The Pulpit Commentary — Revelation — Section 233

a gr&t ~from heaveD:, burnin1raa it were a bmlp, and' it fell upon the tM,td ~"al the riY«s; and upon the fountains of waters," etc. The•grea~ pa.rt:of.tli~~"iliat roD:·ovet the earth, and the wells that spring fro!» benel!,th, were embittered: and Ji<!iiionfii\ and My 'Of the humBn race expire. When the fourth trumpet sounded the lieaven:11 aro f.lirribly affected. -"The third part of the sun w111t Bniitten, and the third pa.rt ot the moon; and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them· ,ras [should be] darkened,"·•ete. But all the terrible events that followed the blasts of these four tt'llli:lptff;s seem only .Preparatory for some more terrible judgments that were to follow. "And I beheld [sawj, and heard an angel [eagle]flymg through the rdmt of [in midJ heaven,'llB~ with a loud [great] voice, Woe, woe, woe, to t!ie i~abiters of[fur tlif!rii, that dwell onJthe earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which [who] are yet to sound!" Whatever particular revolutions the blasts of the four trumpets here refer to-if any-one thing is certain, that great changes· are taking place constantly in those regions of matter mentioned here-the earth; the watel'B, 'the heavens. <J«il,ogy shows this. What our earth is to-day, its-mountains, its valleya, ik rivers; and its oceans, as well as its animal and vegetable prod1fotions, is th!l outconi& of changes that have been going on through countless ages. .Nature is constanijy building up and pnllingdown. "The mountains falling come to nought," et.o. .Astronomyilhows this. The telescope discovers slla.ttered planet.e, stars that, perhaps, shoni~ brightly once in our heavens,· also new orbs and oomets. All things are in a state of :ll.irx ·and reflux. According to Peter,all the changes that have been only tend to a great.er change. "The day of the Lord shall come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens sblill pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt," et.c.1 What is the pnJCUcal le81Km to be drawn from all these tremendous revolutioJill? " Trust in him wlio liveth for ever." · ;,,, •There's nought on earth that does not ofumge; .All things are 1hif~ on the stream; Whatever comes within our ra.nge Seems just e.s fleeting as a dream. There is no rest but in thy Word, No settled hope but in thy Name; Root thon our souls in thee. 0 Lord. FOi' thou a.rt evermore the 11W11e." 2~ Thoae in the spiritual sphere. There are three more trumpets aounded which. ban been designated wmt-trompeta, and their blasts seem to introduce wonderful things in the spiritual domain. That there is a spirit-world is too universally admitted to reqwre proof. It comes to our credence, not merely as a matter of philot0phic. reasoning. bat aa a matter of consciousness. This spirit-world, of which each human being is a member, as well as the higher order of intelligences in the universe, though invisible and impal- pable, is ever active and all-influ,ential, the spring and sovereign even of all material forces and phenomena. What is matter but the creature and servant, the effect and evidence, of spirit? Great and mysterious changes in the ,ptrit-world seem to follow the sounding of the fifth trumpel Moral evil appears: (1) In forms alarming. "I BBW a star fall from heaven [from heaven fallen] unto the earth: and to him was given [there was given to him] the key of the bottomless pit [the pit of ihe abyB&J," et.c. A messenger from heaven, like·a bright atar, descended and exposed. the ~on of moral evil-he opened the "bottomless pit." Moral ll'f'il. is indeed a pit. (oJ It is fathomless. No one can explain its origin and its countleu intricate rami&a- tions; it is the "mystery of iniquity." (b) It is consuming. It is like a" great furnace." In what.ever spirit moral evil exists, it burns, it gives pain, and works destrudion; (c) It is obscuring. "The sun and the air were darkened by reason 'Of the smoke.of the pit." The passions and thoughts which sin generates in the spirit mantle the moral heavens in gloom. How often is this bottomless pit covered up in the sow, hid alike from self and society I Thank God, Heaven sends a messenger, like a aa_r, from bee.Ten to opeu it and to enlighten iL Do not let ua look for this bottom• less pit beneath Wit or anywhere e:r.tema.l ; U .,_ within 111, if .ain be in us. , {2) In foroea terrific. "And there came out of the smoke locuat.a upon .the earth: awi.1 unto 1 See •Septem in Uno' on "Phuea of Man'• Externil Uid1ilra6,""p, 191., r: n ·,m 260 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE. [OB. vm.1-18.