XL Next, St. Paul, it seems, had told the Thes- SERMON salonians, what it was that, for a time, prevented the appearance of Antichrist: But that information hath not been transmitted to us, However, he says to them-Ye know WHAT with-holdeth that he might be revealed in his time and further adds, HE, who now letteth, will let, until he be taken out of the way3. Now, by putting these passages together, and by comparing them with the predictions of Daniel, not we of these later times only, before whom the man of sin is supposed to be evidently displayed, but the early fathers of the church, long before the events happened to which these prophetic notices could be applied, clearly saw, or at least generally conjectured, that the impediment, here mentioned, was the then subsisting power of the Cæsarean government; which, they said, was first to be taken away, and then Antichrist would be revealed t. Lastly, the Apostle St. John not only confirms the prophecies of Daniel, that Antichrist should arise out of the ten kings, who 2 Thess. ii. 6, 7. t P. 182-184, But see especially Mede's Works, p. 657. SERMON were to have the western empire shared out among them, but adds this remarkable circumstance, That he should RIDE the ten kings"; which implies, that he should co-exist with them: And it further appears, that he was to receive his whole power from them, and was finally to be destroyed by them. Now, turn to the history of the fourth kingdom, and see how it corresponds to these prophecies. Observe, when the western empire under its Cæsarean head, was taken away; how it was, afterwards, dismembered by the northern nations; by what degrees it fell at length, into ten, that is, many distinct, independent kingdoms; at what time this partition was made, or rather fully settled and completed. From this time, and not before, you are to look for Antichrist, now gradually rearing himself up among the ten kings; and at length, in a condition, by the power, which they gave to him, to ride, that is, to direct and govern them. From this time, again, compute the 1260. years, the predicted period of his government; and, keeping your eye all along on the ecclesiastical and civil state of our western world (the predicted theatre of all u Rev. xvii. 7. these transactions) see, if you can help concluding, I do not say at what precise time, but about what time, Antichrist appeared; see, if the commencement of his reign be not so far determined as that you may be certain of its being long since past; and see, if very much, at least, of that allotted period, through which his dominion was to continue, according to the prophecies, be not, by the evident attestation of history, now run out. TO DRAW, then, what hath been said on the several marks of Antichrist, to a point. Consider, within what part of the world, he was to appear; in what seat or throne, he was to be established; of what kind, his sovereignty was to be; with what attributes, he was to be invested; in what season, or about what time, and for how long a time, he was to reign and prosper: Consider these FIVE obvious characters of Antichrist, which the prophets have distinctly set forth, and which, from them, I have successively held up to you: And, then, compare them with the correspondent characters, which you find inscribed, by the pen of authentic history, on a certain power, sprung up in the West; seated in the city of Rome; calling himself the Vicar of Christ; yet full of names of blasphemy, that is, stigmatized with SERMON XI. SERMON those crimes, which Christianity, as such, XI. holds most opprobrious, the crimes of tyrannic dominion, of persecution, and even Idolatry; and lastly, now subsisting in the world, though with evident symptoms of decay, after a long reign, whose rise and progress can be traced, and whose duration, hitherto, is uncontradicted by any prophecy: Put, I say, all these correspondent marks together, and see if they do not furnish, if not an absolute demonstration, yet a high degree of probability, that apostate papal Rome is the very Antichrist foretold. your atten At least, you will admit that these correspondencies are signal enough to merit tion, and even to justify your pains in looking further into so curious and interesting a subject. Ye will say to yourselves, That the prophecies concerning Antichrist deserve at least to be considered with care, since in so many striking particulars, they appear, on the face of them, to have been completed. This conclusion, it is presumed, is a reasonable one: And the end of this discourse will be answered, if ye are, at length, prevailed upon to draw this conclusion. SERMON XII. USES OF THIS INQUIRY INTO THE PROPHECIES. Rev. xxii. 7. Behold, I come quickly: Blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. XII. BEFORE we engage in a work of time and SERMON difficulty, we naturally ask, “CUI BONO, to what considerable end and purpose, are our labours to be referred?" Although it may, then, be presumed, that enough hath been said on the prophecies to excite a reasonable desire of looking further |