shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee." The judgment threatened in this verse, "I will come upon thee," is undoubtedly a prophecy of the persecution of the Waldenses and Lollards, by the Papal authority, and through the inquisition, as an instrument, about the close of the fourteenth century, when, for their departure from the true doctrine of the gospel, and the commands of God, they were persecuted and scattered among all nations, so that by the judgments of God, for their transgressions, they were made instruments in the hands of God of spreading the knowledge of the gospel among the nations, which they ought to have done in obedience to his word, and for the love of souls. And these judgments served the double purpose of punishment for sin, and opening a door for a more general display of salvation.

4th verse, "Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy." There were a few even in this age of moral darkness who followed Christ in his laws and ordinances, and they receive the promise of justification before God," walk with me in white."

5th verse, "He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment, and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life; but I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels." Whenever the phrase, "he that overcometh," is used, it always implies, I think, in the Scriptures, that the persons addressed are, or will pass through a time of persecution; and in this text the church in this age is shown that those only who can endure tribulation and persecution will be acknowledged at the bar of God as the children of faith. And then this church is again warned to hear and be lieve what the Spirit saith to the churches.

6th verse,

"He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches."

I shall now attempt to show to what age we may calculate the Philadelphia church should answer, and when this prophecy was fulfilled.

7th verse," And to the angel of the church in Phila

delphia write, These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth." This verse is a description of the character addressing the church and gives an account of his holiness, his veracity, authority, and power, and leaves us without a doubt that it is Jesus the son of David, the Holy One of Israel, the faithful and true witness, he that hath all power in heaven and in earth. And he thus addresses them, 8th verse, "I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it, for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name." The signification of the name of this church, Philadelphia, is brotherly love, and this age began about the time of the Reformation; for then God opened an effectual door for the gospel to be spread which no man or set of men has been able to shut. And the early reformers displayed a zeal and fearlessness in their cause which astonished their friends and confounded their enemies. At this time, too, Christian love and fellowship was evidently one of the strongest marks of the day and manifested that the work was of God.

9th verse, "Behold, 1 will make them of the synagogue of Satan which say they are Jews and are not, but do lie." The characters here spoken of are the same as those who sit in Satan's seat, who profess to be Christians, but are anti-Christians; they are worshippers of the Papal beast, professing to be the mother church, but are only that part which are fallen away, as Paul has told us, "there should come a falling away first, and then the man of sin should be revealed, who opposeth, (or is anti,) and exalteth himself (calling themselves Jews, a figurative expression, or name for Christian) above all that is called God." "Behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee." This sentence shows that anti-Christ would be humbled in this age of the church and brought to take the back ground, or in some measure lose her civil power over the Protestant church and be humbled at her feet. Has not this prophecy been accomplished

toleration. And although within a few years past she seems to be making an effort to regain her lost power and authority, yet it is but a last struggle, a dying gasp; for soon she must and will fall, to rise in civil power no more forever.

10th verse, "Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation which shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth." This part of the prophecy was fulfilled on or before the French revolution, when Atheism and Deism made such rapid progress through Europe or the Roman government, which in prophecy is called the earth. See Rev. xii. 9. And it is a fact, that through this age of profligacy and corruption, the church retained her principles as pure and with as little defection as any age in modern times; although men of the world were led away by the plausible writings of Voltaire, Hume, Tom Paine, and others, yet it had no effect on the Christian church and the promise, "I will keep thee from the hour of temptation," was fully and faithfully accomplished; and the very means that Satan used to destroy the religion of Jesus Christ, or "the twelve fishermen," was the means of bringing the church out of the wilderness. And those governments of the world which had for more than twelve centuries persecuted the children of God, now granted free toleration for all men to worship God according to the dictates of their own conscience. And from this period we may see the "angel flying through the midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach to them that dwell on the earth." Now the church began to awake to the subject of missions; and while the world was tempted and tried, the kingdoms of the earth shaken to their centre, (yet not destroyed;) while the civil power of the mother of harlots, the inquisition of Spain, and the horrible means of torture, persecution, slavery, and cruelty, were all swept away in one revolution, the church, by the power

of Him who had promised to "keep them," passed through the fiery ordeal without the smell of fire on her garments.

11th verse, "Behold, I come quickly; hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown." In this verse we have notice of his second coming, and that it would be quickly; by which I understand that the age of the seventh church, which was yet to come, would be short, and the second coming of him, who will overcome and subdue all things, would be quickly. He likewise admonishes us to hold fast that which we have, giving us, as I understand, warning that the next age of the church would be an age of invention; of lo heres, of departure from the true faith, of denying the crown of the church, the twelve stars, the apostles' doctrine. And amidst the confusion of the doctrines and revelations of the present day, if any one should inquire of me what sentiment it would be best for them to embrace, I would first point them to the Bible, and second, back to the fathers and teachers of the last century, and say, Hold fast that they held; let no man take thy crown. Let us then, my brethren, be watchful, and remember "him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out; and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God; and I will write upon him my new name." The blessings promised in this text are to be realized when the New Jerusalem comes down from God out of heaven; then shall the spiritual born child of heaven be a pillar in the temple of God, in that building made without hands; then, too, will he receive that rich inheritance that is laid up in heaven for those that love God, and there obtain that eternal crown, that immortal life which is now hid with Christ in God, and then and there realize that "blessed hope at the glon Christ? glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior "And he shall go no more out" of that glorious temple; no tempting devil there, for he will be chained; no persecuting kingdom, for they will "all be destroyed and carried away like the chaff of the summer

with him forever and forever. "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." This closes the prophecy to the sixth church; and now let us see to it that we do not lose the blessings promised by refusing to hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. Hear, and your souls shall live; disobey, turn a deaf ear, refuse the offered grace, and you will die; for the soul that sinneth shall die.

It now remains for me to show the age of the seventh or Laodicean church, and the characteristic marks of that church or age. And if I am right in considering these churches in a mystical sense, as our text more than implies, and our arguments and references strongly prove, in my humble opinion, then, this part of our subject becomes doubly interesting to us, who live in the very age of the fulfilment of this prophecy. Yes, my brethren, we live at the very time when the great head of the church says,

14th verse, "And unto the angel of the church in Laodicea write, These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God." Laodicea signifies the judging of the people, and may have reference to the church in its last stage, when God would pour out his justice and judgment upon a guilty world, and upon a haughty, proud, and self-exalted church, and spue them out of his mouth. This idea may be warranted from the subject in connection. The address to this church begins by showing that it is the closing up of this dispensation, by saying, "These things saith the Amen." It also teaches us that it commences the judgment, or prepares for a judgment, by bringing forward "the faithful and true witness." It also shows the universality of this judgment by the knowledge of the witness being "the beginning of the creation of God."

15th verse, "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot." To be