near ita siten (Fa1J11Bet). We have heffl certain eolamn and significant &.cta con. oeming • OOJTUpt Ohurch,. auch a Chureh as that whioh was uillting at this time in Laodioea. . .· . · L Iu UAL CJUJU.OTU. W'AB '!'BOBOUGBLT kNOWlf. There waa an eye. thai peered into ita deepeat depths, knew well its moral elements and temperature. He who th1111 looked into and through it is thus described. 1. He is "the Amen!' This itt the Hebrew word for" verily," or "truly "-a word of energetic assettion and familiar uae. In Obrist, we are told, " is.Yea and Amen." He is• positive and declarative Truth. What he predicates is true to reality; what he.. prediets will be realized, whether lamentable or otherwise. 2. He is" the faithful and true Witness.'' What ii a true witness? .(1) One who has an absolute knowlerlge ofthe1111bject of which he affirm&. And (2) one who is absolutely above aU temptation t.o misrepresent." Chris& has· no motive to deceive, no evil to dread, no good to gain. 8. He is " the Begin• ning of the creation of God." He seems not only to have been the First of the creation, but in some sense the Originator. He is the Beginning, the Continuance, and Pwrpoae of alL This is a mystery unfathomed, perhaps fathomless. This is the transoendent Being who knew thoroughly this Laodioean Church, and who knows all Churches. "I know th1 works "-know them in their hidden germs and aver-multiplying branches. " Oh may these thought.a possess my breast, ·where'erl rMni; where"er I rest: Nor let my weaker passmns dare Consent to sin, tor GM' is' near." . II; ITS Jll'IBITUAL INDIFFER.ENTISM IS DIVINELY, ABnOJtRENT, •• r' wouJ,I thou weli cold at hot." Cold wate:r is refreshing,· hot water is somettme:i pl845ll-D-t, the. tepid·~ al:way11; more or less sickening. Well dQfs an old writer aay, "Luke~armn888 or i~DO!il in religion is the worst tempe( in the world. If religion is a real thing, it js the. mosi axcellent thing, and therefore we should be in good earnest in it; .if it is not ~ ~ tm,Jlg, it is the vilest ~mposture, and we should ~ earnest agairiat it. If religion i,w~tb,,anything,it ui worth everything;,an indilfer~ce here is inexcusable.'' 1. ~ r i ~ wl.i/l~tilm i, a 1IWlt imongruou, ~wpn .. .All. nature l\fems in ~eat: seas and stars are on the gallop; plants and animals rush onward on the lines of decay or growth ; the minds of all moral beings are flowing with more or less speed in one di:r"°n 011.11,11other. 2. Spiritual indi,jfer_tntirm i, a fl'WB.t incorrigible t;OfUlition. 'fh4!9retipa.l infidelity we -~Y break down by ~meut, but moral indifferentism tannot be toucheq by logic. The spiritually incijff:er,int man shoutsoµt his. !)reed e,very SundaJJ, da.mna t)le atheist, and yet hi1Jll181i isct,without God in the worlq." Truly; suoh &a~te of mind must be abhorrent to him who demands that all should love him witb. ~r whole heart, soul, and st~ngth. What an awful supposition tqat man can aicken, and:Aisgust the Infinite I "I will spue thee e>utof my mouth." Koral depravity nauseates the holy uuiverse. . . . III, he SELll'-DEOEl".l'ION ~ TERRIBLY ALARMING. "Thou say.est, I am rich, and ~ with goods [have gotten riches], and have need of notb.ing; and knowest not that thou art wretched [th11 wretched onel, and miserable,: and poor, and blind, and ~ed." 1. Look at tkf C()n<Wion. in whicfi they fancied th6111Mlve,. " I am rich, and increased with goods." They fancied themselves rich ~ independent. "Have need of nothing." They wished to be all this, &lld the wish is evermore the father to the thought. Ah me. I it is by no means u_ncommon for men to fancy. tbemselyes to be w~tJhey are not.. If you ,go into lunatic spheres there you znay see dwarfs fancying themselves giants and ilfustrious heroes, paupers thinking they are. mmionnaireis,, and poor beggars kings of the first order. But elsewhere I find in all the depart- J.qfpta- oi human life that are ~idered to. b&_ aane, acenes 8'1aroelyJess absurd. 2, ~ al ~ condition in uiMclJ, they rt.al{g, are. . " And knowest not that thou. ar.t w~hed [the wr~ched one], and miserable, and poor, and bl,ind, and naked." ~ Wretched;' though they may dance and siug.; pitiable, though lauded. by princes, ~ r s , . and peere ; " blind/' tllough the physica. l .optics are sound ; an.d " naked,., tJ¥>Ugh robed in splendour. Wretched, pitial;,Je, -~d, naked in soul: _what a eo~:- di~n 1a tbi1 I what terrible-self.deception I "The first and worst of all frauds," 1ay■' festua, .:: ia to cheat one'11 self, .All si11; is easy after that.'' . . OB. IV. 1-11.] THE REVELATION op- S!t. JOHN THE DIVINE. 143
IV. ITS JIISUABLB l'OllDl'l'IOW mnm JIM' BE HOPBLEl!ll. 1. R,couery il·'fndy 11.ffend. "I oounsel thee to buy of me gold tried rrefined] in the fi~ that thou lll!iyt!St be rich; and whit.a raiment [garments]," etc. 1s there irony here? How can the poor buy gold, bt!come- rich, procure white garments, and salve for the diseaaed eyes? No; there is no irony here. The blessings here offered req~ire no out.lay (if material wealth. .All is to be won by true faith, and all" can believe. " Ho, every 9ne that thltst.eth, come," etc. 2. Rt-cOVery ia divinely urged._ "Behold, .I stan4 at t]ie door, and knock." Here observe: (1) Christ's attitude toward, the 110ul. He doeis DOt come occasionally and depart. He " stands," implying his deep concern, his infinite condescension, and his wonderful patienq:i. ~e waits to be gracioUB. (2) Chriat's Gelion upon the soul. He stands not as a statue, but knocks-knocks at the door of intellecl with truths, at the door of conscience with· principles, at the door of love with transcendent charms. (3} Christ's p u ~ 'ltlith the soul His mission Is not to destroy, but t.o save it. "l will come in t.o him." The language implies: (a) Inhabitation. "I will come in to him;" (b) Identification. "Sup with him, and.b11 :with me," Thus ,sinners are urged to deliver themselves from their miserable con~ dition. 3.' R ~ w dit1inely rewarded. "To hiru [bel that overoom~th .will .I grant{! will giv& to him] to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set [sat) d ~ with my Fathedn .his throbe." What are the thrones here? .Are they some. material seats in some radiant and_ remow part.of the universe-the one provided for the Father a,nd the Qthet for the Son? The question is childish, sensuoua, aod unspiritua.L What ia the true throne of a - human soul? (1) It is the throne of an approving comcience. That mind alone .ea~ rest whose conscience applauds hjm, ai:ulthat soul alone can feel exalted and dignified :whose conscience chimes to him, "Well done." (2) It is the throne of moral ruk. He who s11bordln&tes the hiaterial to the.spiritual, the animal/ to the int.ellectual, the intellectual to the moral, and the moral-to God,·oocupieil thecti'ue-throne. He is king, and nbne other:-D. 'I'.