dience implanted in their spotless bosoms | a great voice of much people in heaven, the extreme wrath with which they re- saying, Allelulia; salvation, and glory, gard this blaspheming apostacy. "There and honour, and power unto the Lord our came one of the seven angels which had God: for true and righteous are his judgthe seven vials, and talked with me, say-ment; for he hath judged the great whore ing unto me, Come hither, I will show which did corrupt the earth with her forunto thee the judgment of the great whore nications, and hath avenged the blood of that sitteth upon many waters; with whom his servants at her hand. And again they the kings of the earth have committed for- said, Alleluia." xix. 1—3. "And I heard nication, and the inhabiters of the earth as it were the voice of a great multitude, have been made drunk with the wine of and as the voice of many waters, and as her fornication," Rev. xvii. 1, 2. Having the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, taken him into the wilderness to show him Allelulia: for the Lord God omnipotent the typical representations of Papal Rome, reigneth." Verse 6. It was in the midst the angel proceeds to explain to him the of all these glorious sights and sounds that mystery, ending with an assurance of her John fell down to worship the dazzling coming dissolution. "And after these creature, who is represented as being one things I saw another angel come down of the seven angels holding the seven last from heaven, having great power and the plagues and whose reply so remarkably earth was lighted with his glory; and he harmonizes with the Lord's declaration cried mightily with a strong voice saying, that his risen saints shall be equal to the Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and angels. "I am thy fellow-servant, and of is become the habitation of devils, and the thy brethren that have the testimony of hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of Jesus. Worship God; for the testimony every unclean and hateful bird." Rev. of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." Verse 10. xviii. 1, 2. Another voice from heaven summons God's people out of her, and adds, "For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Reward her even as she rewarded you, and render unto her double, according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled, fill to her double. How much she hath glorified herself and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her." Verse 5-7. These are terrible denunciations from the lips of a holy, loving angel: they show how abhorrent to all godliness is that great mystery of iniquity which assumes to be the only true religion of Christ. How stern is the following apostrophe uttered by the same angelic voice, in the view of her terrible desolation by flaming fire! "Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets, for God hath avenged you on her!" Verse 20. Yet another exulting spirit comes forward to swell the triumph. "A mighty angel took up a stone like a great mill-stone, and cast it in the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall the great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all." Verse 21. In the following burst of solem rejoicing, the angels are no doubt included: "And after these things I heard

There are two classes of persons to whom the foregoing passages of holy writ may convey a serious and salutary warning. One consists of those who denounce the study of unfulfilled prophecy as needless if not dangerous; thus indirectly charging God with placing a snare in our way, and of baiting it with the promise of a blessing to such as shall fall therein; they do not consider that what they set aside is called by inspiration "The testimony of Jesus." Moses, Isaiah, David, and the rest of the Old Testament seers, are allowed to have testified of Jesus, foreshowing what should be the nature, what the object and effects of his first coming into the world; and why, when they and the New Testament writers also, set forth the signs, and judgments, the glories connected with his second coming, should we be told to avert our eyes, to close our ears, and to resolve that until we see we will not believe? Speculative, no doubt, such studies are; for according to our great lexicographer, to speculate, means "to meditate; to contemplate; to take a view of any thing with the mind;" and in this sense faith itself is a speculative thing: God has fitted our minds to behold, to embrace, to rest upon "things hoped for . . . . things

Babylon being thus doomed and destroyed, it remains but that all the enemies of Christ should assemble for a final overthrow; and here we have another splendid image presented to us. "I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God, that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.” (xix. 17, 18.)

not seen ;" and it is the highest privilege | rack, and amid the flames glutted her not only of nature but of grace so to do. murderous cruelty with their life-blood, Paul prays concerning his Ephesian and glorified the Lord Jesus by rejecting, Church, 66 That the God of our Lord with abhorrence, her sacrilegious rites. Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may We cannot now enter into the depths of give unto you the spirit of wisdom and their feelings in the contemplation of her revelation in the knowledge of him: the fearful doom: but we, if we belong to eyes of your understanding being enlight- Christ, shall see what some of us now reened; that ye may know what is the hope fuse to think of; and shall be constrained of your calling, and what the riches of to glorify God by rejoicing over the fallen the glory of his inheritance in the saints, enemy of his kingdom and of his people; and what the exceeding greatness of his for "in righteousness doth he judge, and power to usward who believe." Eph. i. make war." 17-19. Shall we then thrust from us one of the greatest means of acquiring this knowledge, and forget that "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy?" The other class comprises those who regard it as a breach of Christian charity to speak with confident gladness of the final, utter, eternal overthrow of Popery, as an event near at hand; or as a thing not to be anticipated at all. They do not consider, perhaps they do not believe, that while they are speaking smooth things of Popery and hoping good things concerning it, that foul apostacy perpetually replenishing hell with lost souls provokes the wrath of God, and fires with holy indignation the pure angels of heaven. The last act of the militant angel, disThe charity in which such well-meaning tinctly recorded in Scripture, is one which Christians boast themselves is not the we must all look forward to with joyful ancharity of the Bible. Love to souls is ticipation. "And I saw an angel come what the Lord inculcates; and propor- down from heaven, having the key of the tioned to our love for the soul will be our bottomless pit, and a great chain in his unextinguishable hatred of that which be- hand: and he laid hold on the dragon, trays and destroys it. Babylon the great, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and the system that arrogates to itself the title Satan, and bound him a thousand years, of the holy Catholic Church, that assumes and cast him into the bottomless pit, and to be the mother and mistress of all shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that churches, and to anathematize all without he should deceive the nations no more, till its pale-this great Babylon deliberately the thousand years should be fulfilled." sins against light and knowledge; holds (xx. 1, 2, 3.) What part the holy angels the Bible and withholds it from her slaves; will take in the scenes that are to close professes Christ, and blasphemes him; earth's history, we are not told. The raises an edifice seemingly on the founda- loosing of Satan from his prison will lead tion of the apostles and prophets, and fills to another outbreak of human wickedit with idols, thus committing and draw-ness; but fire coming down from God out ing all her votaries all over the world to commit what God declares to be spiritual adultery, most hateful, most insulting to him. The angels who are represented in the Revelation of St. John as loudly exulting over the violent fall of this antichristian power, have been ministering spirits to those who in the dungeon, on the

of heaven is named as the instrument of the rebel's destruction; and in the awful judgment that follows, no mention is made of angelic ministry in the execution of God's terrible decree on those who are not found written in the book of life. Thenceforth nothing but harmony, joy, and the peace of heaven, will remain for

the angels and those who are made equal | way to Shur. And he said, Hagar, to them. We have done with the dispen- | Sarai's maid, whence comest thou? and sation of wrath, and now go back to the commencement to trace out the many instances in which Scripture reveals them in the sweet and gracious offices of love and protection to the people of the Most High.

SECTION IV.

ANGELIC MINISTRY.

whither wilt thou go?" She could not answer the latter part of the interrogatory, and to the former she gave a reply that included no acknowledgment of her own misconduct; "I flee from the face of my mistress, Sarai." No reproof was given: not a word of reproach for her rebellious offence, but what was implied in the answer, proving how well the celestial speaker knew the actual circumstances of her case. "And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands. And the angel of the Lord said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude. And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and call his name Ishmael; because the Lord hath heard thy affliction. And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him: and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren. And she called the name of the Lord that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?" Gen. xvi. 7-13. There is a difficulty here that often meets us in similar circumstances: the speaker is an angel, of the Lord; yet the latter part of his address is delivered as in the person of God himself; and Hagar evidently con

WHEN treating of angelic ministry, we must bear in mind the sympathy which exists in their bosoms, for the angels know themselves to be by nature liable to fall, even as Adam was; and that the same electing love which raises the sinner, and sets him in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, also preserves them from the guilt and condemnation of Satan and his crew. The rejoicing that takes place in heaven when a soul is brought to God in penitence and faith, is a proof of this; and we shall find, as we go on, many indications of tender sympathy on the part of the angelic ministers of God's mercy to man expressed by so much condescending gentleness and delicate consideration, as we may truly call it, for the weaknesses of our poor fallen race, that when we divest an angel of his fabulous character-sidered that the voice was that of the istics, and picture him to ourselves the exceedingly majestic, formidable creature that Holy Scripture describes, we may well feel our hearts melted into grateful affection for these our glorious and highly privileged "fellow-servants." May the Creator and Preserver alike of angels and of men, be with us to direct, to guard, and to bless our inquiries into the precious re cord of these angelic ministrations of mercy and love!

The first instance we meet with is that of Hagar in her desolation and distress, brought on herself by despising her mistress. A fugitive, alone, and friendless. she had reached a fountain of water, and there rested; probably unable to choose a path in that desert. "And the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the

Lord. In some cases we know that he is spoken of under the term angel: though in the appearance of the burning bush, where Moses says, "The angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the middle of the bush," he presently adds, "when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I." Exodus iii. 2-4. So that it may be supposed he first saw a glorious angel, and afterwards heard the voice of God himself. This seems at first to be confirmed by Stephen's narrative: he says, "There appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai an angel of the Lord, in a flame of fire, in a bush. When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight; and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord

came unto him, saying, I am the God of thy fathers; the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." Acts vii. 30-32. Yet presently afterwards he adds, "This is he that was in the church in the wilderness, with the angel which spoke to him in Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, who received the lively oracles to give unto us," verse 38. And once more, he says, "Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears. . . who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it," (verses 51-53,) and the plural is again used by Paul: "If the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation, which at first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him? . . . . For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak." Heb. ii. 2-5.

unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries." This could hardly be spoken of any created being; and we know that the provocations of the Israelites in the wilderness are called by St. Paul "tempting Christ." 1 Cor. x. 9. These cautions recorded, we may be satisfied to proceed, with the plain word of inspiration to guide us.

The three men who visited Abraham as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day, (Gen. xviii. 1,) are no where called angels; but there can be little doubt that two of them were the same who immediately afterwards went to Lot, in Sodom. This we know, that it is distinctly said of Abraham, in reference to this event, "The LORD appeared unto him;" and that in the subsequent part of the narrative the LORD is represented as communing with him, and is repeatedly named. We will not intrude into what the Holy Spirit has so closely veiled, but proceed to the next chapter, where we are not left to guess at By collating these passages we may the nature of the persons spoken of. learn caution in pronouncing that, when "There came two angels to Sodom at the Bible tells us an angel appeared or even," (Gen. xix. 1,) evidently in human spoke, it was God who appeared or spoke: form, for Lot, as Abraham had done profand we may also remember that the pro- fered hospitable entertainment, and pressed phets very frequently make abrupt transi- it upon them with earnest importunity: tions from speaking in their own persons the whole story shows that Lot had then to speaking in the Lord's, without the no suspicion of their being other than usual preface, Thus saith the Lord: and mere mortal men, and that so far from we can readily suppose a created angel, needing his generous, self-devoted protecfulfilling the office of an ambassador from tion, they had power and authority to dethe Most High, may do the same thing, stroy the place, which was only respited delivering his Master's message in his until he and his should be delivered. ConMaster's words; and so occasioning us to sidering how wholly Satan and his inferdraw conclusions not warranted by the nal crew triumphed in those guilty cities, text. The instances in which we are un- and how perfectly conscious of their presdoubtedly to believe that by the term angel ence and influence the holy angels must our Lord Jesus is meant, are Gen. xlviii. have been, their patient abiding in such a 15, 16, where Jacob says, "God, before place, the purely defensive nature of the whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did miracle which they wrought, and the dewalk, the God which fed me all my life liberate manner in which they proceeded long to this day, the Angel which re- to extricate the favoured individuals comdeemed me from all evil, bless the lads;" mitted to their charge, are very striking. and in that remarkable passage, Exod. Unmoved by the tumults in the streets, xxiii. 20: "Behold, I send an angel before continuing all night, they quietly awaited thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring the break of day, for Lot was not to quit thee into the place I have prepared. Be- the place unseen, or under the cover of ware of him and obey his voice, provoke darkness, nor to leave his ungodly sonshim not: for he will not pardon your trans-in-law unwarned; and so long as he staid, gressions, for my name is in him. But if his presence was a protection to the cities, thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do and to every sinner in them. The mission all that I speak; then I will be an enemy of the angels was two-fold, first to deliver

the godly, then to destroy the ungodly; | am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand and this renders it so lively a type of the upon the lad, neither do thou anything great day of the coming of the Son of unto him; for now I know that thou fearman, when the angels will be sent to est God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy gather his elect from the four quarters of son, thine only son from me. . . . And the the earth, previous to the terrible destruc- angel of the Lord called unto Abraham tion that shall fall upon his foes. The out of heaven a second time, and said, By angels expressly said to Lot, "We will myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for destroy this place. . . . the Lord hath because thou hast done this thing, and sent us to destroy it," (verse 13;) and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son; again, "I cannot do any thing till thou that in blessing I will bless, and in multibe come thither." (verse 22.) Yet they plying I will multiply thy seed as the stars expressed anxiety, as though delay endan- in heaven, and as the sand which is upon gered him; "Escape for thy life: look not the sea-shore; and thy seed shall possess behind thee, neither stay thou in all the the gate of his enemies.” Gen. xxii. 11—17. plain: escape to the mountain, lest thou When Abraham instructed his faithful be consumed." (verse 17.) It is lovely to steward Eliezer to seek a wife for Isaac contemplate the earnestly devoted spirit in from among his kindred, he confidently which these blessed creatures fulfilled their assured him that the Lord would send an office, even forcing deliverance upon those angel before him to prosper his way; and who were loth to quit a spot containing this the servant repeated to Rebekah's their worldly substance, their kindred, and | family, when relating the extraordinary neighbours; alienated from God as the manner in which he had been guided. latter were by their wicked works. The Gen. xxiv. 7-40. It is a beautiful instance fate of Lot's wife is remarkable, and as of prayerful faith on man's part, and an being peculiarly instructive, our Lord has answering providence on that of God. commanded us to remember it when the Eliezer was directed, and his way was time comes of which this deliverance was prospered in a most marvellous manner. symbolical. She clung, it is true, to the And why marvellous? because of our unhand of an angel, but she disobeyed God; belief, which rarely can attain to such and her celestial guardian could not avert child-like reliance on the promises of God, the penal consequences of her offence. or we should continually experience the This may prove a lesson to three classes same proofs, that what he hath promised of people; angel-worshippers, worldly- he will also perform. minded professors, and unbelievers in what the Lord has revealed of his coming judgments. He makes his angel the means of our escape from danger, but leaves it not in their power to preserve a hair of our heads from his righteous visitations: he saves us from among the ungodly, in answer to the prayer of faith, but is not pledged to continue to us the good things of the world on which our hearts are set: and if, through unbelief, we stagger either at his promises or his threats, we break our covenant with him, and leave our souls to be gathered with the ungodly.

The next instance of angelic interposition, is the memorable one of Abraham's intended sacrifice of his son; and here we have the ambassador speaking indeed in the first person, but with the explanatory clause, "Saith the Lord." "And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham. And he said, Here

Jacob's vision has already been noticed: he saw a ladder set upon the earth, the top of which reached to heaven; and the angels of God ascended and descended upon the ladder. The interpretation of this is seen in the declaration of the Lord, who stood above the ladder, and who repeated the glorious promise-"In thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed." Gen. xxviii. 14. The incarnation and sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, is the procuring cause of what we now considering-the ministry of those angels who could never have worn towards man any other aspect than that of stern, irreconcilable hostility, had man remained under the dominion of Satan, to do forever the work of his conquering master. It was through the dying and rising again of the Son of God, to be accomplished in the fulness of time, that

are