9. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not : for I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book, Worship God Those who labour to invalidate the authenticity of the Revelation, have invented the chimera, that John the pres byter, and not St. John the apostle, was the author of it. But they are even incapable to prove, that ever such a person actually existed at Ephesus; and if they could prove it, what would such an argument weigh against the unanimous testimony of the Fathers of the four first centuries who ascribe it to John the apostle. The spirit of prophecy, foreseing these doubts and scruples, directed the language of the holy prophet, that they should here meet with an open contradiction, "I John saw and heard these things." If the author were any other, except the apostle, he would surely have distinguished himself by some expression from the apostle, in order to prevent mistake. It would seem, that the appearance of the angel who showed St. John these sublime scenes, was so divinely majestic, and the language he held so authoritative, as to raise a doubt in the mind of the apostle, that it was the Lord himself who showed him these things, and therfore fell down to worship him, as he had done once before ch. XIX, 10; which the angel again forbids, and informs him who he was. He calls himself a fellow-servant of St. John, of the ancient prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book; by which he seems to indicate, that he was not one of those pure ministering spirits, but one of the ancient saints or prophets, who had served the Lord in a similar capacity on earth. Here reader, behold the glorious reward of faithfulness, in the exalted station of this angel! Worship God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, the only object of divine adoration, and no creature. Verse 10. And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book; for the time is at hand.

11. He that is unjust, let him he unjust still; and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still; and ke that is righteous, let'

́hîm be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

12. And, behold, I come quickly; † and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his works shall be.

Here the holy prophet is expressly commanded, not to treasure up in his own breast, any part of this prophecy, or to conceal the sense thereof, by relating these mysteries in a figurative style of his ingenuity, but to write the whole as it was represented to him in his visions. The reason of this prohibition, “seal not," is obvious, because, though delivered in a highly figurative style in order not to divulge the plans of the Lord to the enemy, it was yet intended to be of general benefit, and to serve the Church as a guide in times of peril and temptation. Even then the time was at hand, when the followers of Christ were to derive instruction and comfort from its perusal.

The meaning of the 11th verse seems to be: This prophecy closes the canon of the new Testament, and the whole revelation of God to the children of men, in which we are presented with the divine plan of salvation, and the means of grace for our recovery and happiness. God will do no more; he will not force the human will; man as a free agent is now left to his own option, either to receive or reject the grace of God, as again offered in this Revelation. He, who after all these endeavours of the Lord for the salvation of man, continues unjust, intentionally wicked, and a scoffer of this prophecy, let him do it on his own risk; and he who can continue to delight in manifest works of the flesh, or secret crimes, will sink deeper, and endanger his soul daily more. On the contrary, he who

It has been observed to me, by Dr Staughton, as worthy of remark, that throughout the whole Apocalypse, almost every verse begins by the copulative conjunction xa, and, which indicates both a pressed succession of ideas and visions in the mind of St. John, as also a continued succession of accomplishments, except where pauses are expressed to take place in this series,

is righteous and justified by faith in the merits of Jesus Christ, will be more established in his blessed course by this prophecy; and he who is holy, and follows holiness in thoughts, words and actions, let him continue in his path of life unto the end. The Lord shall come quickly and reward every man according to the instrinsic merit or demerit of his works in obedience to the Gospel.

Verse 13. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

14. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

15. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

These divine titles, which the Lord here takes to himself, have been explained ch. 1, 8, 17.

The commandments here spoken of, appear to be ras εντολας αυτό scil βιβλι, the commandments of Christ as contained in this book, given for the instruction and direction of the Church, through all her various fates and fortunes. Such are declared blessed, on account of their faith and obedience to these special commands, or directions of the Lord; because they will avoid the snares of the enemy, come off conquerors, and will be accounted worthy of citizenship in New Jerusalem. Their right, nežusia, power, authority by commission, over the tree of life, does not only imply a right to enjoy its fruits themselves, but also a right to invite and entertain others at this celestial table.

The 15th verse contains a final sentence of the Lord, against a list of sinners guilty of most heinous crimes, which have already occurred ch. XXI, 8. 27. They are

The Vulgate and some other versions read, Beati qui lavant stolas suas in sanguine agni, and has custodiunt mandata illius in the margin.

not only excluded from the city, but also from the new earth; for it is said ch. xx1, 8. that they shall have their part in the lake of fire. The meaning is that all those who have ever been guilty of one or the other of these atrocious crimes, and die without repentance, this will be their everlasting doom; but not that such who once were guilty, and now repent, obtain pardon and lead a new life should be excluded, because they once were such characters. Therefore polluted, fallen sinner, turn to Christ and live!

Verse 16. 1 Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the Churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

17. And the spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely,

Here the Lord Jesus Christ subscribes his own name to this whole prophecy, and by so doing establishes for ever the authenticity and divine authority of the Revelation. Let men of knowledge and judgment ask themselves, whether human skill could write such a prophecy, or whether a person able to write such a prophecy, could be thought capable at the same time of such a degree of wickedness, as to carry the imposture to that pitch, thus to counterfeit the name of Jesus in order to pass it upon the world? A work full of faith, of piety and love- full of the severest sentences against sinners of every description of judgment against cities, kingdoms and empireswhich contains a whole series of prophecies, by far the greater number of which is already fulfilled - a work in which those are threatened in the severest manner, who should dare to add, or to take away from the words of the same, can such a work be of human invention ? The sceptic, perhaps, will say, What have not fanatics done in former time! But I would ask, does this wonderfully arranged system of prophecies, these sublime and majestic

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hieroglyphics, these pure doctrines of faith, these sound and sober exhortations to piety and spiritual warfare, do all these appear to you the work of fanaticism? If so, you must certainly want common sense yourself, and are the last person that should attempt to pass judgment in matters of such importance. The above titles by which the Lord acknowledges the Revelation to be his own work, have been explained elsewhere.

To testify unto you these things in the Churches. The whole Revelation is a testimony of the second Advent of Christ, to establish his glorious kingdom. But who are the persons understood by the word "you" here in the plural number? They certainly are the seven angels * Bais exxànorais in or at the churches. See ch. 1, 20. vol. I. p. 60. It is the gospel ministry of Christ at these seven Churches who are particularly intrusted with this prophecy, and through them, all that read and hear it.

Verse 17. The spirit and the bride say, Come &c. The bride here spoken of, is to be considered prior to her appearance in the character of New Jerusalem, while she is yet sojourning through this valley of tears. The spirit of Jesus Christ, desirous of the prosperity and happiness of the Church, expresses an ardent wish for the coming of Christ, both in the Holy Scriptures and in the hearts of the Children of God, Rom. vIII, 26. 27. Gal. iv, 6, with whom he abideth. The bride also stands charac'terized by an affectionate desire after his appearance of · her own accord, and thus concurs with the spirit to welcome her Lord in his second Advent. All who have an ear to hear the contents of this prophecy, and the expres sion of the aforesaid desire, are called upon to join in with the same and say, Come, chap. II. III. And all who are athirst, to enjoy Christ and the benefits of his redemption in glory; and also those who will, and feel a desire, are invited to partake of the water of life freely, without money and without price. Here they shall find all their