rests with the Christian Church, whether the Sabbath shall be expunged from the days of England, or revered for years to come, as it has been for years past, as the pearl of days, and valued as the princess of the week.

Do I address any in affliction? It was in tribulation, we are told, that John beheld the visions of glory and of beauty that are recorded in this book. It is through tears of sorrow that the eye has often seen most brightly the Lord of glory; and when the great High Priest of the Church walks on his ceaseless watch amid the candlesticks, where, think you, does he hear the tones of the deepest adoration? where does he see the radiance of the greatest sanctity? It is not among the rich, that sip the full cup, or among the sensual, that eat and drink, and are merry; it is where some poor man sleeps, the hard ground for his pillow, the blue firmament for his curtain; or where some sick one lies upon the bed of languishing, or some weeping one sheds the tear upon the green turf that covers the remains of the loved and the near one. Through much tribulation we must enter into the kingdom of God. It is as brethren and companions in tribulation, that we shall see the brightest visions of God, and of his Christ.

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Let me ask you, in the next place, to seek the Spirit of God, to lead you into all truth. It was "in the Spirit" that John had the Apocalypse revealed to him it is "by the Spirit" alone, that we can understand it. The knowledge of the original language may be valuable-acquaintance with philological criticism may be useful-but a higher acquirement still is to have the Spirit of God; and if we ask the help and guidance of that Spirit, God has promised to bestow it. Let us, then, pray to God to give us that Holy Spirit, by which we may be enabled to love his Word, to venerate his Sabbath, to live to his praise; and that when time shall be no more, we may be heirs of the kingdom of God, and shine like stars in the firmament, for ever and ever.

LECTURE III.

THE EVERLASTING HIGH PRIEST.

"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.". REV. i. 12-18.

THERE cannot be a doubt, that He who is thus described, in language so solemn, and yet so picturesque, is the Lord Jesus Christ. Nor can there be a doubt that the Being here delineated is also God; for the very acts and features peculiar to Deity are here predicated and asserted of the Lord Jesus. Does Christ "walk in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks?" God said, (Lev. xxvi. 12,) "I will walk among you." So our Lord promised in another place, "Where two or three are met together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." Again, he says, I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am

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alive (or the living one,) for evermore"-language clearly descriptive of Jehovah.

In order to show the unity that subsists in these portraits of Deity, between the revelations of the New Testament and the revelations of the Old, we may read a somewhat similar description of Deity, presented to us in the Prophet Daniel, chap. vii. 9: “And I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him ; the judgment was set, and the books were opened." And so in chap. x. 5: "I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz: -the " golden girdle about his breast"-" his body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude." There is no doubt that this was the Lord Jesus Christ who appeared to Daniel, as in all the other anthropomorphic epiphanies of the Old Testament, as well as to John, and that both these prophecies relate to the glory of the same Being, and the progress of the same Gospel.

The first epithet by which Christ is here distinguished, is "the Son of Man." This name is rarely given by the Evangelists to the Saviour; but is almost always assumed by the Saviour himself, as best descriptive of his lowly condition. The phrase "Son of Man," is used according to the Hebrew idiom, to denote a state of special infirmity, humiliation, and suffering. Thus, in the Psalms it is said, "Put not your trust in princes," i. e. the highest of the land "nor in" what is contrasted with them, "the Son of Man," i. e. the meanest or the poorest of the land. We have thus, in this picture of Jesus in the midst of his celestial

grandeur as the Son of Man, new evidence that his humiliation is not lost in his glory-that the cross is still resplendent amid the vision of the throne—that the name that was pronounced in Bethlehem, in Gethsemane, and on Calvary, is audible in the songs of the blest; and thus the "Lamb as if he had been slain,” is the sublimest, as it is the central feature of that glory which is yet to be revealed.

The next description of him is, "He was clothed with a garment down to the feet.” This garment is unquestionably, from the minute description of it given in the book of Exodus, the robe that was worn by the high priest, who is said to have been robed with it for sacredness, and for beauty, and for glory; and thus the sacredness of the priest, and the dignity of the king, are superadded to the humanity of the Son of Man, whatever can indicate humanity and Deity is revealed, in short, in order to constitute the full portrait of the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of glory.

It is added, there was a girdle about his loins. This is best explained by referring to the use of the word in other parts of the Scriptures; thus, Job xxi. 18: "He girdeth his loins with a girdle." Again, God is said to

loose the girdle of kings;" i. e. to reduce them to weakness; and when an ancient Jew, or Greek, or a Roman, who wore the long robe, called the toga, was about to engage in some manual labour, "he girded up his loins," to use the Scripture language, or fastened the flowing skirts of his raiment by a girdle round his waist. We thus infer from the picture under which Jesus is represented, that he is not only clothed with sacredness, and radiant with glory, but girded with strength and might, omnipotent to save.

We read next, that "his head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow." The white or hoary head is always regarded in Scripture as synonymous with authority, reverence, and even beauty. Thus, Lev. xix. 32: "Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man." Thus, Prov. xvi. 13: "The hoary head is a crown of

glory;" and so venerable is age in the mind of Deity, that God himself is represented to us as the Ancient of days; and in Scripture, the cutting off of the hair signified the loss of honour, of authority, dominion, and power; and hence, then, we gather from this hieroglyphic portrait of Jesus, as having "hair like wool, and white as the snow," that grandeur, authority, honour, and power, in their highest excellency, exclusively belong to him. He is then described as having eyes like flame." Fire is the most penetrating thing we know; it pierces and reduces all things: and eyes like flames of fire must imply the omniscience of Christ. His eye can reach all distances-rise to all heights— descend to all depths-and enter all concealment. There is not a thought in our hearts, but lo! he knows it altogether. It is his own assumed and just prerogative," I am he that searcheth the hearts, and trieth the reins of the children of men." And what a solemn truth is this, that there is not a thought that flits with lightning speed across a single mind in this assembly, that is not as clearly seen by God, and registered above, as I am at this moment seen and heard by you. "Search my heart, O God, and try my thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

Again, it is stated that his feet were as brass. This has also its meaning. Brass is used in Scripture to denote strength, endurance. Thus we read, "gates of brass;" i. e. gates of great strength, and not easily to be broken open. Hence his feet being like brass implies that his enemies should be trodden down,—that no obstacles should arrest him,—that no difficulties should make him weary,that he is able to execute in his power the purposes of mercy and of love which he has formed towards his own. It is said that his feet which were like brass, glowed like molten brass, as if they burned in a furnace." This may denote the tribulations through which he would have to pass-the trials which he would have to endure-partly perhaps in his body the Church-the scenes of opposition through which he