tual occurrence. The whole testimony of Scripture forbids such a conclusion; and, though the Lord himself, in His frequent allusions to His return, warns us that He will come suddenly, steathily, and unexpectedly as a thief in the night, yet He invariably accompanied these general warnings by such tokens of His approach as can leave no excuse either for ignorance or surprise. The reply made to the disciples, who asked Him in direct terms as to the times and seasons, implies the very reverse of the conclusion generally adopted; for His answer did in fact contain the avowal that though it was not for them who asked him the question, and who had other work to do, "to know the times and the seasons," yet that there was a generation of men who should be alive and remain until His coming again, to whom it should be revealed.

Had it been made apparent to the Church, when the warning cry of His speedy approach first arose, that a quarter of a century must elapse before His second advent, it is quite obvious that the doctrine must have lost much of its practical tendency, by destroying that degree of dubiousness as to the event in which its efficacy as a source of watchfulness essentially consists; but when the time is fully ripe, and the glorious event itself is about to happen, there no longer

exists any necessity for the continuance of this uncertainty, for then the mystery of God will be finished; and it is one of the strongest arguments that can be advanced in support of the belief that the period of warning and preparation is drawing to a close, and that the day of Christ's appearance is at hand, is that, from more than one quarter of the Church, loose generalities have given place to more definite expectations, as to the time of the second advent of our Lord.

It is reasonable also to expect, as the time approaches for the translation of the saints from this earth, that increased light should be afforded as to the ultimate destiny of that large portion of the baptized who shall be left to struggle through the infidel period. The spiritual perception of the Church upon this most important feature in the last act of the eventful drama seems limited to the discernment that a portion, and that a small portion only, of the Church are the subjects of this translation; and that, consequently, the majority are left on the earth, without having been as yet able to form any intelligible idea as to their state and condition during that period of the infidel's supremacy, or of their destination at its close.

It is not probable that revelation is silent upon

such an important point in the history of the Gentile Church; and the writer thinks that a closer scrutiny into the meaning of some of the symbols, as contained in the Book of the Revelation, will lead to conclusions of a highly encouraging nature as to the final hope of that innumerable multitude, who, although they have not been deemed worthy to escape those judg ments which are coming to pass, and to stand prior to their infliction before the Son of Man, yet, being on the foundation of the cross of Christ, still have a hope presented to them full of immortality and life. It is easily conceivable why such an expectation should have been withheld from the Church until almost the moment of her launching into such a vortex of trial and suffering, and, wherefore, at such precise period it should more plainly be declared. If such an ulterior hope had been palpably evident, the effect must have been to remit the Church's preparation for her more exalted calling, and to relax her faith in the attainment of that more distinguished place in the category of God's saints. This new leaf in the Book of the Revelation of God was not unfolded before, lest the Church should presume upon the hope; but, in the anticipation of such a trial, it will surely be revealed, lest she should be overwhelmed with despair in

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the contemplation of that dreadful and gloomy day of the Lord, the horrors of which she will assuredly have to encounter.

Little doubt can be entertained but that during the eventful period in the history of the world, when the harvest of the earth is gathering in, that all things will become ripe, and that there will then be manifested, not only a ripeness of evil, but a full maturity in the counteracting principle of good; so that it may be expected that, in those days, the Church will present to the world an aspect of perfect unity of heart and spirit, which her whole history plainly manifests has ever been to her an object of expectation; though, from the carnal means employed to reach it, hitherto never of her attainment. But let not men presume upon such a hope; for her perfection shall assuredly be arrived at through penal suffering, and by the endurance of such a fierce persecution as till then the world never witnessed, and which, there is every reason to believe, is prefigured in the papacy, by the purifying fires of purgatory. Still, out of her fiery trial she shall arise, glorious in her beauty, "looking forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners :" a Church-not, as now, torn asunder with division, distracted with dissension, and defiled by

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the spirit of the world-but at last presenting the perfect pattern of what a Church on the earth should be-ever speaking the same thing, having and acknowledging "one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all."

It is quite clear that "the tabernacle" alluded to in Rev. xiii. 6., occurring in conjunction with them" who shall then " dwell in heaven," cannot be the same as the "tabernacle" which John saw coming down from God out of heaven, for reasons so obvious that it will only be necessary to allude to them to convince any one of the fact. The tabernacle which John saw coming down from heaven does not descend to this earth until Satan is bound for a thousand years (see chap. xx); whereas, it is against the tabernacle named in the xiii. chap. that Satan, in the beast, is permitted to exercise his rage, at the same period of time that there is another company who then dwell in heaven, against whom he can only utter blasphemies, because they are removed from his rage. If, therefore, it be not the same tabernacle, it must of necessity be some other; and, if it be not the tabernacle in heaven, it must be a tabernacle then upon the earth: and, though essentially different as to place and condition, yet, during that period, the tabernacle on earth will exhibit to the world the perfect model of that