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spects may perhaps be termed the contest of the church, or the conflict of the kingdom of God, with the powers of darkness and the kingdoms of the world. That contest, it is obvious, had chiefly to be maintained first with the imperial, and afterwards for a defined period, with the papal power of Rome.

And there appeared a great wonder in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars; and she being with child, cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth; and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man-child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared of God, that they might feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought, and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their 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 God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the

death. Therefore rejoice ye heavens and ye that dwell in them. Woe unto the inhabiters of the earth and the sea! for the devil is come down upon you, with great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man-child. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place; where she is nourished for a time, times and half a time, from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman; and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. Chap. xii.

A great wonder was seen in heaven, and great is the mystery of godliness. In prophesying again, John still measures the temple and the altar, and them that worship therein. After having first told of the witnesses of Jesus, instead of reverting to the destiny of the kingdoms of this world, he describes, in more general terms, the rise, the history, and the fate of the kingdom that the God of heaven had set up. The beloved disciple of Jesus continues as before to fill up the outline given by Daniel, who also was a man greatly beloved. And in the Revelation of Jesus Christ, the kingdom of the Most High, spoken of by Daniel, is not without its appropriate symbol and its specific delineation. It came not in the form of a wild beast, to trample on the earth: nor did the symbol of other empires bear any similitude to it. A woman clothed with the sun, covered all around with heavenly light and radiance, and having the moon

under her feet, as if standing on Judaism, or trampling on any other form of faith, and infinitely transcending them all, is aptly significative, as the most glorious of symbols could be, of the kingdom of God, which in the fulness of time was set up on earth. In the spiritual horizon Jesus alone is the sun of righteousness; his kingdom is surrounded by light, all other brightness is dim before it, and by it alone can all the world be enlightened; while the crown of twelve stars, in the same aspect of celestial objects, seems to name the twelve apostles, the stars of first magnitude and unrivalled brightness in the church, to whom the Lord Jesus said, I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed me. Ye shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Even in the seven churches of Asia, the stars were the angels of the churches.

The light shone in darkness, but the darkness comprehended it not. Because Jesus told the truth, men would not believe him. They that were not of God would not hear God's words. And when the apostles went forth to preach the gospel, men hated and persecuted them for his name's sake. The kingdom of God was preached unto the Gentiles; and Jesus was believed on in the world. But truth finds not a ready access to the heart; and the struggle is often hard, before it be admitted. It is not easy for those to learn righteousness who are naturally prone to do evil, and averse to that which is good. If any man be in Christ Jesus he is a new creature. And the kingdom of God which he came to establish, consists not, like other creeds, in meats, or drinks, or days, or ordinances, but is righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. The Author of our faith hath declared, that except a man be born again, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. It was the office of his apostles to turn men from darkness to light. And in

sun,

speaking of the change of heart that had to be wrought through faith, Paul, adopting the very figure which is used in the vision, says, My little children, of whom I travail in birth again till Christ be formed in you. In similar significancy, the woman clothed with the and the moon under her feet, and who had upon her head a crown of twelve stars, being with child, cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. Such symbolically was the first aspect of the kingdom of heaven. Jesus had a baptism to be baptized with, and how was he straitened till it was accomplished! He had to be lifted up on the accursed tree, before men would be drawn unto him. And in the very early propagation of the gospel, while the kingdom of God was beginning to be formed, we read that (Acts xiv. 21, 22) when the apostles had preached the gospel to Derbe, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium and to Antioch, confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. The disciples were called Christians first in Antioch and such, in travail and in pain, was the manner in which that kingdom began to be established.

The mutual destruction of the Roman and Persian empires, left no formidable enemy to contend with Saracen fanatics when they came forth from Arabia in armed multitudes to propagate the faith of Mahomet: and the love of plunder, as a stimulus to conquest, is a feeling which it needed not a prophet to implant in the human breast. Their success lay in their swords. But contrariwise, no sooner was the faith of Jesus preached, than the Roman empire, holding the world in subjection, and supporting with all its authority a pompous paganism, was prepared, like a ferocious

monster, to devour the infant church, or to persecute unto the death those who should profess a holy faith and disown the worship of many gods. The seven heads, or as otherwise interpreted, the seven mountains, on which the imperial city was built; the ten horns, or according both to the Book of Daniel and the Revelation, the ten kingdoms, into which the Roman empire was divided; and the seven crowns, or different successive forms of government, (Rev. xix. 9, 10,) mark the empire of Rome, in its bloody persecutions, as the great red dragon that stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. As Herod the king sought the life of the holy child Jesus, so the power of Rome was exerted in vain to stifle christianity at its very birth. And as Satan, in the hour of the prince of darkness, entered into the heart of Judas when he betrayed the Lord into the hands of sinners, so that great dragon which sought the destruction of the church is denominated, in the sequel of this prophecy, however varied may be the form he assumes, whoever may be the agent of his will, or whatever may be the instrument of his power-that old serpent, the devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world.—Men were led captive by him at his will; and the kings of the earth claimed not freedom from his sway. The purposed destruction of the church of Christ was a device worthy of the great adversary of God and of man. And never was there a more powerful instrument ready to his hand than Rome in all the majesty of its greatness, wholly given up to idolatry, and, though subjecting the world to its sway, enslaved to the grossest vices. Satan is repeatedly termed in scripture the prince of this world. "We wrestle not,' saith the apostle, "against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the

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