The Pulpit Commentary — Revelation — Section 445

~ 'Jhat.fota-fere very materially'Wi'lih -...--.o1 ihe;ii•.of the believer in -<Jlr,ii& . . ,tluJB .,brougltt to view and expoaed, before. all, .will .the .saved? ,llepl.y: (;-,i) It. iai:R~ surprismg lf, when we attempt detail, we 110011 ,gM - , - i ....-,~..a -1i.llg .il'i&a t.hemes 80 yast. (b) fa this case, h,wever, whatever sin oomes ootlto.fig11t,,._.,_ 1111 that which is repented of on the one .side, and forgiven on the other, So that.(4) even thus the testia,ony would be borne more :'lividly to the re[l'Qwing and forgiving grace QfGod. .Dijftctilty(2): We reart iii. .John v. 24 that he-thai believoth ■baJl,118! (:.ome into jµdgment; and yet we read elsewhere, "We must all Mand.before th~ ji,dgment-.aeat !Of.Obrist.:·," how is thid Reply: Believers, with·others, will ® ffiM40 trianif~t l10fore the judgment-seat of Christ; bu.t 14leir mo.ilifes~µoq will be thal;of p.ardolled and .of sanctified men, whose guilt, .is <:ancelred and whose sin ·is remored Surely, whcn,1his is tak.en,into account, the difficulty ceases. ,rrhere will be no such. Judgment aidD.volves condemnation. 2. On Q.e other suk, t!.. u,ue·will be ~na- lion. The. temble word "Depart!" sums up all hell.(ef. ch.,cii.-6-lo;: 2 The111t i. 10-l'l; 2 Pet. iii 7; Mark iL 43-:{S). Wha.,tfurther remarks .we ha;v~ ,to offet ()n the afl:Alt-srate of the ungodly. we resene for the next homily, obiervit1g. ae~ onl)i' th11t 11:111,-u,/pa cannot mean anything less tha.n "an adv;erse verdict1'!, and,what that Jl).ay.involve, as a final aentenoe .from the lips of the King of kings, we pray God •• may never know:! ·, • . . . . ; ,. :, ' Note: That scelleuo ao1emn aa the one put before ~ in this paragraph are meant. t,o tell mightily llpoD .us, and' tW they ought to do eo, ·we cannot q1WStion,. however incapable we -,Jlla.y be of realiung all the details thereof, Any one· or more of the following applica.tions may well be earnestly pressed on.. tl.le touscienoo by paatora IIJ.li teaehera.. 1. Let,every believer keep in view the judgment-,da.y,·wiili ap~iOU8 deelre then• to. be :approved of the Judge (l Johll ii. 28): .. 2•. Let us. endeavour Ill.ore ;fully to realize the fact· thal we are perpet.uo.ll.y under the IICllltinizing gaze of ·him "with. whom: we !iave to do.":· 3. Let 1:8 regard e.Tety ~tioil as a l_aying_ up of treasure or_of wrath. agamst the great ·revealing day (.Rom. n. · 5; l Tun. v1. \H). 4. How, rntense.ly momentA:ius dot!f! • pastor's or a teacher's. work appear in. :view of .that. day (lleb.. xiii. U) I , .Jt ill not to be wondered at if at times the weight of respoo;wbility ilt DlQl'9 thsn he knows. how to bear. 5. The responsibility of those who hear the Word• is obviously correspondingly great., lt also ill implied in Heb. xiii. 17. 6. None should ~ that there·is a Divine, a gracious meaning, in the prolonging,•of the <.<.day oi aabation." The.promise mad the menace are not forgotten. God is not weak. Neither is he indifferent. .He is "long-~uJiering towards 1us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." With a view to this his goodneas is drawing men now. He waits to be gracious. But we have no reason fur thinking that he will we.it always. Ven. 11~15.-The ,econd death: ehe lake .of firt, "This is the second death, the lake of fire." Few of our readers, if any, are likely here to lose sight of the symbolic style of the Apocalypse-a style which, indeed, so largely pervades it, that if there ,nre not oilier p&Sfagea bearing on like themes and couched in different phraseoloyy,. '8a THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINR (a.11. :tt. 1-18.