And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.

And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth.

And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.

And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four-and-twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.

And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;

And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;

Saying, with a loud voice, 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 upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four-and-twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever.

COMMENT.-Continuing the vision of the original glory on which the Temple was moulded, St. John beheld in the Right Hand of Him that sat on the Throne a sealed book or roll. The roll of the Law had been kept, with the Ten Commandments, in the Sanctuary, and thus John beheld the Book of the Old Covenant, Law, and Prophecy, in the Hand of Him who sat on the Throne. An Angel called for one who would loose the seals and explain the mystery laid up in type, in ceremony and in prophecy, but it was as in the days of Isaiah (xxix. 11) :—

And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:

And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.

It is as if all the people were assembled at the Feast of Tabernacles to hear the Law, and none could open the seals of the book, nor read it, nor look thereon.

And while John, now representing mankind, wept that it could not be opened, one of the Elders, an Apostle as we may suppose, announced with joy that the Lion of Judah (Gen. xlix. 9), the Root of David (Is. xi. 1), had prevailed, like King Josiah long ago, to loose the seals, and read the Book of Mystery, the mystery of God's dealings with the world.

He looked, and what he saw was wondrously connected with the Passover and the daily sacrifice in the Temple, and with those words of the Baptist, "Behold the Lamb!" How much of his language is literal, how much figurative, we cannot tell; we only know that it was the Sacrificed One alive again, but with the tokens of His Death upon Him. The seven horns are tokens of universal power and strength, the seven eyes, of His pervading the earth by His Spirit (Zech. iii. 9). He came and took the Book from the Hand of Him Who sat on the Throne. And then began universal praise, begun by the Cherubim, taken up by the four-and-twenty elders, and echoed and re-echoed by every creature, while from golden vials arose clouds of fragrant incense, namely, the prayers of the saints. And the song is of praise to the Eternal Sacrificed One. He, the Lamb of God, hath opened the Book of Mystery. In Him mercy and truth have met together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other. He hath solved the piteous question of Job. He hath set Heaven and earth at one again by redeeming us out of every kindred and nation and tongue by His own Blood.

Therefore do Angels and saints, departed and living, ten thousand times ten thousand, praise Him for ever and ever with one voice, above all when the likeness of His Sacrifice is shown forth in remembrance of Him. Blessing and honour and glory and power be unto Him that sitteth on the Throne, and to the Lamb, for ever and ever!"

LESSON CXVII.

THE VISION OF JUDGMENT.

A.D. 96.-REV. xx. II to xxi. 8.

We dare not endeavour to interpret or comment on the succession of visions in which St. John was shown the coming history of Christ's Church, and of the world. Parts have been fulfilled, parts have yet to be accomplished, and as we have seen all along, the fulfilment of prophecy so repeats itself, that it is hard to tell whether even what has been partially fulfilled is yet over. There will come a time when we shall read all these visions as plainly as we now read the earlier parts of those dreams of Daniel's which we see here taken up and carried on. Meantime, they are fit for the study of a lifetime, and it will be better for the present only to dwell on the sure and certain end of all. At intervals, through all the opening of seals, sounding of thunders, pouring out vials of wrath, all of which betokened how the wicked world become corrupt within the Church, should suffer, St. John had still beheld the Heavenly Mercy Seat, the Lamb before the Throne, and the Cherubim leading the Song of Praise of all created things. He had seen the Angels of Wrath waiting till every servant of God was safe, he had seen the purest and holiest of these following the Lamb, and heard them singing the song that none other can learn, and he had seen—as in a glorified feast of the Feast of Tabernacles, the Redeemed with white robes and palms in their hands, on the sea of crystal mingled with fire, joining in the eternal chant of praise. And at last, he had seen Babylon, namely the outward Church corrupted by the world, overthrown and punished, and with her, the Devil, and Satan, that old serpent.

And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life : and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

COMMENT.-The Great White Throne shall be set ; Heaven and earth shall flee away; but the dead in multitudes, multitudes small and great, shall remain to see the books of the record of their lives opened for unerring judgment! There is another Book to be opened, and our own Eternity depends on whether we have kept our names in it. And, as Moses well knew, it is sin that blots us from the Book of Life. Battle-fields, lone ravines, deep snows, all, as well as the sea and the churchyard, will yield those who have slept in them, for Death and Hades are no more! The last enemy to be destroyed is Death, but with him, go to the Lake of Fire all who are not in the Book of Life, and therefore must meet the second death. God grant that our names may be found in the Book, and that we may be among those whose love to their Redeemer casteth out fear!

For them are ready new heavens and new earth, purified from all that has been painful and evil. “And there was no more sea." Does

this mean our literal ocean? or does it mean that the crystal sea mingled with fire was no more in St. John's vision, because there will be no more either Baptism or Death, to admit the soul to the Mercy Seat? We know not; we only know that the Bride, the Lamb's Wife, the Church, is now complete. She is all composed of purified and holy ones, the souls and bodies of the elect, whose frailties have been purged away, and who come forth to meet their Saviour, and be where is no more sorrow, nor sighing, nor grief, nor pain, nor tears; and though of them there are hosts, as one body do they come forth to be taken to their home and His, the New Jerusalem.

LESSON CXVIII.

THE CELESTIAL CITY.

A.D. 96.—REV. xxi. 9 to xxii. 7.

And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.

And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;

And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:

On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.

And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.

And the city lieth four-square, and the length is as large as the breadth : and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.

And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.

And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.

And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all man. ner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;