T H JE
MYSTERY OF INIQUITY.
BT
S. S. BREWER.
T
BOSTON:
ADVENT CHRISTIAN PUBLICATION SOCIETY, No. 160 HANOVER STREET.
18 70.
THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY.
BY S. S. BREWER.
The “ man of sin,״ as viewed in the light of his-toric testimony, under the following heads :
1.	The mystery of iniquity in the Apostle’s day.
2.	The taking away of the mystery of iniquity, and the revelation of the man of sin.
3.	What is meant by his sitting in the temple of God.
4.	The man of sin taking his seat in the temple of God.
5.	The man of sin showing himself that he is God.
6.	His exalting himself above all that is called God.
7.	His claiming all power.
8.	His deceivableness ■of all unrighteousness.
9.	The immoral and degrading influence of Popery in all Roman Catholic countries.
10.	The destiny of the man of sin.
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Dear reader: There is, in our opinion, sufficient interest involved in the above question to lead those desirous of investigating God’s precious word, to inquire whether the “falling away,״ and revelation of the above character is of the past, or yet to be a future event. If yet future, it does seem that all conjectures concerning the same, as respects time, manner, and where to expect the advent of his sinful visibility, are, to say the least, mere specula-tion.
The apostle gave the church to understand, that they must not expect “ the day of Christ״ till after the “ man of sin ” had been revealed ; therefore, if we are to expect a future fulfillment of his prediction, it is certainly unscriptural to look for, or expect, the coming of Christ until the prophetic destiny assigned him has been consummated. But with respect to the character under consideration, we must in all confi-dence declare, there is not one doubt remaining in our mind. We are compassed about with a cloud of witnesses, whose testimony has a direct bearing upon the individual whose character we are now inves-tigating, and as we are anxious to exonerate the inno-cent and convict the guilty, we feel certain that there can be no doubt of identifying the papal pontiff as the “ man of siu.״ All the important witnesses in this trial are members of the papal household ; and as some of them are only one degree lower in ecclesias-tical dignity than the pope, we need not remind our readers that such evidence should not fail to convict the guilty, lawless one.
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We now invite your attention to the apostle’s pre-diction concerning this infamously renowned character, &3 recorded in 2 Thees. 2 : 1-12.
**Now we beseech yon, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at haud. Let no man deceive you by any means : for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition ; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is wor-shiped ; 80 that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that when I was yet with you, I told you these things?. And now ye know what withholdeth, that he might be revealed in. his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work; only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming : even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan, will nil power, and signs, and lying wonders ; and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish ; be-cause they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie : that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."
Id reading the above, you cannot fail to perceive that there \yas in the apostle's day a power he desig-nates “ the mystery of iniquity,” that should ״ be taken out of the way ; ” aud then “ that wicked ” should be revealed. What are we to understand by it?
1. The Mystery of Iniquity.—The mystery of iniquity that^ wrought, or “ operated,” in the apostle’s day, was doubtless none other than the mysterious, iniquitous system of Paganism, which the apostle de-
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dared “ all Asia and the world worship.״ The pa-gans were taught by their priests, that the goddess Diana was the daughter of Jupiter, who was the sn-preme god of the pagans ; and Rome was to the pa-gans in their day, precisely what it has been and is now to the devotees of popery. It was their me-tropolis ; the seat of imperial authority ; being the residence of the emperors ; and they were rigid wor-shipers of the pagan deities, and would therefore op-pose all innovations upon their system of worship.
The heathen at Lystra became infatuated at wit♦ nessing the miracle God wrought through Paul, in causing the cripple to leap and walk. They cried in their vernacular tongue, “ The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men.״ The priest of Jupiter V would have done sacrifice with the people ; ״ but when Paul exhorted them to turn from such “ vani-ties,״ they joined with the “vagabond Jews״ in ston-ing Paul ; and “ drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead.״ Here we have the inspired histo-rian’s account of one instance of the working 0Ï “ the mystery of iniquity ״ in his day. Acts 14: 8-19.
“ And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother’s womb, who never had walked. The same heard Paul speak : who steadfastly heholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed, 6aid with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked. And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The §0d8 a re come down to us in the likeness of men. And they called Barna-has¿ Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker. Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have
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done sacrifice with the people. Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul heard 0/, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out, and saying, Sirs, why do ye these things ? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you, that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein : who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways. Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. And with these sayings scarce restrained they the people, that they had not done sacrifice unto them. And there came thither cm> tain Jews from Antioch, and Iconium, who persuaded the peo-pie, and having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead.”
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It was thé apostle’s preaching to them the ״ living God,״ in contradistinction to their gods, that stirred the dregs of “the mystery of iniquity״ worshipers, and brought down such bitter persecution upon the in-nocent disciples of the Man of sorrows. After God had wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul in Asia, and he had purposed to u see Rome,״ he presents us with another instance of the public working of “the mystery of iniquity,״ which reads as follows, re-corded in Acts 19 : 2137־.
“After these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed thrqugh Macedonia, and Acahia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome. So he sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered anto him, Timotheus and Erastus ; but he himself stayed in Asia for a season. And the same time there arose no small stir about that way. For a certain man named Demetrius, a silver-smith, which made silver shrines for Diana, brought no email gain unto the craftsmen ; whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth ; moreover, ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul
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bath persuaded and turned away much people, saying, that they he no gods which are made with hands. So that not only this our * craft is in danger to be set at nought ; but also that thp temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised and her magnifi-cence should be destroyed, whom all Asia, and the world worship-etK And when they heard these saying9, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians. And the whole city was filled with confusion : and having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul’s companions in travel, they rushed with one accord into the theater. And when Paul would have entered in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not. And certain of the chief of Asia, which were his friends, sent unto him desiring him that he would not adventure himself into the theater. Some therefore cried one thing, and some another : for the assembly was confused, and the mqpe part knew not wherefore they were come together. And they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander beckoned with the hand, and would have made his defense unto the people. But when they knew that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians. And when the town-clerk had appeased the people, Le said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshiper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter ? Seeing then that these things cannot be spoken against, ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly. For ye have brought hither these men, which are neither robbers of churches, nor yet blasphemers of your goddess.”
The imperial sanction in the apostle’s day, was given to the pagan Roman worship, and according to the testimony of the Evangelist (Luke 2: 1), his power and authority was considered universal. This hatred to the Christians and their religion became in-tense. Nero, the monster, and devotee of “ the my8-tery of iniquity,” incited a cruel persecution against the helpless church by setting fire to Rome, and charg-ing the perfidious act upon the helpless Christians ;
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who became the victims of intense persecution, and multitudes were tortured, even unto death, in the most barbarous manner, that those worshipers of “the mystery of iniquity ” could possibly invent.
Mosheim, the historian (vol. 1. p. 134), speaking of the aversion of the votaries of paganism to the Christians and the Gospel, testifies thus :
“ To destroy the credit of the gospel, and to excite the hatred of the multitude against the Christians, the pagans took ocoa-sion, from the calamities and tumults which distracted the em-pire, to renew the obsolete complaint of their ancestors against Christianity, as the source of these complicated woes. They al-leged, that before the coming of Christ, the world was blessed with peace and prosperity ; but that since׳ ׳the progress of his religion everywhere, the gods, filled with indignation to see their worship neglected and their altars abandoned, had visited the earth with those plagues and desolations, which increased every day .״
Having shown in the above remarks what appifcrs in our opinion to be “ the mystery of iniquity,” we shall now proceed to show how that system was “ taken out of the way,” in order that this prediction should be fulfilled.
2.	And then shall that wicked he revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his com-ing.”
The editor of The Comprehensive Commentary on the Holy Scriptures has the following sensible remarks upon this subject :
“ How closely this [his being called God] corresponds to the Roman Pontiffs, every attentive reader of history, ecclesiastical
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or civil, must perceive. * Above all that is called God.’ If these words are not applicable to the usurpation of papacy, in divine things, it is difficult to say who there ever has been, or can be, to whom they should belong.’—Bloomfield.
“ Something hindered, or withheld, or let, until it be taken away. This is supposed to be the power of the Roman Em-pire, which the apostle did not think fit to mention more plainly at that time ; and it is notorious, that while this power continued it prevented the advances of the bishops of Rome to that hight of tyranny which soon afterwards they arrived.”
Mr. Gibbon, in his justly celebrated history of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, presents ue with an event having a direct bearing upon the manner the power that wrought so much iniquity in the apostle’s day was “ taken out of the way.” It seems to be a direct fulfillment of the prediction, and reads thus ;
·\p.
‘,!The unfortunate Augustulus was made the instrument of his otftf disgrace. He signified his resignation to the Senate, and that assembly, in their last act of obedience to a Roman prince, still affected the spirit of freedom, and the forms of the consti-tut ion. An epistle was addressed, by their unanimous decree, to the emperor Zeno, the son-in-law and successor of Leo, who had been lately restored, after a short rebellion, to the Byzantine throne. They solemnly ‘disclaim the necessity or éven the wish of continuing tho imperial succession of Italy, since, in their opinion, the majesty of a sole monarch is sufficient to pro-vide protection at the same time both in the East and the West. In their own name and in the name of the people they consent that the seat of Universal Empire shall be transferred from Rome to Constantinople; and they barely renounced the י ig ht of choosing their mastery the only vestige that yet remained of the authority which had given laws to the world.”*—Yol. 3, p. 512.
Dear reader ; I feel safe in saying we may with confidence adopt the above event as the taking away of Paul’s mystery of iniquity, in order to prepare the
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way for “ the man of sin ” to tread in the gory foot-prints of his infamous predecessor ; which position he made all haste to attain, and as a faithful servant of his aged father, Diabolus, reached the goal of his pon-tifical ambition, where he has rioted for ages in In*-ury, blasphemy, and debauchery.
The following testimony of Dr. Dowling, from his excellent work on “ Romanism״ (p. 124), is so em-phatically identical with the revelation of papal wor-ship in the place of pagan worship, that it seems no one can fail to see the inaugurating act of the apos-tie’s prediction.
“ The gods of the Pantheon turned into popish saints** The noblest heathen temple now remaining in the world is the Pantheon or Rotunda, which, as the inscription over the portico informs us, having been impiously dedicated qf old by Agrippa to Jove and all. the gods, was impiously reconsecrated by Pope Boniface IV.t a. D. 610, to the blessed virgin and all the saints.״
“ Pantheon
,	Ab Amppa August! Genevo,
Impie Jovi, CÆTRISQ; mendacibus Dus,
A Bonifacio III. Pontífice,
Deiparæ & S. S. Christi martyribus pio,
Decatum, etc’/
With this single alteration it serves as exactly for all the purposes of the popish as it did for the pagan worship for which it was built. And as it is in the Pantheon it is just the same in all the other heathen temples that still remain in Rome; they have only pulled down one idol to set up another, and changed rather the name than the object of their worship. Thus the little temple of Vesta, near the Tiber, is now possessed by Madonna of the Sun ; that of Fortuna Virilis, by Mary, the Egyptian; that of Saturn,
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where the public treasure was anciently kept, by St. Adrian; that of Romulus and Remus, in the Via Sacra, by two other brothers, Coemas and Damianus; that of Antonins Pius, by Lawrence, the Saint. * But for my part,’ adds Dr. Middleton, * I should sooner be tempted to prostrate myself before the statue of a Romulus or an Antonine, than that of a Lawrence or a Damian ; and give divine honors rather with pagan Rome to the founders of empires, than with popish Rome to the found· ers of monasteries.״
“The popes of Rome, for hatred and persecution of those who love God and his word, resemble the emperors of pagan Rome. The emperors of pagan Rome were voluptuaries and idolaters. So have been the popes of papal Rome.
As the pagan emperors encouraged image worship, with its concomitants of cringings, bowings, kneelings, kissings, offer-ings, incense, lights, processions, pilgrimages, and the like, so also the popes. Ludovicus Vives, a learned papist, confesses, *Thatno differences can be found between paganism and popish image worship, but this—that names and titles are changed.'
“ Polydor Virgil, having in several chapters described the an-cient usages and superstitious ceremonies of pagan religion, concludes with these words :
*Such was the beginning of sacred rites and ceremonies among the Romans, a good part of which we have embraced, as has been aptly explained by us.
** The testimony of Cornelius Agrippa is to the same effect. Having observed that * the pomps of rites and ceremonies in vestments, vessels, lights, bells, organs, music, odors, sacrifices, gestures, rich pictures, choice of meats, fastings,’ etc.
“The copious transfusion of heathen ceremonies into Christian worship, which had taken place before the end of the fourth century, had, to a certain extent, paganized the outward form and aspect of religion.”—Wadington.
“ As, therefore, my general studies had furnished me with a competent knowledge of Roman history, 80 much helped my imagination to find myself wandering about in old heathen Rome, as to observe and attend to their religious worship, all whose ceremonies appear plainly to have been copied from therit-vals of pñmitive paganism, as handed down by an·uninterrupted succession from the priests of old Rome”—Dr. Middleton.
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8. He was to sit in the temple of God.—We under-stand “ the temple of God ” to mean the church, as saith the apostle, “ Know ye not that ye are the temple of God? ” 1 Cor. 3 : 16. Also Eph. 2 : 21. “ In whom all the building fitly framed together, groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord.״ I have seen a marble tablet, set in the front wall of a Rom-i8h mass house, with these words taken from 1 Tim. 3 : 15—“ The church of the living God, the pillar aud ground of the truth.״ Such an assumption is a con-vincing proof of the declaration the apostle uttered concerning, the devotees of the “ man of sin.” “ Be-cause they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.”
This deluded man of sin’s assumption of power, and claiming for his church or “temple” the sacred name as above stated, and of which the popes of Rome have had the temerity to declare that a there is no salvation out of its sacred enclosure,” compels us to believe that they and their votaries are the victims of the apostle’s “ strong delusion, that they should believe alie.”
The pope and his prelates have taught that the teachings of the church of Rome concerning the way to eternal life is paramount to the Avord of God, as the following declarations of popish dignities go to prove :
“ The Scriptures are of no more value than Æsop's Fables, without the authority of the church.”—Hermannus.
“ I should give no more credit to St. Matthew than to Livy, unless the church obliged me”—Bailu3.
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“ The church is more ancient,better known, and a more exten-8ive guide than the canonical Scriptures.״—Carranza.
“ The Scriptures, without the traditions, are neither actually necessary, nor are they sufficient.”—BeUarmine.
“ There exist traditions which are greater than the Scriptures, as regard the obligations they impose.”—Id.
“ The, Scriptures, being deaf, cannot hear difficulties ; being stupid.cbnnot examine them ; being dumb, cannot pronounce a correct sentence ; and are altogether incapable of making known the judgments of God.”—Servarius.
“ The traditions of the Roman Catholic church are another 9pecies of Scripture. Thq excellence of these writings surpasses much that of the Scriptures, which the apostles have left to us written on parchment.”—Coster.
“Tradition is more excellent than Scripture, because it is written by the finger of God, whilst the latter was only written by the pen of the apostles.”—Id;
“ The proposition is false, that the design of God was to in-struct the world in his will, to plant the faith, and to make Christians, by the Scriptures. God never commanded to write, but to speak.”—Charron.
Truly a strong delusion had taken hold of them, aud u the dignified harlot, illustrious in her infamy,״ had succeeded in making herself believe a lie. It was necessary to invalidate the Holy Scriptures in or-der to make it appear that the church of Rome, was the church of God. Pope Gregory, not finding in the Scriptures authority for the Mass, thus writes :
“Even though the service may not have been instituted by God, it cannot be concluded that it is not legitimate, for that divine institution (though not instituted by God) is no way re-quired to make a form of worship, or a sacrifice good. . . . All the controversies of the faith are not tobe judged by the holy Scripture, because it is obscure. By the hidden judgment of God the Scripture is a stumbling-block, and a subject of tempta-tion to the simple, in order that those who choose to trust to it alone may easily trip and fall into error. . . . The Scripture is not a sufficient rule of faith, because it does not contain every-thing.”
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Thus we perceive that the course of this “ man of sin” is precisely what the apostle declared it would be. He was to oppose God. Our heavenly Father de-dared that the Scripture given by inspiration was de-signed to instruct and make “ the man of God ” per-feet ; but the “ man of sin ” declares it cannot do this. See 2 Tim. 2 : 16, 17.
4.	The man of sin taking his seat in the temple of God.
When Pope Pius IX. was consecrated he was carried on the tjjioulders of the cardinals (according to the V Universe newspa-per, and the descriptions of the ceremonies which are of author-ity upon that subject.) and was placed on the high altar, just where Christ comes down, according to their view, and is sacri-heed. The fumes of incense arose around him, and all the choristers instantly sang the Te Deum, and ‘ Behold, the Lamb of God,״ and the cardinals fell down and adored him. I give you the authorized words. The cardinals adored the pope en-throned upon the high altar, said to be, in their theology, the very seat of God”—Dr. Cumming's Lectures on Romanism, p. 442.
“The decretals of the Popes Gregory IX. and Innocent III. decree : ‘ The pontiff holds on the earth, not the place of mere man, but of God himself.' ״״—Cottle, p. 289.
“ The Roman Decretalia is an authoritative work in Roman ecclesiastical law ; the decretal «epistles form the second part of the canon law. .Each pope, when invested with “the sue-cession,״ declares the papal decretals to be true ; hence, though the popes be many members of one body or system, they assume to be one mind, or embodiment of the system they represent. No words could be more appropriately chosen to represent unity of system in successive ‘ head centers,״ than the words of God by St. Paul (2 Thess. 2:3, 4)— ‘that man of sin.״ Read now and carefully preserve the following determination from the ‘ Decretalia,״ furnishëd me by a BHtish officer :
“ ‘The pope is considered to be the vicat* of Christ, not only upon earth, in heaven, and hell, but also over the angels and
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over the evil spirits. He administers at the same time jurisdic-tion and power over all patriarchs, a greater one than that of all angels, even so that he can place the latter under his ban. The whole world is to be taken for his diocese. He can turn a square into a circle, wrong into right, and can make something out of nothing. He can pronounce sentences and judgments, in con-tradiction to the right of nations, to the law of God and man— sentences, however absolute, yet always just. He can free him-self from the commands of the apostles, be being their superior ; and from the rules of the Old Testament, aye, even from the prescriptions contained in the gospel. For the “ will ” of the pope is the rule laid down for the administration of justice. What he does is considered by God as being well done. He sits in one consistory with God, and shares the same judical school with Christ. The pope is God's equal, except in sin ; so that in cases where he changes his mind, it should be understood as if God himself had changed his mind. From the pope there ex-ists no appeal to God, because he himself is God upon earth, and therefore judges like God.'”—Advent Herald.
The above testimonies show in the most positive manner the accomplishment of the apostle’s predic-tion—The man of sin sitting in the temple of God.
5.	The man of sin showing himself that he is God.—The Román Decretaba assumes that “ from the pope there exists no appeal to God, because he himself is God upon earth, and therefore judges like God.״ The fourth council f held by order of Theodo-ric in 503, declared that the bishop of Rome was subject to no earthly tribunal, and styled him Judge, in the place of God. This was the first time that such a blasphemous title was given to the man of sin.
“ It is a fact well known, that at the Council of Lateran in Rome, the four deputies from the city of Bitonti, in the kingdom of Naples, were admitted to an audience by Pope Leo X., and who, after kneeling three times before the pope, had to ad-
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dress him with these words in Latin, ‘ Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us ! Lamb of God, whb taketh away the sins of the world, grant us thy peace.’ Pope or President, p. SI.
Said the Fifth Lateran Council :
“ The popé is God upon earth, and savior of the church/’
“ God and the pope are one and the same in their decisions.” —Faguano.
“The following expressions, applied to the pope of Rome by catholie writers without any rebuke from the papacy, w ill show how entirely applicable this is to the pretended head of the church. He has been styled ‘ Our Lord God the pope ; another God upon earth ; King of kings and Lord of lords ; the same is the dominion of God and the pope 1 to believe that our Lord God the pope might not decree as he decreed, is heresy; the power of the pope is greater than all created power, and extends itself to things celestial, terrestrial, and infernal; the pope doeth ־whatsoever he listeth, even things unlawful, and is more than God .’ See the authority for these extraordinary declara-Gone in Bishop Newton on the Prophecies.
“ How can it be doubted that the reference here is to the pa-pacy ? Language could not be plainer, and it is not possible to conceive that anything can ever occur which would furnish a more manifest fulfillment of this prophecy. Indeed, it stands among the very clearest of all the predictions in the sacred Scriptures.”—Barnes.
u At all times he exercises divine authority in the church ; showing himself that he is God ; affecting divine titles, and as-serting that his decrees are of the same, or of greater authority, than the Word of God, so that the pope is, evidently, according to the titles given him in the public decretals, The God upon earth ; at least there is no one like him, who exalteth himself above every God ; no one like him, who sitteth as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.”—Dr. A. Clarke.
No one can fail to see the accomplishment of the apostle’s prediction—the man of sin “showing him-self that he is God.״ In the next place we shall find that he places himself above God.
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6.	He exalteth himself above aU that is called God.—The pope of Rome in the granting “ of indul-gencee,” has taken to himself a prerogative above that of the supreme Creator and Ruler of the uni-verse. On this subject one writer remarks :
“A plenary indulgence, in the Romish Church, means that an individual is thereby placed above the penalties of sin. The Romish doctrine is, that ‘indulgence is the remission of all sins, and that God is not allowed to punish after they have granted an indulgence.’ ”—Pope or President, p, 287.
We now invite your attention to the testimony of the renowned Cardinal Bellarmine.
“In fact, Christ has given to Peter, and through him to the Romish church, the power to make that which is sin, to become no sin, and that which is not sin, to become sin.”
“ If the pope were to command what is vicious, and to pro-hibit what is virtuous, all true Christians would be bound to be-lieve virtue vice, and vice virtue.”
In the next place, we introduce to your special no-tice testimonies as given by three additional members of the papal household :
“ In a certain sense, the pope is even more than God, as he may do, in all good conscience, unlawful things, which God could not do.”—Cardinal Zaborella.
·‘ It is evident that those have not been in error who have as-sorted that the Roman pontiff can dispense, sometimes, with obedience to St. Paul, and to the first four Councils.”—An-drada.
“ If the pope erred by commending vice and interdicting vir-tue, the church would be obliged to believe that vico is good, and virtue bad, if she would not sin against conscience.”— Id.
“ It is not lawful to discuss the actions of the pope, since all he does is done by the authority of God.”—Bailus.
Cottle, au English author, iu his excellent work on
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the “ Apostasy ” (p. 289), makes the following com-ment:
,‘The decretals of the Popes Gregory IX. and Innocent HI. de-clare ,the pontiff holds on the earth, not the place of a mere man, but of God himself.’ On this the commentary of the doo-tors subjoins in its prostrate flattery, ‘ The pope out of nothing can make something. He can render valid a sentence which is null, because in things which he wills, his will stands* in the place of right, and no one can say to him, Why doest thou that ? —for he oan annul right, and make injustice to become jus-tice.’”
It is truly astonishing to learn from the most cele* brated writers in the church of Rome, how completely the “ strong delusion ” and belief of “ a lie ” has per-meated the entire papal church, pope, priesthood, and laity. The following extract is taken from a work of M. G&ume, and was approved by nine bishops and archbishops, and by Pope Gregory XVI. ; and as a token of his appreciation of said work, the pope sent himthe־cross of the órder of St. Sylvester.
״ What human tongue can describe the dignity of the priest-hood and the dignity of the priest. The first man was great, who, established as tho king of the universe, commanded all the inhabitants of his vast dominion, who obeyed him with do-cility. Moses was great, who by a word divided the waters of the sea, and caused an entire people to pass dry shod between its suspended masses. Joshua was great, who said to the sun, ( Stand still,' and the sun obeying, stood still at the voice of a mortal. The kings of the earth are mighty, who command ar-mies and shake the world by the sound of their names. But, behold, there is a man still greater ; there is a man who daily, when it pleases him, opens the gates of heaven, and addresses himself to the Son of the Eternal, to the Monarch of worlds, and says, ‘ Come down from your throne, come.’ Obedient to the voice of this man, the Word of God, by whom all things were created, leaves instantly the abode cf glory, incarnates
16	THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY.
himself in the hands of this man, mors mighty than kitigs, than angels, than the august Mary ; and this man says to him» * You are my Son, this day I have begotten you ; you are my yictim,' and he allows this man to immolate him, to place him wherever he wishes, und give him to whomsoever he chooses. This man is the priest !
44 The priest is not only almighty in heaven and over the body of the god-man, he is also almighty upon earth and over the mystical body of Jesus Christ. Behold, a man hath fallen into the hands of the devil : what power will be able to deliver him ? Call to the assistance of this unhappy man the angels and archangels, holy Michael himself, chief of the heavenly host, conqueror of Satan and his revolted legions, never will be able to sever the chains of the sinner who has placed his confidence in the wicked one ; . . . the priest can do it.
( Much more. Suppose that the Redeemer visibly descends in person to his church, and stations himself in a confessional to administer the sacrament of penance, while a priest occupies another. The Son of God says, I absolve you, and the priest says also, I absolve you, and the penitent finds himself absolved just as much by one as by the other.
“ Thus the priest, mighty like God, oan instantly snatch the sinner from hell, render him worthy paradise, and of a slave of the devil, make a son of Abraham ; and God kimselfis obliged to submit to the judgment of the priest, to refuse or grant his pardon according a9 the priest may grant or refuse absolution. The sentence of the priest precedes; God submits to it. Can any one conceive of a greater power ? **
Can any one professing to believe the word of God, conceive how it is possible for even Diabolus himself, with all his attributed art and skill, tobe able to excel his faithful servant in the above instance of blasphemy ? Horrid, fatal delusion ! and satanically sanctified agents, in the hands of the adversary, to preve the rain of millions of misguided souls.
We shall close our remarks on this head of our sub-ject, with the following, from Bishop Newton:
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'* The * man of sin ' is the pope, not meaning this or that pope in particular, but the popes in general, as the chief head and supporter of this apostasy. The apostasy produces him, and he again produces the apostasy. He is properly the * man of sin,* not only on account of the scandalous lives of so many of the popes, but by reason of their more scandalous doctrines and principles. Dispensing with the more necessary duties, and granting, or rather selling, pardons and indulgences to the most abominable crimes, ... he has corrupted the worship of God, and perverted it from 1 spirit and truth ’ to superstition and idolatry of the grossest kind. ... He is the great adversary of God and man, excommunicating and anathematizing, persecuting and destroying, by inquisitions, massacres, and horrid execu-tions, those sincere Christians who preferred the Word of God to all authority of men. The heathen emperor of Rome may have slain his thousands of innocent Christians, but the Chris-tian Bishop of Rome has slain his tens of thousands ! **
7.	His coming was to be with all power.
I cannot conceive how it can be possible for de-praved humanity to excel the papacy in blasphemy, falsehood, deception, and every species of iniquity, in order to obtain the appellative—the u man of sin.” But here is papal bombast in its claim to excel in uall powerPope Martin V. wrote in the dispatches with which he furnished his ambassador to Constan-tinople :
" The most holy and most happy, who is the arbiter of heaven, and the Lord of the earth, the successor of St. Peter, the anointed of the Lord, the Master of the universe, the Father of kings, the Light of the world.**— GiustiniannVs Rome as It Is,
p. 181.
Pope Innocent III writes :
“ So hath Christ established the kingdom and the priesthood in the Church ; that the kingdom is sacerdotal, and the priest-hood is kingly ; he hath set one man over the worjd, him whom he hath *appointed his vicar on earth ; and as to Christ is bent
20	THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY.
every knee in heaven, in earthy and under the earth, so shall obedi-enee and service be paid to his vicar by all, that there may be one fold and one shepherd.”
The “ Emphatic Diaglott״ renders the 9th and 10th verses,—“ AVhose coming is according to the energy of the adversary, with all power, and signs, and false-hood, and with every deception of iniquity to those who are perishing, because they admitted not the love of the truth in order that they might be saved.” The an-nexed extract, taken from the bull of Pope Pius, is-sued against Queen Elizabeth of England, presents an additional specimen of the man of sin’s u falsehood ” and “ deception of iniquity.”
“ He that reigneth on high, to whom all power is given in heaven and earth, hath committed the one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, out of which there is no salvation, to one alone on earth, namely : to Peter, the prince of the apostles, and to the Roman pontiff, successor of St. Peter, to be gov-erned with a plenitude of power. . . . This one he hath consti-tuted prince over all nations, and all kingdoms, that he might pluck up, destroy, dissipate, overturn, plant, and build.” — Croly>pp. 236, 238.
Another says :
“ The pope is the Lord of the world ; neither prince nor bish-op, neither civil nor ecclesiastical ruler, can have any lawful authority in Church or State, underived from him.”
Gregory VIL, among many declarations pertaining to the power of the pope9, says :
·‘ The Roman Pontiff alone can be called universal. ... He alone has a right to use imperial ornaments. . . . That princes are bound to kiss his feet, and his only. . . . That he has a right to depose emperors. . . . That his sentence can be an· nulled by none, but that he may annul the decrees of all."— Tay· lofs Manual of History, p. 409.
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THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY.
Concerning this sinful man’s assumption “ of all $ower,” the above must suffice. We shall now invite your attention to another Satanic trait in his character, as predicted by the apostle.
8.	All deceivableness of unrighteousness.—Edward Beecher, in his work u Papal Conspiracy Exposed,” remarks as follows concerning this system of ini-quity :
“ Monks, nuns, and clergy were alike defiled. Of all others, the Italian and Roman clergy were licentious. . . . Hence Pe-trus de Pulka, professor in Vienna, said, in an address deliv-ered before the Council of Constance: ‘ Attend and consider! Beheld, how the clergy of the Roman court, which, from the commencement of this schism, is regarded as depraved beyond human depravity, and in like manner the clergy of this diocese —nay, more, of this city and of the synod itself.’ ”
The pope’s authority iu the city of Rome is su-preme, therefore with his claims to sacred aud rever-eutialdiguity, we should justly expect that the “ holy city,” so termed by his simple, faithful devotees, should be a paradise ; but the above professor has brauded the Roman court as “ depraved beyond hu-man depravity.” The celebrated Machaivelli, a Ro-manist, testifies thus :
“The greatest symptom of the downfall of Christianity is, that the nearer people approach the capital of Christendom, the less there is found of the Christian spirit.”
Albert Barnes, in his comment on the Apocalypse, speaking of the papal deceivableness of unrighteous-ness, says :
“Pope Vigelius waded to the pontifical throne through the blood of his predecessor. Pope John II. was publicly charged at Rome with incest. Pope John XIII. usurped the pontificate,
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■spent his time in hunting, in lasciviousness, and monstrous forme of vice. He fled from trial to which he was summoned, and wag subbed, being taken in the act of adultery. Pope Sextus IV. li-censed brothels at Rome. Of the popes, Platina, a Roman Cath-olic, says ; ‘ The chair of St. Peter was usurped, rather than possessed, by monsters of wickedness, ambition, and bribery. They left no toickeâness unpracticed"
Rome, under the pope’s jurisdiction may, according to the above, and also the following testimony, answer for a “ papal paradise,” but it is certainly a dis-grace to any preteDce to Christianity, and precisely what the Revelator terms it in chapter 18: 2.
“ The system is exquisitely adapted by Satanic skill utterly to corrupt those whose example and influence must have chief power ; and by them to debauch and ruin the world. Hence, the nearer you come to the center of the 8yUemt the deeper in all age* has been the moral degradation.
“ On account of the crime of concubinage, with which the clergy and monks are affected, the Church of God and the whole clergy are held in derision, abomination and dishonor among all nations ; and that abominable crime has so prevailed in the house of God, that Christians do not now consider mere forni-cation a mortal sin.״— Council of Part8t 1429, ch. 22 *, Monti 2$, p. 1107.
The next witness is none other than the celebrated Baronius, their most renowned historian, and consid-ered one of their dignities. He testified of “ the man of sin ” when he was at the zenith of his pontifical glory, when monarchs of earth trembled at the fear-ful word u excommunication,” and heretics were burned at the stake for reading and believing the word of God. Hear him speak :
“ Behold the nine hundredth year of our Redeemer begins, in which a new age commences, which by asperity and barrenness of good, is wont to be called the iron age ; and by the deformity
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THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY.
of Re abounding evil, the leaden age ; and by its poverty of writ-'ere, the dark age ; standing upon the threshold of which, we have thought it expedient, before we proceed further, on account of the crimes which it has been our lot to behold before the door, to make some preface by way of admonition to the readers, lest the weak-minded should take offence, if he sometimes perceives the abomination of desolation sometimes standing in the temple ; whereas he ought rather to wonder and to recognize the divine power watching over its safety, since the desolation of the tern-pie did not directly follow that abomination as was the case for-merly, and should understand that it rests upon more solid foundations, namely, on the promises of Christ, which are stronger than heaven and earth, even as he himself testifies, saying, Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. But you will ask,
“What are these evils, and whence did there so great and most violent triumphs arise ? The case is such, that scarcely any one ·an believe, ·or ever will believe it except ho sees it with his eyes, and handles it with his hands, viz., unsightly, yea, tohat execrable and hateful things the sacred apostolic See, upon whoso hinges the universal Apostolic Church turns, has been compelled to suffer, when secular princes, although Christians, yet in this respect to be deemed most cruel tyrants, oppressively arrogated to themselves th· election of the Roman pontiffs ! To our shame and grief be it spoken, how many monsters horrible to behold were intruded by them into that seat, which is reverenced by an-gels ! How many evils originated from them, how many trage-dies were perpetrated ! With what filth it was her fate to be be-sprinkled who was without spot or wrinkle, with what stench to be infected, with what impurities to be defiled, and by these things to be blackened with perpetual infamy.”
The above testimony of the distinguished Baronius is certainly pertinent. Mark well his admission— “ The abomination of desolation standing in the tern-pie precisely what the prophet Daniel, our Lord, and Paul, predicted of popery. Furthermore, Baro-* nius admits that “ monsters horrible to behold were intruded by them into that seat.*’ What but the
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2i
“ strong delusion ” could have 80 rigidly perverted such ability ?
This same writer admits again upon this subject, all that we claim concerning the man of sin sitting in
ם	ס
the temple of God. Please notice his language.
“ 0 what was the face of the holy Roman church ! O ! how filthy, when the vilest and most powerful prostitutes ruled in the court of Rome ! By whose arbitrary sway diocese9 were made and unmade, bishops were consecrated, and—which is in-expressibly horrible to be mentioned—fa’8e popes, their para-mours, were thrust into the chair of St. Peter, who in being num-bered as popes, serve no purpose except to fill up the catalogues of the popes of Rome. For who can say that persons thrust into the popedom without any law, by harlots of this sort, were legit-imate popes of Rome ? In this manner lust, supported by secu-lar power, excited to frenzy in the rage for domination, ruled in all things
I will now introduce some comments on a fully de-veloped “ man of sin.״ This monster of iniquity was Pope Alexander, VI., the 212th pope of Rome, whom Dr. Dowling, in his work on Romanism, desig-nates u Satan’s Masterpiece,” and Albert Barnes, in his Notes on Revelation, calls ״ one of the greatest and most horrible monsters in nature, that could scandal-ize the holy chair. Hie beastly morals, his immense ambitiou, his insatiable avarice, his detestable cruelty, his furious lusts, and monstrous incest witb his dangh-ter Lucretia,” etc.
Concerning this graduate of the pontifical temple, Cottle, in his work on Popery (p. 315), has the fol-Rowing testimony of his perfidious conduct in an act of “ deceivableness of unrighteousness,” in the which Satan lost one of if not his most faithful and devoted subjects.
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THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY.
“ The pope’s profuse expenditure was largely aided by selling cardinals’ hats to any, or all, whose wealth was equal to the pur-chase. Their eminences were limited to seventy, so that when lives dropped, like copyhold estate, the putting in new lives re-plenished His Holiness’ coffers.
“ Several hats were now purchased, the large sums paid, and the titles conferred; but as each of the four great potentates made His Holiness liberal offers to obtain more hats, the demand for the cardinalate exceeded the supply; and when the pope was sorely perplexed how to oblige his royal customers, Satan, and his own evil heart, suggested an expedient. It is an effort to believe in the possibility of any such action out of hell ! His Holiness resolved on poisoning, 2X once, all the new cardinals, and then to enter on a contract for their successors ! With this determination, he arranged the means. It was to invite them all to a great banquet, with himself and his son, Prince Borgia, and drug their wine !
“To accomplish this deed of darkness, he expressly directed his butler, when the new cardinals called for wine, to supply them from the decanter which he had previously charged with death ; and said he, ‘ When I and my son Borgia call for wine, hand it to us from this,’ giving him a second decanter. The but-1er made a mistake ; and when the pope and his son called for wine, he supplied them from the poisoned decanter ! The old pope soon expired, in torments, but from the stronger constitu-tion of his son, he survived some years after. Such was the di-vine judgment of the Almighty on, perhaps, as bad a man as ever trod the earth.”
Bower, in his “ Lives of the Popes,״ said concern-ing his pontificate, that it was a u continued series of the blacked crimes of murder, rapine, perfidiousness, lud, and cruelty ”
The debauched man of sin, Pope Clement VI., when near his death published a bull containiug this singu-lar avowal, which may be found in De Cormeniu’s Lives of the Popes, vol. 2, p. 66.
“ If, since we have been elevated to the papacy, we have ad-vanced in our writings or language propositions contrary to to-
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26
ligion or morals, we revoke them, and submit them to the cor rection of our successor.”
The reply to this bull was not long delayed. On the next day a letter was sent to him, written in char-acters of fire on black vellum :
“ Beelzebub, prince of darkness, to Pope Clement, his vicar : Your mother, Pride, salutes you ; your sisters, Knavery, A va rice, and Shamelessness—and your brothers, Incest, Robbery, and Murder, thank you for having caused them to prosper. Given from the center of Hell, amid the acclamations of a troop of demons, and in the presence of two hundred damned popes, who wait your presence with impatience.”
Iu closing the testimony upon the “ deceivableness of unrighteousness ” of the man of sin, I am com-pel led to say that I have had to omit testimonies from history descriptive of the man of sin, as utterly too obscene to spread before the public. I am unable to conceive how there can exist an element in humanity capable of sinking lower in the depths of every species of iniquity, in order to entitle such an one to the inspired appellative, “ the man of sin,״ than has been mani-tested in the popes of Rome. Doubtless they have not, as an entire class of men, been so utterly degraded, and infamously debauched, as the Alexanders and Clem-ents, and many others that could be named. But they have blasphemously arrogated to themselves appella-tives and powers that alone belong to the Almighty.
From facts as above presented, we do not hesitate to pronounce the pope of Rome the man of sin, bias phemously sitting in the temple of God ; and he has allowed himself to be called God.
9. The influente of popery through the Confessional,
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in Romish countries.—Our Lord has declared “ that by their fruits ye shall know them.״ “ À corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.״ We have shown by irre-fragible testimony the character of the papacy to be at its fountain head infamously corrupt, and the word of God declares that a fountain cannot send forth at “the same place, sweet water and bitter.” We may there-fore rest assured that wherever the “ strong delusion,״ as taught by the popes* hierarchy, through their insidi-ous wiles, succeeds in bringing nations under their in-fluence, must of absolute necessity partake more or less of the nature of the fountain from whence such putrid waters issue.
The testimony of their great theological champions, Bellarmine, Baronius, Platina, and others, is on the affirmative side of this question. Mark the testimony of Baronius,—u IIow many monsters horrible to be-hold were intruded by them into that seat,״ speaking of their so-termed “ holy See.״ He further said— “ With what filth it was her fate to be besprinkled, with what stench to be infected, with what impurities to be defiled.״
But let us proceed to notice the influence of popery, as its teachings have been promulgated through its in-sidious confessionals. The following extracts are from an article on the “ Confessional,״ published in the “ Voice of the West,״ of Feb. 1868, as taken from an English author.
** Vice is always hateful, but never so hateful as when it pre-tends to be virtue. Impurity is always loathsome, but never so loathsome as when it puts on the mask of religion. And what
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sight on earth can be more hateful than the prying priest, sitting beside the pure-minded maiden ? There he sits,
1 Squat like a toad, close at the ear of Eve,
Assaying by his devilish art to reach
The organs of her fancy, and with them forge
Illusions as he list—phantasms and dreams—
Or if, inspiring venom, he might taint Th’ animal spirits that from pure blood arise Like gentle breaths from rivers pure : thence arise At least distempered, discontented thoughts,
Vain hopes, vain aims, inordinate desires.׳
“The priests of Rome, though bachelors, are drilled and trained in the knowledge of every secret sin that can be commit-ted by man or woman ; they have great books, filled with all un-cleanness, to teach them what questions to ask in the confes-sional. Of one of these books, the Rev. Mr. Fox, of Durham, says : ‘ While prosecuting this disgusting branch of our subject, I was led to borrow from a friend a monster volume of twelve hundred pages in Latin, which is a great authority amongst the professors of Rome ; and, to my horror, I found it crammed with such indecent and abominable trash, so filthy, impure, and disgusting, that I flung it from me into a corner, as unfit to be read, whose very touch was pollution.’ No wonder that a Rom-ish priest never seems as if he could look you in the face—for his mind is like a common sewer, into which all the filthy sins and impurities of a whole country side have been poured in the confessional ; then he has poured them back again into the cars of young and simple persons by filthy questions, corrupting and polluting their minds with the nastiness of his own. He knows it, and his guilt is stamped on his very forehead.
“ The Roman Catholic priests pretend that, while sitting in the confessional, they sit there, not as men, but as God! and they demand that the people shall obey them as they would obey God!
“Now just consider the natural consequence of this state of things—bachelor priests hearing constantly and in private the confessions of young unmarried women, who open to them the very secrets of their hearts. This confession is held up by the Ritualists as the best and almost the only remedy against immor-ality and improper intimacy between young men and women. We can prove, on the contrary, that it is the cause of the most frightful and scandalous immorality—and that, from the confes-
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THE MYSTERY OP INIQUITY.
8ion9 of the Roman Catholic writers themsélves. Therè is nowHt*־ er held in greater esteem among Roman Catholics than Ligiori. His writings are approvedof bythehighestauthorityinthe Church of Rome. And what does Liguori say about the confessional ? He say 8 that ‘ a frequent familiarity [between the priest and thefetnulo penitent] renders danger familiar/ — and that ‘ in a short time such persons come to this, that they no longer act towards each other as angels, as they commenced, but as those who are clothed in the flesh ; they interchange looks, and their minds are ejected by soft expressions, which still seem to proceed from the first de-votion ; hence the one begins to long for the presence of the other, and thus the spiritual devotion is converted into carnal* And indeed, oh ! how maily priests, who before were innocent^ on account of similar attractions which began in the spirit, hate lost both God and their souls!*
“And what are the consequences? Just what might be ex-pected—the most scandalous and frightful state , of immorality in Roman Catholic countries. A good proof of the state of morality in a country is the number of children born of parents who are not married. The numbers of such children born in Roman Catholic towns as compared with London, are as fol-lows :
“ In Brussels, out of every hundred children, thirty-five. In Paris—thirty-three. In Munich—forty-eight. In Vienna—fifty-one. The above are all Roman Catholic cities. In Protestant London, the number is but four in the hundred.
“ But in Rome itself—the city of the pope} swarming with priests, and confessors, and monks, and nuns, with the pope and the cardinals at their head—out of every hundred children, seventy-five are foundlings ! All these, or nearly all, are probably born of parents who are not married.
“ What sort of morality is promoted by the confessional, when in cities where the Roman Catholic priests have had it their own way for twelve hundred years and more, out of every three per-son9 you meet in the street, one is a child of shame ? In Paris it is one in three—in Vienna, it is more than half of all the chil-dren born into the world—in Rome itself, we have reason to be-lleve that three out of four are children of sin and shame ! **
In a commentary on Revelations, by Rev. J. B.
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L’Hote, formerly priest of Villefavard, France, we find the following footnote, (p. 101) :
" Platina, in his History, counts twenty-two popes who prac-ticed sorcery; thirteen who were adulterers; three, who were abandoned to lewdness ; four, who were incestuous ; eleven, who were poisoned with sodomy ; and seven who favored licentious-ness.”
0 Borne ! in the language of Inspiration, thou hast been for twelve hundred and sixty years ״ the habita-tion of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird and “ the in-habitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.״
In summing up the above testimony, we leave the reader to decide whether we have sufficient evidence to apply the fulfillment of the apostle’s prediction to the pope of Rome, or is it yet to be in the future ?
1.	We have endeavored to explain “ the mystery of iniquity that wrought in the apostle’s day.
2.	The taking away of the above power, and its having been positively succeeded by popedom.
3.	The pope of Rome’s arrogation, that the church of Rome is the true and only church of God upion earth, and he sits therein.
4.	The blasphemous ceremonies at the installation of the pope, said to be in their theology “ the very seat of God.”
5.	How the pope of Rome fulfilled the prediction, “ Showing himself that he is God.”
6.	How the pope of Rome “ opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God,” in the granting of indulgences.
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THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY.
7.	How the pope of Rome has blasphemously urro-gated power on earth and in heaven, which none but the Supreme Being possesses.
8.	How the deceptive unrighteousness and lying wonders of the popes of Rome have fulfilled the pre-diction—“ With all deceivableness of unrighteousness.״
9.	How the doctrines of popery have depraved and degraded all Roman Catholic countries, especially the city of Rome, where the u man of sin ” sitteth in “ the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.״
Rome, and the Destiny of the Man of Sin.
Pagan Rome is presented in prophecy under the symbol of a great red Dragon ; and is called the “ Devil, and Satan.״ When John wrote the Apoca-lypse, Rome was declared to be the place “ where Sa-tan’s seat is.״ In chapter 13 : 2, the transferring of dragonic power, seat, and authority, is predicted. See testimony for its fulfillment under our second head.
After the ceding of power, seat, and authority of Romulus Agustulus, in a. d. 476 to Zeno, the Greek emperor, Rome, that had been up to that event, the seat of Satan, under dragonic rule, soon became Sa-tan’s seat under the man of sin.
Rome, since Pope Gregory II. usurped the rights of sovereignty, has been a pandemonium ; the Pope the Melchisedeck of Satan ; and Popery a
“ Cursed system, bitter root of every crime,
Of sin the ugliest, foulest incarnation ;
The darkest blood-spot on the face of time,
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Sure source of ruin unto many a nation ;
The bane of peace, the hinderer of salvation,
The severer of every tender tie ;
Fountain of broken hearts—true imitation Of Satan’s regal power and dignity.”
We are led to believe, from what light we have at present concerning the destiny of Rome and the man of sin, that their destruction will be simultaneous. The prophet Daniel beheld in vision, till he was “ giv-en to the burning flame.״ The apostle predicts his destruction at the coming of our Lord. One general catastrophe will involve in ruin, all who are not pre-pared to stand before the Son of man. Read his testi-mony :
“The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ : who shall bo punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and the glory of his power; when he shall come to be glorified in his saints and to be admired in all them that believe.”—2 Thess. 1: 710־.
The “ mene tekel״ of “Babylon the Great״ is clearly written in the holy Scriptures, and thé condi-tion of the popedom is strikingly indicative of her ap-proximating fiery deluge.
Dear reader, the signs of the times are very porten-tous, very, indeed. There is for us but one condition of safety, only one ! and that is, faith in the Lord Je-sus Christ, and obedience to the blessed gospel. In the language of the beloved John, let me say in con-elusion, “ Abide in Him ; that when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.״—John 2: 28. Amen.
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Rioh Man and Lazaras ן Thief on the Cross, &c. By M. Grant......07
The Doctrine of Eodless Misery* on occasion of Scepticism.......08
Eternal Death iu the literal sense is Eternal Punishment........08
Rich Man and Lazaras. With remarks on Josephus. C. F. Hudson... .08
The Rights of Wrong ן or, Is Evil Eternal Î By C. F. Hudson.....08
Endless Misery not a Bible Doctrine............................. ..06
The Wicked not Immortal (with 200 proof-texts)..................04
Bible Meaning of the word Hell..................................04
Bible Meaning of Forever and Everlasting........................04
Smoke of Torment and Unquenchable Fire Explained................03
Re▼. John Foster’s Letter on Future Punishment·.................03
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