the earth, to kill with sword and hunger." By whom was this power given? By Christ: "All power is given unto me." That power in this dispensation might have saved the world; but now it is to be given to the enemy against the righteous. And after His example, and the world's utter disregard of it, it merits the fiery trial, to bear part in the conflict in which He conquered singly and alone. Oh, let us always rejoice in His supremacy, and look beyond the field of blood to victory and glory in Him!

"And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost not thou judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow-servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled." This altar was a reference both to the patriarchal altar and to the altar of the tabernacle; both of which were types of the altar of Christ's own nature, or body, upon which was consumed the sin of the world. (Numb. vii. 84; 1 Kings xviii. 38.) These altars were, too, types of Christ as the Head of the Church. (Gen. xxxv. 1-3.)

St. Paul uses the word in the same sense. (Heb. xiii. 10.) There cannot be disquietude in the mind of the redeemed; therefore the mind of the Spirit is here representing the Church militant, one in Christ with the Church triumphant. "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.” (Eph. iii. 14, 15.) And in Rev. v. 8, we find the redeemed Church presenting the prayers of saints before the throne, therefore we understand this cry of the souls under the altar Christ. The Spirit of the Church in earth and in heaven is one with Christ. But it has been said, this cry for vengeance cannot be of the Church; her voice would be that of her Head, "Father, forgive them." Yes, it would be that; but under long and extreme provocation and persecution her appeal would be to a righteous God, "Avenge me of mine adversary." (Luke xviii. 3.) The accession of glory to the Church under this seal is precisely that seen in the fifth Church (vi. 11; iii. 4).

"And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood." All this is figurative language of the fall of temporal powers; the sun and the moon refer to dignitaries of the Antichristian Church in opposition to the same symbols of the powers of the true Church.

"And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind." These stars signify dignities in the antichristian priesthood, as "the seven stars" (i. 20) signify the representatives of the seven Churches; they fell from heaven, signifies from great heights of power and glory.

"And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together," it means the firmament of their glory passed away. "And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?"

It is evident the historic page of two dispensations is included under the sixth seal, or rather in this crash and fall of powers, the mind of the Spirit passed on, as under the seventh seal there is no record; the end of time is all that is announced; and under this order the description agrees precisely with those under the sixth and seventh trumpets and vials.

We gather from this graphic description that in that latter day glory of the saints, the contrast of the scene will be terrible; sin, and shame, and man's nakedness will be so visible to conscience, to his own reasonable

powers, that there will be that desire to be hidden which is here described. Who can look at the death of sin in the light of the life of God? (Gen. iii. 7, 8; Isa. vi. 5.)

CHAPTER VII.

"AND after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, that the wind should not blow upon the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the East, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of them which were sealed; and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel" (vii. 1, 3, 4). This sealing is laid under the sixth seal, therefore in that advanced age of the Church there will be the literal fulfilment of it; but I think we may first glance at the meaning as relating to our own economy. The four angels may mean the power of the four Gospels. Do not they hold the powers of the wicked one that they hurt not the earth? And the sealing may apply