Vers. 1-6~--The conditions 6/ ble::sedness. These must be thought of u 6nt on earth, afterwards in heaven. The river of the water of Hfo must be the life-giving and ·sustaiuing power of the fl.,Jy Spirit. -It is life-life indeed and of a truth. But man has no life apart from God, and most tmly no spiritual nnd blll8scd life. "The fountain of life is with thee." ·It would not be improper -to include here the idea of" the Word of life; " for by the Word ouly are the seeds of life sown in the heart, and by the Word the ever~present Spirit refreshes and revives the weary and dying. 'l'his life-giving W urd, inade powerful by the heavenly life-giving Spirit, spreads healing and joy, loveli- ness and verdure, whereve.r it comes. But we caunot separate these elements; they are ·one. And beautiful is the figure of the life-giving river, "bright as crystal, proceoding out of the throne of God and the Lamb." But the il!Bue of the .above is presented to us in the following verses. I. 'IN THE UTTER DESTRU<n'ION '()]!' THE CURSE AND CONSEQUENCE 01!' SIN. _The .first and last, the complete idea of the evil results of sin, is to be fonml in "the curse." U is now removed. Blessing prevails. Happy they over whom the shadow of a CiJrse falls not I So far of the negative results. The positive follow; and the blelll!edne~ Qf the righteous is set forth- - . · II. IN THE SUPBEHE AUTHORITY 011' TBl!I MosT HIGH. Jn obeuionce is life and blessedness. His laws are holy, just, and good. The perfectness of life is reached when God ·reigns perfectly in the hearts of his people; when there his throne is set. Ill IN THE 11NVABY1NG OBEDIBNCE 01' THE ROLY PEOPLE, 11 llis sorvauta shall do him aervioe." I'm THE: 'REVELA:Tmlf ,OF ST. JOHN 'l1HE DlVIllE. [en:. lllL l-2L
IV. Ilfi Ao' GBAllIOUBLY PlmMI'l'TBD APPROACH TO Goo.. "They ahall 1188 hia face; " they know him, It ill the approach of love, It ia the child before the face of the Father. , V. Ix THIii IIDIILABITY OI' IUTUBL The Divine Name ill on the forehead. This ia at once an attainment and a reward. VL IN THB DI8PEBSION 01' IGNORANOB AND THE DECEPTIONS 01' ERROL No night. No mere earthly illumination. 'l'he Lord God himself, by his own direct illumination. giveth them light. They who follow the light of life walk not in darkness. VII. IN EVERLABTING EXALTATION AND HONOOlL "They shall reign for ever and ever."-R. G. , Vers. 7, 12-15.-The final word qf 'blessmg. The holy book opens with a vision of paradisaical blessedness. Alas l soon the feet of men tread the sands of the wilder- neu. But the purposes of the Ever-Blessed are to lead men back to a regained Paradiae. Thia is the mi86ion of the Redeemer. In his great sermon on the mount he opena his mouth and pronounces as a first word," Blessed." It was his programme to restore men to blessedness. His last word corresponds with his finit, and is in harmony with the 1pirit of his whole lifL~work. For the comfort o.f his Church in all ages of her 1truggle with the powers of evil that from the first have bronght only cursing upon men, he has pictured to the eye of faith and hope the visions of his own conqueiit over evil, and has appended the promise of the highest eBtate of blessedne.ss. With these words cometh the end. In the keeping of tb,e words of this book that blessedness is gained (ver. 7). And so the righteous one is urged to continuo in his righteousness, and the holy to seek a perennial holiness, even though the filthy and 1he unrighteo1111 remain in their filth and unckanneas (ver. U). "The Alpha, and the Omega" who spake the alpha of blessing now utters the omega. It is a final word-the last till "he cometh." 'l'hia blelllledness is to th& pure-they who "wash their .-obes." He has opened the fountain where all sinful stains may be cleansed away. The blessedness cohsists- · · I. IN TBB A'rl'AlNMENT OF TRUE LIFE. The tree of life is no longer unapproachable. Now they may "eat· and live for ever.• The tree is "in the midst of the Paradise of God." It is the tacramenl:al pledge of a life of eternal blessedness. "Neither can they die any more" is fulfilled in them. The pure only truly live. For the true life of man is only to be had in fellowship with God-the Pure. The unholy cannot see God; they cannot walk with God; they cannot share,the blessednesa of the holy communion. Separate from him, they die as a branch broken from a tree. Now the pure live, " I in them, ancl. thou in me." 11,·JN THE FELT.OWSHIP 01!' THE HOLY OOMMUNITY, AMIDST '1'liE BANCTITIEI! AND SECURITY 01!' THE HOLY OITY. They are separated from the impure and the vile. 'l'hese are .. without." The love of God has issued in the eternal life with God; the love of man in the everlasting communion of the holy. Personal and individual life in its utmost blessedness, and the communal life resto1·ed-peace, truth, and love reigning. Blessed, blessed lot of them who are wise Pnoul!:h · to bear and to keep the 1Byingsof this book I Wherefore let us bend our heads lowlily over its sacred page,and read, mark, learn, an<l inwardly digest, that by patience and comfort of the Scriptures we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life which we have 'in'our Saviour- Jesllil Ghrist. Now unto him·who bath begotten us to this hope be paid ·the praise of-eternity. , Amen.-R. G. · Ver, 1.-l'kriatianity a tramcimdental ,ystem. "And he showed me," etc. Philo- sophers have their transcendental theories, but Christianity transcends their highest speculations. Taking these· words as a symbolic representation of it, we make two remarks. I, IT 1a TRANSCENDENTAL IN 1TB VALUB, It is "water." -What on earth, what throughout the whole material universe, so far as we know, is of.such worth 1111 water 1 So- impressed were some of the greatest sages of antiquity with its value, that they regarded it as the first principle, the fontal source of all things. But what is the character of this water? 1, It is a "river." It is. not a stagnant pool, a sleeping lake, or a purlini brook, but a rinr# profound in depth, maj\:i;tic in vvlume, re,;istle,1 mr. :nn. 1-21.] TUE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE. 573