The Pulpit Commentary — Revelation — Section 500

be brought about I If men were all righteous, if they were like him who went abou& doi.:.g good, our race would forthwith have Parl\dise again I · 6. Now, aa a. matter of fact, .J.O founder or a religion baa ever set on foot a scheme of truth or an ~ af power with the expl'ellS purpose of putting down wrong aµd of bringing pa¥* u ness, but the Lord Jeaua Christ. He only haa recognized fully the ...,_.,..,-,.ritual :natur~ But. he has. And he ia" mighty to save." He lia . . . lllilioM, and ia doing 10 now. But he alone. 7. ~ bei.ug-,. - lail. • Wm .-ho ia the Author of our Iait.h to he .ila Fiai&blr illD. A.I Ila . _ by Im 'Spirit now quickens men ao that 1My . . alive lllllDGad, inlfevting a work which is bringing in the isauefor which w~ long. Of this, evolution gives no account, and can give none.. B. The Lord Je1UB Ohtist bas left WI the direct and positive &8BUl'l\noe that" he will make all things new." And if it be said to ua, 11 Do not the t.errible disorders of earth &hake your faith?" we n,ply.-Not for a moment. Why should they? Nothingworae bas happenedyet t ~ the seven seals, trumpets, and vials have indicated. And'the end ie beyond all theseJ Bow far beyond in point of time none can say, 9• .Already, In the millions of eonla ingl'theroo, we have had many an earnest and pledge of the glorious harvest--day. Historr ia opt;niug up strictly according to the lines of tlie holy book, and it willJ "He who bath begun the good work will pedbrm it unto the day of Jesus Christ." 10. And the riper we get in grw:e, the more intense our. love for our Lord, the more eagerly and passionately do .we long for him to" complete the number of his elect," and tu manifest her power and glory. And this desire, which by Christ has been created, by Chri.~t himself shall be ultimately fulfilled. Sarel1 these t.en reasons, 18parately and fairly estimated, and then put together in cumulative force, do furnish an ample reason why believers in Jesus should regard the progress of their race and the glory of their Lord as leagued together in an everlasting bond. Reason enough is there here for the cry, "Come, Lord Jesus: come quickly I" ill. IN WHAT LIGHT DO ALL TWmll OONIIIDDJ.TIOlU BET TBIII AIPIRATION OF THB TUT? L They account for the text being the prayer of the Church, for they show that it expre881!8 the longing that the redemption already enjoyed by believers may be manife:!ted in our race. 2. This petition," Come, Lord Jesua t come quickly l" is a con- 1tant revealer of the unity of the true Church. The words go up from all Christian heart& Romanist, Anglican, Protestant, Confonnist and Nonconfurmist, all unite here. 3. The 11CCepta.nee of the hope indicated in the prayer of the text is a test of the accuracy of a man's mental science and philosophic insight. That is no true science, that is no true philosophy, in which there is no room for this blesseu hope. Its valt10 can be denied only where plain and palpable facts of human nature, which ought to be taken into aecount, are .ignored. 4. The text becomes a test of character. "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." Similarly, as a man wngeth in his heart, so is he. Let a man tell us for what he most wishes, and we will tell him what he is. He will thereby show us: (1) The direction of his life. Every man hopes most for that to which his s.,ul is most akin. And (2) the intemiity with which lie is moving in that .iirectioll.' He11ce: 5. The text becomes a criterion of safety. If a man is among those who are looking for Christ, be is among those to whom Christ's coming will bring in the salvation yet to be revealed. If a man is. among those who care not for these things, he is one to whom the second coming will bring weeping and wailing and gnashing of .teeth.. "Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent, that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless." And should any urge that " he prophesietli of the times a.far off," let such remember that, however distant the consummation may be, the previous preparation is in all cases a continuous process, which ii going on now. "Seek ye the Lord whilf M may befouniJ,." "Now is the accepted time; llOW ia the day of salvation,• Ver. 21.-Tha cloamg lJen«licwm. The Revised Version reads, .,The grace of the Lord Jesus be with the saints." Pleasant is it to find the seer of Patmos, ere he lays down his pen, breathing out to the saints this pious and holy wish. No concl1ll>ion to the holy volume could be more suitable in itself or more grateful to the feelings of the believer. It will form an appropriate close to our homiletic expositions if we look ai this final benediction from a triple point of view-the historic, the dogmatic, the pnM:\ical. ·.. ' C'Tmr 1miJm10TION HAI A RICH HISTORIC INTERffl; We may regard it either U being an: apoitolic wish in hia own 'name, or in the ·name of all believel'II. Supposing It to bit·the form.er{and, anyway, it is certainly that), it has all the weight and worth that an apostolic utterance· can carry with it. . Supposing it to be also the latter, then lt ·\~ a ne.w, a Christian form of brotherly well-wishing, which within about aixty yeate before the time that the apostle wrote, had been newly created. lt was, in fact, a totiill7 new -exptet11ion of sacred friendship; it was a new birth; it was an hidication of a new 10\tl!i uniti1li!; beUeverS in one Being, whom before his advent earth had neTilr known. '11ie', o1d formula," Peace be with you," is now supplemented by "1'he grace of the Lord Jt'\1111! be' wi!b you;" This is an hiilrori-0 fact or no small intere8t and importance. · .It ia one ofthosi, "evtflenoes of Christianity" which can never ~ questioned by th~ who muleistll:nd thifmatter, showing ns that a new tidal wave of 10\'e swept over mankind ~hen Jesus ClID!e. It is well known that ChrMian t,ourists in Rome can discern in the tlitferences' between the epitaphs and epithets on pagan and Christian tombst:onea, th.e eTideqces of a new life and love in the latter marking them off from the former. So here, 11:\ the inrlkation which these words furnish of a newly living friendship and brother'- booj in Christ,. is a proof of the new; fraternity in hitmt>l! which be a:lono ·created, and which, apart from him, ha(l'never been. Historically, the benediction before us sorves another purpose. It was ,vritten by the·Apoetle John; . Even unhelief allows this, albeit it makes th allow~nce with ~ questionable purpose.1 Still, it ia &!lowed, apd we have no oee<l to argue it. The Apostle.John wrote thesewordswheo he was an exile in Patmos, under Domitian, about the year A.D-. 96. This brings the writing of the text well Within the lines of the first century, and also as written by one who had held and taught· the same faith about J l'SUS Christ for more than half a century. What that faith was we hllve yet to see. It is enough just now to observe only how far we get histori• cally in the survey of this parting blessing._ Eve11 thus far-tltnt we know, as a matter or hfatoric 'faet, that within the fil'l!t centriry, f'aith in JesUB· Christ waa so far rooted, 1·stablisbed, and ramified, as to have produced a brotherhood welded together in him, ·on which the invocation of his grace and bllll!sing was felt tQ be a suitable and adequate outpouring of the wishes of the Christian. heart. Now, it is of some moment ro remember this, and to inform others of it. . For there are'not·wanting those--albelt they are not found in the circles. of the ripest 11n,i ·d8"outest scholars-who have ~ain- taineil, and do maintain, that nothing certain ctm be laid hold of about Jesus Christ till from sixty, seventy, or even a hundred and twenty years after bis death:• 1'his benfi.. diction alone .refutes that assertion; and whoever makes it Is either dishonest or incompetent-which, we do not care to decide. . · Il. Tm:. BENEDICTION lIAB AN EQUAL DOCTRINAL VA.LU& li We come closely to examine it, we shall perhaps be surprised to find how much can be gathered· from it. It is said _that if a bone be put into the hands of a skilled anatomist, he can judge thetefront what was the form of the entire bodily framework of which it was a part. So, give'thls text to a Christian theologian, and he can construct therefrom the outlines of a fairly complete theology. Let us, then, see what the words involve. l. Certainly they assume the actual existence of the Lord Jesus Christ, although at the time they were written, some sixty ~ars had passed since his ascension. The Lord Jesus is evidently regarded as still Jiving, as having overcome "the sb:trpness of death." For 1urely the" grace" of a dead Christ is altogether inconceivable. 2. The words assume the existence of "grace" in Jesus Christ; i.e. of mercy, favour, tmd of the fulness thereof in him. It ia the same term as is applied to God. "The 'gr&<'~ of God that bringetb salvation bath appeared," etc. So the like term is appiied to Christ in a sense in which it never can be applied to any mere creature. Our Lord said to Paul, "My grace is sufficient for thi-'8." As "grace" resides in him, it is virtue, power; as it comes to us it is blessing, various as the need; coming to us a11 sinful beings it is mercy, pity. .And, as such, the words assume its exist- ence in our Lord Jesua Christ. 3. They also imply the close relationship between 1 i!ee 'Snpematura.I Religion.' 1 So much out of date is euch 11,n assertion that we feel as if an apology were due to our readers for even referring to it. But, ib fact, we had, during our own pastorate, to engage in battle with unbelievers on thia nry point. Bo that we dcc,m ii beat not to ornttit. mr. xxn.1--21.] TRE REVELATION 01!' ST. JOHN THE DIVINE. 557