The Pulpit Commentary — Revelation — Section 85

aeduoe his people, are "as a flame of fire," once wept. over J(!l"llS&l.em. and·by the grave of L ~ _. If he -0ould not h$ he could not love ; and because he does.so love, ~QP!- fore i, the W:\'ath of the Lamb so real and terrible a thmg. . , " .: , , ,u! II. I-re SBVERITY, (Vers. 22, 23,) God. does do eTen now what is meant by th~ expre~ona. . Out of men's owii. wickedness _he makes whips to scourge thetil~ Bo:\V dreadful and irreparable is the ~in which eren here and now often overtakes Jhe ~ngodly J Th11re is no need for laboured argument to prove that there is a hell ljere- after: Jp.any .men spend their liv~s in hell now. Their intense realization of their sh&D1-e. their t'aU; the horror which good men have of them; the ruin they have brought upon.~!,lmselves, !\Ild yet more upon those who trusted and loved and depended. upon them ;-all this is hell, and is a fearful corroboration of the sure teaching of God. as j;p thuude:n;ient J;le forewarns us of hereafter. ,. i I,lL _ITS FOBBEAIIANQE, "I gave :P.!lr .space to repent." Sentence upon,an evil work i• ~ot. exec~ted speedily, \llld hence meu tpo often, therefore, all the more set their ~ steadfastly to do evil. . . . , .IV~.h~ _.JUSTICE, The Lord dew>~ here. we thiµk, not a person, but a. pa~y • some evil knot of persons in the. Church, who 'W,01'8to, the rest, wpattjie woman,;TezeQ8)., Ahab')! wife, was to Israel-their seducer and leader in all abommable ways. iVeqi, 22 and 28 seem to imply that there w,as not one person merely, but a dominant party, in tli.e Church, who were guilty of the-,sins whiph had so rouaed the wrath of tli.11 J,,prd. True, we have the phrase, "thy wife, Jezebel," and this has led some to suppose that the pastor of the Church was afflicted- with a detestable. woman as a wife-such things do.: hap~u,; but when we nimember,_how "the harlot" is the continlJSl name witji. which corruptChul'ches are branded, we itre permitted to regard the w_hole as syi;nbolical. The phrase may therefore be regarded as ielling of a pestilent and powerful set belo~- ing to the Chnr<;h, ,and therefore it could .,be said, "thy wife," Wibo were as Jez;e.bel. And we must reglU'd. the sins spoken of as.,being literally what they are said to,be. And who that knows the power of these sins to waste the conscience, pollute the mind, ruin the body, paralyze the will, and every way turn man into worse than the very brutes, and so to iµake ,the.Chµrch in which they were practised a byword, _a hissing, iind a. rebuke, can wonder that, as has ever ,~n, the case, the wrath of God arose agajIJst them until there was no remedy? &can813 of them the Flood came, the cities of the plain were overwhelmed with fire, the nations of Canaan were e~termiuated; and to,.~Y., given the sin,. there, not .far off, is tlie judgm.ent of God. Bewa.r.e of them, .for ~ey u war against the. soul,'' and agaµist ,all the well-~ing of mankind, ,so that, .in :qi~rqy to the human race, God .]µ.s branded them with his-severe displeasure. ,, . 1,Y. ITS DI80RUlINATION, "The Lord knoweth them that are his," and his eye w.as upon th,em even in that corrupt Church. They had. refWied to be beguiled by ,the speci~~ pretences of these u:Qgodly teachers that their doctrines were profound, not for the uninitiated ; that they were '·' deep " things-,d,eep things of the devil, the Lord i~. iwi,i~ation adds-though, they preten4w that they cam11 from above. But ,his "re~t of you in. rpiyatira" would have no:w, of the doctrine; they spurned it as they sho~d. ~d no:w the Lord tells them tha,t no other burden, should be put upon ~em. 'fo have to endure such, people amonget the,m., and to ha~ the li{~e of. Christ so dillbonoured, this was purden ,enougl;i .. • . TM)refore only let tqem abide in alJ those go!ld and blessed. qnalities which _characteri2;ed them, and which 4e commemorates •in ver. 19, and then in that coming glory foretold in Ps. ii they shall share, and from being d~pised and borne down with the burden of the wicked, they shall with Christ ru4i over :them, and restrain then\ effectually as with "a rod. of iron," and as now they were powerless to do ;' and best of a.J.l, .he who is " the Root and the Offspring of David, and the Bright and the •Morning Star " (oh. :u.ii. 16), he will give himself to them; the lay.-atar should ari,se ill, their hearts, the joy of the Lord should be theirs for evel'IJlOil"0. •Gmnt, Lord, that I may come To thy 8&inta' happy home, , · · • Where a thouaau.d years one day appeal'&; Nor go , . Where a day appean ·\··· .A. a tho1181U\d Yl!lllllt , , . For woe I" 8. 0. ff TBE REVELATION OJI' ST. JOHN THE DIVINE. [OB. u. 1-29. -- ---------------------------- Vere. 1-1.-The epistles to t~ <Jhurchett: (1) The epistle to t~ (Jhurck in EpMSUB: tM ~ o.( early _loue. The Eph~ian C_hurc~ hig~y commended for many ~hings- for "toil" m service and for "patience" m tnbulat1on; unwearied endurance m suffer- ing ; repudiation of "evil men," and fidelity in trying them "which call themselves apostles, and they are not;" and even "hating the works" which the Lord says, "I also hate." But the works of the Church are all known to him who "walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks ; " and he has an .accusation to bring against the otherwise faithful Church: "I have this against thee, that thou didst leave thy first love." Love is the very core of the Church's life; it ia the central, hidden spring of all good service; it is the truest evidence of the purity and reality of the Church's health. The depa-rture from the first love is- L THE SIGNAL OF THE LOSS OJ!' THE vrrAL SPBING OF THE Cm:raOH's BELYGIOUS LIFB. The outward forms may be perfect, zeal may be maintained, patience unwearied, ortho- doxy untarnished; but if love-the soul's secret energy-be impaired, time only is needed to bring the Church to utter decay. If. IT IS AT ONOE THE OAUIIJ!: AND INDICATION OF A FALLEN OONDITl0N OJ!' THE CHURCH. " Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen." III. IT EXPOSES TO THE JUDIOIAL LOSS OF ALL. "Or else I come to thee,and will move thy candlestick out of its place. n The means of recovery are: 1. Recollection. The thoughtful recall of the Church to its earlier condition. The very watchword of the epistle is "remember "-oompare, contrast thy present with thy past state. 2. Repentance-ever to follow the recollection, which is the needful after-thought,, the first step in the process of true repent&nce. How would a faithful review bring the keen sense ofloss, and lead-the Church torueits loss and fall and danger! 3. Renewal. "Do thy first works." A true repentance will declare itself in worb answerable to amendment. To every one that truly heareth and "overcometh," the words of promise hold out the cheering assurance of life "in the Paradise of God."-R. G.