under the idea of the latter times, and the SERMON

VII: season, in which each is drawing to an end, is the last hour of that state b.

Thus much being premised, it is easy to give a just exposition of the text. Little children, it is the last time, or hour that is, the destruction of Jerusalem is at hand; as indeed it followed very soon after the date of this Epistle. And, as ye have heared that Antichrist shall come--that, in some future period, called the last times, an hostile power, which we know by the name of Antichrist, shall arise and prevail in the world, even "now, we may see the commencement of that power; for, there are many Antichrists; many persons, now, appear in the spirit of that future Antichrist, and deserve his name: whereby, ina! deed, we know that it is the last hour for Christ himself had made the appearance of false Christs and false prophets, that is, of Anti

What is here said of the scriptural division of time, with regard to the affairs of the Church, is enough for my purpose. There is another division of time, in the pro phetic scriptures, with regard to the kingdoms of the world, concerning which the reader may consult Bishop KidDER'S Dem. of the Messiah, Part iii. ch. ix.; and especially Mr.Mene's Apostasy of the latter times, ch. xi.

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VOL. V.

SERMON christs, to be one of the signs by which that

hour should be distinguished

VII.

1

The meaning of the whole passage, then, is clearly this: “That the appearance of false Christs and false Prophets (of which there were many, according to our Lord's prediction, in St. John's time) indicated the arrival of that hour, that was to be fatal to the Jewish state: and that they were, at the same time, the types and forerunners of a still more dreadful power, which should be fully revealed in the latter times, in a future period, when that calamity was past." For the truth of the assertion, That such a power should arise in the Christian church, he appeals to a tradition, then current among the disciples: and his hated name of Antichrist is here applied, by way. of anticipation, to the false prophets of that time; as possessing much of his character, and acting with his spirit.

Hence we see the meaning of the word, Antichrist; which stands for a person or power, actuated with a spirit opposite to that of Christ. And so indeed the Apostle explains himself, in another place of this very Epistle. : For, speak

VII.

ing of certain false teachers, who preached up SERMON a doctrine, contrary to that of the Gospel, he adds—“ This is that spirit of Antichrist, “ whereof ye have heard that it should come, « and even now already is it in the world d." And I lay the greater stress on this observation, because the etymology of the word, Antichrist, makes it capable of two different meanings. For it may either signify one, who assumes the place and office of Christ, or one, who maintains a direct enmity and opposition to hime, But the latter, is the sense in which the Apostle useth this term; although it be true that, in the former sense, it very well suits the Bishop of Rome, who calls himself the Vicar of Christ, as well as the successor of St. Peter. Nor can there be any difficulty in fixing the charge of Antichristianism, in the sense of an enmity and opposition to Christ, on the Roman Pontif (though I know how absurd the attempt seems to the writers on that side); for, to merit this charge, it is not necessary that he should formally reject Christ, which undoubtedly he does not, but that he should act in defiance to the true genius and

d 1 Ep. John, iv. 3.
e 'Aylixpisosmáslo, in the sense either of pro, or contra.

SERMON character of Christ's religion : a charge, which

may be evidently made good against him.

VII.

In short, as the word, Christ, is frequently used in the Apostolic writings for the doctrine of Christ; in which sense we are said to put on Christ, to grow in Christ, to learn Christ, and in other instances ; So Antichrist, in the abstract, may be taken for a doctrine subversive of the Christian ; and when applied to a particular man, or body of men, it denotes one, who sets himself against the spirit of that doctrine f.

f Grotius says, “ Sicut Anticæsarem dicimus qui contra Cæsarem se Cæsarem vult dici atque Cæsar haberi, sic Antiehristus est qui se vero Christo opponit eo modo ut ipse Christus haberi velit.” Op. t. iv. p. 490. -The learned commentator did not reflect, that words are not always used according to the strict import of their etymologies. False Christs, we will say, are, in the strict sense of the word, Antichrists. But the question is, in what sense this word is used of the person called, by way of eminence, The ANTICHRIST. This must be collected from the ato tributes given to him in the prophecies themselves, not from the rigorous etymology of the term. The case was plainly this. St. John is speaking of the false Christs, who had appeared in his time; and, to disgrace them the more effectually in the minds of those to whom he writes, le brands them with the name of Antichrists : not so much respecting the exact sense of the word, as the ideas of aversion, which, he knew, it would excite. For the tra

In this last sense, the word Antichrist is SERMON

VII. clearly employed by St. John : and from his example, the word grew into general use in the Christian church, and is so to be understood, whenever mention is made of Antichrist by the primitive fathers, or any other ecclesiastical writers.

II. I am now to shew in what manner the prophecies concerning Antichrist, or a person or power, so called, and, though variously described, always considered under the idea of an adversary to the true doctrine of Christ, have been construed and applied by many eminent members of the Christian Church, in all ages.

1. When the canon of scripture was formed, and now in the hands of the faithful, the pro