THE VISION OF PATMOS.

CHAPTER I.

THE VISION.

'I am the One High Priest, and only Head
Of My own Church; the Shepherd of the fold,
Who walk amidst the candlesticks of gold,
Their brightness to preserve, their lamps to feed
With holy oil, and in each time of need

To tend those lights below, which high uphold
Hope's day-star midst the storms and darkness cold
Of this lost earth, to save a righteous seed.
The Universal Bishop, Sovereign Lord

Of Church dominion, in whose hand
Lie side by side the angels of the Word
In equal eminence of high command
And hidden power, by whom in sweet accord

I teach and rule my Church o'er every land.'

'I saw seven golden candlesticks, and in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man.'

THE testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. To Him the earliest prediction on record referred as the seed of the woman who should bruise the serpent's head. To His second advent in glory with ten thousand of His saints, we find Enoch,

the seventh from Adam, bearing witness. His day Abraham rejoiced to see; 'he saw it, and was glad' (John viii. 56). The reproach of Christ, or for Christ, Moses esteemed as greater riches than the treasures of Egypt (Heb. xi. 26). To the same the Jewish Church continually through their history was directed in type. On Him psalmists and prophets loved to dwell. Into what was testified beforehand of the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow, angels from their lofty habitation desired to look. His earthly history, from Bethlehem to Olivet, Evangelists were inspired to record. Him Apostles ever preached as One through whom alone salvation could be found, none other name under heaven being given among men whereby we must be saved. In His cross they gloried, whereby the world was crucified unto them, and they unto the world. As the Gospels were written to reveal Christ in the work of His first advent, 'that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, and that believing, we might have life through His name' (John xx. 31), so was the last book of the Bible written to reveal Christ in the glory of His second advent, and to its study is the special blessing annexed: 'Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein; for the time is at hand' (Rev. i. 3).

The name of the book distinctly indicates its subject. It is not the 'Revelations,' as it is often erroneously called, but 'the Revelation of Jesus Christ.' Thus from Genesis to Revelation is Christ the one and grand theme. He is the Sun, around whom the whole system of inspiration revolves. Without Christ the entire Bible is but a mass of hieroglyphics in unknown characters, of which we do not possess the key for interpreting them. Him we find revealed here to the beloved disciple in a wonderful vision.

John was now an exile in Patmos, an island in the Ægean Sea. Thither had he been banished during the persecution to which the Christians were exposed under Domitian the Roman emperor. Thus did the Apostle show his willingness to follow Christ even unto death, rather than deny the Master whom he loved. The time of the vision discloses also the Saviour's love to His suffering servant. It is to His saints, when most sorely tried, or forsaken by man, He specially reveals Himself. When Moses was a wanderer in the wilderness, a voluntary exile from the court of Pharaoh, then the Lord appeared to Him in the burning bush. It was when David was flying from the hand of Saul, and the people spake of stoning him, that he was enabled to "encourage himself in the Lord his God." It was when Paul was suffering from the

thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, permitted to buffet him, that the rich promise was vouchsafed: My grace is sufficient for thee; for my strength is made perfect in weakness' (2 Cor. xii. 9). And such is often the experience of His servants now. He frequently lights up the sick chamber with His own presence, making it to be the very vestibule of heaven, and causes the dying bed of a departing saint to be illuminated with rays beaming from His throne of glory. He often on the path of sorrow draws His people apart to enjoy secret communion with Himself, and then makes them, amid earth's darkest shadows, to have the brightest glimpses of heaven.

It was on the Lord's day' this vision was vouchsafed. Thus early in the history of the Christian Church do we read of the change of the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week, which was then, and is since, known by the name of 'the Lord's day.' John, probably in his island prison, had, though a solitary worshipper, sought communion with his Lord. He loved, doubtless, this day, which reminded him of his Master's resurrection, and as he commemorated such, he would recall his race of love, when hurrying to the sepulchre he did outrun Peter, seeking, but in vain, the body of Him whom the tomb had received. While he worshipped he found a blessing. He was,