secrets of that Volume without present sympathy with heaven's solemn awe?

So momentous and terrible was the result of time in the mind of the Spirit, even in the far-off vision, that he immediately caused another revelation of the same seven ages to pass before John under the symbols of the seven trumpets, which really mean the Gospel trumpet." And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets." These seven angels are one of the most important hinges of this prophecy," The seven stars are the angels of the seven Churches" (i. 20). I have shown you these were the seven representatives of the priesthood of the seven dispensations; and "the mystery of the seven stars" tells us that the Church is the subject matter of this book, the Church the interior, or the subject matter of the whole Bible; and that the mystery of God committed to these stewards is a solemn, grand, and an important mission, and more, an awful responsibility. The silver trumpet of Moses to call together the congregation of Israel was a symbol of the Gospel trumpet. "The sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets; and they shall be to you for an ordinance for ever throughout your generations." (Numbers x. 8.) And then again there was the feast of trumpets, not a feast of commemoration, but a type of a future age of the Church. "In the seventh

month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a Sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation." (Levit. xxiii.) And thus the temple, which was a type of the Church in the fulness of the Gentiles, was dedicated in the seventh month at the time of that feast, and at the dedication, "An hundred and twenty priests sounded with trumpets." (2 Chron. v. 3-12.) And the feast of tabernacles, or booths, commemorated the Church when she dwelt in the wilderness in tents, but it also typified a future age when she should be increased into a greater congregation, and dwell beneath many tabernacles or booths. Gideon was a type of the Church of this dispensation, and his stratagem of trumpets was a type of the Gospel trumpet. (Judges vii. 16-22.) As we see the Church in the Bible, in her infancy, development, maturity, and glory, we see clearly that her victory is not to be by a crash of power, but by the still small voice; by the operation of the Spirit of truth. "It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe, because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." (1 Cor. i. 21-25.)

I think this glance at the design of the Gospel trumpet will enable us to understand the seven trumpets of the Apocalypse. "I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven

trumpets. And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand." This angel is Christ in His Mediatorial office,-" Much incense was given to him." All the merit of His own work is His, and He offers it with the prayers of all saints. How certain, then, their acceptance before the throne, and yet how difficult it often is to believe we are heard ; why should we doubt while they are always ascending up before God out of the Angel's hand.

"And the angel took the censer, and filled it with the fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake." It will be seen in a moment that this verse is rooted in Ezek. x. 2-6. I have there explained that the man clothed in linen is Christ, the Author of Revelation. He goes in between the Cherubims, where was laid up the sacred writings, and takes the fire of the Word, and scatters it over the world, till the earth "was full of the brightness of the Lord's glory." And so here in the Revelation the angel, Christ, took the fire from the altar and cast it into the earth, and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings. The

results of the Word are what are intended; there is power and life in it; and when God speaks from hence His voice will be heard as represented by these phenomena of nature. Thus our Saviour said, "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.” And St. Peter, "The Word of God, which liveth."

"And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound." Observe here how the Divine institutions are endued with life: Christ is an angel with the seven angels, He is their Mediator before the throne, the life and power of the Word are in His hand, and through them He casts it into the earth; so that preaching is not the human, threadbare thing some untaught preachers think it to be; the spirit of the Word is in their words, and it is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword. They may confidently "Blow an alarm,"-"The sword of the Lord," but let them sheath as much as possible that of Gideon.

I shall compare and explain these seven trumpets with the seven vials to show their similarity and their parallel meaning, and pass on here to the tenth chapter.

CHAPTER X.

"AND I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire." This angel is again Christ, "the Sun of Righteousness" (Mal. iv. 2), the same as seen in the seven candlesticks; the rainbow upon His head characterized Him the Mediator of the new covenant (Rev. iv. 3; Ezek. i. 21); the blessing of that covenant was the Third Person in the Trinitythe Spirit, as the Messiah had been the blessing of the first covenant. And so important to the Church was the Spirit, to enlighten, to teach, to sanctify, to quicken, and to sustain, that Christ in this book is seen with the emblem of His mediatorship, because He was the author of the gift of the Spirit to our world, without whom prophecy could neither be given or received: that glorious arch ever girds the eternal throne, "who is made after the power of an endless life." The natural rainbow has seven shades, symbolical of the seven ages of grace. There is no

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