Observe also what the word of the APOSTLE PAUL was upon this subject. In his Second Epistle to the Thessalonians he warns us: "Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that Man of Sin be revealed, the Son of Perdition . . . . whom the Lord shall consume with the Spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming. Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.”1 So likewise, in his Second Epistle to Timothy, we find him speaking of the "perilous times" which shall come "in the last days," when "men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof."2 JUDE, also, in his short Epistle, warns us how that in the last time there shall be "mockers" who shall walk "after 2 2 Tim. iii. 1-5. 1 2 Thess. ii. 3–10. their own ungodly lusts."1 We are led to the same conclusion by the Book of Revelation.2 But if the evidence be so strong in the New Testament, we may expect to find some intimation of the same in the Old Testament also, since that part of the Inspired Word dwells likewise very fully on the subject of the Second Advent. The ancient writers had by no means been permitted to lose sight of a matter so important. When Isaiah speaks so strongly of the final judgments which shall come upon the earth, making it empty-laying it waste -turning it upside down—defiling it under the inhabitants thereof;--what is the great cause assigned but that men "have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinances, broken the everlasting covenant!" "Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, fear, and the pit, and the snare," are upon its inhabitants; it shall be "moved exceedingly, .... reel to and fro like a drunkard, and be removed, like a cottage, and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it."3 Again, in speaking of the judgments which shall accompany the introduction of that day, when "the wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock," and "they shall not hurt nor destroy," he says, "Behold, the Lord will come with fire and with His chariots like 1 Jude 18. 2 Rev. xvi., xvii, xix., etc. 3 Isa. xxiv. 6–22. Foolscap 8vo., Cloth, Bevelled. Price Eighteenpence. INTO THE LIGHT. "Light, from whose rays all beauty springs." BY JENNIE PERRETT, Author of "Ben Owen, a Lancashire Story." With Engravings, Cloth, Bevelled, Foolscap 8vo., 1/6. CHAP. I. KEPT IN. II. BEN'S HOME. III. AN EVENING VISIT. IV. SAM'L HORNBY'S GENERAL SHOP. VI. THE STRANGERS. VII. HENRY ASHFORD'S REFUSAL. X. NEW YEAR'S EVE. XI. AT LIBERTY. LONDON: S. W. PARTRIDGE & Co., 9, PATERNOSTER Row. 10. Kev. XVI., XVI. xix., etc. 3 Isa. xxiv. 6-22. a whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire; for by fire, and by His sword will the Lord plead with all flesh, and the slain ... of the Lord shall be many. . . . For I know their works and their thoughts. It shall come that I will gather all nations and tongues, and they shall come and see My glory. . . . And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against Me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched, and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh."1 Refer also to the prophet DANIEL. In the seventh chapter we have the four great kingdoms of the world's history brought before us: the fourth enduring till the day when the judgment shall sit, and the saints of the Most High shall take the reins of government. We observe in reading this chapter that, although through wickedness each of these kingdoms was to meet with its destruction, the iniquity of the fourth is expressly dwelt upon, and it is declared that the sinfulness of this kingdom shall not abate until " the judgment shall be set, and the books opened." Of the last head of this kingdom it is declared, "He shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws; and 1 Isa. lxvi. 15-24. D 2 Dan, vii. 10. |