ed whole houses, teaching things they ought not for filthy lucre's sake," Titus i. 11; others, who crept into houses, leading captive silly women laden with divers lusts; some, teaching the doctrines and commandments of men, bringing in damnable heresies, and denying the Lord that bought them. And from that day unto this, in every age, and in every church, division, wounds, and putrefying sores, have been experienced through false, wicked, and designing professors.

3d. The church has been punished by the kings and rulers of this world. There was a season, in the days of David and Solomon, and after her deliverance from Egyptian bondage under Moses and Joshua, and so on down to the days of Manasseh, when the church, the people of God, were governed by their own rulers and laws in a great measure. But since the days of Manasseh not a moment has she enjoyed of respite, but has been scattered among the kingdoms of the world, as Jeremiah the prophet has prophesied she would. Jer xv. 4, "And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem." Here began the "scattering of the power of the holy people," and when seven times shall be accomplished, then all "these things" shall be finished; that is, the church will then have passed the ordeal of trial and chastisement. "Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen." "Wherefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon. And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers," 2 Chron. xxxiii. 9-12. We learn in this passage the cause and effect. The cause of their captivity was their errors and wicked conduct. The effect was their captivity to the kings of Babylon, and their humility in their affliction. And although Manasseh was restored to his kingdom again after his humiliation, yet the children of Judah and Jerusalem were never free from the Babylonish

yoke again while the kingdom of Babylon stood, but had to pay them tribute until the Medes and Persians conquered Babylon, which was about one hundred and forty years after the first captivity in Babylon of Judah and Jerusalem. Then the Medes and Persians reigned over the Jews, and made them pay tribute, and put a yoke of bondage upon them, until Alexander the Grecian conquered them, about two hundred and two years afterwards; when the Grecians became the masters of Judea, and continued the yoke of bondage, carrying away into captivity many of the principal citizens of Jerusalem, and obliging them to pay tribute, and their young men to serve as soldiers in their armies; destroying their riches, defiling their sanctuary, and compelling them to worship their gods, and sacrifice to their idols. This government lasted one hundred and seventy-seven years, when the Romans made the Grecian general Bacchides withdraw his army from Jerusalem, and never trouble the Jews any more, as Maccabees tells us in his first book, viii. 31, 32; also, ix. 1, 72, 73. This was one hundred and fifty-eight years before Christ; the Babylonians, Medes and Persians, and Grecians, having each in their turn ruled over and led into captivity, robbed and spoiled the children of Judah and Jerusalem, and scattered them among all the nations of the earth, as Moses and all the prophets had foretold; in all, from the captivity of Manasseh, five hundred and nineteen years.

No man can read this prophecy, from which our text is taken, and the other prophets who have spoken of these things, and understand them literally, and then read the history of the world, and compare them together carefully, and let reason decide, and be an infidel. It would be impossible. The devil knows this; and, therefore, he uses all the art he is master of to prevent those whom he wishes to destroy from reading the prophecies. He tells them they are dark and intricate. And if this argument succeeds it is well; he is sure of his prey. But if they reason on the subject, and say, "If God has revealed himself by the prophets, it must be for our good; and if God is wise, as all agree he is, if there is

a God, then it must be in the best possible manner for man to understand. I will examine and see." He then tells them it is presumption to look into futurity. “If you succeed in discovering the things to come, it will only make you miserable." Should this temptation prevent you from reading and trying to understand, still he is sure of his prey. You" will not be reformed by these things." But suppose you let reason work, and think, "If God is speaking by his prophets to us, surely it would be sin not to hear; for he has a legal right to our ears and attention; and only if our equal speaks to us, on any good or interesting subject, it is a piece of ill manners not to listen. I will read and hear what God says by the mouth of his servants." Then the devil will tell you that it is a sealed book, not to be understood until it is fulfilled. But reason will tell you, What God has given for our faith and hope cannot be sealed in this sense; for it would all be lost labor in the prophets of God, and perfect folly in the Giver; for the history itself would reveal it as soon and as well as the proph ecy could. And, in that case, says reason, faith and hope would have no food; for, without prophecy, neither the one nor the other could be exercised; for in what we know, how can it be said we have faith? or, in what is past, how can it be said we hope for it? Then, if these temptations do not prevent you from reading and trying to understand the prophecies, Satan has one more weapon, and it is his last resort. "But," says the arch enemy, "if you are but prepared for happiness or heaven, it is no matter whether you understand prophecy or not." This secures and chains down the hypocrite and Pharisee forever; this is turning things upside down at once. For there never were hypocrites or Pharisees but what vainly imagined that they were, of all men, best prepared for heaven; and so they will neither try their faith, nor examine their hope, if they follow this temptation, until they awake in eternity, forever too late. While, on the other hand, there never were real children of God, but what considered themselves unfit for heaven, the vilest of the vile; and if they should take up with this device of Satan, they must finally end in

despair; for they could gain no additional evidence of their faith or hope, only by a diligent study of God's prophetic word. So that I can boldly say, that reason itself would teach us that we ought to apply ourselves diligently and faithfully to try our faith by every word of God, and examine our hope in every possible way in searching deep into the revealed truths, whether promises or prophecies, that the day of vengeance may not overtake us unawares.

But not only the church under the Jewish dispensation must pass through her scenes of tribulation, but so, also, must the church under the gospel; for John saw not only the elect Jews in his vision of the glorified state, but also a great number, which no man could number, from among all nations and languages under heaven, "who had come through great tribulation, and who had washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." And, again, it is also evident that, like the Jews, they must suffer persecution from the kings and rulers of the earth, and from spiritual wickedness in high places. For John "saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army," Rev. xix. 19. And Daniel saw the same beast "make war with the saints, and prevailed over them until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; and the time came that the saints' possessed the kingdom. Thus he said, "The fourth beast is the fourth kingdom upon earth,” Dan. vii. 21–23, meaning the Roman kingdom.

We must also notice that, like the Jews, they must be scattered among all the nations of the earth; for here they are to have no continuing city, for they seek one which is to come, whose Builder and Maker is God," Hebrews xi. 10; that is, the New Jerusalem, which cometh down from God out of heaven. The proof I bring you that the church among the Gentiles were like the Jews, you will find in the prophecy of the high priest, when our Savior was crucified, John xi. 52, "And not for that nation only, (that is, the Jews,) but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were

scattered abroad." Also it is said, Mark xiv. 27, “smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.” And when Christ comes to judge the saints, at the resurrection of the just, he sends his angels into the uttermost parts of the earth, and under the uttermost part of heaven, and gathers together his elect, who have been scattered by the kings and beasts of the earth during the dark and cloudy day of persecution, from his crucifixion to his second coming.

And if, in view of all that Christ, the prophets, and apostles, have said in relation to this subject, there is one doubt remaining on your mind as to the truth of these remarks, I beg of you to read but the past history of the church, and you cannot but acknowledge, that, thus far, it has been literally fulfilled. How soon after the Romans had crucified the Lord of glory, did they attack his church; and for nearly three hundred years the apostles and eminent servants of Christ suffered all the horrors of persecution by the authority of the Roman emperors and kings of the earth. They suffered in all manner of ways which the prophets had foretold they would by the sword, by wild beasts, by flame, by captivity, and by spoil. This was almost constantly until the days of Constantine, who for a little season put a stop to these bloody scenes; but it was but short; for in the days of Julian the Apostate, it was renewed, and continued until the barbarians of the north overran Italy, and conquered the Roman empire. Then the church suffered the same trials under her new masters, the ten kings, until they were converted to the Christian faith, when she enjoyed another respite of about thirty years after the downfall of Paganism, and before the rise of Papacy, between the years A. D. 508 and 538. But now arose the little horn, (Papacy,) which was to make war against the saints, and prevail over them until the Ancient of days should come, and the judgment should sit. This little horn was to rule over the kings of the earth, a time, times, and a half, or 1260 years; all which has been accomplished to the letter.

III. I shall now show what is meant by seven times,"

in the text.