Those who refuse homage are God's elect:-" And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (ver. 8).

There follows a voice of warning that the weapons of the saints' warfare are not carnal, and that those who resort to carnal warfare will suffer for it; also that faithful endurance is the lot of the saints:-" If any man have an ear, let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity; he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints" (ver. 9, 10).

No mention is here made of the ten crowned horns, because it is they who constitute the revived beast, and in the aspect here given they are all of one mind. The ten kingdoms continued Papal throughout their history.

The next vision was that of the Papal beast :-" And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth, and them which dwell therein, to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the

beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he caused all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six" (Rev. xiii. 11–18).

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The ecclesiastical character of this beast is signified by the two lamb-like horns. It is equivalent to the overseer's eyes in Daniel's little horn. As a beast he is a secular sovereign. His lamb-like horns make him an ecclesiastic. He is the Roman episcopate become a temporal sovereignty. It grew up gradually, as a plant does out of the earth. The root is put in first, remains for a while unperceived, and then gradually rises to the surface and grows to maturity.

"He spake like a dragon," misrepresenting God, and tainting and corrupting man as "the great dragon" did our first parents.

He was to be in friendly union and co-operation with the revived empire :-" And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth, and them which dwell therein, to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed" (ver. 12).

How remarkably the Papacy strengthened the hands of secular sovereignty, and at the same time made it the instrument of its own designs!

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Another of its remarkable features was its lying wonders. Propped up by these, and supported by the "secular arm," it transformed the Christian ministry into the image of secular power, becoming, according to its own definition, the Romana Curia :-" And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast, saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast which had the wound by a sword, and did live" (ver. 13, 14).

This image of the beast was animated with great vigour by the Papacy, and its power was employed to overwhelm all opposition:-" And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he caused all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name" (ver. 15-17).

Wherever Romanism has had power it has accomplished all this. In every place and at all times it has striven after it.

The apostle then gives an enigma by which to dis

cover who the beast is: "Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six" (ver. 18).

"Wisdom" (oopía) appears to be used here in a technical sense for that which makes the riddle.

"Understanding" (vous) for the sagacity that discovers its meaning. The number of the name must be 666. It must also be the number of a man. Latinus answers both those conditions, and is most remarkably the designation of both Church and State during the Middle Ages. Latin was the language of literature, and of all public documents. It was the language of public worship and of theology. The only Bible in the hands of the priesthood was Latin. During the Crusades "the Latins" designated the Western armies, as "the Greeks" did the Eastern Christians. As the head of the Western nations, France gave the Latins in the East the name of Franks, but the name universally applicable was the Latins. In Greek letters Latinus make 666 :

The revived empire and the Papacy thus fulfil all the conditions of this awful prediction. The doom of both rapidly hastens on.

THE SEALED ONES SEEN IN HEAVEN.

THE former vision closes with the devil's mark upon the foreheads of the Papal followers-Latinus: in this one we have those who have the Lord's mark upon them.

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