precisely, that we cannot consider them otherwise, in fact, than one and the same Being.

The word translated blessing, is literally to speak well, (benedicere,) sometimes rendered by the term benediction. When man blesses his fellowman, it is in effect by offering a prayer in his behalf: when God blesses. man, it is in fact the bestowment of a favour upon him; but when man blesses God, it is an act of praise-to speak well of God, is to praise Him. God and the Lamb are thus represented as equally the objects of praise.

The glory of God is exhibited as he himself indicates, Ex. xxxiii. 19, in his goodness; a goodness, or loving-kindness, manifested especially in the work of redemption.

Honour and glory, in common parlance, appear to be nearly synonymous; but scripturally, honour may be supposed peculiar to the success of an achievement, glory to the goodness of the purpose. Honour is therefore ascribed to God for his accomplishment of that which his goodness purposed. If men achieve their own eternal salvation, although instrumentally only, the honour of this achievement must be theirs, or at least partially so ; but if God accomplish it all, the glory is entirely his; and this is the glory which he has declared that he "will not divide with another."

Power and might appear also to be nearly convertible terms; but power, diraus, is said to signify intrinsic ability, (Rob. Lex. 169,)—perhaps in contradistinction to transmitted ability. God has power in himself; man has no power except it be given him of God.

Might, toys, or efficacy, is applicable to the action of God in man, by which the means of salvation are made available.

The wisdom of God is manifested in the plan by which the principles of justice and mercy are reconciled, and by which a new motive of obedience is furnished the disciple, even for eternity.

The word translated thanksgiving, is from a term properly signifying mindful of benefits, (evɣáporos,) that is, gratitude, (Rob. Lex. 276.)

This ascription of praise on the part of the angels, thus appears equivalent to an exhibition of the truth, that in all things, in the work of creation, of providence, and of redemption, God is every thing, and man is nothing: there is no intervening instrumentality which can deprive him of the praise, honour, or glory, resulting from every operation in the universe, spiritual or natural}

Vs. 13, 14. And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came hey? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their Fobes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Καὶ ἀπεκρίθη εἷς ἐκ τῶν πρεςβυτέρων λέγων μοι· οὗτοι οἱ περιβεβλημένοι τὰς στολὰς τὰς λευκὰς τίνες εἰσι καὶ πόθεν ἦλ

ov; Kai signna avτõ• núgié μov, σv oìδας. καὶ εἶπέ μοι· οὗτοί εἰσιν οἱ ἐρχόμενοι ἐκ τῆς θλίψεως τῆς μεγάλης, καὶ ἔπλυναν τὰς στολὰς αὑτῶν καὶ ἐλεύκαναν αὐτας ἐν τῷ αἵματι τοῦ ἀρνίου.

§ 179. One of the elders answered, saying,'-or, one of the elders spake, saying. The term answered, seems to suppose a previous inquiry ; but the original word, which primarily signifies to separate, is said to have been used in the New Testament at the commencement of a discourse. "In N. Test. άлoxqívɛoðαı, dicitur non tantum ille qui respondet, sed etiam qui sermonem inchoat," (Suiceri Lex.)

'What are these?'-The Scriptures (the elder perhaps in this case being one of the elements of the Old Testament revelation) suggest inquiries at the same time that they answer them. It is in reading the Scriptures that questions occur to our mind, and it is only by reading them that our doubts can be solved. These may be providentially started, sometimes in order to direct the mind to particulars which might otherwise pass unnoticed:-as if the elder had been fearful of the apostle's neglecting to make the inquiry, and so losing the opportunity of knowing.

'These are they that have come out of great tribulation.'-Great pressure, or compression, (§ 54.) The sinner suffers from an oppressive sense of his transgressions; but the sinner, merely as such, cannot be said to have any robe of righteousness or garment of salvation, of his own, to wash white; while those here represented appear to have had some garment, which they had washed white in the blood of the Lamb, and by so doing came out of a certain condition of pressure and compression.

Those who go about to establish a righteousness of their own, feeling themselves dependent upon their own merits, may well be considered in a state of suffering from the pressure of the law-in a state of compression from legal requirements on all sides. They suppose themselves to be weaving a garment of salvation of their own-a robe of their own righteousness; but it resembles very much the poisoned garment of the fabled prodigy of strength: a cause of increasing distress to the wearer from the moment of its adoption, and resulting at last in his destruction. With a like garment, whatever may be the confidence of the self-righteous in his own strength, he is really in a position of great tribulation; although he cannot be sensible of this till he has passed through a certain process of

conviction.

Suppose persons with the views just described to become so enlightened in faith as to lay aside all dependence upon their own merit, or upon their own works, whether of mind or body-throwing themselves altogether upon the atonement of their Redeemer, and looking to the effect of his vicarious sacrifice as the only remedy for their unworthiness and sinfulness. The robe of self-righteousness, which was once their source of confidence, is now changed for a garment of salvation of their Saviour's merits, pure and white; by which change of views they may be said to have washed these garments, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

The disciple cannot divest himself of his own sinfulness or defilement ; in fact he himself must be ever the same unworthy being, but by sovereign grace he may be accounted "clothed upon," (2 Cor. v. 4,) and by faith he may count himself clothed upon with the righteousness of Christ ; and this again, as an act of faith, may be spoken of as the washing of his robe, and making it white in the blood of the Lamb; but, strictly speaking, even in the matter of faith the disciple cannot be said to wash his own robe, any more than he can be said in fact to cleanse himself. The change of position, by which he is purified, is effected by the divine purpose alone: what God has cleansed, and that only, we may add, is no more to be called common, or unclean. So, in respect to the illumination of the mind of the believer, on this subject of doctrine as well as of all others, he can have no power of himself, except it be given him from on high. We accordingly suppose here, as elsewhere in this vision, principles of doctrine are personified, and in apocalyptic language, are spoken of, by way of illustration, as human beings, performing a certain operation as of themselves. The prin ciples of the disciple's faith change the garment of" filthy rags," (Is. lxiv. 6,) once trusted in, for the robe pure and white of God's providing. It is by the Spirit, or power of God, as it is in the blood or atonement of the Lord Jesus, that the believer is washed, and cleansed, and sanctified, (1 Cor. vi. 11, Zech. xiii. 1.)

Vs. 15, 16. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.

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Διὰ τοῦτο εἰσιν ἐνώπιον τοῦ θρόνου τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ λατρεύουσιν αὐτῷ ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτὸς ἐν τῷ ναῷ αὐτοῦ· καὶ ὁ καθήμενος ἐπὶ τοῦ θρόνου σκηνώσει ἐπ' αὐτούς. οὐ πεινάσουσιν ἔτι, οὐδὲ διψήσουσιν ἔτι, οὐδὲ μὴ πέσῃ ἐπ ̓ αὐτοὺς ὁ ἥλιος οὐδὲ πᾶν και

μα,

$180. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him.' -Therefore, that is, as a consequence of the foregoing. They are before the throne of God; they are continually in the sight of him who is of purer eyes than to look upon iniquity, Hab. i. 13. There can be, therefore, no iniquity in them, and there is not, because of the purification which they are just now said to have undergone ;-and serve him continually, day and night. There is no intermission in this service, during which some other object of service is attended to:-the devotion is perpetual and entire, to God alone and this as a consequence also of the ablution and deliverance before described. They serve God, too, in his temple,-in the only position in which he can be truly served or worshipped.

We have described before the service of God as that which must arise from a principle of gratitude, (§ 98,) something not admitting of a motive of self-interest; a service having in view only the glory of God, and the

fulfilment of his purposes.

So long, for example, as the disciple is going about to establish a righteousness, or to work out a propitiation of his own, so long his motive of action must be that of serving himself-promoting his own glory, and fulfilling his own purposes; but after having been brought to an entire dependence upon what his Redeemer has done in his behalf, he has then no occasion to consult his own interests; his only remaining motive of conduct is that of gratitude to the author of his salvation. In Christ, as in a temple, he is safe. In Christ, as a priest in the temple of Jehovah, he is provided for; he has no occasion for anxiety about his own welfare. He is thus shut up, in the nature of the case, to a serving of God in the strictest sense of the term.

Parallel with this we suppose the principles of doctrine [serving God, and acceptable to him, are those growing out of the system of atonement and vicarious offering, perfected in Christ; principles of grateful love alone being those contemplated with favourable regard by Him who searcheth the heart, as they are in fact the only principles bearing the characteristics of his service.

' And serve him.'-It is not said that they are to serve God and the Lamb; because, the work of redemption being now accomplished, God is all in all. The Son has given up the kingdom. He has given up his claim to service from the redeemed to the Father. The Lamb was sent to establish this claim he has performed the work assigned him; he has brought all motives into subjection to this one motive of gratitude for salvation, and he now transfers the whole to the Father. Hence all thus redeemed-spiritual or natural, disciples or principles-in Christ serve God day and night; and this as a consequence of the deliverance wrought out by the Redeemer.

The services of the literal temple were typical, both of the sacrifice of Christ and of the grateful self-devotion due from the disciple. But in this portion of the Apocalypse, we may suppose the last only to be contemplated. The propitiatory offering is no more to be made. All this portion of the temple service is supposed to have been completed. The thank-offerings alone remain to be made: not merely the service of the lips, but of the whole heart and life; corresponding with the holy and acceptable sacrifice, spoken of by the apostle Paul as the reasonable service of the believer, Rom. xii. 1.

Whatever the action be, the motive must be that of a thank-offering, or it will not correspond with the temple-service of the multitude clothed in white. Nor is this principle confined to the conduct, or faith, of the followers of Jesus on this globe of earth alone. It must be a principle universal in its nature. Throughout the vast expanse of immensity-amidst the myriads of worlds around us-no service can be acceptable to God which does not proceed from a grateful motive-a motive universally incumbent

upon every created being, because the conferring of every benefit by the Creator upon the creature must be an act of SOVEREIGN GRACE.

181. And he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.' -This should have been the commencement of the next verse, as it is more immediately connected with what follows than with what precedes it. The elder is now beginning to set forth what God will do for his redeemed, in addition to what he has done for them in accomplishing their salvation.

The language, as it is translated, corresponds with that of the apostle Paul, 2 Cor. vi. 16: "As God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people." There is a difference, however, in the original, in the words employed in the two passages, as there is also some difference between the figures as we have rendered them. In Corinthians the disciples are represented either collectively, or individually, as themselves the temple; to which it is added, as God has said, ¿roczńow iv avrois, I will inhabit with, in, or amongst them. In the Apocalypse the redeemed are represented as worshipping or serving in the temple, to which is added the prediction that God will pitch his tent over them, oxyvwoɛ in avtous. That is, he will take them under the shelter of his tabernacle as we might suppose a powerful chief in the deserts of Arabia, after having redeemed, or ransomed a number of captives, to pitch for himself and for them an immense tent, under which they are received. He does not go into their dwelling, but he takes them into his. He dwells with them, because he has thus admitted them to this shelter, Ezek. xxxvii. 27. Their protection, as far as covering is concerned, is thus provided for; as it is said, Is. iv. 6, "And there shall be a tabernacle (or tent) for a shadow in the day-time from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain," (see also Rev. xxi. 3.)

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They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more,' &c.-This may be an allusion to the gracious provision predicted, Is. xlix. 9 and 10: They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in the high places. They shall not hunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor sun smite them for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them."

The words of the prophet in this passage so nearly accord with those of the elder, that we might almost suppose the one to represent the other -the reader of the book of Isaiah enjoying, in this particular, almost the same privilege as that granted the beloved apostle-that is, an explanation on the part of one of the elders of the blessed results of the mystery of redemption.

The subjects of this distinguished favour are described, by both of these sacred writers, as clothed with garments of salvation-the robe of imputed righteousness; as sheltered by the tabernacle of God-the covering of di