It is impossible to imagine anything more delightful than the prospect of the promised return of our most blessed Saviour. How do the father and the mother feel when they welcome their long-absent son from India? How will many an English wife feel when she welcomes her husband from the Arctic Expedition? And how must the Church of God feel when, after her long night of toil and difficulty, she stands face to face before Him whom her soul loveth, and enters into the full enjoyment of the promise, ‘So shall we ever be with the Lord?’ There will be no tears then, for there will be no sorrow; no death then, for there will be no more curse; no sin then, for we shall see Him as He is, and shall be like Him. Then will be the time of resurrection, when all the firstborn of God shall awake to a life without decay and without corruption; and then the time of reunion, when the whole company of God’s elect shall stand together before the Lord, never again to shed a tear over each other’s grave; and then will be the time when those who have loved and longed after Him, as they have journeyed on alone in their pilgrimage, will find themselves on the right hand of His throne, and hear His delightful words, ‘Come, ye blessed children of my Father: inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world!’
No wonder then that the people of God are waiting with anxious hearts for the Advent; and no wonder that many are ready to say, ‘Lord, how long?’ and to ask, What hope is there of His quick return? Have we, or have we not, any reason to look out for it soon? To this inquiry I would endeavour to draw your attention this morning; and in doing so, I do not intend to examine into what are usually called ‘the signs of the times,’ but to study the great prophetic sketch of the world’s history as given to us by the prophet Daniel. This may be termed the backbone of prophecy, and almost all the great prophecies of Holy Scripture fit into it at some point or other; so that, if we wish to understand them, we must begin by studying it. I fear I may not interest those who aim simply to have their hearts warmed by the ministry. But they must remember that the real study of God’s Word requires work, and that work, though it lays the best possible foundation for feeling, does not at the time excite it. To-day, then, we are to work, and I hope the Lord may so bless His Word, that through work we may be led to feel.
Our business, then, is to endeavour to discover whether the great prophetic sketch of history, given through the prophet Daniel, encourages the blessed hope that the coming of the Lord may be near. Daniel gives a prophecy of the history of political power from his own day till the time when ‘the Ancient of Days shall sit,’ and describes a succession of events which must take place in the interval. It is clear that our business is to ascertain how many of these events have taken place, or, in other words, how far we have advanced in the series.
In the study of our subject we have the advantage of looking at two sides of the picture, for it has pleased God to give us the same series as seen in two different aspects. In the second and seventh chapters you will find predictions of the same events under different figures. In the second chapter the prophecy is given as a vision to a proud, idolatrous monarch. So the different kingdoms about to arise appear to him as the several parts of a mighty image, with himself as the head of gold. It was given in just such a shape as should coincide with his idolatry and his pride. Whereas, in the seventh chapter, the vision is given to one of God’s people, and he sees in all this glory nothing better than a series of wild beasts coming up one after another to devour. How different is the estimate of the world from that of God! The world regards Babylon as the head of gold, the summit of glory and greatness, while God looks on it as a savage beast, to be dreaded by His saints! The same difference of character may be observed in the visions of the coming of the Lord. To the great king it appeared as a triumphant kingdom, to the captive prophet as a manifestation of the Son of man. The one saw a kingdom, the other a person; the one, the overthrow of power, the other, the advent of the Lord of Glory.
But now let us look at the series. In both prophecies there is a description of four kingdoms which should in succession be supreme in political power, and which should fill up an interval between Daniel and the Advent.
1. There is the head of gold in Nebuchadnezzar’s image, the same as the lion in the vision of Daniel. The most precious of metals corresponding to the king of beasts.
2. There is next the breast and arms of silver, corresponding to the bear of Daniel.
3. After that the belly and thighs of brass, representing the same nation as the leopard of the prophet.
4. And following them is the last kingdom of the four, represented to Nebuchadnezzar as the ‘legs of iron, and the feet, part of iron and part of clay,’ and to Daniel as a beast, ‘dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly.’
It is interesting to observe how the same iron character is attributed to this last power in both visions. In the one we read of it, chap. ii. 40, ‘The fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things; and as iron that breaketh all things, shall it break in pieces and bruise.’ And in the other, chap. vii. 7, it is said to be ‘strong exceedingly, and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it.’
Such is the series of kingdoms that were to hold the chief political power of the world, and fill up the whole interval between the date of the prophecy and the advent of the Lord. Now the remarkable, and I believe I may say the indisputable, fact, is that, according to the prophecy, all these four kingdoms have arisen. They have followed each other exactly as it was predicted. Babylon was the head of gold, or the lion. The Medes and Persians were the breast of silver, or the bear. Greece, always called ‘the brazen armed,’ in classic poetry, was the belly and the thighs of brass, or the leopard. And then the mighty power of Rome, far exceeding all the others in its terrible strength, with the legs of iron in the royal image, and the teeth of iron in the prophetic beast. Thus far there is an agreement almost unanimous among the students of prophetic Scripture; and the conclusion certainly is, that we have already been a long time under the last of the four successive empires of the world. So far then as those four empires are concerned, we are encouraged to entertain the strong hope that, as we have reached the last kingdom in the succession, we may begin hopefully to look out for the end. We have passed the last station on the line, so now we may begin to prepare for home.
But again. There is one remarkable difference between the fourth kingdom and the other three, viz., this, that its history is divided into two periods, during the first of which it appears as an undivided power, and during the second split up into ten. In chap. ii. 41, it says, ‘the kingdom shall be divided.’ In this divided period it is represented by the ten toes on the image, and the ten horns on the beast. The ten toes are described as kings, or kingdoms in chap. ii. 44; and so are the ten horns in chap. vii. 24, where it is said, ‘The ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise.’ So then the prophecy teaches us that when Rome had overpowered Greece it would go on for a time as one mighty undivided empire, but that after a time it would break up into a cluster of kingdoms, and that this cluster would retain amongst them the supremacy of the world. It does not describe any fresh shift of political supremacy to any new kingdom that should arise, or the loss or decay of that supremacy. But it teaches that there would be a division in the kingdom, that the parts should fall asunder, and that, while the iron of the fourth kingdom would remain amongst them, there should be so much clay mixed up with it, that it should never again be united under a single head.
Now this is exactly what has happened. In the days of the CÆsars united Rome was supreme in the pomp of the iron empire. Its body was Europe, and its heart was the emperor. It was one as much as Babylon had been one under Nebuchadnezzar. But look at it now. There is all the old power; for Europe and its races practically govern the world. It has not lost its iron. But there is no one kingdom that embodies all. The power is vested in a cluster of independent nations. Many attempts have been made to combine them: some by conquest, as in the case of Napoleon; some by negotiation, as in the case of the Spanish marriages. But all in vain, for the toes are irrecoverably divided, and whatever is done, though as an aggregate they retain their power, as individual nations they are always distinct. I have no time to enter into detail, but I regard this division as a most remarkable fulfilment of the prophetic word. [10] More than five hundred years before the coming of the Lord there was a captive in Babylon, and God so directed that man’s mind, as through him to communicate to the world even then the present position of modern Europe. With such a fact before us who can doubt the inspiration of the prophet, or the statement of St. Peter, that ‘holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost?’
But, without stopping to consider the wonders of the prophecy, let us learn the lesson which it teaches us with reference to the nearness of the Advent. We have already found that we have long since reached the fourth kingdom of the series; and now we are led a step further, and find that we have long since reached the second period of that kingdom. It is difficult with accuracy to assign a date, for the transition was gradual; but we shall be sufficiently near if we say that it practically took place between twelve and fourteen hundred years ago. And when we reflect on such a promise as that in Daniel ii. 44, in which God assures us of a kingdom that shall be set up in the days of these kings, and never be destroyed: when we consider that those kings have already been reigning through that lengthened period, it is surely time that we begin to look out for that which is to come; for the happy and blessed day when we shall welcome the kingdom which shall never be moved, and when Christ Himself shall reign in glory.
But this is not all, for, although we shall learn no more from the vision of the king, we may gather much more from that of the prophet, for in it we find a most important additional prophecy. I can perfectly understand why it was given by the prophet, and not by the king, for I believe it to refer to the religious history of Europe, and the king of course had no concern with that. He did not care for religion, or for the saints of God. I allude to the prophecy of the little horn rising in the midst of the other ten. I have no time to discuss arguments, and can merely state conclusions. All, therefore, that I can do now is to express my own convictions on two points:1. That the little horn diverse from all the rest is the Papal power.
2. That the time, times, and dividing of a time, which is to be the limit of its power, stands in prophetic figure for 1260 years.
If this be correct it gives some idea as to the duration of the second division of the last kingdom, for it shows that it must last at least 1260 years. Still more, as the Papacy is to be destroyed at the approach of the Ancient of Days, if we could only ascertain the date of its commencement we might calculate the date of the Advent. But here is the difficulty, for who can say when a horn begins to grow? and who can determine the date of the first swelling of Papal pride? It is impossible to make any such calculation, and I believe it would be wrong to attempt it. But we may still be led by the great outline to hope for the approach of that most blessed day. The horn has been growing a long time, and it is impossible to read European history without believing that the 1260 years cannot be very far from its close. Everything therefore looks like an approaching end. We have long since reached the fourth kingdom; long since reached its second, or divided period; and, though we cannot say when it took place, we have long since seen the commencement of the 1260 years of the little horn. Surely then it is high time that we be looking out for the coming of the Lord, high time that we be watching with our loins girt and our lamps burning, and we ourselves as those that wait for their Lord.
With these facts before us, I may fairly ask any thinking person, whether there is not good ground for the hope that the coming of the Lord draweth nigh? You observe I have not dwelt on minute and isolated points. I have taken the great outline of the world’s history, and compared it with the great outline of the word of prophecy. I see that the two exactly correspond. I thank God from the bottom of my heart for the evidence given of the inspiration of Scripture, for no such prophecy could have had its origin with man; and, while I thank God for such a confirmation of the faith, I cannot resist the conclusion that we have nearly reached the end of the series, that we are living in the last part of the last period of the last kingdom, and that the next great event of this prophecy is nothing else than the sitting of the Ancient of Days, the glorious kingdom of the Son of Man.
But do we all desire it? Are we all looking out with loving and longing hearts for the appearance of our beloved Redeemer? I fear that many would be very far from glad if they thought it would come to-morrow. Their own consciences tell them they are not ready, and in such a case how can they desire it? You might say to them, as in the words of the prophet, ‘To what end is the day of the Lord to you? the day of the Lord is darkness and not light.’ I believe it to be impossible for any man really to desire the coming of Christ as his king until in his own soul he is personally acquainted with Him as his sin-offering or atonement. Thus I believe that you will find very few really desire the Advent who have not practically and experimentally drunk in the great doctrine of justification by faith. If you are reconciled through the precious blood of Christ; if you are justified in the righteousness of Christ; if you are preserved and sanctified by the loving Spirit of Christ, then of course you will be ready to say, ‘Even so, come, Lord Jesus; come quickly.’ But if you are still living for the world, content with the world’s gifts and the world’s enjoyments; or even if you are still toiling, and struggling on to reach Him you know not how, and know not whether you may trust Him to place you on the right hand of the throne or not, how is it possible that you should be happy in waiting for Him? Never rest, therefore, till you stand accepted in Him; till you have good reason to believe that you are safe, and not safe only, but beloved. Then you may wait for Him, then you may welcome Him, then He cannot come too soon to please you; and if His sign is seen even to-night you will be able to say, ‘This is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.’
II.
THE CONSUMPTION.
I endeavoured in the last lecture to bring before you the blessed hope of our Lord’s return, and to show, from the great outlines of prophecy, that there is enough to justify the expectations of those who humbly trust that we shall not have much longer to wait. I purposely avoided any reference to what are called the ‘signs of the times,’ and confined your attention exclusively to what may be called the great backbone of prophecy, i.e., to the prophetic history of the four mighty kingdoms which were foretold as holding the empire of the world. From that outline I endeavoured to show that these four great kingdoms were to arise in succession, one after the other, and that they would fill up the interval between the time of the prophecy and the sitting of the Ancient of Days. I hope, also, I made it plain from history that three of those kingdoms have long since fallen, and that, as far as the predicted periods enable us to judge, we must be drawing near to the close of the fourth. The great outline, therefore, leads to the hope that the time of the glorious kingdom of our blessed Lord may be near. But, though we did not study the signs of the times then, I do not think we should undervalue them, for our blessed Saviour foretold certain things that should take place, and added, ‘When ye shall see all these things, know that it [19] is near, even at the doors.’ If, therefore, any of these things are now taking place, it is clear that we ought to study them; and that we should not be really carrying out the teaching of the Lord Jesus if we were to neglect them. I propose, therefore, in obedience to His words, to bring before you in this lecture what has long appeared to me one of the most conclusive signs that the time is not very far distant. I allude to the present position of the Church of Rome, and I earnestly hope that God has directed my thoughts in the study of it, and that whatever in what I may now say is according to His word, may be written in all our hearts and minds by the teaching of the Holy Ghost.
There are three great historical prophecies, which, in the opinion of the majority of our best expositors, predict the rise, the progress, and the fall of the Church of Rome.
The first of these we briefly noticed last Sunday. It is the prophecy of the little horn rising amidst the ten horns of the beast, or the Papacy rising in the midst of that cluster of European kingdoms which succeeded the power of the undivided Roman Empire.
The second is the prophecy of ‘the man of sin’ in 2 Thess. ii. And I cannot forbear the mention of one illustration of a verse in that prophecy which I saw myself in Rome. Many people think that the description in the fourth verse is too strong for Popery: but there is a curious illustration of it in St. Peter’s. You may there see what they call the altar in the usual place at the end of the chancel, and above it, surrounded by an elaborately decorated reredos, is what is called the chair of St. Peter, or the Pope’s throne, the seat of Papal power. On the altar below, according to their own teaching, is the living person of the King of Glory, perfect man and perfect God, and in front of that altar may be seen men worshipping the wafer because they call it God. But above it is the Pope’s chair, and if he were to occupy it he would sit there with that which they call God, and worship as God, beneath his feet. Can anything be a more exact fulfilment of the words, ‘Exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped?’
The third is the prophecy of the woman in Rev. xvii. The application of this to the Church of Rome is less disputed than that of either of the other two, for the seat of the woman is decided by the 9th verse to be the seven-hilled city, which is almost universally admitted to be Rome.
Now it is not my object to study the details of these prophecies, and there is only one point to which I invite your careful attention—one most important point common to all three, viz., that the final overthrow will be preceded by a consuming process. It will not be a sudden destruction in the height of prosperity, but will be the final act after a period of wasting and defeat. If these three passages refer to Rome, as I fully believe they do, then Rome will be first consumed and then destroyed.
In Daniel it says (vii. 26), ‘The judgment shall sit.’ It seems clear from the context, that this does not mean the great day of judgment, but the commencement of judgment on her sins here upon earth. ‘And they shall take away his dominion to consume and to destroy it unto the end.’ There is, therefore, a consuming process before the end. The word here rendered ‘consume’ conveys the idea of a gradual process, and not a sudden blow; and teaches us that there will be a wasting before the final overthrow.
In 2 Thess. ii. 8, exactly the same process is described, and in almost the same words: ‘Whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and destroy with the brightness of his coming.’ He will first consume him by His word, and ultimately destroy him at His advent.
It is just the same in Rev. xvii. There you meet with the old beast, the ten-horned beast of Daniel; and ten horns still representing ten kings; and when we reach the close of the chapter we find these ten kings all turned against the woman: so that, instead of being ridden and governed by her, as they were when she was riding on the beast, they are now turned against her, and agree in consuming her. ‘The ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.’ (Verse 16.)
Without stopping to look into the detail, which it is impossible to do in a short lecture, it appears clear that all these passages agree in predicting a period during which the Papacy will be consumed before its final fall. This will be brought about partly by the power of truth, and partly by the change of mind in the kings. But whatever be the agency, the result is the same. ‘They will take away his dominion, to consume, and to destroy unto the end.’ And this you mark is the last great process before the coming of our Blessed Saviour, for the final destruction will be by the brightness of His coming.
And now comes the question, Has this consuming process begun? Is it, or is it not, in progress? I know that some fainthearted people will say, ‘Oh, no! Rome is making dreadful progress, and must soon triumph.’ But surely that opinion is contrary to fact. Surely it may be proved, from the great facts of European history, not merely that the consumption has begun but that it has been going on during the last few years with peculiar and unexampled speed.
Let us look at a few great European facts, not at little things that happen to fall within our own observation, but at great facts that are conspicuous before the world.
Rome has always claimed, as she does still, dominion over all the kingdoms of the world, and she used to exercise it over all those of Western Christendom. Her claim even went so far that, by the common consent and advice of his barons, the King of England once ‘resigned England and Ireland to God, to St. Peter and St. Paul, to Pope Innocent, and his successors in the Apostolic chair: and agreed to hold these dominions as feudatory of the Church of Rome, by the annual payment of one thousand marks.’ [26] Imagine any one standing up amongst the barons of England, and making such a proposal now! That dominion of the Papacy is taken away, and taken away, as I believe, for ever.
When the dominion was gone he made concordats, or compacts, with the different states; in which, with varying conditions, it was agreed that he should uphold them by his spiritual power, and they uphold him by the secular arm. It is a most remarkable fact, that within the last fifteen years almost all of these concordats have been brought abruptly to a violent end: those with Naples, Tuscany, and the Italian Duchies in 1858; that with Austria, including Venice, in 1866; with Spain in 1868; with France in 1870; and with Bavaria in 1873. There may be others remaining in force, but I know of none. According to the best information I can obtain all are dissolved. The Papacy has lost all its political power. The ten kings have shaken off his government, and there is not one left that submits to his authority.
But more than that. The Pope of Rome used to be king over a considerable portion of Italy. But he is now deposed. The States of the Church are incorporated with united Italy, and the Pope is king no more. They have taken away his dominion. His sovereignty is at an end; it has received its death-blow, and shall we not acknowledge that the consuming process is begun?
But further still. The Church of Rome used to have vast estates. The convents which used to swarm through Italy were richly endowed with landed property. But as soon as the kingdom of Italy was well established, those convents were broken up and their property confiscated. And now that the Pope has been dethroned in Rome, a similar measure has been passed for all those within the city, and on the 20th of October, 1874, they received notice of their dissolution. It looks very much as if the kings were eating up the flesh of the woman.
But some will say, ‘Ah, but in religious matters Popery is making progress, for it is winning so many perverts to its errors.’ I know there are perverts, and I am deeply grieved at it, but I doubt whether Rome’s progress is as great as many think. It has been calculated that in the year 1801 there were in Great Britain and Ireland twenty-seven Romanists out of every hundred of the population, but that in 1869 there were only eighteen. The proportion, therefore, had actually diminished from twenty-seven to eighteen per cent. [28]
But take a wider range, and look at the great facts of European history. At the Lateran Council in 1513, after all the so-called heretics had been silenced or burned, it was proclaimed, ‘No one now opposes, no one now objects,’ and then the orator addressing the Pope said, ‘The whole body of Christendom is now subjugated to one head, even to thee.’ But it is calculated that there are now more than 95,000,000 Protestants in Europe, and 67,000,000 members of the Greek Church, making together 162,000,000 who reject the Pope’s authority, against 157,000,000 who profess to submit to it. Putting all these facts together, I may ask any reasonable man, any one who looks at great facts instead of minute details, Is there not reason to believe that the consumption has begun? What else is it that has taken away his dominions, broken up his concordats, overturned his throne, stripped him of his property, and above all has set 95,000,000 in Europe alone free from his yoke? What else is it but the fulfilment of the prophecy, ‘Whom the Lord shall consume with the Spirit of His mouth,’ preparatory to the time when He shall ‘destroy him with the brightness of His coming?’
Now there are many lessons that we might learn if we had but time from this subject; e.g., I might well spend all the time that remains in pressing on you the importance of keeping clear of all alliance with Rome. If God is consuming her, God’s people must have nothing to do with her either in politics or religion, for if they do, they will find themselves drawn into the vortex into which she must infallibly sink. The message to them is, ‘Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.’
But this is not my point in this lecture. I am anxious rather that we should look on the whole subject as an encouragement to faith. Surely some amongst us are too fainthearted about the truth. It really seems as if they could trust the Lord Jesus for their own souls, but not for His church, or for His truth: as if they had forgotten the text, ‘Are not thine eyes upon the truth?’ They value their Bible, and are ready to contend for it even unto the death; but still, they do not above half believe it. They are ready to go forth to battle, but they are not ready to begin, like Jehoshaphat, with the hymn, ‘Praise the Lord!’ They would rather chant some plaintive lament, and go into the battle with the doleful expectation of defeat. But this is not faith. This is not trust in the Lord Jesus. Ah! but one says he cannot rely on government, and another that he does not trust in bishops. But what has this to do with it? No one asks you to trust in rulers either in Church or State, for the Scripture says, ‘Put not your trust in princes.’ What we ask you to do is to trust the Lord Jesus Christ at the right hand of God. Trust Him, and all will be right, though all other objects of trust fail you.
Now take this great subject as a help to your trust. See how it exhibits Him in His own time and His own way, working out His own predicted purpose. It was utterly impossible for any man by private interpretation to calculate the course that things would take. But He foresaw all, and more than two thousand years ago He actually foretold what He would do. And now, after all these centuries have passed, after great empires have risen and fallen according to His prophecy, after every species of effort has been made in vain to silence God’s Word, after every available means have been employed—political influence, religious influence, priestly assumption, and fiery persecution—to stamp out God’s truth, we see the Lord Jesus with a mighty hand fulfilling His word, carrying out His purpose, and preparing the way for victory. And is that the time to distrust Him? If we are so fainthearted now what should we have been before the Reformation? What should we have been after John Huss was burned, and when the Lord’s own people were like the seven thousand hidden ones in the days of Elijah? If we cannot trust Him now that we have experienced that ‘His counsels of old are faithfulness and truth,’ what should we have done if we had lived before any prophecies had been fulfilled; if we had had to trust to His bare naked word before it was confirmed by history? But now that we have this great confirmation, and now that we see the putting forth of His hand, this is not the time for faintheartedness or misgiving; this is not the time to distrust Him whom God has made the ‘Head over all things to His Church.’ It is true that
‘God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;’
but it is certain that He is riding on the storm and will perform His own wonders, so that we may add, as in the next verse of the same hymn,
‘Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take,
The cloud ye so much dread
Is big with mercies, and will break
In blessings on your head.’
And not only so, but we may reverently hope that it will not be long before we behold His triumph. When the disciples were on the lake the night was dark, and the winds were contrary, but He came to them in His own good time, and all was rest. So we may meet with rough weather, but there will be a great calm when He comes, and I cannot but hope He will soon be here. We have long since known of Him on the mountain-top, but now we can almost see Him walking on the waves. It is high time, therefore, that we act on His own words: ‘When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh.’ He does not say, ‘Wait till they have all come to pass,’ but ‘look up as soon as they begin.’ Now they most undoubtedly have begun, and for a long time have been in progress. It is high time, therefore, that we begin to look up in faith and hope, waiting for Christ, looking for Christ, longing for Christ, and meanwhile trusting in Christ; so that when He comes we may be found pardoned through His blood, accepted in His covenant, clothed in His righteousness, and with loving hearts waiting for His appearing.
