Ver. 22.-He.avenly changelessness. There is great resemblance between eh. i. and eh. x. Ezekiel is transported in spirit from the banks of the Babylonian river Chebar to the temple at Jerusalem. Yet the cherubim which he sees in the one place are exactly the same as those he has seen in the other. This fact of identity in great diversity of circumstances strikes the prophet as remarkable, and he chronicles it with emphasis. Earthly scenes change; lIBavenly facts remain. I. Tim RANGE OF HEAVENLY CHANGELESSNESS, 1. In various times. Divine grace is always essentially the same. On the very threshold of history Abraham is justified by faith; tcHiay faith is the one ground of the soul's becoming right with God. The Psalms of David express the i~ost essence of religion for modern Christians. The gospel of the first century is the gospel for the nineteenth century. The Christ of history is the Christ of the future. If we can see the old familiar countenances of the essential Divine facts that cheered and warned and guided our fathers, we have just the vision that we need to-day-though, indeed, the old truths are to have fresh applications, and though, perhaps, we may have to remove the veils with which the errors of the past have sometimes obscured them. 2. In various places. The cherubim of Chebar were the cherubim of Jerusalem. The Christ of Nazareth is the Christ for London. The religion that dawned among the hills of Galilee spreads like a day over the whole earth, and shows itself as suitable for England as for the East, and as suitable for China and Africa and New Guinea as for Europe and America. 3. Under various circumstance,. The quiet river-bank was very different from noisy Jerusalem. Yet the same wondrous cherubim looked down upon both scenes, as the same stars of heaven gaze upon the city slums and the country villages, on the blood-stained battle-field and the peaceful meadow. The same God is over all. 'l'he gospel of Christ is the same for all-rich and poor, learned and ignorant, young and old. II. THE CAUSES OF HEAVENLY OHANGELESSNESS. 1. Inherent truth. Our better changes come largely from the correction of mistakes. We are always having to unlearn our errors, to slough the old skin. But truth abides. In heaven all is true. God's Word is true. Therefore while "all flesh is grass . . . and the grass withers ... the Word of the Lord abideth for ever" (1 Pet. i. 24, 25). 2. Absolute perfection, Revelation came by stages of growth and development and through human channels. Bence its changes and the putting away of the old form of it in the Law for tha new form of it in the gospel But when we see through these earth)y D?anifestations tbo really Divine behind them, we come upon absolute perfection, which 1s changeless. 3. Stab/,e constancy. God is not fickle. His representative agents, symbolized by t~rn cherubim, must be constant too. God will keep to his word. Therefore we may Lu1ld upon his promise as on a granite rock. We change; he abideth faithful. (lit, x. 1-22.J THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. 183
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Ver. 1.-The throne of Deity. The prophet, in this chapter, makes use of all the wcnlth of earthly and human imagery to enhance his readers' conception of the glory of the Eternal. The throne here pictured is the throne of God, and the metaphor i~ employed in order to gather around the Deity all associations which may help to raise the thoughts in reverence, confidence, and adoration towards the King of the universe. At the same time, every figure drawn from earth, from man, must needs come short of the great reality; for the finite can do no more than merely suggest the Infinite. I. Goo IS THE SUPREME KING BY UNDEBlVED RIGHT. Earthly monarchs reign by right of conquest, or election, or inheritance. They come to reign, they begin to reign. In these respects there is contrast between the sovereigns who bear sway among men and the King of kings and Lord of lords; for he is Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. To examine, to question, to vindicate his right is an absurdity, an impossibility; it is the condition and foundation of all rights, and is indemonstrable and self-evident. II. GoD IS SUPREME IN THE POSSESSION A.ND EXERCISE OF KINGLY POWER. Earthly sovereigns differ one from another in the military and naval forces they command, in the weight they bring to the councils of nations, in the respect and fear with which they are regarded. But there is no measure by which power snch as emperors wield can be compared with Omnipotence. There is One, and there can be only One, who is almighty, who wields all the resources of the universe, and of whom it may be said that all the manifestations of his might are " but the whisperings of his power." III. GOD IS SUPREME IN THE UNIVERSALITY OF HIS DOMINION, Vast as are the realms of the greatest of earthly potentates, these are but a speck, a mote, when placed beside the kingdom of the Creator. For this b'oth transcends all and includes all the kingdoms of the earth: "His kingdom ruleth over all." IV. Goo IS SUPREME IN THE RIGHTEOUS1'"EBS WHICH IS CHARACTERISTIC OF ms SWAY. The true glory of a prince does not lie so much in the extent of his dominions as in the justice of his rule and administration. All human righteousness is a mere reflection of the righteousness of the great King of heaven and earth. " A sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom." A throne is sometimes thought of in association with the arbitrary and despotic exercise of power; all such associations must be dismissed when we come to think and speak of the Occupant of the throne of heaven. There may be that in his government which perplexes and baffles us; but nothing is so certain to our minds as his unswerving rectitude, his inflexible justice. Our highest powers of veneration are inadequate to conceive and to adore his moral attributes. Our proper attitude is to fall down before him and acknowlcilge the insufficiency of our purest homage. V. Goo IS SUPREME IN ms CLAIM UPON ALL HIS INTELLIGENT CREATION FOR HONOUR AND GLORY. It is sometimes represented by utilitarian thinkers that men's faculties are misused and their time wasted in the attempt to "glorify God." But the view of human nature is indeed both superficial and radically false which admits of such an objection to the practice of devotion. The worship which consists only of words and gestures is indeed an unprofitable superstition. But the worship which is spiritual is both acceptable to God and profitable and elevating to man. It is well to conceive of God as a King as well as a Father. Many human relationships must concur in order to present to our minds the claims of God upon our nature. 'l'o Christians the throne ef Christ is the throne of God. "Thou art the King of glory, 0 Christ I "-T.