The Pulpit Commentary — Revelation — Section 362

Never again your loins nnt1e, Nor let your torches wime and die, Till, when the shadowe thickest fall, Ye hear your Master'■ midnight call?" VJI. 0Jr WBOJIBOBVEB IS STANDING IN TIII8. ATTITUDE OF Sl!!BVICB, THE MAsTD'B '1dl&SING IS PBONOUNOEO. "Blessed is he," etc. 1. He has the Lord's approval now. I. The .. signs of the times," so portentous to the ungodly, are for him full of hope, 8. The coming of the Lord will usher him in to the blessednet111 and glory of a new and renovated state of being. . · Then let each one inquire-How am I standing at this moment in the sight of my Saviour-Judge? Am I so living that, if he were to come now, he could truthfully say, "Well done, good and faithful servant"? Vers. 17-21.-Tke 8etlfflth bowl. The precise identification of " Babylon the great" must be reserved for our study of the next chapter; the paragraph before us shows us what a downfall is awaiting her. For the present it is enough to remember that it is some vast power of the earth, earthy, whose influence and action have been against rigbteousn888 and 1,eaoe. Under the sixth bowl we witnessed the gathering together of great hosts for a final confliut. Now that last conflict is decided. Man hiw summoned his forces. God brings his also to bear. With man it is the clash of , arms. With God the forces are silent as light, potent as lightning, terrible as the earthquake, and, as if to set forth the exhaustless force "stored up in heaven's armoury, we are told that "hailstones'' fell, of the weight of a talent. Aµ<l. then, then it is that "Babylon the great" comes up into remembrance before God. Some great, yea, gigantic form of evil, proud as Babylon, lustful as Sodom, cruel as Egypt, which has thriven for long unp,unished, comes up for remembrance at last. How far physical convulsions are here intended wedo not venture to say, though Buch may precede the final stroke. It is very clear that jndgment in some form or other is intended. And .the strong probability is that, as in the cases of the Deluge, Sodom, Canaau, 'l'yre, Egypt, etc., both physical and moral crises will synchronize. The expression, that" Babylon the ireat was remembered in the sight of Goel," is full of deep meaning in its moral bearing, though its temporal and local application it may lie, as yet, impossible to decide. 1. How HUCH OF EABTH'B BIN MUST THBBB BE J'OB Goo TO WITNEl!B I In the ~rehouse of bis eternal and infinite mind, all the wrong of which earth has been the theatre and witness is "treasured up." How soon even we can summon up more than we ean bear to reflect upon I The Amorites; Sodom; Egypt ; Canaan; Babylon; pagan Rome; papal Rome; Mohammedanism; the Bartholomew Massacre; papal England; Madagascar martyrs; the Indian Mutiny; ,md an indefinite number more of n,lmeless horrors. Together with a measureless amount of sin, and an innumerable multitude of sins that, in every village, town, and city are being committt:d in the light of day and in the shades of night. All seen, known, infinitely. IL MEN OFTEN ABK-WHY IS Goo SILENT so LONG? There are few trials of faith more severe than this. Why do millions have to endure so much of unnamed su1fering without redress? And all this when so many prayers are being offered up to heaven. Why is it? "Our God," cried one in anguish, "is a God that does nothing J" Again :and again the cry of th1i ninety-fourth psalm comes unbidden to the lips. l[J. WHATEVER KAY BE THIii TBIAL OF FAITH THUS OAUSED, W:& ARE CEBTAIN TBA~ Goo FORGETS NOTHING. He is neither i11differeut, forgetful, nor weak. Not one unrepented sin is forgotten. Not one cry of the humble is unheard. The widow'• moan, the orphan's tears, the miseries of the slave, and all the horrors connected with that "open sore of the world," are remembered bv him. IV. Goo HAS GREAT l'UBPOSES TO ANSWEB IN PltBM:ITTIBG l!IVIL TO GO BO LONG Ul'!PUNIBBED. We know not all of them. We know none of them fully. But we can, thoagh with fear and trembling, suggest: l. By suffering sin to come to its uttermost ripeness, he reveals to men what an evil it is. "By their fruits ye shall know them.• He knows tendencies; we see issues. 2. When the blackness of evil is seen, the righteousness of God'a judgments will also be manifest. Is ii not in this direction that light comes on the text, "The Lord bath made all things for himself; yea, eve» Lhe (III. xvr. 1-21.) THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE. to#