And let no one be staggered if it should be his lot see other outrageous insults heaped on the Word of God.

to

We see its present sufferings; and so one part of the prophecy is shown to be true: and, let us remember, St. John predicts, that as the Word suffers with Christ, so it will rise again, ascend, and reign with Him. Therefore, let us not be dismayed by the treatment of the Word on earth; but let us raise our eyes, and contemplate its glory in Heaven. Above all, let us take heed to ourselves: let us fear the Word; let us believe the Word; let us obey the Word-or the Word will be our Woe.

Secondly, St. John reveals to us the History of the CHURCH.

Some, you are aware, affirm, that temporal felicity and amplitude of earthly dominion are notes of the true Church'; and they argue that their own Church is the spouse of Christ, because it has enjoyed worldly prosperity, and has long exercised secular sway.

But how different is the language of St. John ! He represents the Apostolic Church, the Spouse of Christ the Spiritual Queen, as a Pilgrim and Exile upon earth. She is the Woman in the Wilderness. On the other hand, the Woman who sits enthroned as a Queen upon many waters, which are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, is not the Bride, but the Harlot-not Sion, but Babylon.

1 Bellarmine de Notis Ecclesiæ, lib. iv. c. 18. Ultima nota est felicitas temporalis. 2 Rev. xvii. 1. 15.

We learn from the Apocalypse, that the true Spouse of Christ must suffer. She must suffer like Her divine Lord; from infidel powers, and from a corrupt Church.

Who would have believed his report? How incredible was all this when St. John wrote! But this prophecy, also, has been already in part fulfilled, and is now in course of fulfilment. The Church, built on the foundation of Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone', has been beleaguered by foes from without and from within, ever since the day of her building. She has been assailed by the Arch-Enemy of man-first, with heathen arms, and then with the weapons of Heresy, Superstition, and Infidelity. She has been driven into the Wilderness.

Alas! is not this true? Has not this prophecy been verified? is it not now fulfilled in our own eyes? Are not the Nations of the World at this hour treating all Religions as equally true? Do not some of them endow Judaism side by side with Christianity? And in the great work of National Education, are they not setting at defiance Christ's own commission to His Church2-Teach all Nations, Feed My Lambs? Are they not denying, that Christ's Spouse is the Mother of Christ's children? Are they not taking away her children and His from her breasts and from her knees, and depriving them of the pure milk of the Word, and of the spiritual food of the Sacraments, and of the Line upon Line, Pre'Eph. ii. 20.

2 Matt. xxviii. 19, 20. John xxi. 15.

cept upon Precept of Christian Creeds and Catechisms? Are they not giving them away to false Mothers? Instead of strengthening Sion, are they not rebuilding Babylon? And has not the treacherous Harlot spoiled the Spouse even of her name, and called herself the Catholic Church?

Thus the Woman is in the Wilderness. But Michael and his Angels are stronger than Satan and his angels. She is still clothed with the Sun, and treads on the Moon, and is crowned with twelve stars. She still shines in the night of the world. God appoints her a place. He feeds her with heavenly manna in the desert. He bears her on the Two Wings of the Great Eagle through the vast wilderness. In her present sufferings she sees a pledge of her future glory. For these trials have been predicted by St. John; and he, who has predicted them, has also revealed her triumph. The one have been, and are; the other will be. Therefore, though she is in the Wilderness, she does not faint. She loves to be like her Lord. She looks for severer trials yet. The Church will be like Christ, even to the end. She will have her Gethsemane her Calvary. But beyond them all she

sees the Mount of Ascension-the cloud of glorythe crystal sea-the Throne of God.

1 Isaiah xxviii. 10.

U

LECTURE X.

REV. xiii. 9.

If any man have an ear, let him hear.

Ir has been shown in previous Discourses that the Apocalypse, or Book of Revelation, is rightly received as a work of the Evangelist St. John, and that it holds a peculiar place as the Seal of the whole Bible, and I would now invite your attention to some striking visible proofs of its Divine Inspiration.

The Apocalypse is a prophecy; and it has now been in the world for nearly eighteen centuries.

The question therefore naturally arises,-Have any of its predictions been fulfilled?

If they have, then, among other important deductions from that fact, we have in such fulfilment a clear demonstration of its divine origin; and also we have presumptive evidence that the other predictions of the Apocalypse, concerning the Last Great Things -Judgment, Heaven, Hell, and Eternity-will be fulfilled likewise.

Besides, the Apocalypse, as might readily be

shown, is a Manual of Christian Faith and Practice, and, if it is inspired by God, then we have here another proof of the divine origin of the doctrines of the Gospel, and of the truth and importance of Christianity.

You perceive then that this question is a most momentous one-"Have the prophecies of the Apocalypse been fulfilled ?”

It has been my endeavour to offer some reply to it already by an expository comment on this Book; and, with this view, we have commenced at the opening of the Apocalypse, and have proceeded as far as the thirteenth chapter.

Here we resume our undertaking; and it is our hope to prosecute it to the close of these Lectures.

At this point, in the course of our Exposition, we pause to observe, that the particular prophecies which will now engage our attention, and to which the present Discourse is designed as introductory, are fraught with the most solemn warning and admonition to us all.

What then are these prophecies to which we now refer? and how have they been fulfilled?

Our reply is as follows:

Having been led in these Discourses to devote the best faculties at command to this solemn subject, I should feel myself guilty of culpable dereliction of duty in the sight of Almighty God, if I did not declare my conviction that the prophecies contained

1 And as is shown in the last Lecture of the present volume.