Paul I know; but who are ye? And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. And many that believed came, and confessed, and showed their deeds. Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men; and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed," over "them which destroy the earth."

The illustrations of the Apocalyptic part under notice, with the exception of the concluding terms, " And there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail," which will be presently considered, may now be deemed sufficiently full to have demonstrated the continued correspondence of history with revelation, the land of Judæa to be the locality represented, and to have afforded another remarkable testimony to the inspiration of the Apocalypse, for who has failed to recognise in the brief recital before us, a comprehensive, accurate, and exhaustive epitome of New Testament history, and an internal expository force ascending above the inventive limits of uninspired human genius?

This internal expository force has already pointed out the early part of the first century as the epoch of the Apocalyptic representations following the sounding of the seventh trumpet, and on referring to the historical annals of that period we have found those representations receiving the most remarkable and instructive illustration. If this were all, it would be sufficient to elicit,-None-in answer to the question asked above. But what mind can grasp, or words convey, the full import of its further revelations ? Heaven and earth seem to be joined together, and we know not whether to dwell with the most admiration over the illustrations of the terms, " And the temple of God was opened in heaven; And there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament," as witnessed on earth in the rent veil and the

rising Jesus, or over those as set before us in the vision introducing the first series of figurations, in which vision. we see the same Jesus, symbolically represented by the Lamb as it had been slain, before the throne of God. We see his risen saints, symbolically represented by "the four living creatures," also there, and hear them, together with the, hitherto alone, four and twenty elders, and "angels numbering ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice," a chorus in which we may surely join, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever." All mystery is also removed from the dying words of Jesus to the thief on Calvary, "To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise ;" and from those of Stephen to the high priest and council, “Behold I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God." All difficulty is dispelled from reconciling the Apocalyptic terms, which have instructively invited us to see in the absence of the " four beasts" from the august assemblage in heaven when the exultations of "the four and twenty elders" were heard alone before the throne of God, their absence from heaven when the things exulted over came to pass and their presence on the earth proclaiming the kingdom of heaven in the persons of the disciples of Jesus; and again to see in the presence of "the four beasts" before the throne of God when the proclamation of the kingdom and the events attending it were there rehearsed before John as a necessary introduction to the forthcoming figurations, those same disciples risen from the earth and entered into their reward; thus not only confirming the declaration of "the four and twenty elders," "The time is come that thou shouldest give reward to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great," but also revealing the certain realisation of the hopes of every true disciple of Jesus, and

encouraging each one, even to the end, to exclaim in gladness of heart, I TOO SHALL SOON BE THERE. Under its influences we see the space between earth and heaven annihilated, and therein the figure and confirmation of the words of Jesus, "Neither pray I for these alone, but on them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me before the foundation of the world." Still it may be asked, what mind can grasp, or words convey, the full import of its revelations ? For whilst the disciple of Jesus is thereby insensibly drawn into the most delightful contemplations of the happy future in store for him and already feels one with the august assembly before the throne of God, the internal expository force of the Apocalyptic terms also calls upon those who are not the disciples of Jesus to contemplate the declaration of "the four and twenty elders," "The time is come that thou shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth;" to compare it with the parable, "The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, and sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding, and they would not Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready; come unto the marriage. But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise; and the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them. But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth; and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed these murderers, and burned up their city ;”—also with, "The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth;" and again with, "But those mine

come.

enemies which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me;" and then to choose to which they will belong, "the kingdom of this world,” or to "the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ;" whether they will have the prince of this world, or the Prince of life from heaven, to reign over them.

Thus is the internal expository force of the Apocalyptic terms under notice seen to raise and elucidate questions of vital importance to the welfare of the human race; to reveal the marvellous comprehensiveness of the Apocalyptic terms we have been considering, and to enable us further to observe, in conclusion, that the announcement under the sixth trumpet, "But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets," has also received at its hands a solution which supersedes the necessity of further investigation, and which is thus exhaustively expounded by Paul on concluding his epistle to the Romans: "Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which was kept secret since the world began, but now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: to God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever, Amen;" in his epistle to the Ephesians iii. 3-5, "How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery, which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel "-and to the Colossians, i. 26-27, "Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."

The only terms now remaining to be considered are "And there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings,

and an earthquake, and great hail," which, belonging to the Apocalyptic resumé of the past, and following the terms "And there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament," may be considered to represent events occurring between the Lord's ascension A.D. 33 and A.D. 96, from which latter date the things shown to John would be prefigurations of the future. It will be therefore seen that these terms, as the Acts of the Apostles terminate A.D. 65, carry us beyond the limits of New Testament history.

Interpreting generally, "the lightnings, voices, thunderings, earthquake, and great hail" might be held to denote quick, diffusive and powerful religious manifestations, disputings, uproarious commotions, a revolution, and destructive forces remarkable for number and for universality of effect; but finding in the sacred records, from which our subject has been hitherto illustrated, that Jesus, just before his death, prophetically declared to his disciples events which should speedily follow his resurrection, thereby referring to the same period as the Apocalyptic representation, and as his declarations were distinct, minute, and full, although sometimes expressed in figurative terms, it will be seen that we cannot, with propriety, proceed without ascertaining their relation to our subject, for if not agreeing in character with, or if not embraced by, the Apocalyptic "lightnings, voices, thunderings, earthquake and great hail," we could not, on the one hand, illustrate the latter without contradiction, and, on the other hand, if agreeing, we should be deprived of the confirmatory evidence arising therefrom, and of their aid in more specifically interpreting and more fully illustrating the Apocalyptic text.

The prophetic declarations referred to are recorded, with a few verbal differences only, by the gospel historians, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and not only foretell future events, as stated above, but also decisively refer their fulfilment to the Apocalyptic period from A.D. 33 to A.D. 96, that is, between the dates of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and of John's seeing the vision in Patmos. And herein we may observe an eloquent confirmation by the silence of John, for as the events are foretold to occur before