of the sacred designation, nor of the duties it imposes upon them! It was declared of Christ in his rule over the Heathen, "Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron, thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." It was by him who first reigned in the name of Christ, that this prophecy was primarily fulfilled. And in the second chapter of the Revelation, (ver. 26.) it is likewise said by Christ, in his address to the Church of Thyatira, (the emblem as I hope of the Church of England,) "And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers." Christ, therefore, by his vicegerents on earth, was to rule all nations with a rod or sceptre of iron, and the protectors of his true Church are to have the same supremacy over the nations, "while they keep his works unto the end." With respect to the woman's flight into the wilderness, it seems here to be spoken of proleptically, or by anticipation, as Newton observes, for it is obvious that the war of Michael and the dragon, and other events, take place before this flight, and that her residence in the wilderness synchronizes with the period of the great apostasy.

"And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the

dragon fought, and his angels; and prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent called the devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ; for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of his testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them woe to the inhabiters of the earth, and of the sea; for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time."

This is a mysterious description of the contest between the powers of light and darkness. Michael the archangel appears to be the tutelar regent of the Jews, and in the exposition of a vision to Daniel by the Son of man, is called your prince, and the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people '. He it is who, with his subordinate agents, is represented as

1 Dan. x. 21; xii. 1.

contending with the dragon (or devil) and his angels, and prevailing against them. This war began with the conflict between the Christian confessors and martyrs with their Heathen persecutors, when they had nothing to plead but their faith in the blood of the Lamb, and their reliance on his promises, and it ended when the empire became Christian under Constantine and his successors; when he and they had embraced the same faith, and relied on the same hope of immortality. The good angels are sent forth, we are told, "to minister unto them which shall be heirs of salvation," and the devil is called by our Saviour the prince of this world, who maintained by his influence over the potentates of this world a spiritual dominion of darkness.

The overthrow of Pagan idolatry then is the subversion of the kingdom of Satan, as exercised openly on earth, and the demolition of his temples and idols is the hurling him and his angels from the throne of political power, metaphorically called the heaven of authority.

This change indeed was effected by degrees, but it was at length so completely accomplished that the Heathen oracles became dumb, the Heathen temples were converted into Christian churches, and for a time, at least, no idol remained to be worshipped.

The hymn of triumph, which is here introduced

to celebrate the victory of the Church over the great enemy of the faith, attributes salvation and strength to the establishment of the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ, in the dejection of the constant accuser of the brethren before God; and declares that this victory was effected by the faith and blood of the martyrs and confessors, who overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and the word of his testimony, and they loved not their lives unto the death. This faith, this confession of the truth, and these sufferings called forth the assistance of the heavenly host of Michael and his angels to subdue the implacable adversary of the Christian cause, and all his angels, and to deprive them of their power. When Christianity triumphed, and Constantine was raised to the empire, the Heathen priests and officers were degraded, and their deities and demons became the subjects of contempt and execration.

It is very remarkable, as Newton observes, that Constantine and his subjects seem to have considered the prophecy as accomplished in him. In writing to Eusebius and other bishops, about the building and repairing of Churches, the Emperor says, "Liberty being now restored, and that dragon being removed from the administration of public affairs, by the Providence of the great God, and by my ministry, I esteem the

great power of God to have been made manifest, even to all."

A picture of Constantine was set up over the gate of the palace, with the cross over his head, and under his feet, the great enemy of mankind who persecuted the Church, by the means of impious tyrants in the form of a dragon, transfixed with a dart through the midst of his body, and falling headlong into the depth of the sea.

No wonder that such a conquest over Satan and his followers should be a cause of great joy and praise to the saints in heaven by whose sufferings it was in great measure obtained, but still is woe denounced to the inhabiters of the earth, and of the sea, from the wrath of Satan, knowing that his time is short; for unhappily, though the dragon was cast down, he was still at liberty; though idolatry was depressed, it was not utterly destroyed, and it might revive in a new shape, and fresh devices might be expected on the part of the tempter, to corrupt mankind from the simplicity of the Gospel, when his animosity was increased by the anguish of defeat, and his knowledge of the limit prescribed to his power. This was the great change in the state of human affairs, which has already been contemplated under the sixth seal.

"And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which