duft of the earth fhall awake.' For that the refurfurrection, at leaft in part, will take place at the commencement of this great period, is agreeable to the uniform language of fcripture on the subject.

All the prophecies in the New Testament concerning the fall of Antichrift, and the commencement of the proper kingdom of heaven, and of Christ, exactly correspond with thofe which I have quoted from the Old Teftament. The fecond coming of Chrift is represented by the apostle Paul, 2 Thef. i. 7, as an event exceedingly awful, and dreadful to the wicked. < He will be revealed from heaven, with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God.'

That the great antichriftian power is to be destroyed at this second coming of Chrift, and not properly before, and therefore that its final destruction will be sudden, is evident from what the fame apoftle fays afterwards, 2 Thef. ii. 8. Then shall that wicked one be revealed, whom the Lord fhall confume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming, even him whofe coming is after the working of Satan, with all power, and figns, and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness, in them that 'perish;' characters fufficiently evident of the church of Rome.

The account that is given, in the book of Revelation, of the commencement of the last great period, fignified by the blowing of the seventh trumpet,

when

when the kingdoms of the earth are to become the kingdoms of our Lord Jefus Chrift, Rev. ii. 15, is immediately preceded by the third, and probably far the greatest of the three woes, the firft of which was occafioned by the conquests of the Saracens, and the fecond by thofe of the Turks, as the order of the events described under the preceding trumpets evidently implies. And the ftate of things at this time is defcribed in the following emphatical language of the four and twenty elders, who are faid, on this occafion, to fall on their faces, and to worship God, Rev. xi. 17. We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, who art, and wast, and art to come, because thou haft taken to thee thy great power and 'haft reigned. And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead that they 'must be judged, and that thou fhouldest give reward to thy fervants the prophets, and fhouldest deftroy them that deftroy the earth *.'

We have here a wonderful concurrence of great events, and among these is the anger of the nations, followed by the destruction of them that have destroyed the earth. Now how has the earth been deftroyed by the men who have destroyed it, but by defolating wars, and the deftruction that has thereby been made of mankind? In like manner, then, may we con

*On this fubject I refer my readers to two fermons lately published by the Rev. Elkanan Winchefter, entitled The Three Woe Trumpets, deferving the ferious confideration of all Christians, who are attentive to the figns of the times.

clude

clude that those destructive powers will themselves be destroyed, probably by one another, in those wars which the apostle James fays arife from men's lufts, the luft of ambition and revenge. And when, my brethren, have we feen, or heard of, fuch anger and rage in nations, fuch violence in carrying on war, and fuch deftruction of men, as at this very time? It is thought that the laft campaign only has deftroyed many more men than all the eight years of the American war, and probably more than the long war before it; and from the increased armaments of the belligerent powers, and their increafing animofity, it is probable that the approaching campaign will be more bloody than the laft.

What has more eminently contributed to destroy the earth, than the antichriftian and idolatrous ecclefiaftical establishments of Christianity, that have fubfifted in these weftern parts of the world; many more perfons having been deftroyed by Chriftians, as they have called themfelves, than by Heathens? And do we not fee one, and one of the principal, of those establishments already, and completely, destroyed?

A more highly wrought picture of the deftruction and slaughter of men, that will precede this glorious period in which God will take to himself his

great power and reign,' we find in the 19th chapter of the Revelation, which describes the triumph of the faints on the occafion.

heard a great voice of much 6

After these things I

people in heaven,

faying,

с

faying, Alleluia, Salvation, and glory, and honour, • and power, unto the Lord our God; for true and right are his judgments. For he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her 'fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his fervants at her hand.' That this has a connexion with the fecond coming of Chrift, appears from what immediately follows, ver. 11. And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horfe, and he that fat upon him was called faithful and true, and in righteouf• nefs he fhall judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many < crowns, and he had a name written which no man knew but he himfelf. And he was clothed in a 'vesture dipped in blood, and his name is called < THE WORD OF GOD. And the armies which were < in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed < in fine linen, white and clean; and out of his mouth 'goeth a fharp fword, that with it he fhould fmite the nations; and he fhall rule them with a rod of iron, and he treadeth the wine-prefs of the fierce⚫ nefs of the wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vefture, and on his thigh, a name written, KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.'

That there will be literally great flaughter of men on the occafion, is clearly indicated in what follows, figurative and hyperbolical as the language is, ver. 17. And I faw an angel standing in the fun, and he cried with a loud voice, faying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and < gather

gather yourselves together, unto the fupper of the great God, that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men,

and the flesh of horfes, and them that fit on them, ' and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both fmall and great.'

The fame is evident from the account of the pouring out of the third vial, Rev. xvi. 14, &c. And the third angel poured out his vial on the rivers and fountains of water, and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters fay, < Thou art righteous, O Lord, who art, and wast, and fhalt be, because thou haft judged thus. For they have shed the blood of faints and prophets, ⚫ and thou haft given them blood to drink, for they ⚫ are worthy.'

That this great flaughter will be made on the destruction of the antichriftian power, called in this book the beast, fupported by the kings of the earth, is evident from the next verfes, ver. 19. And I faw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together, to make war against him that fat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet, that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beaft, and them that worshipped his image. These were both caft alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were flain with the fword of him that fat upon the horse, ' which