A fifth Angel comes from the Sanctuary with a sharp sickle:

A sixth Angel follows, having power over the fire; and he cries to the Angel with the sharp sickle *, Put in thy sickle, and reap; and the Angel does so, and gathers the grapes of the Earth, and casts them into the Winepress of the Wrath of God: and the Winepress is trodden without the city, and blood comes forth from the Winepress up to the bridles of the Horses for a thousand and six hundred furlongs ‡.

What horses are these? it may be inquired.

Let us refer back to the Sixth Trumpet, or Second Woe. There the four Angels are described as accompanied with innumerable & Horsemen.

Thus, one obscure passage explains another: and again we see a mark whereby to ascertain our place in the course of the Prophecy.

*Mitte falcem acutam. Victorinus here notes: De gentibus perituris in Adventu Domini. He understands this of the end. See above. Compare Joel ii. 4, sqq. and Joel iii. 12, sqq. in the LXX. where the Horses . . . the Harvest, and the Winepress are described. Sixteen hundred furlongs; Victorinus ad loc. well interprets this: Per omnes mundi quatuor partes: quaternitas enim est conquaternata, sicut in quatuor faciebus et quadriformibus et rotis quadratis. It indicates the completeness and universality of the Victory, as the one hundred and forty-four thousand denote the consummation of the number of the Elect. "Per stadia mille sexcenta omnis summa reproborum exprimitur per orbem quadripartitum," says Haymo ad cap. xiv.

Rev. xiv. 16. 20.

§ Rev. ix. 16, 17. See Lect. VII. p. 213, to end.

lasting Gospel to all the World, appear to refer to the same period, and to describe the free spread of the Holy Scriptures in every tongue, as a Witness to the World, and as a Woe to their Enemies, and then shall the end come*.

Another Angel follows; announcing the fall of Babylon t. This appears to be in the time of the Seventh Vial,-when Babylon comes into remembrance before God. Babylon is destroyed: but the Beast still remains. Romanism will survive Rome.

A third Angel warns the world against worshipping the Beast, or receiving his mark; and declares the eternal punishment due to that sin §. And a Voice from Heaven is heard, saying, Write, Blessed are the dead, who die in the Lord: yea, now, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works follow them ||

One like the Son of Man appears, sitting on a white cloud, having a golden crown, that is, as King of Kings, and bearing a sickle in his hand. And a fourth Angel proceeds from the Sanctuary, and cries, Put in thy sickle, and reap; for the time of harvest is

|| Rev. xiv. 13. ἀπάρτι, ναὶ, λέγει τὸ Πνεῦμα This is a prophetic encouragement, promising immediate rest to all who suffer for Christ.

** Rev. xiv. 15, 16.

is the channel of divine grace; the Rule of faith and practice; the Sceptre of God's Kingdom; the Rod of His Judgment; His Witness to the World.

We have also seen St. John's divine prophecy concerning its reception in this world. And he enables us to foresee its future triumph, and the woes which will overtake all who despise it. Marvellous, indeed, is the fulfilment which this Prophecy has already received, and is now receiving. It might have been expected that the Word of the great Creator and Sovereign Lord of the World would have gained ready attention, and unqualified love, and universal obedience from His creatures and subjects. But no. St. John reveals a different result. And so it has come to pass. The Written Word has been treated in the same manner as the Incarnate Word. The Herods and Pilates of Earth have conspired against it; and it has been set at nought by the Scribes and Pharisees of the Great City.

Let us here adore God's long-suffering, and bewail man's sin. God is justified: man is silenced. And let no one be staggered or astonished if it should be his lot to see other more outrageous insults heaped on the Word of God.

We see its present sufferings; and so one part of the prophecy is shown to be true: and, let us remember, St. John predicts, that as it suffers with Christ, so will it rise again, and ascend, and reign with Him. Therefore, let us not be offended, or

dismayed, by its treatment on earth; but let us raise our eyes, and contemplate its glory in Heaven. Above all, let us take heed to ourselves: let us fear the Word; let us believe the Word; let us obey the Word-or the Word will be our Woe.

Secondly, St. John reveals to us the History of the CHURCH.

Some, you are aware, there are who affirm, that temporal felicity and amplitude of dominion are notes of the true Church *; and they proceed to argue that their own Church is the spouse of Christ, because it has enjoyed worldly prosperity, and has long exercised secular sway.

But how different is the language of St. John! He represents the Apostolic Church, the Spouse of Christ the Spiritual Queen, as a pilgrim and sojourner upon earth. She is the Woman in the Wilderness. On the other hand, the Woman who sits enthroned as a Queen upon many waters, which are peoples, and multitudes, and nations †, is not the Bride, but the Harlot-not Sion, but Babylon.

We learn from the Apocalypse, that the true spouse of Christ must suffer. She must suffer like Her divine Lord; first, from a heathen power, and next from a corrupt Church.

Who would have believed his report? How incredible was all this when St. John wrote! But this

* Bellarmine de Notis Ecclesiæ, lib. iv. c. 18. nota est felicitas temporalis.

Ultima

Rev. xvii. 1. 15.

U

prophecy, also, has been already in part fulfilled, and is now in course of fulfilment. The Church, built on the foundation of Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone*, has been beleaguered by foes from without and from within, ever since the day of her building. She has been assailed by the Arch-Enemy of man-first, with heathen arms, and then with the weapons of Heresy, Superstition, and Infidelity. She has been driven into the Wilderness.

Alas! is not this true? Has not this prophecy been verified? is it not fulfilled in our own eyes? Are not some of the Nations of the World at this hour treating all Religions as equally true? Do not some endow Judaism side by side with Christianity? And in the great work of National Education, are they not setting at defiance Christ's own commission to His Church +-Teach all Nations, Feed My Lambs? Are they not denying, that Christ's Spouse is the Mother of Christ's children? Are they not taking away her children and His from her breasts and from her knees, and depriving them of the pure milk of the Word, and of the spiritual food of the Sacraments, and of the Line upon Line, Precept upon Precept of Christian Creeds and Catechisms? Are they not giving them away to false Mothers? Instead of strengthening Sion, are they

* Eph. ii. 20.

+ Matt. xxviii. 19, 20. John xxi. 15. Isaiah xxviii. 10.