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LECTURE XXVII.

REVELATION XIV. 14-20.

AND I saw, and behold, a white cloud, and upon the 14 cloud One seated like to a son of man; having upon His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. And 15 another angel came forth out of the temple, crying in a mighty voice to Him that was seated upon the cloud, Send Thy sickle, and reap; because the hour is come to reap, because the harvest of the earth is dried. And He that was 16 seated upon the cloud cast His sickle upon the earth, and the earth was reaped.

AND another angel came forth out of the temple which 17 was in the heaven, having himself also a sharp sickle. And 18 another angel came forth out of the altar, he who hath authority over the fire; and he called with a mighty cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Send thy sharp sickle, and gather in [the vintage of] the bunches of the vine of the earth; because the cluster of the earth is exactly ripe. And 19 the angel cast his sickle into the earth, and gathered in [the vintage of] the vine of the earth, and cast it into the winepress of the wrath of God, the great [winepress.] And the 20 winepress was trodden without the city, and there came forth blood out of the winepress as far as the bridles of the horses, from [a distance of] a thousand six hundred furlongs.

LECTURE XXVII.

REVELATION XIV. 15, 18.

The harvest of the earth is ripe. Her grapes are fully ripe.

1 Pet. 4. 7. THE end of all things is at hand. We have read of the blessedness of the Christian dead; that blessedness which from the first has been one of rest, and which from henceforth shall be one of glory also. The fulfilment of that saying is in the event now to be described. We are to speak to-night of a harvest and of a vintage. How deeply we are all concerned in this revelation will be evident as we proceed. And God grant that before we conclude our hearts may be so impressed and solemnized by the great subject, that we may go hence with fixed resolutions and with earnest heart-deep prayer.

Verse 14.

And I saw, and behold, a white cloud. We know now what is coming. That expression, a cloud, a white cloud, is the signal of the second Advent.

This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into Act. I. II. heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen

Him go into heaven. In like manner: and how then did He go? While they beheld, He was taken ch. 1. 9. up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. Even thus shall He return. Then shall they see Lu. 21. 27. the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. We are quite prepared therefore for the next words. And upon the cloud One seated like to a son of man. The description is precisely that of the preliminary vision of this Book. And in the Rev. 1. 13. midst of the candlesticks One like unto a son of

man; One who described Himself in the words

which follow, I am the first and the last: I am He ch.1.17,18. that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive

for evermore. The original is found once again in the Prophet Daniel: I saw in the night visions, and Da.7.13,14. behold one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought Him near before Him. And there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom...His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. Having upon His head a golden crown, the symbol of His coming kingdom, and in His hand sharp sickle. Bear in mind the two passages, one in the Old Testament, the other in the New, in which the sickle, whether in prophecy or parable,

a

13, 14.

-29.

is figuratively introduced.

The one is found in the Let the heathen be wakened,

Joel 3. 12, book of the prophet Joel. and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe...for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. And the other in the GosMar. 4.26 pel of St Mark. So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come. In these two passages lies the explanation of the twofold use of the sickle in the paragraph before us.

Verse 15.

And another angel, besides those already mentioned in this Book, and more particularly in the earlier verses of this chapter, came forth out of the temple, out of the shrine which is God's presence, crying in a mighty voice to Him that was seated upon the cloud, Send (put forth) thy sickle, and reap; cause the hour is come to reap, because the harvest of the earth is dried (ripe.) The commission to reap Mar. 13.32. comes to the Son from the Father. Of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which

be

30.

are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. The Joh. 5. 27, Father hath given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge.

And He that was seated upon the cloud cast His Verse 16. sickle upon the earth, in token of the process to which He was called, and the earth was reaped.

And another angel came forth out of the temple Verse 17. which was in the heaven, having himself also, as well as the Son of Man, a sharp sickle. You will notice the distinction of persons. The Son of Man had a sharp sickle which was employed for the reaping. This angel has a sharp sickle, and there is a difference in its use.

And another angel came forth out of the altar, Verse 18. he who hath authority over the fire; that is, as we

read in the 8th chapter, over the fire of the altar. Rev. 8. 5. Fire is the emblem of judgment. Authority over

fire is a commission of judgment.

And we shall

bear in mind the vision of an earlier chapter in which ch. 6.9, 10. the souls of the martyred saints are seen, at the opening of the fifth seal, as lying below the altar on which they have been as it were offered up to God as a burnt sacrifice, and crying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge? We shall expect therefore in the passage now under consideration some display of the divine judgment upon a world which has persecuted the saints of

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