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DISCOURSE IV.

(PREACHED AS THE FIRST OF A SERIES OF PROPHETIC DISCOURSES, IN THE NATIONAL SCOTCH CHURCH, IMMEDIATELY UPON ITS OPENING, 7TH JUNE, 1827.)

THE DRYING UP OF THE EUPHRATES.

REV. XVI. 12.

And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the cast might be prepared.

AMONGST the students of prophecy, who alone have a right to any car in prophetical issues, and amongst all the writers upon prophecy who have in such numbers published their opinions within these few years, there is a universal agreement in this one point, however they may differ in others, that we are now living under the influence of this sixth vial, waiting daily for the pouring out of the seventh, which is to consummate the wrath of God, and bring his indignation to an end. And, even to spiritual men, who have not made prophecy a study, and are wont to set light by it altogether, so observable since the peace hath the procession and activity of three diverse evil spirits in the church upon the continent become, that after their return

they have said to me, Do'nt you think this is the time of the three unclean spirits?' And no one that heareth me is ignorant how every politician, and statesman, and among others the man who attracteth most eyes at present, continually declareth that the next war which breaketh out will convulse Europe to its centre, and prove, like to no other war that hath been before it, a war not of offence or of defence, but a wasting and convulsing war of opinion; a war not of kings going out to battle for glory, and ambition, and dominion, and spoil, but a war of the people, on the one hand, rising to exterminate tyranny and superstition,-while, upon the other, kings and priests arise to preserve their ancient glory, and to contend for their very existence, against an enlightened, valorous, but irreligious and disloyal people. observers, prophetical, spiritual, and political, do thus consent and agree, with one accord, that the present is a pause of preparation, filled up with the utmost activity; and that we stand upon the eve of a last and awful struggle for the ancient things, a struggle which wisdom may postpone, but which no power earthly can prevent.

All

Perceiving this harmony of conviction and feeling which upon all hands prevaileth, concerning the character and prospect of the times wherein we live, and having an earnest desire to win the Lord's favour towards this house, by some ministrations of a kind the most widely concerning and highly useful to the church and nation of Britain, and indeed to the whole state of Christendom, I have, after mature deliberation, made choice, for the ground and basis of a large discourse, of this sixth vial which, with the rest of

prophetical students, I make no doubt hath been poured out for several years, and is now working up and congregating the materials of that terrible day of God Almighty which is at hand. And being minded to give this subject no slight and passing glance, but to sift it thoroughly, and treat it largely, according to the importance of the matters therein contained, and the awful events thereon about to issue, I do the more earnestly pray and beseech the eternal Father and Fountain of truth, and Jesus Christ the true light which lighteth every man that is enlightened, to send forth into my heart the Spirit of truth, "which sheweth things to come," that I may see afar off the coming night and the coming day, and acquit me of my charge as a watchman upon the walls of Zion: for well do I know that it is not given to human sagacity to interpret, as to human sagacity it was not given to indite these Holy Oracles; especially those parts of them which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived; but God revealeth them unto us by his Spirit, for the Spirit. searcheth all things, yea the deep things of God. And I further pray the Lord God Almighty, that he would keep away all obstructions of passion, and prejudice, and error, all interruptions of worldly business, and visitations of overwhelming distress, and especially defend my soul from these three spirits concerning which I am to discourse, that I may be at peace within myself, and filled with wisdom to instruct his church of that terrible day of his wrath, which is about to fall down upon us, and to warn them against those emissaries of Satan which are besieging every man with his most appropriate temptation, if pos

sible to withdraw the very elect from the promise and expectation of His coming.

This sixth vial, under which we shall find that all the conspicuous events of these times, with the secret spiritual operations unseen but universally felt, will easily arrange themselves, consisteth of four parts. First, That which concerneth the river Euphrates, where the wrath or indignation contained in the vial was poured out: "And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared." ver. 12.-Secondly, That which relateth the procession of the three unclean Spirits: "And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty." ver. 13, 14.Thirdly, That which admonisheth the church of her Lord's long delayed coming: "Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame." ver. 15.-Fourthly, The place and the fact of the evil congregation of the kings of the earth, and of the whole world: "And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon." ver. 16.-In order to understand the three last of these subjects, and especially to fix their time, it is most necessary for a clear and accurate definition of them, as well as for the complete exposition of the whole passage, to attend most carefully

to the first also; which gives the visible historical event, to mark out the time, at which this invisible operation of the three evil spirits, and the solicitous invocation of the Head of the church take place. For without this contemporaneous historical event of the wasting away of the waters of the Euphrates, through the activity of the evil spirits to mislead, and the earnest warning of Christ to prepare for his coming, might have been felt, as every one must feel them at this moment; yet would it not have been possible to convince the sceptical, who requires visible demonstration, nor even to guide the spiritual, who are apt to lose themselves in vague mysticism, nor in any way to guess at or determine the duration of this interval preparatory to the crisis, had it not been for the great historical facts contained in the first part of the vial concerning the river Euphrates, to which every eye is at present turned; and which on all these accounts we must be both diligent and patient to unfold.

Now, in entering upon the consideration of the twelfth verse, which concerneth the river Euphrates, it is necessary before all, that you should understand that this book of the Apocalypse is written throughout in symbolical language, which must be interpreted from an ample and exact knowledge of the other Scriptures, from which these symbols are derived; and being so interpreted, must be rigorously used in the same undeviating sense throughout the whole of the book. Wherever, for example, the beast with seven heads and ten horns occurreth upon the stage this prophetical history or drama of the church, and it occurreth no less than three different times,

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