if they are not interested. These things have been delivered to us that we may be well informed in regard to God's great plans among the nations, his designs for the redemption of our race, and the final restitution of all things. In fact, this subject introduces a child of God more fully into the realm or atmosphere of his Maker, and as it were, makes him a partner in His grand purposes. As God does not treat His children as servants, but as sons or friends, He reveals to them these great and marvelous truths which are spiritually discerned, and of which the world can have no conception. A thorough study of prophecy will have an elevating influence on the true Christian, and will impress him more fully with God's plans than that of any other portion of the Bible.

How shall we profitably prosecute this work? Simply by allowing the Word of God to interpret itself. The hidden meaning of one passage is made plain by another. When a man writes on this topic, he ought to remember he is not a prophet, nor a son of a prophet; he is not an historian, nor has he a new revelation; he is simply an expositor. His work is to try to arrive at the mind of the Spirit when He inspired the sacred writers to pen the words of the text; and to explain them to the comprehension of the people.

He ought not to approach the subject with preconceived views, for he will then turn to the Word of God and try to find passages to prove his theories correct. But he should go to the Bible, the source of all heavenly knowledge, and the only authority for divine things, with an unprejudiced mind, and let it lead him in the path of all truth. He will then be a little child in the hands of the Spirit, and will be taught of Him the true meaning

of His words. He will often find it necessary to change his views, and he will arrive at conclusions he had never anticipated. This plan is hard to carry out, for most of us have opinions of our own, and it is difficult to change them and adopt new ones. Yet this fault lies at the basis of most of the writings which have brought discredit to the study of prophecy. The only safe guide then is to take the Bible as it is, and let it lead us and teach us, and direct us where it will. This course will save us from the wild vagaries of men, and keep us humble in our reliance on God to help us understand His own revelation.

To aid the reader, the author has added a short glossary of prophetical words. These furnish a key that will enable him to understand many occult passages of Scripture. Each word has the text or texts in the Bible where this meaning is given, added to it for reference. A little time spent on the study of these definitions will be profitable to the student.

The author has tried to give proper credit, in all regular quotations from other works; but many points in these chapters are the interpretations which are commonly given by our best writers, and hence are used here not as quotations, but as generally received opinions. To quote all the authors from whom many ideas in this volume have been taken, and defend the same, would make a larger book than the writer thought would be profitable. His view was to give, in as short a space as possible, the prophecies with their scriptural interpretation. With this before his mind, he has classified these various quotations, and, as far as possible, let one portion throw light on another. For the Word of God, under the Holy Spirit's teachings, is the best and most authoritative commentary on itself.

One reason this work is published is the ignorance of the Church on the general subject of prophecy. The average pastor seldom, if ever, preaches a sermon expounding these doctrines of the Bible. As for giving a series of discourses on these various topics, he feels that he can not take the time from his ordinary pulpit and pastoral duties. His hands are full when he prepares two sermons for Sabbath and one or more lectures for week days.

Then to enter on the work of interpreting the prophecies must require a great deal of reading, and close, critical study of the Bible in the original languages, as well as a wide field of historical research. This he is not able

to do. And when we find the preachers not having time for this work, the members of their churches will not be instructed. This will account for the little interest the great body of the Church takes in the subject of prophecy, and their little knowledge on the fulfillment thereof. If the people read books that will enlarge their vision of God's spiritual dealings with his Church and the world, they will be held up to the full discharge of their duties, as they comprehend God's plans in the overthrow of Satan's dominions on earth, and the coming of our Lord to set up His kingdom as the heir to the throne of David. For John says: "Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy

for the time is at hand."

There is a call for a more thorough study of prophecy. The authenticity of the Bible has been attacked, and the very foundations thereof undermined, by a class of writers who pose as the most learned of men, and as the truest friends of the Christian religion. Yet logically they are destroying all credibility of the Scriptures. This is

what the so-called higher critics are now doing. They are unsettling people in their former beliefs, yet giving them nothing which is superior to what they possessed before. Much uncertainty has arisen in the popular mind whether the people shall cling to the old or adopt the new. If they come to the latter conclusion, they will readily see that they have no security that their faith is established on authoritative declarations of the Almighty. The Bible becomes a kind of hodge-podge; a medley of words and thoughts, thrown together without plan or design. The great wisdom of these learned gentlemen has brought forth a new Bible written by unknown authors in an unheardof manner, without inspiration or authority. The antidote to the teachings of these scholarly critics is to come. back to the Word of God and study the proofs furnished in the fulfillment of prophecy that the Scriptures are the product of the Divine mind, and that they have been delivered to honest and faithful men, who wrote them under the superintendence of the Great God Himself. Let any man take up the prophecies which have

already been fulfilled, and then compare them with the histories and other writings, giving a minute account of all the facts in the case, and he must conclude that a Being who knew the end from the beginning indited them. Here is a large field of exploration before students. They will not have gone over it all until their faith in divine revelation will be established. Then let them prepare themselves to advance further, and study carefully all those prophecies which relate to the future, and they will find an ocean of thought opening up to them. Their faith in God will increase; they will comprehend in part some of the grand designs of the Lord, and will receive the Scriptures as verbally inspired.

The object in publishing this little volume is to try to add something to the generally received interpretation of the prophecies. The writer has been greatly profited by reading many works on this subject. Now if, in turn, he can aid others in the study and interpretation of God's truth, and can enlarge their vision of spiritual things, he will be fully compensated for his labors. It is with this thought that he has been prompted to put these pages into permanent form. With a prayer that God may bless the work, and make it an instrument to keep men from falling into error, to enlighten them in the truth as it is in Christ Jesus, and to aid them in preparation for a better world and life, the author sends forth this volume.