servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

When the angel had spoken to the Apostle of the peculiar happiness of those who were invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb, the delightful prospect of these glorious times threw the latter into such a state of holy rapture and admiration, that he fell prostrate before his heavenly interpreter to worship him. Whether the Apostle imagined that this angel was the Son of God himself, the angel of the covenant; or whether he was in such a state of transport, joy, and surprise, as did not admit of calm and deliberate reflection; or whether he was influenced by any other motive, the account of the. transaction does not mention. The plain fact only is stated, that St. John fell down to worship the angel, who immediately refused his adoration and charged him not to offer it, as he was not his Creator and Lord, or in any respect an object of his worship; but only the fellow-servant of him and his brethren who had the testimony of Jesus. They testified of things concerning him which had at this time been accomplished; namely, of his birth, life, death, resurrection, ascension, and the way of salvation through his atonement and righteousness: he revealed prophecies respecting him which as yet were unaccomplished. This celestial instructor, therefore, informs the Apostle that angels and prophets, in respect to bearing witness to Christ, were fellow-labourers in the same cause; and hence, that they were not to worship one another, but God only. Thus, by the conduct of the Apostle in his attempt to worship the angel, whatever might be his views or motives for so doing, an opportunity is afforded, nearly at the close of the canon of Scripture, for fixing the eternal rule respecting the one sole object of religious worship, the Almighty Jehovah; and of condemning in the strongest manner possible the wor

ship of angels and saints. But the worship of angels and saints has formed a prominent part of that corruption of Christianity by popish idolatry, which has spread its baleful influence through so many nations, and which has continued for so many ages. Here, however, we see this idolatrous practice of Popery condemned in the most decisive and explicit manner; for, if the Apostle was repeatedly forbidden to pay any homage, at all resembling adoration, to a most glorious and benevolent angel, when visibly present and acting the part of an instructor to him; then, surely, it follows, that no invisible, no absent creatures, whether angels or saints, can be worshipped without giving to them the glory which belongs exclusively to Jehovah. This angel, who refused to receive the worship of the Apostle, acted in the same manner as Paul and Barnabas did at Lystra; and every creature who fears God would necessarily follow the example of the angel and the apostles: they would promptly refuse and prohibit that worship which belongs only to God. Here, by the way, we have a strong collateral proof of that doctrine which is the pillar and ground of the truth, the divinity of Jesus. Christ, as the eternal Son of God, is "equal to the Father as touching his Godhead; and, therefore, he is equally an object of divine worship. All men are required to honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. If Christ had not been a divine person, or, in other words, if he had not been essentially God as well as man, he ought on all occasions to have refused divine worship; and he certainly would have done so. But what is the fact? He never did so. This circumstance therefore, in connexion with his character and his works, is a demonstrative proof of his essential divinity.

In the close of this verse, the angel explains upon what principle he styles himself, when communicating prophecies to the Apostle, the fellow-servant of those who had the testimony of Jesus: "For,"

said he, "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of pro"phecy." The very spirit and end of prophecy is to bear witness to this glorious and divine Personage. Hence, the angel, in communicating prophecies to St. John, was employed in the same work as the Prophets, who all bore testimony to Jesus; and in the words of which he makes use, he gives a key to the prophecies of Scripture in general. Infidels have objected to prophecy on account of its obscurity, and have argued that the predictions of future events ought to have been expressed in such plain and clear terms, that every reader might easily understand and comprehend their meaning. Not to argue that such a clear and explicit developement of futurity would have been inconsistent with the plan of God's moral government of the world, and with the free agency of men, by which many of his purposes are accomplished; it may be sufficient to state, that we are here taught by an angel, that the revelation of future events is not the principal design and end of prophecy. It is here declared by this heavenly minister of God, who was commissioned to be the instructor of the Apostle, that the spirit of prophecy is to bear testimony to Jesus. This is its most important and grand end-an end which it accomplishes in a much more effectual manner by its predictions, expressed, as we find they are in fact in the Sacred Scriptures, than it could have done had they been delivered in such clear and explicit terms that their meaning might have been fully understood before the predicted events have taken place. God has, in mercy to us, as well as in his own infinite wisdom, concealed from us particulars respecting the destinies of empires and individuals, both of his true Church and of the antichristian hierarchy. But the general outline of prophecy which the omniscient Jehovah has seen good actually to afford us, bears testimony to Jesus as the Son of God and the Saviour of the world; and surely this, of itself, is an object

of sufficient dignity and importance for prophecy, as well as of the greatest benefit and advantage to man. From the period of the fall and apostacy of our original parents, when the first prophetic promise was published, "The seed of the woman shall bruise "the serpent's head," to the last prediction contained in the canon of Scripture, the great design of prophecy has been to bear testimony to the person, character, and offices of Jesus. Its predictions refer to the birth, life, sufferings, death, resurrection, and ascension of the Redeemer, to the religion he was to establish, and to the state and condition of his church, till the consummation of all things, when he shall have accomplished the number of "his elect, and have given up his kingdom to God "even the Father." The result of prophecy, on the whole, therefore, is to afford the most ample and . full evidence that Jesus is the Son of God and the Saviour of men. It may, however, be remarked, that although the general outline of prophecy is sufficiently plain to be discovered by the studious, pious, and humble, and to support their faith and patience; yet, from the analogy of revealed religion, it must be expected that the minute circumstances of the predicted events must be necessarily so obscure as to keep that faith and patience in constant exercise. As far, therefore, as prophecy is unfulfilled, its testimony to Jesus will be comparatively imperfect and obscure; but when it is accomplished, the testimony will appear in the full blaze of the strongest and most convincing evidence; and, by the explication of the predictions, the testimony of the Prophets will be the testimony of God himself to all the claims and all the honours of Jesus. Thus it was that the various events relative to the birth, life, sufferings, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, removed that degree of obscurity which previously enveloped the predictions of the Old Testament, and demonstrated that Jesus was the Messiah, of whom

Moses and the Prophets wrote. So likewise the various predicted events which have already been accomplished, with reference to the church of Christ, elucidate and verify the inspiration of the prophet Daniel, and of the apostles St. Paul and St. John; and thus far also the prophecies of these inspired writers bear testimony to Jesus and his religion. So likewise the approaching overthrow of Antichrist, the restoration of the Jews, the bringing in of the fulness of the Gentiles, and the introduction of the millennium, will remove the remaining obscurity of the predictions of this mysterious book of the Revelation, which are yet unaccomplished; insomuch that the arguments of the infidel and the sceptic will be overwhelmed with evidences that must put them to perpetual silence. Thus it is that prophecy, by its gradual fulfilment, becomes a kind of perpetual miracle to bear testimony to Jesus, in every age of the world, to the consummation of all things. All the predictions point to the Messiah, either by direct application, or by distant reference. This great object is so interwoven with the general contexture, and the universal scheme of prophecy, that, by keeping it in view, we shall be furnished with a clue to discover its grand design; a design indeed which is expressly revealed to us by the Apostle-" the testi"mony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." This is its ruling end and its vital principle. Viewed in this light, therefore, we behold in prophecy a harmony which delights, a grandeur which astonishes, and an evidence of truth which must carry conviction to every unprejudiced mind.

What loud and rapturous Hallelujahs will the church triumphant in heaven sing, when the Almighty shall have executed his righteous judgments upon that antichristian power denominated the great harlot, which has corrupted the earth with her fornication! All heaven will then resound with the praises of God, when he hath avenged the blood of