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< 5 hufr £ h . ftfc * & tl * fc Entiles after JFerusalem tfj&SJ" % &deduced to ashes , and the Jew ^ fe r&ticnt ia general excluded from the J > Mnfe protection . This jjotii 3 ^ bito £ s tate of Christianity , while
Jeiiisaleifr was reduced to utter desolation , idamense numbers of its inhabitants having perished , and the residue of the people being dispersed and pining in captivity throughout the Roman empire * in conformity with the predictions of Christ and the uncient prophets , must greatly contribute to
promote the belief and increasing influence of his gospel . Whole societies of Christians ^ were formed in many principal cities , and the knowledge of their principles were diffusing in all quarters , while C € not a stone upon a stone" of the Jewish temple was left remaining—precisely as Jesus had predicted . These circumstances
constituted the sign of his coming . But if the predicted " sign of the Son of Man in heavenf * his being " seen coming in the clouds of ' heaven , * and his " sending forth his angels with a great sound of a trumpet" indicate the eireumstefcnces attending the first promulgation Of his gospel , and the calamities of the Jewish nation in
eonsequence of its rejection , it is reasonble to conclude that a corresponding interpretation applies to his actual arrival ** tvith all his holy angels " when he will be " seated upon the throne ^ his gloty . " Oil this occasion ll i
, anatons are described as actually gathered before Mm , consisting , of course , of characters of various descriptions , but which he separates into two classes ; those whose sympathies are congenial with his own , and those who have no sympathies in common with him . And it
appears evident that while the first class of persons , in proportion as they are actuated by those sympathies , either are , or may easily be , rend £ * ed Jlie subjects of his kingdom , the latter , in proportion to their want of such sympathies , are . inadmissible into it . In the interval bietwefcn the
introduction of Ms goipel and its filial prevalence , represented m the preceding parable of < c a man travelling int ® a far country /*'" m > * doctrine , lik ^ leaven , diffused HS » % tateaee ? but tib& ptfpuUinty of his ra < m # j&xjeriding with greater rapidity than the genuine knowledge and spirit of hfe infctruetiorife , nominal
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Christian have increased , and nominal churches iisett up and flourished , miidi faster than individuals and societies 6 f real JChristians . Many also may have cultivated dispositions congenial wi $ h Christiamty , to whom it was never
revealed . But all persons may be ^ distinguished either by their actual conformity to the gospel , by dispositions congenial with its dictates , 6 r by their propensities to conform to the principles and requisitions of authorities different from , and adverse to it ; £ hd
whose influence must impair or destroy thfeir sympathy for every person and every thing cbnnected with true Christianity . These authorities , or the antiehristian characteristics appertaining to them , appear to be designated by " the Devil and his angels . "
MmVvnvi fXT ^ kYvr ^^ rv *^ / -ilin /\« tiT / i . i 4-1- % * -t 4- CC < ± \ m . »» Bishop Newton observes , that r the Roman empire is prefigured by the attributes of * the great red dragon , ' Rev . xii . 3 : " and , on ver . 9 , he adds , tlfcit
" our Saviour said unto his disciples , casting devils ( demons ) out of the bodies of men , Luke x . 18 , ' I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven / In the same figure , Satan fell from
heaven , and was east out into the earth , when he was thrust out of the imperial throne , ' and his angete were cast bu $ with him ; ' not only the Heathen priests and officers , civil and military , were cashiered , but their very gods an $ demons , who before were adored for
their divinity , becarqe th £ subjects of contempt and execration /* The Bishop appears , indeed , to have believed in the existence of a potent , invisible spirit from which this symbol of the dragon was taken : but is there any more reason to believe in a real
personage of Ihis description , than in spiritual brings corresponding with the other bez ( sts described in the Apoca ^ lypse , and which interpreters are agreed in regarding as merely emblematical of ruling authorities on earth ?—In Rev . xix ., a most destructive battle is
described between " the King qf ki ^ gs and the beast aqd the kings of $ 6 earth and their armies / ' the rfe $ i # t of whteh was , that " the ? beast artot tfhe false ' totophet were ( afcen tatfl 44 &fi 4 j ) ity& into & lake of fir £ l >* n «** g ^*^ J >«« ii stone . " Can this ^ e ^ WHjUlfy ahy other than the X ^^ J ^ M ^ jM rpfsfalf , by whiclV these pVmdp ^ qP ^ ppr ^ ssSPon rfM delusion # efe W&mffl * i « M % ^ jsfroy ^ d ? AYhSh tKia 1 % cS ^ pSB ^ iviiE
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Pa ® fag& ty&&ipttire opposed to relate id Ftoti&e &urti £ tiititm . 343
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1820, page 343, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2489/page/19/
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