Irving did, pronounce our views of unfulfilled prophecy to be among the very essentials of salvation; we must not give the least countenance to the idea, that the great truths of evangelical religion are at all to be placed in the same category with any theory of interpretation of unfulfilled prophecy. The first seven seals may or may not refer to the decline of the Roman empire, but there is no doubt that "the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin;" the seven last vials may or may not have been begun at the French Revolution, but it is indisputably true that "Christ is the propitiation for our sins." The first may be true-the last must be true; the first is revealed in symbols, the last is clearly brought to light. We may use peradventures, when we speak of our view of things that are in the future-we must use none, when we speak of vital and essential truths. I will allow you to differ from me in explaining prophecy-I will allow you to reject my expositions of the Apocalypse, as far as its symbols are involved, but I cannot for one moment consent that there should be any question whether my Saviour be God, or whether his "blood cleanseth from all sin," or whether his righteousness be my only covering, his sacrifice my only trust, his cross the only foundation of my safety, and his crown my happy and imperishable hope. All that I say on unfulfilled prophecy may be wrong--what I preach of the gospel I know to be true; "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day."

But we are not less earnestly to study the future as far as we are invited to do so; just as the pious Jews read their prophecies of a suffering Christ, we Christians should study the prophecies of a coming and a glorified Christ. The Jews were taught to look through prophecies to a Christ who was to come and suffer-we are taught to look for the same Christ in glory. We are taught to take a retrospective view of his sufferings, and a prospective view of his glory; and as the believing Israelite was cheered by the prospect of the Saviour's advent, as his sacrifice, so the pious Christian, with his foot upon the cross, and his eye upon the throne, ought

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to be cheered, sustained, and comforted by the prospect of his Saviour, who is to "come again the second time, without sin unto salvation, unto all them that look for Him." Sound thoughts on prophecy would seem to me to be especially useful in the day in which our lot is cast. Mr. Faber, Mr. Elliott, Dr. M'Neile, Mr. Bickersteth, the most eminent of those who have directed their atten

tion to the subject, believe that we are upon the verge of the last days. Nor do appearances contradict their views. All moral, social, and political parties are broken and torn asunder, in order I believe to make room for the advent of more glorious things, the triumph of more precious principles: and those will not be least blessed, who shall be found at that day with their loins girt and their lamps burning.

But whilst discoursing upon prophecy, I must not omit to define the characters that prophecy should interest. I wish not to gratify the curiosity of the unconverted, but to comfort the hearts and instruct the minds of the people of God. You who are strangers to the gospel, have yet to learn its alphabet; you must have your souls cleansed in Christ's atoning blood, before you may venture to anticipate his presence as with joy.

Let me ask you, then, Are you among the people of God? Have you gone to the Saviour, in the depths of your conscious ruin-in despair of salvation from any other source, and cast yourselves at his feet, and asked for mercy and forgiveness gratis, through his precious blood? Those to whom John wrote the Apocalypse, and whose perusal of it he especially desired, are those, we are told in the very chapter from which my text is taken -who sing " Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, unto Him be glory for ever and ever." Can you say so? Can you say "That Saviour is mine; that sacrifice is mine, and forgiveness for its sake?" If the great changes predicted in the Apocalypse do not overtake us, we may be called upon to see personally, each for himself, a change as great. Were that beating heart to stand still, were death to lay his hand upon you this night, were the summons to be issued from the throne-"Cut him down," let me ask

you, my dear brother, my dear sister, would it be well with you? Is all right between God and you? Do politics interest your affections? Do the affairs of your household absorb all your thoughts? Does Mammon occupy your affections? And have you never sat down, and in the calm and solemn light of eternity asked your conscience that question, to which you must one day and ought now to give an instant response- 'Am I still "dead in sins," or am I "a child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven ?""

My dear brethren, I hope no one in this vast assembly is hoping that all is right because he has been baptized, or is a member of a Christian church. My dear friends, do you, can you think that baptism gives to all its subjects new hearts? Can baptism give you that Divine life, without which you must die for ever? I believe, that those who think so, misapprehend altogether man's state by nature. If man's state were a mere swoon, or a mere faint from the influence of sin, then a little water sprinkled on his brow by a minister of Christ from the baptismal font might resuscitate him; but man is "dead in trespasses and sins ;" and nothing but that voice which shall echo at the last day through the sepulchres of the dead, can quicken that soul which is "dead in trespasses and sins." Be not deceived. Pause and ponder. "Christ and Him crucified," the ground of your acceptance; the Spirit and Him sanctifying, your fitness for heaven; justification by faith alone, the article of a standing or a falling church; regeneration by the Spirit of God, the article of a living or a dying church personal safety-our acceptance before God-our title to heaven, and our fitness for its enjoyments,―are matters of instant and overwhelming interest. No inquiries into unfulfilled prophecy may be made apologies for indifference here. Whether in the pages of the evangelist, or in those of the seer, it is "the pure in heart" only that see God." Christians only can understand the Apocalypse; for them it was written. All other attempts by any beside to interpret, must end in fanaticism or folly.

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; our

LECTURE II.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THE APOCALYPSE.

"Unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father, to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever." REV. i. 5, 6.

SOME have objected to all expositions of the Apocalypse, as if such were not preaching the gospel, nor useful and instructive to those that hear them. This is grievous misapprehension. Whatever God has written is surely entitled to our study, as it was meant for our good, and cannot be otherwise than useful to those, for whose learning it was inspired: "all Scripture," says the apostle, "is profitable." The Apocalypse, so far from not being the gospel, is replete with its most precious truths, is inlaid with the testimony, fragrant with the excellence, and illuminated with the glory of the Son of God. It refers backward to the Man of sorrows, and looks forward to the throned Lamb. Christ is its alpha and omega, and the testimony of Jesus its woof and warp. But for the sake of them, who shrink from expositions of this book, who look at the Apocalypse through the mists of prejudice, the misapprehensions of ignorance, or any other similar cause, I will address myself this evening to the task of showing how full, how clear, how beautiful is the gospel according to the Apocalypse.

Leaving my text, which is an epitome of the gospel, I request your attention to such passages as theseRev. v. 9. "Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof, for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred,

and tongue, and nation." This is surely the very music of Calvary floating down from heaven, and breaking on our ears-shall I rather say our hearts, this evening in Exeter Hall. This text alone is an epitome of the gospel. Rev. v. 12.-"Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing”—words that come like the chimes of the waves of that sea of glory that spread out their waters about the throne of God, and reflect its glory.

Rev. vii. 13.- "What are these which are arrayed in white robes, and whence came they? These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in his temple." This is an apocalypse of heaven-the character of its tenantry, and the way to reach it. Rev. xiv. 13.-" And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them." This is the trumpet of jubilee sounding in the grave, the finger of God writing their epitaphs on the pious dead-the gospel transfiguring, by its presence, the very ashes of the dead. Řev. xxi. 6.—“I will give to him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely."

Rev. xxii. 17.-"And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely." Here is the gospel call as unequivocally stated as in any part of the New Testament.

Thus, in no portion of the Bible are the grand characteristics of Christianity more frequently or fully stated. The drapery of the throne does not conceal the Lamb that is in the midst of it; and the intense splendour of the "many crowns" that are on the brow of "the King of kings," does not dim or conceal that cross on which he hung in agony as the "Man of sorrows."

These passages which we have quoted are like stars