning: I hope and pray they may not prove the words of prophecy. But of this I am fully persuaded, that the Scriptures clearly point out a darker season of trial and persecution coming upon the church than hath ever yet been, and accompanied with a more complete putting down of all faithful preaching. The two witnesses, I am persuaded, have never yet been slain. But slain assuredly they will be; and then that fearful season will come. May God of his infinite forbearance, long-suffering, and tender mercy, yet a little prolong the time, so as at least to give us first some glimpses and foretastes of that glory which we look for beyond it!" (Sermons, p. 197.)

It is said that this "war," or persecution against the church, will be made by the "beast out of the bottomless pit;" which beast, as hath

been already explained in considering Revelation xvii. 8 (see page 359), is the INFIDEL head of the empire, or the "beast that was, and is not, and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit.”

The " great city" is Rome, or the Roman Empire, consisting of the ten kingdoms; and it is symbolically represented here, as Sodom, for corruption of morals; as Egypt, for its tyranny and oppression of the Lord's people; and as Jerusalem, for its hatred of the Lord Jesus Christ himself.

What is to be understood by the two witnesses being killed; the exposure of their dead bodies; their not being suffered to be buried; must be something to which a church can be subject; something which the hand of man may have the power to inflict. "It cannot," says Bishop Horsley, "be an extinction of the spiritual vitality of these churches; of their faith, their love, their works; not an extinction of their light, nor a drying-up or failure of the supply of oil. Such a death as this can only be inflicted on a sinful church by the avenging hand of God. These witnesses are to be killed by the beast. And the carcase-state, we may humbly hope, will be nothing worse than a state of extreme tribulation and misery, and that of very short duration." (Brit. Mag. May 1834.)

There appears no doubt but that the Bishop

is correct in saying that it will be a state of extreme tribulation and misery: it will, in fact, most likely be a complete political death, in which all real followers of the Lord Jesus Christ will be subdued and depressed, degraded from all power and authority, deprived of all offices; that all places of public worship where the Gospel is faithfully preached will be shut; and the public profession of religion vilified, degraded, and prohibited. Such doings will be the subject of the warmest congratulations of Infidels, who will then imagine they have gained a complete triumph! and the reason of such congratulations will be, "because these two prophets tormented them that dwell on the earth." "How is it," asks Mr. Thelwall, "that the humble disciple of Jesus, who simply takes God at His word; receives without hesitation, upon His authority, every sentence in the Bible; and desires and endeavours to act accordinglythat this man is excepted from all rules of toleration? that his opinions are not to be endured? And if he escape actual buffeting, cruel injustice, and bloody persecution, it is only that the inward hatred of these Liberals may vent itself upon him in a ten-fold measure of contempt? How is this? I will tell you: It is natural that the children of the devil, however different from each other in some respects, should all agree in tolerating one another; and that, therefore, all

manner of lies and falsehoods, errors and delusions, should be endured and respected-for the devil is the author of them all ;-and however his children may sometimes quarrel, it is natural that on some occasions they should cordially unite, and act as brethren of one family. But real Christian faith comes down from heaven-it is the offspring of God—and it is therefore hated by all that hellish rout; THEY CANNOT ENDURE IT." (Sermons, p. 309.)

The eleventh and twelfth verses predict, that at the end of the three years and an half of this terrible persecution a most wonderful and astonishing deliverance shall be wrought in favour of the Lord's two witnessing churches. At the very moment of this fancied triumph, when Infidels shall imagine they have accomplished the object of what was their apostle Voltaire's highest ambition-that of overturning Christianity at such a moment, the Spirit of life, it is said, will enter into them; they will stand upon their feet; great fear will fall on all who shall see these things; and a great voice from heaven will be heard, saying, "Come up hither;" when they will, in the sight of their enemies, ASCEND UP TO HEAVEN IN A CLOUD.

Thus this most important era, the termination of the 1260 years, in addition to the cluster of wonderful events already noticed, is

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