The Pulpit Commentary — Revelation — Section 340

"'Be patient, oh be patient I Go and wAteh the wbeAt-ean grow, So imperceptibly that ye ean mark nor change nor throe, Day after day, day after day, till the ear ia fully grown, And then again, day after day, till the ripened field is brown. " Be patient, oh be patient I Though yet ymir hopes are green, The h111'Veat-fields of freedom shall be erowned with BUDDY sheen i Be ripening, be ripening, mature yom silent way, Till the whole broad land ia tongued with fire on freedom's harvest-day." (R. 0. Trench.) D. T. Vet. 13.-Hea11en'• daeription. of Oie sa4nted d«l<l. •~And I heard a TOioe from heaven saying unto me, Write, Bleued are the dead which die in the Lord from hence- forth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their laboll1'8; and their works do follow them." Here is a voice from heaven. Voices from ear_!ih are plentiful-they load our air and din our ears. We have voices from the markets and voices from the Parliament, voices from the Church and voices from the college, voices on every subject and in every key. They are contradictory and unsatisfactory; they solve not the deepest problems of the soul Thank God, there is a voice from heaven-let us listen to it. It comes from infallibility itself; and teaches the moat. momentous questions of interest and destiny. Notice-- I. HEAVEN'S DESCRIPTlON 01!' THE CHARACTER 01!' THE SAINTED DBAD. a Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord." Their character was that of vital union with Christ. The Scriptures represent this union by a great variety of figure. Itis compared to the union of a building with its foundation-stone-its existence depends upen it; tot.hat of the branch and the vine-its strength, foliage, fruit, life, of the one depend upon the sap it derives from the other; to that of the spirit and the body-the former being the source of animation, the impulse of activity, and the guide of the movements of the latt.tr. These figures confessedly indicate a union the most close and the most vital. This union may include two things. 1. Their ezistence in his affectiom. We live in the hearts of those who love UB. Children do thoroughly live in the affections of their loving parents, that they control their plans and inspire their efforts. Because the child lives in the heart of the affectionate parent, the parent lives and labours for his child. In this sense Christ's disciples live in him; they a.re in his heart; he thinks upon them, he plans for them, he works for them, he causes "all things to work together for good." 2. Their ea;istence fa his character. Without figure, we live in .the character of those we admire and love. Arnold's most loyal pupils live in his character now. Tl1ey see their old master in their books, and hear him in their sermons. Christ is the grand Object of their love, and the chief subject of their thought, and to please him is the grand purpose of their life. As loving children identify themselves with all that pertains to their parents, so they feel a vital interest in all that relates to the cause of Christ. This Paul felt. '' I live; yet not I, hut Christ liveth in me." This character implies two thing1. (1) A moral change. Men are not born in this state. "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature." The change is so great. that the man must be conscious of it. (2) A J°udicial change. "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." Their sins a.re pardoned, their iniquities are forgiven; they "have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Such i.a the characwr of the sainted dead 811 here described. "They die in the Lord." II. HEAVEN'S DESCRTPTION 01!' THE CONDITION OP THE 8AI1'TED DBAD, "Bleu«J are the dead." 1. Their blessedneBB is in red from all trying labour. Not rest from work, for work is the condition of blessedness; but from all trying labour, all anxioua toil, all wearying, annoying, irritating, fruitl6811 toil (1) Rest from all trying labour per- taining to our phy1ical ,ub,istenc,. By the sweat of our brow here we have to eat bread. Not so yonder. (2) Rest from all trying labour pertaining t.o ifitell"'ual cultun. How much trying labour is there here to train our faculties and to ge, knowledge l "Much study is a weariness of the flesh." Not IO yonder. (3) Rest from all trying labour pertaining to our apiri.t'IJ,(1,/ cultivation. Here we have to wrestle hard against our spiritual foea, and often have to cry out iu the atruggle, "0 wretched m&1l 880 'I'HE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE. (oa. xiv. 1-2v;