First, then, THE FOURTH EMPIRE'S LAST DAYS.

Our friend believes, in common with very many, that the last days of the fourth Kingdom are to be its best. Christianity is to overspread the world, and to mould men into the love of God and man. The Saviour's kingdom is not to be of the world, and yet his servants are to be rulers in it!' This seems to us as complete a contradiction of ideas as can well be found.*

Next, the reign of the saints is not during the time of the fourth Empire. "These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High [or 'high places'] shall take and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.' (Dan. vii. 17, 18.)+

It is not lawful for the saints to reign in Gospel times. Jesus is rejected by the earth; they are to be rejected also. He was tried during his life, and refused to be made king, whether by Satan or by his own countrymen. (Matt. iv.; John vi. 15.) Now the disciples are called to obey and suffer. (Tit. iii. 1; Rom. xii. 1-5.) They are not to avenge themselves, not rule, nor to seek justice against a criminal, but to show mercy. (Matt. vii. 1, 2; v. 38--48.) They are not to swear or to fight. (Matt. v. 33-37, 38-40.) Some Corinthian believers did take of the world's rule and honours; but Paul rebukes the conduct as unsuited to the dispensation. (1 Cor. iv. 8-16.) They were not even to bring the civil questions which arose among them into the world's courts. 'What! do you the just expect justice from the unjust?' (1 Cor. vi.)

But the prophecy of Dan. vii. characterizes, in a striking manner, the ending of the fourth Empire. The saints on earth at its close are persecuted, and are overcome by the last great emperor of the Romans, who, in conjunction with his ten kings, wars and destroys them. He blasphemes God Himself, who gave to the Gentiles their kingdom, and he slays those who own the God of heaven. For three-and-a-half years no successful resistance can be made to his power. "That horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows." "I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them." (10, 11.) "Another [king] shall arise after them [the ten], and he shall be diverse from the first, and shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High [of high places,]+

But (it may be said), 'What do you millenarians make of the words "My kingdom," &c. P' I answer: The ambiguity of the little English word 'of' has deceived our friends. It is: "My kingdom is not out of this world. If my kingdom were out of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence." (John xviii. 36.) Thus our Lord's latter words explain his former ones. Jesas' kingdom over this world (Rev. xi. 15) is not to be set up by force derived from earth. It is to come by power of heaven, not by the swords of earth. Observe how remarkable in this view are the words of Dan. vii. 17.

The Greek translations are here much stronger. The LXX. give it: "These four great beasts are four kingdoms, which shall perish from the earth, and the saints shall take the kingdom," &c. Theodotion: "These great beasts are four kingdoms which shall arise from the earth, which shall be removed. And the saints," &c.

So Honbigant, the Venetian Greek Translation, and other critics.

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and think to change times and laws, and they shall be given into his hand until a time, and times and the dividing of time." (24, 25.) How does this consist with the saints ruling at that time? It is a time, it would seem, of uncommon iniquity, in which God seems to have forsaken the earth, and this blasphemer of God prospers.

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But how is this king put down? By a NEW DISPENSATION. dispensation is founded on the principle of justice, and its first appearance is found in the erection of a new throne in heaven. "In this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things. I beheld till [the*] thrones were set,t and the Ancient of Days did sit, whose garment was white as the pure wool; his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream (Chald.) issued and came forth from before him." "The judgment was set, and the books were opened. I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake; I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body given to the burning flame." (9, 11.) The saints, times, and laws, are given into his hands for three and a half years. "But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion to consume and destroy it unto the end." (26.)

It seems, then, that that which puts a stop to the reign of the fourth beast is its intense wickedness and blasphemy against God, which calls for his throne of judgment to be set, if God means to retain any glory on earth at all. This view is borne out by the Apocalypse, where, at the conclusion of the dispensation of the Church, a new throne-that of justice-appears, and when at length the great Antichrist arrives on the earth, and begins his blasphemies, this throne pours out on him and his dominions its terrible bowls of wrath, till at length his dominion of 1260 days is concluded.

But after the presentation of the throne, both in Daniel and in the Apocalypse, comes the revealing of the Great Avenger sent forth by it to. the earth, to carry out God's purposes of destroying all the former evil kingdoms, and setting up the kingdom of God.

*

At this part occurs the most unaccountable omission on Mr. Young's part. He can see nothing of Christ's second coming in the prophecy at all. And yet he quotes (p. 7) the preceding and following context. The little horn, he says, "perpetuated in another form the antagonism of the world-power," "and made war with the saints, and prevailed. against them *for a time and times, and the dividing of time." (Dan. vii. 21, 25.) So there is a leap in those asterisks, from the end of Daniel's words to the end of the angel's explanation ! But our chief witness is gagged and smuggled out of court by these illstarred varlets. For what words come next to "prevailed against them?" “UNTIL THE ANCIENT OF Days came.” How can we account for so strange a passing over this all-important witness on the question? How can we account for Mr. Y.'s strong words "The vision has no more to do with the second coming of Christ than with his first coming?" (P. 9.) I fear to say anything more. These are the words of God. It is not then his saints on earth who win the kingdom for Christ while he is

* Omit 'the.' + So the Latin, Greek, and most critics.

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away; but the saints who are left on earth are persecuted, warred upon, and prevailed over by a Crowned Blasphemer, till Christ the Son of God comes in person. Here is our view the very contrast of our antimillenarian brethren's.

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But what are the effects of the Second Advent of our Lord on the former three empires, and on the then existing fourth empire? This point is taken up and clearly unfolded by the Vision of the Image, or Dan. ii. Daniel in describing to the king his dream; after going over the four metals of which the image was composed, adds, "Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them in pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth." (Dan. ii. 34, 35.) This is further expanded: "In the days of these [ten] kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces, the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold." (44, 45.)

saves;

We ask then, Has the Gospel in the ages past effected anything like this? Ought it to effect it in days to come? Clearly not! The effects of the Gospel, and those of the stone of the vision stand in perfect contrast. They differ in PRINCIPLE. The Gospel is grace. This is justice. The Gospel chiefly affects individuals; the stone smites masses. The Gospel the stone destroys. The Gospel is an internal secret force; as Mr. Young says, "A spiritual element in the social fabric, working out by its own force," &c. (P. 9.) This is an external and visible force outside the image. The effects of the Gospel are slow, partial, variable; advancing here, retrograding there. This is a sudden, effectual stroke which at an instant carries with it perpetual victory. The Gospel is a work while Christ is away; this takes place at his second coming. God's work on earth, is now by the Spirit, through a few feeble men of faith. This is God's work from heaven, full of overpowering might. The good news now is the calling God's elect out of earth into heaven, leaving the empires of earth to go on pretty much as they will. The iron of the image, unaltered by the Gospel, is iron still. The clay of the image, unchanged by the tidings of God's grace, is clay still. But the stone, by its one brief blow, breaks up the arrangements of earth's kingdoms altogether, and introduces a kingdom visibly and really unlike what has gone before it.

The stroke of the stone in Daniel should remind us of the Saviour's words, when, having this in his eye, he said to the Pharisees who were about to slay him-"Did ye never read in the Scriptures, 'The Stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner ?" “And whosoever shall fall on this Stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder." (Matt. xxi. 42, 44.) Jesus is now the Stone at rest. The unbeliever may try his strength with him, may cry,- Crush the wretch!' but the effect of this unbelief

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will be only like a man's throwing himself against a stone. Its solid texture will prove too strong for flesh and blood, and he will be worsted and lost, even during the period of God's mercy. But the Stone has another aspect, when God launches it from heaven to descend on earth. Woe, then, to those whom it finds its enemies in the day of God's wrath! "On whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder." Such is the scene described in Rev. xix. The opposing armies of earth are utterly destroyed before Jesus and his descending hosts. The strcke of the Stone answers therefore to the coming of the Ancient of Days in the later vision. (vii. 22.) And the issue is the kingdom!

The kingdom of Daniel's hope is not yet come. "As the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken " (brittle). (brittle). "And in the days of these kings. [the ten] shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom." (Dan. ii. 42, 44.) Now the ten last kings of the fourth empire have not yet arisen. Mr. Young quietly assumes with many, that "kings" or "kingdoms " mean the same thing. But it is not granted. In Dan. vii. 24, 25, it is evident that the eleventh is a man, a blasphemer, and not a kingdom. From Rev. xvii. 12, 17, it will be apparent that they are ten infidel kings, who begin to appear only together with the Antichrist, the last king of the fourth empire. As then the ten kings have not yet arisen, nor the Blaspheming Emperor who presides over them, therefore much less has the king's predicted persecution taken place (Dan. vii. 21), and still less the coming of Christ which puts a stop to that persecution. The blow of the Stone descending from heaven has not yet struck the ten toes; and hence the image stands to God's eye as before.

The kingdom of the Son of Man then, which succeeds the stroke of judgment after it has suddenly, openly, completely, dissolved all traces of former earthly kingdoms, has yet to be waited for. Before the stroke there is no dominion of the mountain-after the blow no dominion of the metals. Not till the Stone has in judgment swept away all other kingdoms, does it begin to swell, till it fills the earth. The saints are to suffer on earth from the rulers, till Jesus by his personal judgment transfers to them the power by which they were previously oppressed.

After this blow is delivered, the stone becomes the mountain which fills earth. After the Ancient of Days comes, the persecution of the saints ceases for ever. In Christ the Son of Man, the second Adam, all things in heaven and earth are centred and gathered. (Eph. i. ; Ps. viii.)

Then are the kingdom, and the imperial power of it, made over to the saints. "The Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High [high places], and the time came, that the saints possessed the kingdom," 22. "And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High" [high places] 27. The coming of Jesus in person is the turning point of the new state of things which ensues. As, now, it is not lawful for saints to rule, because God bids them serve and suffer, and not exalt themselves, or use the sword of judgment; so, then, God himself having sent Christ their Head to rule over earth, to them too he passes the sceptre. Rule now is authority out of season. But Paul, in the very epistle which dissuades saints from ruling now, says, "Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? And if the

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world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? "(1 Cor. vi. 2.) And this time of the saints' rule is the time of "the kingdom of God." "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?" (v. 9). But when the last trumpet shall have sounded, then-"The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our God and of his Christ." (Rev. xi. 15.)

And now, a word about the principle of the kingdom. "He whose kingdom rules over all," says Mr. Young, "has purposed to establish a reign of power and love on the earth." Indeed! We read Scripture very differently. Now, as we suppose, is the time of grace, not putting forth its power in rule. But then, "To him [the overcomer] will I give power over the nations [not 'over the Church,'] and he SHALL RULE THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers; even as I received of my Father." (Rev. ii. 26, 27.) And so, when Jesus comes out of heaven as the King of kings in justice to judge and war, we read, " And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations, and HE SHALL RULE THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON; and he treadeth the wine-press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God." (Rev. xix. 11, 15.) He is the minister of the throne of fire set up in the heaven.

But where do you find resurrection? In those words-occurring three or four times-"the saints of the high places." (Compare Eph. i. 3; 1 Cor. xv. 40-48; Heb. xi. 16; xii. 22.)

'Where do you find that the kingdom of the saints is to be enjoyed on earth?' We read, that the dominion with which the Son of Man is invested in heaven is a rule over the earth. (Dan. vii. 13, 14.) We find that he does not take it up, till he has swept away the previous empires. It supplants them, and occupies their room. The mountain more than fills the place of the image. The Ancient of Days takes the place of the Blaspheming King, whom in person he has descended to dethrone. The dominion given to Nebuchadnezzar by God extended not over men only, but over beasts and birds. (Dan. ii. 37, 38.) The dominion which God has decreed to Christ as the Second Adam, is that He, as Son of Man, (not, by his Spirit from heaven) shall have all put under his feet"all sheep and oxen; yea, and the beasts of the field; the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the path of the seas." (Ps. viii. 6-8.) Was the Roman empire a kingdom of earth? Was it strong as iron? "Forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things." (Dan. i. 40.) Like this, only more mighty still in its energies on earth, is the empire of the Christ to be.

At its first stroke all the other metals are broken in pieces, and swept away as dust before it. The saints take the power of judgment, which

"I stand, and am But then He will

up to that time was used to oppress and slay them. udged "says Paul in Gospel days. (Acts xxvi. 6.) sit on a throne and judge. "I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them." "Judgment," says Daniel, "was given to the saints of the high places, and the time came "-aye, a very sudden, astonishing moment!--"that the saints possessed the kingdom."

One of the first features of evil in the Babylonish empire after its setting up by God was the ruler's imagination, that the powers of earth are independent of the heaven. The proud king, therefore, was debased