Page:Theapocalypseofs00berruoft.djvu/226

 attest their authenticity: "I, John, am he who saw and heard these things Perhaps he wrote these words with his own hand as a sort of signature after the manner of St. Paul in his first Epistle to the Corinthians.

When the visions and revelations were ended, St. John prostrated himself before the angel as a parting salutation, but the angel refused this mark of respect, because as prophets of God they were equals. The words of the angel imply that he is the same one whom St. John mistook for our Lord on a former occasion. There St. John intended divine worship as indicated by the Greek construction. Here, there can be no mistake; St. John is well aware that his guide is one of the seven angels who poured out the vials of wrath. This difference is reflected in the use of a Greek construction often found in the Old Testament to express the honor paid to angels and persons of superior rank.

10. St. John is commanded not to seal the book of his prophecy; it is to be published to the Church at once because the time for its fulfillment has already begun.

11-13. Christ Himself now utters words of warning and encouragement. The wicked may continue in their evils, heaping sin upon sin, but they must know that God will deal with them according to their works. On the other hand, let the just be still more justified; let