The Pulpit Commentary — Revelation — Section 350

Ven. 1--4.-Divins 1Je11erity cmd h'Uffllllt heroism. "And I saw another sign ln heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven la.et plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God. And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with tire : and them that had gotten the victory over the beast," etc. 'l'his fragment of John'• vision, or dream, brings under our attention and serves to illustrate two subjects : (1) DiviM ,everity; and (2) htffnlffi heroism. I. DIVINB SEVERITY. "And I saw another sign in heaven, grest and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up [finished] the wrath of God" (ver. 1). Undoubtedly in the government of this world there is the stormy as well as the mild, tbe gloomy as well as the pleasant. The goYernmeut under which we live on this earth often assumes aspects of terrible severity. Its manifold ministers or angels bear to us manifold " plagues "-afflictions, which our sin-stricken consciences refer to Divine indignation or wrath. 1. The principle of severity is seen in .matBrial nature. In the inorganic realms all things do not seem mild and pleasant. We·liave tornadoes sweeping destruction over sea and land, we have earthquakes that engulf cities, sounds are heard and sights are witnessed that overwhelm with terror·and. alarm. 2. This principle of severity is seen in the plantal realm. In gardens and orchards, 81 well as in the fields and woods, the open commons and the wild prairies, there is heard the moaning groan and felt the blasting breath of severity shivering the fruit, ecatteringi the blossoms like hosr-froet, freezing the very roots of life. 3, This principle of severity, ls seen in the 1611tient domain. From the behemoths that prowl in the forests, and the. leviathans that sport in oceans, to the tiniest microbes in the microscopic world, there are a,;pects of severity, pains of birth and death, of hunger and thirst, and of predatorial ni,vages and tortures. There is an undertone of sadness heard throughout. " The whole creation groaneth," etc. ·4. This principle of severity is seen in human history. Bodily diseases, secular indigence, socil!J annoyances, heart-bereavements, physical dissolution,-in all these there is often the ghastly appearance of Divine severity. The "seven angels," with their " seven plagues," appear in all directions. I am far enougll from averring that the ministry of pain is a malignant ministry, but, otherwise, it ia benign. Will the ministry of pain ever continue ? Will the "seven angels" be ner on the wing, bearing the "plagu01 "? Cowper says- • "The groans of nature in this nether world, Which Heaven has heard for ages, have an end.• Will they have an end? Heaven grant they may I II. HUMAN HEROISM. "And I saw as it were a sea. of glasa [a glassy ses] minglPd · with fire: and them that bad gott.en the victory over [that come victorious from] the beast, and over [from] his image, and over his mark, and over [from] the number.of hi■ name, stand on the sea of glass [standing by the glasey sea], having the harps of God. And they sing the song of Moses," etc. (vers. 2, 3). The heroes here suggested are: 1. Those who haw conquered the wrong. They are those "who have gotten the viotory over the beast." And wha,t is the beast? Moral wrong in all its elements and forms. Sin is a hideous, ravenous, iniquitous "beast," served and worshiwed by unredeemed men the world over. The foe age.inst which the true hero fights is sin, and sin only. He who destroys life and tramples o~ h'!-man rights is no hero, bnt a mercenary murderer. From no character do I reooil with such horror as from hiui w,i. aella hia 3r!0 THE REVELATION OF ST. JORN THE DIVINE. [mr. xv. 1-8.