fullest revelation given before ; and the most complete revelation vouchsafed to men, before the Son came to declare the Father, is to be found, not in sacrifices but in the words of promise, not in the institutions but in holy men, who were sent, time after time, to quicken the institutions into new life or to preach new truths. The prophets were seers and poets. Nature's highest gift is" imagination, whether it " makes " a world that transcends nature or "sees" what in nature is hidden from the eyes of ordinary men. This faculty of the true poet, elevated, purified, taken possession of by God's Holy Spirit, became the best instrument of revelation, until the word of prophecy was made more sure through the still better gift of the Son.
*[[ A glance at the Marechale's well-used Bible suffices to prove that for her the heart of the Old Testament is in Hosea, the prophet of love, and Isaiah, the prophet of atonement ; while the heart of the New Testament is in the story of the returning prodigal or the penitent Magdalene. If there were parts of the much-loved Book from which she could not preach, she was here, too, guided by her instincts. One day she was reading to her youngest children the story of Daniel in the lion's den. All went well till she came to the words, " And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of the lions, them, their children and their wives ; and the lions had the mastery over them, and brake all their bones in pieces." At this point Evelyn, a blue-eyed maid of six, whose face had suddenly become very grave, said, " C'est assez ; ferine le livre ! " (That's enough ; shut the book !) Her Christian instinct would not accept the death of innocent women and children. Sir Walter Scott's little friend. Pet Marjorie, commented on a similar passage in the Book of Esther, " But Jesus was not then come to teach us to be merciful." It is written : " Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes." ^
^ There is something to us very striking in Arthur Hallam's words, " Eevelation is a voluntary approximation of the Infinite Being to the ways and thoughts of finite humanity." This states the case with an accuracy and a distinctness not at all common among either the opponents or the apologists of revealed religion in the ordinary sense of the expression. In one sense God is for ever revealing Himself. His heavens are for ever telling His glory, and the firmament showing His handiwork ; day unto day
1 J. Strahan, The Ilakchale (1913), 267.
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is uttering speech, and night unto night is showing knowledge concerning Him. But in the word of the truth of the gospel, God draws near to His creatures ; He bows His heavens, and comes down:
That glorious form, that light unsufferable, And that far-beaming blaze of majesty,
He lays aside. The Word dwelt with men. " Come then, let 2is reason together ; " — " Waiting to be gracious ; " — " Behold, I stand at the door, and knock ; if any man open to me, I will come in to him, and sup with him, and he with me." It is the father seeing his son while yet a great way off, and having compassion, and running to him and falling on his neck and kissing him ; for " it was meet for us to rejoice, for this my son was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found." ^
III.
The Culmination in Christ.
1. In the fulness of time God has spoken in His Son. The long, painful discipline is ended. The revelation in types and symbols, here in this manner and there in that part, has been consummated. The pale stars that jewelled and relieved the night have been quenched in the overmastering glory of the mid-day sun. The whole life of Jesus, so exquisite in beauty, so sovereign in power, is a strong accent of the voice of God. He is the final and absolute revelation, at once the tenderest and the most authentic appeal of the Lord. All others who had spoken in His name and declared His will were but messengers who by preliminary disciplines should prepare men's hearts for this final revelation. Jesus is the unveiling of the Father's full glory, the manifestation of His high and holy name, the laying bare of the opulent love of His heart. He who in an intimacy of mind and heart which was complete dwelt in the excellent glory of God, came forth into the world to unveil before the eyes of men the purity and pity, the solicitude and sympathy, the love and the sacrifice of God. That is the fine glory of Jesus. All the scattered rays of light are focussed in Him. They shine as they
^ Dr. Johu Brown, Horce Subsecivce, ii. 469.
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reflect His glory. He is the world's Sun, lighting every man that ever came into the world, but in these last days standing out in acknowledged and radiant glory, the unique and lonely Eevealer of the Father. The very voice of the Lord God hath spoken unto us in Jesus our Saviour.