lation In the days of John, and they have been mnltiplying ever llince. !. The f'OP11'" lation w divinely distinguiahed. "His Father'• name written in their foreheads., (ver. 1). Men glory in things that are supposed to distinguish them advantageouslJ from their fellow-men-the attractions of phyaical beauty, the glitter of wealth, the pomp of power; but the greatestof all distinctions, the grandest atid highNt, is to have the name of the grta4 Fath.er ,nanifesl '1l ow- lives-written on our very "foreheads." (1) It is the most beautiful distinction. The face is the beauty of man; there the soul reveals itself sometimes in sunshine and sometimes in clouds, The beauty of the face is not in features, but in expressions, and the more i1 expresses of purity, intelligence, generoaity, tenderness, the more beautiful it is. How ~utiful, then, to have God's name radiating in it I God's name is the beauty of the universe. (2) It is the most con- picuou, distinction. "In}heir forehearls." It is seen wherever you go, fronting every · object yon look at. Godlme88 cannot conceal itself. Divine goodneas is evermore self• revealing. As the face of Moses shone with a mystic radiance when he came down f.i:om the mount after holding fellowship with God, so the lives >f all godly men are encircled with a Divine halo. (3) It is the most hon<nwable distinction. A man eometimes feels proud when he is told he is like some great statesman, ruler, thinker, reformer. But how transcendently honoµrable is it to bear in our face the very image of God I Let us all seek this distinction. With the Father's "name in our foreheads" we shall throw the pageantry of the shahs, the emperors, and all the kings of the earth into contempt. 3. The population ii rapturomly happy. "And I heard a voice from heaven, 88 the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the Toiee of [the voice which I heard was tbe Toice of] harpers hm-ping with their harps~ and they sang [sing] as it were a new song" (vers. 2, 3). All souls yonder run into music! Here is music loud 88 booming billows, pealing thunders, and melodioua as tbe enrapturing strains of the harp. How mean and unworthy are men's views of religious mu■io. "Let us sinit to the glory and praise of God," says the leader of public worship. And forthwith a whole congregation breaks into sound. And if the sound is regulated by the harmonious blending of notes, the production is called a "Service of Song ; " and more, alas I is made an article of trade. Large incomes are made by the B&le of such music. Can such Le the music of heaven? Nay. TnuJ mmic ia tha harmony qf .SOtll-souls moving ever in accord with the Supreme Will. True muRic consists not in blending of sounds, whether vocal or instrumental, however charming to the senses, but in sentiments unuttered, perhaps unutterable, yet entrancing to con- science and pleasing to God. 4. The population i, redemptively trained. "No man wuld learn that song but. the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed [purchased] from the earth" (ver. 3). Heaven, it has been laid bJ men of old, is a prepared place for a prepared people. It is verily so. Observe: (1) Man requires training for heaven. (2) Redemption is the method of training for heaven. (3) Earth is the scene of t.his redemptive training. o. Tha population ii spotless1! ,un. "These are they which were not defiled with women ; for they are virgins (ver. 4). There are those of our race who have never fallen, who have retained their virgin innooence, who required no pardon for their sins, nor regeneration. What millions of the human population die in their infancy, and go on unfolding their facul• ii.ea and invigorating their strength through indefinite ages, in scenes of absolute holi- ness and infallible intelligence l They were not " redoomed from the earth ; • such redemption they required not. From the dawn of their being they were ushered into the realms of immaculate purity and perfect bliss. 6. Ths population w absolutely loyal. "These are tbey which follow the Lamb whithersoever be goeth" (ver. 4). All follow the Lamb, the Christ of God. "Two words, "Follow me," embody at once the whole duty.and perfect Paradise of souls. "Whithersoever he goeth." He ie always moving. "The Father worketh hitherto, and I work." We cannot do exactly what he Joes, but we can imbibe that spirit which inspires him in all he does. Would I become a great painter? then how shall I proceed? If I copy the exact style and method of one of the greatest masters of the art, I shall only become a mere mechanic in the profeSllion, never an artist. But if I catch tho genim of the great master, I may, peradventure, leave him behind, and win a place and a distinction all my own. Let us catch the moral genius of Christ 'I. Th, population iB mct>N"Uptfbly truthful. • ID their mouth wu found no guile [lie]: for they are without fault before the throne cm. nv.1-20.] THE REVELATION OF ST. JOIIN THE DIVINE. 875
or God [they are without blemish] " (ver. 6). No lie I How unlike. Ull I The 9001aJ atmosphere of our world teems with lies as with microbes. Liea in parliaments, ha markets, in Churches. The whole world teems with impostors. What a bleued world muat that be where all is truth and reality 1-D. T,