will be noted in subsequent homilies. The song of the l!econn i~ before uii now. If we ask and answer four questions; we shall know !Is much about the song and the singers 88 it is possible to do in this state. 'l'he four queries are : (1) Who are singing the song? (2) At what time? (3) What are the contents or it? (4) Where is it being sung? I. WHo ABE S!NGING THE SONG? 'fhey" that come victorious from (br) the beirst," etc. (ver. 2). Then it is evident that they are those who once were in the scene of conflict here below; who had to maintain a fight, hard and stern, ag&inst a godless world and a corrupt Church; in fact, against all the forces which, led on by" the drngon," are used by the first and the second beasts. We cannot mistake them,_any more than we can the glorious company mentioned in the seventh and fourteenth chapterB. They once were strugglers Bnd wrestlers here. But their toils are over, and they hMe gain,ed the victory. They it is who now are singing the song. . II. WHEN? To WHAT TIME DOES THE APOSTLE POINT us? It may be rem!\rked by some, that inasmuch as the visions of the conflict indicate future troubles, so the brighter visions indicate future glories, Tni.e. But we must remember that we are already more than eighteen hundred years onward, and therefore that the struggles of this present time are" future" from the Patmos standpoint. Besides, the song is being sung simultaneously with the raging of the conflict. 'l'hey sing in one realm who have sped out of (lrc) the other. 'l'he dragon, the first beast, the second beast, war still. Some have already escaped out of the confusion, have gained the victory, and are einging (411Jvtr1) the song, A further indication of time is given in ver. 4, "All nations shall come and worshi:\ "-future-rpo0'1tv11~troua-w. So that it is evidently before the great work of the world's conversion is completed. Thus we are brought by the time- marks in the paragraph to the conclusion to which we have previously come, viz. that the Church of God exists in two realms. One part of it is in the struggle; a,nother has risen beyond it. Their gladness and song have already begun. Ill WHA.T OP TBB ijONG ITSELF? 1. It has a remarkable name. "The song of Moses ••• and .... the Lamb.!' By the former the deliverance out of Egypt y.as effected, By the latter a redemption infinitely greater, of wbich the earlier one was but a faint and feeble type; l.e. the song is a celebration of redeeming love. and reviews the great redemptive.work in all its phases, stages, and Bges.1 2. It kasjoyom accompani- mmts. "Having the harps of God." Under the Jewish worship, as far back as David's time, the harp was used to aid in sacred song. In a higher realm, where the joy is complete, the<' harp" will never be hung on the. willows, and will never be out of ttine. 3. Its contents are manifold., (1) It oelebratt!s Divine attributes. "'l'hou only art holy." (2) It magnifies the rootitude of the Divine government. "Righteous and true ere thy ways." (3) In it the Divine greatness is extolled. " King of the ages; " •• The Almighty." (4) It finds inspiration in the manirestation of the righteous acts of God. To saints above, from their loftier standpoint, the glory of the Divine dealings is far more clear than it can possibly be to us. We "dwell in clouds below." (5) 'l'lie certainty of the coming triumph gladdens their hearts, "All nations shall cqme," etc. (cf. Ps. Ixxxvi. 9; Isa. ii. 2-4:; lxvi. 23; Zech. vm. 22; Mai. i. 11). . Our Saviour's words intimate to us tliat the pro~ess of the kingdom of God' on earth ls witnessed by thP. saints from their blissful seat in Paradise (of.. John viii. 56, Greek). · .IV. WHERE IS THE SONG BEING BUNG? "I saw ••• them ••• stancUng by the glassy sea." Here, as indeed throughout the chapter, there is an allusion to the ransomed host of Israel when they' stood by the shores of the Red Sea and earig, "Sing ye to the Lord," etc. That sight furnishes the material for the imagery here. And the undel'lying thought which that imagery conveys is this-they stand now in the realm of victory, like as Israel of old when they saw their enemies dead upon the seashore. 'l'hey are in " the land of triumph.'' " There are no foes to encounter there." Here is the fighting ; there, is the rest. Here, the cross; there, the crown. Here, the sigh ; there, the song. Here, the foreboding foar; there, all fear ia for ever done away. In view of all this, lei us note : 1. It is not for nought that we are asked to main- 1 "The song includes everything that God had done for his people alike in Old and New Testarnent times. How clearly does it appear that the beast cannot be Nero I Only one cenMdi~n, not the whole Chmch, conld sing of clcliverance from him" (Milligan). mr. irv. 1-8.] THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN THE DIVL.~E. 885
ta.in the conflict with evil, in the Name and on behalf of our Lord. "If we su1rer, we shall also reign with him." In the day of victory, his triumph will be 0111'11. • Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." 2. However much perplexity and distress the mystery of the Divine ways may occasion 118 now, we may rest assured that when Ood's judgments are made manifest, they will be the theme of adoring praise. There will be seen to be -a unity about them which 88 yet we can BC&rcely discern; a steadfast advance through age after age which in the present bril!t' span of our earthly life we cannot trace; and we cannot doubt that the ultimate issue will reveal a grandeur, a vastness, and a completeness in redemption's plan, which only the Infinite Eye can now discern. Therefore observe: 3. Meanwhile it is an infinite comfort and stay. to our souls amid this troubled. scene, to have had sketched beforehand for us the tribulations through which we must '8nter the kingdom, and the glori01 of the kingdom in which we shall triumph when the tribulation is over.