263. Verse 4. And I wept much because no one was found* to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon, signifies grief of heart, because if no one could do it, all must perish. That "to weep much" is to grieve at heart, is evident; the reason why he grieved at heart, was, because otherwise all would have perished; for if all things in the heavens and on the earth were not reduced to order by the Last Judgment, it could not be otherwise; for Revelation treats of the last state of the church, when it comes to its end, the nature of which state is described by the Lord in these words:
There shall be great affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the world to this time, nor shall be; therefore except those days should be shortened, no flesh would be saved (Matt. 24:21, 22).
These are concerning the last time of the church, when judgment takes place.
[2] That such is the state of the church at this day, may be known solely from these considerations, that the greatest part of the Christian world is occupied by those who have transferred to themselves the Divine power of the Lord, and wish to be worshiped as gods, and who invoke dead men, and scarce any of them the Lord; and that the rest of the church make God three, and the Lord two, and place salvation, not in amendment of life, but in certain words uttered with a devout tone; thus not in repentance, but in confidence that they are justified and sanctified, provided they do but fold their hands and look upwards, and pray in the customary form.
* The original Latin omits "worthy."