Ver. _7.-The predominant practical pu".flOB6 o/ the Apocalyps~. "He thai over.. oometh," etc. At the beginning of this book-in the epistles to the seven. Ohurche&- we bad tl).is repeated promise, "to him that overcometh." And. its reiteration. tbm-e M well as here alike proves that the purpose of this book was an intensely practical one. It waa not given to furnish food for mere mental or sentimental musings, ot: to be only a treasure-house of poetical imagery. Far other and higher than these ~ $he ends contemplated. Think of some of them. I. THAT oN& HEBB NAKED-to encourage the persecuted, much-tried Church, into w~e ~nds the book first ea.me, to continue patient, to increase courage, to endure still the trials of their lot. For this were aU its awful warnings, its vivid pictures of judgment, its entrancingly beautiful promisea-so exceedingly great and precious. They all aimed to deepen in the mind of each member of the Ohurch the conviction of Rom. viii. 18, '' I reckon that the sufferings of this present time a.re not worthy," etc.; and to convince of the truth of the Lord's words (Matt. xix. 29), " Every one that ha.th forllllken," etc. Such wu the primary purpose of the book. Billi t4ere are others.. . IL To VINDIOATB THE OHABAOTKR OI' Gon. It bas ever been the tria.l of the thl>ughtfol in all a.gea how the present condition of the world oould be con:;;istent with ibe conviction of the character of God a.11 holy, just.•ntl good. This Apocalypse of the end and iSBue of all things does not a little to reassure and re-establish the tottering faith. When we know we a.re being conducted to a glorious and beautifal city where w would fain be, we do not heed overmuc4 the discomforts of the way. IIL To BNNOBLB LIFB. It does this : 1. By revealing a nablB de,tmy. The tlovatlug power of such a revelation cannot l!ut be, for it always is,. greai. 2. BJ 526 TIIE REVELATION' 011' ST. JOHN THE DMNE. (cu. u,. t-21.
impiriwg ,cqrn/or wAal ia inconaiatene ~ 8. By uplifting oar deairu Gntl aama. IV. To tllPABT PA'l'DINOB D IIUPPERING. If I believe in the illaue of suffering, and know the good it is to "-work out," must not this minister patience? , v.- To lUXB U8 "ALWAYS ABOUNDING IN THE WORK 01!' TBE LORD," ~ause here we haw shown t,o 1111 " that our labour is not in vain in the Lord.'' No faithflll effi>rt is thrown ewa:r, or can be. done •t ' VI. To nBNISH us WITH A GOSPEL ,FOB THE POOR. Because, when here we have we can for those who need our help, ministering to them to the best of our power, if we have nothing else to say to them, our all ia but little. But this ApocalypRe gives us much else-much indeed. -vu. To MEET AND !lllNI!!TEI!. TO THB NATURAL m:smE POB BLESSEDNESS. :Man is made to be blessed. His constitution demonstrates that, and his incessant desire for happiness is that which lends greatest force to the lies of the world, the flesh, and the deviL Now, in such revelation of the future of God's redeemed as thesa chapters give, .there is the response to that hunget of the soul which others falsely promise, but which this alone can give. · VIII. 'fo MAKE THE LoRD JEsus CHRIST PBBOIOUB '1'0 us. For he it is who, havin~ "overcome the sharpness of death," has opened" the kingdom of heaven to All believers." We owe it all to him, and by him alone can we keep in that "patient continuance in well-doing," which by his grace lands us at last on that blessed shore. Such are some of the ends oont.3rnplated by this book. Are they being fulfilled in us?-S. O. Ver. 9--ch. xni. 5.-ffie noly Jerustilem. Not "the heavenly Jerw1alem,,. the "Jerusslem that is above," of which we read in Heh. xii. 22; xi. 10, 16; xiii. Ut Gal. iv. 26-the heavenly commllllity of the righteous. Nor the Jerusalem here below, in the present life-the Church -in her militant state. But the Ne-.y,Jernsalem on the glorified earth, with the introduction of which the others vanieh. ·· Now, in the ample and ~utiful deaeription of that which as yet is not, we have not merely whAt may well uplift and make gtad our hearts by way of ·holy anticipation, but also w& have portrayed, in beautiful symbol, the pattern of what the true Church of Christ; eve1111ow and here, should ever upire to b&. St. John was blessed with the beatific vision of" the holy Jerusalem;,. and to this end-as when we would- well-see a; greai mountain we need to be ourselves on a similar elevation-St. John was_ carried a'"'Y to a' great and high mountain; as Moses on Mount Pisgah, t~t he· mrglit' -the better see the promised land. ' But whilst this Word of God tell§ of the chosen' Ohurch· in her consummated and perf8<lt conditWn before God, it is also 'a glorioils picture, not merely to be looked at and longed- for, but, to the uttermost of· our po1r81"; to be embodied in our own Church-life here on earth; Bunyan, in his 'treatise un ~ New Jerusalem, has worked out this idea at length; he holding that these chaptent tell of not the final condition of mankind, the end of all things--,;.for then there will be no longer heathen to be healed, and living yet outside the city-but of the perfecied Church, perfectly redeemed and restored, and "without spot, or wrinkle, or any snelf thing.• But what we have here is the rlescriptfon of 1M true New Testament OhurcA; "As there were three states of Jerusalem, so there are of the Church. The first, for the city, was that under Solomon, and answers to ihe Church in the days of our Lorwf and· his apostles; the second was Jemsalem's degraded and captured state, and answers to·the Church ever since the apostolic age; the third, of which Nehemiah and -Isaiah rolargely tell, is her recovered state when the exiles returned and rebuilt· their city and walls again." The foundation c11apter is Isa. Ix., which was written for the comfort of the captives in Babylon, as is this for the comfort of the Church of to-day. Rapidly reviewing this glorious promise for Christ's Church, we are told- · L ()p BBR GLORY. (Vers. 11, 23.) This is named first in order, as it is first in Importance. It means that the grace of God which is ever in his Church shall appear; be manifest, conspicuous. It is likened to the most precio1111 of stones-not the jasper which we know, for that was never most precio111 nor otherwise such as is heni described; but probably the diamond, which does answer to what is here said. Now, thia "glor7" is the all-important. thing (of. Isa._lx. 19). In the ideal Church, whicb m. :n:t.1-27.] TllE REVELATION o:r ST. JOHN THE DIVL.~E. 527