V DR LUTHARDT’S WORKS. In Three handsome crown 8 vo Volumes , price 6s. each. “We do not know any volumes so suitable in these times for young men entering on life, or, let us say, even for the library of a Pastor called to deal with such, than the three py, X’ ,. volumes of this series. We commend the whole of them with the utmost cordial satisfaction. They are altogether quite ij ‘ ^ > a specialty in our literature.”— Weekly Review. APOLOGETIC LECTURES ON THE FUNDAMENTAL TRUTHS OF CHRISTIANITY. Seventh Edition. By C. E. LUTHARDT, D.D., Leipzig. “From Dr Luthardt’s exposition even the most learned theologians may derive invaluable criticism, and the most acute disputants supply themselves with more trenchant and polished weapons than they have as yet been possessed of.”— Bell’s Weekly Messenger. APOLOGETIC LECTURES ON THE SAVING TRUTHS OF CHRISTIANITY. Fifth Edition. “ Dr Luthardt is a profound scholar, but a very simple teacher, and ex¬ presses himself on the gravest matters with the utmost simplicity, clearness, and force .”—Literary World. APOLOGETIC LECTURES ON THE MORAL TRUTHS OF CHRISTIANITY. Third Edition. “ The ground covered by this work is, of course, of considerable extent, and there is scarcely any topic of specifically moral interest now under debate in which the reader will not find some .suggestive saying. The volume contains, like its predecessors, a truly wealthy apparatus of notes and illustrations .”—English Churchman. T. & T. CLARK, 38 George Street, Edinburgh. JdimBartkcloxaew& Co.,Eclm* vV / Bible Claes primers. EDITED BY PROFESSOR SALMOND, D.D., ABERDEEN. THE SEVEN CHURCHES OF ASIA, OR TIIE SEVEN GOLDEN CANDLESTICKS. BY THE AUTHOR OF “THE SPANISH BROTHERS.” 'XDe-bft'a-Vi Aicoc-k (BMttlntrgh: T. & T. CLARK, 38 GEORGE STREET. Scib NOTE. This Primer is intended, not only for Bible Classes, but also and specially for Young Men’s and Young Women’s Christian Associations. It was originally written for the latter. It differs, therefore, some¬ what in method and in size from other Primers in the Series, CONTENTS. Chapter I.—The Introduction . (1) The Title and Preface of the Book (2) The Blessing pronounced on its Students (3) The Salutation .. (4) The Subject of the Book . Chapter II.— The Vision of Christ . (1) The Personal Glory of the Ascended Christ . (2) The Priestly Office of the Ascended Christ , (3) The effect of the Vision . (4) The Resurrection and the Life Chapter III.— The Commission . (1) By whom given?. (2) To whom given (3) For whom given ? . (4) The Stars and the Candlesticks Chapter IV.— General Characteristics of the Seven Letters. (1) “These things saith He ” . (2) “ I know thy works ” . (3) Praise, Blame, and Promise ”... (4) “ He that overcometb/’ and “ He that hath ears ”... . Chapter V.—The Letter to the Church of Ephesus . (1) Previous History of the Ephesian Church (2) Sound in faith and diligent in work (3) The beginning of backsliding (4) The Tree of Life. Chapter VI.— The Letter to the Church of Smyrna . (1) Tribulation and poverty borne patiently (2) “ Faithful unto death ” . (3) The Crown of Life. (4) Not hurt of the second death PAGE 9 9 13 16 20 24 24 27 31 34 37 37 38 42 45 48 48 50 52 55 58 58 62 65 66 69 69 73 76 78 8 CONTENTS, PAGE Chapter VII.—The Letter to the Church of Pergamos. (1) Truth held fast in adverse circumstaces (2) Evil tolerated. (3) Evil punished ...... (4) The Hidden Manna and the White Stone Chapter VIII.—The Letter to the Church of Thtatira. (1) The last works more than the first (2) “ That woman Jezebel ” (3) Keeping what we have ..... (4) The promise of dominion and the Morning Star. Chapter IX.—The Letter to the Church of Sardis. (1) A name to live ...... (2) The duty of watchfulness .... (3) The White Raiment. (4) The Book of Life. Chapter X.—The Letter to the Church of Philadelphia. (1) Open doors ....... (2) The best victory. (3) Kept in temptation ..... (4) A Pillar in the Temple ..... Chapter XI.—The Letter to the Church of Laodicea ....... (1) The lukewarm Church ..... (2) Christ counselling ..... (3) Christ knocking ...... (4) Enthroned with Christ ..... Chapter XII.—The One Complete and Glorified Church . (1) The Church one—the Bride of Christ . (2) The Church a great multitude—the Holy City. (3) The Foundations and Gates of the Church . (4) The Church complete and perfect 80 80 83 85 86 91 91 94 98 100 103 103 106 109 111 114 114 118 119 122 125 125 129 132 134 136 136 139 142 146 THE SEVEN CHURCHES OF ASM. THE INTRODUCTION. The opening chapter of the Book of Bevelation speaks of seven stars and seven golden candlesticks. In the latter we have a picture of the Church of Christ,—multiform, since there are and have been many churches, yet truly one in Him. During the interval between His first coming and His second, the glorified Christ is really, though invisibly, present in His Church, “ walking in the midst of the candlesticks,” as the High Priest, tending the lamps. The Epistles to the Seven Churches in Asia shew His intimate and perfect knowledge, —not only of each particular church,— but of each individual composing it. The promises, encouragements, exhortations, reproofs, and warn¬ ings they contain, are to be regarded as addressed by Him from His place at the right hand of the Father to the members of His Church on earth : whose care it should be to discern and to apply the intended lesson. Thus shall all be ready for that Appearing to which, throughout the New Testa¬ ment, and especially in this its concluding book, our thoughts are so continually directed. ]. Title and Preface—(Rev. i. 1, 2. See also 1 Peter i. 12 ; 1 John i. 3). The first three chapters of this book stand by themselves, and may almost be taken as a distinct section of Scripture. They 10 also form an introduction to tlie last book of Scrip¬ ture, according to the order in which the books are placed in our Bibles. Very wonderful is the unity in diversity which is seen in these books. We have a series of writings, in number altogether sixty-six, penned at different periods extending over more than 1500 years. “All sorts and conditions of men” are amongst the writers ;—kings, statesmen, poets, prophets, priests, simple husbandmen and fisher folk, a tax-collector, and a physician. Equally various are the styles employed. We have the most imaginative poetry, and the simplest narra¬ tive ; we have even pages of dry genealogy, and lists of names. Nor are the subjects less diversified. Of this divine Book it may be truly said, that in virtue of its intense humanity “ nothing human is alien ” to it. Every phase of man's infinitely diver¬ sified life on earth comes in for its share of notice and description. Yet this variety only throws out and illustrates a unity still more wonderful. One purpose, the impress of one mind, the touch of one creative and informing hand, runs throughout all. As really as in any human work of art, and far more perfectly, one design, one thought pervades the whole. There is a beginning, a gradual develop¬ ment, an end answering to and completing the begin¬ ning; and the end and the beginning meet and clasp, forming a perfect circle, a grand and finished whole. The first book in our canonical Scriptures is con¬ nected with the name of the prophet whom the Lord knew face to face (Deut. xxxiv. 10). The last is penned by the disciple whom the Lord loved, and who lay upon His breast (John xiii. 23). The first tells the story of creation, the last the more wonder¬ ful story of the new creation (Bev. xxi.). The first introduces us to the Garden of Eden, the earthly paradise; the last to the Paradise of God. The first tells of the tree of life which grew in the midst of the garden; in the last we meet the tree of life 11 again in the midst of the holy city, and they who enter have the right to eat of it for evermore. Between the two lies the great story of the Book; the story of Paradise lost and regained, of life and blessing forfeited by man, and restored in far higher measure and more glorious kind,—not only for man, but by man (1 Cor. xv. 22 ; Bom. v. 12, 18, 19, 21). The Epistles to the Seven Churches, which occupy the second and third chapters of the last book of the Bible, have the first chapter as their appropriate prelude. We cannot consider these therefore, with¬ out first considering that exalted opening chapter which serves as an introduction at once for them, and for the wonderful prophetic visions which fol¬ low. In fact we must take the book as a whole. Its title is “the Revelation” (not Bevelations, always remember its unity), or Apocalypse—the unveiling, the discovery, the disclosure, which may be either of hidden things, or more properly here of future things, “which must shortly come to pass.” Note, that unveilings of the future are often longed for, even passionately, by the heart of man ; but these longings, God, for the most part, and for wise and sufficient reasons, refuses to gratify, drawing a “veil” between us and those things to come which, if known, would only paralyse our energies, and bring us sorrow and confusion. When an “ unveil¬ ing ” is given, as in this book, it is couched in such enigmatical language as not to forestall history, or to control the development of events ; whilst for the devout and believing children of God it is as a light in a dark place, full of help and comfort. The revelation of Jesus Christ. Not about Jesus Christ (though that is true also), but belonging to Jesus Christ, or made by Him, as appears from the following clause, “ which God gave unto Him” Why, we ask, did He need to have it given Him, since as God (and the book we are studying bears complete and glorious witness to His essential Godhead), He 12 necessarily possesses all knowledge 1 See, for ex¬ planation, Ps. lxviii. (marg.), Eph. iv. 8, 13. As man He received this last gift, like other inestim¬ able gifts, for man. Compare, upon the relations of the Son with the Father, the words of the same inspired penman who bears record of these things, St John v. 19, 20; vii. 16; xii. 49; xiv. 10; xvii. 7, 8. Which God gave unto Him. Note the word “gave.” A gift implies good will in the giver, and (usually) preciousness in the thing bestowed. Here the gift is indeed worthy of Him who gives it, the Father of glory, the Lord of heaven and earth. “ To show unto His servants ,” &c. Note each link in the chain of blessing—God the Father, the source of all; Jesus Christ, who receives the gift from Him ; then the angel; then again, the “ fellow- servant” John ; lastly, all the servants of Christ to the end of time, including each of those whose eyes rest upon these pages. For the ministry of angels, see Hebrews i. 7, 14. Yet the angel’s part, here or elsewhere, is but slightly dwelt upon, or put in evidence. It was the glorified Christ Himself who came to John with the messages for His Church, and when we look for guidance, help, or sympathy, it is Christ Himself we see—no veil between—not even a luminous veil of angels’ wings. But the employment of the human agent is very character¬ istic of God’s dealings with us. He loves to send His children to each other with His gifts (Eph. iv. 11. 12), because in so doing He blesses both giver and receiver; nay, He allows His ministering ser¬ vants to share the greater blessing (Acts xx. 35), and to become fellow-workers with Him. Every good thing given to us is meant to be shared with others; every cup of blessing put into our hands bears, as it were, the legend, “ pass me on.” Nothing we possess is possessed for ourselves alone (1 Peter i. 12). Verse 2, John was a competent 13 witness because he saw what he told, and he was a faithful witness because he told what he saw (1 John i. 3). It is this personal seeing and hearing that qualify us to be witnesses for Christ. Of course we have not the prophetic messages, the glorious visions of the inspired apostle to record, yet even we, who have “ seen no least of all his sights,” have, if we are walking in the light, the testimony, or witness, of Jesus Christ in our own hearts (1 John v. 10), and that fellowship with Him and with the Father (1 John i. 3, 7), which makes us blessed ourselves, and the channels of blessing to others, bound to “ declare that which we have seen and heard.” II. The blessing pronounced on its students (Rev. i. 3 ; 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17; Ps. ciii. 18). At the first reading of this verse a picture rises before us. The blessing pronounced so emphatically upon him that readeth and those that hear recalls bygone days, when the accomplishment of reading was rare, and one would exercise it for the benefit of many. We seem to see a parish church of the Reformation epoch, with its ponderous English Bible chained to the reading desk. An eager reader stands before it, his whole soul thrown into his work, whilst densely packed around him cluster old men and women, toil- worn labourers and little children, listening, hang¬ ing on his lips, “for the word of the Lord was pre¬ cious in those days.” At the time when the revela¬ tion was written by St John, books, existing only in MS., were yet scarcer than readers, and one would read and many listen, as indeed would still be the case in some parts of the world. Adapting the thought however to our time and circumstances, “he that readeth” may represent the teacher, and “ they that hear ” the taught. For the terms refer to “the one public reader and the many hearers” (Alford). We have thus a distinct personal blessing pronounced—first upon him (or her) who devoutly 14 and humbly seeks to understand this portion of God’s Word, and to impart the knowledge to others , and then upon each and all who take its lessons to heart for their own individual benefit. No doubt all devout students of any part of the Divine Word will receive a blessing ; yet it is remarkable that it should be expressly and emphatically attached to the study of a portion which we are apt to find difficult to understand, and therefore sometimes tempted to avoid or neglect. But see 2 Tim. iii. 16. “ All Scripture.” Note, however, the significant addition, “ and keep those things that are written therein ” (Ps. ciii. 18). No knowledge is really ours that does not influence our hearts and lives (Luke viii. 18, “seemeth to have,” because that which is unused and unapplied is only in appearance pos¬ sessed). There is, moreover, a special danger attach¬ ing to unsanctified study of the book before us; it contains so much that is tempting and alluring to the imagination, that we seem to need a double portion of the “ spirit of counsel and understand¬ ing,” to keep our thoughts about it right and sober, and in accordance with the mind of God. Note the Scripture signification of the word “ keep.” There is first the keeping, or hiding, of the word in the heart (Ps. cxix. 11 ; Luke ii. 19), as the seed is hidden in the ground that it may germinate and bring forth fruit. Then there is the keeping of it in the life and conversation (Ps. cxix. 2, 5), “ remembering His commandments to do them.” Lastly, this keeping not only implies well doing, but continuance in well doing (Ps. cxix. 33). “For the time is at hand” For is significant here. Throughout the New Testament, and especially in this book, the coming again of our Lord is set before us as the centre of interest, and the object of hope and expectation. For this the Church is directed to “ look,” and all which throws light upon this she should regard with especial interest. 15 Blessed are those who are found watching, and who are found ready. They are ready who are “ keep¬ ing” His word in their hearts and lives, abiding in Him, and serving Him faithfully (Luke xii. 37, 38). Not doubting, then, that the time meant here is the time of His appearing, we ask why it is said to be “ at hand,” when eighteen weary centuries have rolled away since then, and the Church is waiting for it still. This difficulty meets us, not here alone, but wherever the coming of the Lord is spoken of in the New Testament (compare ver. 1, also ch. xxii. 6, 10, 12, 20 ; Rom. xiii. 11,12; James v. 8, 9 ; 1 Peter iv. 7). It has been often said in explanation that the apostles thought our Lord would come during their own life-time. Probably they did ; for as men they were not infallible, still less omniscient, and we are told it was the will of God that “ the times and the seasons ” no man should know. But we believe that the Holy Spirit exercised over their inspired utterances such super¬ intending care as would have prevented their plac¬ ing on record anything not true, and therefore not according to the mind of God. And we can easily see how these words “ shortly,” “ quickly,” may be true, and are true, according to the Divine measure¬ ment (2 Peter iii. 8, 9). Yet this is not perhaps all that is intended here. The Church is com¬ posed of individuals ; and to each individual, and therefore to the whole Church, it is emphati¬ cally true that “ the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.” For the hour of death is for each the coming of the Lord. That which constitutes preparedness for the one, constitutes also readiness for the other. And to the saints that have fallen asleep the in¬ terval may seem but as a moment until they are awakened by His call. Not, of course, that their spirits “ sleep.” They rest with Him in holy and con¬ scious blessedness; but we do not know how far the measurement of time may be connected with *6 our bodily organization, and what we do know of the mysterious phenomena of sleep and dreams lends itself to curious and interesting speculations on the subject. But we must not forget the other part, the conscious rest and gladness of the happy spirit in His presence (Phil. i. 23). III. The Salutation (Bev. i. 4-6 ; 2 Cor. xiii. 14; Eph. ii. 18). We have here the formal beginning of the great Epistle which contains the seven shorter Epistles to the Churches. According to the custom of the time, the writer first puts his own name, then that of those whom he addresses, then words of greeting. This custom, as it existed in the civil¬ ized heathen world, is illustrated in Acts xxii. 25, 26. It is interesting to contrast the brief, formal, business-like style of the Homan letter, with the magnificent greetings of the inspired epistles (see Bom. i. 1-7; 1 Cor. 1-3)—an instance of the forms and customs of ordinary social life taken up, trans¬ figured, and glorified by Christianity. St John, unlike St Paul, adds here no description of himself as apostle, servant of God, or the like. This may have been partly because verses 1 and 9 rendered it unnecessary, partly because he was so well known to the churches which he addressed, and over which he had been recently presiding. The very fact that this most common and usual of names was thus allowed to stand alone, as a quite sufficient and unmistakeable designation, confirms “the all but unanimous testimony of the Ante-Nicene Church,” that the writer was no other than the great apostle, whose position in the church was so unique, and to whom we owe the Gospel and the three Epistles that bear his name. He has been called, since primitive times, by the distinguishing title of St John the Divine, or the Theologian, probably because he taught with such clearness and fulness the doctrine of the Logos , or personal Word of God (John i. 1, &c.). The seven churches addressed are afterwards 17 particularized (ver. 11). No doubt these churches had been the obj ects of the apostle’s peculiar care ; but we see throughout the book that the number seven has a symt)olical significance. This it had also in the Old Testament. It was the indivisible number, the type of completeness and perfection. So the seven churches symbolize the one perfect Church, the seven spirits mean the one perfect Spirit, whose temple and habitation that Church is. The salutation “ grace and peace ” was used before by St Paul, and by him alone. It occurs in all the Pauline epistles, except the Pastoral ones. See especially Eph. i. 2, Ephesus being one of the churches addressed here. It is one of the many indications of sympathy of thought and feeling be¬ tween St John and St Paul. The peculiarly Chris¬ tian word “grace,” replaces the colder “greeting” of Acts xxiii. 26, and even of Acts xv. 23. It signifies the good gifts flowing from the good will and favour of God, and especially those which are spiritual—the work of His Spirit acting on the spirit of man (Gal. v. 22, 23). These are God’s best things. Grace always precedes peace. Sweet and desirable as is this last (and truly did the old Hebrews say, “ No vessel so full of sweetness as that word Shalom,” peace), it cannot, in its true sense, exist in the heart, without holiness. The source of grace and peace is the triune God, Father, Son, and Spirit. In the Pauline epistles the greet¬ ings are from the Father and the Son (as Rom. i. 7); here we have the teaching of all Scripture upon the Trinity in unity brought out more clearly and fully.—“ Him which is and which was, and which is to come ”—a paraphrase of the incommunicable name of Jehovah (Ex. iii. 14), expressing self- existence and eternity. “ The ever-present here , and the everlasting now ; ” “ God absolute,” and in this place no doubt God the Father. The Spirit is named next,—for another suah inversion of the B 18 normal Scripture order—Father, Sou, and Spirit, see 2 Cor. xiii. 14, showing that “in this Trinity none is greater or less than the other.” As the seven churches symbolize one Church composed of many, so the seven spirits are one Spirit, the source of many gifts and graces (1 Cor. xii. 8-11), the Divine One who can and does dwell at once in ten thousand human hearts, making the body of each believer truly a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. vi. 19), the whole Church being also His temple. Of Jesus Christ the apostle’s heart is full, and he exhausts language to describe what He is. What are the three great longings of the human heart in all ages ? Beset by doubt and darkness, living in a world of mystery, perplexed by the many voices that sound in our ears, confusing and contradicting each other, we long for truth. Surrounded by the empire of death, that awful foe, who crushes our dearest affections, and if we saw nought beyond, would make it scarcely worth our while to elude him for a few short years, we long for life. Troubled and grieved at heart by the sight of wrong, cruelty, and oppression all around us, we long for righteous¬ ness. And Christ is brought before us here as (1) the Truth, (2) the Life, (3) the King of Bighteous- ness. (1) “ The witness, the faithful one.” A competent witness, for He has seen all (John iii. 13); a faithful witness, for we may depend to the uttermost on his report of what he has seen. This word witness— martyr , is characteristic of St John, who uses it, in noun or verb form, no less than seventy-two times. It was not then, of course, restricted to witnesses who sealed their testimony with their blood, though used for these (ch. ii. 13; Acts xxii. 20). Even in this sense it is applicable to Christ, “ Who, before Pontius Pilate, witnessed a good confession.” He Himself first drank of the cup borne to the lips of so many of His fol¬ lowers, “ When He, putteth forth His own sheep 19 He goetli before them ” (John. x. 4). (2) The words which tell of His victory over death are used also by St Paul (Col. i. 18); they were familiar certainly to one (Col. iv. 16), almost certainly to all the seven churches. In their simple sense, that He was the first to come back to us from the dead, and the pledge that the rest shall follow, they are full of comfort to the sorrowing heart. They give the lie for ever to the mournful “ vestigia nulla retror- sum ” (there are no returning footsteps) of the heathen. He has come back—not only as faithful witness to tell us what is there—but as conqueror, to bring with Him the spoils of victory. But there is more in the word first -born. Out of the grave itself comes new birth, life out of death. Christ has made the grave “ the gate of life ” for the believer ; out of the kindly mother earth, who has the precious seed in her keeping, shall spring one day a glorious har¬ vest. (3) The last strand of this threefold cord shows us Christ as the King that shall reign in righteousness, supreme over the kings of the earth, a dignity won by Him (as man), through His death and resurrection. When He comes to reign, He shall make an end for ever of wrong and oppression (Ps. lxxii.). Then follows verse 5, last clause, and 6, an outburst of adoring thankfulness to Him who is all this to us—Prophet, Priest, and King—and all because of the great love wherewith He loved us. The P.V. has it, “ Unto Him that lovetli us,” which emphasises a most precious truth. Even of our poor human love (which comes from Him), it is true, as all poets sing, that “ Love is indestructible.” “ Love once begun can never end.” How infinitely truer of His which is infinite and eternal, like Himself (Heb. xiii. 8; John xiii. 1; Jer. xxxi. 3). The secret of joy and strength is to realise our own part in this present and everlasting love. Not “He loved St Paul or St John,” nor even “ He loves His Church,” but “ He loves me.” “ And washed (or, 20 according to another ancient reading, loosed) us from our sins” &c.—pardon and justification through the atoning blood ; there is no other way. Note the tense, washed, or “ loosed,” once for all. It is the privilege of every believer, even the youngest and weakest, to realise that this is a past and finished work, and to rejoice in the forgiveness of sins (1 John ii. 12); “ and made” &c. The washing is the necessary preparation for the priestly office (Lev. viii. 6); cleansing must come before con¬ secration. We have but one High Priest, Christ Himself, but in a lower and subordinate sense all His people are priests. They are kings, too, or, as the Greek term literally means, a Kingdom ,— a term which suggests the glorious fellowship which they form, and indicates that thus is fulfilled that Kingdom of heaven or of God, which was the burden of Christ’s preaching. As priests they offer sacrifices of prayer and praise (Heb. xiii. 15, 16). As kings they are called on to reign, to hold themselves above the chances and changes of the world, to rule over circumstances, and not let circumstances rule over them. So, the great Priest and King makes us also priests and kings. As one of the early fathers, Irenaeus, beautifully says, “ The Son of God, out of His immense love, became what we are, that He might make us what He is.” “ Unto Him,” then, who so loves us, and so proves His love, how can we but render thanks and praise and bless¬ ing, and ascribe glory, honour, and dominion for evermore ] IY. The Subject of the Book (Rev. i. 7, 8 ; Matt, xxiv. 3-14; 1 Thess. v. 1, 2; 1 Thess. iv. 16; Col. i. 15-18). Two grand truths are set be¬ fore us here, in brief and pregnant language; as if the inspired writer, in a kind of prelude, struck the two key notes of that which was to follow. (1) Ver. 7.—This verse speaks of the approaching 21 coming of Christ. We see that it will be sudden ; the striking interjection.“ Behold ! ” points to this, with the present tense “ cometh,” and other Scriptures bear out the thought (Matt. xxiv. 27 ; 1 Thess. v. 2). That it will be glorious is shewn by the mention of the clouds of heaven, which also carries back our thoughts to the circumstances of His ascension (Acts i. 9)—a scene which had been witnessed by St John. As He ascended, so shall He descend, “this same Jesus’’ (Acts i. 11). But whereas His ascension was seen but by a few, and those His own disciples, His coming again shall be seen by all (Matt. xxiv. 27-30), including His enemies, and especially those who had been concerned in His death. St John had actually seen Him pierced (St John xix. 34). Zech. xii. 10 is no doubt re¬ ferred to here, especially as the thought follows that this sight shall be a cause of mourning to all the world. Solemn lessons are suggested ;—that coming of Christ which the Church desires and prays for, shall not bring joy to all, but to many in all lands woe and terror, perhaps despair. All those who have wronged and oppressed the weak and helpless have cause to dread that day (James v. 1-7). But not these alone—all the ungodly shall come under the same condemnation (Amos v. 18). The unready within the professing church are especially warned and threatened (Matt. xxv. 8-13). But there is a sense in which it is true of all without exception, believers and unbelievers, that they mourn, or shall mourn, because of the pierced Saviour, and Zech. xii. 10 throws light on this. We cannot enter now upon its especial aspect towards the house of David, full of hope aud com¬ fort as it is, but we may note how this mourning is connected with “ the spirit of grace and supplica¬ tions.” Those who see Christ by faith mourn now with the mourning of love and penitence, for the wounds wherewith their sins have pierced Him. 22 The rest shall see Him in the day of judgment, and shall mourn then with more .bitter and hopeless sorrow. To this announcement are added two brief, emphatic words, which mean the same, “ Be it so.” But one is Greek, Ned, which we translate “ even so,” the other Hebrew, “ amen.” For this truth concerns all mankind, Jew and Gentile, and should be known and assented to by all. Nay, more, though so terrible to the ungodly, it is fraught with blessing to the whole toiling, agonis¬ ing, suffering world (Bom. viii. 19-21). We seem to hear the voice of all creation joining in that “ even so, amen.” (2) Yerse 8.—The divine grandeur of the person of Christ is as clearly set forth in this book as His second coming. It is a question, indeed, whether it is He who speaks in verse 8. The great name, the Lord God , makes it more probable that there the Eternal Father is the speaker. Yet even if we ascribe the words in verse 8 to the Father, the case remains the same (except, perhaps, that they would emphasize the essential oneness of the Son with the Father), since similar terms are used elsewhere unmistakeably of the Son (ch. i. 11, 17; ii. 8 ; xxii. 13, 16; compare Col. i. 16-18). No declaration of essential divinity, couched in human words, could possibly be plainer. If there be any before the first, any after the last, then is Christ not “ very God.” Jehovah in the Old Testament claims to be the First and Last (Is. xli. 4 ; xliv. 6), and His name and His glory will He not give to another. But they are given expressly to the Son. The conclu¬ sion of the verse seems to refer to the two incom¬ municable names of God in the Old Testament— the everlasting One, Jehovah, and the Almighty One, El Shaddai (Ex. vi. 3). But are the three phrases, “ first and last,” “ be¬ ginning and ending,” “ Alpha and Omega,” only emphatic threefold repetitions of the same truth ? 1 23 They are that, certainly, yet not, we think, that only. Christ is 11 first and last,” absolutely as God, but when we follow out the thought we find that “ beginning and ending ” refers rather to action, or, more broadly, to the doings, circumstances, and conditions of life. Again, Alpha and Omega, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, have an added significance. Animals have no letters, savages even have none ; they are the symbol and expression —not of humanity merely, but of thinking human¬ ity. They represent thought. Christ, then, is the first and last absolutely, the beginning and the ending of all being and doing, the Alpha and Omega of all thinking. As truly as nothing in the universe which was made, was made without Him, so truly is nothing thought there, that He does not know that He is not before, and will not be after. “ The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise.” In our age, when thought and speculation are so rife and so prolific, so uncontrolled and so daring, there is much comfort for the believer in keeping fast hold of this truth. Nay, more, what Christ actually is in virtue of His essential Godhead, it is the duty and privilege of each to hold Him, and to make Him to him or herself. Each should ask, is He really with me, and in my life, the “ beginning and the ending ” of all I am and all I do ? And is He the Alpha and Omega of all that I think ? Is all that I dream and imagine, all that I read and study, submitted to Him, taken from Him, and taken to Him, prepared in His presence, and laid at His feet ? If so, all is safe and all is blessed. If I can say, “ Christ is for me the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending,” I can say also Eom. viii. 38,39. 24 THE VISION OF CHRIST (Rev. i. 9-16). I. The Personal Glory of the Ascended Christ, Rev. i. 9-16 ; (Heb. ii. 9 ; 1 Cor. xv. 49). Let us try, as far as we can, to see what John saw, and as he saw it, in that solitary isle of the ASgean Sea, 1800 years ago. It was “ the Lord’s day,” the earliest recorded (and the only Scriptural) instance of the use of this term. For, although some contend that it expresses here the Great Day of the future, the day of the Lord’s Second Coming, it most probably, if not cer¬ tainly, refers to the day which is known to us by that cherished name, “the first day of the week, kept by the Christian Church as the weekly festival of the Lord’s resurrection.” This “ day of rest and gladness” in time took the place of the Jewish Sabbath ; the first day being substituted for the seventh, in accordance, we doubt not, with the will of God, and the spirit of the commandment, which, from the beginning enjoined the sanctification of one day in every seven. We have here an evidence of how the early followers of Christ used this day, and an example of how we ought to use it. We are told John “ was in the Spirit,” doubtless m®aning in this instance that state of exaltation, and of subjection of their whole being to the influences of the Divine Spirit, in which holy men of old received “ visions and revelations of the Lord ” (2 Cor. xii. 1-4). The Spirit wrought upon them supernaturally, in a way beyond our comprehension,—sometimes, as it would appear, even transporting their bodies to distant places (Ez. iii. 14, 15 ; Acts viii. 39, 40). But putting aside these extraordinary motions of the Spirit, vouchsafed for special purposes, and on special occasions, all believers may receive His sanctifying grace, and hold communion in Him with the Father and the Son. We should especially seek to be thus in the Spirit on the Lord’s day :— 25 “ May I throughout this day of Thine, be in Thy Spirit, Lord : Spirit of humble fear divine, that trembles at Thy Word, Spirit of faith, my heart to raise, and fix on things above, Spirit of sacrifice and praise, of holiness and love.” It is when we are in the Spirit that Christ reveals Himself to us. He can do this as easily, He often does it more abundantly, when we are like John in Patmos, deprived of outward means of grace, and even of intercourse with fellow Christians. Pro¬ vidences which thus seclude us are His voice call¬ ing us, St Mark vi. 31,—and He goes with us there. What John was thinking of that Lord's day we may guess, guided by His Master’s words, recorded by himself, John xiv. 26; xvi. 13, 14. Christ, we may be very sure, was the theme of his meditation, and Christ was-near when he thought of Him. It may be he was longing to see again the face and form which had appeared to him by the sea of Galilee (John xxi. 7). Perhaps, too, he was remembering before Him in prayer the state, circumstances, and wants of those beloved “Churches of Asia," over which he had been presiding, and which persecution had forced him to leave “ as sheep having no shepherd.” The Great Shepherd would reveal to him that He was present with them still (Ez. xxxiv. 11, 12). The voice of Christ was heard by St John before his form was seen (ver. 10). At “the Great Voice as of a trumpet,” the apostle turned, and behold! a glorious vision bursts upon his view. Seven candlesticks of gold, resembling per¬ haps in form the seven-branched candlestick of the temple, a form familiar to St John. In the midst of the candlesticks, holding in His right hand seven radiant stars, stands a majestic figure, white from head to foot, save where a girdle of gleaming gold encircles the flowing robe ; on His head the snows of eternal years shewing Him to be the Ancient of 26 Days, seen by an older prophet, “Whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head like the pure wool” (Dan. vii. 9) ; His feet burning with intense and fiery lustre, “ like unto burnished brass, as if it had been refined in a furnace ” (R.V.); His countenance like the sun shining in his strength; and issuing from His lips a line of brightness, flash¬ ing in that sunlight like a two-edged sword. When we try to see this vision two things impress, almost overpower us,—its majesty and its mystery. There are beauty and glory, transcending human thought; there is also a terrible, awe-inspiring grandeur. But if we seek to realise details, and to combine them so as to form a clear and perfect picture, they seem to baffle us by their very brightness and glory, and to melt into a dazzling indistinctness, “ dark with excessive light.” But the mystery is as signi¬ ficant as the majesty. „ We could not now look steadfastly upon that Face and Form, still less could we picture it for the imagination. No poet’s dream can reach it; the greatest and the boldest wisely stop short at that, content to behold in vision— “No face : only the sight Of a sweepy garment, vast and white, With a hem that I could recognise.” * For He who appeared to John was Christ in heaven , the risen and ascended Christ ; Christ as He sits now “on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” The Face John had seen pale with death on the cross (that death which He “tasted ” for him and for us), was the same which he saw in Patmos, shining as the sun in its strength. For thus is He now “ crowned with glory and honour ” (Heb. ii. 9), even with the glory which He had with the Father before the world was (John xvii. 5). That is the Divine glory, the glory of God Himself. Yet * From “ Christmas Eve,” by Robert Browning. The interest of this beautiful poem is deepened by the fact that the poet himself has now passed within the veil—where they “ see His Face.” 27 amidst the majesty and mystery, one fact is clearly revealed—the glorified form is still human, “One like unto the Son of Man.” Eyes, mouth, hands, feet, are spoken of. That human nature, which for our sakes the Son of Man took upon Himself, He retains for ever. (“ This same Jesus ,” Acts i. 11.) As Man He has entered into the heavens, as Man He sits on the right hand of God. Unable as we now are, and must be, to behold Him in His glory, it is promised us—and scarce is any promise sweeter to the loving heart—that we shall one day thus behold Him. “ Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty ” (Is. xxxiii. 17) ; “ We shall see Him as He is” (1 John iii. 2); we shall “see His face” (Rev. xxii. 4); we shall behold His glory (John xvii. 24). Love ever longs to behold its object ; it longs with ten-fold intensity to behold that object in exaltation, in joy, and in glory. Both these longings shall be fulfilled. Any who can say with truth, “ I love Him,” can say also, “ I shall see Him in His glory.” “ The altogether Lovely One must he Unspeakable in glory—yet ere long Thine eyes shall see.” How is it, then, that we shall one day rejoice to behold that glory and majesty which our weak nature could not now endure, cannot even conceive 1 Because the other promise, always joined with this one, shall also be fulfilled. We “shall be like Him,” shall have His name (or likeness) in our foreheads, shall not only behold his glory, but shall share it (1 John iii. 2 ; Rev. xxii. 4 ; John xvii. 22 ; 1 Cor. xv. 49 ; Phil. iii. 21). Therefore this wonderful vision of the risen and ascended Christ maybe taken by us,—not only as a picture of what He is now, and how we shall one day see Him,—but also as a sort of pattern or foreshadowing of what all His redeemed shall be one day, when clothed in resurrec¬ tion glory. ( 28 II. The Priestly Office of the Ascended Christ (Rev. i. 9-16). But we must not suppose that this vision only shows us Christ as He is in Heaven, only gives us a glimpse of His personal glory. In teaching, symbolical and full of precious meaning, it shows us also what He actually is on earth, where according to His promise (Matt, xxviii. 20) He is present in¬ visibly, yet most really, with and in His Church “ unto the end of the world.” Be it observed, He whom John saw in vision, “ Wallcetli in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks ” (ii. 1). “ WalJceth ,” moving diligently to and fro, actively engaged, no part escaping His attention; “ in the midst,” not far away, high above us, but really with, among, close beside us,—with His Church collectively, and with each member of it individually, in all trials, toils, struggles, and difficulties. We are too apt to think of Christ as if He were far away on some dis¬ tant mountain, whilst we, like the disciples, were “ toiling in rowing; ” and sometimes when the wind and the sea are tempestuous, we say “ it is now dark, and Jesus has not come unto us” (John vi. 15-17). Yet to the eye of faith He is present all the time, and to the heart of faith (even of weak, trembling faith), He will not fail to manifest His presence. It is as the Apostle and High Priest, the Great Head of the Church, that He is thus present with her. We shall find on examination that each trait in the vision described by St John, not only heightens the general impression of majesty and glory, but gives some definite teaching of what Christ is to us to the end of time. The long fiowing garment is the priestly robe, the garb of dignity and honour, of rank and office. May it be that this garment, “ down to the foot,” also speaks of rest ? He who labours girds his garment up, lest it should impede him ; he who rests from his labours wears the flow¬ ing robe appropriate to repose and festivity. We are thus reminded that the atoning work of Christ 29 is finished for evermore ; that when, as our repre¬ sentative and substitute, He had by Himself purged our sins, He sat down for ever, &c. What the golden girdle represents we learn from Is. xi. 5, compared with Eph. vi. 14. Righteousness, faithfulness, truth, these encompass our Great High Priest like a band of gold, most pure, most precious ; encircling His breast, perhaps to show that they are in His heart for us, more expressive than even the girdle of the loins, the type of action and energy. His head and His hair,