one 'wbo hu watched the lt'Ol'king flf papal Rome td Rome will need -oo words to CQ.11.• vince h,im of her gorgeous display and daz211ing sheen. 9. She i11 dnmk witb :the w.d of the holy (Yer. 6). · ~ t talea doe& hlllt.ory unfold I A hundred and fift,y . ~ persoBII perillhed under the Inquisition in thirty yeanJ; and from the beginning of tlae Order or Jesuit11, In 1540, it is l!uppolied that nine hundred thoUIISlld persona ~ through papalcr11elty. While, although it ill impossible to estimate tbe enct nllQlber, yet it,_ is supposed that duriug the papal persecutions of the· W aldenses, Albi~ Bohemian Brethren, Wickliffites, and other Protestantll, those who perbhed aro counted. by the million. The same spirit exista still. In Ireland the priests keep the people iu. terror, and if Rome does not persecute na, it is beoa11811 ahe dan not. 10. She III die mother of -abominatiODll (ver. 5). Students of history i.nd tonrlata In. pa.pal di11me:tp know that this is literally true. Indulgences for an indefinite number of yean may ,\if purchased with money. No viler-looking aet of facee could ever be beheld than the pr:• seahrriter has seen surrounding theconfe119i.onal-boxca in St. P~ter•a at Rome. 11. The h(lalt she rides ill full of names of blaaphemy(Ter. 3). The proclamation .o(infallibility is the one fulfilment of this that surpas91!8 all others. 12. 'l'he inhabit.ants oUhe wth are led by h~ Into sin (oh. itviii. 3). The papal Ohurch notoriously leada people into the sin of idolatry. The woraliip of Rome is largely the adoration of a great. goddeilll.1 Papista pronounce accursed those who do not "honour, worshtp, and adore the adorable images." 13. The several kings or kingdom11 into which the civil power of the beast is to be divided shall "hate the whore, and make her desolate," eto. (ver. 16). How true,! If there is an objeet of imperial hatred, it iB papal ltome, which is hated most of all. She bi regarded 1111 the disturber of states everywhere. H. Ytit within tbia great Babylon there will be to the last some saints of God, who will be called on to come out of her (eh. xvili. 4). Even so. Fearfully apostate and adult.nnll as is papal Rome, there are in her pale many holy ones who are profoundly ignotant of the abominations, done by her in religion's name. The Lord will know his own ill the day when he maketh up his jewels. Bnt this great Babylon of harlotry, pomp, pride, and all abominations, i11 doomed to fall terribly, suddenly, completely, &DQ for 'ever!• Earnestly do we preBB on the student carefully to follow up each of theae fourteen lines on which history will be found to confirm the prophecy here oouched ia ,ymbolic form. The identification is 11ach that not one point 888m8 laeklng. Bow thil great mystery of iniquity ill to fall we have yet to consider.
Vers. 16, 17; cb. xviil. (-8.-MMm and FMtlwds o/ tM /aJl of Ba'l,y'lon &w ~ Every great Babylon must f≪ whether by such a term it be intended to denote a huge commercial or a huge eeclesiastical Babylon. A corrupt world and an unfaithful Ohurch must both come to ruin. The flame "Church" will give no security againllt. destruction if the salt have lost its savour. If any Church &Ilies it.self with an ungodly world-power, leaning on it for support, and gathering its pre11tige from thence, it ia, ao far, committing spiritual fornication. "'l'he wine of her fornication" intoxicate& men. Precisely 110. It ia the glamour; the glitter, the pomp, and prestige thl\t attend a Cburoh in her connection with the state, that lead men away into a deceptive admiration, 811d eTen intoxicate them with thonghtll of her magnificence and power. In the Ohuroh of Rome, however, all the evils of spiritual whoredom are at their topmoet height- In no other Church in the world is there so much pomp and yet so much carnality. And the Holy Ghost has in these chapters not, only given us a sketch beforehand of what she would be, but (though with les11 of detail) hu indicated the m-. ad methods by which she would be destroyed, and has also pointed out t.b.e paranwa of the f11lfilment of fhis. L A OO:NSTAlfT ovJCBBULnro Powe, GOVBRlmlG BY KBAXS or TDll LAW or JDDITAL lltGGlllTIO'H, 18 AT won WlTB 'l'JIAT BND I1' VIEW. 'l'he impolNB in human 1pima 1 8ee Dean Alfold'1 • Letter■ from Abroad,' No. iT.," From Rome;" In Go«J Word,, ISM, p. 469. . · .· . , .• • See Blahop Wordsworth'• pamphlet on this 81lbjeot; Rev. Grattan Guinnea11 book. • Romanism and the Reformation; 1887; and for a different view of the expreaion, " the 'tltlYen-hllled city," aee the Introduction to the 8600lld edition ol the Re•. Dr. Ruaell'1 • P8l"OU8ia,• 1887. (The homilies of the pre8811& writer whioh follow, on eh. uiii and XiL 1-10 are a continuation of the sam11 theme.) 421 THE REVELATION or ST. JOHN TBE DIVINE.:: [oH. :nu. t-18.