they shall be given into His hand, until a time, and times, and the dividing of time." And then it is added, "But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end." 1 But let me ask you carefully to study the seventh, eighth, ninth, and eleventh chapters of this prophecy; and you will, I think, see clearly that as the time of the millennial reign approaches, we are to expect wickedness to abound, and practise, and prosper, with a mighty hand.

The glorious rest, therefore, which this world shall enjoy will not be gradually developed: it will not be brought about by education, nor by the preaching of the Gospel, nor by the mutual consent of nations, nor by any instrumentality whatsoever which mankind will set on foot. "The whole world lieth in wickedness." It has so lain since Adam fell. It will so lie until the day of its regeneration. And as we approach that day, the word will be heard with an increasing power, saying, "Woe to the inhabiters of the earth, and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.' "2

But further. There shall be a PERIOD OF TRIBULATION such as has not been "since the beginning of the world."

1 Dan. vii. 23-26.

2 Rev. xii. 12.

"1

I know not how to choose from the mass of Scripture passages which speak of those tremendous trials of the last days which will be the fit accompaniments of the increasing wickedness. The LORD, as Isaiah prophesied, "will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity, . . . I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. Therefore, I will shake the heavens; and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of Hosts, and in the day of His fierce anger.' "Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it. For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and His fury upon all their armies. . . . . And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as the falling fig from the fig-tree.' Thus does the Lord speak of a time fearful with exceeding terror for all nations of the earth, heralding the advent of the Judge of all.

2

The words of JEREMIAH's prophecy are no less conclusive than those of Isaiah. Note, for example, the

1 Isa. xiii. 11-13.

2 Isa, xxxiv. 1-4.

twenty-fifth chapter, wherein he dwells so strongly upon the judgments of the latter day. "The Lord shall roar from on high, and utter His voice from His holy habitation," when He shall "plead with all flesh," and "give them that are wicked to the sword. Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. And the slain of the Lord shall be, at that day, from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth.” 1

The prophet JOEL also foretells important details of the "last days." "Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up; beat your ploughshares into swords, and your pruning-hooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together. round about: thither cause Thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord. Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision." And this shall come to pass as that foretold 1 Jer. xxv. 32, 33.

time approaches, when "the sun and moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining," and "the Lord shall roar out of Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens shall shake; and the Lord will be the hope of His people, and the strength of the children of Israel;" and men shall know that the Lord dwelleth in Zion; and Jerusalem shall be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more; but Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.1

And so we might quote from Prophet after Prophet. But we have enough to show us, beyond doubt, that when the Lord shall come again upon this earth it will -be in the midst of great tribulation; the heathen raging; the people imagining a vain thing; the kings of the earth setting themselves together against the Lord and against His Anointed.2 There will be, indeed, "a voice of lamentation, and of bitter weeping:" the antitype of Rachel weeping for her children, and refusing to be comforted because they are not: 3 for the wine-press of the wrath of God shall be trodden.

But there shall be OTHER CAUSES OF SAD TROUBLE in the last days, besides those to which we have now referred.

Satan, knowing "that he hath but a short time," will

1 Joel iii.

2 Psalm ii. 1, 2.

3 Jer. xxxi. 15,

grow desperate. He will "come down, having great wrath." A peculiar power will be permitted, and he will exercise it wisely. There shall be "fearful sights and great wonders; blood and fire, and pillars of smoke;" "doctrines of devils" advocated and received; "wandering spirits" communicated with, heeded, and trusted; " 2 men energized by Satan, and empowered to work miracles upon the earth-of kind without example on the page of history; iniquity and craft performing such astounding deeds "as to deceive, if it were possible, even the elect; "3 the earth filled full of "trouble and darkness, dimness and anguish;" so that men in their multitudes shall be "driven to darkness."

Thus wickedness and tribulation, terrible and increasing, shall be found among the characteristics of

1 Rev. xii. 12.

2 "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter days some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing (πλavois, i.e., wandering) spirits, and doctrines of devils, speaking lies in hypocrisy” (1 Tim. iv. 1, 2). See also Isa. viii. 19-22; 2 Thess. ii. 3-12; Rev. xiii. 11-16, and xvi. 13, 14. This subject is very faithfully dealt with in a little work by Rev. E. Nangle, M.A., Rector of Skreen, entitled Spiritualism Fairly Tried (Wertheim and Macintosh). The marvellous spread of "Spiritualism," among the upper and middle classes of society, both in England and abroad, should not pass unobserved, though the word of warning to the Lord's people must be "Touch it not." Sixteen years have passed since the first edition of this work was issued, during which time the growth of this baneful evil has been great indeed. 3 Matt. xxiv. 24.