bright and penetrating eye, he hath looked through every disguise, vail, and cloud, to the real natures of things and characters of men, and hath always predicted and acted from the most intimate and perfect knowledge of all things.

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The

"And on his head were many crowns.' bow is now laid afide, because the wars, perfecutions, and fightings of his church shall then be all over. In the apoftolic age he had one crown. He was then, and he hath ever continued to be the king of Zion, though his fubjects were frequently very few. But now he hath conquered all his enemies, and returns from the war carrying the crowns of all the conquered kings, as trophies of his complete victory and triumph. The enemies of Chrift and his church are all enumerated, and ranked under three diftinct claffes in Ephefians vi. 12. "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood; but against principalities, against powers,

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against the rulers of the darkness of this world,

against spiritual wickedness in high places." The nature of all thefe enemies of Chrift's church will be much better known by confulting this verse in the original, which runs thus: 'OTi dux ésıv ἡμῖν ἡ πάλη πρὸς αἷμα καὶ σάρκα, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὰς ἀρκὰς, πρὸς τὰς ἐξουσίας, πρὸς τοὺς κοσμοκράτορας τους σκότους τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτω, πρὸς τὰ πνευματικά της πονηρίας ἐν τοῖς ἐπαυρανίοις. The proper tranflation of which is: "For we wref"tle not against flesh and blood; but against principalities,

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cipalities, against powers, against the worldly princes of the darkness of this age, against the fpiritual state of wickedness in heavenly places." The first order is principalities and powers: that is, fallen angels, the devil and his angels. The fecond is the worldly princes of the darkness of this age: These are temporal kings, during all that part of this age, or Chriftian difpenfation, which may be ftiled the darkness of it. Even those temporal princes, who live in any part of the period, from the end of the apoftolic age to the commencement of the millenium, and who are not enlightened with the knowledge of the pure religion of Jefus; particularly the heathen Roman emperors, and the ten Roman Catholic kingdoms, which arofe in the weft during the dark ages of the church and of the world, after the diffolution of the Western empire by the barbarous nations. And the third is the fpiritual state or kingdom of wickedness in heavenly places, that is, in the church. This is the Papal hierarchy. How exactly does this account of it correspond to that given of it by Paul, 2 Theff. ii. 3, 4. “And that "man of fin be revealed, the son of perdition: who

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oppofeth and exalteth himself above all that is. "called God, or that is worshipped fo that he as "God fitteth in the temple of God, shewing him"felf that he is God."

All

All these three claffes of enemies, with all the troops which they have led on, fhall be completely conquered by Chrift at the commencement of the millennium. Then the Devil fhall be confined to hell for a thousand years, and during that period fhall tempt the nations no more; then there fhall not be a fingle perfecuting civil kingdom in the world; and then Papal Romfe and fuperftition fhall be finally overthrown.

The many crowns are the trophies of the victories of the Chriftian church over thefe enemies. In this chapter, from verfe 15th, to 21ft, and in chap. xx. 1-3. it is clearly predicted, that all these enemies fhall be completely overthrown at this period.

"And he had a name written that no man "knew but he himself" A name written might have been translated a scriptural name. It is evidently meant, that this name is written in the facred scripture. It is faid to be written, without mentioning any part of his body or armour on which it is infcribed. So far does infpired fcripture excel all other writings, that whenever fcripture is used indefinitely as it is here, it fignifies infpired fcripture.

"That no man knew," should have been tranflated "that none knew." The word man is not in the original, and the substitution of it greatly contracts the meaning of that clause.

The word

"none" comprehends all the intelligent beings in the universe, but the one exprefly excepted, even "he himself." No man nor angel knows the full meaning of his fcriptural name. What this name is, we are told in the end of verse 13th," and "his name is called "The Word of God." That this is a fcriptural name of Chrift, and one which accorded to his nature before his incarnation, is evident from John i. 1, 2, 3, and 14. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with

God, and the Word was God. The fame was in "the beginning with God. All things were made "by him; and without him was not any thing made "that was made. In him was life, and the life was "the light of men.-And the Word was made flesh "and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, "the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, "full of grace and truth." It is one thing to know, to distinguish from all other names, and to pronounce the found of a particular name; and it is another thing to know and fully understand its meaning and fignification. This is the cafe with this name, "The Word of God;" and it is not so much so with any other name which men pronounce, except the name of God itself.

Names were originally given to persons and things, expreffive of their real natures. Hence, in scripture the name of God is frequently used to fignify God himself. Whether "The Word of God" VOL. II.

is

isufed here to fignify the nature of Chrift, or merely that name which was given him in fcripture before his incarnation, its full meaning is known to none but himself. This affertion is abfolutely true, provided Chrift is true God: but it cannot be true of even the firft and highest of creatures. It cannot be faid of the higheft creature, that any one thing is known to none but himself, because all things are perfectly known to God. But, as Chrift is God; if by the Word of God is meant the nature of Chrift, it must be abfolutely and perpetually true that his nature is known to none but himself. It is effential and peculiar to the divine nature to be incomprehenfible, because it is infinite. "Canft "thou by fearching find out God? Canft thou "find out the Almighty the Almighty unto perfection?" Though the divine nature muft ever be incomprehenfible by all creatures, because their faculties are finite while the fubject is infinite; yet it must be fully known to God, because however great his nature is, his own powers must be as great.

The difficulty increases in appearance, though not in reality, when we confider Christ in his perfonality, as the Word of God or Son of God.

I have used the term perfon, because perhaps human thought and human language cannot afford a better. But let us not imagine, that by perfon as applied to God the Father, to Christ, and to the Holy Spirit, is fignified the very fame thing