of Judah dates from B. C. 606.

Add the present year

of our Lord 1897, and it will make 2,503 years. This leaves only seventeen years, before the "seven times" will expire. But it is now known that the calendar needs to be corrected by four years. Do this and we

shall have the end of the "seven times" about the year 1914. Somewhere near this period He "whose right it is" will come, and God says, "I will give it Him." That is, David's son shall receive the kingdom and shall sit upon the throne of his father.

Therefore we decide from all these arguments that we are not only living in the "last days," but we are near the time when all the great events shall take place which are to precede the coming of our Lord. The gospel will reach all nations in a very short time. The revival of interest in missionary work means that all peoples will soon hear of Christ our Lord. The Papacy is already humiliated and neglected by the nations. It is true the "Man of Sin" is making fearful efforts to rehabilitate himself, and recover his lost prestige; yet these very efforts will be the last struggle to arouse the world for his final overthrow. His civil power is already destroyed; his spiritual will soon vanish. One more calamity will be visited on him, at the proper time, and prophecy in regard to him will be fulfilled. The Lord will end that anomaly, the great apostasy. The Israelites from all parts of the world will immigrate to their own country; they shall seek their own King, and He will respond to their desire and restore them to favor. The theocracy, which was overthrown by Saul's setting up his kingdom,

shall be re-established under the Prince who shall

upon His shoulder and of the increase of His government

take "the government

and peace there shall be no end."

LECTURE XV

"" BEHOLD, I MAKE ALL THINGS NEW"

A dilapidated palace. Such is the world. Man groans under the burden of life. The earth is cursed. It is in ruins. Man created good and happy. The useful and ornamental departments were perfect. Man fell, and everything went down with him. Promise of restitution of all things. (1 The earth will be renewed. (2) Animals will have a change of nature. (3) Man's condition shall be elevated. (4) God shall dwell with men in the restitution of all things. (5) Labor no longer a curse. David's throne is to be set up, and his Son will reign thereon.

SUPPOSE you were traveling in a foreign country, and should come upon a vast dilapidated palace. The wall of the outer court in places is leveled with the ground; at others half broken down. Here lies the remains of a magnificent column, with its highly carved capital by its side. There is a broken arch. Here a tower half destroyed; yet enough remaining to show what a great work of art it was when in its former state. On entering, you find room after room in utter and hopeless ruin. However, here and there you discover a hall or chamber that still retains some of its former splendor. Most of it seems beyond recovery. In viewing it your heart would be filled with sad reflections on its departed glory, and you would think how magnificent it must have been when the architect gave the last touch to his glorious work. You almost imagine that you could reproduce the whole once more. You would wonder why such a stupendous structure should be permitted to crumble into dust.

Such is the picture of this world. It is evidently lying in ruins. Here and there are monuments of its proud magnificence, but most of it is but a wreck of its former greatness. If we knew nothing from revelation of the fall of man, and yet understood that God was a God of goodness and love, we should have little difficulty in arriving at the former truth. For here is man, created in the image of his Maker, one of the most remarkable sufferers in the universe. The truth is, man has fallen and groans under heavy burdens. All the world is a practical illustration of the curse that has fallen on the race. Man labors and toils in pain and anguish all his days. Not only so, but all animals feel the hardship of his condition; they share his sufferings; they groan under similar burdens. And he, but little superior in some respects, appears to come on the stage of action only for the purpose of sickening and dying. Oh, how true it is that multitudes are born into the world to remain a day and depart! Those who have a longer tenure of life carry with them the signs of suffering and decay. Every heart is pierced with a thorn. The exterior may betoken joy, but there is a worm within, which is destroying life itself. The countenance may feign pleasure, but the spirit is sad. The earth itself, inanimate, has not escaped the common havoc. It brings forth sparingly. It takes much pain and labor to persuade it to make suitable provision for man's wants. Large portions produce nothing, being deserts and wildernesses. But here and there we find traces of its former splendor and glory. Here and there are some things which are

saved from utter ruin. There are beauties in nature which are relics of what earth once was. We can look on these and form some idea of what this world was, before the curse pronounced on it by the Almighty. But its pains and sorrows, its tears, its anguish, its poverty and misery, all show us how much of its former glory has departed. Its towers lie in the dust; its vast arches are broken, and its whole beauty marred. Let us turn to revelation, and refer to that sealing expression of the Lord, when He created the world. with all things therein: "God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was VERY GOOD;" not only good, but very good. There was nothing to mar this great and glorious work. Everything was perfect. There was not one thing lacking that would add to the happiness of God's creatures. So far as we can see, man himself was made to live forever. There was nothing to cause pain or sorrow. There were no tears in those days. The creature lived in direct intercourse and communion with his Creator. His soul was full of the love of God as his Father. Moreover, there was no sickness, and consequently no death. There were no vacant seats at table in those

days. The family was one. There were no painful separations, no anxieties or fears; but all was happiness and peace and blessedness.

There was no such

So with the animal kingdom. thing as one preying on the other. But they lived as a happy family. The lion and the lamb would lie down together; the bear and the kid were not enemies. The whole were as one family, dwelling in love in