_11,L THB 1'BJlroIPLEII 01' THAT OOVUNMElC'r IIHALL PERl£BATE- NATION-WI UPI!:, Ll'rD4!rUBEr-AND INSTITUTION& • «The little leaven shall leaven the wholeJump.-1!1 , IV. •UHi>BB THIS GRACIOUS BULB l!IATIONAJ. :ANIHOSITlEB BllALL BE A ~ . "The swords shall be- beaten," ete; .,. · .; V~ 0oNl'LIC'l'ING AND All'U.GONUITIO l'OBCB8. BHALL BB HARMONIZED, ~Tiief,wolf shall dwell with. the Jamb, the leopard lie down:with the kid," etc. , ; r ·;,: - i'VL. BUMAN LDl'B· '.BHALL ali· BEAUTil'IED, ADORNED, AND muGBTBNEl>.," "The wilderness and the· solitary place ehalr be glad, and the desert blossom.as the 1'0Slt.• . ·" VII. To THE MILD ·AND BENEJ!ICENT · SWAY · OF THE REDEEMER , SHALL 1111 · BANDBII OVEBl.'DHB OUTLYING A.ND OUTCAllT'HATIONS• OF THE EARTH. ~•He miall-bave.' the heathen for bis inheritance, and th·e uttermost parts of the earth for his posllt'striot.·" ·· VUL· TBIS REIGN.SHALL BE OHABAOTEBIZED BY THE KOST BLESSED •OW.-:dJ:TIONS. " la hw, day shall righteousness prevll.il, and ,abundance of peace, 10 long.'! ebi,-R.· G. , ' . ·-·!- - •· '.J tl, . .I -
Vera. ].;._19.-The ffl_.O/ right on carlh, "And there was given me··• ,,eed like unto a mi: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God,,and the altar, ·and them that worship therein. But the court· which is• without the. temple leave out, and measure It not; for it is given unto the"Gentiles1 -and 'the h~ly city &hali they-tread undenoot forty,a'nd two months," etc. What does this chapterimeanf Bas ituny intelligible meaning? Is it to be taken literally or ideaUy? One'of our most modern, able, and distinguished biblical critics-Archdeacon l<'arrar~bu ,Mfd concerning it, "There neither is, nor ever has been, in Christendom, in an:y age, or among any school of interpreters, the smallest agreement; cw even approach to an agree- ment, as, to the events which the seer had in view•••• There are- nc:,; two writen!of any importance who even approximately agree in their interpretation." Shrinllling, • I do, from contributing anything. to the· unsightly pile of interpretation• ,tbic,h aba:ve been given to this chapter, I shall merely use it as the heavenly 'feacher used t}re lilieB of ilie field and the,birds of the air~to ill1,Mt-rate tfflth. The subject-which it se1t11·i11 some eitent to 11!$ forth is tlu cauae of right on,earth. It i1111strates--the faci.-f '.;,·•• "' 1 I. THAT THE CAUSE 011' BIGHT ON THIS EABTII HAS ITS MEABUBING 11.ULE. '' A.nd·tllere was given me a reed like unto a rod; land the angel stood, saying [one· llllid], Bi~ •d measure the temple,ofGod;rand ihe al.tar, and them that worship therein." 1l'wtHhingi a.re suggested.. 1. '.Chai i,t the human tl10rld thert ·w right and wrong. There, is the templ11 of God, the ait.ar, and ",thi!m that worship therein." At the same time,lthere is the oom that is out.side-the "·court. which is without the temple "--'A 11phere di8C&Rled by the right and trampling on the' holy. · This, however, is only for a time.. 2. ,21kd rig,,, we has its ·measunng-UtN; · Take the f' temple" here as the emblem ·of right on the earth, and the "reed" as that of th& moral Law of God-the Law that· mGIIIUl'6t moral , character. Such a Law we have here, here in the conscience, hare in . the Decalogue, here in the life of Christ. This measuring-line concerns qualities rather than ~uantities~ it analyzes all the elements of character and decides their-·qilalltieit: I~ is a plummet that sounds the deepest depths of. being; it is a moral an&lyil"t-:to teJst; the quality of every thought, affection, and deed; a moral gauge to measure tki height~ bl'eadth, depth, of all. Supreme sympathy with the BUpremely good ia th. I,a,w. · ,,. Toou sha.lt love the Lord. thy God," ete. •" Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned,•and have not charity [love], ii profiteth·rne nothing.'' This is the "reed " to measure the moral temple of the soul and• an· iilr worl!>hippers. Right here requires testing; so mueh passes for right that is wrong that a measuring-line is necessary for testing. ' . II. THAT THE CAUSE OF RIGHT ON THIS -EARTH IIAB 1TB KIGB'l'i' DBl'BNDBBB. . ' 1' l will- give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy." . Who are the'·two witllillll!ee? Moses and,Elijab? Caleb and Joshua? John the Baptist and Christ?· Enooh! and,Jfiljah? Peter and John? No one knows, although hundreds pretend to·say:.- 'Did! I believe that the chapter had a literal -or historic meaning, I would abcept the t ~ th.t· t.hey wt1rethe collective repre,;entative1 of the Jewish and Ge!ltile OO!lVerts iii. pM- fei'ence t.o ,any other. . I take them here to illustrate the mighty 11,ef,nders 'ff tM' calU/#1 of right in this world. •The eause of right bas ever required d~enders; for in -,vwy ag& it h813 :countless hosts -0f antagonists. It has had its Elijahs; atid its J<i(tind its Pauls, its Luthers, its 0romwelle, its Garibaldis, etc., men ·who.. have stood up,; 'l!p0ken: 308 THE REVELATION OF t!T. JOHN THE mVlNJ!l. [en. :n 1-19,