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sound, that mystery shall be made plain, and all things restored, of which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets, since the world began.

Ver. 8-11. "And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up: and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings." This is descriptive of the manner in which the messenger will be prepared for his work. He must eat the book; that is, his mind must be filled with the knowledge of God's counsel, and this he must learn gradually; be trained throughout his early life in a way that will develop his mental powers; also receive a peculiar training, the Spirit teaching him in providence, through the word, and by inward revelations, plain, not in visions. This spiritual training will be accompanied with bitterness and anguish of soul: having a work to do, he will be straitened until it be accomplished; but when the time of the manifestation of what he has been taught of God is come, it will be in his mouth sweet as honey, full of joy to himself in declaring it, for he will bring good tidings of good to men, and occasion joy unspeakable and full of glory to them that hear it; thus shall the book be bitter in his belly, but sweet as honey in his mouth. Many peoples, and nations, and tongues,

and kings, shall hear his voice, and shall obey, and come and worship Him who sat upon the throne, and the Lamb; giving glory, and honour, and thanks, to Him that liveth for ever and ever, and saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and power, for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. "Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and His Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee." (Isaiah xlix. 7.) "So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider." (Isaiah lii. 15.)

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CHAPTER XVIII.

REV. chap. xi. ver. 1, 2. "And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months." The reed has already been explained to be a measure of truth, like unto a rod, possessing power, but the power of truth and love. "The temple, the altar, and the worshippers," have also been explained to mean the visible church of Christ, and the manner in which it should be regulated and supported-its works of faith and labours of love in the world the spirituality and perfect freedom of every individual worshipper. "The court which is without," is the holy city, and geographically it embraces those parts of Asia and Europe in which true religion, either under the Mosaic or christian dispensation, has existed. This is its general application; but it has a special reference to those parts of Europe in which the popish delusion has prevailed, for they are the holy city, the Jerusalem of prophecy, which has been trodden under foot of the Gentiles forty and two months. The general interpretation of the passage is, that during the reign of

Antichrist, religion will not be, in any respect, conformable to Scripture measure; that the Divine pattern, the word of God, will be made of none effect by the tradition of man. But the passage has a still further interpretation; it applies to the times and the seasons, the events of providence, from the rise of delusion until its final overthrow. It intimates, that God would set up His temple, and an altar, and prepare the worshippers by the discipline of providence during the reign of Antichrist, but not among those who originally professed the truth and departed from it. What follows of the vision which John saw, supplies the materials for the adjustment of the measurement of the events of providence, which the angel commanded John to rise and measure. The dates of the rise of the new order of things have already been noted. In the year 563, Columba and his twelve monks landed in Iona, and from thence may be dated the establishment of the christian religion, as they professed and taught it in Scotland. In the year 590, Gregory, surnamed the Great, ascended the papal chair, and was the human instrument of laying the foundation of the claims of papal supremacy. He died in the year 604; and in the middle watch of his pontificate, the year 597, Augustine and his forty monks arrived in England from Rome. It was in the year 596 the mission of Augustine was resolved upon, and despatched from Rome to England; and in the year 616 Ethelbert, king of Kent, died, when Eadbald, his son and successor, with his people, forsook the christian religion, and returned to the practice of idolatry. In the middle watch, the year 606, the pope of Rome assumed the title of universal bishop. In the year 618, wrought upon by the falsehood of Laurentius, the successor of Augustine, Eadbald returned with his

people to the profession of christianity; and in the middle watch, between the pope's assuming his new title, and Eadbald's return with the English to the profession of the christian religion, the year 612, Mahomet made his appearance in the east. Gregory ascended the papal chair in the year 590. The Hegira is dated from the year 622, the middle watch is the year 606, in which the pope assumed his new title. The followers of Mahomet captured Jerusalem in the year 637; between the time of the pope's assumption of supremacy, and the capture of Jerusalem, about the middle watch is the year 622, from which the Hegira is dated.

We have thus the rise of the Romish and Mahomedan delusions, and the laying the foundation of the christian church in England, all contemporary. The one inwrought with the other, in the mysterious purpose of God, and each falling out in its progressing development in providence at the appointed time, while the several events attending their establishment bear an exact and harmonious relation to each other, both in the order of their occurrence and the time of their happening.

From nearly all the dates mentioned the forty and two months may be reckoned, at the termination of each of which there will be corresponding events of importance in the overthrow of both delusions, and in the triumph of true religion, and with it human liberty. The forty and two months are 1260 days, as explained in the third verse, and each day is a year of 360 days, so that in ordinary reckoning the period of forty and two months is about 1242 years. Measuring 1242 years from the year 563, brings us to the year 1805, in the month of October of which Napoleon commenced his encroachments upon the power and authority of Rome,

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