The Pulpit Commentary — Revelation — Section 337

tbey speed their flight. through mid-heaven bearing its blessed message. 3. The go,pel In ib univeraality ia good. "Having ihe everlasting [ eternal] gospel to preach [pro- claim] unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred [tribe], and tongue, and people" (ver. 6). It overleaps all geographical boundaries, all tribal, national, linguistic distinctions, and addresses man as man. 4. Th6 got.pd in its 1>ur- fl0/lll -ii good. "Saying with a loud voice (he saith with a great voice], Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters" (ver. 7). The supreme aim of the gospel is to induce all men to worBhip him who made heaven, earth, and sea. Man is made for worship. '!'here is no instinct in the soul -deeper, stronger, more operative ; there is no service for the soul more worthy, nay, so worthy and so blest, as that of worship. Worship is the Paradise of souls. II. THB DESTRUCTION OF EVIL, "And ihere followed another angel [another, a second angel, followed], saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen [fallen, fallen is Babylon], that great city [the great}, because she (which bath] made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication" (ver, 8). I take Babylon here as standing, not for ,he capital of Syria, not for Rume,either pagan or papal, nor for the site, the masonry, the insti- tutions, or the populations of any city that ever has been or ever will be, but as repre- senting the upirit qf evil that moulded and mastered the old metropolis of Assyria. :Babylon to me stands as the mighty aggregalicm of a(l the moral evils at work through- out all society in all the metropolises ofthe universe. This aggregation of evil is what Paul calls" the world." Two remarks are suggested. I. This aggregation qf evil must fall. Babylon must tumble into dust. The colossal image will not only be smashed into atoms by the "little stone" of truth, but every particle will be borne away by the win(h; of Di vine influence, so that " no pince will be found for it." Faith is to overcome the world. 2. This aggregation of evil falls as the good advances. The gospel having been proclaimed to eve1y "nation," and "tongue," and "people," and all brought to worship him that made heaven and earth, Babylon totters, crumbles, and rots. The goapl dest_roys the spirit of evil, ond its forms fall to pieces. You may destroy the forma of evil in the habits and institutions or the world, but unless the spirit is extinguished yoa have done no good. Burn up Rome, but if its spirit remains it will grow and work, and produce, perchance, forms more hideous and oppressive. No pontiff that ever occupied the papal chair has ever had more popery in his nature than can be found in mauy a l'rnttstant clergyman, ay, and in mauy a Nonconformist minister too. UoNCLUSION. Would you have Babylon to fall? Then speed on the gospel; no~ the gospel of aect, or of Cf'eetll, but the gospel of the evangelists.-D. T. Ver. 6,-..4,. Ueal preadier. "And I saw another angel," etc. It is legitimate, and it may be useful, to look at these words as symbolizing the ideal preacher. Lookiug at them in this light, we obi;erve concerning the ideal preacher- L His THEMB IS GLORIOUS, "The everlastiug gospel." Observe: 1. Ith a gospel. That is" good news," or" glad tidings." It is a message, not of Divine partiality or Divine wrath to the world, but of Divine love-the love of the great Father for his fallen children. 2. It ia an· ever-enduring gospel. Everlasting : (1) Because its elemeu- tary truths are absolute. These truths are the existence of God as Maker and Manager of the universe; the obligation of all moral beings to love hiru .supremely because of his sullreme goodness, etc. 'l'hese are mere specimens of the truths that abound in the gospel, and as auch they cannot die out, they must continue as the laws of nature. CoD.tinue, not only amidst all the revolutions of time, the discoveries of true science, but amidst all the cycles of eternity. (2) Because its redemptive provisions are complete, Its special mission is to effect man's restoration to the knowledge, image, and enjoyment of his Maker. Ii has all the elements and the powers for the purpose, Nothing is lacking, nothing can be added to it. It is complete. It is everlasting in the sense that the sun is everlasting, becaui,e it contains all that the centre of the planetary system requires to fulfil its purpose. Thus it contains the things that cannot be moved. 3. It is a world-wide gospel. "To preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people." This means that it is not for a sect or a class, but for humanity. It i1 for man as man, irrespective of his colour, his country, hi.a OB. xiv. 1-20.J THE REVELATI0N OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE.. 977