Second advent library

cuus'r'| noon couuro.MBbroughtstandard and Dan up the rear in the march ofthe Jews through the wi derness. What their severalstandards were, I. cannot tell, except that of Judah,which marched in front, immediately after the ark, whichin all was aprobability lion. And our "iirst beast"under consideration was " like a lion, and the secondbeast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as u man,and the fourth beast was like a.dying eagle." Theserepresent the four grand divisions of the gospel church.The first represents the church in the apostolic age,when the church went forth, bold as a lion, preachingand proclaiming the gospel among all nations. Thesecond state or division of the church was the times oi'persecution and slaughter by the Roman emperors,represented by the caltl The third state of the churchwas in Consta.ntine's day, when the church enjoyedprivileges as a. man, and became independent, and likea natural man, proud, avaricious, and worldly. Thefourth and last state of trial was when the anti-Christianbeast arose ; and, under the scourge of this abomination,the church having two wings given her, like the wingsof an eagle, she flew into the wilderness, where, a placebeing prepared for her, she is nourished from the face ofthe aserpent thousand two hundred and threescoredays, Rev. xii. 6, 14.This of course would include the whole Christianchurch until Christ's second coming, when anti-Christwill be destroyed, and the church delivered from allher foes, and brought into her New Jerusalem state,where John now sees in his vision the whole family ofthe redeemed, singing the grand chorus as in the versesfollowinv' our text. "And I beheld, and I heard thavoice ofa many an els round about the throne, and thebeasts, and the elfers; and the number of them was tenthousand times ten thousands and thousand of thousands."In this vision John has the same view whichDaniel had iuhis vision. See Daniel vii. 10. Danielsaw the same throne, and the same numbers stood beforeit; which proves, almost beyond a doubt that Daniel'|gigiqq on-nas us into the eternal, immortal, and glorified