account, all power is given to me, fays Chrift, in heaven and in earth, (Matt. xxviii. 18.) And again, The father bath given to the fon power to do judgment. Why fo? Becaufe be is the fon of man, (John. v. 27.) Here we fee afcertained the univerfal dominion of Chrift. Then follow the gracious effects of his bounty towards mankind, for, be bath loved us, and washed us from our fins in his own blood: and he bath made us kings and priests to God and his Father, that is, he hath made us his coheirs, and has admitted us into a participation of his own fovereign power over the world, and likewife of his priesthood, by virtue of which we become alfo a boly priesthood, as St. Peter fays, to offer up fpiritual facrifices, acceptable to God by Jefus Christ, (1 Pet. ii. 5.) This communication of power granted by Christ to his fervants, by which they become kings and priests, will chiefly take place in the other world; and it is not only founded on the present text, but is clear from our Saviour's own words: I difpofe to you, fays he, as my Father has difpofed to me, a kingdom: that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and may fit upon thrones judging the twelve tribes of Ifracl, (Luke xxii. 29, 30.) And again, To him that shall overcome, I will give to fit with me in my throne, (Apoc. iii. 21.) To Chrift therefore, our bountiful Saviour and gracious Benefactor, be glory and empire for ever and ever. Amen.

v. 7. Behold, he cometh with the clouds, and every eye fhall fee him, and they also that pierced him. And all the tribes of the earth fhall bewail themselves because of him. Even fo. Amen.

The fame Jefus Chrift, who is prince of the kings of the earth, who has washed us from our fins in his blood, who has chofen us and made us kings and priests to God, is equally entitled to be our Judge, and will effectually

come

come in his fovereign power at the last day to judge the world: at which time every eye fhall fee him; and his countenance will be terrible to those who pierced him and crucified him. And even all the tribes of the earth, or the people of all nations upon the face of the earth, will mourn and bewail his death, being amazed and confounded at the unparalleled impiety of those men who crucified him.In the two preceding verfes were defcribed the functions, which Jefus Chrift, the fon of God made man, performed upon earth, in fulfilling the charge he had received from his Father, in redeeming the world, &c. These functions we see here completed by his coming at the last day to judge mankind, and to decree their rewards and punishments.

v. 8. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, faith the Lord God, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.

Here the Almighty himself speaks: I am Alpha and Omega; Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, the meaning of which in this place is explained by the fubfequent words, the beginning and the end. I am, fays Almighty God, the beginning and end of every thing. I am the firft caufe and laft end of all beings. I am the fource, from which every thing flows, and to which every thing must return. ated the world by my power, I govern it by my wif dom, and fhall put an end to it at my pleasure. I am He who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty. (See above, ver. 4.)

Thus we fee the two great Perfonages, who here prefide through the whole fcene of the Apocalypfe, God and Jefus Chrift. They are placed in the fupreme degree of eminence, and are clearly diftinguished by their refpective titles and attributes. They are exhibited

B 4

hibited as the Sovereign Rulers of the univerfe, the Moderators of all human tranfactions. And thus is nobly ushered in the Prophetic Hiftory, which begins as follows.

v. 9. I John your brother and your partner in tribulation, and in the kingdom, and patience in Christ Jesus, was in the ifland, which is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the teftimony of Jefus.

V. 10. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and beard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,

V. 11. Saying, what thou feeft, write in a book: and fend to the feven Churches which are in Afia, to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamus, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicia.

St. John here informs us, that he had fhared in the perfecution and tribulations, which were common to the chriftians; that he had alfo fhared with them in the kingdom of Jefus Chrift, or in the fupernatural fortitude which Chrift imparted to his fuffering fervants to make them victorious. By the orders of the Emperor Domitian, St. John, as we have feen, was put into a caldron of boiling oil at Rome, which he bore with invincible patience, and came out unhurt; after which he was banished into the island of Patmos, in the Archipelago. There he was an exile for the word of God, for having preached the word of God in oppofition to the fuperftitions of idolatry, and for the teftimony of Jefus, or for having borne testimony to Chrift, by publickly confeffing his holy name, and maintaining his doctrine. He was there ravished in Spirit on the Lord's day, or Sunday, which being fanctified by the great myfteries of the refurrection of Chrift and the defcent of the Holy Ghoft, was certainly a proper day for receiving this important Revelation,which comprises the whole history

of

of the Chriftian Church from her birth to her final triumphant state in heaven.

The manner, in which this History was communicated to him, he then proceeds to defcribe: And I heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, faying, what thou feeft, corite in a book. We faw (ver. 1.) that this Prophecy was delivered to the Apoftle by the angel of Chrift, St. John Baptift: and He is the great voice like that of a trumpet, which here speaks to the Apostle; for the function of the voice on this occafion is fimilar to that, which the Baptift performed when on earth. He then announced, as with the voice of a trumpet, the coming of his Divine Mafter: I am the voice, fays he, of one crying in the wilderness: make ftrait the way of the Lord, (John i. 23.) In like manner he is here diftinguished by the appellation of a great voice, and announces what is and what will be his Mafter's government and adminiftration of his Church. Befides, we read in verse the first of chap. iv. of the Apocalypfe: The first voice which I heard, as it were, of a trumpet fpeaking with me, faid: come up hither, and I will fhew thee the things which must be done hereafter; which being compared to verse the eighth of chap. xxii. After I had beard and feen, I fell down to adore before the feet of the angel, who fhewed me these things; it plainly appears that the voice and the angel indicate the fame perfon, viz. St. John Baptift. This obfervation premised, the Apoftle is told: What thou feeft, write in a book, and fend to the feven Churches, which are in Afia, &c. is ordered to fend this book of the Apocalypfe to the feven Afiatic Churches mentioned in the text, whence it was circulated over the chriftian world, and transmitted down to us.

He

v. 12. And I turned, continues St. John, to fee the

voice that spoke with me: and being turned, I faw feven golden candlesticks.

v. 13. And in the midst of the feven golden candleSticks one like to the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the feet, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.

V. 14. And bis head and his hairs were white, as white wool, and as fnow: and his eyes were as a flame of fre.

v. 15. And his feet like unto fine brass, as in a burning furnace: and his voice, as the found of many

waters.

v, 16. And he had in his right hand feven Stars. And from his mouth came out a sharp two-edged fword: and his face was as the fun fhineth in his power.

St. John in looking behind him to fee the voice that foke to him, is furprised by the appearance of a remarkable scene: Seven golden candlesticks ftanding, and in the midst of them a Perfon refembling the Son of man, or Chrift, clothed with a long garment down to the feet, and girt about the breast with a golden girdle, a drefs, that denotes his high rank and dignity; and being girt in this manner fhews him to be about business, namely, the government of his Church. His head and hair were white, as white wool, and as fnow; an emblem of Christ's divine existence from all eternity, whiteness of hair naturally indicating old age. And his eyes were as a flame of fire, as piercing as the flame of fire, penetrating into every thing, as he himself fays: I am be, that fearcbeth the reins and hearts, (Apoc. ii. 23.) His feet were like unto fine brafs, as in a burning furnace; the feet make the extremity of the body, and appear here inflamed as brafs in a glowing furnace, to fhew that at the extremity or end of time Chrift will come to destroy

the