edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength." This sword is "the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." It proceeded from His mouth, inasmuch as He was the author of the Bible. "And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last I am He that liveth and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen." Or, "The faithful true witness." "And have the keys of hell and of death." Do we believe and rest in this omnipotent assurance?

"Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter the mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks." John was to write the things which he had seen in the ,seven candlesticks, and the things which he saw therein, then existing, and the things which were to come after; as I have said before, to deny these three tenses must be a wilful perversion of Scripture. And again, if these Churches only applied to the literal rendering, what particular mystery was there concerning them? But it is, emphatically, the mystery of the seven stars, and of the seven golden candlesticks. It is written in the x. 7, "In the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the

mystery of God shall be finished, as He hath declared to His servants the prophets." And again, we read of "the mystery of iniquity." (2 Thess. ii. 7.) And again, of the MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT. These are the spiritual mysteries of the seven stars, and of the seven candlesticks. The seven Churches of Asia literally and spiritually represented the seven of the world's history, and we shall see, as we proceed, how entirely the Church and her antagonistic spirit are the sum and substance of this book. "The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks are the seven churches." The plain question very naturally arises here, who are intended by "the seven stars," or "the seven angels?" because upon this hinges the whole of this book. They mean, as in the voices to the seven Churches, the representative ministry of the seven Churches of the world, those by whom the One Eternal Spirit speaks, only called seven because of the seven periods; thus, under the Christian dispensation, a little child speaking by the Spirit of God, is a priest to Him, and whoever does not speak by the Spirit is of a spurious priesthood. And thus it is that we find the seven angels, or messengers with the seven vials, represented as coming "out of the temple, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles." (xv. 6.) And thus it was that the seven lamps of the tabernacle

represented the seven spirits. And again, we see them before the throne in that glorious representative body of the Church. "There were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits" of God. (iv. 5.) To the seven angels is entrusted "the mystery of God," "the everlasting Gospel ;" and thus it is that this Book of the Revelation is, as it were, the interior of the world's history,— the thing signified in the history of the human family. "Write, the mystery of the seven stars, which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven Churches and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven Churches." (i. 19, 20.) Thus we must now bear in mind, as we proceed, that this book is spiritual, ecclesiastical history, and not only a history of historic events. The seven stars and the seven angels are the representatives of the order of the priesthood of the seven dispensations.

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CHAPTER II.

"UNTO the angel of the Church of Ephesus write: These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks." We have seen these seven stars were the angels of the seven Churches (i. 20), or the seven representatives of the seven Churches. He who spake was the Faithful Witness who was seen in the seven candlesticks. (i. 13.) "He had in his right hand seven stars;" and it is as though he had said, You are in my hand, and I am the witness of your actions, your faithfulness, and your success. "I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them that are evil : and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: and hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted." So far we perfectly understand this voice to the Ephesian Church. St. Paul went even further in commending her stedfastness and perseverance in the faith. After the

death of Christ St. John resided chiefly at Ephesus, but was taken to Rome when Domitian proclaimed war against that Church, where, Tertullian and Jerome say, he was plunged into boiling oil, and came out unhurt, and it was after this that he was banished to the Isle of Patmos, in the Ægean sea; and thus, as I have said, we understand this voice to her in her persecution. But then comes in again the peculiarity of the general tenor of prophecy, an overreaching meaning, and the antediluvian Church is clearly implied; and perhaps while the Spirit was still addressing the Ephesian Church, "Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent."

It may be objected here, that this future tense could not relate to the past; but we must bear in mind that it is the Alpha and Omega who is dictating to John the world's history,-"Write the things which thou hast seen;" then the past must be written, although not given in the past tense. And, secondly, the wonderful peculiarity in the constitution of revelation, that all is written for all. A voice, or judgment of the past, is not more an historic fact than it is a type of the future; and unless we are prepared to understand