'berkeleyX LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA V LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE BOOK OF THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE BY FREDERICK DENISON MAURICE, M.A. SECOND EDITION Xonbon MACMILLAN AND CO. AND NEW YORK 1893 } St 3 PREFACE. These Lectures are not controversial or learned. They do not demand of the reader any acquaintance with the theories respecting the Apocalypse which have prevailed in earlier times or in later times, in England or elsewhere. If he has adopted any one of those theories, I trust my words may give him some help in testing it by the letter and the general purpose of the book from which it has been derived. If he has been hovering between a number of these theories, I trust my Lectures may enable him to do them all justice, to gain hints from them all, and to find the words of the Prophet more satisfactory and more intelligible than all. Neither do I ask that the reader should bring with him that extensive knowledge of ancient or modern history which he ought to possess if he is to judge of most modern commentaries on Prophecy. The more 718 vi PREFACE. acquaintance he has with the facts of history — the more honestly he has sought for that acquaintance from the writers who have least desired to make out a case for the Christian Church, even from those who have been utterly sceptical about its worth — the more, I believe, will the Revelations of St. John assist in explaining those facts, and in harmonizing his own thoughts respecting the government of God in the world. But my plan precludes me from the attempt to detect any minute parallels between particular sen- tences in the book and particular events that have happened or that are hereafter to happen in one period or another. The principal historical allusions in these Lectures are to the state of the Roman world during the years preceding the fall of Jerusalem. These, I should like my reader to test by the Histories of Taci- tus; as he will, of course, turn to Josephus for the records of the crimes and calamities of the Jewish people. The method which I have adopted is, I believe, a very simple one. But I do not therefore pretend that I discovered it for myself. The first hint of it was given me by a revered friend, a clergyman of the school of Cecil and Venn, who had devoted much of his life to the study of Prophecy, and who v more than PREFACE. vii twenty years ago, was permitted to leave the school in which he had been learning, for the home in which his spirit had long dwelt. He is not answerable for any of the special conclusions to which I have been led. But I can never be thankful enough for having arrived, through his teaching, at the conviction that the words, " The kingdom of heaven is at hand," were used by the Evangelists in the strictest sense; that the Apostles were not wrong in believing that the end of an age was approaching ; that they had no exaggerated anticipations respecting the age which was to succeed it; that if we accepted their state- ments simply, we should understand far better in what state we are living; what are our responsi- bilities ; what are our sins ; what we have a right to hope for. I have called these discourses Lectures, because they are not lessons deduced from separate texts. But they were delivered from the pulpit, like ordinary sermons. They were addressed to what I thought were the wants of a congregation with which I had been connected for fourteen years, and to which, during all those years, I had been speaking often on the subject of Prophecy. I have had no heart to remove from them allusions to passing events, viii PREFACE. and the days on which they were delivered. I have even ventured to give them a more pastoral and personal character by adding to them a sermon on the last verse in the Apocalypse, which was written less as an exposition of it, than as the expression of my wishes for a society from which I was about to part. I should not have introduced it if I had not thought that it illustrated the subject of these Lectures, as well as gave me an opportunity of testifying my continued regard and affection for those to whom I preached them. London, December, 1860. CONTENTS. LECTURE I. PAGE INTRODUCTORY (Revelation i. 1-8) 1 LECTUKE II. THE SON OF MAN (Revelation i. 9-20) . . . . .14 LECTURE III. THE SEVEN CHURCHES (Revelation ii.-iii.) ... 28 LECTURE IV. THE VISION OF HEAVEN (Revelation iv.) .... 51 LECTURE Y. THE BOOK WITH SEVEN SEALS (Revelation v.) . . 60 LECTURE VI. THE SEALS OPENED (Revelation vi.) 80 LECTURE VII. THE SEALING OF THE TRIBES (Revelation vii.) . . 94 x CONTENTS. LECTUEE VIII. PAGE THE SEVEN TRUMPETS (Revelation viii.) .... 109 LECTUEE IX. THE LATTER PLAGUES (Revelation ix.) . . . .122 LECTUEE X. THE OPEN BOOK (Revelation x.) 136 LECTUEE XI. THE TWO WITNESSES (Revelation xi.) . . . .151 LECTUEE XII. THE WOMAN AND THE MAN-CHILD (Revelation xii.) . 166 LECTUEE XIII. THE DRAGON AND THE TWO BEASTS (Revelation xiii.) 184 LECTUEE XIV. THE LAMB AND HIS FOLLOWERS (Revelation xiv. 1-14) 202 LECTUEE XV. THE REAPING AND THE WINEPRESS (Revelation xiv.) 219 LECTUEE XVI. THE YIALS (Revelation xvi.) 235 CONTENTS. xi LECTUEE XVII. PAGE THE GREAT CITY (Revelation xvii.) 251 LECTURE XVIII. THE FALL OF BABYLON (Revelation xviii.) . . .267 LECTURE XIX. THE WORD OF GOD (Revelation xix. ) 283 LECTURE XX. THE MILLENNIUM (Revelation xx.) 300 LECTURE XXI. THE NEW HEAVEN AND THE NEW EARTH (Reve- lation xxi.) 320 LECTURE XXII. THE BLESSING AND THE CURSE (Revelation xxii.) . 339 LECTURE XXIII. PARTING WORDS (Revelation xxii. 21) ... . 350 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. LECTUEE I. INTRODUCTORY. The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass ; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John : who bare record of the Word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein : for the time is at hand. John to the seven churches which are in Asia : Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come ; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne ; and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father ; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him : and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. —Rev. i. 1-8. Many have tried to interpret this book; one after another has failed ; such is the general opinion among educated men. I suspect the assertion is not wide enough; it should be extended from a single book of the Bible to all the books of the Bible; from the books of the Bible to every book whatever which B 2 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. [lect. contains any truths that are worthy to be sought after. Those who try to interpret fail ; the writer is found to have uttered thoughts which they have not comprehended or fathomed; others come with their rules and measures, and confound their predecessors, and are confounded in turn themselves. It is with the simplest Gospel as with the Apocalypse ; it is with the poem, classical or English, as with the Gospel. Commentators have become a by-word; almost every reader fancies he has apprehended something in the writer they have handled, which they have overlooked or distorted. But every reader, perhaps, discovers some time or other that this commentator, or that, has helped him to perceive something which he did not perceive be- fore. He discovers that he, too, has the ambition to circumscribe his author by certain rules and theories of his own devising. He begins to suspect that each man might help his neighbour if he were more child- like, and reverenced the subject of his study more, and tried to learn laws, not to impose laws. That criticism which is not the criticism of a teacher look- ing down upon a pupil, but of a pupil looking up to a teacher, may after all have most discernment in it, and may bring the highest reward. Such criticism all are qualified to exercise. Some may carry away more, some less ; but each will be shown something which may make his intellect clearer, his heart purer, his acts more consistent. 1. The verses which I have read to you speak of the Apocalypse of Jesus Christ the Son of God, which God gave to Him. The opening of the book, there- fore, takes us at once beyond the book. That which is revealed is not a doctrine — not anything which can i.] INTRODUCTORY. 3 be expressed in terms — but a living Person. The letters do not make or give the Revelation. God gives it. We do not disparage the letter when we say this ; we adhere religiously to the letter. We contra- dict the book when we put it in the place of Him from whom it comes. We contradict the express language, not of the Apocalypse, but of the whole Bible. 2. How strictly I shall try to follow the letter of this chapter, and of all subsequent chapters, you will see when I speak of the clause which follows. "To shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass." I should be obliged to repeat myself if I dwelt upon the force of that clause here. The expression, The time is at hand, and several other expressions in this passage, will presently bring it under our notice. 3. "He sent and SIGNIFIED it." The word " signi- fied 3) is not a lazy one, for which a number of equiva- lents might have been found. The Apocalypse, as all have confessed, is a book of signs. That is assumed to be one cause of its obscurity. If we could but get the emblems all rendered into the common forms of speech, we think that we should understand it perfectly. Are we sure that signs and emblems, supposing them to be divinely chosen, may not be the best and simplest helps to the apprehension of truths which, if they were presented in what we call the common forms of speech, must remain obscure ? Are they not a common, human method of discourse, which perplexes the doctor more than the peasant, just because the doctor is not in communion with the facts of life as the peasant is ? If the Revelation is indeed to be of a Person, may not the signs denote his actual presence, while abstract words would only express some notions about him ? 4. In this book, then, as in all the preceding books b 2 4 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. [lect. of the Bible, God Himself is set forth as speaking to men through words or signs. Whatever methods or persons may be used as the media of the revelation, He is the Eevealer. He takes off the veil which hinders that which is near to us from being known to us, or the veil over our hearts which hinders them from discerning it. That is to be remembered before we turn at all to secondary agents. Here one of them is said to be an angel. " He sent and signified it by his ANGEL to his servant John. 3 ' I take this name as most would take it, to denote a messenger from an- other world. But I must remind you that it is also used to denote men living in this world, like in all respects to their fellows, committing sins, certain to die. I must remind you that when it is so used the writer does not say, " Now I am applying the word in a different sense from that in which I applied it be- fore." He evidently desires us to feel that the sense is the same. He believes that the presence of mortal accidents, or the absence of them, does not interfere with the primary fact that those of whom he speaks are messengers of God, receiving light from Him, imparting that light to those for whom he designs it. If there is anything spiritual in man, it must be susceptible of such communications; if there is no- thing spiritual in man, the Bible would not have been written; there would have been no need of such a book ; no possibility of it. But I think we shall learn from this, more than from any preceding part of the Bible, how the dreams of men respecting an in- visible world and its inhabitants are substantiated; how their thoughts of an intercourse between that world and this may become, not fantastical and super- stitious, but calm and orderly. i.] INTRODUCTORY. 5 5. "He sent and signified it by his angel to HIS SERVANT JOHN." Great difficulties have been felt by students in identifying the writer of the Apocalypse with the writer of the Gospel and the Epistles. The earliest ecclesiastical historian gives a hint of another John to whom many have been willing to assign the composition of this book. The latest and most ad- vanced school of German Rationalists has rejected this opinion. The disciples of that school give the Apostle credit for a work in which they can detect nothing but vehement Jewish prejudices and hostility to St. Paul. They, however, like those who seek another author, perceive the greatest contrast between the Apocalypse and the Gospel. That they refer to the second century. And supposing the superscription of this book did not answer to the contents of it — supposing it were not a revelation of Jesus Christ the Son of God, but merely a collection of predictions concerning the future — I do think it would require an overwhelming amount of external evidence to persuade us that it could proceed from him who wrote of the Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world ; who reported the dia- logues with Nicodemus, with the woman of Samaria, at the Feasts of Tabernacles and of the Dedication. There is an amazing difference between the two books, while we adhere to the popular notion respecting one of them, such as I think we can never practically forget, however we may force ourselves into an opinion of their common origin. But if we assume the writer to be capable of de- fining his own intention, and if that intention is visible through every after vision and prophecy, I believe no person was so likely to write of the fall of Babylon or of the New Jerusalem, as he who bore record of the " Word of God and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. [lect. things that he saw." There is a peculiarity in that de- scription which a Sophist could not have reached. He might have spoken of the Son of Thunder, or of the "beloved Disciple. He might have spoken of the Theo- logian who wrote about the Divine Word. In this sen- tence are combined the opposite characteristics of those writings which the Church has received as St. John's. The writer of the fourth Gospel discourses more than the other evangelists of that which is high and mysterious. He sets forth more than the other evangelists that which is visible and palpable. He never separates one from the other. In the simplest language he presents the simplest acts of his Master as manifestations of His eternal character and nature. Those objects which com- mentators have found it hard to reconcile, and which have led them into the most contradictory theories respecting the fourth Grospel, are blended here with childlike art. How they are blended in the Apocalypse itself, we shall see as we proceed. 6. "Blessed " — this is the next sentence — "is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein : for the time is at hand. 33 This benediction has been quoted again and again by writers who have wished to fix our attention upon this book, and to overcome the listless- ness or despair with which so many are disposed to regard it. " Have we not here a Divine promise," they have asked, "that we shall be better for engaging in this study ? Ought we not to rely upon that promise and to hope for results, even if the disappointments of previous students have been ever so numerous ? M The force of the argument, very strong in itself, has been weakened in the minds of numbers by the clause with which the verse concludes. If indeed the teacher of i.] INTRODUCTORY. 7 the seventeenth, or the eighteenth, or the nineteenth century could persuade his hearers that the time which is said to be at hand, were the year, or the decade, or the half-century which would follow that wherein he was speaking, he might have a good prospect of engag- ing their thoughts, even if they were deeply absorbed in other pursuits and interests. Accordingly this has been a common effort of interpreters. That date must belong to events which occurred in a period just pre- ceding our own ; this must point to some which are to come forth, out of a not distant future. But if the seventeenth-century commentator was not wrong in his anticipation, then it strikes the hearer or the reader that the nineteenth-century commentator must be wrong in his. If the seventeenth-century commentator was wrong, why should his successor be more fortunate in his guess, or, at all events., why should we desert certainties for the sake of inquiring whether he is so or not ? And there is always another and more serious suspicion lying behind these. Did not the original writer use words in their simple, natural sense ? If he told the readers and hearers of his day that the time was at hand, did he not mean them to understand that it was at hand ? Can he possibly have designed that what he expresses so definitely should be taken in- definitely ? Can he have supported a Divine promise with an assurance which was belied by the event, or else with what in an uninspired writer we should call a pious fraud ? 7. I confess, my brethren, that these questions seem to me in the last degree serious and awful. I can only find one answer to them. I take the words in their mosb direct and straightforward sense. I believe that the time of which St. John wrote was 8 , LECTUKES ON THE APOCALYPSE. [lkct. at hand when he wrote. I as little suppose him to have been mistaken about its nearness, as I suppose him to have been a wilful deceiver. I do not, how- ever, admit the promise to be less good for the seventeenth, or eighteenth, or nineteenth centuries, because I suppose that events occurred in the first century which were of transcendent importance ; which denoted the termination of an age; which deserved to be described as the Apocalypse of Jesus Christ the Son of Grod. Before I could hold that this passage was emptied of any of its worth or reality to us because the revelation was made centu- ries ago, I must change the meaning of one of the words that occur in the course of it ; at least, I must abandon the scriptural interpretation of that word for a vulgar heathen interpretation of it. St. John speaks of the words of this PROPHECY. Were Prophecy a mere announcement of future events — had it no other force than that which the Babylonian soothsayers and prognosticators gave to it — I should confess at once that when an event has occurred, any prophecy which has to do with that event is exhausted, except, perhaps, as an evidence for the fidelity of the pre- dicter. But the Jewish prophets, so far from desiring to be identified with these soothsayers and prognos- ticators, regarded them with horror, and protested vehemently against those of their countrymen who, while mimicking their acts, dared to adopt the sacred language, " The burden of the Lord," or " The Lord hath said." Prophecy, according to their use and understanding of it, is the utterance of the mind of Him who is, and was, and is to come. Events, days of the Lord, crises in national history, were manifestations of His everlasting mind and pur- i.] INTRODUCTORY. 9 pose. The seer was to explain the past and the present; only in connexion with these did he speak of the future. He told what curses men were bringing upon themselves by transgressing the laws which individuals and nations were created to obey. He told how the purposes of the Divine Will were developing themselves in a regular progression in despite of the opposition of all self-will. He told how they would move on steadily till all that God designs for man, for this universe, for His own glory, has been accomplished. This is Prophecy, if we take our notion of it from the books which we receive as authoritative, if we do not contract and distort them that they may fit some conception which we have derived from another source. But if it is so, why should an event that has passed be less full of might and significance to us than one that is to come ? If we can find an interpreter to tell us what its signification is, may not that signifi- cation be of the pro foundest interest to one period and another ? May not each period get some glimpse of it which another had not ? May it not connect that glimpse with events of which it has the experience, events passing in God's world, events therefore subject to the same law, the consequences of similar doings, pregnant with results not dissimilar to those which the Prophet has discoursed of ? Surely there may be a blessing upon the hearers and readers of his oracles, though they believe that his oracles were not am- biguous ; that he never trafficked with words in a double sense. Surely times may be at hand to men in every generation which may render it most needful that they should try to enter into the meaning of the times which were at hand in his generation. Surely as an age, or, as we sometimes call it, a dispensation of God, 10 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. [lect. advances towards its consummation, the need may be- come greater, and the hope that we shall be permitted to profit by past illuminations and past mistakes and confusions, greater also. 8. In trying to set forth the idea of Prophecy, which I discover in the earlier Prophets of his nation, I have borrowed some words from the next passage in this chapter. At first you might regard that passage as merely a devout rapture. The more you reflect upon it, the more I believe it will explain the whole purpose of the book. " John to the seven churches which are in Asia : Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come ; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne ; and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the Icings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father ; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Behold, he cometh with clouds ; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him : and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. 33 To these seven Churches St. John declares the Reve- lation which God has made to him. It is the Revela- tion of Him who is, and was, and is to come ; it is the Revelation of Him in His own perfect and absolute nature as the source from which all the grace and peace that ever have been known by any of His creatures, that ever can be known, have proceeded. It is the Revela- tion of that one Spirit — seven being the perfect number,. i.] INTRODUCTORY. 11 the expression of unity amidst variety — who dwells in their Churches : who bestows on them their distinct graces and gifts; who binds them into one; the Spirit of Grace and Peace. It is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, who has these three titles and descriptions: (1) That He is the faithful and true Witness of the Eternal God — He in whom the Spirit dwells without measure, He who sets forth His Father as the perfect Goodness, and Truth, and Love ; (2) That He is the first begotten of the dead, the Conqueror of man's enemy, the Conqueror for all the family of God ; (3) That He is the Prince of all the kings of the earth ; the actual Lord over men, to whom all must at last do homage. What He is t and t what He has accomplished for our race, cannot be set j forth in cold and dry propositions. The expression of! it must be in thanksgiving to Him that hath loved us with a love that is and was and is to come; to Him whose love has manifested itself in act and suffering ; to Him whose acts and sufferings have been for the deliverance of men from the sins which set them at war with Him and with each other, and were the cause of their misery; to Him who has not been contented with washing us from our sins in His own blood, but who has made us kings under Him ; rulers over ourselves, rulers over the earth to which we are naturally slaves; who has made us priests under Him, to offer up holy sacrifices to God and His Father ; to Him be glory and praise for ever and ever. 9. I have spoken of this as the Revelation or Apoca- lypse. And I believe as you proceed with the study of the book, you will find that it is occupied throughout with that Divine Name into which the Christian Churches are baptized, in which all are living and moving and having their being. Such an Apocalypse must be for 12 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. [lect. all times that were to follow; as all times that had been before were preparing for it. The full Eevelation of this Name must be the Revelation of Revelations ; that which throws light upon every other. But how is it with the words which follow ? "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him : and all Mndreds of the earth shall wail because of him." Adhering to the order of the words, and to the letter of them, I cannot doubt that they were intended to tell the seven Churches how they should contemplate the dark events which were to happen in their time ; the time of a tremendous crisis in the Roman Empire; the time of the overthrow of the Jewish Polity. In the dark clouds of that time they were to own the coming of the Son of Man, The Judge was there; confessed by the consciences of all men; confessed by the consciences of those who had pierced Him as a blasphemer and a malefactor. The Churches should be able to interpret these signs. They should know what luminous form was behind the clouds; should hear, in the wailings of the kindreds of the earth, the wailings I after that very King and Deliverer whom they had | rejected, and before whom they trembled. 10. I do not wish to anticipate what may be said better on future occasions respecting these seven Churches, or this awful Name, or this coming with clouds. I take these verses only as a series of indica- tions which the book is to unfold. In that light also I receive the concluding verse, which is repeated in the vision that follows. It may, as some have thought, have been transferred by accident from that place to this. But we want to be reminded at the outset and in many ways Who is the subject of the book, that we may never be tempted to behold in it only a number i.] INTRODUCTORY. 13 of scattered rays of light without a centre from which they have issued and to which they converge. We want to be reminded that it is not enough for us to trace all things and all men to their origin, unless we can also find the end for which they exist. We want to know that only a living person can be the Alpha and Omega, the starting-point of Creation and its final Rest. I shall rejoice if I am able to give you a few hints respecting this great book which will assist your own readings in it. I am sure it will reward the study of the layman quite as much as of the priest ; that it need not tempt him into any fantasies, but may deliver him from a multitude of fantasies ; that God may use it to guide us through dark roads and tangled thickets, in which we are all likely to lose our way ; that it will become intelligible when we ask its help in practice rather than in speculation. The blessing on him who hears, and on them that read, is one of those which will not pass away. May it descend upon us richly from Him who is the Author of all blessings ! LECTURE II. THE SON OF MAN. I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last : and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven Churches which are in Asia ; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks ; and in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow ; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace ; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars : and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword : and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not ; I am the first and the last : I am he that liveth, and was dead ; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen ; and have the keys of hell and of death. "Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter ; the mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven Churches : and the seven candle- sticks which thou sawest are the seven Churches. — Rev. i. 9-20. Whether we adopt or reject the ordinary opinion that St. John had already survived his brother Apostles, the language at the opening of this passage is very lect. ii.] THE SOX OF MAN. 15 remarkable. He dwelt commonly at Ephesus, in the midst of the Christians of Asia Minor. They turned to him afterwards, with the profoundest reverence, as the last depositary of the words which Christ had spoken on earth. And he describes himself as " your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the Icing- dom and patience of Jesus Christ." No assertion of his apostolical authority, of his grand traditions, of his difference from those whom he is addressing. He is one of them, their fellow-worker and fellow-sufferer. I do not allude to this mode of speaking that I may draw any inference from it respecting the peculiar humility of this Divine teacher. St. Paul, it seems to me, was just as humble when he was asserting strongly his claims to be an Apostle, and was denouncing those Judaisers who tried to degrade him below the original twelve. Self-assertion may be as great a duty as self- depreciation ; both are evil so far as they are in the least degree affected ; one may involve as much sense of individual feebleness as the other. They may have the same origin ; they may in different circumstances lead to the same result. Had St. Paul forborne to put forth a boast of his apostolical title and character, he would have sanctioned the conclusion that his Lord, when He ceased to be visible, ceased to exercise His government over His Church ; ceased to call out men to do His work. The man who declared that he trusted not in his wisdom of words when he went forth declar- ing the testimony of God, would have been trusting in that wisdom, not in his calling, not in the Spirit that helped his infirmities. Had St. John spoken to the Churches in Asia Minor of the voice that bade him leave his father's nets, he might have led them to sup- pose that that voice was silent then, or could not reach 16 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. [lect. them. Had lie talked of his apostolical commission, or of his own special place amongst the Apostles, he might have led them to think that when he left the world they would be bare of the Divine Presence : that only an oral or written tradition of it would remain. Exactly the opposite lesson to this was that which he w T as appointed to teach his own generation, and all subsequent generations ; therefore it was fitting that he should describe himself, not by titles which set him apart from other men, but as their brother and companion. 1. That he was an exile in the Isle of Patmos, he tells us. Whether the local authorities of Ephesus had sent him there, or whether it was a solemn depor- tation by the act of the Emperor, we cannot learn from his words. Nor does this passage help us to settle the question which has been raised whether his banishment was so early as the reign of Claudius, so late as the reign of Domitian, or at some time inter- mediate between the two. On the cause of his banish- ment he throws more light. By far the majority of St. Paul's persecutions were stirred up by Jews ; the two memorable exceptions were at Philippi, where he provoked the hatred of those who traded in magic, and at Ephesus, where a true instinct led Demetrius and his fellow-craftsmen to think that he was injuring their gains, though he had not denounced their goddess. But the charge by which the Jews stirred up the mob of Thessalonica was to be at last the effective one. These men do contrary to the decrees of Ccesar, saying that there is another King, one Jesus. That charge could not be permanently effective till it was combined with the one on which the rulers of the Sanhedrim had convicted our Lord of blasphemy. He It.] TOE SON OF MAN, 17 maketh himself the Son of God. St. John proclaiming the Word of God, who was before all worlds, who had been made flesh and dwelt among men, who was the King of kings and Lord of lords, struck a blow at the worship as well as the polity of the Roman Empire. He opposed the God-man to the man-God. The best emperors, who were trying to disguise by reverence for laws, by merciful acts, by philosophy, the rotten foundation of their power, had as much reason to dis- like this testimony as the worst, who were embodying the false principle in themselves. 2. St. John does not tell us what objects he chiefly contemplated in that island, what sounds besides the roar of the ^Egean waves came to him from the outer world. He says that on the Lord's day, the Resurrec- tion day, he "was in the Spirit; 3 ' withdrawn from the forms of which the senses take account; seeking his eternal and substantial home. Then came a voice to his heart, a voice like the sound of a trumpet such as wakes the dead, saying " I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last." Like that name, the I AM, which had been spoken centuries before to the shep- herd in the desert, it was a witness to him that there is a living Personal ground ; which was before temples, cities, earth, sea, and sky; which will last whatever becomes of them. Like the message to Moses, it was not for himself. " What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches of Asia." Those Churches were to learn the meaning of their own existence ; what they had to do ; how they were related to Him who is the First and the Last. 3. " And I turned to see the voice that spake with me." The voice comes from no creature about me. It is not the echo of my own thoughts. It comes c 18 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. [lect. as a command to my spirit from the Ruler of my spirit. 4. " And being turned, I saw seven golden candle- sticks" Our first thought is that now we are entering into a region of symbols. Are not these candlesticks like the one of pure gold which Moses was bidden to place in the Tabernacle ; like that somewhat different one which Solomon caused to be worked when he built a house for the Lord God of Israel ? Like these assuredly ; dear to the Apostle for the resemblance ; intended to remind Israelites, and those of the Church who were not Israelites, of a sacred past ; of a worship that was soon 'to cease. But intended also, as we shall presently see, to raise them out of symbols ; to trans- late signs into their signification ; to show them in the midst of what practical realities they were dwelling. No greater testimony, I think, could be given than is given here that symbols would always have a worth for human beings ; but that the world's babyhood was over ; that the truths were now to throw light on the parables rather than the parables on the truths ; that men were to study the visions of an earlier day by the revelations of that later day. 5. For "in the midst of the seven candlesticks ivas one like unto the Son of Man" That the candlestick pointed to the communication of light ; that the light must be dispersed, yet one ; that it was set in the Tabernacle to denote Him who was worshipped there as the Source of Light, the worshippers as the instru- ments of sending it abroad ; this was a lesson which it required no skill to bring out ; it must have gone home to a number of hearts which would not have understood it if it had been put into words. But the ii.] THE SON OF MAN. 19 more it went home, the more questions it will have excited. Only those on whom it produced no impres- sion will have been content either to look at the candlestick or to hear the Scribe's interpretation o£ it. M How may this light reach me ? How may I show it forth ? Is it indeed a light for all Israel ? Is all Israel to be a lamp to mankind ? How can this be ? Are we not often ministers of darkness ? And does God really desire that His light should go forth everywhere ? Is it not meant to be confined to His chosen people ? ,J Such thoughts the symbol will have awakened in those for whom it did its work. Nothing they saw satisfied them. It led them to seek for light, and they who sought found more than they dreamed of, though never enough. They found more and more indications of a Light that was near them ; more and more of a Light that lightened every man. They rejoiced in what was given. But they waited to hear that what they felt must be true, was true ; that God's Light was indeed man's Light ; that there was One in whom all scattered rays of light were gathered up; from whom they could be received; by whose power they might be diffused. To see the Son op Man walking in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks was at once to proclaim that these candlesticks had an actual signification, and that they had no more a merely limited Jewish signification. They were no longer any part of the furniture of the Tabernacle or of the Temple. The one candlestick, with its six and its ten branches, had been lighted long enough in Jerusalem. The flame there had burnt itself out. He who had kindled it to be a witness of Himself and His own presence with men, was indeed present. c 2 20 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. [lect. The Son of Man, and not some other, some secondary substitute for Him — some formal image of Him — was dispensing light to the sons of men. 6. Such a Revelation must have been just what a Jew, mourning bitterly over the present condition of his countrymen, and looking to their more dismal prospects, must have needed for his consolation; just what he must have desired that all should share with him. But it would have been most imperfect if only the golden candlestick in the Jewish Temple had been rendered into its true meaning, and raised to its highest power. Things were not chiefly important in the ritual of that Temple ; the persons who ministered were far more sacred. What was the holy of the holies itself to the high priest who entered it once every year ? It is this high priest who is at once recalled to us by the first part of the description of the Son of Man. He was ' ' clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps ivith a golden girdle" That this is the sacerdotal vesture there can be no doubt. Enough is said to indicate that the Son of Man claims and fulfils the office which was assigned to the children of Aaron ; that He blesses the people in God's name ; that He stands as their Representative before His Father. The Alpha and Omega takes the place of him whose work was well-nigh over ; who had ceased to be any witness for God or for man ; who was rather a barrier between them. But the seer passes rapidly from the clothing of the priest, from that which is merely official, to Him- self. "His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow" What St. John saw for a few moments on Mount Tabor, when the face of the Man of Sorrows "did shine as the sun, and his raiment icas ii.] THE SON OF MAN. 21 white as the light" was presented to Him now as an abiding glory. " His eyes were as a flame of fire ; " looking into the heart and spirit, discovering whatever is false ; burning it with their love. The feet have the signs of endurance and suffering. They have walked over the earth and been scorched and sanctified by it. They are u like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace* 9 The roar of the sea is in the ears of the lonely man in Patmos. Its strange and various notes are blended in the voice of the Son of Man, which is "as the sound of many icaters." 8. From the robes which denote the priest we have passed to the form of the Divine Man ; a form ex- pressing purity, conflict, victory, calm and reconciling power ; but never suggesting mere qualities or attri- butes apart from a Person in whom they dwell. Then we return to the thought from which we started. This Son of Man is walking in the midst of the candlesticks \ He is the centre of light. It is a heavenly light ; not belonging to earth ; though penetrating to the farthest corners of the earth. The light is not now in the Tabernacle or the Temple. ' ' He had in his right hand seven stars" The Persian night-worshipper, the Greek worshipper of Apollo, may still see in the forms of nature the witnesses of the true King. " And out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword." The forms of nature, beautiful and true as they are, must do homage to the word which speaks to man. Out of the mouth goes forth that which distinguishes soul and spirit, joints and marrow; that which severs between the good and the evil, the false and the true. How essential this feature is to the picture of the Son of Man we shall feel more and more. Its effect when it is combined with the former, is to change the images of 22 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. [lect. night into those of day. The stars were in His hand, bat His " countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength." 9. "And when I saw him I fell at his feet as dead." Years of familiarity with the contemplation of the Son of Man have not abated the awe of the old disciple, but deepened it. Mere power does not make him tremble. Before the form of the Divine Goodness, before the eyes that are as a flame of fire, he is weak as a child. The moments even of lower revelations must be moments of terror. The first glimpse of a natural dis- covery, if it sometimes causes the shout of evprjKa, as often crushes him to whom it comes with a sense of his own insignificance, and with a wonder at what may be behind. t To be assured that he was before Him who is the First and the Last, was not this enough to cause that a poor exile, though the most favoured of the Apostles, should fall at His feet as dead ? 10. And what are the words that raise him ? Are they " Fear not, I am He whom thou knewest in Cana or on Tabor ; I am He that placed thee nearest to My- self *' ? No ! but, " Fear not ; I am the first and the last : I am he that liveth and was dead ; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen ; and have the keys of hell and of death." It could not console or revive St. John to be told of what had been done for him ; how he had been singled out from the rest of his race. It did restore him to be assured that the countenance which he could not bear to look on was His who had been under the power of that death and of that grave which are appointed for every malefactor, as well as for every apostle; and that He had risen the Conqueror of these, the Conqueror for men. Yes ! to hear these words ringing in his ears, "J have the Iceys of hell and of death; " of all that thou fearest, of all that man fears, il] THE SON OF MAN. 23 of all that sin lias caused him to fear ; to be convinced that these are the words of the Son of Man ; this must be a comfort to every apostle and martyr, such as the thought of the life he had lived, and the witness he had borne, and the death he was dying, would be utterly unable to give. When all these recollections are drowned in the recollections of evils committed and of evils present; when death a^ad hell look as if they might be worse abysses for him than for any poor vagabond who had never thought of them ; then this belief in One who has dived into them because He is the Son of Man, and has found what is deeper than they, and has the keys of that kingdom as well as of the kingdom of heaven; this message meets him as perfectly satisfying, because it overthrows every selfish ■confidence, and obliges him to rest on the Redeemer and King and Lover of the universe. 11. And since it is so, he is raised up to do a work for his fellows ; only if he does that, will he be able to hold fast his own trust. " Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall he hereafter." The things which he has seen are / not some special illuminations for him. They are facts which concern all men ; the principles of human life/ and fellowship. The Son of Man is not for that moment walking in the midst of the candlesticks. He is so always. St. John must write of the things that were, in order that he might write of the things which were to be hereafter. He can be of use as an interpreter to countries he never saw, to times of trouble which should be after he had entered into rest, by faithfully interpreting the condition of the people with whom he was most closely in contact, of those who were his con- temporaries and companions. 2i LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. [lect. 12. And how is he to fulfil this task ? He is told at once to tear off the veil from those outward images which he had been contemplating, from those which seemed as if they were to replace the images of the other dispensation. They are not to replace these images ; the things which these images represent are to replace them. The mystery, or inner meaning of the candlesticks, or seven stars, is to be declared. "The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches : and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches^ And so this verse rises naturally out of the previous one. The prophet is to write things which he has seen, and which are, and which shall be hereafter* He has seen the candlesticks and Him with the stars in His right hand. These Churches were then, and were to be afterwards. They were then distinct from each other, under distinct ministers. Each of these ministers was an angel or messenger of God. Though distinct, they formed one whole. There was one Church amidst many Churches. The whole body was sent into the world to diffuse light through it. Each of the distinct bodies was to diffuse light over a sphere of its own. Each of the ministers was to be a star of light to the body which he served. Each was to understand that his light came not from himself, but from the Centre of light. Each would fail in his function if, under one temptation or another, he forgot this condi- tion of his existence. Each by failing in his function would injure the society which he was to enlighten, would infect it with his own evil. These things were. The hereafter would be determined by the now; in principle they would be the same. These Churches were formed, not for a day or a year, but for an ever- renewing life. They were to last on when one star ii.] THE SON OF MAN. 2.~> after another disappeared ; for the Son of Man was walking in the midst of them. The Church would last, even though particular Churches ceased to be ; for the Son of Man was in the midst of it. If all perished, He would not perish. These were not revelations only for the apostolical era ; this revelation was especially to prepare the way for the termination of that era ; that none might suppose that the Church depended for its stability or vitality upon those who had been the first pillars of it ; that none might suppose that any one of them was the centre of it. The mystery of the seven candlesticks and of the seven stars is, then, a mystery which the struggles of that time were to evolve ; which the struggles of all subsequent genera- tions were to elucidate. By the sins of particular angels or ministers, by the sins of one and another Church, no less than by the light which one or another was able to diffuse, would each aspect of this mystery be brought into fuller manifestation. More and more it would be seen that a Church which does not diffuse light, must increase darkness; must gather darkness into itself. More and more it would be known what temptation each Church has to become a minister of darkness, and how great that darkness is. More and more it would be seen what judgments awaken Churches out of their torpor, and what are the notes of their doom. 13. This is but a part, and a small part, of the Eevelation. But if we open our hearts to take it in, many of the doubts which embarrass us in considering the later parts of the book will be cleared away. We shall be far less tormented with the question, " If these words concerned Jerusalem or Rome in the days of Galba or Vespasian, how can they concern London in the days of Queen Victoria ? w The mystery of the 26 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. [lect. seven golden candlesticks must relate to both if it relates to either. Supposing Churches still to exist ; supposing the Bible to be the book from which we are to derive our knowledge of the end for which they exist, of the methods in which they may promote that end, of the sins by which they may frustrate it ; we need not doubt that we shall find as many lessons about Mediaeval Churches and Reformed Churches, about the relation of particular Churches to the Catholic Church, about Imperial and Papal domination, as the commen- tators who have shaped the whole Apocalypse into a testimony concerning them have been able to work out. We shall find these lessons, not by changing present tenses for future, but by observing that the present tenses are tenses of continuance ; that the principles which were developed at one moment must govern all succeeding moments. We shall find them when we are not looking for them : they will force themselves upon us most, when we are the least trying to make them square with events of history, or events of history with them. Above all, we shall understand them best and be most capable of using them to connect different events and epochs in the records of mankind, when we allow them to bear with the most direct force upon ourselves. Primitive Churches, Mediaeval Churches, Conti- nental Churches, seats of Papacy and of Empire — yes, it is well to know what we can know of them. But are not you a Church, a body of men from whom light is meant to go forth ? Does it go forth from you ? Are there not ministers in the Church of England ? Will not the Son of Man, who walks in the midst of the candlesticks, ask each of them, " Art thou uttering thy ii.] THE SON OF MAN. 27 own dreary traditional common-places ; art thon pour- ing forth thine own dreams and speculations; art thou strutting thy little hour as the actor on a stage, as the oracle of a school ; or art thou caring to be a messenger of My purpose, a star in My right hand ? " LECTURE III. THE SEVEN CHUECHES. Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks ; I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil : and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars; and hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Kemember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works ; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches ; To him that over- cometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write ; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive ; I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty (but thou art rich), and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are of the synagogue of Satan. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer : behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried ; and ye shall have tribulation ten days ; be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches ; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges ; I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is : and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my lect. in.] THE SEVEN CHURCHES. 29 faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth. But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumbling-block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate. Repent ; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write ; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass ; I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works ; and the last to be more than the first. Not- withstanding I have a few things against thee because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a pro- phetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornica- tion, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And I gave her space to repent of her fornication ; and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death ; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts : and I will give unto every one of you according to your works. But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak ; I will put upon you none other burden. But that which ye have already hold fast till I come. And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works until the end, to him will I give power over the nations : and he shall rule them with a rod of iron ; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers : even as I received of my Father. And I will give him the morning star. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write : These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars ; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die; for I have not found thy works perfect before God. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and 30 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. [lect. repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as the thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not denied their garments ; and they shall walk with me in white : for they are worthy. He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment ; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Aud to the angel of the church of Philadelphia write ; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth ; and shutteth, and no man openeth ; I know thy works ; behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it; for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie ; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly : hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God,. aud he shall go no more out : and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God : and I will write upon him my new name. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write ; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God j I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot : I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing ; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked ; I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich ; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear ; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten : be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock : if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and in.] THE SEVEN CHURCHES. 31 will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh, will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also over- came, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Our subject last Sunday was the revelation or unveil- ing of the Son of Man to His servant John. He was walking in the midst of seven golden candlesticks. He had the robes of the High Priest. His form was Divine and human. Light was in Him and went forth from Him. He had died, and He lived. He was alive for evermore. He had the keys of death and hell. What John saw and heard, he was to tell ; he was to write it in a book for the good of the seven Churches that were in Asia. For these seven Churches were declared to be the seven candlesticks, in the midst of which the Son of Man was walking. They were to shed abroad the light which dwelt in Him. The stars which He held in His hand denoted their angels or ministers. The revelation of Him was therefore a revelation to them, a revelation of their relation to each other, of the end for which they existed. The second and third chapters carry on this reve- lation. They contain a series of messages to these Churches. These messages have been accepted by readers who see little meaning in the other parts of the book, or despair of finding its meaning, as having great practical worth. In every period of the history of Christendom they have been felt to have a force for that period. It has been found so impossible to confine them by the conditions of the Apostolic age — by the circumstances of Asia Minor — that theories 32 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. [lect. have been framed to show which time of the Church was the Sardian, which the Philadelphia!!, which the Laodicean. After what I have said of the maxims which I wish to follow in studying this book, you will not suspect me of any fondness for such theories. I do not care to inquire which is the best, or which the worst. I am determined to adhere to the Apostle, and when he speaks of his time, to suppose that he means his time ; when he speaks of Sardis or Philadelphia, to suppose that he means Sardis or Philadelphia. But I take such theories as witnesses that the revelation which this book contains is a revelation of that which abides, of that which is not dependent upon circum- stances, however they may affect or modify its appear- ances. In this respect I do not find that the messages to the Churches differ from the parts of the book which precede or which follow them. If we are per- mitted to understand them, to feel in any degree their force upon our own lives, it will be because the Spirit who spoke them to the Churches of old is speaking them to us now ; because He who was promised to be with the Church for ever, of whose living power the Church is the witness, has not ceased to live or to work. It will be because He opens our ears that we may hear what in these messages, or elsewhere through any instruments, He is saying to us and to mankind. I. 1. Before I allude to any of the special charac- teristics of these messages, I wish you to notice that which is common to them all. The first and most obvious of these common characteristics is one for which I have prepared you already. St. John, their companion in the faith and patience of Jesus Christ, St. John the Apostle, who was dearest to them, who was to survive all his brother Apostles, is not address- in.] THE SEVEN CHURCHES. 33 ing them. To one and to all the Son of Man is speaking Himself. To one and to all He is declaring that He knows them, knows what they are, and what they are doing. To one and to all He makes known the secret of their own lives. " Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write ; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks ; I know thy works. And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write ; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead t and is alive ; I know thy works. And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write ; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges ; I know thy works. And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write ; These things saith the Soji of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet] are like fine brass; I know thy works. And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars ; I know thy works. And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth ; and shutteth, and no man openeth; I know thy works. And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God ; I know thy works." The language, you will perceive, is uniform in these respects, — that it identifies the speaker with the Person who was unveiled to the Apostle in the Isle of Patmos, and that He and He only is assumed to know what the works of each Church are. The difference between the messages lies in the discovery of one D 34 LECTUEES ON THE APOCALYPSE. [lect. aspect of this Divine Person to one of these Churches, of another to another; these discoveries having, as we shall see hereafter, reference to their peculiar tendencies and dangers. 2. The second general characteristic is that these words are repeated after each message, " He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches" When we have examined the account which is given of them more closely, we shall discover, I believe, why it was not enough to tell them that the Son of Man was in the midst of them, that he knew what they were doing. To admit this is possible. To recognise Him as in some sense a Head of all Churches, as in some sense discerning their qualities, as in some sense ruling them, has not been found very difficult in later times, and would not, by many, have been felt so in that time. But to join this with the belief that He is conversing inwardly with them by His Spirit, that by this Spirit He is convincing them of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment, that by this Spirit He is appealing to that which is most inward and permanent in them, not to that which is casual or impulsive — that, I suspect, was the difficulty then, and has been ever since. It took, we shall find, different forms. Now, the confession of a Son of a Man could become a mere hard, outward, almost material con- fession. Now, the confession of a Spirit could be turned into the excuse for all lawlessness and fanaticism. Therefore that every message should begin with one of these revelations and end with the other, is, I con- ceive, very significant, and one of the great reasons why we feel that in reading of the Asiatic Churches of eighteen centuries ago, we are reading of the European Churches in the midst of which we are dwelling. in.] THE SEVEN CHURCHES. 35 3. Again, that is no less obvious a mark of all these messages, to which I adverted last week, when I was speaking of the seven stars. Each one is addressed to the whole body, in the person of its angel. There were differences, evidently very broad differences, in the behaviour and moral life of the different persons who composed the respective Churches. These are in some cases noted. But still there is a mind and temper attributed to the society, of which the mind and temper of the minister are taken to bo faithful indexes. He is the representative of the particular Church over which he presides. There is no speech to the individual members of it apart from him. With these materials we may easily build up a structure of priestcraft, and plead St. John's authority for it. It is inevitable that such a structure should arise, if this part of St. John's words only is regarded, if that part which concerns the walking of the Son of Man in the midst of the candle- sticks, and the presence of the Spirit with the Churches, is forgotten. Take those Divine revelations away, take away the illustration which they receive from St. John's abnegation of all honour to himself, and it requires no elaborate ecclesiastical theory to make priests into tyrants and Churches into slaves. This effect will follow naturally, because there is such a craving for unity in the heart of men, there is such an inward sense that we are constituted under some head, there is such a consciousness of a responsibility in fathers for their children, in kings for their subjects, in ministers for their congregations, that when the Divine principle is forgotten which explains these convictions and deter- mines their limits, there will be perpetually new mani- festations of anarchy in opposition to priestcraft. If the minister forgets that he is a messenger of God, he d 2 36 LECTURES ON THE APOCALYPSE. [lect. can only avoid becoming a usurper over men by becoming their tool. 4. Once more, there is this common characteristic of these messages : every one ends with some words con- cerning struggle and victory. To the Ephesian angel it is written, " To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God." To the angel of Smyrna, " He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death" To the angel of Pergamos, " To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man hnoweth saving he that receiveth it" To the angel in Thyatira,