Vers.14-29.-Laodirea: self-conceit and 11elf-deceie. Here la a Church which baa an utterly mistaken view of itself. It thinks itself as well oJf as need be. Our Lord declares it to be in a desperately bad condition. It is addressed by Christ as by the • faith(ul and true Witness," as the "Beginning of the creation of God;" not u the beginniu)!; in the sense of" the first part of," but in the sense of the Beginner, in whom ·the creation had its beginning, and still has its continuance, meaning, plan, and end. He, to whom all created being stands open, deigns to give his clear, ses.rohing testimony to a self-deceived Church as to its state before him. There are three matters at which ,we must glance-the Witness, the testimony, the counsels. · .pp. BSS-885, not only for his remarks on the matter of discipllne, but also for his comment OIi \he entire epistle. There is so much that is of great val11e, Uiat we are diaiu.olio.ed to eriti"1&e, even where we do not entirely ooacur, o. m. 1--22.] THE REVELATION 011' ST. JOllN TUE DIVINE. 123
I. Tm: WITNE88. "Faithful," I.e. trusty and trustworthy, "'frue,"AD81111ffltg to the ideal, being all tbat a witness -0an be. . Whatever <l&n make a witness valuable belongs to Obrist. We speak because we believe; lie speaks because he knows. He i.l the "Amen." He alone can speak with absolute positiveness that there can be no inaccuracy in his words. In bearing testimony to the occurrence of an external fact, a very moderate amount of ability, combined with fidelity, might suffice, But .when testimony is borne concerning the inward and spiritual state of a Church, infinitely more is needed than such commonplace requirements. He only can be a competent witneSB of the spiritual state of any man, and a fortiori of the spiritual state of any body of men, ,who can discern the thoughts and intents of the heart; who knows in the case of ench the relation between privilege, capacity, and attainment; who understands perfectly the difference between 9hat is and what ought to be, and the entire bearings of the spiritual state of to-day on eternal iDtere&ts, Evidently, t.herefore, no one is a com- petent witness in such matters but he who say,," I the Lord Jlflarch the heart, and try the reins of the children of men," But be is. And be who is thus perfectly lllll'IL} I t is also absolutely true. Nor was it only of this particular Church, at this particular time, that Christ was a faithful and true Witnet1S; he ia this to every Ohureh at ever, time. A Divinely rigid inspection of every Church is ever going on. It is not only true that we must all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ, it is also true that we do all stand before it now. There is a royaljudgment of professors and of L'burehes going on l!t every moment, and the value of each Church is not what it is in the eyes of man, but what it is in the eye of the heart-searching Lord. The moat solemn inquiry we, can put is, "What does Christ think of us?" We may stand well before other Churches, but, oh, if Christ thinks ill of us, that spoils all I Let us therefore consider- . · II. THE TJ!STI:llONY BOBNE BY Tms WITNESS. In thejudgment heri! pronouiloed a.11 to the state of the Church at Laodicea, there is a principle expressed which may he 'detached from the special details of Laodicean Church life, because it holds good what- ever those details may be; it may be looked at quite independently of time or place, because-it bears equally on all Churches at every time anil in every place. 'l'bat prin- ciple is indicated by the words, "I would thou wert cold or hot." Evidently, to ba fervent in religion is so bletsed that it is perfectly easy to understand why our Lord should say he would rather we were hot thau lukewarm; but it is not, at first sight, so clear why he would rather we were cold than lukewarm. Yet our Lord declares that lukewarmnesa is mm-e offensive to him than enti1'$ coulness WOtlld he. Let us inquire: 1. What this lukewarmnen is. In answering this question, our safest course will be to follow the evidence given in this letter as to whnt Christ saw, from which, perhaps, we· may gather what he means. Four features. (1) 'fhere was p1'ofwiion. Here was a company of avowed disciples gathered together in Lnodicea to form a fellowship, to maintain Christian worship, and to advance the honour of the Saviour's name. (2) The Church was =dingly well pleased with itself. "'l'hou 1myest, I am rich," etc. Lao- dicea was a great commercial city, rolling in wealth; and the Church may have been satisfied either with its worldly status, or (which, perhaps, is the more probable) with its spiritual progress. (3) Yet it was a Church unique in its emptfoess. "Thou knowest not that th()1.I, art the wretched. and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked one." l Laodicea was the poorest of all the seven. In twr> Churches tl1ere was gaol-with no specified ill; in four, good and ill were mixed together; in one there w11.11 ill with no .good-that was the Church at Laodicca. '!'here is in it nothing to be commended. 'l'he true gold of spiritual wealth was not there; the white raimCJlt or 1iersonal purity, not there; the anointing of the Holy One, not therr, A poor Church ind~ t But the worst bas yet to be told. (4) Ghrist /iimt,elf was outside it I Ile is outside the door, .has been standing there for some time, and waii still knocking and asking for admlssi~ The question at once starts itself- When i, Ohrlal outside a nominal OhurcA , Wa reply: (a} When in its fellow11hip respectability is tho11ght more of thaJi renour; (b) when in the pulpit eloquence is eittolled more than Lbe truth is appredawd; (o) when talent is more craved than spiritt1al power; (d) when wealth and status are r1Jcogoized, and growth in grace is not. We knO\v a Ohuroh which makes its boast of the number ,of mayora of the borough who have been m~mbera with it; and another that IJOasted tba~ .it had not a single tradesman on its Church-roll! Oh this worldliness I it la kilq 1 .Note the deJl.nite artiole hen,; ri, tf • .,..\a'1t-,.,. 124 TllE REVELATION OP' ST. JOHN THE DIVINE. [ett. m. 1-22.