'exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of 'the world, and the glory of them; and saith unto him, all these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me." (Matt. iv. 8.) Now the tempter knew to whom he was speaking, even to God himself; and it is clear that as this his claim to the kingdoms of the world and their glory, was boldly made, and not denied by him whom he was endeavouring to tempt, that the claim was considered good by both parties. But in another place, Christ openly acknowledges the lordship of Anti-Christ: Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the Prince of this World be cast out; and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.' (John xii. 31.) A gracious and glorious promise, enspiriting us with a certain hope, that in due time he who was lifted up, that is, Christ crucified, not Christ arrayed in purple and gold,-will draw all the sons of men into his real Church, a Church of suffering and humility, not of riches and of power.

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As Christ has conceded this world to Anti-Christ without dispute, so has he in broad plain terms denied that he himself had any right to the lordships of his rival. MY KINGDOM IS 'NOT OF THIS WORLD.' (John xviii. 36.) *Seven words of such mighty import, and such transcendent doctrine to all believers, that they may be considered as the seven candlesticks, in the midst of which the Son of man was seen walking in heaven, by the Prophet of Patmos. They are the glorious lights that lighten the true Church, in every corner of her sacred edifice; and as long as they burn steadily, the powers of darkness can never prevail against her. It is, however, the chief aim of AntiChrist to extinguish these lights; Satan, (which is Anti-Christ,) together with his consort, the Babylonian woman, busy themselves day and night to prevent their burning, so as to be seen of men; but as the spark of heaven cannot be extinguished, all that they can do with all their malice, is to hide them under a bushel, and under a bushel they are at present in the Church of England, as we shall presently discover.

First, however, let us consider more fully the enmity between the world and the true Church. Christ said to his disciples: If 'the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated 'you; if ye were of the world, the world would love his own : but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.' (John xv. 19.)— In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I 'have overcome the world, -the world by wisdom knows not 'God.' (1. Cor. 1. 21.) 'Be not conformed to this world.'

* Omitting the particles, there is the same number of words in the Greek,

(Rom. 2.) Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world; if any man love the world, the love of the father is "not in him.' (1. John ii. 15.) 'Ye adulterers and adultresses, know ye not that the friendship of this world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.' (James iv. 4.) To multiply these texts is superfluous; every one, the least acquainted with Scripture, will remember how often this doctrine is insisted on. But we must also see, whether the primitive Christians could stand this test of their faith. St. John says 'we are made a spectacle unto the 'world, to angels, and to men,' (I. Cor. iv. 9.)—and how the world treated him, we see in this passage,—even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffetted, and have no certain dwelling-place; and labour, working with our own hands,—we are made as the filth of the earth, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.' (1. Cor. iv.) -Enough, therefore, and more than enough has been said, to shew that the believers who constitute the true Church, must be separated from the world, leaving that province for the majesty of Anti-Christ, to whom it exclusively belongs. What, then, shall we say of the Church of England in this respect? Not only has it an immense proportion of worldly wealth and worldly power, but all the practises, habits, and inclinations of its priests, are in strict friendship with the world; and more than that, multitudes of these priests boldly preach from the pulpit, that it is lawful and laudable, nay, that it is a duty to be conformed to this world: and those who think friendship with this world enmity with God, they brand with the name of methodists, puritans, calvinists, fanatics, or any other nickname that vice can suggest. I have heard clergymen frequently advocate friendship with the world as a duty, and here, at any rate, they are sincere, for you will find their faith and their practice in perfect harmony: you will find these perverters of the Gospel sedulous at the card-table, diligent in the ball-room, laborious in field-sports, active at dinner parties, industrious at the theatre, and inseparable from every scene of pleasure, this sort of life they call innocent amusements, and so much is said on this subject now-a-days by the profligate Clergy, that we might suppose they had been ordained for the ministry of innocent amusements,' rather than for the ministry of Christ's cross and tribulations. But in vain do the evangelical Clergy protest against this infringement of the laws of Christ, in vain do they preach from their despised pulpits'whosoever is born of God overcometh the world, and this is the 'victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.' (1. John, v. For the profligate Clergy,-who, compared with their evangelical brethren, are six to one,-have the world on their side, and never cease day nor night their open warfare against the Gospel, which they debase by their conduct, and insult by their doctrine.—

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4.)

Having thus set before you the touchstone of sincerity, wherewith to judge the true Church, let us imagine what would have been the language of our Saviour, in addressing the company of the faithful, assembled after his resurrection to receive his parting blessing.

O ye, whom I have chosen out of this world, to form the 'body of holiness upon earth, know that with you, and you only, 'dwell all the mercies of God, all the treasures of grace, and all 'the glory of sanctification. For you have I lived a painful life upon earth; for you have I borne the taunts, and insults, and 'malice of a wicked world; for you have I died, and bled, and descended into hell; for you have I wrestled with the great dragon, and slain him by my obedience to the will of God: by my humility have I gained the battle; by my gentleness have I triumphed; by my meekness I am more than conqueror. Death and sin, the world, and all false religions, are prostrate at my 'feet; and though we are a little flock, trembling in a corner, ' and hunted down by the Priests and Princes of this world, yet, ' remember my words,—in the end I will conquer them all,—and in spite of the fury of my enemies, and the subtilty of my 'adversaries, I will trample down all opposition, and glorify my 'Church with the crown of peace and meekness; and make her more powerful, than any of the false idols of gold and silver which the world loveth. But what I have been, that you must • be.

The world hated me, the world will hate you; if you would take part in my resurrection, you must be planted also in the likeness of my death; and to this world you must die, that over 'this world you may triumph. They will persecute you with fire ' and with sword; they will spoil your goods; rob you of your reputation; shut you up in prisons; put your feet in the stocks; 'load you with reproaches; and make your name a by-word and 'reproach amongst men. They will drive you out from house and home; ; your fathers and your mothers will hate and curse you; your wives will become your enemies; and your husbands will 'deliver you up to death. Sharp and bloody is the sword that I send upon earth: the world will endeavour to extirpate you; nothing short of utter destruction will ever satisfy them; every thing that you love shall be taken from you; and every thing 'that you hate shall be your daily companion. I promise you 'nothing in this world but pain, poverty, cruelty, malice, and 'unutterable afflictions. My Church must be sanctified by sorrow; all my ministers must be made holy by adversity; the more I chasten, the more I love: I have three handmaids, the 'paranymphs of my beautiful bride, and their names are Faith, Hope, and Charity, but even these three I will cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace, that they also may be tried like gold in the fire. All my gold is proved in the furnace of affliction ; 'and when I make up my jewels this shall be my most splendid ‘ornament. When my enemy, the Devil, has done all that he can

'to prevail against my Church with cruelty, he will change his 'policy and begin his second battle by the tactics of prosperity and 'worldly comforts. This is his worst stratagem, and sad will be 'the ruin that he causes thereby to my flock. Ten may fall away for persecution, but a thousand will desert me for wealth. "By this, his most subtle machination, I shall at last have scarcely seven thousand men left me that do not bow the knee to Baal; ' and the glorious light of the Gospel will well nigh be extinguished, 'when it had been set up as a light to lighten every nation upon ' earth. But still my true Church must exist, though reduced to a remnant, and again I will bring it forth even out of riches; and having saved her from the friendship of the world, I will, at 'the end of all things, make her triumph over the world. False 'Christs and false prophets will arise at all times, and in all 'countries; they will say lo here! and lo there! but believe them 'not; look narrowly at them, see if the world loves them and approves them, mark if all men speak well of them, and worship 'them, and fall down before them, and offer them incense and ' riches. If they come with observation, and pomp, and power; if they are fenced with carnal munitions and secular aggrandise'ments, then are they impostors and Anti-Christs. Flee from 'such with all your strength. Fear not, little flock, I will not ' desert you. I will cull you out of the tares, I will find you in 'the cottages, in the dungeons, in the desert; I will visit you on the gibbets, or in the jail; I will come to you though you be 'chained to the oar as galley-slaves, or working in the sewers of 'the cities-wherever ye are, there am I: I will speak to you, ' and you shall hear me, even at the faggot, amidst multitudes of ⚫ enemies; or in the howling wilderness, where no human creature is to be seen. However low, or despised, or poor, however 'vile, or slandered, or calumniated, I will love and cherish 6 you; and sooner shall the sun forsake the heavens, and the • moon her habitation in the skies, than I forsake my true • Church, which, at the end of all things, I will present without 'blemish to the Eternal Father.'

Hear, now, how Anti-Christ addresses his Church. "O beautiful 6 spouse, clothed in scarlet, and decked with gold and precious 'stones and pearls, behold from the top of this high mountain all 'the kingdoms of the world and the glory thereof. The best part of these fine provinces I will give thee, the fairest portion of 'every kingdom shall be thine. Behold the fields yellow for the harvests; see redundant wealth teeming in every pasture, and look at the cattle on a thousand hills: the tenth of all things ' under the heavens shall be thine, I will give to thee of fatness ' of the land, and pour into thy cup the hid treasures of the earth. Others shall plough but thou shalt reap, others shall plant but 'thou shalt gather, others shall trim the vines but thou shalt drink of the grape, others shall toil but thou shalt be fed with their

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"labours. Thou hast nothing in the world to do but to sit down 'on soft cushions and be praised of men, to hear thy eulogies every morning, and rejoice in thine incense every night. I will make 'thee honored for thine antiquity, thy high pedigree, and thy fine-sounding title, the heralds shall busy themselves about thy 'quarterings, and there shall be no base blood in thee. Kings shall be thy nursing fathers and queens thy nursing mothers, ' and those not allegorical kings and queens, but crowned monarchs 'of flesh and blood, rich, haughty, and powerful. Behold that 'splendid retinue of ancient nobility, dukes, princes, and barons!» 'I give them all to thee; I give thee the flower of all earth's 'chivalry-I give thee the strength of arms, the sword, the shield, and the battle. No base thing shall come nigh thee, no slave, no beggar, no bondsman; but all shall be rich, high-born, and 'fashionable. Thy levees shall be attended by the princes, the 'governors, the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces: they shall 'all bring gifts, thou shalt praise them, and they shall praise thee. • Whatever thou sayest shall be law, all thy lies shall be taken for 'truth, and all truths spoken against thee shall be considered lies. 'Thou shalt be toll-taker of the great broad road that leadeth to 'destruction. I give thee millions of souls of men for thy dowry, and if that will not satisfy thee, I will give thee hundreds of 'millions. Thou shalt never be annoyed by opposition, for I have a standing army of slanders and persecution to overwhelm 'those that wag the tongue against thee. The world shall always support thee; thou shalt have thy fill of pleasures, and 'revel in all manner of luxuries; thou shalt be ignorant of tribu'lation and woe, for thy portion shall be dancing and singing. -Added to all this, I present thee with a rich Priesthood, to 'amuse thee with superstitions and bigotry. They shall know 'nothing but what thou teachest them through the medium of the senses, and thy religion shall be founded on the senses only. I give thee glorious Cathedrals, long-sounding aisles, gloomy vistas of ancient masonry, solemn choirs, and pathetic organs. 'Thou shalt pratically confute that heresy that God is a spirit,' and shalt on the contrary prove him to be corporeal; every thing 'theatrical in religion shall be thine, processions, long robes, wax candles, and mitres. I will seal up the bible, that book of libels 'on thy majesty, and teach traditions of men and man's inventions in its stead. All this I will do, and I swear by Mammon, I will 'to the very last persecute with fire and with sword all those that 'oppose thee.'

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II. Anti-Christ at Jerusalem before the coming of Christ.

It is a prime deceit of Anti-Christ to persuade men that if the externals of a Church remain the same as they appeared at the first commencement of the Church, then that Church is good, and