The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-01-10 00:00:00

TUESDAY, JANUARY 10, 1854

"SIGNS OF THE TIMES."
VIE REV. V. M. WHITE'S LECTURE.

On Friday evening, the Rev. V. M. White delivered a
lecture on the above subject, in Clayton-hall. Notwith-
standing the disappointment on the 22d ult., and the ex-
treme severity of the weather, there was a large attendance.
Precisely at the hour named, Mr. White took his place
amid' loud applause ; and, after invoking the Divine
blessing, began by apoogising for the previous disappoint-
raent. He felt assured that, whatever may have been the
inconvenience of partieS attending on that occasion, there
Was none so devoid of natural affection as to say that the
sudden and serious illness of a parent did not plead a suffi-
cient excuse. He was thankful to say he found his mother
better, and hoped by this time she was restored to com-
Parative health. He then proceeded as follows :
My subject is " The Signs of the Times," as indicating
a near approach of the downfal of Antichrist, and of the
coining and kingdom of the Lord Jesus. On this point
there are two classes : on the one hand, there are some
who
are always on the topic ; it is a glorious one, full of
blessing
to the world ; they are carried away with it, and,
without calmly weighing the evidence, are persuaded that
it is close at hand ; their ardent wishes for its consumma-
tion make up for the lack of proof. So it has been with
many from the first. Thus, the apostles put the question,
:Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom unto
Israel ?" The apostolic churches were so fully persuaded
of it, that it became necessary to assure them that that
day should not come until there should be a falling away
Inst. The same feeling prevailed universally—at the de-
struction of Jerusalem, and again on the overthrow of
paganism, under Constantine, and again at the time of the
Reformation ; and now, with not a few of the church and
the world, its found to exist, all of which should lead us
to consider impartially the evidence, before we come to a
conclusion. On the other hand, there are those who refuse
to entertain the question at all ;—many deny its
,t,rnth, and scoff at those who speak of it, forgetting
that the Apostle Peter predicted the existence of such per-
sons in the latter days ; many are so careless in spiritual
things as never to give it a thought • many regard it as
diving into the hidden mysteries of the kingdom, and con-
cludethat it is not a legitimate field of inquiry; that it is
even forbidden, when we are told that " it is not for you
to know the times and the seasons which the Father
bath put in his own power." There are, again, some who
regard the subject as unprofitable, and tell us that we
eight select other questions, such as bear upon ourselves
in the way of experimental and practical godliness, and
leave the solution of dark prophecies to those who shall
Witness their accomplishment, and thus have some clue to
Understand them. Now, these different views demand a
reply ; if the eubject be not a legitimate one, we are most
Presumptuous in daring to fathom the unrevealed purposes
of God. If it be not profitable, lam offending against
You in trifling with that time which might be given to
tither "things ; if, On the other hand, it be the triumph
and fulness of Christ's kingdom on earth, in proportion as
We have any interest in his cause, we shall look forward
to its glorious consummation, studying God's word, and
comparing the signs given there with the events of the '
Present and past ages. Did the Jews of old refuse to
entertain the promise of Christ's coming till they got some
clue to its interpretation from the fulfilment ; was it not
the one theme of their meditations, their hopes, and their
prayers? The men of Issachar were men who had under-
standing of the times, that knew what Israel ought to do.
In
the 24th of Matthew, where our Lord speaks of his
"Thln„ g,he :commands his disciples to attend to the signs
,‘aereof. The antediluvian world perished from the neg-
Lect of this ; it is so fully insisted upon in the Gospels and
.r4istles, that the Apostolic Churches fancied that his
Coming was close at hand; and when, at the pouring out
of the seventh vial, our Lord comes and completes the
l'tlitl'of the mystic Babylon, consuming it with his bright-
', it is introduced with these words,—" Behold, I come
as &thief; '
blessed is he that wateheth."
In prosecuting, the subject, we propose 'to review the
course of events as they are predicted In the Scriptures,
'and accomplished in the history of the Church and the
world, prior to the full establishment of 'Christ's kingdom
the earth, and then to notice the iigns which are to
:Precede that period as they are given an the Scriptures,
'and as they now appear to be ftilfilledeor are fulfilling, in
re world. We have first to observe flint the cause and
Notwithstanding
of Christ is designed by-God to be universal.
the limited extent of the patriarchal
'Church, and the very circumscribed character of the
-Jewish, this view of Christianity runs through the whole.
The first promise was, that the seed -of the woman, that is,
the Lord Jesus, should bruise the head of the serpent.,
'that is, effect the extinction of Sin and Satan. To Abra-
ham it was said that." hi his seed all the nations of the
earth should be blessed." In fie 172iid Psalm it was pre-
dicted that "All kings shall 'al down before him, and
,all nations shall serve him." Isaiah declares that in the
last days the mountain of the 'Lord's house should be
established on the top 'of the entrantains, and exalted above
the hills and that all nations -should flow unto it—that
the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the
waters cover the sea. Daniel informs us that there is
fiver, to the Son of Man 'dominion, and glory, and a
eve
; that all people, nations, and languages, should
ere him." And Malachi winds up the testimony
Itrophecy by assuring us; or the authority of the Lord
ti„_ests, " that from the rising of the sun to the going
G;w4,,, of the same, God's name shall be great among the
sii,ies, and in every plat Incense and a pure offering
„ t,T, be offered to Him. 'Such was the language of pro-
h„.."eeY at the very time when the Almighty himself cone-
-ft„Jed that none but Jews should partake of the privi-
Neil'', of his church. The facts were in full accordance
eo•Ln the prediction. The r.ature of Christianity fitted it
it t;47 universal. The Apostles were commanded to preach
for theY, erY creature. The-gift of tongues was given them
ee'B,end ; and, although the fact of its triumph is not
the world, enough has been done to prove that
1t ig iv-Perfectly applicable to-every nation and everycountry.
tha:t7 second eat fact-revealed in the Scriptures is,
world,before the fulness eef Christ's kingdom in the
lasing ea great, wide-spread, long-continued, and deso-
is fauy-I)2ust,aCY from the:faith would take ace. This
Scripture: gained In the Tollowine• three portions Of
are brought no 2 nes. the "following particulars
was the
eoroino.a.ti—that the great subject of the chapter
his people to Rim our i Lord, and the gathering together of
there be a falling array 'that day shall not come .until
quity, the germ a thaaty fiprm
;"
that the mystery of ini-
in the church; that it wasa Teta"' was even then at work
hindrance, and would-not ;devil down by some 'let" or
was taken out of the way,-and then itself until that ""Jet "
be revealed, that is, the _apostasy should openly " would
peulayseow
itself; and its head sitting 'in the temple of
uld
not only set himself forth ::as another God on earth, but
claim powers above and against God, till the end of his
aPnointed time, and then the glorious and expectedcoming
would take place, and this fleathsome apostasy should be
utterly destroyed by the appearing of the Son of Man.
Nowthe apostacy is the Church of Rome, the Man of Sin
Is. the Pope ; the mystery-Which was at work in the days
;.11 the Apostles is the essence of the Papacy in making
Christianity a mixture of the prevailing opinions of the
Lute with the fundamental doctrines of the cross, such
gas St. Paul combatted in the'Epistles to the Galatians and
`'Colossians.„., The "let," the ;persecuting pagan emperors,
e,_"no kept down Christianity,:und thus kept it pure. With
dame
paganism was overthrown, and Christianity
'ee-ttme the state religion. :It then spread, and soon be-
.esine more and more corrupt, until the time of Christ's
"e°lning, when this apostate system shall be utterly and for
'ever destroyed. •
IPrecisely the same view of 'things is given in the 7th
Vl.aPter of Daniel. Four le.asts, that is, four kingdoms,
nse in succession,--the Assytian, the Persian, the Gre-
~ia,t,and the Roman. The fourth had ten horns, that 'is,
la out
divided into ten kingdoms. a little horn then eatue
ho
a ni
tir:ar with the t of the fourth, and more time is taken np with this
whole four kingdoms together. This little
''wass lag the same as the Man of Sin of St. Paul, appear-
in ta
• ....e sng ame order and of the4ame character, continu-
The destroyed by the coming and kingdom of Christ.
t.
next referred to the Book of Revelations in
-the of the fact that a great apostacy was to arise before
ThcollThig and kingdom of Christ.
aposeeeee 4bird point is* , that the Church of Rome is that
hau'"Z"eY• I know not if there be sue- detectives in this
,
outeif there be, I will venture to say, that no detec-
ah'o;ver-reeeived so full and accurate'marks and tokens of
taeioenniter as the Scriptures give of this great ecclesias-
siztee outlaw--the Church of Rome. We shall enumerate
nit a imEirst It was to be a departure from Christie-
• iv. tb.e speaketh
theft us, 1 Tim. I. Now spirt
tbat in the latter days some shall depart from
throe
and also, 2 ,
e Th 3 " That day shall not
theeef,eePt there come a falling away firet." It cannot,
ehriet.,,,•ve be paganism, which was not a departure from
of a Secondly, It should still preserve the name
of seirrinrch of Christ. Thus, in 2 Thes. 4. "The Man
Self „ sits in the temple of God as God, and shows him-
tier, 'oat he is -God. Certainly very like a descrip-
it is of the, Pope in the church. In Revelations, 17,
spo,lLePresented as a faithless woman passing 'for the true
to (1,,' of Christ; a tgure all through the Scriptures used
dehea's'cribe the chureili. It cannot, therefore, be Mahome-
teen), which might be called the wife of Mahewet, but
rish.of Christ. Thirdly.,—The time when it should- flou-
the It was to arise out of the ten kingdoms into which
and \Tut Roman etupire, at its fall, should be broken,
chee!as
_t_ol continue until the coming and kingdom of
Thl7 T 1 is fact is confirmed in the 7th of Daniel, 2nd
""‘ ti• 3-9, and e
by Jehn in Rev. 17, 18, and 19.
Y,—The character a its government, Dan. vii. 24.
other
horn was to be diverse from the others. In all
government
are human s there are points of difference, but they
mixture of governments : but here there is a professed
eedesiee„leat_he human and the divine, of the civil and the
!yes in'bou 1; not as in Israel of .old, when the prieithood
the sayrteuZ_Allse, and the kingly office in infallible but
Priest, diffe-Lee-ei m himself an absolute king and an
ever saw
all sputarorPllt fro every other government the world
• ay
beyond—The place of its seat. This is put
tiug on the beast°, Z:l5-},b3' Rev. 17, where the woman sit-
(verse 18) to be " thais "en heads and ten horns, is said
kings of the earth
;„ great city which reigneth over the
• heads are seven mount:1111 again, (verse 0,) " the seven
Now Rome was universally on which the woman sitteth."
on seven hills, and the known in history as the city
which reigned over the kingdomsY city, in the time of John,
conclusive is the evidence here that
of the earth ; indeed, so
that Romish writers admit
that Rome is the place, but
which, however, it cannot be, Yltist refers to Pagan Rome,
away from the faith. SixthlY,—
tis never was a falling
Rev. xvii. 4: " The woman was erdress is given m
scarlet colour, and decked with arrayed in purple and
and Pearls." If the gold and precious stones
_y costume of a pope and cardinal were
appeared in full dress, undoubtedly Bel, where they
more perfect description there could not be a
lust quoted. sevetia than the words of the prophet
The waters which 111; Frer
extent, Rev. xvii. 15 :
sitteth are nations, and
where the woman
peoples, and
tengues." The simple application
gasiioand
of this
and
!node by the Church of Rome herselfn in the
mark is
-Lion and boast that she is " the Catholic asgunp';
It is Church !
_ very rare you find an outlaw insisting thus
!Penly in wearing his known dress ; but out of her own
mouth God will condemn her. Eightly—The extraordi-
-3' powers and influence of its head. The little horn of
Daniel (vii. 20) had " a mouth that spake very great
tll2n gs, whose look was more stout than his fellows."
"The beast that rose up out of the sea with seven heads
Land ten horns " is Popery, in its civil and political rela-
'Jens. The sea is the flood of Gothic conquerors that over-
Iva the declining Roman Empire, and settled down in