CHAPTER XIV.

THE FUTURE (continued).

THE WORLD TO COME.

THE day of the Lord commences at sunset on the 20th Sept., 1878. The position of the sun and moon in either horizon is the very position in which the amount of refraction is the greatest; and this advantage being further increased by the peculiar state of the atmosphere, it will appear as if the light of the moon was as the light of the sun, and that of the latter sevenfold as the light of seven days. The kings of the earth will be gathered together at Armageddon, all nations having been gathered against Jerusalem to battle; the city taken, the houses rifled, the women ravished, and half of its inhabitants captives, the whole of them mourning as one mourneth for his only son, in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn; then suddenly shall they look upon Him whom they have pierced. Then will the heavens be opened, and Christ appear descending to the earth in the manner seen by St. John: "And I saw heaven opened, and "behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was "called Faithful and True; and in righteousness he "doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of

"fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had 66 a name written that no man knew but he himself:

"And he was clothed with 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 sharp sword, that "with it he should smite the nations: and he shall "rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the "winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty "God.

"And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh 66 a name written, King of kings, and Lord of

"lords."

Descending first on that same spot which last felt the pressure of His feet on His previous visit to the earth, the touch of His feet will cause an earthquake, so that "the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof "toward the east and toward the west; and there shall "be a great valley; and half of the mountain shall

move toward the north, and half of it toward the "south,"* causing a new literal fountain to be opened in Jerusalem, half of the waters of which shall flow. toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea. On the appearance of Christ on the Mount of Olives, the hosts of Antichrist, who had previously been fighting amongst each other, every man's hand rising up against the hand of his neighbour, will now combine together "to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army."

66

* Ezek. xiv. 4.

In the words of Esdras:*

"Behold the days come, when the Most High will begin to deliver them that are upon the earth.

"And he shall come to the astonishment of them "that dwell on the earth.

"And one shall undertake to fight against another, one city against another, one place against another, one people against another, and one realm against "another.

"And the time shall be when these things shall come "to pass, and the signs shall happen which I shewed "thee before, and then shall my Son be declared, whom "thou sawest as a man ascending.

"And when all the people hear his voice, every man "shall in their own land leave the battle that they have

one against another. And an innumerable multitude "shall be gathered together as thou sawest them willing "to come, and to overcome him by fighting."

What awful wickedness! Clearly as I perceive the intense depravity of the heart of Antichrist, I can hardly conceive the possibility of his magnifying himself against the Great Spiritual Prince of the host, so far as even in that awful day to dispute with Him the right of entrance on to this earth. What can his spirit be who thus can dare to make war on the Son of God! How fearful must be his power over his followers, how utterly depraved their own hearts, that they can join with him in this terrible wickedness!

He with his armies will advance from the Mount of Olives, to meet Antichrist and his armies in the valley "Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight

of decision.

"against those nations, as when he fought in the day of "battle." *

"The captain of the Lord's host" "will rebuke the "wicked inventions of those nations, which for their "wicked life are fallen into the tempest: and shall lay "before them their evil thoughts, and the torments "wherewith they shall begin to be tormented, which are "like unto a flame: and he shall destroy them without "labour by the law which is like unto fire." Or as Esdras saw in his vision:†

"And after this I beheld, and lo, all they which were gathered together to subdue him were sore afraid, and "yet durst fight. And, lo, as he saw the violence of "the multitude that came, he neither lifted up his "hand, nor held sword, nor any instrument of war.

"But only I saw that he sent out of his mouth as "it had been a blast of fire, and out of his lips a flaming "breath, and out of his tongue he cast out sparks and 66 tempests.

"And they were all mixed together; the blast of "fire, the flaming breath, and the great tempest; and "fell with violence upon the multitude which was "prepared to fight, and burned them up every one, so "that upon a sudden of an innumerable multitude "nothing was to be perceived, but only dust and smell " of smoke."

In the words of St. John, "The remnant were slain "with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which "sword proceeded out of his mouth, and all the fowls were filled with their flesh."

66

But whilst the fowls, gathered together by command * Zech. xiv. 3. + 2 Esdras xiii.

Rev. xix. 21.

of an angel unto the supper of the great God, "eat the "flesh of kings and the flesh of captains, and the flesh "of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that "sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and "bond, both small and great," a very different fate befalls Antichrist and the False Prophet: these two are taken and cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone: these two alone of all that innumerable host will be cast into that Tophet which "is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep "and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the "breath of the Lord like a stream of brimstone doth "kindle it."*

66

The fall of Antichrist and the unmistakeable difference between his fate and that of the other kings and captains and men is clearly shown in the 14th chapter of Isaiah : "Hell from beneath is moved for thee to "meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for "thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.

"All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou "also become weak as we? Art thou become like " unto us?

66

Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the "noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, "and the worms cover thee.

"How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of "the morning! how art thou cast down to the ground, "which didst weaken the nations!

"For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend "into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars * Isaiah xxx. 33.