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LECTURE XXVI.

REVELATION XIV. 13.

And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write: Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.

THE Lamb of God has been seen standing upon the Mount Zion with the hundred and forty and four thousand who were redeemed from the earth. You were called last Sunday evening to dwell upon that glorious revelation. The character of the redeemed, as there set before us under the four heads, of purity, of obedience, of unworldliness, of truthfulness; and then their heavenly state, as one of safety, of rest, of happiness, of converse and communion with Christ; these were our topics on that occasion. By such considerations the hearts of the faithful, depressed and alarmed by the terrible preceding disclosures of the power, the subtlety, and the malignity of the three enemies of their Lord and of His Church, are

appropriately reassured and comforted in the prospect

I

of the glory that shall be revealed. We are evidently 1 Pet. 5. 1. now, as in former visions, hastening on towards the great catastrophe. This chapter itself ends not but with the end of all things. The passage which is to be presented this evening has been described as the text, the brief and pregnant summary, of those ampler revelations which fill the remaining chapters of this Book. It consists of four several announcements; three by angelic voices, and one, that of the text itself, by a voice greater and more glorious still, even as the announcement itself is of a greater and more glorious character. I purpose to treat the three angelic proclamations as words waiting for developement in the following sections of the prophecy; and to concentrate your attention as quickly as possible upon the refreshing and comforting message heard by the Apostle out of heaven itself.

And I saw another angel, thus distinguished from Verse 6. Angels whose ministry has been described in earlier chapters, flying in mid-heaven, having an everlasting gospel to announce over (so as to reach) them that sit on the earth: the expression is that of the 4th chapter of St Matthew's Gospel; The people which sat in Mat. 4. 16. darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up: the choice of the word indicating, it may be, something of spiritual inaction and torpor: and over every

Verse 7.

nation and tribe and tongue and people; saying in a mighty voice, Fear God, and give Him glory, ascribe to Him the character which is His, because the hour of His judgment is come; and worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and springs of waters.

An everlasting gospel. We shall notice in this universal proclamation of an everlasting Gospel one Mat. 24.14. of the predicted signs of the approach of the end. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. It is called a Gospel, a message

of glad tidings: and yet its first sound is one of ch. 4. 17. alarm and warning. It was always so. From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Till a man fears, he can never know hope. The first call of the everlasting Gospel itself is to fear God and to worship the universal Creator.

Verse 8.

And another, a second, angel followed, saying, Fallen, fallen is the great Babylon, she who of the wine of the wrath of her fornication has made all the nations to drink. This is the first mention of that name which is to occupy so prominent a place in the subsequent chapters of this Prophecy. I will reserve any comment upon it until we reach that fuller disclosure. At present we accept as one signal of the last end the announcement of the fall of

that power, be it what it may, which stands to the Church of Christ in the position which Babylon for so long occupied to the Church of the Old Testament. The wine of the wrath of her fornication is a condensed expression for that intoxicating draught of seductive sin which must bring after it the wrath of God. The wine-cup of her fornication is also the wine-cup of the divine displeasure and judgment. Sin, when it Ja. 1. 15. is finished, bringeth forth death. Judgment is sin 2 Cor. 5.10. itself given back developed to the sinner.

Gal. 6. 7, 8.

16.

And another angel, a third, followed them, saying Verse 9. in a mighty voice, If any man worships the wild beast and his image, according to the description of the ch. 13. 15, preceding chapter, and receives a mark, the mark of which we read in the same chapter as the condition of commerce with the world, upon his forehead or on to his hand; he also himself, as well as the great Verse 10. enemy whom he serves, shall drink of that wine of the wrath of God which is mingled unmixed (undiluted) in the cup of His indignation, and shall be tormented in fire and brimstone in the presence of the angels and in the presence of the Lamb. He who has been driven by the fear of man to a compromise with evil shall find that there was a fear behind, could he but have felt it, stronger still and more formidable, the fear of God and of His judgment upon all sin. Fear not them which kill the body- Mat.10.28. would that the words might ring betimes in the

Verse II.

Is. 34. 10.

hearts of us who are still among the living-but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. And the smoke of their torment goes up unto ages of agesGen. 19.28. the figure is derived from well-known passages of the historical and prophetical Scriptures—and they have not rest, by day and by night, who worship the wild beast and his image, and if any one receives the mark of his name. Rest of inaction there is none in 8. the eternal world: some rest not day nor night from praise; others rest not day nor night from suffering: no soul once created can again cease from existence Verse 12. and from consciousness. Here is the patience of the saints, who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. In the willingness to wait for rest and for redress until God Himself shall thus arise to rid them for ever of their adversaries is seen that spirit of patience which is one of the chief characteristics of the saints of God.

Rev.

4.

Verse 13.

And I heard a voice out of the heaven saying, Write; record for the Church's comfort this revelation which follows: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, in order that they shall (may) rest from their toils: and their works follow with them. The words from henceforth can scarcely be severed from the time of the proclamation. The end is drawing on. The everlasting Gospel is being preached to all nations

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