Where Christ appeared to him in great glory. First and the Last: and, which are in Asia: un to Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thy atira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. 431 ii. a great voice behind me, as loud as the sound of SECT. 11 Saying, I am a trumpet, Which said in distinct and artiAlpha and Omega, the culate accents, I, who am going to appear to Rev. What thou seest, write thee, O John, am the Alpha and the Omega, the 1.11. a book, and send it First and the Last; I boast Divine perfections unto the sevenchurches and glories, and assume without robbery and usurpation, the peculiar titles and prerogatives of the one eternal, infinite and unchangeable Jehovah; and I am now descended from heaven, to give thee a revelation of the most astonishing and important events. And, as even the remotest ages are concerned in what thou seest, write an exact account of it in a book, and send copies of [it] to the seven churches in Asia, to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamos, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea, that each may receive its own lesson, and at the same time, enjoy the benefit of those which are intended for all the rest. And I turned to see the Person who uttered that 12 wonderful voice which spake unto me: and being thus turned, I saw an astonishing scene, the ticulars of which I shall now relate: There were seven golden lamps on their stands, which gave a bright and beautiful flame; And in the midst 13 of the seven golden lamps, there was [one] in a human form, a glorious and majestic Person, with a garment down like him who appeared to Daniel under the title to the foot, and girt of the Son of man, and in whom I traced the lineaments of that blessed Redeemer, whom I had so long known under that endearing name and character; he appeared clothed in a long robe, not unlike the priestly vestment, and like persons of that holy order, girded, not about the middle, but something higher, about the breasts with 12 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being seven 13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed about the paps with a golden girdle. dam Alpha and Omegn.] That these titles should be repeated so soon, in a connection which demonstrates they are given to Christ, will appear very remarkable, whatever sense be given to the eighth verse. The argument drawn, in the preceding note upon it, would have been strong, wherever such a passage as this had been found; but its immediate connection with this, greatly strengthens it. And I cannot forbear recording it, that this text has done more than any other in the Bible, toward preventing me from giving into that scheme, which would make our Lord Jesus Christ no more than a deified creature. par not to enquire, Whether these were the e Seven churches in Asia.] I presume the throne. f4 432 Reflections on the happiness conferred on Christ's servants. SECT. with a golden girdle, which being properly ii. Rev. hairs were white like wool, as white as unto fine brass, as if the sound of many wa ters. fastened there, hung down to his feet. And 14 His head, and his his head, even [his] hairs which adorned it, and 1.14. flowed round his shoulders, [were] white as snow, and his eyes were wool, or to speak more properly, as white as as a flame of fire; snow, (Dan. vii. 9;) and his eyes [were] vivid 15 And his feet like 15 and piercing as a flame of fire; And his feet were resplendent like fine brass, when purified in they burned in a fura furnace from all its dross, and polished by the nace; and his voice as hands of some skilful artificer; and his voice was loud as the voice of many waters, so that I imagined it might have been heard as far as the sounding noise of the billows of the sea, when 16 they beat against the rocky shores; And he had in his right hand, seven luminous and very beautiful stars, the motions of which he seemed mouth went a sharp to direct and govern, at the same time that he two edged sword: and supported them; and out of his mouth there went his countenance teas as a sharp two-edged sword, or dagger, capable of strength. piercing and wounding every way; and his countenance [was] radiant and glorious as the sun, [when he] shineth in all his meridian power and lustre, and beams forth his rays, vigorous and unclouded. 16 And he had in his right hand seven stars and out of his the sun shineth in his Ver. IMPROVEMENT. WHAT unspeakable happiness can our blessed Redeemer confer 9 on his faithful servants, while suffering in his cause! How wretched was Cæsar on his imperial throne, compared with this despised and persecuted disciple of Christ, in his old age banished to the desolate island of Patmos! There his Lord condescended to visit him, opened his eyes to prophetic visions, and diffused around him celestial glories. May we in no case be ashamed of the word of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ, a zeal for which was so graciously. acknowledged, so gloriously rewarded. 10 It was on the Lord's day that the apostle was in the Spirit: how often has the Spirit of God visited his people at that sacred season, visited them as well in their secret retirements as in the public fA golden girdle.] The girdles were a kind of sash, which first went over the neck like a tippet, were crossed on the breast, and then went round the lower part of the breast, two or three times, like a modern circingle, and then they fell down almost to the feet. And as they were sometimes embroidered, and sometimes fringed with gold, they must make a assembly; The very ornamental part of dress. xxxix. 5. St. John is exhorted not to be afraid; ii. 433 assembly; when the hand of Providence, as in the instance before SECT. us, and not their own negligence, and indifference to Divine ordinances, occasioned their absence from them: otherwise we might Ver. fear that those raptures of mind, which in the contempt of ordinances some make their boast and glory, arise from the artifices of the great enemy of souls, and are to be numbered among the most dangerous engines by which he attempts our ruin. Let our souls again bend, in humble veneration, to him who 11 is the First and the Last, the Alpha and Omega. As if we heard his awful voice proclaiming himself by these illustrious and Divine titles; let us turn, as it were, to behold him; and by these 12 marvellous visions in which he manifested himself to St. John, let us endeavour to form some imperfect ideas of our blessed 13, 16 Lord, and the magnificence and glory with which he appears to the inhabitants of the heavenly regions. Every circumstance, not excepting the minutest and most inconsiderable, attending this appearance of Christ to his beloved apostle, seems designed to convey some Divine truth, some important lesson, for the contemplation and instruction of future ages. It was, in general, beyond all question, intended to impress us with the lowliest reverence of our glorified Redeemer, that we may pay him our humble and devout adoration, and thus in some degree anticipate the pleasure with which we hope to appear in his immediate presence above. SECT. III. Our Lord Jesus Christ addresses himself to the Apostle John, and charges him with an epistle to each of the seven Asiatic churches already mentioned; and in the first place, with the epistle to the church of Ephesus. Rev. I. 17.-II. 7. REVELATION I. 17. iii. Rev. HAVE just been describing the appearance of SECT. Jesus Christ to me, with which I was favoured on the Lord's day, in the island of Patmos, while I was engaged in such devout sentiments 1. 17. as were suitable to the time and occasion: and I now add, that when I saw him in this awful, this glorious and resplendent form, I was perfectly overwhelmed with the majesty of his appearance, so that I fell down at his feet as dead; and he immediately condescended to raise me up, with great indulgence; for he laid his right hand upon me, [and] said to me, Fear not John, for 434 iii. But to write what he saw, what is and what shall be. SECT. for I appear to thee for purposes of mercy; I Fear not: I am the am, indeed, as I have proclaimed myself, the First and the Last. First and the Last, possessed of Divine perfecti Rev. and behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of liveth, and was dead; hell and of death. 19 Write the things 1. 18. ons and glories; And yet I still wear the hu- 18 I am he that man form, which I assumed for the redemption of human and fallen creatures like thyself; I [am he who lives, and have life immortal, and glory immutable in myself, though I was once dead, as thou knowest; and now behold it both with joy and wonder, I am living for ever and ever: (Amen: be it so then, O Lord; mayest thou for ever live and reign!) And he added, I have the keys of the unseen world, and of death; I have a supreme dominion over it, and remove the souls of men from world to world, calling them out of the body, and fixing them in the invisible state, according to my pleasure, till at length I shall exert my power of raising the dead. 19 Write therefore the things which thou now seest, which thou hast seen, and those which will be opened to thy view, in and the things which which there will be, in part, a reference to the are, and the things things which already are, and a further refer- which shall be hereence to the things which shall hereafter be. 20 And, as a general key to what I am now going the seven stars which to dictate, observe, that as to the mystery of the thou sawest in my seven stars, which thou here seest as in my right- right-hand, and the hand, and of the seven lamps which are of gold: sticks. The seven stars the seven stars are an emblematical representa- are the angels of the tion of the angels, or presiding ministers, of the seven churches: and seven churches; and the seven lamps which thou the seven candlesticks seest, are a representation of the seven churches which thou sawest, are themselves, to which I have directed thee to inscribe and transmit the important epistles I am now about to dictate, according to what I ob serve after; 20 The mystery of seven golden candle the seven churches, a Amen.] As this word appears to have additional force, if understood as expressing the joyful assent of John to what was delivered, I have inclosed it and the para. phrase upon it in a parenthesis. b Unseen world.] it must be allowed, that adn sometimes signifies the grave, when the body only is spoken of. But, as Mr. Howe has largely proved in his excellent discourse on this text, the interpretation I have here given, is most reasonable. That which would refer it to hell as the seat of the damned, its the sense in a manner very derogatory from the honour of our blessed Releemer, as he there shews unanswerably. Howe's Works, Vol. II. p 61, &c. According to Grotius (see his note on Mat. xvi. 18,) the word hades, always denotes either death, or the state ofter death, and they who are of opinion, that Luke xvi. 23, is an exception, may consult this learned author's judicious noter on this place. Our English, or rather Saxon word, hell, in its original signification, though it is now understood in a more limited sense,) exactly answers to the Greek word, hades, and denotes a concealed, or unseen place: and this sense of the word is still retained in the eastern, and especially, in the western counties of England, to hele over a thing, is to cover it. See Lord King's History of the Creed, chap. iv. c Respective CHAP. II. 1. Unto of Ephesus, write, These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right-hand, who walketh in the thou canst not bear Christ's epistle to the church of Ephesus. 435 serve of their respective circumstances and ne- SECT. cessities c. iii. Rev. And in the first place, address to the angel, the angel of the church or presiding officer, of the church of Ephesus, 11. 1. and write thus, These things saith he who holdeth the seven stars in his right-hand, to signify that he is the great Support of his ministering midst of the seven servants, and directs their several situations and golden candlesticks; motions in the churches; and who walks in the midst of the seven golden lamps, to intimate thereby his presence among Christian societies, 2 I know thy works, and his particular inspection over them. My 2 and thy labour, and eyes have been carefully fixed upon thee, and I thy patience, and how have observed many things in thy conduct with them which are evil: pleasure. I know thy works, and thy labour, and thou hast tried and thy patience, with which thou hast endured them which say they the trials and sufferings to which thou hast been are apostles, and are not; and hast found called out; and I know thou hast such a zeal for the honour of my gospel, and the establishment of my kingdom, that thou canst not bear those who are evile. And, as false pretensions to a Divine mission and inspiration are so common, I know thou hast tried those, who say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them [to be] liars, and rejected their pretensions with a becoming disdain. And I know thou hast sus- 3 tained, with exemplary fortitude, the trouble them liars: 3 And hast borne and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast c Respective circumstances and necessities.] How exactly the address in each epistle, suits the state of the church to which it was sent, and what condescension is implied in our Saviour's giving them these distinct notices and admonitions, is in some measure, though very imperfectly, illustrated in my Ten Sermons on the Power and Grace of Christ. See Serm. vii. d To the angel, or presiding officer.] That there was one pastor, who presided in each of these churches, is indeed evident from the expression here used; but that he was a diocesan bishop, or had several congregations of Christians under his care, can by no means be proved. Nor is there the least hint of it, that I know of, in any of these epistles. Many have shewn from an. cient Jewish writings, that there was an officer of the synagogue who had the name of angel. See Vitring, de Synag. Vet. lib. 3. p. ii. c. 3. And Dr Lightfoot adds, that from his office of overlooking the reader of the law, he was called or episcopus, Compare Mal. ii. 7. e Canst not bear those who are evil.] This has been pleaded by Lord Barrington, VOL. X. they as an argument that the church of Ephe- 3 I f Lost |