Vere, 3--6.-PrayeT, The vision of the opening of the seven sea.ls is completed. We are not told what took place when the seventh seal was opened, only that then there was a solemn pause--" silence in heaven for half an hour." After the opening of :~e i,ixth seal the progress of events was inte1TUpted, that the mark and. impress of God ,01ight be put upon the brael of God-those out of the Jewuih nation who were to be .-0eUvered. out of the in1pending judgments. · Then was shown, also, the· beatitic vision .pf the great multitude of the sav~ out of all nations. Then eomes the opening of the seventh seal (ver. 1); but of its contents we have no record; perhaps in this world we never shall -have. We are told only of the "silence" that ensued. That silence may .point to the blessed calm of heaven, where God hides his people" in his pavilion fr.mi the strife of tongues." And also to the amazement and fear which had fallen on the foes of the Church, a little while before so loud and fierce, now so still in awful-fear, _And now begins a new series of visions, not succeeding the former in order of time, but parallel and simultaneous, and running up to the same issue. This new series is tha$ of the seve;n trumpets. Seven angels -are seen to whom the trumpets are given, -bu, .ere they oound there is seen that of which -these verse!! (3-6) tell-the angel at-the golden altar, the altar of incense which stood before the thron~ 'l'o this -angel ii given much incense. which he mingles with that which is already on the altar. This vision is not alone mysterious, _but full of interest iuid instruction. It teaches us much concerning prayer. l. 'l'HAT IT IS CHABACTl!BUlTI0 01!' ALL SAINTS. God's holy ones, his saints, all of them pray. Their prayers are represented as being on the altar before the throne. 'l'here are none of the holy ones whose prayers are not there. Prayer is common to ·_t_hem all. "·Behold, he prayeth," was the Lord's unanswerable argument to Ananias, ,that Saul the persecut-0r was really converted. And it is ever a sign that a man belongs to tlie comll3ny of the "holy ones," the saints. II. THEY ALL PRAY ·m THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. Their prayers are .on the altar. The altar sacrifice ever tells of Christ and of his perfect sacrifice, the ground o(all our hopes, the source of all our salvation, and the basis of all our pmyers; ,And hence the prayers of all saints are represented as resting on the altar, as the incense, type of all such prayers (ver. 8). rests thereon. 'l'he name of Cl1rist i11ay not be uttered in word, but when any appeal to God as he .is made known to u11 only in Christ, and especially in Christ en. the cross, and when they pray in the spirit--the Jowly, meek, trusting spirit-of Christ, then, though his ,blessed name may not be mentioned, their prayers are really in his name, and find acceptance thereby. Th11 Lord's pmyer does not name Christ,. but assuredly it is a prayer in his name. And thus all trne pmyer is in him, and rests on the altar of his sacrifice. ·· III. 'fHAT THE DLESSBD ONEIi IN JIEAVEl!T ;JOllf TBEJB. l'BAYIIIBS WITH QUBS. 'fhere ic:t o. communion of saints. Great qu1111tion has arisen as to who t~ awgel1'ae tllat fa - in thia vision. Btanding at the altar with mnch inoense-.·· Some, 'all Hlmgstenberg, 11.16rm that ,be tepresenta uo one; that he ii to. lie regarded a&' ha'fiiig' no_ i!yml!olfoal .aiitnificance, hilt as -only \Jel(ll)ging to '1le form; not" th• llubemn'16;' of the titlion. ()thers. °'he Church .o[ Rome, th~t he :is one of the ~gel•intareea10te:; ·and hence ii deduoe'd •iliat Ohurob.'s doetrinaof the worship of angels a.od 11&ints. OtberB'a.,<111.mil'i-ote&tlrits, in ,ordEII' to avoid;tbis doctrine,' say t~e angel iit none other than the lrtd Jeifug Christ; ;that lie is_ here iniereeding for his JIOOple as, he is \liloltt to ,to. But in tflis book the ·L@d JmWJ Christ is never e11lled m angel, oor·upresented as taking the plttce or Co?f!l •of e'l'I: angel Fu~ther;the ~ mttch: inC6IH!e~lll'said-to·be '.' given to" tl!e an~}', just as ~-trumpets'wem giverut.o the seven augele., t ~aHhe Lm·d Jems Christ mt~edetJ fur 'l1II, not on tbe·grollDfLof,any excellence t ~ ia'g_i-vell to him; but-on the grMnd of his --u.inlaetillnt worth, and'what. he himself ball Jone ood suffered on our hehalf. He_bu redeeined us b$< ''his own 'blood."-: Furtherm,it.e, it ·is -to be noted that thilt Tthich th.e 'angel brings i:o. the. altl\r -is ·the same as that,. which is 'already there. -Iiiceuse 11! "the ,pnu>ers of saintio;' and their prayers are, incense.·_- 'l'hat, therefore, wmch tne angel briBgS is not something different f.r.om what I~ on tbe altar, but merely an. addition ot ihe aame :kind. But that whielr Christ gives, to· our prayers: is a; worthiness and aceeptablenesssuch·aa they have not of them.elves, and cartnothave until given by him. Jt is by no tnt'ans:tbe.ilarrie,. but far ·other ILi! ~he angd's WIil! tlot. And the 1tnge-I brings bi~ incense to the altar, as do the AAints themllelves; his prayers and theirs are acce}?ted on:~ same ground. Hence, fm, these r~asons, we·cilnnot regard the angel spoken_ of here aa beilig.tlwLord: Jostts 'Christ. But we regard the arigel as one of the bles.'4Cd iµ. the. presence :of G;:id, one eminent in 'prayllr, one to whom the spirit of grace and 8Upp1iration had been given in large 'tneasure, and so he had "much incense." And he joins on his· prayers, unites them with the prnyeril of all saiuts. No doubt he bad often done so when on earth, and no'if' lie docs so in heaven. There he had with thE-n'l besought "God to bless and keep hiH Church in sore peril and distress, and this prayer he continues. Why should this not be? We know the angels sym1 athize with the people of God on earth. 'i'here is joy amongst them over ev.,ry Ninm·r 'that repenteth. They, therPfore, must ·know what transpires here, and how ea.n they do otherwise than ·be in fullest sympathy with tbe "prayers of all saints"? Can we think that they oease to care for those they loved on earth now that they themselves are in heaven? 'l'be mottler in heaven fnr her childrerilcft here? D,, th,,se who loved on earth· lose that love yonder? · God forbid I Hence we look on this "angel " as one of the blessed &nes who is uniting his much prayer t~ethet with that of all saints, and together their prayers, as: the streaming cloud of fragrant incense, a sweet odour of acceptable- aes, :riae up berore God. '
"The -saints ffll earth and all the -dead But one communion make, Alljoiu in OhriBt their living Head, And of his grace partake.''