CL •$ (0 Ic 3 IE 02 o 5 S p c i/o^-: |2i £ ^ •sk ^J <>> M «3 ^ « (/) 1 -S 1 ^ P4 x^ Q ^^ ^ ^*i S O >> ^ -a '^ ■«-• C ^ (U ^ 2 ^ Q. APOCALYPTIC SKETCHES; LECTURES BOOK OF REVELATION. FIEST SERIES. THE EEV. JOHN GUMMING, D. D. MINISTER OP THE SCOTCH NATIONAL CHUKCH, CaOWN COORT, COVENT GARDEN. Surely I come quickly : Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus." Rev. xxii. 20. LONDON : ARTHUR HALL, VIRTUE, AND CO., 25, PATERNOSTER ROW. SOLD BY J. F. SHAW, SOUTHAMPTON ROW, RUSSELL SQUARE. EATON AND RITCHIE; J. MENZIES, EDINBURGH. JOHN ROBERTSON, DUBLIN. 1853. JOHN CHILDS AND SON, UUNG/.Y. PREFACE TO THE TWELFTH EDITION I AM requested by the publisher to prefix a few words to the Twelfth Edition. It is matter of deep gratitude to God, that He has been pleased in His gracious providence to give so great and so general acceptance to this volume, bearing many traces of imperfection, but still reflecting many faithful and precious truths. Testimonies have reached me from the con- tinent, and from America, to its extensive useful- ness. From many quarters at home, accounts have come to me of its being singularly blessed in the conversion of some, and the comfort of others. Nothing has occurred to lead me to modify, except occasionally in word, the conclusions I have en- deavoured to unfold. iv PREFACE TO THE TWELFTH EDITION. I hope to publish soon some Expository Dis- courses on the Book of Daniel, which will not only strengthen the positions maintained in this work, but also unfold the wonderful harmony sub- sisting between Daniel and John, who, like the two lips of an oracle, proclaim the same Lord. May it please God richly to bless His own truth, and hasten to His suffering and expectant Church that " glorious appearing," which is alike her prayer and her hope. June, 1850. PREFACE. When these Lectures were begun in Exeter Hall, during the period occupied in the enlargement of the Church of which the Lecturer is the minister, not a few predicted that the author would be led into rash and questionable theories in investi- gating a subject confessedly beset with difficulties. But by the blessing of God, and the exercise of cau- tion and prayerful study, all has ended more than satisfactorily. The unprecedentedly large masses of persons of every denomination, and of no deno- mination at all, who overflowed the spacious Hall in which they were delivered, and the growing at- tention excited in the minds of these audiences, and the saving, and he may be allowed to add, very striking impressions, made on unconverted minds by the means of the solemn truths they heard, are all signs and tokens that call for hum- ble gratitude to God. Numerous requests were made for their public- ation. A short-hand writer was therefore en- gaged, who took down a verbatim report of every lecture. These reports, often very imperfect, the VI PREFACE. author has corrected ; an J though the work is not all he could desire, it will yet be found a substan- tial summary of his discourses on the Apocalypse. Already £130 and upwards have been realized by the sale of these Lectures, which the author has devoted to the Church Building Fund ; and by means of this sum, and another placed in his hands, he has paid for every thing in the shape of ornament, such as it is, in the Church in Crown Court, and thus the donations of the congregation have been expended exclusively for the mere en- largement of the building. It is the earnest prayer of the Lecturer that these and all his labours may redound to the gloiy of God, and to the good of souls. March, 1848. PREFACE THE TENTH EDITION. When these Lectures were committed to the press, I had no idea that the interest expressed by those who heard them delivered would extend to so many others beyond their circle. The volume has attained a very large circulation indeed, and has excited, as numerous letters addressed to me show, very general attention. It is to me matter of unspeakable gratitude to God, that I have been led and enabled to direct the stirring truths contained in the Apocalypse toward the personal and prac- tical instruction of hearer and reader, and that wherever these Lectures may be perused, the reader shall not lay them down without having been often and earnestly reminded of his responsibility and obligations before God. The year 1848, that followed that which was occupied in their delivery, has presented a visible conmientary on the predictions of the Apocalypse, and proved, by terrible flicts, how just and true are the principles of interpretation so ably and so con- VIU PREFACE TO clusively established by Mr. Elliott in his noble and precious work. I am truly grateful for the numerous favourable reviews of these Lectures in the periodicals of the day. The only unfavourable notices I have met with, are, — one long and elaborate critique in " Woolmer's Exeter Gazette," one of the organs of the Tractarians ; in which the writer accuses me of hostility to certain principles which the articles and homilies of the Church of England denounce as Popery, but which he and his friends believe to be Catholic verities : the other, in " The Eree Church Magazine," in which I am very summarily dealt with, and am charged, without proof adduced, with every sort of sinister end and aim and motive in preaching them, while the principles and texture of the work, which is, after all, the only legitimate subject of criticism, are left untouched. With these two exceptions, the "Apocalyptic Sketches " have been favourably noticed by the Press ; and the topics they treat of, so emphatically sustained by facts from Rome — Berlin — Paris — Viemia, have been urged on the attention of all. My Lectures on the last two chapters of the Apocalypse, which I think descriptive of the mil- lennial age, are now complete, and will, I trust, cast some new light on subjects somewhat difficult, or at least place in new points of view, and at new angles, duties and privileges and hopes long cher- ished in Christian hearts, and frequently and fully taught in the word of God. In the course of 1849, if the Lord spare me, I THE TENTH EDITION. IX hope to deliver and publish, a series of Lectures on the Seven Churches ; the Apocalyptic addresses to which are so replete with warning, instruction, correction in righteousness, and encouragement specially fitted for the times — the unprecedented times in which our lot is cast. My conviction has grown in strength, that the main views enunciated in these Lectures are true. If so, how solemn is our position ! how loud a call to missionary effort — to personal devotedness — to spiritual-mindedness ! I have paid special attention to the various ef- forts made, from several quarters, to overturn the principles of interpretation laid down by the author of the Horse. One party, the majority of which is attached to what are called Tractarian principles, oppose the whole chronology of Mr. Elliott, and attempt to show that days and years and months, as used in the prophecy, are to be understood literally. Their reasoning appears to me singu- larly inconsistent and inconclusive. It seems to me to involve a principle of interpretation, which, if carried out consistently, would render the Apoca- lypse a mere kaleidoscope — full of varied shapes and colours, but destitute from first to last of any coherency, harmony, or order. I have also minutely examined the strictures of Dr. Keith. Apart from the spirit in which they are written, and the very improper motives and conduct so frequently and so undeservedly ascribed to Mr. Elliott, I have no hesitation in stating my conviction, that a more complete failure to over- X PREFACE. throw the principles of interpretation set forth by the author of Horas Apocalypticee never came from the pen of man. And if any one desu'es to see it sifted and utterly disposed of, let him read Mr. Elliott's reply^ entitled Vindicise Horariae. But why should Dr. Keith or any other Chris- tian become angry because another interpreter takes a very different view? Is it not possible to differ, and boldly express that difference, without indulging in severe and acrimonious language? It is not our interest that is at stake — it is the honour of our Lord: and, surely, the "truth in love" is our right course in handling so sacred and so solemn a subject. In discussing all denominational differences, and still more in discussing theories of prophetic inter- pretation, it becomes us to show to a world, which exaggerates the former and sneers at the latter, that truth is our aim and end, and that love is our temper. May it please God to pour out His Spirit upon us all yet more abundantly, to His glory, and to our growth in grace. April, 1849. APOCALYPTIC SKETCHES. I. " The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass ; and he sent and signified it by His angel unto his servant John : who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein : for the time is at hand." Revelation i. 1 — 3. The members of my own congregation may recollect that some time ago I began a series of addresses, explanatory of the structure, the principles, and the objects of the Apocalypse. I then stated, what I tell you now, that in these expositions I shall produce little that is original, less that is brilliant — but I trust much that is really pro- fitable. A great deal has been written upon this book ; much very foolishly — more very rashly — nothing, how- ever, in vain ; but recently, and especially in the pages of Mr. Elliott's HorcB Apocalyptic ce, one of the ablest productions on this subject, increased light has been re- flected on the pages of the book of Eevelation. I tell you candidly, that I shall beg and borrow from the book of Mr. Elliott all I can ; and I ask you not to acquiesce in his interpretation, because he is a learned man, nor in my opinion, because I agree with him ; but receive only what seems to you to be the just exposition of the words of the Holy Spirit of God. The name applied to this book is instructive, though I must say not a few Christians practically interchange it with another name of opposite import. The first half of the one name is like that of the other in sound — but the whole meaning of the one is diametrically opposite to that of the other. One is the Apocrypha, which means what is hidden — the other is the Apocalypse, which means what is revealed and made known. The Apocrypha is the title given to those books which are adopted by the Church of Rome, of human origin, and B 2 4 APOCALrPTIC SKETCHES. of no value in deciding what is truth ; the Apocalypse is the name of the Divine and inspired book, made known to John in Patmos. On the Apocrypha I am silent, or speak only to condemn it : on the Apocalypse I would that I were far more learned and eloquent, in order that I might adequately illustrate and recommend it. The words which are rendered in our version — " the Revelation of Jesus Christ," have been misapprehended. It does not mean the revelation made hy Jesus Christ, but the revelation of Jesus Christ himself. In other words, it does not mean Christ the revealer, but Christ the revealed ; a revelation, or apocalypse, or portrait of Christ, which was communicated by Christ to John the seer in Patmos. And that I am correct in this inter- pretation will be plain, I think, to your comprehension, from passages where the original word occurs ; and the word apocalypse occurs very frequently in Scripture, but unhappily, in our admirable translation — justly the sub- ject of almost universal eulogy — there is a change of rendering, though there be none in the original. For instance : in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, the first chapter, at the seventh verse, it is in our version — " So that ye come behind in no gift ; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." Now in the original it is — " waiting for the apocalypse of our Lord Jesus Christ." Again : in the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians, the first chapter, at the seventh verse, you will find another rendering, but it is still the same original word : " And to you who are troubled, rest with us, wlien the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven." It is, literally translated — "in the apocalypse of the Lord Jesus Christ from heaven." Again : in the First Epistle of St. Peter, the first chapter, and the seventh verse, and also at the thirteenth verse, we meet with the same word, but again differently translated. And here I may remark how great a pity it is that the same word sliould be the subject of a variety of translations. If it had been translated in one way throughout the New Testament, it would liave made the beauty and the force of the meaning of the Spirit of God evolve more vividly. "We read, in the First Epistle of Peter, the first chapter, and ATOCALYPTIC SKETCHES. 5 the seventh verse — " That it might be found unto praise, and honour, and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ." In the original it is — "in the apocalypse," in the reve- lation "of Jesus Christ." And in the thirteenth verse of the same chapter — " Gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." Here again it is in the original — " in the apocalypse of Jesus Christ." And in all these passages it means, not a disclosure, or revelation, or manifestation made by Christ, but made concerning or of Christ. In other words, the title of this book is not Christ the revealer, but Christ the revealed ; and this revelation of Christ, we are told, was also given by Christ to John His serv- ant, in the Isle of Patmos. This book, then, is an inspired portrait of the Son of God ; it is, if I may use the expression, the epiphany of Jesus — the full description of His personal glory, to which prophets and martyrs looked forward with waiting hope — an apocalypse so brilliant that the sight of the Jew was dazzled by its distant splendour, so much so that he could not see the intervening valleys of Gethse- mane and Calvary, through which Christ had to pass, in order to emerge and inherit His predestined glory. Very beautifully, therefore, the book begins — " Behold, He Cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see Him ; " and very appropriately this book closes — " Surely, I come quickly. Amen. Even so come, Lord Jesus." It be- gins with His advent, and ends with it. That sublime, sustaining, and precious hope is in the eye of the holy seer, when he sat down to receive and record its bright visions, and the same hope is in his eye when he kneels down at the close and cries — " Come, Lord Jesus." He had seen and leaned on the bosom of the Sufferer, and he longs to see and reign with his risen and glorified King. May we also sympathize with him, " Whom having not seen, may we love ; and in whom, though now we see Him not, yet believing, may we rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory." The distinction between the revelation of Christ in the Apocalypse, and the revelation of Christ in the AFOCALYPTIC SKETCHES. Gospels, is briefly this : the Gospels represent Christ the sufferer — the Apocalypse depicts Christ the conqueror. The Gospels detail " His agony, His cross, His passion. His bloody sweat," — the Apocalypse describes His throne, His " many crowns," and prostrate saints adoring and saying — " Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto our God, to Him be glory and honour and blessing." In the Gospels we see the shadow of the cross, deep, dark, and palpable to all — in the Apocalypse we behold the lustre of the crown shining forth in un- earthly brilliancy. In the Gospels we have Christ a priest at the altar — in the Apocalypse we see Christ a King upon His throne ; in the one we have Christ in the robes of Aaron — in the other we have Christ in the royalties of David ; in the first we behold Christ the sacrificing priest, the atoning victim — in the second we discover Christ with the " many crowns" upon His head, "Lord of lords, and King of kings." Thus, then, the Gospels reveal Christ amid the associations of Calvary — the Apocalypse reveals Christ with all the accom- paniments of glory ; each in its place, each for its ob- ject, is the revelation, or the apocalypse of Christ. The language in the passage I liave selected for ex- position, discourages and discountenances the very po- pular, but I humbly conceive very erroneous idea, — that we are not to study, and that we cannot possibly be- come acquainted with things predicted, but not yet per- formed. Most men say, ' Things 'performed we may study and improve ; but things predicted we have nothing to do with, except to lay them aside on the shelf, and wait till their actual performance casts its light upon them, and thus shapes the dim prophecy into history.' But certainly this idea is not sanctioned in the passage I have selected for exposition ; for this revelation was sent to Christ's servant John, "to sliow unto His servants things that shall come to pass." It does not read thus — " to show unto his servant John," but "to show unto His servants;'''' tlie word is in the plural number ; that is, to all Chi'istians. To show them what ? Not merely the things which have already APOCALITTIC SKETCHES. 7 come to pass, but " things which must shortly come to pass" — not the facts of the past only, but the events of the future also. Now the popular idea is, that these predicted things we ought not to attempt to interpret, and that it is only performed things that we ought to endeavour to profit by. The statement here, at least, conveys no such impression. It implies that things predicted, or foreshown, are to be studied, because for this very end they are inspired, and that they may, though dimly and darkly as through a glass, be under- stood by the servants and people of God. Daniel ex- plained to the captives in Babylon future things, and thus comforted them, with consolations drawn not from past records, but unfulfilled prophecies. Now comfort cannot be extracted from the unintelligible. Our bless- ed Lord minutely predicted to His apostles the destruc- tion of Jerusalem ; and He told them how they were to conduct themselves in the prospect of that destruc- tion. He showed them that responsibilities were in- curred, by their knowing things not yet fulfilled ; and the apostles, we read, and the Christians who fled to Pella, understood and believed the prophecy, and escaped the ruin, having done well in taking heed to the pro- phecy, that shone as a light in a dark place. It is surely very remarkable, and instructive too, that one office of the Holy Spirit of God — an office that cannot be ex- plained on the popular presumption we have alluded to — is, that " He will show you things to come ; " and the apostle Peter tells us, in his Second Epistle, the first chapter, at the nineteenth verse, that there is "a sure word of prophecy, unto which we do well to take heed, as to a light shining in a dark place ; " and we are told also, in the third chapter, at the first verse — " This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you, in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance : that ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour : knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying. Where is the promise of His coming ? for since the fathers fell asleep, / 8 APOCALYPTIC SKETCHES. all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." We are told by the apostle Paul, that "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath pre- pared for them that love Him." That is future. But he adds — "But he hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit ; " teaching us, therefore, that things which are not yet disclosed as come to pass, are things that we may study. They may not be essential to our personal safety, but they may contribute to our spiritual com- fort, and to the glory and honour and praise of God. Why did the Jews, we may ask, reject the Messiah as the sufferer ? Just because they neglected the study of unfulfilled prophecy. And may not we also be found neglecting privileges, if not despising duties, when we make the book of Revelation that book which we rarely read in our families, or study in our closets, or patiently listen to, when expounded and explained from the pul- pit, by the ministers of Christ. It was not so in olden days : for this book was a fa- vourite study with the early Christicins. The martyrs of the first three centuries found springs of comfort in the addresses to the seven churches, which refreshed their souls as with the dews of heaven amid the flames. The Reformers derived from the Apocalypse the most condemning verdicts on the great Western apostacy, and from its description, as from a full and exhaustless arsenal, they drew forth the weapons with which they smote and overthrew the great Dagon of the West, with the most complete success. This holy book seems to me to be a lamp, which sheds light on the history of the last nineteen hundred years, casting illuminating rays into all their perplexing and perplexed events. It ^shows us Christ in the world as well as in the church — /ordering and restraining the will of kings and the acts of empire, and educing glory to His Name and prosperity to His church from the wrath of His bitterest enemies. In the next place, the Apocalypse, or book of Reve- lation, is stated, at the beginning of the first chapter, to have been written under the inspiration of the Spirit, by John, who testified of the Word of God. There can be APOCALYPTIC SKETCHES. 9 no doubt that this was John the evangelist ; his testi- mony was emphatically that of "the Word ;" his Gos- pel is peculiarly the Gospel of " the Word made flesh." The very commencement of his Gospel is — " In the be- ginning was the Word ;" and the close of his Gospel is — " These are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God ; and that believing, ye might have life through His name." That holy name gives music to every sentence, weight to every word, and fragrance to every sentiment in that wonderful pro- duction, the Gospel according to John. And Wetstein and Lardner, two distinguished critics upon the original, as well as on the contents of the Scriptures, have se- lected about thirty or forty texts from the Apocalypse, which contain words and phrases and forms of expres- sion that are almost identical with those used in the Gospel, — thus proving that the same John who wrote the Gospel was the writer of the Apocalypse ; and such differences of style, as unquestionably do occur, are to be explained and accounted for by the difference of the sub- jects, and perhaps also of the time. The Gospel was written by John sixty years after the death and resur- rection of Jesus, and was, if I may so speak, a cool and dispassionate retrospect and record of that sublime bio- graphy ; the Apocalypse, on the other hand, was M^ritten the very moment its truths were taught and its visions made known — the instancy and splendour of the scene making the deeper impression on the heart of the seer, and originating more expressive words. Hence the Apo- calypse contains an eloquence of language, a grandeur of thought, and a magnificence of style, which certainly are not approached by the more prosaic and historical narrative of the Gospel. This difference, however, is, as we have said, easily accounted for ; the subject and date will explain the simplicity of the narrative of the one, and the sublime and poetic ecstasy of the other. The time at which the Apocalypse was written, was about the year 97. John was banished to Patmos by the emperor Domitian ; and if we had no other evidence that it was during the reign of Domitian, we have it in the fact that he was the first Roman emperor who adopted 10 APOCALYPTIC SKETCHES. that mode of punishment. .But John's banishment from his earthly home lifted him nearer a heavenly one. He was condemned and banished by a king that died, that he mio'ht be favoured and comforted by "the King of kings," that liveth and reigneth for ever. An inner ra- diance was poured into his spirit, that more than com- pensated for his external night. God thus gives His people in all their trying circumstances compensatory elements. In the history of His church, He often makes afflictions beautiful, by weaving through them the rain- bow of His mercy and love. He thus made barren Pat- mos a scene of manifestation of far richer glories than Tabor. He can make the tents of Mesech and the taber- nacles of Kedar repose in a sunshine more glorious than ever fell on the towers of Salem. God's Shechinah often illuminates the desert. Daniel beheld in Babylon bright visions he saw not elsewhere ; John, in Patmos, saw a glory he never witnessed in Jerusalem ; John Bunyan, in his lonely prison, had dreams and visions, approach- ing in their purity and splendour to apocalyptic scenes ; and Martin Luther, during his confinement in Wartburg, translated the Scriptures, and had the enjoyment of a freedom and repose to which thousands outside were strangers. It is the heart, not the house, that makes home. And thus, while the afflictions of God's people abound, their joys abound also. The cloud that is dark- est, is fringed to their eyes with beams of celestial lus- tre, and crushing calamities unbosom by degrees their latent mercies ; and those who have been in the deepest affliction, have been the first to exclaim, each as he emerged from its depths — "It was good for me that I was afflicted." This book has been recognised as canonical in every age of the Christian church. I will quote only one or two references, but these will sufficiently vindicate it. Perhaps you are aware that the Church of Rome has made the frequent objection, that we Protestants are in- debted to her decision for the possession of the Apoca- lypse at all. They say, the Apocalypse was not admitted by that Church by any public act, or by any synodical decision, till the fifth, if not the sixth century. But APOCALYPTIC SKETCHES. 11 if this be true, instead of proving that the Church of Rome has great credit, it rather reflects upon her the greatest discredit — for it shows how sleepy that Cliurch must have been, how blind her vision, how forgetful of her duties, seeing that, by her own confession, she failed to recognise as canonical a Divine book during six cen- turies in succession. Does it not also show, how much more trustworthy is private judgment than ecclesiastical decisions, seeing fathers and writers and doctors saw the inspiration of the Apocalypse, and pronounced it to be Divine, while the Church of Rome did not know that it was part of the Sacred Canon at all ? For instance : Ignatius, one of the earliest of the Christian fathers, who lived in the year 107 — that is, just ten years after John wrote the Apocalypse — quotes several passages from this book, thus proving it was in existence in his day. Po- lycarp, a father and martyr, who lived in the year 108, when he was broug-ht to the facrgot to be consumed in the flames, offered up the prayer used in the eleventh chapter of the Book of Revelation, at the seventeenth verse — "We give Thee thanks. Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." After him, Irenaeus, whose name is associated in its import with peace, and whose writings contain some beautiful appeals on its be- half, quotes portions of the Apocalypse, and adds the in- teresting statement, preserved in the writings of Euse- bius, that John wrote it at the latter end of the reign of Domitian, when in exile at Patmos. Justin Martyr, who lived in the year 140 — that is, forty-three years after the Apocalypse was written, not only read it, but w^rote an explanation of it. And Eusebius in the fourth century, and Jerome, the most learned of all the Latin fathers, likewise quote it as a portion of the inspired Record, and record their reflections upon it. It is, however, only just to add, that some divines of the fourth century rejected the Apocalypse, on the ground that it contained, as they alleged, prophecies of what they erroneously believed to be a carnal millenium ; just in the same way as some Christians still argue, that the Bible cannot be God's word, because it contains truths that cross their preju- dices, or lay on them duties which they decline to fulfil, 12 APOCALYPTIC SKETCHES. or unfold the mere outward drapery of stupendous mys- teries, which angels cannot soar to, and which the human imagination cannot of course comprehend. But to argue in this way is to argue most illogically. The divinity of the book rests upon its own basis ; the explanation of the book is to be decided on just and proper principles. I must notice here, that there is a special benediction pronounced upon those who read it. Many people say — ' Oh ! the Revelation is full of dark things we ought not to meddle with.' But what does the Spirit of God say ? 'Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein." Shall we say it is wrong to read what the Spirit of God has thought it right to record ? Shall we say that the difficulty of interpreting the book is a reason why we should not even read, still less try to un- derstand, what the Spirit of God has inspired ? Shall we hold it perilous to study what the Holy Spirit has pro- nounced it blessed to read, and, by fair inference, pos- sible to understand ? We may read it in a presumptuous spirit — that is sinful ; but to attempt to understand it, in a reverent and prayerful spirit — that is blessed. Lay aside the presumption, that dictates as eternal truths its own hasty conclusions ; but do not give up the prayerful study and perusal of the book, on the very vestibule of which the Spirit of God has written — "Blessed are they that read and hear the words of this prophecy." Far be it from me to conceal, that there is an awful and a solemn anathema pronounced upon all who shall attempt to sub- tract from or add to "the things that are written in this book." At the close of it it is said — " If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this pro- phecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book." This is an awful announce- ment, which ought to solemnize the mind of every student of it : but if it be perilous to misinterpret it, can it be safe not to read it at all ? Would not the legitimate con- clusion be, not to lay it aside, because there is an ana- AFOCAL^TTIC SKETCHES. 13 thema on him who perverts it, but to open the book, and diligently study it, and pray for the Spirit of God to en- lighten our minds, and lead them to a sober and true exposition, and then we shall be lifted from the anathema that descends upon the wilful misinterpreter, and shall be placed under the blessing that lights on him who reads and understands it ? I regard this book, not as a dark and inexplicable hieroglyphic, which it is humility and duty to leave un- opened, but as a light that shines on the dark and trou- bled waters of time — those waters over which the church of the redeemed is ploughing her arduous and perilous way ; not like a light upon the stern, leaving useless brilliancy in her wake, but a light upon the prow, show- ing before the beacons it is our safety to avoid, and the course it becomes our duty to pursue, till that day break upon the waste of waters, when the great Pilot himself shall enter into the vessel, and say to the stormy waves around it — " Be still ;" and guide her to a haven of per- petual peace. Now while I feel that there is much, in the past his- tory of the interpretation of this book, to make us cau- tious and prayerful, I still think there is nothing to warrant neglect. Edward Irving, one of the most gifted minds, but all but fatally shipwrecked, it is true grafted upon this book the most extravagant and monstrous de- lusions ; and because he left behind him explanations as unsound as mischievous, it is argued, that we should not attempt to study and understand where so gifted a ge- nius has failed. But it seems to me that misinterpret- ation in the past, instead of being a reason for neglect, is only a new reason for more prayerful and earnest ef- forts after just and proper interpretation for the future. Abuse is not certainly a reason against use ; past error in the pursuit of truth does not make future success im- possible ; and may it not be true, that the failures of former expositors shall prove the surest pioneers of suc- cess on the part of those that follow ? Every ship that is wrecked in our Channel serves to show to succeedinor navies the safe course they are thereafter to pursue. It is thus that the failures of gifted minds who have pre- 14 AFOCALYPTIC SKETCHES. ceded us as interpreters, will help us to make nearer approximation to a clear exposition of that beautiful and holy book, which the Spirit of God has written for our learning. If the people would study the Revelation more, their ministers would be likely to indulge in fan- cies less. It is because you know so little about the book, that ministers have been suffered to make so many mis- interpretations of its meaning. Study well its history and contents, ponder prayerfully its predictions, and your knowledge will be the best check upon the imagination of the minister. Light in the pew necessitates light in the pulpit. The Bible in the hands and hearts of the people is the surest guarantee for truth from the lips of the preacher. I know that some excellent Christians en- tertain the notion, that their personal salvation is all they have to do with. Far be it from me for one moment to undervalue the necessity of a deep and solemn interest in our personal acceptance before God. What shall it profit a man if he should be able to explain all the mys- teries of the prophets, or gain the whole world, and in- flict on his soul that loss which never can be retrieved ? But, my dear friends, while this is true, and ought to be felt to be true, are we to forget that there is an end even higher than the safety of the soul — not indeed in refer- ence to us, but in reference to God ? The glory of God is the end of the universe, and ought to be the first aim of intelligent creatures. If I address members of other communions, let me lay before you a piece of splendid philosophy, as well as true theology, by telling you the first question and answer contained in the catechism which our Scottish children are taught from their earli- est infancy. " What is the chief end of man ?" Not, to save himself ; that is not said. " The chief end of man is to glorify God^ and to enjoy Him for ever." We are called on to consult the glory of God first, and our sal- vation next. Yet it is in the pursuit of the former that we never can lose the latter. And whilst, therefore, our personal acceptance before God is an essential thing, which no interest can be a substitute for, which no duty can supersede, we must recollect that if God has revealed a book to evolve His glory, it is not for man, surely not APOCALYPTIC SKETCHES. 1.3 for a Christian, to say — ' I have no interest in that glory, nor shall I take any part in making the meaning of the mysteries which reflect it intelligible to others.' There are various classes of interpreters, who take different views of the Apocalypse. One class consists of Professor Lee, one of the best Hebrew scholars in Eng- land, and Moses Stewart, an able scholar in America, who believe that the whole of the Apocalypse was ful- filled in the first three or four centuries of the Christian church. This belief I think as untenable as it is absurd. Let any person read the Apocalypse, not in the light of criticism, or with the opinions of learned men, but in the exercise of his own unbiassed judgment, and he will see there are prophecies which have not been performed, visions of glory which have never dawned upon our world, and scenes to be realized, and circumstances to evolve, and dates to be reconciled, of which there is no trace of fulfilment in the past, and certainly no appear- ance in the present. There is another class of interpreters, however, who take just an opposite view from that of those to whom I have alluded : — these consist of Burgh, Todd, and Maitland, studious and learned men, who believe, that with the exception of the first three chapters, not one single particular of the rest of the Apocalypse has yet been fulfilled. Moses Stewart and Dr. Lee believe that it was all compressed within the first three or four cen- turies— Burgh, Todd, and Maitland believe that it must all be compressed into the last three or four years of the Christian sera. There is another class, represented by Mr. Birks, an able and acute writer on the subject of prophecy, and Mr. Elliott, (in his Horce, which will occupy a place, in reference to unfulfilled prophecy, that Newton's Prin- cipia has occupied in reference to science,) and many other living ministers of the age, who believe that much of the Apocalypse has been fulfilled, but that much more remains yet to be fulfilled ; and that it is our duty to review the first, that we may see light shed on the history of the past, and to study the second, that we 16 APOCALYPTIC SKETCHES. may learn duties, responsibilities, and privileges, in the prospect of what is yet to come. I may mention, that some of one class especialh% known by the name of Futurists, (that is, persons who believe that the whole of the Apocalypse yet remains to be fullilled,) are actuated in their views by strong sympathy with Romish tenets — I say so, because it is obvious from their writings, that some of those (though not all) who believe the Apocalypse will be fulfilled entirely in the future, have adopted that reasoning because they love and would justify the Church of Rome. It has been the belief of the soundest divines, since and before the days of Martin Luther, that the Babylon delineated there, the woman stained with crimes and intoxicated with the blood of tlie saints, is the great Western apostacy : but these Tractarian Futurists do not like this interpretation ; it is fatal to their views ; it re- bukes their sympathies ; they cannot, however, get rid of the book, and therefore they have tried to get rid of the interpretation, and thus be left free to welcome Rome as their sister, and proclaim the Vatican " Christ's holy home." But it must be evident that all such rea- soning is false in its premises, and must therefore be pernicious in its conclusions. And I do hope, if you will give me your patient attention, in the course of a few succeeding Sunday evenings, that you will be satis- fied that the main views of Mr. Elliott — I do not say all — are as rational as they are scriptural and instructive. In expounding this book, I must beg to suggest some necessary cautions. We must not seek to be explicit in V that which God's Holy Spirit has been pleased to leave dimly revealed. Rash hands must not tear, but sacred hands must reverently draw aside the Apocalyptic veil ; we may not "rush in where angels fear to tread ;" we must not dogmatize where the Spirit of God has not '^"' spoken decidedly. We must be content to be ignorant in many places^ thankful to be instructed in others, and patient students throughout the whole. There is one most important point I wish to impress upon you, and it is this : we must not do as EdAvard APOCALYPTIC SKETCHES. 17 Irving did, pronounce our views of unfulfilled prophecy' to be among the very essentials of salvation ; we must not give the least countenance to the idea, that the great truths of evangelical religion are at all to be placed in the same category with any theory of interpretation of unfulfilled prophecy. The first seven seals may or may not refer to the decline of the Roman empire, but there is no doubt that " the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin ;" the seven last vials may or may not have been begun at the French Revolution, but it is indis- ♦ putably true that " Christ is the propitiation for our sins." The first may be true — the last must be true ; the first is '^-" revealed in symbols, the last is clearly brought to light. We may use peradventures, when we speak of our view of things that are in the future — we must use none, when i we speak of vital and essential truths. I will allow you to differ from me in explaining prophecy — I will allow you to reject my expositions of the Apocalypse, as far as < its symbols are involved, but I cannot for one moment /!ws=^ consent that there should be any question whether my Saviour be God, or whether his " blood cleanseth from ail sin," or whether his righteousness be my only covering, his sacrifice my only trust, his cross the only foundation of my safety, and his crown my happy and imperishable^ hope. All that I say on unfulfilled prophecy may be wrong — what I preach of the gospel I know to be true ; " I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that : He is able to keep that which I have committed to him J against that day." But we are not less earnestly to study the future as far as we are invited to do so ; just as the pious Jews read their prophecies of a sutfering Christ, we Christians should study the prophecies of a coming and a glorified Christ. The Jews were taught to look through prophe- cies to a Christ who was to come and suffer — we are taught to look for the same Christ in glory. We are taught to take a retrospective view of his sufferings, and a prospective view of his glory ; and as the believing Israelite was cheered by the prospect of the Saviour's advent, as his sacrifice, so the pious Christian, with his foot upon the cross, and his eye upon the throne, ought c 18 APOCALYPTIC SKETCHES. to be cheered, sustained, and comforted by the prospect of his Saviour, who is to " come again the second time, without sin unto salvation, unto all them that look for Him." Sound thoughts on prophecy would seem to me to be especially useful in the day in which our lot is cast. Mr. Faber, Mr. Elliott, Dr. M'Neile, Mr. Bickersteth, the most eminent of those who have directed their atten- tion to the subject, believe that we are upon the verge of the last days. Nor do appearances contradict their views. All moral, social, and political parties are broken and torn asunder, in order I believe to make room for the advent of more glorious things, the triumph of more precious principles : and those will not be least blessed, who shall be found at that day with their loins girt and tlieir lamps burning. But whilst discoursing upon prophecy, 1 must not omit to define the characters that prophecy should interest. I wish not to gratify the curiosity of tlie unconverted, but to comfort the hearts and instruct the minds of the people of God. You who are strangers to the gospel, have yet to learn its alphabet ; you must have jour souls cleansed in Christ's atoning blood, before you may ven- ture to anticipate his presence as with joy. Let me ask you, then, Are you among the people of God ? Have you gone to the Saviour, in the depths of >/ your conscious ruin — in despair of salvation from any other source, and cast yourselves at his feet, and asked for mercy and forgiveness gratis, through his precious blood ? Those to whom John wrote the Apocalypse, and whose perusal of it he especially desired, are those, we are told in the very chapter from which my text is taken — who sing — " Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, unto Him be glory for ever and ever." Can you say so ? Can you say — " That Saviour is mine ; that sacrifice is mine, and forgiveness for its sake?" If the great changes predicted in. the Apocalypse do not overtake us, we may be called upon to see personally, each for himself, a change as great. Were tliat beating heart to stand still, were death to lay his hand upon you this niglit, were the summons to be issued from the throne — " Cut him down," let me ask APOCALYPTIC SKETCHES. 19 you, my dear brother, my dear sister, would it be well with you ? Is all right between God and you ? Do po- litics interest your affections ? Do the affairs of your household absorb all your thoughts ? Does Mammon oc- cupy your affections ? And have you never sat down, and in the calm and solemn light of eternity asked your conscience that question, to which you must one day and ought now to give an instant response — ' Am I still " dead in sins," or am I " a child of God, and an in- heritor of the Idngdom of heaven ?'" My dear brethren, I hope no one in this vast assembly is hoping that all is right because he has been baptized, or is a member of a Christian church. My dear friends, do you, can you think that baptism gives to all its sub- jects new hearts? Can baptism give you that Divine life, without which you must die for ever ? 1 believe, that those who think so, misapprehend altogether man's state by nature. If man's state were a mere swoon, or a mere faint from the influence of sin, then a little water sprinkled on his brow by a minister of Christ from the baptismal font might resuscitate him ; but man is "dead in trespasses and sins ;" and nothing but that voice which shall echo at the last day through the sepulchres of the dead, can quicken that soul which is " dead in trespasses and sins." Be not deceived. Pause and pon- der. " Christ and Him crucified," the ground of your acceptance ; the Spirit and Him sanctifying, your fitness for heaven ; justification by faith alone, the article of a standing or a falling church ; regeneration by the Spirit of God, the article of a living or a dying church ; our personal safety — our acceptance before God — our title to heaven, and our fitness for its enjoyments, — are matters of instant and overwhelming interest. No inquiries into unfulfilled prophecy may be made apologies for indifier- ence here. AVhether in the pages of the evangelist, or in those of the seer, it is "the pure in heart" only that "see God." Christians only can understand the Apoca- lypse ; for them it was written. All other attempts by any beside to interpret, must end in fanaticism or folly. c 2 7 LECTURE 11. THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THE APOCALYPSE. " Unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father, to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever." Rev. i. 5, 6. Some have objected to all expositions of the Apoca- lypse, as if such were not preaching the gospel, nor useful and instructive to those that hear them. This is grievous misapprehension. Whatever God has written is surely entitled to our study, as it was meant for our good, and cannot be otherwise than useful to those, for whose learning it was inspired : " all Scripture," says the apostle, " is profitable." The Apocalypse, so far from not being the gospel, is replete with its most pre- cious truths, is inlaid with the testimony, fragrant with the excellence, and illuminated with the glory of the Son of God. It refers backward to the Man of sor- rows, and looks forward to the tlu'oned Lamb. Christ is its alpha and omega, and the testimony of Jesus its woof and warp. But for the sake of them, who slirink from expositions of this book, who look at the Apoca- lypse through the mists of prejudice, the misapprehen- sions of ignorance, or any other simihir cause, I will address myself this evening to the task of showing how full, how clear, how beautiful is the gospel according to the Apocalypse. Leaving my text, which is an epitome of the gospel, I request your attention to such passages as these — Rev. V. 9. " Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof, for thou wast slain, and hast re- deemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred. THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THE APOCALYPSE. 21 and tongue, and nation." This is surely the very music of Calvary floating down from heaven, and breaking on our ears — shall 1 rather say our hearts, this evening in Exeter Hall. This text alone is an epitome of the gos- pel. Rev. V. 12. — "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, ^ and honour, and glory, and blessing" — words that come like the chimes of the waves of that sea of glory that spread out their waters about the throne of God, and reflect its glory. Rev. vii. 13. — "What are these which are arrayed in white robes, and whence came they ? These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, \/ and serve Him day and night in his temple," This is an apocalypse of heaven — the character of its tenantry, and the way to reach it. Rev. xiv. 13. — "And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me. Write, Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord from henceforth : Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours ; and their works do follow them." This is the trumpet of jubilee sounding in the grave, the finger of God writing their epitaphs on the pious dead — the gospel transfigur- ing, by its presence, the very ashes of the dead. Rev. xxi. 6. — "I will give to him that is athirst of the foun- tain of the water of life freely." Rev. xxii. 17. — "And the Spirit and the bride say. Come. And let him that heareth say. Come. And let ^ him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely." Here is the gospel call as unequivocally stated as in any part of the New Testament. Thus, in no portion of the Bible are the grand charac- teristics of Christianity more frequently or fully stated. The drapery of the throne does not conceal the Lamb that is in the midst of it ; and the intense splendour of the "many crowns" that are on the brow of "the King of kings," does not dim or conceal that cross on which he hung in agony as the " Man of sorrows." These passages which we have quoted are like stars 22 APOCALYPTIC SKETCHES. in the Apocalyptic firmament, of greater or lesser mag- nitude, each shining in the light of the Sun of right- eousness : these are fragments of the rich and beautiful embroidery on the mystic vail, significant of yet richer excellencies beyond it ; these are snatches, mellowed but not spent in their transit from the skies, of the awful and solemn harmonies that break and roll before the throne of God. But in all Christ is all. The Apoca- lypse is the record of what Christ is and does, since he ascended from the earth, and a cloud received him out of sight. It is the history of his post-resurrection glory. ^-It is an illuminated Commentary on Zech. vi. 13. — "He / shall sit and rule upon his throne, and he shall be a I priest upon his throne;" a Priest to offer sacrifice for our guilt — a King to rescue us from our enemies, and subdue us to himself; a Priest to expiate our sins — a King to extirpate them ; a Priest to take away the guilt of sin — a King to break its power ; a Priest to pardon — I a King to purify ; a Priest to give a title to heaven — a 1 Kins: to create fitness for it. As a Priest he makes it possible for God to pardon us — as a King he makes us willing to receive that pardon ; as a Priest he restores us to the Divine favour — as a King he communicates to us the Divine image ; the majesty of the King tempered by the mercy of the Priest, is the light he lives in : and the Book of Revelation is the holy window through which we see these things — the contents and the inmates of the upper sanctuary. It is not less necessary that we should see Christ a King than Christ a sufferer. I cannot but add also, that this book contains tlie history of the doings of Christ in all places ; of his presence also, and evidence of that presence every where. It is a reflec- tion of the panorama of 7000 years, on the concave of the sky, and the revelation of its connexion with Christ. It shows Him to be in the history of nations, the change of dynasties, the eclipse of kingdoms, the wreck of em- pires, restraining — overruling — directing — sanctifying. Josephus becomes unconsciously the chronicler of his presence in tlie fall of Jerusalem ; and Gibbon, in spite of himself, the faithful witness of his interposition, in the decline of the Roman empire. Wheresoever the THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THE ArOCALYPSE. 23 ploughshare of Vespasian tore, or the ciraeter of the Moslem mowed, or the foot of tiie Goth trod down, — wheresoever the persecutor drove the Christian, from Pella to the Cottian Alps, — wheresoever the wild beasts devoured, or the fiame consumed, — wheresoever the crescent waxed, or the cross waned, — where Trent thun- dered its anathemas, and Luther echoed his protests, — in the Sicilian vespers — at the massacre of Bartholomew — on the pavements of Smithfield — in the French Revo- lution— on the field of Waterloo — in all facts — in all oc- currences— Christ was, and is ; and this sublime book is the evidence that it is so. "Unto Him that loved us" — is the ascription written y in my text. Who can this be, who to John was so t^ plainly familiar, and yet so great and so glorious, that he omits even his name, as if no one could mistake him, as if every reader must instant!}^ apprehend him ? No angel in heaven, nor ancient patriarch, no apostle nor king, can this be. None of these had love to dare, nor strength to do what is here ascribed to " Him." He must have been man, for he had blood to shed ; he must have been a man of sorrows, for he shed that blood. — This Christ was, — man in all that the word compre- hends, in its infirmities, and tears, and trials, and sor- rows. Sin he liad not ; for it is no part of humanity, — it is its disease — its corruption, and from this he was infinitely distant. He was man, but holy man ; a suf- fering, but from first to last a sinless man ; but he must also have been God. The fact that he laid down his life voluntarily, implies this. No creature has his life at his own disposal : a creature giving up his life unbidden, would be a suicide. Besides, were Christ not God, what he has done would go far to make every creature wor- ship him as God ; for He that redeems, and pardons, and saves me, and at such an expenditure as that of Calvary, must gather to himself my adoration, my trust, my love. I cannot but worship Him who saves me from eternal perdition, and lifts me to eternal joy. If Christ be not God, the foresight of this tendency would have filled the Apostolic Epistles with warnings against the idolatry which would have inevitably and justly become all but 24 APOCALYPTIC SKETCHES. the universal worship of Christians. But He is God as truly as man ; worship and confidence are his due, just as much as they are our sacred duty. " He loved us," and this antecedently to our loving Him : his love to us originated our love to him, as the sound creates its echo. How great, how sovereign that love which lighted upon us, in whom there was nothing to attract, deserve, or retain it ; but, on the contrary, much to provoke, weary, and repel it. He loved us, in spite of what we were, not because of what we were ; not on account of excellencies in us, but to create excel- lencies that were not in us. Man loves, because he sees something in the loved to attract his affections, — God loves, in order to create in the loved something to retain his love. It is this that makes our conscious debt to grace exceed all computation, and defy all repayment. We may conceive the intensity of this love by number- ing and estimating, if we can, the difficulties tlirough which it had to wade. He had to save sinners, not in spite of the law, but according to the law, to show God's law righteous while it condemns, and righteous still while it acquits ; — God true wliile He stands by his tes- timony, "the soul that sins shall die;" and no less true while He makes real his declaration, " he that believeth in the Son of God hath everlasting life;" — God just while He justifies the ungodly, and holy while He takes sinners to his bosom. These are some of the seeming mpossibilities that love had to do — the innumerable con- trarieties it had to reconcile — the infinite obstructions through which it had to work its way, to reach us. The height from which it came is the throne of Deity ; the depth to wliich it descends is the ruin from wliich it plucks us ; its breadth is the earth which it circles as with a zone — and its length from first to last is Eternity. " He washed us from our sins in his own blood." This is the Scriptural phrase employed to denote his atoning expiatory sufferings. Nothing else but the life of the Son of God expended on the cross could insure the for- giveness of the least and fewest of these sins of ours. __^ No other element had virtue. No voice from height or depth in the universe could say, with authority, to the A THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THE APOCALYPSE. 25 least transgressor, " thy sins be forgiven thee." No fast- ing, mortification, or penance, or absolution of the priest, or indulgence of Pope or jubilee, ever approached the inner seat of the soul's disquiet ; none of these rise high enough to reach God, or descend low enough to reach us. The accusations of conscience in the midst of all these "refuges of lies" outnumber its excuses, and the law of God, in spite of these and thousands more, will fulminate and make felt its lightnings. Nor does sin ever exhaust its penalties, and thus render forgiveness unnecessary, and the shedding of that blood uncalled for. A convict banished for a definite period, exhausts his sentence, and thus becomes free ; but were that convict to commit, in the course of his exile, a new crime, a new sentence would fasten on him, and add to the years of his banishment ; we sin while we suffer, we add to our punishment by adding to our guilt, and thus by the very nature and necessity of the case, sin is an eternal evil — never working out its cure, but ever its perpetuity ; it is a self-generating evil — eternity does not exhaust it — it adds to it. An atonement was essential to our re- storation ; without shedding of blood, there could be no remission of sins — and what an atonement ! it has touched the deep spot of anger in the bosom of God, and descending along its dark line to its utmost havoc and curse, it has rescued, reconciled, restored us. Christ pardons us while we sin, and draws us off while he par- dons alike from the love and practice of sin. It was his oimi blood that made this atonement, and it alone. No other element mingled with it, nothing could heighten its value — it needed nothing. He trod the wine-press alone. He suffered alone, and his suffering was sufficient. He obeyed alone, and his obedience was all that was required. His is all the merit of the pro- cess, and therefore all the glory of the result. He paid all we owed to God, and purchased more than God owed to us. He began it in the manger, and finished it upon the cross. He humbled himself to merit, and he is ex- alted to bestow salvation. What depth of dye must there be in sin ! what intensity of evil in that terrible monosyllable ! what concentrated poison, seeing no less 26 APOCALYPTIC SKETCHES. illustrious a victim, no less costly a price was required for its expiation, and no less precious a thing than the blood of Christ could wash it away. Tremble at sin. Plague, pestilence, and famine are nothing to sin. These scathe the body, it blasts the soul. These have but a temporary effect, while sin creates an eternal woe. But through Christ I am washed from my sins by that pre- cious blood, alike from their curse, their condemnation, and all their penal consequences. The law remains in all its force, its sacredness, and its stability, and yet it has no hold of me. All my guilt is put away, all my demerits are cancelled, and from no spot in the wide universe can a sentence of condemnation come upon me, or the thunder of a violated law smite me. But I see in the atonement of Jesus not merely a channel for the ef- flux of the love and forgiving mercy of God, but a stand- ing proof of that love, its measure, its exponent, and representative. It not only shows me that God can for- give me consistently with all his attributes, but also that He delights to do so. Hence what this sacrifice expresses, is as precious as what it does. It is evidence to me that ray salvation is not a mere provision for a bare escape from punishment, but the proof of the existence of a love in God my Father that longs to embrace me. It meets precisely what I need — it supplies what I long and thirst to know. I require to know, in order to have peace, not only that God shall not punish me, but that lie will love me — not only freedom I'rom the curse, but friendship with God. I cannot be happy with mere safety. I require reconciliation. I cannot consent to enter heaven, and spend its cycles as a pardoned con- vict, tolerated, spared, but no more — I long, I pant to be there, an adopted son. I feel that God must not only let me go, but take me back, ere I can be happy. I must be placed, not merely beyond the penalties of the law, but beneath the love of God. I require to be raised higher than pardon, justification, and sanctification ; I I must not only pass the tribunal of the legislator ; I can- / not rest till I repose in the bosom, or rest amid the sun- | shine of the reconciled countenance of my Father. I| see all this embodied, expressed, and secured in the! THE GOSrEL ACCORDING TO THE APOCALYPSE. 27 atonement of Jesus. It is not only the way to heaven, but the measure and the pledge of the welcome that awaits me there. It is thus I hear richer music in the words "It is finished" than I ever heard before. Now can I say and sing with an emphasis I never felt before, "Unto Him that loved me, and washed me fj-om my sins in his own blood ; to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever." But safety from the curse and reinstatement in the love of God does not exhaust the destiny that awaits the children of God. He, that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, makes us kings and priests unto God. It is not enough to save us — to love us. He will also dignify us. The safety of the pardon- ed— the joy of the restored — the adoption of sons, are heightened by the superadded dignity of kings, and the sacredness of priests. The crown of beauty and of em- pire we lost in Adam, is restored in Christ. " Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood." Paradise re- gained, includes man's sovereignty restored. How pre- cious that sacrifice, which not only saves from destruc- tion, and restores to love, but lifts also to a dignity be- side which all earthly royalty is but a gleam on the troubled waters of earth. We are kings^ liid it may be, but true and real. We are also made priests. "Ye are a royal priest- hood." If priests, we must have sacrifices : what are these? "To do good, and to communicate, forget not ; with such sacrifices God is well pleased." "I beseech you, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." Our altar is no perishable one ; " we have an altar of which they have no right to eat, which serve the tabernacle." " By Him let us oflfer the sacrifice of praise to God continually." Thus Christ is the eternal altar that sanctifies all that is laid on it, the widow's mite, the royal dowry, and the angel's anthem. Man shall once more be replaced in his pris- tine position, as the priest of the world, — the eye of the earth, to see above it that innumerable host in the overshadowing sky, the sentinels and outposts of which 28 APOCALYPTIC SKETCHES. only we now catch a glimpse of, and God throned in the midst of them ; the ear of earth to hear the voice of God, — the mind of the earth to know God, — the heart of the earth to love Him ; and all this that he may be the priest of the earth to devote, in ceaseless offering, all its treasures to Him whose will called them into being, and like the priests of Levi, to have no portion, save God, the portion that includes all besides. To Plim who thus loved us, we give all the "glory." Ours is the enjoyment of the blessing. His is the glory ; this is the light of heaven, this the language of the redeemed, the key note of their songs, the expres- sion of their inmost hearts. Not one voice in that in- numerable multitude will be lifted up in praise of itself; were there such a voice, it would be intolerable discord. All the inhabitants of heaven feel that they can never overpraise " Him who loved them and washed them from their sins in his own blood." There are no Socinians in heaven, for all there adore and w^orship the Lamb. Nor are there any Romanists there, for the undivided glory is given to Him who sits upon the throne ; all tribes, and nations, and people, and tongues are there, but in virtue of the sacrifice of Jesus, circum- stantially different as tongue and tribe can make them ; essentially one, as the blood of Christ alone can consti- tute them. Dwellers on the Mississippi and Missouri, and in the back woods of Canada, and the prairies of the west, are there. Millions from the Andes, and the isles of the Pacific, from the mountains of Thibet, and the cities of Cliina, from every jungle of India, and from every pagoda of Hindostan, the untutored Arab, and the un- cultivated Druse, and the "tribes of the Aveary foot," the children of Salem are there, and Abraham, and Job, and Isaiah, and Jolm and Peter, and Augustine, and Wickliffe, and Luther, are there also, and many we in our uncharitableness, or bigotry, or exclusiveness, or ignorance, excluded from heaven, will be there also ; and our sires, and sons, and babes, and parents will be there, completed circles never again to be brol