VIL -fr 18 THE TUNCTION OF. THESE 'IVILD,DESTRUCTIVB AGENOlBS i'b OLl!IAfl TUB W,Uf OP l'BB Loim. That is implied in the whole series of trumpets, In every cial<e_ there is very much. that is swe:pt o~; of the way. ~ settle~ _in regions of forest& ha\18 fil'Bt t.q clear the tround, l!O l:s 1t wtth these overtnnung ptovidenoee.. " Out God shall oome, aJMfi shall not keep silence •• ,; a fire shall devoqr before him." "l will .overturn, and overturn. and ,overturn,. till he shall come whose right it is." 1 This i1U~ meaning of ,t;he whole. VIlL TBBRE IS oNl!I EFFECT- WHICH .THEY WILL NOT ACOOKN..Il!H. (Oh.i ix; 20, 2LJ They will not bring men ta repentance.- It ia not by 1mchjudgments of terror that D11111: will be converted. - A th1t.nder-peil may alarm~ but itdoea not cufe dise&11e. 'l'heearih,,- quake may shake :a house, but will not repair or cleanso.,, So th9 judgments, of _Ged., may make .tbe,heart tremble,a.nd yet not subdue it., lien who have tesist<od .the goo tier, Clldls' of God's grace.will steel themselves against the smut of bis rod.- -Fbara-oh'!I ,plagu«e t.errified him, but-ret hardened him. :We are often_ ttinwtoo·. dveDsllQW to llllJ, ~ ~hi if God would:but break the awf1:d stillieSIJi or iii he.wonJd ibOll'·Ul} in .lettem ilf ,&Iiie' that he li...-men would hear, l" No, .they would, nut. , ~hey weukt htigin io,;try"~ aoooimt foi! the sound andi ;tha- flame hy.,attributiit~;tbem 'to some ,pwely, fh:tsielili cause.. "Lord, when thine hand isJifted up. they i,villi;not,see.": _fF;If one.,w-eut,,,tt*io, them from the dead, they will repent." 1<, If they.. heat not ,)IQ888 ,and the. p1:111pheflaii neither will they oo J'8l"suaderl; thougltone rose:fr-0m·t~_dead." _, - __ : . •, f-; ,_,_ ;_,;,> .These truths, so .clear amidst all the diffiellity of' detai:4,ahduld .1-d. tis ·to PJO. such, thougli ts as :these: --1. Il ilow, with IM!, it is a time· of oomparati,-e. 0011111 ;il& nut let ua· think God unobservant, nor n,ckoa secutely on & oontinuao.ce.'Of ease,.and' quiet. - Your home is pee.ctJfnLjllllt now, perhaps;. you may oo, ~uiparativel;v: fret! from care. And bec1111Se or thle you may be.:at ease,in Zion. But- it will ~ alwa.ys, be a tirne of -ease with yo1L :.'l'he day .of.cloud:and ,tliire will come.- 9., Let,, ua regard :every eommon providetitiaLmercy as, the voice .of Goo, 'ther.e is' a ,sacrednBS1t Btlrroundizig us always. God ii.in .the gentle-light snd:dew, as well-as in the -liiz;l:,.tniog: and the tornado. "WhOl!O.is wise,andwill oliservetliesethings,eveu:t.heysb.all tmd~ stand the loving-kindness of the Lord.n 3. Let -11& bless. God tih&t lae,speaksio;-.,ew, in the mild and gentle vok:e or the,goapel. This is his sweeteat, deareet.voi(:e. ;L It• ui by the W oro of his grace that lie will do hi!! eruiistructive wo.rk, and by; the energy of, his Spirit. 'l'be tbiowillg-down, of obstructions may be eft"eoted by. providential, ive_rlt&.: The building"'U'p -0f the new heav'eDB and-the ne.w earth. will be sect-1ml by hia oenqueriag. lo,re. "The Lord will semi forth the rod of his strength out of Zion." "Theawordof,fu&; Spirit is the W otd of God." Ii. Then do not let UB wait .for God to thunder ere we 1~, to his voice. ff Oue. thing bath God ilpokt>n, y~ two thiilgs are there which I haver heard: that power belongeth unto God; a.nd that unto thoo,0 Lord, belongetb_ JW!l'dyt for thou renderest to every man according tp. bis work " (Ps. _lxij, 10, 11 ), If he repent, merey will forgive. If h~ finally''rebel, jusl;ipe' J;l1Ust _colid<\!im. 6. Seeing we know not when any of these trumpets may again be sounrlecl, le't ui learn to hold everything we have at the Di~ dispoaal,aud to say," H the Lord will, we ahall-liv.;'•hi<dbitl, QI' that.· . ' ' - . .. . " --, '
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AU'F.H()R8. -. Ver. 1.~Blested iilemd. 4 There was silence ••• half~ hour.• Nr,_ W M - ~ how, what t~~ WOf'~ .mean. , Every one c:i-n eee that they tell of a ·nause, an intervel \letween the opening of.the ~venth seal and the,souuding of the first of th086 trw:npet.s:of which thia eighth cllaptermainly i;peab. It mny IJe.....as•one gr•t expositor sugges~ ~t during that Lord's day in.- which St. John was in the Spirit. and during which he eaw in stately procesijion the a.erios of magnificent visions, or heard, one following ibo other-, the varied voices which spoke-it may have ~n that for about· half an ,hour of that thrice-holy .day no voice, whether from the throne, or frotn the living ones, o, front the holy angels, or from the multitude _of the red'l6med, or from the distracted ~d de~pai.ring enemies o{ God, was heard, All wM still, still as is often the Aaif-heur before thtJ thunder-storm 1nwsts. As before the rattling peal, and the lightning &$h~ 1 On the whole of this passage, 888 the Commentaries - by Dr. Milligan and Bishop Boyd Carpenter; alao Bev. P. W. Graut'a • Exposition,' pp Z58-261. 2« ffiE 'REVELATION'::.OF ST~ .JOHN THE DIVINE: [on. vm.1-13.