out. "But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap: and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness." (Mal. iii. 2, 3.) "Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing; for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion." (Isa. lii. 8.) "And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying Alleluia; for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him; for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready." (Rev. xix. 6, 7.) "Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bond-woman and her son; for the son of the bond-woman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac." (Gen. xxi. 10.) "But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now." (Gal. iv. 29.) This war will issue in a glorious triumph to the church of Christ; during its course, all its blots and imperfections will be removed. Satan will be cast out of the church, and have no more power within its pale, and it shall become a glorious church, the praise of God in all the earth. "And at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book." (Dan. xii. 1.) "The dragon fought and prevailed not: neither was there place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And

I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our Lord, and the power of His Christ: for the accuser of the brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night." (Rev. xii. 8-10.) "Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?" (Song of Sol. vi. 10.) "Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness leaning upon her beloved?" (Song of Sol. viii. 5.) "The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of the nations: and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God." (Isa. lii. 10.) The weapons of this great warfare are not carnal but spiritual. "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." (Eph. vi. 12.) "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of his testimony: and they loved not their lives unto the death." (Rev. xii. 11.)

Immediately preceding all former important epochs in the history of the church, God has raised up human instruments, each of whom was endowed with special gifts and graces, suited to the circumstances in which he was to be placed, and the work God purposed to accomplish. Noah was selected from among the inhabitants of the old world, to warn men of the coming flood, a hundred and twenty years before the time appointed; and he built an ark, in which he and his family were saved alive. When the time came that God had appointed, to make a separation between the church and the world, He called Abraham, and made him the progenitor of that Seed, in whom all the nations of the earth were to be blessed.

When God's purpose to bring Jacob and his family down to Egypt came to be fulfilled, He brought a grievous famine upon the earth, but sent Joseph before, and by a train of marvellous providences raised him up to be the first man in Egypt, and made him the instrument of saving much people alive. When the time of the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt arrived, God, by means of Pharaoh's daughter, saved Moses alive, and at the appointed period, sent him to Pharaoh to demand their deliverance, which being obstinately refused, God, working by Moses, did with a mighty and outstretched arm take to Himself great renown, in their great deliverance, accompanied by many signs and wonders. After the death of Moses, Joshua was qualified by God, for the important work of leading and commanding the Israelites, in their conquest of the promised land. When the time came that Israel was to be established in the full possession of Palestine, David was chosen and placed upon the throne of Israel; and before the close of his reign, all the enemies of Israel were subdued. When the time of the deliverance of the Jewish Church from Babylonish captivity was fully come, God gave unto Daniel skill and understanding, and he understood by books the number of the years whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolation of Jerusalem. John the Baptist was sent as the forerunner of our Lord to prepare the way for His coming. Martin Luther was raised up, as the instrument of the Reformation accomplished in the sixteenth century of whom, Dr. D'Aubigné, in his History of the Reformation, writes as follows:"All was ready. God takes ages to prepare his work, but, when the hour is come, accomplishes it by the

feeblest instruments. To do great things by small means is the law of God. This law, which appears in every department of nature, is found also in history. God took the Reformers of the church where he had taken the Apostles. He selected them from that humble class which, without containing the meanest of the people, is scarcely the length of citizenship. Every thing must manifest to the world that the work is not

of man, but of God. The Reformer Zuinglius comes

forth from the hut of a shepherd of the Alps. Melancthon, the theologian of the Reformation, from the workshop of an armourer; and Luther, from the cottage of a poor miner."

"The first stage in a man's life, that in which he is formed and moulded under the hand of God, is always important, and was so especially in the case of Luther -there, even at that period, the whole Reformation existed. The different phases of that great work succeeded each other in the soul of him who was the instrument of accomplishing it, before it was actually accomplished. The knowledge of the Reformation which took place in Luther's heart is the only key to the Reformation of the Church. We must study the particular work, if we would attain to a knowledge of the general work. Those who neglect the one will never know the other. They may acquire a knowledge of certain events and certain results, but the intrinsic nature of the revival they cannot know, because the living principle which formed the soul of it is hidden from them. Let us then study the Reformation in Luther, before studying it in the events which changed the face of Christendom."-(Vol. I. Book ii. p. 103, 104.)

The work that yet remains to be accomplished, as far

exceeds all that has gone before, in magnitude, magnificence, and grandeur, as the gorgeous temple does the scaffolding, framed for the purpose of its erection. All past events, however great and glorious in themselves, were but preparatory to the consummation which is yet future; and are but types and shadows of that wonderful and glorious work which God shall accomplish when He shall appear in His glory to build up Zion. Judging from God's dealings in the past, the expectation is not unreasonable, that in what yet remains to be done, He will follow out the same rule; and that at the time of the end, one or more individuals will be raised up, as in former times, endowed with the spirit of wisdom from on High, to encourage the church to its duty, and warn God's people of their danger in the last perilous times.

No new revelation need be looked for: it is unnecessary. The canon of Scripture is complete, and will not admit either of addition or diminution. "To the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." (Isa. viii. 20.) The Bible is a perfect rule of faith and practice. There are, however, many parts of Scripture very obscure, and it may be God's good pleasure to make plain their meaning. In regard to prophecy, just as in the case of Daniel, it may be God's purpose to make known the time and manner of its accomplishment before it comes to pass; and such a purpose as this may be wisely ordered, so that God's people may be stirred up to a more diligent discharge of commanded duty, and His enemies silenced by the complete verification of the interpretation so vouchsafed.

This expectation is fully warranted by Scripture. "And I beheld a mighty angel come down from heaven,