indicate their triumph. 4-. Out of. the throM prooeeded lightnings and thundering& and voices. What can these symbolize b11t the outgoings of Jehovah's power, whereby from his throne forces go forth which cause the earth to tremble; that while before the throne there was the symbol of perpetual calm, yet from thence should come mighty powers that should shake terribly a sinful world. Here we have also seven lamps of fire. These are interpreted for us. "The seven Spirits of God" sent forth into all the earth. Here is the Holy Ghost set forth in all the sublime majesty of his sevenfold energy. 6. BefOf'e the throne. What is there? "A sea of glass like unto crystal." All calmness there. "No mighty waves of turbulent roar.n "Jehovah sitteth above the waterfloods;" the tossing, angry waves of earthly revolutions affect not the perfect calm of the heavenly world l All is "ethereal pmity and majestic repose." II. THE INHABITA.liTB OJ' BEAVEN ARB SEEN. 1• .A.ngeh are there (eh. v. 2, 11). 2. The four and twenty elders are there (eh. iv. 4; v. 8, 11). 3. Four iiving one. are there, in the mid&t of the scene, between the throne and the crystal sea : one like a lion; the second like a calf; the third having the face of a man; the fourth like a lying eagle. In Ezekiel's vision each one had four faces; here, each has one face, each one has six wings about him. So in Isaiah's vision, with twain they covered their face, in holy awe; with twain they covered their feet, in token of humility; and with twain they flew, in token of obedience. Each one, moreover, is full of eyes before and behind-the symbol of the keen penetration of perfected intelligence. Surely we have, in these unuwal forms, reptesentations of the highest advance of creaturely existence ; in which the aeveral features of knowledge, excellence, and strength, which here are aevered, are there joined in one. They worship before the throne. Worship and work mark the highest orders of created. being 811 well as the lower. 4. Nor are these all. There is an innumerable host : "myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands," representing the vast company in the realm of life, where " they cannot die any more." 6. We have yet to behold One around whom all the heavenly hosts gather in worship; but he comes in view as the Object of adoring song. He is "the Lamb as it had been slain." His glory we shall view as we proceed to study- - III. TB:11 FIVE BONGS. Too seldom is the grand progression of song noticed.,· 1111 recorded for us by the apostle. 1. First, the 'Jlri6agion, or song of praise to the thrice- holy God (ver. 8). This song is sung by the four living ones. 'Ihe higher orders of created existence, with their vast powers of spiritual discernment-" full of eyes "-see infinit.ely more glory in the great eternal God than we can with our feeble powers and in this land of shadow and of care. They adore him for what he is; the perfection of his-holiness is the delight of their souls. A diseased eye dreads the light in which a healthy one rejoices. Sinful men dread God's holiness ; perfect beings find in it the in!!piration of their praise. 2. Secondly, the song qf creation. - (Vers. 10, 11.) It is not only what God i, that fills holy beings with rapture, but also what God does. The work of his hands in creation fills them with delight. And the higher beings rise in the scale, the more delight will they have in auglit that reveals God. An angel could Ne more of God in a blade of grass than an uncultured soul could do in a blazing star. • 71iou createdst all things." Wheth!lr they know what were the Divine methods of creation, we cannot say. The fact that God did tJll is that in which they glory; and also the fact that he did all by his own will, and for his own good pleasure. But the grand unfolding of heaven's song is far from complete aa yet.. The theme ia continued iD the fiftl! chapter.
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vel'I!. 1-11.-17111 high court of hea'l1lln. If the portions of thia book hitherto con- sidered have had their difficulties, those on which we now enter are far more beset therewith. But the solemn sanctions given to the reading and study of this book send us, in spite of its difficulties, to the earnest examin,ation of its sayings, certain that in them, even in the most mysterious of them, there lies a message from God to our souls. May he be pleased to make that message clear to us. This fourth chapter gives us the first part of the vision of what we have veot-ured to ca.1.1. "the high coun of heaven." The next chapter reveals mo~ But in this pan note- A. tr. 1-11.) THE REVELATION OF_ ST. JORN THE l}JVINE. 153