THE MESSIAH OF QAD1AN. 



255 



Lord Jesus addressed the first words to a Canaanite woman to 

 apparently deprecate His working a miracle on her behalf because 

 she did not belong to the people of Israel at large, amongst whom the 

 two tribes were included (she having asked Him, because He had done 

 many miracles in their midst, to extend His favours) ; and, when He 

 used the second words, He was referring to the repentance and 

 salvation of Zacchaeus, who we may safely conclude belonged to- 

 the Two Tribes, since his home was at Jericho, in Judsea. 



Again, whereas there are strong reasons, endorsed by the learned, 

 for believing that the Afghans are Israelites, there is no proof that 

 the inhabitants of Cashmere are such. 



As to the arising of such Messiahs, we have lately had the Mahdi. 

 in Dongola and at Khartoum ; we have this man here spoken of ; we 

 have had a Messiah appearing in the western United States, and 

 men getting leave from railway companies in order to follow him to 

 be cured of their injuries sustained on the railways. The last man, 

 after flourishing for a few weeks, disappeared, saying blasphemousl}- 

 that the Father needed him elsewhere. And now we have a 

 remarkable man who has preached for many years to a certain small 

 sect in London, claiming to be the Messiah : I speak of the leader 

 of the Agapemonites. But this is just what our Lord Jesus Christ 

 foretold, that shortly before His final coming one of the signs* 

 would be that many would arise in His name saying " I am Christ." 

 Then what guidance did He give as to such startling announce- 

 ments 1 " If they shall say unto you, Behold He is in the desert " 

 (like the Mahdi), " go not forth ; Behold, He is in the secret 

 chambers " (like the man in the Agapemonite Retreat), " believo 

 it not : for, as the lightning cometh out of the East and shineth 

 even unto the West, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man 

 be :" that is to say, when the Lord Jesus Christ returns, as we have 

 just heard, He will return in mighty power, and be visible to all 

 mankind. In Zech. xiv, and in other places, though less clearly, 

 both in the Old Testament and in the New, it is said that the foe- 

 whom we describe as the anti-Christ will gather an army drawn 

 from many nations, and lead it against Jerusalem, and that at first 

 he will be victorious, but ultimately God will descend and " His feet 

 shall stand upon the Mount of Olives," and from there He will pass, 

 on to victory and destroy that vast army and then establish His 

 reign of justice and peace over all the earth. It is remarkable that 



