•m~ hdo t.o.be aaved? !' ill the. intense, tbe ..~metimee agonized ~.of~ ,..1ipm toe ~••wfnLToice of· the Word* aroused from .their si11; The wnnotio~ of as eia which .the Holy Spirit. prodUCl88 through the Won:\ is, oft,en, to men ," ,w:.h,-. a lion roareth,.. arousing them indeed. (2) The assured ~ o n . ~ giw, ~ the mystery of this p,·e,ent life. The solemn oath of the angel (vers. 5-7) did but Nprelltlllt wJiat the, Word of God .aecomplish81l... As he gave, so it gives, soleum .-ur- anae that what riow is-:-SO much of it so mournful, so full of mys.tery.,...-111 not' ever ., be, but shall have an end. Life is a mys.tery: uow, even in these comparatively calm days of ours; but wha.t must it have appeared to the persecuted outraged Church of St.i.John's. day? .An(! were not :we assured that what ,we now see is bµt p(Jrl of God's -'Wayt, one link in the chain of his purposes, oDly a portioll, of his one great, wi~. ~ly and loTiDg plan, how could we believe in him as either wise, h.oly, just, or. lq-n.·ng? 'Phe mind would rush t.o .atheism, and the man to ,!IUioide; for what .better .ooulq. be done? But the Word of God, like the flOlemn oath of tliis strong qel,, llllllnia .ua of Godthai . .. Bis purpoaei &n1 ripeniDg fas&. Unfolding every hour; _ The bud may havl! a bitter tast.e, Buhweehrill be the flower.~ _ .,, ., 2. Tie lhunder--l'O'ic& (Ver. 4.) The bruwm fulmen, the full-voiced aager. if him ~ho utsered it. The question oomea-Whenee this voioe of the seven thunders.? it,hu, w~ think; been wo hastily as&umed that SL .Tohn.i11 referring t.o the sevenfold voiee ·-Of the thunder mentioned in. Ps. :u.iL A.lad; ,dQu.b.tlesa, in this book thundeis Jll'8 · refemd to 1111 coming forth from the throne of God (cf. eh. iv. 6). · But t1ut· true _int.erpretation is given, we think,in the strikingly parallel ~ i1,\ D~ 'tjil. 26 and xii. 4--9, where that which the prophet :is commanded to "seal up ":i& DQt what .'God, shall do, 'but what his people's enemiea .eh&ll do against him and thel!l,_ , And .IIO here, we believe, the thunders tell of the wnthful response, the angry muttermgs, of God's enemies against his truth. And thus regar!ied, they teU c0f thf, oppo,iwm_ '1e W-ord MQUlllll in tlk, world of thB 'Wicked. It: has ever been so. :Iu,St. Jphn's d.ay; at the em of the Reformation, witness the cunied cruelties which the< Roman .OathoUc Church in those days -perpetrated in the Netherla11ds~ in om- own lan(i, and .-herever aliio she had power. .And still those " dark places of the earth, which ~ :fiill of ~e habitations of cruelty," are filled with rage when any real invas~ ofJhem is u.iade qy ·the meBBengere of the Word. · Still Christ's Name is as a " 11ign to be ,i;po~ against. n ·And it was fitting that these voices should not .be written. Till! plllJl.OS8 of tli,is book was t.o eonsole and strengthen the Church, not to distress and alarm. , Henoe the Divine foroea on the Bide of the Church and against her foes are what this book mainly re:veala. ft.'tells us, "The Lord is. on our side; we will not fear what man,can do unto 11&",., IV. THE DD'IEOTIONB ooNOEBNING IT, As it was with the "little b(,ok" so must it be with the Word of God : 1. It· must be· received aa from .Goll. If we look upon the Bible all on " any other book," as on ordinary literature, we shall lack that rey-el'f!ntial docile epirit wluch is neoessary,i.n order to receive its truths.. .'l'he book, was 1;o, be takefl from the· hand of the angel (ver. 8). 2. It mmt b, ~ into the squl. Tliie ls t h e ~ of the.strange command, "Take it, and eat.it up._~ It ~ as ~ u Jeremiah said, "Thy words WIile found, and-I did eat them;" as wh81l our,1'9rd ll&id, "Except-ye eat the flesh of the Son of man," etc. (John vi.). We are to "read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest'' its troths ; make them part of our very selt So must it be with tholle who would know the power of God's Word. 3. ,W7ie,a so takm, ~.·'. 'Will produce botA BOl'T010 and Joy. The first taste will be pleasa.nt. "In thy mouth sweet as honey." And it is so. Is it not a joy that we have a revelation from God ~t "11; that we are not left in the dark aa to our whence and whither ; that we are &ll8Jlred God ill ..our Father which art in heaven;" that our salvation is" without money and without price;" for that Christ died for us? Yes ; " sweeter also than 11.oney anj). tlie hQ118Y-oomb " are these precious truths. But the qfttlr~ladf ·will cause distress and ~ Witness the Saviour's tears. wept over lost souls, and the like .tears shed sml by th°"' who know "the fellowship of his sufferings." That IW!l1 ahQuld ~ and rejept mch a Saviour; that we •hould ao long have done so. ad do not yet wilolq receive bun r)'l!Bo this aftei'-t.aste bath )!I.WI. 4,. W-. _,., iC qualvi,,- for ~·~u_w 284 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE. [011:.x.. 1-11.
lot- God. . (Ver: 11.) This is the real qualification, this deep experimental knowledge of the power of God's Word, All else is as naught compared with this. Only Bllcb Goo ordains to be his prophets. Thus doth this "little book," though lt meant ,not .the ·Bible;'tell of the Bible.-8. 0.