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

TUESDAY, JANUARY 10, 1854.

" SIGNS OF TILE TIMES,"
THE REP: 17. 3f. WHITE'S LECTURE.

On Reidy evening, the ReV. V. M. White delivered a
lecture on the above snbjeet, 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 apologising for the previous disappoint-
Ment. 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
coming 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 i 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
first. 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, it is found to exist, all of which should lead us
to consider impartially the evidence, before we come to a
aeenclusion. On the other hand, there are those who refuse
w entertain the question at all ;—many deny its
truth, and scoff at those who speak of it, forgetting
that the Apostle Peter predicted the existence of such per-
rue, s in the latter days ; many are so careless in spiritual
diving
as never to give it a thought • many regard it as
ei''"' into the hidden mysteries of the kingdom, and con-
eentle6that 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
path put in his own power." There are, again, some who
regard the subject as unprofitable, and tell us that we
?night 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
rePIY; if the subject be not a legitimate one, we are most
Presumptuous in daring to fathom the unrevealed purposes
of God. If it 'be not profitable, I am offending against
You in trifling with that time which might be given to
other 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
t° 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
eutertaln the promise of Christ's coming till they'got some
clue to its interpretation from the fulfilment'; was it not
the
, °ne theme of their meditations, their hopes, and their
players? The men of Issachar were men vibe had under-
seet—ee'lng of the times, that knew what Israel might to do.
~„,,„,_- he 24th of Matthew, where our Lord speaks of his
S'''ulee, g, he commands his disciples to attend to the signs
the
The antediluvian world perished from the neg- '
let 'of this ; it is so fully insisted upon in the Gospels and
nee'"Pisties, that the Apostolic Churches fettled that his
--"ung was close at hand; and when, at the pouring out
of the seventh vial, our Lord comes and completes the
l'eln of the mystic Babylon, consuming it with his bright-
"ass, it is introduced with these words,--:" Behold, I come
'aa a thief; blessed is he that watcheth."
.-e In Prosecuting the subject, we propose to review the
eurse 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
tel the earth, and then to notice 'the signs which are to
Precede that period as they are gieen in the Scriptures,
V
.Seeicl as the
worldey now appear to be fulfilled, or are fulfilling, in
. We have first to observe that the cause and
Vagalorn of Christ is designed' by God to be universal.
ee'a42tvaithstanding the limited extent of the patriarchal
illeearcil, and the m ribed character of the
ihwelh, this view of Christianity' elms through the whole.
ehee -rest Promise was, that the teed of the woman, that is,
thata"rd Jesus, should bruise the head of the serperit,
haul I.s, effect the extinction Of Rti and Satan. To Alva-
eaeteit was said that—" In his seed all the nations of the
diee!anhould be blessed." In the 72nd Psalm it was plc-
an g
nationsthat " All kings shall fall down before him, and
lase.t shall serve him." Isaiah declares that he the
eetabli Y 8 the mountain 6f-the Lord's house should be
the ham,
on the top of theamountains, and exalted above
the , and that all nations should flow unto it—that
I,_,_earth shale be full of theelanowledge of the Lord ae the
girfs. cover the sea. 'Daniel informs us that there is
hiQoto the Son of Man '" dominion, and glory, and a
serveZai; that all peopleanations, and languages, -should
" Prophet And Maktan winds up the testimony
et Rostes`e7,`J assening us, on the authority of the Lord
down
of ' th‘ '"'frolerthe i^ ing of the sun to the: going
Gentiles, ailed sure, God's ename shall be great among the
shall be offered a pure •effering
PliecY at the ~.t4.3,,•-`4111.”
lerY plum incense and
ceded th ,Ve‘ .7 Qtile *ten the
Such was the language of pro-
Almighty himself cone-
ieges
of a. none 'but 'Jews should partake of the prim
with the his church. The facts were in full accordance
it tin iversal.
t° be Prediction. The mature of Christianitefitted it
The A nos were commanded to preach
fore erY creature. The gift of tongues was given them
yet beforeend; fle, although the fact of its triumph is not
it . the world, enough has been done to prove that
The
the
applicable to•every nation and every country.
Itte second great fact ,revealed in the Scriptures is,
that, before the 'found ss of Christ's kingdom in the
World, a great, wide-spread, long-continued, end deso-
lating apostasy from the faith would take place. This
is fully sustained an the following three portions of
Scripture. In 2 Thes. -ii. 1-8, the following. Tarticulars
are brought out—that' the great subject of the chapter
was the coming of our Lord, and the gathering together of
his people to him; that "that day shall not xome until
there be a falling augur first ;" that the mystery of ini-
quity'
thegerm of that =anostacy, was even then at work
in the church; that it was' kept down by some, "let': or
hindrance, and would not ,develope itself until that " let '
Ives taken oat of the way,-and then " that wicked " would
r revealed, that is, the :apostasy should -openly show
itself, and its head -iittme in the temple of •God should
hot only set himself forth as another God-on earth, but
claim Powers above and :wainst God, till the end of his
appointed time, and -then the glorious and expeeted coming
would take place, and this loathsome apostasy should be
Now destroyed by the appearing of the' Sea of Man.
:sow the apostacy is the Church of Rome, the Man of Sin
ofls tile Pone ; the mystery which was at workin the days
the Apostles is the essence of the Papacy in making
Inwistianity a mixture oft`the prevailing opuiions of the
na&nnse with the fundamental doctrines of the eross, such
Coloet. read combatted In the Epistles to the Galatians and
-who ise-"as• The "let," the,,perseenting .pagan emperors,
v,e ePt down Christianity, and thus kept it pure. With
e nstantin
"'came 4.t.e Paganism was: overthrown, and. Christianity
mine
to nie e..
0 state religion. It then spread, and soon be-
coming se'‘'es and more .corrapte until the time of Christ's
ever a 't '"ea this apostate system eta be utterly and for
es red.
Precisely
+ chapter _e the same view of -things is given in the 7th
arise „.• , '4 Daniel. Four beasts tbat is, four ,kingdoms,
. ee siva— • • ,
clan, em ti-reve‘,3lon,—the Assyrian, the Persian, the Gre-
-was divided man-
The fourth had ten horns, that is,
-up out of theint ten kingdoms. A little horn then came
Linn with the
fourth, and moreetime is taken up with this
;learn he whole four king do This little
thehe las together.
ing in ea mine an the Man of • Sin of St.. Emil, appear-
ing until destinroey°74er
Hazer
h and of the eeme character, confirm-
The lecturer next - --Y the
r coming and kingdom of• Christ.
',Proof of the fact tirlerred
, to the Rook of Revelations in
the coming and ki ' a great apoetacy was to arise before
Mee third ngdom of Christ.
lee__ point is, that the Church of Rome ,is that
I,eaSsill-c3a . I know not if there be d te tives in this
n out, ef there be, Any e c
ve ever rem. e, I will venture •-to say, that no detec-
wed s
an offender o full and. accurate marks and tokens of
tical outlaw as the Scriptures•this.great eeelesias-
• e4elaw—th
me— n : ..., htirch of Rome. Wire shall enumerate
zieeae rerst, It was totie-
'Y• T be a deparfai from Chris
themes'` that elm. iv. 1. N he spirit speaketh
in th la °w
Nee
.„e tter days some shall depart from
come a., and also 2 'hat day shall net
thereforcept there , Thes. ii. 3, ' 5.
Co come a falling away .first." It cannot,
Christianity. P;ga nisna, which was not at departure from
of Sinnum, of Christ.
It should still preserve the name
of " sits .:,_ ,'"ulst• Thus, in 2 Theseii. 4. " The Man
self that beeuitabe temple of God as God, ;and shows him-
raon .of the
4.0 Goa,
. Certainly very like'
etiatidoensscris,
Bluola,asinresented Le in. the church. In
ealtevfOr the irue
to 4 e of Christ a faithless woman pas ng . _
se
eh i a figure all through the Scritures used 1
usm, whi,Z ea.areh. It cannot, therefore, be Mahome- ,
not of Cear,e.";' zurinealit be called the wife of Mehemet, but 1
rieh• It ibirdly,—The time when it Should
he vast was to arise out of the ten kingdoms into which
and Roman •e 'at its fall, should be broken,
was 4.,., . mpire,
Christ ,F.eelitillUe until the coming and kingdom of
Thee. ii.
enasefact inconfirmed in the 7th of Daniel, 2nd
Foneehiy,!.Tte andl by John in Rev. 17, 18, and 19.
Th little h w I areeter of its government, Dan. vii. 24.
other govern as to be diverse from the others. In all
are h raents there are
hue governm points of difference, but they
mixture of the hu meats : but here there is a professed
Mein ; no:Liar and the divine, of the civil and the
eye, in one tribe
aoldn gruel of old, when the priesthood
theessaane man in Limself e kingly office in another ; but
12a t, different from ev an absolute king and an infallible
.ever sw. Fifthly—Theory ether government the world
beyond all controversy Place .of its seat. This is put
(ing en the beast, witli by Rev. lr, where the woman sit-
(verse 18) to be " that grisevetn hteads and ten horns, is said
kings of the earth ;' and at,eao.atiwlaich reigneth over the
heads are seven mountains on whaverse 9') " the seven
Now Rome was universally known • the woman sitteth."
on seven hills, and the only 1!1 InsterY as the city
which reigned city, 111 the ta
over the kingdoms of the eartihme of John,
conclusive is the evidence here, that Ronaish w ;•tideed, so
that Rome is the place, but say it refers top ers
admit
a filch, however, it cannot be, as this never w n Roe,
_way from the faith. Sixthly,—Her dress • as a fallieg
Rev. xvii. 41 ess 18 given in
" The woman
scarlet colour, and decked i was arrayed in purple and
and pearls." If thecostume with gold and precious stones
truly given in the
a pope and cardinal were
aPPeared in full dress,reanntdExtibition in 1851, where they
more perfect description utedl
Y there could not be a
Just quoted. Seventhl than the words of the prophet
The va t Y,—Her extent, Rev. xvii. 15.
sine are
a ers which thou rawest
where the woman
a._
~ peoples, and nations,andmultitudes,and
wngues. The •
Made b tl simple application of this mark is
Lion y ie Church of Rome herself in and boast that the assump-
It is she is " the Catholic Church !"
very rare you find
oPenly in wearing h an outlaw insisting thus
eantitu Gar
will
geo is known dress ; but out of her own
1 condemn
'larY powher. Sightly—The extraordi-
Daniel ( •s and influence of its head, The little horn of
Things, via 20) had " amouth th t
ings, aehnf.e took
that was more stout than his fellows."
and ten h at rose up out of the sea with seven heads
Eons. treerns " is Popery, in its civil and political reLle
ran
ciie .n is flood of Gothic conquerors that over-
tile -
v'elao Roman Empire, and tattled down in

Rome, and being unable to bring the masses of the popula-
tion back to Paganism, they had sufficient influence to
graft upon a Christianity, already far declined, not a few
of their heathen rites and observances, and thus produced
the anti-christian mongrel Popery. Now we read in Rev.
xiii. 3, 4,.7 :—" All the world wondered after the beast ;"
" and they worshipped the beast," and again "power
was given him over all kindreds and tongues, and nations,
and all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him."
And again, Rev. xvii. 2, " The kings of the earth," and
" the inhabitants of the earth " are represented as made
drunk with the wine of her fornication. The application
of this is to be found in the fact of the Popes in the middle
ages putting their feet upon the necks of mighty kings,
and the almost unlimited influence which Romanists
themselves boast the Pope and their clergy have over '
them. Ninthly—The blasphemous names that it assumes.
Of the beast that came up out of the sea we read, Rev. xiii.
1, that he had " upon his head the name blasphemy," and
of the woman, Rev. xvii. 3, we are told she was full of
names of blasphemy." Now, to pass by such names as
our Lord God the Pope," "another God on earth," and
such like given to him and assumed by him, we refer to the
title by which he is universally known. In that most
exalted of all the visions of the Almlghty with which man
has ever been favoured, that given in Isaiah vi., the highest
of the Heavingly hosts cover their faces with their wings, and
cry "Holy, holy, holy, is theLordof Hosts." God is said to be
"love." He is infinite and perfect in all his attributes,
but holiness is the only one that is thrice repeated, and
thus applied to him, as if to teach us that, of all the per-
fections of the Divine Being, holiness is that one pecu-
liarly and especially his. He is "the Holy One of Israel."
Well, what is the title of the Pope ? We stop not to
inquire what sort of man he is. He is a man, with all
the infirmities of humanity, and yet ventures to assume
the peculiar title of the Great God and to call himself
" his holiness " the Pope. —Tenthly, He usurps the pre-
rogatives and powers of God. The little horn was to
speak great words against the Most High, Daniel vii 25.
And as " the man of sin," "as God, sitteth in the temple
of God, showing himself that he is God." The applica-
tion of this, mark, is the fact that the Pope usurps the
infallibility of God the Father, re-enacts the perfect and
finished sacrifice of the Son, and altogether does away, by
the fires of purgatory, with the sanctifying work of God
the Spirit, and, in general, claims the powers of God upon
the earth, according to the words of Clement VII.—" As
there is but one God in heaven, so there is not, nor ought
to be of right, but one God on the earth."—Eleventh;
Persecution : The little horn of Daniel was to "wear out
the saints of the Most High." The woman was " drunken
with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs
of Jesus," Rev. xvii. 6 ; and, when destroyed, in her will
be "found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all
that were slain upon the earth." Rev. xviii. 24. On this
point, whether we look into the nature of Popery, or into
her principles, as taught by her infallible councils and
divines, or into her practices for many centuries, where
she had the power, she stands before us as the literal em-
bodiment of the language of prophecy.—Twelfth," Doc-
trines of devils," or demons ; the demons of, the heathen
being identical with the saints and intercessors of the
Church of Rome.— Thirteenth, " Forbidding to marry,"
which some Romish priest will perhaps explain.—Four-
teenth, " Commanding to abstain from meats," or the
fastings of the Papacy.---Fifteenth, Lying wonders and
pretended miracles, Rev. xiii. 14, and xix. 20, of which it
is not necessary to make any application.—And,- lastly,
" Having their -conscience seared with a hot iron," 1 Tim.
iv. 2, upon which supposition done we can account for
men who boast' to be consistent members of the one
Catholic Church, which we are told is every where the
same, shouting for civil and religious liberty in England,
and, with the same breath, vindicating the tyranny and
persecutions of the continent. Such are some of the
conclusive marks by which we prove the Church of Rome ;
to be the Apostasy of the Scriptures.
Our :fourth point is, that this apostasy is to be destroyed.
It is not to be reformed 'nor pardoned, but destroyed. Of
the little horn we aretdd, Dan. vii., 11, 12 : " I beheld
even` ill'the beast was'ilein and his body destroyed,-and
given to the burning 'flame. As concerning the rest -of
thebeasts, they had their dominion taken away ; yet their
lives were prolonged fer a season and a time." In -Rev.
"The ten horns' shall hate the woman and make
her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh and burn
:her with fire ;" and throughout the whole of the eighteenth
'chapter of Revelations her complete destruction :is re-
*.peatedly stated; and in the nineteenth chapter the beast
'and false prophet are " cast alive into a lake of fire 'burn-
'ing with brimstone. " It is remarkable that in evens place
the destruction ie said to be by fire, from which some have
concluded that Rome will be destroyed by a volcanic erup-
tion, and that-the- judgment will be so signalas to give a
deadly blow to' the system throughout the woeld, Who,
then, shall condemn us for exposing what Caed-hireself has
thus destined to ruin.
The fifth poititis, the period of its continuance. With
reference to ourlGord's coming to. suffer, thereis but one
passage which fives the exact time, but with respect to
his coming he bring in his kingdom and overthrow anti-
Christ, there are many. Thus, in the eighth chapter of
Daniel, in the wision of the Persian ram'and the rough
goat, which is the King of Grecia, there is et,irne marked
in the 14th verse—namely, 2,300 days. - Insneply to the
question put la the twelfth chapter of Daniel---" How long
should it be to the end of these wonders f" There is a
three-fold answer given :"A time, times, -and a half ;"
"A thousand-two hundred and ninety-daysei" and again,
"A thousand. -three hundred and five arleithirty days."
In 2 Peter, -fiiird chapter, in exposing the ,scoffers who
denied the promise of Christ's coming, he -says " One day
is with the Lad as a thousand years, and a thousand years
as one day." Apparently a calculation of some kind about
the comhag•Of Christ, which these men denied, and drawn
from creakortio which they had referred. -lithe eleventh
of Revelationthe two witnesses prophecy :in 'mekloth, " A
thousand twiihundred and three score days:" In the same
chapter the-holy city is trodden down qorty-and-two
mouths." hin the twelfth of Revelationsliu two places,
t the church pis preserved from the great red, dragon for " a
thousand twdbundred and three score days; and for "a
time, timea.,-wad a half," and in the thirteenth chapter the
beast out -of tke sea has power for "forty-twr. months."
Now, we tike " a time' to be a year Of twelve months,
and a month -to be thirty days "a time, times, and a
half," fertyst,wo months, and a thousand two leundred and
three score days, are one and the sameperiod. The pro-
phetic language " a day " means a year. "Thwwhen Ezek.,
c. 4, was commanded to lie 290 days ,on Iris side ; and,
again, 40,days, he is told that it means 2911 years, and 40
years, "enanday for a year." The 70 weeks that Daniel
said were determined before Christ should tonee were 490
years, that .18,-.a day for a year. Here, then.ime have ten
periods noted in different places, but all about the same
time, and referring to the same thing With a certain prin-
ciple of interpretation ; and the only ques.tion'le, where are
we to begin-to reckon them. The main feabiee of Popery
is the power and pretensions of the Pope e all the rest is
mere detail. lf, 'then, we can safely fix-the time when he
first assumed his peculiar powers. the rest is- a mere mat-
ter of calculetion. About the year 530 :these-: powers ap-
pear to have been given by the Emperor Justinian, and
reckoning from -this 1,260 years, will bring ue,to 1790, the
period of the French Revolution, when France, the eldest
son of the Church, rebelled against the Papacy, and be-
came as a nation infidel ; 1,290 years brings .as down to
1820, the revolta "Greece, and the beginning of the break-
ing up of the Turkish power ; and 1,335 to '18(5, which,
if 530 is the starting point, will undonietedlybe about the
long-looked-for.period of the coming of our Lord, which
is to effect the utter ruin of Babylon ; then,-2,800 years
spoken of in conneeion with the Persian ram, if -we date
from the expedition of Xerxes to Greece, A.D. 480, will
bring us tolB2o e.and it is worthy of remark that the
language in Dan. 11, where the 1,290 days eis noted,
refers " to the dellysacrifice," as does that of the Btlic.,
13th and 14111 v., and -both terminate in 1820-a Turkey
being the power by which Jerusalem is trodden down, and
that year being-the beginning of its end. The passage in
2d Peter, 3, of one day being as a thousand years, and
a thousand years as one:day, in the connexion -in ethich it
stands, would seem-to countenance the interpretation that
each day represents a thousand years ; the beginaing of
the seventh thousand would introduce the railleniura. of
rest, during whiela Satan is to be bound, and ChristAs
to
reign. According-to the-Hebrew calculation, 4,138
.years
passed before Christ, and 1,858 added to that would ihring
us within nine years. of the milienium of rest. Beeidossall
this, the fulfilment of prophecy places us now under -the
last of the vials of ills wrath that are to be poured :upon
his enemies.
The sixth point is, that the oxtiaction of this apostasy
will be effected by the. coming of .our Lord ; in proof of
which the lecturer quoted the passages already re-
ferred to—Daniel 7th, 2d Thes.;_2, 2d Peter 3, and to
Revelations 19th, all of which fully eproved his position.
Having thus laid downinsix generalpoints the course of
events we are led to expeet from the:Scriptures,. namely,
that the Kingdom of Christ is destine el to be universal—
that, before this, a great, .desolating, and wide-spread
:apostasy from the faith is .to arise —.that the Church
of Rome is that apostasy that it -is .doorned to utter
.ard awful destruction—that before it ;ht.gins to decline
14260 years are to elapse, and 1,335 before its final extinc-
tion, and that simultaneously with its end will be the
coning and kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ—we come
now to examine the signs of the present times, as indi-
cating a near approach of that glorious period. Having
simply given the view of events predicted -,in the Scrip-
tures, only such signs shall now lee noticed as,are given
there. The first sign of the times Is drawn from ,the state
of the Jews, and the interest felt in them by the people of
God. to the hundred and- second Psalm, the Mowing
record is made concerning them e—That they shall be dis-
persed anti judged for a lengthened period—that God will
"havemeroynpon them"—that He leas "a set time to favour
them"--that when God visits them with mercy, "the
heathen shell fear His name, and all the kings of the
earth His glory"—that the sign of this time of blessing
to Zion will be when His "servants take pleaeure in her
stones, and favour the dust thereof—that
then exert them-w
,
selves for the good of this dispers people e
are told, " This shall be written for the generations to
come, that the people which shall be created may praise
the Lord." The same view of their case is given in Ezekiel,
36th and 38th chapters—their literal return to their own
land being most fully and pointedly revealed ; and lest
any should say that all this is long since accomplished,
Paul repeats it in the eleventh of Romans, where lie says :
" If the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the
moredimi theirnishin rliewheosuiodf tnhoet,Gbernettihlesre,
ul,lo ni
twhatneyhe
g of them
the
ess of the Gentiles
should be ignorant of this mystery, that blindness in part
is happened to Israel until the fuln
conversion be come. Such is the sign. What is
be come in"—i. e., till the full time of the world's
the fulfilment ? Is there no change in the position and
treatment of the Jews ? Why, for centuries no man
seemed to care for their souls • either men thought them
not worth saving, or that it could not be done ; no attempt
was made. They were a reproach and a proverb, and a
curse among the nations. Look at them non'. Politically
they are everywhere holding up their heads. At this
moment a Jew is one of the representatives elected by
London—the metropolis of the world. A few years ago
(1838), the Church of Scotland established the first Jewish
mission, whilst now there is scarcely a church that has
not a special mission to this people, and that mission the
most favoured of the whole. In Palestine, in the last few
years, they have increased from 2,000 to 20,000; whilst
in the increased facilities of transit from place to place, it
would seem as if men were unconsciously preparing for
the fulfilment of prophecy on the return of the Jews to
their own land at the set time. .
The second sign of the times is the universal preaching
Of the goopeL We do not give this because it is a means