And when I saw him In this awful, this glorious, and resplendent form, I was perfectly overwhelmed with the majesty of his appearance, so that I fell at his feet as dead Human nature not being able to sustain so glorious an appearance. Thus was he prepared, (like Daniel of old, whom he particularly resembles,) for receiving so weighty a prophecy. A great sinking of nature usually precedes a large communication of heavenly things. St. John, before our Lord suffered, was so intimate with him as to lean on his breast, to lie in his bosom. Yet now, near seventy years after, the aged apostle is by one glance struck to the ground. What a glory must this be! Ye sinners, be afraid. Cleanse your hands. Purify your hearts. Ye saints, be humble. Prepare. Rejoice. But rejoice unto him with reverence. An increase of reverence toward this awful Majesty can be no prejudice to your faith. Let all petulancy, with all vain curiosity, be far away, while you are thinking or reading of these things. And he laid his right hand upon me The same wherein he held the seven stars. What did St. John then feel in himself? Saying, Fear not His look terrifies, his speech strengthens. He does not call John by name, (as the angel did Zachariah and others,) but spoke as his well-known Master. What follows is also spoken to strengthen and encourage him. I am When in his state of humiliation he spoke of his glory, he frequently spoke in the third person, as Matthew 26:64, but he now speaks of his own glory without any veil, in plain and direct terms. The first and the last That is, the eternal God, who is from everlasting to everlasting, Isaiah 41:4. I am he that liveth Another peculiar title of God; and I have the keys of death and of hell Or hades, that is, the invisible world; in the intermediate state the body abides in death, the soul in hades. Christ hath the keys of, that is, the power over both, killing or quickening of the body, and disposing of the soul as it pleaseth him. He gave St. Peter the keys of the kingdom of heaven, but not the keys of death or of hades. How comes then his supposed successor at Rome by the keys of purgatory? It must be allowed that αδης hades, sometimes signifies the grave; but, as Mr. Howe has largely proved in his excellent discourse on this text, the interpretation here given is most reasonable. That which would refer it to hell, as the seat of the damned, limits the sense in a manner very derogatory from the honour of our Lord, as he there shows unanswerably. According to Grotius, (in his note on Matthew 16:18,) the word αδης always denotes either death, or the state after death. Our English, or rather Saxon word, hell, in its original signification, (though it is now understood in a more limited sense,) exactly answers to the Greek word αδης, and denotes a concealed or unseen place, and this sense of the word is still retained in the eastern, and especially in the western counties of England; for to hele over a thing, is to cover it. From the preceding description mostly are taken the titles given to Christ in the following letters, particularly the first four.
Revelation 1:19 , Write the things which thou hast seen Contained in this chapter, which accordingly are written, Revelation 1:11-18: and the things which are The instructions relating to the present state of the seven churches; these are written Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22; and which shall be hereafter The future events which begin to be exhibited in the fourth chapter, where (Rev 1:1) it is said, Come up hither, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter, namely, to the end of the world. The mystery The mysterious meaning; of the seven stars St. John knew better than we do, in how many respects these stars were a proper emblem of those angels; how nearly they resembled each other, and how far they differed in magnitude, brightness, and other circumstances. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches Mentioned in the eleventh verse. In each church there was one pastor or ruling minister, to whom all the rest were subordinate. This pastor, bishop, or overseer, had the peculiar care over that flock: on him the prosperity of that congregation in a great measure depended; and he was to answer for all those souls at the judgment-seat of Christ. And the seven candlesticks are seven churches How significant an emblem is this! For a candlestick, though of gold, has no light of itself; neither has any church, or child of man. But they receive from Christ the light of truth, holiness, comfort, that it may shine to all around them. As soon as this was spoken, St. John wrote it down, even all that is contained in this first chapter. Afterward, what was contained in the second and third Chapter s, was dictated to him in like manner.