and adoro the far--see 1ngness of the ~reat Inspirer in inditing lllch wordsu theae. For who cloea oot know that one "Chureh," at any mte, has heaped words on words, aDfl added them tot.he faith, to be accepted.under 1J&in and penalty of .. GMU- ,w•t Aud not content with this, but as if in,ordei' t.o prevent the discovery of her own fraud, ehe debars the people at large Crom free access to the book which would expose is., which is at once ihe charter of the people's freedom from man, end defines t.he a:ten, and the limits of the • true sayings of God.". S. The words which are au 8'ern ·a· guard around thEI -Book of the Apoc.alypse do also apply with ·equal force to whatsoe>rer writings stand on an equal footing of Divine authority (cf. Deut. iv. 1-24; Jer. x~ 16, ad fln.; Gal. i. 6-9; Matt. xv. 9). Hence we should learn (1) to deal with l:n08t cooscientioua care with whatever come• to WI with the weight and sanction of Divine authority ; (2) to remember that there is not anything outstlk the fl(Jgt, of U.. Wm'l'l of Goll that does or am present. snch binding authority; (S) to deal with all that; is so outside the book 88 the word of man, and not. &a the Word of God (see Acts xvii. 13.; 2 Oor. i. 21; 1 Cor. ii. 6). Our faith must notatand "in the wi!!dom of men; but in the power of God.n 4. The words bel"oreua show how an expositor of the holy book is ,to treat it in his teachings to the poop11: Hist.ask is at once grand in its llimplicity, yet. awful in its responsibility. He has, by every possible nreans, (1) to find out exactly what the Spirit of God says; and (2) to impress that, and tllat only, on the heart and conscience of the people. 6. We,heN see also how the people are ooregard an expositot of God'~ Word, viz. as one whose work is to teach the~ not his own thoughts, but the thoughts of God; and they are ever at liberty to appeal from the human speaker to the book. They,must not be pulpit Christians, but Bible Christians. 6. Finally, we learn with what state of mind we ought to Btudy the book in which i1 contained what the Lord hath spoken. 'l'here should be humility, readiness of mind oo hear what God· the Lord will speak, and alao nnswerving loyalty to the God of truth in every point in which we see the truth of God (1 Pet. ii. 1, 2). And in practical obedience to what the Lord teaches us in his Word, we shall come to know,ila glory as our truest guide, and our glory in having such a guide. ·
Ver. 20.-The clo,ing aspiro,tlon: .. Oome, Lord ✓~-" In the homilies on eh. i. 7 and XL 11-16, compared with xxii. 12, we have touched on the aeoond .ootning of Christ. But in each case we have done·so in direct pursuance of our aim of giving a homiletic exposition of the plan of the Apocalypse. Hence in one C&B6 we dealt with it as the one clue threading the entire 8<:ripture; in another case we looked at it as bringing about the consummation of &11 things. • In the passage before us nMv there il!I presente,1 to us yet a third point of view from which it is to be 'regarded, even as the object of the believer's hope, longing, and prayer. ."Come, Lord Jesus." 'l'bree inquiril)il will oome up before ua, replies to whioh may throw light on a most important aspect or the Christiau faith and expectation. . · I. "THAT IB INCLUDED IN THIS ONE HOPE OF THE CnuacH? 'l'he glorious 8 ~ of the great God, even our Saviour JesWI Chridt, i8, without doubt, the "blessed hope. The Churoh is longing for the personal presence of her Saviour, Love cannot be fully B&tisfi,ed while its fondest Object; remains unaeen. Still, the expectation of ike coming of the Lord is one which includes a great deal more than the hope of his ·personal presence. For that of itself, without very much more, would not uy any rueans secure all that believers desire. In fact, even 88 it is, we are better off than the disciples were when JesW1 was on earth. "It is expedient for yon that. I go away," etc. It is not, then, as if we were here weeping and mourning, without a Christ, that we long oo see him, but. because of the glory which shall be ushere,l in at. his coming. It may be well for us, at this stage of exposition, to locate the personal adnnt of Christ according to New Testament eschatology.1 Increasing, repeated studios of the Word drive us further and further away from the pre-millennial hypothesis (although, for the sake of students, we havo indicated in a foot-note below where they may tum for the clearest arrange- ment of it which bas come before us). We do not look for the pcrsontJ reappea1ing of Jesus as ne.ar at band, in point of time, as yet (1889). It is not at. the commencement of an era of blessedness that Scripture warrants us in placing it, but at the consumma- t The Rov. E. H. Elliott, in his' Horoo Apocalyptfoa,,' 5th edit., vol. iY, pp. 196-223, indieates tile pre-millennial order of incident · 1M TlIR ·REVELATION 011' BT. JOBlr THB DIVINE. [cm:. nn. 1-!L