things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.

9 Then saith he unto me,

uttered to him. It is a reäffirmation that the facts of the book of Revelation were divinely communicated to him. He described them, it is true, in his own style and manner; the images were the most of them borrowed from the prophetical writings. But the message itself, the great truths he communicated, he had heard and seen. At the very beginning of the book, John was commanded to write the things which he had seen; i. 19. Some of the things which John saw were past, some were then present, and some were future, but were shortly to come to pass. ¶ I fell down to worship. The revelator adds: "And when I had heard and seen," to wit, when he had heard and seen all that had been revealed to him, he was overwhelmed with wonder. He fell down to do homage to the angel-revelator. He seems to have worshipped him as a divine person; he seems to have rendered to him the worship that belonged to God. His falling down was the effect of what he had heard and seen. He had been impressed similarly on a former occasion; xix. 10.

9. See thou do it not. Thus, it will be seen, the angel forbid the revelator worshipping him. The reason why worship should not have been rendered to the angel was, he was fellow-servant to the revelator, and of his brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of the book. That there was a class of men in the Christian church called prophets, see 1 Cor. xii. 28, 29. Perhaps his meaning was, "I am like the prophets, merely a servant of God, I am not entitled to divine honors more than they. Worship not me - worship God."

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.

10 And he saith unto me,

10. Seal not the sayings. · The angel still continues, but he was near the close of his communications; he is about to give his last advice, his closing admonition: "Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand." To use the words of Dr. A. Clarke: "Do not lay up these sayings for future generations; they concern the present times; they must shortly come to pass, for the time is at hand." See verse 6. It is a well-known fact, that, when important events revealed through the prophets or inspired men of old were not to be fulfilled or accomplished till some very remote period, or for a long time after the prediction was made, the prophets were commanded to seal up the roll, or the sayings thereof, because the time of fulfilment was distant. Thus, in Dan. viii. 26, Gabriel says to the prophet, "The vision of the evening and the morning, which was told, is true; wherefore, shut thou up the vision, for it shall be for many days;" that is, its fulfilment is to be at a remote period. Again; xii. 4, 9, 12, 13: “Thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end. Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days. But go thou thy way till the end be; for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days." On the other hand, where the events were to take place immediately, or very soon, the prophet was forbidden to seal the sayings of the book; as in the events spoken of in the text and context, on which we are now remarking. See Lightfoot, iii. 368. It should not be forgotten, that both at the beginning of the Apocalypse and at its close, it is insisted that the time

of the fulfilment is at hand. See chap. i. 1-3: "The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must SHORTLY come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: FOR THE TIME IS AT HAND." This was the language of the apostles in regard to the advent of Christ to judgment. Paul to the Romans: "The night is far spent, the day is at hand;" xiii. 12. To the Philippians: "The Lord is at hand;" iv. 5. Peter also testifies to the same fact: "But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer;" iv. 7. With this weight of testimony before us, how can we doubt that the advent of Christ to judgment transpired very shortly after the revelator wrote? Professor Stuart admits that the whole Apocalypse, excepting chapters xx. and xxi., refers to things that were speedily to take place when the revelator wrote. He says, "We are at liberty, or rather, we are obliged, if possible, to seek for a fulfilment of the predictions in the main body of the Apocalypse within a time which is not far distant from the period when the book was written. If such a fulfilment can be found as coincides with the periods named in the Apocalypse, then what good reason can be offered why we should reject it? Or, rather, Why are we not exegetically obliged to admit it?"-(Hints on Prophecy: Andover, 1842 p. 113.) The main body of the Apocalypse! Why does not the professor say the whole book? Why should he separate one or two chapters from the main drift of the

11 He that is unjust, let himn be unjust still and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still:

book, and apply them to the distant future? If the revelator had intended to apply them to the distant future, would he not have said, These things are not speedily to come to pass? these things are to be excepted from the great declaration? But he did no such thing. He gave not the slightest hint, in regard to the 20th and 21st chapters, that the events therein spoken of were not speedily to come to pass, or to commence to come to pass, like all the events mentioned in the book. There is but one thing more the angel-revelator has to communicate, and that is stated in the next verse.

11. Let him be unjust still. This passage is supposed, by many, to prove, that there can be no change in the moral condition of man after death, and that those who die in a state of rebellion and irreconciliation to God, must eternally remain so. But does the text declare any such thing? or, can such a sentiment be deduced, or even inferred, from the passage, taking the whole context into the account? We think not. There is nothing said in the text or context about the death of the body; nothing said about the resurrection to immortal life; nothing said about another state of existence; nor anything that would naturally lead the reader to suppose any other state but the present was at all referred to. The whole scope of the context would lead to the supposition that the events spoken of were then about to transpire. John was forbidden to seal the book, for the very reason that the time mas at hand. Running through all the instructions of Christ and his apostles, is this distinct fact, to wit, that if persons would not be warned of the approaching advent of Christ, and prepare for it, they must expect to perish. If the Christians would not

is holy, let him be holy still. Į

the open enemies of Jesus, as well as of his unfaithful disciples. While they were comparatively safe, eating and drinking, and making merry, they could not profess the name of Christ before men; but when thick troubles began to gather upon the Jewish church and state, and the divine favor began to be manifested in an unusual manner in favor of the persecuted religion of Jesus, then they turned their eyes to him, and cried, "Lord, Lord, open the gate of the gospel unto us." To these events the following words of Christ are applicable: "Whosoever, therefore, shall be ashamed of me, and of my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father, with the holy angels;" and Jesus assured them that this should take place during the natural lives of that generation; Mark viii. 38, compared with ix. 1. To illustrate this fact, the parable found in Luke xiii. 24-28 was spoken. "When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, | open unto us, and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity." The purport of this advice is, strive to enter now into the acceptance and profession of my gospei; be not ashamed of me or my doctrine before this sinful generation. If you do not embrace the present opportunity, the time will come when you will regret it. Your nation will soon be overthrown with the most dreadful calamities; and then not a hair on the heads of my disciples shall be hurt. When that time comes, it will be too late for you to enter the

12 And behold, I come

kingdom of God; the door will be shut; you will wish you had embraced past opportunities; but it will be of no avail; you will put forth pretences and claims to be considered my followers, but you will not have the test of true discipleship. At that critical time, there cannot be this change of character. Christians then will be Christians, and enemies must remain enemies-the judgment cannot be averted. "He that is unjust will then be unjust still; he that is righteous will be righteous still; and he that is holy will be holy still." We have thus finished our examination of the words of the angel-revelator. There now follows the confirmation by the Lord Jesus himself of what the angel had said.

CONFIRMATION BY THE ALPHA AND OMEGA.

There seems to be a striking propriety that the Lord Jesus should give his confirmation of what the revelator had said, if the revelator had faithfully delivered his message. Look at the first verse of the book once more. "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John." This is the title of the book, and would well appear as the title-page. The revelation is the revelation of Jesus Christ. He received it from his Father. He communicated it to John, by whom it was to be communicated unto the churches. When John had finished his communications, the query would naturally arise, has he done his work faithfully? To show that he had done so, Jesus gave his confirmation.

12. Behold, I come quickly. Here, the first fact which Jesus confirmed, was the great fact that his coming was to take place QUICKLY. He knew well when that event was to happen.

quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

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

14 Blessed are they that do

As if he had said, "I wish to confirm what John has written, especially on this point; and therefore I say, "BEHOLD, I COME QUICKLY." ¶To give every man according as his work shall be. Who can fail here to recall to mind the words of Christ, spoken during his flesh? "For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. Verily I say unto you, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom;" Matt. xvi. 27, 28. See, also, Mark viii. 38; ix. 1; Luke ix. 26, 27. Jesus said his reward was with him, to give every man according as his work shall be; i. e., at his coming, which he then said was to take place quickly. Is there not a close connection, then, between this passage and Rev. xx. 12, where we read that the dead, small and great, stood before God, and were judged every man according to his works?

13. I am Alpha and Omega. - And to make his confirmation the more solemn, he adds, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last." The phrase Alpha and Omega is explained by the words which immediately follow. Alpha is "the beginning," "the first;" Omega "the end," "the last." Alpha was the first and Omega the last letter of the Greek alphabet.

14. Blessed are they that do, &c. Mark, those only were promised the blessing who did his commandments. Not every one that said, Lord, Lord, should enter into the kingdom of heaven, but "he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven;" Matt.

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,

vii. 21. ¶ Have right to the tree of life. They shall partake of the tree of life. "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God;" Rev. ii. 7. This figure of the tree of life is taken from the account of the tree of life in the garden of Eden, Gen. ii. 22-24. In describing the heavenly city, new Jerusalem, we have seen that John placed the tree of life in the midst of it; xxii. 2. To have right to the tree of life was to have right to the blessings of the new Jerusalem, or, in other words, of the gospel kingdom into which the faithful Christians were to enter. They were to "enter in through the gates into the city." How much is said in the New Testament about "entering into life," "in at the strait gate," "into the kingdom of heaven," "into the joy of the Lord," "into rest." These expressions all mean the same thing. There is a great variety of metaphor, but the same intent in all. The holy city represented the gospel covenant. Blessed were they who entered in. See the long note on Rev. ii. 7.

15. Without are dogs, and sorcerers, &c.-Those who did not enter through faith and obedience into the city, must, of course, remain without. The city was full of light; and therefore those without are said, by way of contrast, to be in "outer darkness;" i. e., they were outside of the kingdom. They had not passed through the gates into the city; Matt. viii. 12; xxii. 13; xxv. 30. Unbelievers and unfaithfuĺ professors were said to stand without; and after the troubles began, and it was too late for them to change their position, they knocked earnestly for admission; Luke xiii. 25. These en