his priestly garments, standing in the midst of the seven churches, as in his own dominions; he appropriates to himself the terms Alpha and Omega, and the seven spirits of God; he holds the seven stars in his hand; he has the keys of death and hell; he is the once dead, when he gave himself up to his enemies, but now alive for ever more, and always efficacious as the only atonement for sin ; the sword of the spirit, namely, the word of God proceeds from him alone; he is the only begotten, pure and holy; he has the key of David, or is the Messiah, who introduces worthy persons into his kingdom, and excludes all who are not so; and he is the beginning of the creation of God, or the author of spiritual life.

These remarks teach us, that every individual Christian has or ought to have immediate intercourse with Christ, who is our prophet, priest, and king, the head of the spiritual body, that constitutes his church or Eph vi 17.; Heb. iv. 12.

people. They discountenance the exaltation of the ministry and of the sacraments, for Christ alone is our priest; and the tenor of these remarks is, "there is one Goda, and one Mediator between God and man; be not ye called Rabbi", for one is your Master even Christ, and all ye are brethren; and call no man your father upon the earth, for one is your father, which is in heaven."

While these epistles admit, that the churches were acquainted with the truth, they censure some for allowing error, and warn others of approaching trial; they are addressed exclusively to the messenger, or angel of the church, as though error may generally be traced to those in office; and in almost every epistle there is an intimation d of the advent of Christ to punish the disobedient, and reward his faithful disciples: but though particular evils are pointed out

a 1 Tim. ii. 5.

c Rev. ii. 14. 20.

b Matt. xxiii. 8-10.

d Rev. ii. 5. 16. 25.; iii. 3. 11. 20.

none are common to all; if some are without the spirit, they have the form of religion

so that we have no evidence of a prevailing error then creeping over the church.

They put us in possession, also, of the knowledge, faith, and devotedness that characterise the sincere and well informed disciple of Christ; for the loss of the first love of the Ephesians, or their hatred as well of the sinner as of his sins, and the formality and worldliness of the Sardians and Laodiceans made them obnoxious to his displeasure. This advent, then, will not only punish every great departure from the faith, but introduce the first purity, or something beyond the first purity of the gospel.

As the first departure from the faith was future no less than the advent, we may naturally expect that the prophecy would describe both; and as the advent would be almost universal, for "all kindreds of the earth will wail because of him," the apostasy

a Rev. i. 7.

a

would on the same principle be equally extensive. Unless, also, the contrary be declared, we ought to suppose that the vision appeared in chronological order, which will give us, first, the rise, progress, and full development of the Man of Sin; and, secondly, his gradual destruction by the glorious advent of Christ.

But his coming for the removal or severance from the church of those whom he condemned, has made their history an exposition of the prophecy. Several of the churches no longer exist; Christ fulfilled his threatenings by their overthrow a; consequently Laodicea, Sardis, and Ephesus are no more; and as they were destroyed by the Turks, these composed a part of that advent, which, when carried out to its full extent, will destroy the apostasy, and restore the nominal and catholic church to God.

a Gibbon, ch. lxiv.

13

CHAPTERS IV. V.

The vision given at one time. Throne of God, &c., as seen by Isaiah and Ezekiel, represents the militant or visible church. Mystery of iniquity had the smallest beginning; not perceived by the early church.

LET us now endeavour to explain by the history of the Church the symbolical representations of it, given to the apostle; merely premising that the vision was given at one time, and appears to describe a series of connected events down to the 12th chapter, and from thence inclusive to the end of the book, other and fuller representations of the whole subject.

When St. Johna withdrew his attention for a moment from the scene before him, it was changed for the throne of God, nearly as it was beheld by Isaiah and Ezekiel', but modified and enlarged in order to repre

a Rev. iv. 1. 2.

b Isaiah, vi. 1, 2.; Ezek. i. 1—14.

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