such to be found, as pure as once was that of Thyatira. Whatever, therefore, the profession of your faith may be, seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness; that kingdom which is righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, and that righteousness which is through faith in Christ, who gave himself for the church, that he might sanctify and cleanse it. And whatever dangers may then encompass you around, fear not only believe; all things are possible to him that believeth.

It was by keeping the word of the Lord, and not denying his faith, by hearing what the Spirit said, that the Church of Philadelphia held fast what they had, and no man took their crown, though situated directly between the church of Laodicea, which was lukewarm, and Sardis, which was dead. And dead as Sardis was, the Lord had a few names in it which had not defiled their garments-Christians, worthy of the name, who lived, as you yourself should ever live, in the faith of the Lord Jesus-dead unto sin, and alive unto righteousness while all around them, though naming the name of Jesus, were dead in trespasses and sins. Try your faith by its fruits; judge yourselves that you be not judged ; examine yourselves whether you be in the faith; prove your ownselves; and, with the whole counsel of God, as revealed in the gospel, open to your view, let the rule of your selfscrutiny be what the Spirit said unto the churches.

If you have seen any wonderful things out of the law of the Lord, and have looked, though from afar off, on the judgments of God that have come upon the earth, lay not aside the thought of these things when you now lay down this book. Treat them not as if they were an idle tale, or as if you yourself were not to be a witness-and more than a witness—of a far greater judgment which shall be brought nigh unto you, and shall be your own.

If, in traversing some of the plainest paths of the field of

prophecy, you have been led by a way which you knew not of before, let that path lead you to the well of living waters, which springeth up into everlasting life to every one that thirsts after it and drinks. Let the words of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ be to you this well-spring of the Christian life. Let the word of God enlighten your eyes, and it will also rejoice your heart. Search the Scriptures, in them are no lying divinations; they testify of Jesus, and in them you will find eternal life. Pray for the teaching and the aid of that Spirit by whose inspiration they were given. And above all Christian virtues, that may bear witness of your faith, put on charity, love to God, and love to man, the warp and woof of the Christian's new vesture without a seam; which is the fruit of the Spirit, the end of the commandment, the fulfilling of the law, the bond of perfectness, and a better gift, and a more excellent way than speaking with tongues, or interpreting or prophesying; and without which you would be as nothing, though you understood all mystery and all knowledge. From the want of this the earth has been covered with ruins. Let it be yours, and, however poor may be your earthly portion, it will be infinitely more profitable to you than all the kingdoms of the world, and all their glory. Prophecies shall fail; tongues shall cease; knowledge shall vanish away; the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up; but charity never faileth.

If you have kept the word of the Lord, and have not denied his name, hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. But if heretofore you have been lukewarm, and destitute of Christian faith, and zeal, and hope, and love, it would be vain, in closing a chapter on such a subject, to leave you with any mere human admonition; hear what the Spirit saith, and harden not your heart against the heavenly counsel, and the glorious encourage

ment given unto you by that Jesus, of whom all the prophets bear witness, and unto whom all things are now committed by the Father:-"I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."

CONCLUSION.

THE whole of the preceding brief and imperfect sketch forms little else than an enumeration of some of the more striking prophecies, and of facts which demonstrate their fulfilment; and a recapitulation of all the particulars would be an unnecessary repetition. The numerous obscure prophecies, which contain much and striking evidence, have hitherto been omitted, that the charge of ambiguity, too generally and indiscriminately attached to them all, might be proved to be unfounded. But, having seen, in hundreds of instances, that prophecies which were plainly delivered, have been as clearly fulfilled, comprehending all in a single argument, and leaving the decision to the enemies of Christianity, or to those who are weak in the faith, and appealing to their reason without bespeaking their favour,—may it not, in the first instance, be asked if it be an easy task which is assigned them, to disprove even this part of the POSITIVE EVIDENCE to the truth of the religion of Jesus? If they have ever staggered at the promises or threatenings of the Scriptures because of unbelief-discrediting all revelation from on high -can they not here discern supernatural evidence in confirmation of supernatural truths? May not sight lead them to faith? Must they not concede that the Christian has some reason for the hope that is in him? And may they not, at the very least, be led from thence to the calm and unprejudiced investigation, not only of the other prophecies, but of all the evidence which Christianity presents?

It cannot be alleged, with truth, that the prophecies. which have been selected are ambiguous; that they bear

the character of those auguries which issued from the cloud that always overhung the temple of Apollo, or of those pretended inspirations which emanated from the cave of Hera. It cannot be denied, that they were all pronounced hundreds or thousands of years before the events, which even at the present day demonstrate their fulfilment, though every other oracle has ceased for ages to appeal to a single fact. And the historical and geographical facts, which were so clearly foretold, are, in general, of so wonderful a nature, that the language of prophecy, though expressive of literal truth, seems at first sight to be hyperbolical; and the prophecies of Isaiah, in particular, have been charged with being “full of extravagant metaphor; " the more extravagant the metaphor, or the more remarkable the predicted fact, the farther are the prophecies removed from all possibility of their having been the words of human invention.

The following comprehensive and luminous statement of the argument, extracted from a review of a former edition of this treatise, is here so apposite, that no apology need be offered for inserting it at length.

1 Were it not for the impiety with which they are conjoined, the remarks of Paine on the prophecies would, to those who have studied them at all, be sufficiently amusing. He characterises the book of Isaiah as one continued bombastical rant, full of extravagant metaphor, without application, and destitute of meaning." The predictions respecting Babylon, Moab, &c. are forsooth compared "to the story of the Knight of the Burning Mountain, the story of Cinderella," and such like. Isaiah, in short, was a lying prophet and impostor." And "what can we say," he asks, "of these prophets, but that they were all impostors and liars?" Such words are not merely harmless; they may be also useful, as they show, that while every possible corroboration from history, fact, reason, and even the unconscious testimony of infidels themselves, is given to the truth of the prophecies, nothing can be alleged on the other hand but what in the sight of all men manifestly is "bombastical rant, and extravagant metaphor, without application, and destitute of meaning." And since both speak not the truth, who is the liar? Isaiah the prophet, or Paine the infidel? And "what can we say" of this stanch assertor of rights, but that his right to the title is undisputed, and that these very words of his, were others wanting, must in every "age of reason" rivet to his unblest memory the foul aspersions he so falsely applied? Argument in such a case would be an idle waste of words. But while it would be an act of mere prodigality and folly to cast pearls before swine, the filth which they have snorted out may well be cast into their own kennel again, that they and their kind may partake of what pertains to them.