Antichrist, a word new and apparently coined expressly to give a definite signification beyond any then existing; for it was not a pseudo or false Christ, such as were predicted to come before the destruction of Jerusalem, and which did then so appear, but a sort of self-constituted vice-Christ in the professing church, and in that character act the usurper against Christ's true church, and against Christ himself. It was evidently the very same enemy predicted by Daniel, the prophecy very singularly connecting the Antichrist with the Roman empire, the last of the four kingdoms, that were to hold supremacy over the world, until the times of the Gentiles were fulfilled; just as if he were to be the head of it, not in its present, but in some subsequent and final form. Paul, too, had spoken of the seed of the apostasy, which was to bring forth Antichrist, as already sown, but that there was a certain hindrance first to be removed out of the way, a hindrance well understood in the church to mean the Roman empire as at that time constituted.

The question would then naturally arise, when would Imperial Heathen Rome fall to make way for him? Many indi cations existed that the dissolution of the empire was near at hand; if so, how long would be the triumph of the Antichrist to follow ? Mystical periods were mentioned in Daniel of 1,260 days, and again of 1,260, 1,290 and 1,335 days, a time reaching to the enemy's destruction. Were those days simple days? Was Antichrist's reign to be so very short? and so, that memorable saying of Christ, "If I will that he tarry till I come," be yet literally fulfilled.

A clearer light on all these subjects was needed and expected, not only by John, as we read in ver. 9, chap. i., "I, John, who also am your brother and companion in tribulation and patient expectation of Jesus Christ" (patient expectation being a better rendering than patience as in our translation), but also by Paul, who, in his first epistle to the Corinthians, i. 7, says, "So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming (the Apocalypse, in the original) of our Lord Jesus Christ"-and in his second epistle to the Thessalonians, i. 7, " And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven" (in the

original, rest with us in the Apocalypse of Jesus Christ). Peter expresses a similar expectation in his first epistle, i. 7, "That the trial of your faith, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ”—and in ver. 13, "And hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ," in both of which instances the original is also in the Apocalypse of Jesus Christ. The Lord's promise to His disciples to the same effect, John xvi. 12, 13, "I have yet many things to say to you but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak : and he will show you things to come," had not yet received its due fulfilment ;-that memorable declaration too, Matt. xvi. 28, "Verily I say unto you, there be some standing here which shall not taste of death, until they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom "—and again, Matt. xxiv. 34, "Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled,"-all afforded ample grounds for just expectations of a revelation from Heaven; and also suggest an interesting subject for serious thought and enquiry as to the extent to which those expectations were fulfilled by the revelation now under consideration. This, however, not being within the scope of these lectures will be left for private judgment.

As we proceed with our investigation we shall find, on the presumption that our principle of exposition is correct, that the visions prefigured a conflict between Christ's kingdom and the world; and whereas in the commencement, crown, glory, and dominion, are seen to be attached to the potentates of the earth, in the end they are seen to pass away from the potentates of the earth, and to be transferred to the saints-thus beautifully, as well as remarkably, illustrating the Psalmist's prophetic declaration, Psalm cx. 1: "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool," words repeated in various portions of the New Testament by the Lord and by the disciples, and betokening precisely such a

conflict as the visions prefigured, and furnishing grounds, in addition to those already specified, for expectation that the promised revelation, when given, would foreshow the varied fortunes of Christ's true church whilst engaged in such conflict, and also the events occurring in the world influencing such fortunes. At the period of the visions being seen, the Roman Empire extended over the greater part of the then civilised world, and, with its religion Pagan, and its rulers and people in antagonism to, and persecuting the followers of, the new religion, suggested the field on which the predicted conflict would commence, and on which it will be shortly shown it did so commence. Sixty-three years had passed since the Lord's ascension; the Apostles had all suffered tortures and martyrdom at the hands of the Pagan Roman Emperors and people, excepting John, and he,—now ninety years of age,-the period was indeed brief for his expectations to be realised. Though, however, the fulfilment of the promise tarried long, the Lord had spoken it, and it came to pass. In Patmos, "for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ," it was announced to John that the long-expected revelation was about to be made.

He tells us he was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, when he was summoned by a great voice, as of a trumpet, to see and record what he saw "of the things which are, and the things which must be hereafter." His record commences with its title, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ" (mark its bearing on the enquiry just now suggested)-its writer, "John himself the Apostle "-its contents-the things which must shortly come to pass, and the blessing attending the reading, hearing, and keeping, or treasuring up the words of the prophecy. These he gives in verses 1 to 3.

Inspired by the sublimity of that which he was instructed to write, he then, in verses 4 to 8, declares the majesty and power of the great hero of the revelation, and anticipatively proclaims his ultimate glorious triumph over his enemies; and in verses 9 to 11 records the first symbolic scene, which we must present in his own words, as reflecting much interpreting light on the terms of the forthcoming prefigurations of the things that must shortly come to pass. The scene is thus described in verses 12 to end of chapter :

"And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; and in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars : and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter; the mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches."

In this scene, it will be observed, Christ is represented in the midst of seven candlesticks, and, as denoted by the seven candlesticks, in a chamber corresponding with the holy place of the old Jewish tabernacle with its sevenbranched candlestick. He is habited as the ancient High Priest, but with the glory of divinity attached. His eyes are as a flame of fire, and His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; a sharp two-edged sword issues from His mouth, and in His right hand are seven stars. The seven candlesticks Christ Himself explains to denote the seven churches of Proconsular Asia, and the seven stars, the angels or bishops of those churches. The eyes as

a flame of fire are declared in the subsequent vision to symbolise the spirit of God; the feet as brass, as if they burned in a furnace, symbolise His connection with the brazen altar of sacrifice in the court of the tabernacle; and in the two-edged sword, which went out of His mouth, is seen the familiar emblem of the power of His word.

From which representation, explanation, and locality, the following is observable, not only in point of doctrine, but as helping us materially to a right understanding of that which is to follow:-That the functions of the old Levitical priesthood were to be regarded as fulfilled thus early by Christ Himself; the functions of the bishops or presiding ministers, their head being in heaven, being merely to guide the devotions and animate the faith of the flock; not functions sacrificial or mediatorial, as with the priests of old.

And that as the Holy Place in the Jewish temple was entered by the Priest only, the brazen altar-court being the scene of the visible Jewish worship, so the charges given to John to write to the churches, set forth in the 2nd and 3rd chapters, were in relation to their worship, as seen, estimated, and accepted by Him who seeth in secret, not as seen by man, and thus lessons, perfect in doctrine and morality, with the rewards and punishments attaching to their observance or neglect, given from Heaven, not only for the edification of the churches then existing, but for universal application even to the end, as indicated by the repetition of the words "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the spirit saith unto the churches."

The Evangelist was also prepared, you will observe, for a similar application of Jewish symbols to Christian churches, should any occur in the visions of the future; an application further confirmed by the evident reference to Christians, under the title of Jews, in ver. 9, chap. ii. The explanation of the stars denoting the bishops or presiding ministers of the churches would also prepare him and authorize us similarly to interpret stars as symbolizing ecclesiastical rulers, where ecclesiastical subjects were pourtrayed, and secular rulers, where secular things were pourtrayed. In respect to the number of the churches specified, it may be interesting to note that the definite article, the seven churches, obviously implies that they were the only churches, or, at least, the principal churches of Proconsular Asia. The omission of Paul's famous churches of Colossa and Hierapolis has been cited by the objectors to the authorship, and consequently to the inspiration, of the book