The Pulpit Commentary — Revelation — Section 193

blessed work upon us besides this. It is by him we are led to put our trust in Christ; by him we are assured that we are Christ's, and that he is ours, that we are pardoned, accepted, saved; by him also we are comforted and sustained under trial, and made posseasors of the peace of God which passeth all understanding; and by him, hope, the blessed hope of eternal life, the onlook to things eternal, which is so full of joy, ill created and preserved and strengthened more and more. But all this is 11Jithin the man; the seal is that which is impressed on him, is that which we ~11 the man's character. And it is a holy character, such as the Holy Spirit would of n8Cil8Sity pro- duce. 3. And it is the seal of the living Goel. It belongs to him, his :aign and mark.- There is none other like it, nor has been, nor can be. - Holy character oan- come but from the grace of God alone, from the operation of the Holy Spirit given by God iB response to earnest desire. We cannot produce it in ourselves by any iµere act of will~ by any moral di~pline, by any rules or regulations we,may devise or adopt. Except a man be born of the Spirit he cannot become a member of the kingdom of God. Holy character-that which shone pra-eminently in the Lord Jesus Ghrist, who, as oone other, was" holy, harmless, and undefiled," who'' knew no sin "-is the result of the grace ~f God, is the impress of the seal of the living God, which is th\l Holy Spirit of God. 4. And it is a visible thing. '!'Le seal. being "on their foreheads" is meant to teach. this fact. And holy character is a visible thing. If invisible it aSs1J?edly does not exiat. Men may prate for ever about their experiences and their feelings, but- i( there be.no manifeBt h9ly character; then the seal of the living God is not there.. Ha:n-we, this. sel'l?, Is it plain and conspicuous as would be the impress of ,a seal upon -OUf· forehaad? It ~ fatal to be without it; for "if any man have not the Spirit· of Chds.t.- he is none_ of his." Therefore to quicken our own self-inquiry in this matter, let Ull consider- ~L TBB SEALED. Aud we observe concerning them : 1. .They are not- numeroui., But twelve thousand out of each tribe-a. very few compared with tho~e left unsealed. A !Ilel"8 handful, but a "remnant saved." 2. And they are out of, not coextensive with, the prq/e&ing Ohuroh of Goel. Not all Israel are of Israel (Rom. ix. 6). They all pro- fessed loudly to be of the seed of Abraham, but their en.tire hfstQ,ry showa how little they, as a people, possessed the Spirit. To bea professed member of,the Church may be quite another thing from being one of the sealed of God. 3. A.nd they 8,fefrom 110 one part of the Church. Twelve tribes are told of, not any one or two. _ "Nulla salus extra E~lesiam," by which Rome means her Church and none other,for other she would affirm ~here is none, _And the like sectarian exclusiveness ill cliargeable against not Brune alone. But wherever it is found, the -fact told of here. that the sealed ()()Dl.e from, all,'8(ltio~. of-the Church, plainly condemns H. We ought to rejoice that in all- Chri~ the sealed ones are to be found, and are limited to DQne. _ Indeed, those tribe& which Joomed largest in the eyes of men, such as Ephra.il:Q w Judah, furnished uo more of tbel!e sealed ones than did those who were least, suoh u "llttle Benjamin," ,amt. oth~_ 11,ke smaller tribes. Many who were first should be last, and the last first. •- And it often_ is so still. . 4. Portions of the Ohurch, may become _so corrupt as ·IQ /WN1,i8h- JWtH of. ·tlMi ,ealed, The tribe of Dan is left out. lt first fell into idolatry, and was for centuriee .one. of the head-quarters of that calf-worship whereby "Jeroboam made, ~ l to ain." This may account for its omission in thia list• of the tribes, and if so· Sllg~ts the reason wherefore none of the chosen of God were found amongst its people, AQd there may be Churches and congregations 110w without one earnest godly person a1q911gst them. Let us ask how is -it with the Church or congregation to which we belong. _5. They do not ffl_ff(11" from wt belonging tr> any specially privileged porlion r/_lM <Jhurch. If any tribe was specie.Uy privileged it was that of Levi. They w~ regarded. aa the Lord's portion; the priesthood belonged to them. '.l,'hey were d8jlllle4: too sacred to be .classed with the other more B11Culax: tribes. But here they ha-ve no ad.vantage; they are with the rest, and no more. of God's chosen come fl'Olll them tha_n from any other tribe. - _We might have thought it would have been otherwise; blat it ia not,ao. and it suggests the truth tb.a,t the working of God's Spirit in and upon men is indeP1Ddent of what we oall privilege. It. is good and blessed to have means of ~ . aids to worship and faith; but, if the soul will yield itself up to God, he wiH µ_ot let it au1fer lQ86 for the lack of these things when, as is often the case, they may not be had._ ·§. 'l'/ie ~r<l knoweth them a,U, ' 1,The foundatioq of the L<,rd standeth sure,, rn. vu. 1-17.] THE REVELATION OF ST.~JOHN THE DIVINE, 217