COMMENCEMENT OF APOCALYPTIC VISIONS.

Rev. x. 8-11. And the Voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, "Go, take the little book which is open in the hand of the Angel who standeth upon the sea and upon the earth!" And I went unto the Angel and said unto him, "Give me the little book!" And he said unto me, "Take it, and eat it up! and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey." And I took the little book out of the Angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. And he said unto me, "Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings."

[Redeemed men (repossessing humanity), ransomed from the grave, are already in heaven, at the opening of the 7-sealed book of the counsels of God, by the Lamb:-" And no man in heaven, nor in earth. was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. 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 Jndah, 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 living creatures (Ezek. i. 10; Ex. xxv. 18, 19, margin; Heb. ii. 11), 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. (Isa. xi. 2; xl. 13, 14; lxi. 1; xlii. 4.) And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him Who sat upon the throne.. And the four living creatures, and twentyfour elders, fell down before the Lamb, . . and they sang a new song,'Thou art worthy to take the book,. 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."" Rev. v. 3-14.

Concerning the manifested fulfilment:-Hos. xiii. 11—14; Dan. vii. 9—11; Rom. viii. 21-23.]

1 Thes. iv. 16, 17, 18. For The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the

clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore exhort one another with these words.

Mat. xxiv. 27, 40-42; Luke xvii. 34. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also The Coming of The Son of Man be. Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken and the other left. I tell you, in that night, there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch! therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

[The Master of the house may return at even, or at midnight, or at the cock-crowing, or in the morning (Mark xiii. 35); and each of the occupa→→ tions mentioned will be applicable to some one of the quarters of the globe at the instant when the Lord shall descend, and summon "the saints who have made a covenant with Him by Sacrifice" (Ps. 1. 5), to His Cloudpavilion, in which He hides them in The Time of Trouble (Acts i. 9, 11; Ps. xxvii. 5): although His Coming to the toiling rowers whom He has constrained to go forth into the darkness alone, be, in Jerusalem time, "the fourth watch of the night,"-between three and six, a.m., according to Roman reckoning. Mark. vi. 45–51; Matt. xiv. 22-33; John vi. 15—21.]

OF THOSE TAKEN.

I

OF THOSE LEFT.

Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think
not the Son of Man

COMETH.
Matt. xxiv. 44.

Matt. xxiv. 45-47. (Luke xii. 37-40, 42-44.) Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing. Verily, I say unto you, that he shall make him ruler over all his goods.

Matt. xxiv. 48-51. (Luke xii. 45-48.) But if that evil servant shall say in his heart, "My lord delayeth his coming!" and shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him off, and appoint him his

portion with the hypocrites (Rev. iii. 14-17-22): there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Mat. xxv. 1.

Then

(At the time of the Lord's return.)

shall The Kingdom of Heaven be likened unto ten virgins, who took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom.

(2.) And five of them were wise,

(4.) But the wise took oil in

their vessels with their lamps.

(2.) And five were foolish.

(3) They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:

(5, 6, 7.) While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, "Behold! the bridegroom cometh! go ye out to meet him!" Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.

13. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the Day nor the Hour wherein The Son of Man Cometh.

(Luke xii. 31–36; xiii. 23—30.)

[The redeemed men, in heaven at this period of the opening of the sealed book, are seen (in the vision) crowned: "And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold." (Rev. iv. 4.) Have "entered into the joy of their Lord." Matt. xxv. 14-19-21.]

2. Tim. iv. 8. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the Righteous Judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His Appearing.

1 Pet. v. 4. And when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. (John xvii. 13, 22, 24; xiv. 3.)

IN THE SPIRIT ON THE LORD'S DAY.

["The statement that John was then 'in The Spirit on the Lord's Day,' may not merely signify that he had this vision on the Sabbath, but may also have the further and deeper meaning, that he was carried forward in contemplation by The Holy Spirit into the beginning of the period called the Day of the Lord, or Day of Judgment, commencing with The Advent of Christ (1 Pet. iv. 17), and comprising the thousand years of 'the millennium' (2 Pet. iii. 8, 10; Zech. xiv. 1, &c.). This view, which is supported by some writers, would additionally show that the main fulfilment of Revelation does not begin until the first stage of The Second Advent; and, in this case, the epistles to the seven churches would prophetically apply to different denominations or classes of Christians existent at Christ's return." -M. Baxter.]

Rev i. 10-18. I was in The Spirit on The Lord's Day, and heard behind me a great Voice, as of a trumpet (John v. 25, 28, 29; 1 Thes. iv. 16), saying, “ I am Alpha and Omega (Isa. xliv. 6), The First and The Last; and what thou seest write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia" And I turned

to see the Voice that spake with me. And being turned I saw seven golden lampstands. And in the midst (Ex. xxv. 31-40; xxvii. 20, 21; xxx. 7, 8; xxviii. 3-39) of the seven (Rev. v. 6) lampstands, One like unto The Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the breast with a golden girdle. (Ex. xxviii. 1325.) His head and His hairs were white like wool, as white as śnow (Dan. vii. 9); 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 (Dan x. 5, 6). And He had in His right hand seven stars (Lev. xxiv. 2-4; 2 Chr. xiii. 11); and out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword (Isa. xlix. 2; Eph. vi. 17; Heb. iv. 12); and His countenance was as the sun shineth in His strength (Mat. xvii. 2; Acts xxvi. 13). 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! (John vi. 19, 20; xx. 19.) I am The First and The Last: I am The Living One, and became dead; and, behold! I am alive for evermore, amen! and have the keys of hades and of death.'

["A 'first resurrection;' and consequently The Second Advent,-in its first and secret stage (John xiv. 22),—is implied to be before the three and a half years' tribulation, by the statement in Dan. xii. 1, that it will take place at the same time when the unparalleled "Time of Trouble." commences, which is foreshown in verse 7 to continue in its chief intensity during the final three and a half times or years; although it will have begun a year or two earlier, as intimated in Dan. xi. 40."]

Prefigured by His appearing personally to John in Patmos, before showing him the Judgments of the Seals, Trumpets, &c.

by His appearing to Daniel (x. 2-7) before showing him the vision of the final three and a half years' Great Tribulation, which is the principal theme of Dan xi. xii.