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of the little Horn, it is said, " But the judgment "shall sit, and they shall take away his domi"nion, to consume and destroy it unto the end." From these words we learn, that the complete consumption of the Papacy will occupy a certain space of time, and will reach to the end; though we are informed in the Revelations, that its first fall will be sudden: and so we find, that the spoliation and destruction of the Papacy is not yet completed, though the commencement of it was strikingly marked by the sudden and extraordinary events of the year 1792. From that year we therefore date the commencement of the last period in the history of the Church, Militant: and it will be recollected that we have already, in examining the vision of the Great Image, ascertained the same date for the commencement of the last, and cotemporary period in the history of the Empire; for in considering the reign of the Stone, it' was remarked, that the ten kingdoms of the divided Roman empire, or the majority of them, viz., the seven remaining Roman-catholic kingdoms, began in that year to be broken to pieces.

At the same time that the Papacy is destroyed, the destruction of the Roman empire also takes place, which is described in this vision in the following words, ver. 9. "I beheld till the

"thrones were cast down (or placed) and the "Ancient of days did sit; whose garment was "white as snow, and the hair of his head like "the pure wool, his throne was like a fiery "flame, and his wheels as burning fire. 10. "A fiery stream issued and came forth from "before him, the judgment was set, and the "books were opened. 11. I beheld then, because of the voice of the great words which "the horn spake, I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given "to the burning flame. 12. As concerning "the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion “taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.”

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In this sublime and awful description, the transactions in heaven are revealed, and God is represented as sitting in judgment upon the nations of the world. The thrones here mentioned may be understood as being placed for those who were slain for the testimony of Jesus; for it is at this time that the nations are ruled with a rod of iron, and it was to those who should remain faithful during the period of the ten persecutions, that the following promise was made: "He that overcometh, and keepeth my works "unto the end, to him will I give power over "the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod "of iron, and as the vessels of a potter shall

they be broken to shivers, even as I received "of my Father* :" in which passage we may perceive, that the power exercised by the Saints themselves over the nations is distinctly spoken of, and that it is deelared, that they should be made partakers of the reign of Christ......

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That the reign of the Saints has already com-menced, and began with the period of the destruction of the empire, is a position however of so much interest and importance as to require that I should bring forward some texts to support and illustrate it; and I will first refer to those passages which speak of the temporal kingdom of Christ, and of the reign of the Saints, as commencing immediately at the expiration of the 1260 years, that is, at the commencement of the thirty years; secondly, sto those which speak of the reign of the saints as continued through the whole course of the period of thirty years; and thirdly, to those which speak of this reign at the end of the period of thirty years.

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In the vision of the Great Image we have seen that the Stone, or the Temporal Kingdom of Christ, first appears when the destruction of the Empire takes place. "So likewise, in the Revelation of Saint John; immediately before the

* Rev. chap. ii. ver. 26 & 27.

sounding of the seventh Trumpet, our Saviour is described as descending from heaven to earth, setting his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot upon the earth, emblematical of his then taking possession of the kingdoms of this world! and at the same time that awful declaration is heard, that the mysteriously permitted period of the 1260 years was finished*.

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In the prophecy under consideration, we also read this passage, Dan. chap. vii. ver. 21422, "I beheld, and the horn made war with the "Saints, and prevailed against 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.” From which we infer, first, that the coming of the Ancient of days takes place at the expiration of the 1260 years' prosperity of the Papacy; and secondly, that judgment is then given to the Saints, and that from that period they possess the kingdom.

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We find also, in Rev. chap. xi. ver. 15-18, that immediately after the fall of the tenth part of the City (or after the French Revolution), great voices are heard in heaven, saying, "The king"doms of this world are become the kingdoms of "our Lord, and of his Christ;" and it is said,

Rev. x. 1-7.

that it is at this time that he should "give re"ward unto his servants the Prophets, and to "the Saints," and to them that fear his name, "small and great;" the reward here spoken of being that promised to them in Rev. ii. 26, 27, and iii. 21, and which they were also commanded in Rev. vi. 11 to wait for, till the number of the martyrs that were to be slain by Papal persecution should be completed, or till the period of the 1260 years should be expired.

In the Apocalypse, the Church in Heaven, formed of the spirits of the glorified Saints, is typified by the four Living Creatures which surround the throne, who are said to sing a new song to him who had redeemed them to God by his blood," out of every kindred, and tongue, "and people, and nation." It is also typified by that part of the Temple, or Church in general, which is the most sacred; that is, by the Holy of Holies; so when the "Temple in heaven" (which, literally translated, means the Church in heaven) is mentioned, we find from the description of it, and from the scenery belonging to it, that it is the Holy of Holies that is so called. This being understood, I have to observe, that the seven Vials of the Wrath of Almighty God, which are poured out in the course of the period of the thirty years, and which effect the destruc

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