The Pulpit Commentary — Revelation — Section 438

81!8 what light Scripture throws on the destiny of each ; studying first the doom of the ungodly, and then the glory of the new heaven and the new earth. The topic of our• present homily iB-TA, day of the Lord• .Inasmuch III our. exposition of d1is and, kindred themes can be valid orrly as it accords with the general tenor ~ the Word of ~ we mll8t en8111'8 a wider MSis. on which t.e rest our unfolding ef this etupendo1111 theme &~an can poeilib1y be found in this symbolic pas1<Sge alone. If we group three other fl&Sllages with it, our course will be clearer. The first is one which follows very sbt,rUy on our prasent ®e, and iii in the twelfth verse of the last ohapter of the. A'llOOalypae. The second is that declaration of the Apostle Peter in. Acts ii. 17-21. Tfl• third is the passage of the Prophet Joel, on whicli the apostle based bis decle.ra- ti<ms concerning the "great and tetrible day of the Lord." 1n·combining the three we abalJ therefore be locating the lle'COnd advent just where it is set in this book, and iadicating its purposes in harmony with the whole tenor of Scripture. L AL'f. PARTS 01' 8oBil'TIJ'Rll CARRY FORWARD OUR THOUGH'l'B TO A GREAT DAT, The Apocalyptic word, in eh. xxii; 12; is but the final setting of a truth which pervade& the. whole of Beitpt11re. "That day," "the great day," "the day of, the Lord," "the great and terrible day of the Lord/' "the da.y whe11 the Lord Jesus shall be revealed. ftom heaven,• •• the lSBt day,'' ''the b,a.rvest,"-these and many· other Bllch phPasee are found, · Enoch prophesied, "Behold, the Lord cometh," etc.··· Job dtola.red, " He shall and at the latter day upon the earth.'' Ase.ph BBllg, "Our Goo' shall come and shall not keep silence.• 'l'he preacher said, " God !!hall btjng every work into judg• ment." · The prophets cast their glances forward tar ·beyond the firat appearing of oil? Lord, Isaiah, Hosea, Joel, and• the rest. Our Lord. in the three several sta!:(es of his teaching, declares the same•. When in the fl.csh, he spake bf the-time when he should' come 'in his glory. He inspired Peter, ·Paul, and John to write of his reappearing. And all but hia last word in the Apocalyptic unfolding& ls, as it were, the final seal upon all ,this: "Behoki, I come quickly ; snd my reward is with me, to give every man according as liis work shall be." ' 'II. THB TIHE IS FIXE'I> FOR THE OOllME~CF.lfENT OJ' THAT DAY. "I comequickly.• This was said eighteen hundred years ago, and onr Lord is not come yet. But .. on.e day is with the Lord as a thousand years," d,c. 'l'ime is not counted· only by the ticks of a dial, but by the growth of men. The second coming is, according to the Apostle Peter, the event which is at once to consummate and close this reon, Paul tells US; ":Now is the day o( Ml..,Ation;" and" He bath appointed a day in which he will judge the world," etc. 'l'he Prophet Joel tells us, "In those days, &,mi in that time, when b1hall bring again the caprivityof Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations." So we find in the New Testament that. the receh-ing of Israel once more shall be followed by the bringing In of th1ffulness of the Gentiles. 'l'he~e two great issues are to be witnessed before the encl· cometh. Aa the wurld is not moving on blindly without any definite end· at all, so neither is it moving on without a Divine foresight and purpose as to when or how the end she.11 come. ~• The spirit of the living creature is in the whl'els;" "The whtels- are full of eyes.'' 'l'owards this momentous point all thing1rare tending. To the fast the world will seem indifferent.thereto, "As it waa in the days of Noah •• , so shall it be in the day when the Son of num is revealed." . Ill. BTABTLDrG SIGNS WILL HERALD THE APPROACH Ol!' THAT DAY. Our Lo1·d and his apostles were very clear on this matt.er (Matt. ixiv. ; Actlf ii.). Nor waa the Prophet Joel, among others, lees 110 (ii. 31; iii. 15; comp. also Hag. ii. with Heh. xii.). 'l'here is room for wide differences of opinion here as ·to whether all. these expressions signify extraordinary·and marvellous natural phenomena, or rather great cofl\tulsions in the ecclesiastical ·and political spheres. Possibly both are intended. Moral and physical cri8811 and epochs have often coincided, and may again. In Hnmboldt's 'Koi;mos' 1 no fewer than aeventeen instances are given of remarkable natural phenomena similar to those described in Scripture, 110me of which occurred at great crises in national life. or in the 'World's history. · · · IV. A VAST ASSEMBLAGE WILL BE GATHERED ON THAT DAY. What B viaion before the mind s eye when we look at the Apocalyptic words 1 "'l'o give every man;" 1 "Every eye shall see him;" "We must n.11 stand before the judgtnent-seat of Christ." See alBO the Prophet Joel's words," Mu;tHudeH, multitudes in the valley of decision;" 1 Vol. iii. pp. 282, 283, and in Note f81 (Sabine'• tran.slation). ea XL 1-15.J THE REVELA.TWN, OF ST; JOHN TRB;l)JVIN& 4i8Ci