UUlUi(H{|IMI}!.U!l|llfMIIIIIIUIIMnUHn
!'■
ill;!
•li
'11
1
' i
1 1 i
li
ij
1
li
i^t^Sumuni-i
■•'^M
fcibrar^ of CHc theological ^eminarjp
PRINCETON • NEW JERSEY
,vv>rr"iv,. .j»«i^ -.M^*^^
^e-^^2^^
7^-9^7^
<^j^-^<^ /i^^y^^^
C^,y£^A^/'^c^^-
7""
\
\ V
|lljji[iiiit^ '^oim hx ^iitmo^.
THAT SP.-MvE WITH Ml
:#^-
e^.
M 1
^tfZ.OninstS^-^''^
MORNING HOURS IN PATIOS:
THE
OPENING VISION
THE APOCALYPSE,
Cljrist's dJpistles ta % Btbm Cljurchs of %^m.
B Y
A. C. THOMPSON,
AUTHOR OP "THE BETTER LAND," " GATHERED LILIES," ETC.
BOSTON:
aOULD AND LINCOLN,
59 WASIIINOTOM' ST BE EX.
NEW YORK: SHELDON AND COMPANY.
CINCINNATI: GEORGE S. BLANCHARD.
18G0.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860, by
A. C. THOMPSON.
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
PRINTKU BT
GEOItnE C. RANT> & AVERT.
A N D O V K R :
ELECTROTYl'KU BY W.F.DRArEE,
c o isr T E :[sr T s
THE BENEDICTION.
PATMOS — THE BOOK OF KEVELATION — CAUSES OF NEGLECT —
THE AGED SEER — THE BLESSING PRONOUNCED — INDUCEMENTS
TO ITS STUDY — THE IMPORTANCE CUMULATIVE, ... 13
THE SALUTATION AND DOXOLOGY.
THE SALUTATION — ITS CHARACTER — THE SOURCE OF BLESSING
— CHARACTERS OF CHRIST — SCOPE OF THE BENEDICTION — THE
ASCRIPTION — PURIFICATION NEEDED — THE FOUNTAIN OPENED
— THE APPLICATION — THE HONORS BESTOWED — A TESTIMO-
NIAL— SELF-CONSECRATION, 30
X CONTENTS.
TEE ADVENT IN GLORY.
CHRIST ALL IN ALL — CHARACTER OF THE TIMES — MAXXER OF
THE ADVENT — THE ATTENDANT GLORY — THE SAME TO BE
PONDERED — A TERROR TO THE WICKED — JOYFUL TO BELIEV-
ERS— THE ADVENTS CONTRASTED — THE ALPHA AND OMEGA, 53
THE VISION AND THE SEER,
APOSTOLIC SYMPATHY — CHRISt's SYMPATHY — THE CAUSE OF
BANISHMENT — THE DAY OF VISION — THE COMMISSION — THE
OPENING VISION — SUFFERINGS HONORED, .... 75
THE LORD 0 F L IF E.
STRENGTH AND COMFORT — THE ALPHA AND OMEGA — OUR RISEN
LORD — CHRIST THE ARBITER OF HADES — CHRIST THE ARBI-
TER OF DEATH — DEPARTURES CONTRASTED, ... 92
THE EPISTLE TO EPHESUS.
EPHESUS — PRECEDENCE OF THIS EPISTLE — CHRIST AVITH HIS
MINISTERS AND CHURCHES — EXCELLENCES RECOGNIZED — THE
GREAT DELINQUENCY— A WARNING AND A COMMENDATION —
A I'ROMISE TO THE VICTOR, 109
CONTENTS. XI
apt^r S^faiJittlj.
THE EPISTLE TO SMYRNA.
S3IYRNA — THE LIVING ONE — THE SUBJECT-MATTER OF ADDRESS
— THE SATANIC SYNAGOGUE — HOLY COURAGE ENJOINED — A
CORONATION PROMISED — THE MARTYR I'OLYCARP, . . 130
w^itx ^xjgHfj.
THE EPISTLE TO P ERG AM OS.
PERGAMOS — CHRIST'sWORD IRRESISTIBLE — CHRIST's COGNIZANCE
OF THE CHURCH — THEIR FIDELITY ACKNOWLEDGED — FALSE
DOCTRINES REPROBATED — HIDDEN MANNA AND THE WHITE
STONE, 152
THE EPISTLE TO Til Y AT IRA.
THYATiRA — Christ's searching scrutiny — excellences rec-
ognized—neglect OF discipline censured — RETRIBUTION
threatened— A CHARGE TO THE FAITHFUL — STEADFASTNESS
ENJOINED— THE VICTOR TO BE CROWNED, .... 174
XII CONTENTS.
THE EPISTLE TO SARDIS.
SARI^IS — SPIRITUAL DEATH —VIGILANCE ENJOINED — THE WARN-
ING— COMPANIONSHIP WITH CHRIST — THE PRESENTATION IN
GLORY 201
THE EPISTLE TO P H I LA D ELP H I A.
PHILADELPHIA — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SPEAKER — THE DOOM
OF HYPOCRITES — DELIVERANCE CERTAIN AND NEAR — THE
VICTOR REWARDED — THE NEW NAME, 222
THE EPISTLE TO LAODICEA.
LAODICEA— THE FAITHFUL WITNESS — CHRIST'S SUPREMACY —
THE LUKEWARM REJECTED — SPIRITUAL POVERTY — TRUE
RICHES — DISCIPLINE A TOKEN OF LOVE— CHRIST KNOCKING
AT THE DOOR — THE VICTOR TO BE EXALTED — A LAODICEAN
SPIRIT NOW — THE CLOSING LESSON, 241
MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
-oo;«4oo-
Cljapttr Jfirsl.
THE BENEDICTION.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto
him, to show 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 read-
eth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and
kefep those things which are written therein ; for the
time is at hand. Rev. 1 : 1 — 3.
PATMOS.
Our company, sailing along the southern shore
of Asia Minor, came among that group of classi-
cal islands known as The Sporades. The day
14 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
previous we left Rhodes, and its harbor, where
once stood the renowned Colossus, accounted one
of the Seven Wonders of the world. We were
now off the coast of ancient Caria. Before us
lay the island of Samos, celebrated as the birth-
place of Pythagoras ; and a little farther on was
Chios, long famous for its wines. Several hours
before the dawn of day, we came abreast of a
small rocky island. Its circumference is perhaps
fifteen miles, its coast high and stern, and its
whole aspect cheerless. On account of its lonely,
prison-like character, it was selected by the Ro-
mans as a place of banishment for state criminals.
Yes, there is Patmos ! the scene of apocalyptic
visions. There was the last inspired prophecy
communicated ; there, for the last time, did the
Lord Jesus reveal himself to an entranced seer,
never more to appear thus visibly to mortal eyes,
till he shall come again with the clouds of heaven,
when every eye shall see him. Thou hoary-
headed evangelist, apostle and prophet, how did
thy venerable form bend under labors in the
quarry and the mine ! How was thy holy soul
grieved by the converse of culprits, meriting, as
THE BENEDICTION. 15
thou didst not, siicli penal banishment! What
scenes of transcendent glory and terror passed
before thine eye, with sjmbol-s of deep mysterious
meaning, — scrolls written over with the hiero-
glyphics of Heaven ! What trumpet-tones of
startling import didst thou hear ! How did
thine affectionate eye glance across the water
to beloved disciples at Ephesus, Smyrna, Per-
gamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and La-
odicea!
It was a bright moonlight. The solemn still-
ness of surrounding waters, and the shadowy out-
lines of silent Patmos, were quite consonant with
the grandeur and dark prophetic shading of the
Apocalypse. During those quiet early hours, and
whilst the morning sun poured his rays on the
^^gean Sea, the author read — and naturally
with special interest — the opening Vision of
John. The thoughts which here follow were
then, for substance, suggested to him.
In prosecuting our voyage, we afterwards
came among the Cyclades; but none of those
shining islands, immortalized by classic song and
history, had a thousandth part of the interest
16 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
which attached to the crest of that rugged rock,
still visible in the distant horizon. It is not
Homer or SajDpho that we expect to meet in the
New Jerusalem ; but, by the grace of God, we do
hope yet to see our brother and companion in
tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of
Jesus Christ, who was in the isle that is called
Patmos. And if so favored at last — if permitted
to sit down with him as interpreter — it will be
an additional occasion for thanksgiving, that the
eye once rested for a few hours on the very spot
of earth where was made "The Kevelation of
Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show
unto his servants things which must shortly come
to pass."
THE BOOK OF REVELATION.
The Apocalypse is a panorama of the glory of
Christ. We are comparatively familiar with the
gospel of his condescension to the poor, his heal-
ing mercies, and his atoning sacrifice ; but here is
the gospel of his enthronement, and his coming
again for judgment. A voice has cried in the
wilderness. Behold the Lamb of God ! A voice
THEBENEDICTIOX. 17
now proclaims from heaven^ Behold the Lion of
the tribe of Judah !
It is with deep reverence that we would open
the roll of this prophecy. No book of the Bible
takes us so irresistibly and at once into another
sphere. With what a conflict of curiosity and
awe do explorers of ancient cities in Central
America, or, more, recently, of ancient cities in
regions toward the Euphrates, visit those ruins —
colossal, rude, grand, but silent ! And w^ith what
lively interest have modern travellers in Africa
lighted upon cities before unknown to us, number-
ing their inhabitants by thousands^ who, in com-
mon with ourselves, are moving on toward the
world of spirits ! Similar are the feelings of one
who, with eyes and ears open to the wonders of
the " Revelation of Jesus Christ," first approaches
this impressive monument of the past, this living
portraiture of the present and the future. Here
are found vastness and magnificence, unparal-
leled; strangely significant sculptures and in-
scriptions ; long vistas, bounded by no terrestrial
objects, but stretching on into other worlds.
Throudiout the whole is the utmost intensity of
18 MORXING HOURS IX PATMOS.
life ; movements of the widest sweep, and the
highest spiritual importance; whilst mingling
splendor and mystery give to it a grandeur be-
yond any other production since time began.
Yet the Apocalypse is to many an unexplored
city, and to many even a buried city. Perhaps
no portion of the New Testament, and, unless it
be some of the historical books, or some of the
minor prophets, no part of the Old Testament, is
less perused.
CAUSES OF NEGLECT.
There are various reasons for this comparative
neglect. One is, the intrinsic difficulty of inter-
preting portions of it. The obscurity, however,
resting upon certain scenes in the revelation
made to John, is no greater than hangs over a
part at least of the more ancient prophecies of
Ezekiel and Zechariah, which certainly wxre
embraced within the scope of Christ's command,
"Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think
ye have eternal life ; and they are they that
testify of me." Did Paul make an exception of
those, when he affirmed, "All Scripture is given
THE BENEDICTION. 19
by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doc-
trine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness " ? The design of revelation is not
to repress, but to stimulate curiosity and study ;
and the value of no part of Holy Writ depends
on the absence of necessity for investigation.
Another reason for such neglect is the injudi-
cious manner in which this " Testimony of Jesus
Christ " has been treated. No other book in the
Bible was the subject of comment so early and
to such an extent, nor has any other been the
occasion of more mistakes and extravagance.
Its structure and topics, and the mode of treat-
ing them, will account for this. It has a larger
proportion of symbolic language than is found
elsewhere, and such language is proverbially
capable of misconception. Hence many strange
notions have been interpreted into the book, and
many an unfounded hypothesis has been put
forth, as if the study of prophecy conferred the
gift of prophecy. Whilst Protestant writers have
sometimes indulged their fancies in a very law-
less manner, Eoman Catholics have endeavored
to turn against them, and against Luther, all pas-
20 MORXIXG nOURS IN PATMOS.
sages which had been apphed to the Pope and
Popery. An attempt was made, many years ago,
to prove from the apocalyptic numbers that the
total overthrow of Protestantism would take place
in the year eighteen hundred and twenty-five.
Vagaries thus indulged have naturally created
a prejudice against the book. A clergyman of
the English church, more distinguished for wit
than piety, remarked long ago that the Apoca-
lypse either finds or leaves a man mad ; and a
continental scholar compliments Calvin for dis-
playing no less good sense in not commenting on
this book, than he displays in the commentaries
which he did write. But shall the wisdom of
God be discredited by the folly of man ? Does
abuse justify the disuse of what the Holy Spirit
has given for our benefit ? " For whatsoever
things were written aforetime, were written for
our learning, that we, through patience and com-
fort of the Scriptures, might have hope." The
superficial and the prejudiced may slight it ; but
the lofty genius of Sir Isaac Newton did not dis-
dain a patient study of this wonderful book. He
prepared his observations on it with the greatest
THE BENEDICTION. 21
care, writing and re-writing again and again,
before committing them to the press.
Another and far less justifiable cause of such
neglect as now exists, may be found in the
absorbing devotion of modern mind to things
seen and temporal. There is a general and
strangely engrossing attention to the present ; an
infatuating bondage to business and fashion ; and
hence a natural disrelish for such books, inspired
or uninspired, as urge the realities of an unseen
world and a momentous future on our notice.
It would appear to have been with a prescient
eye upon just this state of things, that our Lord
communicated, in Patmos, " The Revelation of
Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show
unto his servants things which must shortly come
to pass."
THE WRITER.
" And he sent and signified 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."
These are the words of an apostle ; for there
22 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
is no doubt that the John who here speaks, is
the beloved and highly favored one of the
Twelve w^ho bears that name. Some, as James,
were apostles, without being evangelists or
prophets. Luke was an evangelist, without be-
ing an apostle or prophet; Matthew was not a
prophet, though an evangelist and apostle ; but
John was at once evangelist, apostle, and seer ;
and if eminence in office, services and age, could
enhance the importance of words which the Holy
Ghost communicated, then have the words of his
prophecy peculiar significance.
THE BLESSING PRONOUNCED.
" Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the
words of this prophecy, and keep those things which
are written therein."
There are two strongly marked divisions of
this " Testimony of Jesus Christ," as indicated in
verse nineteenth of the first chapter. One divis-
ion, devoted chiefly to " the things which are,"
embraces the first three chapters, and contains
the opening vision, together with the seven
THE BENEDICTIOX. 23
epistles. The other, presentmg "the things
which shall be hereafter," consists of the remain-
ing nineteen chapters, and is more characteris-
tically, The Revelation. The former of these is
comparatively plain and easily understood.
It cannot fail to be noticed as an miusual
circumstance, that, after announcing the title,
the aged penman immediately pauses to utter a
benediction. And where is there so formal a
blessing pronounced upon the reading and observ-
ance of any other part of the sacred canon ?
What encouragement, then, we have for study-
ing this last of the lively oracles ! and what pre-
sumption it is to plead difficulty of interpretation,
or other reasons, as an excuse for neglect of our
Lord's final messages from heaven! Though
obscure in parts, it is intelligible enough to be
highly useful. It belongs to that holy circle of
writings, all which are profitable, and profitable
for all. The blessing pronounced by the venera-
ble prophet on Patmos, w\as not made. conditional
on our understanding the whole " Revelation of
Jesus Christ," or on a complete understanding of
any part of it ; but " Blessed is he that readeth.
24 MORNING HOURS IN P ATM OS.
and they that hear the words of this prophecy,
and keep those things which are written therein."
Is it for us to slight the production of an inspired
man, though he open his mouth in a parable, and
utter dark sayings of old ? " Whoso is wise, and
he shall understand these things; prudent, and
he shall know them."
INDUCEMENTS TO STUDY.
There are several respects in which the hearing
and keeping of the words of this prophecy may
prove a gratification and blessing.
The natural desire which all have to know
something of the future, is here, in a measure,
met. Such a yearning is instinctive in the
human mind. It is on the basis of this uncon-
trollable curiosity that systems of soothsaying
have been built up, and are singularly perpet-
uated. But the "Record of the word of God,
and of the testimony of Jesus Christ," reveals
scenes of surpassing grandeur and interest yet
to be realized. Here are the sacred Urim and
Thummim, where alone we may inquire of the
THE BENEDICTION. 25
Lord, " Tell ns when shall these things be, and
what shall be the sign when all these things shall
be fulfilled." To every humble inquirer comes
the response, " Blessed is he that readeth."
The apocalyptic agency is a guarantee of ben-
efit to those who study the book. The Eevela-
tion, like every other part of Holy Writ, has in
its divine source a sufficient pledge of high value
to man. But there is here an enhancing pecu-
liarity. While its origin is, with marked dis-
tinctness, ascribed to God, there are introduced
circumstances that indicate an extraordinary im-
portance in the production.
"The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave
unto him, to show unto his servants things which
must shortly come to pass. He sent and signified it
by his angel unto his servant John."
It comes from the great Fountain of all wis-
dom and truth ; but it was in the first place
communicated to Jesus Christ, who, as Son, is
equal with the Father, but as mediator stands in
subordination to him. The Saviour, when on
earth, said, "The Father loveth the Son, and
3
26 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
showeth him all things that himself doeth."
" For I have not spoken of myself ; but the
Father which sent me, he gave me a command-
ment what I should say, and what I should
speak."
It was only occasions of more august reve-
lation, that seemed to require the agency of
angels ; as at Sinai, where the law was received
by their dispensation. Gabriel, who appeared in
vision to Daniel, came with a special message to
him. The same exalted messenger also made
the annunciation to Mary, the mother of Jesus.
Near the close of the Apocalypse is a renewed
mention of this department of agency : " The
Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel
to show unto his servants the things which must
shortly be done." So that the part performed by
the angel thus employed, appears to have been
the unfolding of such symbolic scenery as was
successively disclosed in vision to the seer.
There is, then, in the prologue to this closing
book of the sacred volume, manifest intimation
of its being one of peculiar weight and value.
John, the apostle, remains in the background ;
THE BENEDICTION. 27
bat what is superhuman and divine, at once
engages, and throughout absorbs, the attention.
Pecuhar benefit may be derived from warnings
here presented. Where else are found such ter-
rific revelations of vindicatory justice ? What
friend or foe of Christianity can even peruse the
record of these visions without " fiilling as dead
at the feet" of Him whose awfully majestic and
glorious form presides over the whole ?
Here too are all-sufficient and sublime sources
of comfort. Here is a grand charter of rights and
privileges to the militant church of the Most
High, embellished with views of the inheritance
of the saints in light — a charter bearing the sign
manual, and sealed with the great seal of the
King of kings. If the persecuted and downcast
followers of the Lamb would have their faith and
hope made lastingly triumphant, let them with
prayer peruse, again and again, the testimony of
Jesus Christ. They will lift up their heads with
jo}^, knowing that their redemption draweth
nigh. In the whole range of composition, unin-
spired or inspired, this book stands unsurpassed
for momentous topics and impressive imagery. It
28 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
is the Mont Blanc of prophetic landscape^ with
its mer de glace, its rushing torrents, its frightful
avalanches, — the veil never wholly withdrawn
from its face, whilst its higher summits rise in
celestial clearness above the clouds that hang be-
neath. Herein prophecy culminates. And what
a fitting conclusion it is to the most wonderful
of all books ! Here is the grand supplement and
key to previous predictions uttered by holy men
of God, and by our Lord himself With strangely
graphic power, it conducts the militant church
through appalling scenes of flood, fire, and car-
nage, to her final era of glorified rest and ever-
lasting bliss. Can there be anything better
suited to elevate the soul, to cultivate a sancti-
fied dignity of character, than- devout familiarity
with such a production ?
THE IMPORTANCE CUMULATIVE.
"For the time is at hand."
The importance of studying the Apocalypse
increases with the lapse of time. Here are
"things which must shortly come to pass;" that
THE BENEDICTION. 29
is, are in the process of fulfilment. Even when
John bare record of the word of God, and of the
testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that
he saw, the long period within which those suc-
cessive scenes were to be realized w^as at hand.
The first in the connected series was on the eve
of accomplishment. If proximity then consti-
tuted a motive for heeding these contents, how
much more does it now ! Every revolving cen-
tury, every closing year, adds to the urgency
with which attention is challenged to the con-
cluding portion of Holy Writ. And does not that
intensity of devotion to the present, which char-
acterizes our times and our country, enhance the
reasonableness of this claim ? Never, surely, was
there a period when some mighty counteracting
power was more needed. The Revelation of
Jesus Christ, duly studied, supplies an appro-
priate corrective influence. Would that all Chris-
tians might, in fullest measure, receive the bless-
ing of '' them that hear the words of this proph-
ecy, and that keep the things which are written
therein, for the time is at hand."
3*
tx S^mttir*
TEE SALUTATION AND DOXOLOGY.
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 tlie 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. Eev. 1 : 4 — 6.
THE SALUTATION.
" John to the seven churches which are in Asia."
By Asia here is not of course to be under-
stood the whole continent, nor yet that extensive
portion called Asia Minor ; but a limited part
SALUTATION AND DOXOLOGY. 31
of the latter, with Ephesus for its chief city. It
is quite possible that this district, at the date
of the Apocalypse, embraced other churches
besides the seven named ; as, for example,
at Colosse, Hierapolis, Tralles, and Magnesia.
Whether that were the case or not, there was
special reason why these seven should be par-
ticularly addressed ; for they were no doubt the
chief; they were near to Patmos, and not far
one from another. The apostle may have sus-
tained some peculiar relation to them, — they
being, perhaps, his special nurslings ; or they
may have stood in some affiliated relation to one
another. There certainly was a peculiarity of
condition among them which rendered such
public and formal appeals necessary.
The first three chapters, and particularly the
second and third, form the epistolary part of the
Eevelation. There is, however, no good reason
for supposing that while thus primarily and
specifically addressed by our Lord to the seven
churches of Asia, these brief e;|pistles were de-
signed to be any more restricted in their use
than the rest of the Apocalypse, or than the
32 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
epistles of Paul, James, and Peter, In their
counsels, reproofs and encouragements, they car-
ried a purpose and a value for all other churches
then, and all churches since.
CHARACTER OF THE ADDRESS.
" Grace be unto you, and peace."
What is the subject-matter of the salutation ?
Does the hoary-headed man on Patmos wish long
life for Christians at Ephesus, at Smyrna, and
other churches of the sisterhood ? Does he say,
May your storehouses overflow, your wine-presses
burst out with new wine ; may you have civil
liberty and social quiet ; may the Eoman soldier
leave your neighborhood, the tax-gatherer cease
his extortions ? The holy man has something
immeasurably higher to supplicate for them.
" Grace be unto you," — the grace that pardons
and sanctifies; the grace that enables you to
endure, and to rejoice under your grievance ; the
grace that gives full assurance of hope, and a
final share in the glories unfolded by this apoca-
lyptic vision, — such grace be unto you.
SALt^TATION AND DOXOLOGY. 33
''' And peace/' — the peace of God, peace after
the war within ; heaven-derived peace to souls
before dissatisfied and burdened ; peace such as
the Emperor Doniitian cannot produce or disturb ;
peace which, as a central characteristic of inward
experience, shall foster all the elements of spiritr
ual life and happiness. " Grace and peace," —
grace in its largest measures, and peace in all
its fulness. God's favor and its seal ; the divine
implanting, and the blessed fruits thereof. Where
grace is granted, peace follows ; where special
grace is not, there is no satisfactory peace.
Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have
give I unto you \ a benediction apostolic, weighty,
cordial.
The gifts bestowed are not, however, from
John, richly endowed as he was ; but from the
Great Fountain, the Great Storehouse of the
spiritual world.
THE SOURCE OF BLESSING.
" From him which is, and which was, and which
is to come ; and from the seven spirits wliicli are
before his throne ; and from Jesus Christ, who is the
34 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
faithful witness, and the first-begotten of the dead,
and the prince of the kings of the earth."
Though similar to other apostolic salutations,
this is peculiar in its elevation and mystery of
language; it is sublimely in keeping with the
whole grand and impressive character of the
Revelation.
" From him which is, and which was, and
which is to come." " I am that I am," hath sent
me unto you. What consolation in the prom-
ises, what alarm in the warnings to the seven
churches, and to all churches, from the everlasting
God ! His eternity and unchangeableness stand
forth to enhance the solemnity of this message.
To him are no new years, and no waning years.
Here is a sweep commensurate with the whole
contents of the Apocalypse. He who was with
the church in the ark, in the wilderness, in every,
past storm and strait, is with her now ; and he
will stand by her in all the troubles, perils, and
revolutions, that betide her future course.
" And from the seven spirits which are before
his throne." That is, from the Holy Spirit, denom-
SALUTATION AND DOXOLOGY. 35
inated " the seven spirits," because seven is a
sacred and perfect number ; not thus named with
reference to his essential participation in the di-
vine nature, so much as to his official procession;
not as denoting interior plurality, but the fulness
and perfection of his gifts and operations. His
own unity, and the unity of the triune Godhead
remain intact, while he is thus once designated
"the seven spirits," to intimate the variety and
abundance of his communications.
Some suppose, and particularly Roman Catho-
lics, who are so destitute of any pretext in favor
of angel-worship, that this clause signifies seven
angels ; as we read in the eighth chapter, at the
second verse, "And I saw the seven angels which
stood before God." But if angels were meant,
why were they not so called, instead of spirits ?
And what business have angels in such a cat-
egory, taking rank between God the Father,
and the Son, as if grace and peace could come
from them, as well as from the first and the
second persons of the adorable Trinity ?
36 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
CHARACTERS OF CHRIST.
'' And from Jesus Christ the faithful witness."
It had been foretold through Isaiah, " Behold
I have given him for a witness to the people."
Before Pontius Pilate he witnessed a good con-
fession. He is one to be depended upon. Pre-
ceding prophets had, indeed, borne truthful
witness of him ; but he is the truth itself
"The first-begotten of the dead." He has pre-
eminence in this as a predicted fact, and in
the circumstances attending it ; but most of all
in its being a return to confirmed life, to a
victorious, lasting power over death. Those
who had been raised before his advent, and
those raised during his sojourn on earth, were
still subject to death ; they died again, and
that presently. But Christ, the first-fruits of
them that slept, never slept again. It is fitting
that he, the eldest in the family, should take this
signal precedence in becoming alive forevermore.
" Who is the beginning, the first-born from the
dead ; that in all things he might have the
preeminence."
SALUTATION AND DOXOLOGY. 37
^^ The prince of the kings of the earth."
This regal character of Messiah had been the
subject of prediction : " I will make him my
first-born higher than the kings of the earth."
During the incarnation, his dignity was much
in abeyance ; it was humanity that stood next
to us ; but that period was only a temporary
eclipse of the King of day. Emerging, he shone
with new lustre ; he rose on the universe, the
infinitely resplendent luminary, the glory of all
worlds. " On his vesture and on his thigh is a
name written. King of kings and Lord of lords;"
on his head are many crowns. His is the throne
high and lifted up, a throne that shall never
crumble; he is our all-sufiicient, our everlasting
prophet, priest and prince.
SCOPE OF THE B E NE D ICTI O IT .
"The revelation of Jesus Christ" here laid
before us, has no limited range of period, or of
believers addressed ; it is for his servants till the
end of time. The hoary-headed apostle on Pat-
mos spoke first, indeed, to churches in Proconsular
4
38 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
Asia ; but he spoke also to the saints in Christ
JesuSj of all lands, and through all succeeding
centuries. Who, then, will not gather courage
for future storms, in the benediction of ^^ grace
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, the faithful witness, and the first-begotten
of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the
earth?"
THE ASCRIPflOK.
What response shall be made? What testi-
monial of regard befitting the rank of him who
salutes us, shall be returned ? Holy Spirit, in-
dite thou a reply for us! Do thou who art
resident at the court of the King of kings,
familiar wath the proprieties of heaven, who hast
often aided ignorant earth-bred man, supply us
with hearts and with words acceptable to him
who is Alpha and Omega, the great Creator,
Sovereign and Saviour ! Thanks be to thee for
the doxology here given.
SALUTATION AND DOXOLOGY. 39
" Unto liim 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."
We had thought that our earthly father loved
us ; that a fond mother loved us ; that an affec-
tionate brother loved us ; that a bosom friend
had given peculiar proofs of attachment ; but
now we see that none beside Christ's love
deserves the name. " Greater love hath no
man than this," — and few, very few, have this,
— " that a man lay down his life for his friends."
But here is love commended to us, in that while
we were yet enemies Christ died for us. He
alone has surrendered rank, and wealth, and life
for us. "Unto him that loved us;" no one else
has shown affection. Many are the admiring
thoughts that rush into our minds, but all resolve
themselves into this : " Unto him that loved us."
We have many things to say ; a whole life will
not suffice for them ; but first of all and forever
must we sing, " Unto him that loved us." We
have one superscription to write, one inscription
to make on oar hearts, our homes, and all that is
40 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
ours; deep and broad be the letters graven,
" Unto him that loved us "
PURIFICATION NEEDED.
"And washed lis from our sins in his own
blood." Ah ! here is the amazing proof of love.
This gives intensity of meaning to the previous
words, and let it be well pondered. We must
contemplate our vileness, if we would know with
what love the spotless Lamb has washed us from
our sins in his own blood. And what stains there
are to be cleansed ! stains deep, direful, universal !
A dark taint runs through man's whole nature.
So far as spiritual excellences are concerned, the
unrenewed heart is a desert, with green spots
here and there, and a few scattered flowers, but
" The trail of the serpent Is over them all ;" —
with springs here and there, but they prove to be
mere ulcers of nature, whose streams are discol-
ored and loathsome. The issues of life from
such a source, can have no other character than
their polluted origin.
SALUTATION AND DOXOLOGY. 41
If any one feels disposed to deny that the
fountain itself is originally and absolutely cor-
rupted, he must surely admit that when its
products reach us, and become known, they are
vitiated. Toward its sources in the Rocky Moun-
tains, the Eed River passes through a red soil,
which gives color and name to the stream ; and
its waters are never healthful; they are often
positively deleterious. So the stream of life, upon
our first acquaintance, is charged with impurities;
poisoning passions and defiling lusts intermingle ;
and it must be not only that the soil through
which, and the strata over which, it flows make
their noxious contributions, but that the very
well-head is poisoned. "Even their mind and
conscience is defiled." And must not the God of
purity turn away from such, leaving them in the
horrible pit, and miry clay, and finally cast them
into outer darkness ? We are by this defilement
made legally and inherently unclean ; but guilt
brings inevitable condemnation and misery.
How, then, shall the ruin be repaired ? Say, ye
wise men, ye men of research, ye who have ex-
perimented largely, who have read much, and
4*
42 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
travelled far, have you found the remedy ? Tell
me, for my trembling spirit must have an an-
swer. It is a question of life and death — "How
should man be just with God ?" How shall this
unsightly soul become pure ? Outward washings,
or other mere ceremonies, avail nothing. The
stains are deeply inward, and God's displeasure is
awfully and righteously intense. Abana and
Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, the Jordan or the
Ganges, will not do it. Not all the rain from the
clouds, nor all the waters of the ocean will
suffice for such baptism. "Though thou wash
thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet
thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the
Lord God." A meritorious, not ceremonious, puri-
fying is needed. No penances, mental or bodily,
will do it. Anguish of soul does not atone or
cleanse ; neither the fires of pretended purgatory,
nor the actual tortures of the sharp crucifix, can
expiate. Yet, " Without shedding of blood is no
remission." Whose blood, then, will appease
and cleanse ? Whose ? Answer, who that an-
swer can. Speak out, you that have found the
remedy !
SALUTATION AND DOXOLOGY. 43
A FOUNTAIN OPENED.
" Unto him that loved us, and washed us from
our sins in his own blood," — in thy precious
blood, 0 Saviour ! No appliances and efforts of
man at expiation and purification can avail : the
blood of Jesus Christ alone cleanseth from all
sin. It is not Stephen's, nor the blood of all
the martyrs, but that of Jesus Christ, the Son
of God, which has this wondrous .power. Who,
then, need despair? Who shall ever dare to
say, My sin is too great to be forgiven ? There
are no heights, no depths of guilt, for which
Christ's blood will not suffice.
Each disability under which man labors — one
from without, and one from within — is met
by the blood of Christ. It makes expiation.
Divine Justice is thus appeased, and so the
sinner's danger is removed. That alone becomes
a satisfaction, and so quenches the fire of enkin-
dled wrath. " By his own blood, he entered in
once into the holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption for us ; " and thus is the first grand
obstacle to the sinner's salvation completely
44 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
removed. The foundation is thus laid, and way
prepared for all the remaining parts and pro-
ceedings of salvation, — the meritorious ground
of the whole being the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
THE APPLICATION,
The saving use made of Christ's blood is an
official work of the Holy Spirit : " For we are
elect according to the foreknowledge of God the
Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto
obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus."
The conviction on the sinner's mind becomes
deep and strong that he is full of leprosy ; not
having here and there a spot merely, but that he
is diseased universally and incurably, save by the
One to whom he cries, " Lord, if thou wilt, thou
canst make me clean ! " God in mercy commences
" purifying their hearts by faith," — faith in the
sacrifice of Christ. By that alone, does the work
of renewal begin ; and yet this very faith is not
of ourselves — it is the gift of God.
Nor can there be any genuine growth in grace,
apart from this great central truth of the system.
Excellences, yes, high excellences of natural
SALUTATION AXD DOXOLOGY. 45
character there may be ; but, havmg their root
and nourishment elsewhere, they do not evince
sanctification ; they are not plants of righteous-
ness. Spiritual, holy cleansing goes forward only
in proportion as there is a quickening apprehen-
sion of the fact that Christ came " to purify to
himself a peculiar people." The blood of Christ
alone can cleanse from all sin, quenching the
internal fires of passion, and withering the cor-
rupt propensities. That alone which gives peace,
gives purity. By the same method and power
are the guilt and the stains removed — even by
Christ's washing us from our sins in his own
blood. Hence the song of deliverance, the pcean
of praise — " Unto him that loved us." Herein,
herein is love. 0, ye justified ones! — ye who
are expecting a seat at the unending marriage
supper of the Lamb, and to receive a crown, and
palm-branch, and harp, — what is your present,
what will be your everlasting acclamation but
this : " Unto him that loved us, and washed
us from our sins in his own blood " ? Is it not
because, passing under the cross, one of its
all-healing drops has fallen upon you, you are
46 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
moving along that bright path on which beams
the Hght of God's reconciled countenance, — the
path that leads to perfected purity ; and you
" have boldness to enter into the holiest by the
blood of Jesus" ?
THE HONORS BESTOWED.
'^And hath made us kings and priests unto
God and his Father." Heio:htenino: wonder !
From being enemies, we not only become
friends to God, but kings ; from being defiled,
we are not only purified, but raised to an office
implying highest sanctity. True, this dignity
pertains to a kingdom not of this world, yet in
a measure to the present life of every believer.
True, in the world to come, saints are to have
a most exalted and endurino- re^al rank : " To
him that overcometh, will I grant to sit with
me in my throne. And they shall reign for
ever and ever." Yet now also is it true — and
when John addressed the persecuted saints of
his day, was it true — that the disciples of
Christ are made kings and priests unto God.
Thou oh this form one stanza in the sons: of
SALUTATION AND DOXOLOGY. 47
Moses the servant of God, and the song of
the Lamb ; though specially appropriate to the
future, it is a doxology of the present too. For
successful resistance to Satan, for the subjugation
of sin, for the conquest of nations to Christ,
they are now made kings unto him. Truth-
ful and beautiful was the remark, suggested
by this passage, which the young Duke of
Hamilton made on his death-bed to a brother still
younger : " You, Douglass, will soon be a duke,
but I shall be a king." Not less scriptural, and
more striking, was the answer of an aged African,
when weeping friends stood round his bed, and
sobbed, '^ Poor Pompey ! poor Pompey is dying ! "
— " Don't call me poor Pompey ! " exclaimed the
earnest old man ; " I am king Pompey ! "
But we are also made priests unto him. What
was said to the literal, is said to the spiritual
Israel of God : " Ye shall be a peculiar treasure
unto me above all people ; and ye shall be unto
me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation." In
respect to the sacerdotal, no less than the regal
dignity to which believers are raised, there is a
resplendent future, of which the present is dimly
48 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
emblematic. Yet now also do saints stand before
the altar, as well as sit upon a throne. They are
a holy priesthood, to offer up si^iritual sacrifices
acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
This, then, is our position : Christ, in rescuing,
ennobles us; from the depths of ruin he not
merely raises us to the condition of safety and
purity, but to the highest place of honor and
service.
THE DOXOLOG Y.
" To him be glory and dominion for ever and
ever. Amen." What would be man's device
for a monument to the greatest Benefactor ?
Let Christendom unite in an effort. It will,
perhaps, be a memorial structure on some noble
eminence, as goodly Lebanon. The genius of
the civilized world combines for a worthy con-
ception as to materials, magnitude, proportions,
details, and decorations. All navies and mer-
chantmen are employed as transports. Egypt
sends her pyramids and obelisks, India all her
treasures, Europe her palaces, and all the
choicest stores of her museums and galleries;
SALUTATION AND DOXOLOGY. 49
all banking establishments, all commercial houses,
all governments, empty their coffers in aid of
the undertaking. There is constituted a college
of architects and artisans out of all lands, — all the
Bezaleels and Aholiabs, all the wise-hearted men,
and the men cunning to work in gold, and in
silver, in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and
crimson, and blue, and that can skill to grave
with the cunning men. There rises a struct-
ure to which Solomon's temple would be an
insignificant vestibule ; a structure whose summit,
gilded by the morning sun, catches the eye of
dwellers in distant regions. Shall this be our
offering ? Oh, littleness ! " Lebanon is not suf-
ficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient
for a burnt-offering." All nations before him, and
all their works, are as nothing ; and they are
counted unto him less than nothing, and vanity.
Something beats in the breast worth more than
all the mountains, and all treasures of the sea.
It is grateful, adoring hearts which our Saviour
covets. And where grace and peace are expe-
rienced, praise will flow. " Unto him," therefore,
'^ that loved us, and washed us from our sins in
50 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
his blood, and hath made us kings and priests
unto God and his Father — to him be glory and
dominion." Here is our gold, frankincense, and
myrrh. Not to the half of our kingdom merely
do we give him, but the entire realm of our
souls, with all their teeming thoughts, all their
silver cords of affection.
Such an edifice as now imagined, would soon
crumble. The smell of fire would ere long pass
upon it, as upon the whole earth, and all the
works that are therein. To him which is, and
which was, and which is to come ; and to the
seven spirits which are before his throne, and
to him who is the faithful witness and first-
begotten of the dead, and Prince of the kings of
the earth, is due an offering without limits in the
range of its honoring testimony. To him, then,
be glory and honor for ever and ever. Let the
royal priesthood reiterate the same continually.
Never let the lamps go out in the temple ; and
as in your courses ye pass to your throne and
altar on high, still repeat it : " Unto him be glory
and dominion." Roll on, mighty anthem, for
ever and ever, as the sound of many waters!
SALUTATION AND DOXOLOGY. 51
swelling higher and fuller, as hearts and voices
expand, through everlasting ages ! This shall be
the hallelujah chorus of that world, in the light
of which walk the nations of them that are
saved, and into which these kings of earth do
bring their glory and honor.
S E LF- CO NSE ORATION.
Ye who are made kings unto God ; ye wdio
are of the seed royal, raised up together, and
made to sit' together in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus, — elevated already to the highest honor
that created beings can be in this w^orld, and
yet to be exalted to a dignity equal to that of
angels, — what say you to him? What will you
do for him whose precious blood, whose all-con-
quering' grace has effected this, and wdio Avill ere
long associate you with himself on his throne ?
Are ye kings otherw^ise or farther than ye are a
royal priesthood, for the offering up of 3^0 ur
whole selves a continued sacrifice? — the altar
never cold, the incense of prayer and praise
never w^anting, the sweet-smelling savor of holy
52 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
affections and holy living never interrupted ?
Life should be one glad doxology. Existence
through all ages, and all worlds, should be the
one solemn, exulting eucharist : " 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 domin-
ion for ever and ever. Amen."
THE ADVENT IN GLORY.
Behold, lie cometh with clouds ; and every eye
shall see him, and they also which pierced him,
and all the 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. 1 : 7 — 8.
CHRIST ALL IN ALL.
The One who of old was to come, is still the
desire of all nations. The Apocalypse, harmoniz-
ing with previous Scriptures, yet supplementing
them, furnishes a glimpse of the royal Messiah's
sway onward through the whole course of ages.
It presents him as the great Executive of the
universe, the Alpha and Omega in creation,
redemption and retribution. All prophecies and
all administrations are here seen to take their
spirit and significance from him.
54 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
While no one can be too familiar Avitli the
history of his life on earth, his expiatory suffer-
ings, his resurrection and ascension, do Christians
of the present day generally turn their thoughts
in due proportion to the future manifestations of
Jesus Christ ? Do they not rob themselves of
the intended present benefits of a most animat-
ing occurrence, if they fail to meditate often
upon the second coming of our glorious Re-
deemer ?
The former dispensation was closed, and the
new one ushered in by the most wonderful event
which had ever taken place — the humiliation
of Immanuel. The era now passing is to close in
the consummation of all things, over which He
will preside with surpassing majesty, and which
is to mark the most memorable epoch in the
annals of eternity. The beginning of that end-
ing, the prefatory event which is to introduce
that glorious dispensation, will be Christ's second
coming. '• Behold he cometh with clouds ; and
every eye shall see him, and they also that
pierced him ; and all kindreds of the earth shall
wail because of him."
THE ADVENT IN GLORY. 55
This imagery calls to mind three previous
passages of Scripture. One is in Daniel : " I saw
in the night visions, and behold one like the Son
of man came in the clouds of heaven." Another
in Zechariah : " And they shall look on me whom
they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him,
as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be
in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness
for his first-born." And the third in Matthew:
" Then shall the tribes of the earth mourn, and
they shall see the Son of man coming in the
clouds of heaven with power and great glory."
In uttering the last of these, our Saviour seems
to have had the first two in mind, while the three
have a corres^Dondence with the impressive words
occurring in this place.
The writer does not propose to dwell on the
theme in a disputatious style -, nor to dwell on
the questions of chronology involved, of pre-
millennial and postrmillennial order, of a regene-
rated physical world; nor yet upon the judgment,
and those retributory states which are to follow ;
but only on the simple fact, that our Lord is to
come in the manner here described.
66 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
CHARACTER OF THE TIMES.
The period immediately preceding the epoch
when Christ is to come with clouds, will be one
of great sensuality and carnal security. Unem-
ployed talents lie wrapped in napkins ; the vir-
gins all slumber and sleep. In the absence of the
Nobleman, servants begin to smite fellow-ser-
vants, and to eat, and drink, and to be drunken.
They put far off the evil day ; or, hardened
into utter skepticism, inquire. Where is the prom-
ise of his coining ?
His coming will be sudden, at unawares, and
to many in terror. Christ's own language is :
"For as a snare shall it (that day) come on
all them that dwell on the face of the whole
earth" — As a snare, suddenly and rapidly.
Again : " The day of the Lord shall come as a
thief in the night" — Unexpected, and not pre-
pared for. And again: "As the lightning
cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto
the west, so shall also the coming of the Son
of man be." At what time, or where the flash
will be seen, no one can tell ; but when it comes,
THE ADVENT IN GLORY. 57
it is to gleam instantaneously through the sky,
dazzling and startling to all. The general deluge,
and the storm upon Sodom and Gomorrah, are
also referred to as analogous, in their unlooked-for
coming to an ungodly generation.
MANNER OF THE ADVENT.
Our Lord's return from heaven will be like his
departure from earth, real and sensible. As he
stood upon Mount Olivet, after talking with his
disciples of the approaching dispensation of the
Spirit, " he was taken up, and a cloud received
him out of their sight." And while they were
gazing steadfastly toward heaven as he went up,
they were assured, " This same Jesus, which is
taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in
like manner, as ye have seen him go into
heaven." " From whence, also," — so Paul writes
— " we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus
Christ ;" " For the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout." If any are disposed
to raise difficulties upon astronomical or other
grounds, we will abide by the testimony of Him
58 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
who made the heavens and the earth, and wait
till the advent itself shows which is the more
rational.
He does, indeed, come evermore by his provi-
dence. He comes also spiritually to individuals,
when he reveals himself to the soul as Saviour,
and, with the Father, makes his abode there ; or
when, in accordance with precious promises, he
vouchsafes a special presence, as to his minister-
ing servants. But as in the transient theophanies
of the Old Testament, and in his residence of more
than thirty years on earth, he was sensibly pres-
ent, and when he left the world, left by a visible
withdrawment of his resurrection body, so will
his return be a visible reappearance : " Every eye
shall see him." His identity will, of course, be
unimpaired : " This same Jesus which is taken up
from you into heaven, shall so come in like man-
ner as ye have seen him go into heaven." " This
same Jesus," who has just commissioned you to be
his witnesses ; who gave promise of the Spirit's
descent; whose sacred hands and side thou,
doubting Thomas, wast bidden to behold ; whom
ye all were invited to handle and see that he had
THE ADVENT IN GLORY. 59
veritable flesh and bones ; with whom ye have
eaten and conversed ; tjiis same Jesus who said,
" Peace be unto you," in the upper room ; yes,
this same Jesus who was born at Bethlehem,
who lived at Nazareth ; whom ye saw betrayed,
and saw upon the cross ; — " this same Jesus
shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him
go into heaven." He will come visibly, and in all
recognizable identity. No disciple of his will
then ask, " Art thou he that should come, or look
we for another ? "
THE ATTENt)ANT GLOUY.
But, as the Saviour is to come in the manner
described, and every eye is to see him, the ques-
tion arises : How will they behold him ? with
what sensible disj)lay will he come ?
" Behold he cometh with clouds."
It will be with surpassing glory. When he
was on earth, he taught : " The Son of man shall
come in his own glory," — his own glory as God-
man. His human form now in the heavens, and
60 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
as then to be exhibited, is the most glorious
created object in the universe. And when he
shall reappear, it will be under no eclipse, under
no hinderance to the full disjDlay of his perfec-
tions. Humanity exalted to the highest possible
excellence, crowned by all the attributes of
Deity, will shine forth in undimmed effulgence.
Personal beauty, and dignity, and regal majesty
will be seen in utmost eminence. When the
Ancient of Days doth sit, it will be with a gar-
ment white as snow, on a throne like the fiery
flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery
stream shall issue and come forth from before
him. The glory of his power as Creator and
Preserver, the glory of his headship over the
whole domain of creation, and over all ranks of
creatures, the glory of his justice and compassion
as atoning sufierer and fraternal intercessor,
will gleam with combined and inconceivable
splendor.
We read, also, " The Son of man shall come i i \V>
in the glory of his Father." He is the brightness
of the Father's glory. In him dwelleth all the
fulness of the Godhead bodily. But when made
THE ADVENT IN GLORY. 01
in the likeness of sinful flesh, and under all the
humbling circumstances of his first advent, the
manifested Deity, though sufficiently attested,
was greatly veiled. Rightly had he been fore-
told as Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God,
the Everlasting Father. Beams from the Sun of
Righteousness shone through the clouds on the
banks of Jordan, on the mount of transfiguration,
and at the grave of Lazarus. Yet those were
mere straggling rays. The light shined in dark-
ness, and the darkness apprehended it not. But
when Christ shall come again, it will be as the
sun shine th in his strength — yea, as the meridian
splendor of seven suns.
In his first manifestation, Christ was compara-
tively unattended. He came to his own, and his
own received him not. Many a solitary hour —
and oh, what solitude ! — did he spend. In soli-
tude was he assaulted by Satan, and agonized
in the garden. But, "The Son of man shall
come in his glory, and all the holy angels with
him." " Thousand thousands shall minister unto
him ; ten thousand times ten thousand will stand
before him." Those sons of God who sang at
6
62 MORNING HOUIiS IN PATMOS.
creation, and shouted for joy ; who ministered in
pomp and terror at Sinai ; who joined in a chorus
over the plains of Bethlehem ; who ministered
to the exhausted sufferer after his temptation ;
who gathered around the sepulchre at his resur-
rection ; who hailed, and heralded, and convoyed
him back to glory, shall be with him, — all with
him, in their chariots of fire, when he cometh in
the clouds of heaven. Our Jesus shall not want
for attendants then. "Well did Paul style that
" the glorious appearing." Well did our Lord
himself pronounce it his coming " with power
and great glory."
THE SAME TO BE PONDERED.
Should it not have a prominent place in the
thoughts of all? Do not Scripture examples
and its own importance demand this ? Old
Testament saints caught glimpses of this mag-
nificent winding up of the last times. " Enoch,
the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these,
saying, Behold the Lord cometh with ten thou-
sand of his saints."
THE ADVENT IN GLORY. 63
The patriarch of Uz protested : " I know that
my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at
the latter day upon the earth." Was it not of
the same event that the sweet psalmist of Israel
sung : " Our God shall come and shall not keep
silence ; a fire shall devour before him, and it
shall be very tempestuous round about him. He
shall call to the heavens from above, and to the
earth, that he may judge his people " ? Daniel
saw in the night visions, and beheld one like the
Son of man come with the clouds of heaven.
The New Testament abounds in appeals and
declarations besides those already cited, relative
to this august revelation. Our Lord speaks :
" Then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in
heaven ; and then shall all the tribes of the earth
mourn." Paul gives an exhortation in view of
" the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all
his saints." Peter makes a similar appeal: "That
the trial of your faith being much more precious
than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried
with fire, might be found unto praise, and honor,
and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ."
This book of the Apocalypse, and the entire holy
(34 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
canon, closes with — " He that testifieth these
things, saith, Surely I come quickly : Amen.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus."
If that stupendous scene were only a pos-
sibility ; if it lay only in the regions of an
inductive probability ; or if, granting it to be
certain, a few only were to be spectators, it
might with greater propriety be dismissed from
the thoughts. But when it is recollected that
Christ will assuredly come, that every eye shall
see him, that every child of Adam has interests
of supreme moment which will be then definitely
settled, and that every human soul will then be
moved with emotions surpassing all former ex-
perience — is there not felt to be a propriety in
frequent meditations upon the hour when Christ
shall come in the clouds of heaven?
A TERROIt TO THE WICKED.
The ulterior bearings of the advent have not
now been dwelt upon. The retributions that
Avill follow, the fearful catastrophes and sublime
developments which will signalize the consumma-
THE ADVENT IX GLORY. 65
tloii of all things, have at most onlj^ been alluded
to. No one, however, can, if he would, wholly
separate the event from its design and conse-
quences. No one can forget that while every
eye shall see the Lord Jesus, multitudes will see
him with dismay. The consciences of all will at
once interpret the intent of that last apocalypse :
" Every eye shall see him, and they also which
pierced him."
The eye of fallen angels shall see him. The
prince of darkness, who assaulted him in the
wilderness, and with all his hosts showed such
special activity at the former advent, and has
ever shown such firm hostility to him, will then,
in raging but fruitless malignity, behold him.
Not merely the Eoman executioners w^ho
drove the nails, and the soldier who thrust the
spear ; but all of every age, Jew or Gentile,
who have uttered hard speeches and adopted
harsh measures against him or his followers.
Persecuting ecclesiastics — Eomish, Greek, or Ar-
menian — and civil rulers who give their power
and strength to the beast, shall then see the
G*
QQ MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
sceptre of iron with which they are to be clashed
in pieces Hke a potter's vessel. They who use
Christ's name profanely, and they who teach
another gospel, are also among those who pierce
him. The author of any volume, any tract, any
paragraph in the transient sheets of the day,
designed to depreciate the high character and
offices of Jesus Christ, should now, on his way to
judgment, hear a voice : " Why persecutest thou
me?" He will then see Him whom Saul of
Tarsus saw in the way to Damascus.
Does this enumeration exhaust the classes who
pierce the Saviour ? Is the refusal to obey his
voice, and trust his merits, any less a w^ound to
him than the driving of the nails ? It was not
alone in the judgment-hall of Pilate that the cry
was heard. Crucify him ! crucify him ! It echoes
from every unreconciled heart in Christendom.
Jesus told Caiaphas, and the chief priests and
scribes, and the false witnesses who testified
" This fellow said," — " Nevertheless, I say unto
3^ou, hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting
on the right hand of power, and coming in the
clouds of heaven ; then shall all the tribes of
THE ADVENT IN GLORY. 67
the earth mourn." The enemies to his cross, in
every age and every land, will then wail because
of him.
If the eye of an impenitent person glances
upon this page, I would ask, What will be your
feelings when you behold " the Son of man com-
ing in the clouds of heaven with power and great
glory"? If such trembling laid hold of Bel-
shazzar, what will seize you ? Will you not cry,
" There is Jesus Christ, the Saviour of whom I
read, of whom I heard ! That is the Christ
crucified, whom my pastor preached. That is he
who I knew would come in the clouds. There
are the angels ; and there is the flaming fire.
Mountains and rocks, fall on me, and hide me
from the wrath of the Lamb ! "
JOYFUL TO BELIEVERS,
" Even so. Amen ! "
Such wull then be the exclamation of all saints
in Christ Jesus. Those of them who have
already fallen asleep in him, and those who from
68 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
this up to the time of his second advent shall so
depart, will continue to look forward with deep
interest to that era. There is one, and only one,
more great crisis for them to pass through. They
have died, but they are not yet furnished with
those resurrection tenements in w^hich will be
seen and enjoyed what cannot be realized before.
Not till then will the utmost of grace be experi-
enced in their souls, or of divine wisdom and
power in their bodies.
Saints on earth are bidden to be looking for
that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of
the great God, even our Saviour Jesus Christ.
And when he who is their life shall appear, then
will their joyful exclamation be : " Lo, this is our
God ! we have waited for him ; he will save us !
This is the Lord ; we have waited for him ; we
will be glad and rejoice in his salvation ! "
Luther used to say ' that no man could be a
Christian who did not with his whole heart de-
sire that coming of the Lord Jesus. " Hasten, 0
Lord," prays Richard Baxter, — " Hasten, 0 Lord,
this blessed day ! Stay not till faith have left the
earth, and infidelity, and impiety, and tyranny
THE ADVENT IX GLORY. 69
have conquered the rest of thine inheritance !
Stay not till selfish, uncharitable pride hath van-
quished love and self-denial, and planted its
colonies of heresy, confusion, and cruelty in thy
dominions, and earth and hell be turned into one!
Stay not till the eyes of thy servants fail, and
their hearts and hopes do faint and languish with
looking and waiting for thy salvation ! But if
the day be not at hand, oh ! keep faith, and hope,
and love, till the Sun of perfect love arise, and
time hath prepared us for eternity, and grace for
glory ! "
THE ADVENTS CONTRASTED.
That august era is styled, " The day of our
Lord Jesus Christ." It is to be his for the full
and fitting vindication of regal rights. He will
come with power to raise the dead, bind Satan
forever, destroy the world, and reward the right-
eous. He will come to be glorified in his saints,
and to be admired in all them that believe. It
will be the grand jubilee, — his harvest-time of
glory. He came once in humility ; he will then
come in majesty. Aforetime he came lowly, and
70 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
riding upon an ass. He had no form nor come-
liness ; he was a man of sorrows, and acquainted
with grief But ere long he shall come with
clouds, on the throne of his glory ; with many
crowns upon his head ; in all the transcendent
manifestation of his deity.
The Jews, in their blindness, conceived the idea
of a duplicate Messiah — one the son of Joseph,
the other of David ; one of the tribe of Eph-
raim, the other of Judah. We find, however,
that while there is but one Messiah, a twofold
advent has been appointed him. He of whom
Moses in the law, and the prophets did write, —
Jesus of Nazareth, He of Gethsemane, He of
Golgotha, He who cried '^ I thirst," — is the Lion
of the tribe of Judah, whom myriads of shining
ones shall attend, and from whose face the
heavens and earth shall flee away. " Even so,
Amen." 0, heaving and trembling Earth ! a
period will come, ere long, to thy errors and thy
follies ! To thy feverish haste, to thy maddened
Avandering, to thy midnight revelries, debauch-
eries and murders ; to the scourging of thy bond-
servants, to the charge of thine armies, there is
THE ADVENT IN GLORY. 71
an end at hand. In the Lord's own tnne let it
be ; and let not a tear be shed when the funeral-
torch is applied. " He that testifieth these things,
saith, " Surely, I come quickly ! "
THE ALPHA AND OMEGA.
And wdio is this that cometh, not from Edom,
but from heaven ? It is the one whose " goings
forth have been from of old, from everlasting."
His attributes of eternity and independence are
affirmed and reaffirmed by Christ in this chapter
with noticeable distinctness.
"I am Alpha," "The Begimiing," "The First."
" Before Abraham w^as, I am." When about to
ascend to his home on high, while offering a val-
edictory prayer, he asks to be reinstated in the
glory w^hich he had " before the world was." In
that glory he shared, by community of existence,
and by parity of power: "1 and my Father are
one."
" I am the Omega," « The Ending," " The Last,"
T2 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
" saitli the Lord, which is, and which was, and which
is to come."
A past eternity of being, involves, by neces-
sity, one to come. Through all ages yet to be,
through all the developments of immeasurable
cycles, will the Lord Jesus live and reign. The
close of the present dispensation will be an early
date in the future existence of Messiah, to whom
it was announced, " Thy throne, 0 God, is for
ever and ever."
In view of our own future endless existence
we are awed. We stand amazed at the thought
of continuing conscious and active for thousands
of years ; yea, for ever and ever. "We can look,
however, merely in one direction at a time. Our
little tabernacle has only one front. But the
Word, from everlasting to everlasting, is God.
What grandeur is there in this attribute of the
enthroned Jesus ! Uncaused and undecaying ;
forever a stranger alike to the inexperience of
youth, and the infirmities of age ; surveying in
one perpetual glance the universe of infinite
space and infinite duration, — he sits upon his
throne, environed with all conceivable glories,
THE ADVENT IN GLORY. 73
without a want, and without a shadow of turninfr.
through all generations to come !
" The Almighty." " All things were made by
him;" "By him all things consist." Tremble,
then, ye heathen who rage, and ye rulers who
take counsel together against the Lord, and
against his Anointed ! tremble, thou Man of Sin,
who exaltest thyself above all that is called God !
tremble, ye kings and emperors in league with
the Roman Pontiff! — the Lord will have you all
in derision. One breath of his mouth is sufl&cient
to consume you.
Ye downcast believers, take heart ! give to
faith and joy their exulting scope. This divinely
majestic Being, with such a volume of perfections,
" having neither beginning of days nor end of
life," is your personal friend. He stooped and
took our nature ; in it performed the mighty
work of expiation ; with it ascended to glory,
and with it now mediates between the two
worlds. One hand he lays on us, and one on the
throne above -, and thus comes reconciliation and
communication between us and Heaven. With
what calm confidence may we trust all to Him !
74 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
Here is a firm buttress for our hopes ; here is
a solid arch thrown across an awful chasm. Ages
will not weaken, convulsions cannot demolish it.
When He shall come with clouds, when the
heavens shall pass away, and the earth be burned
up, our hiding-place will be secure.
Will any one at that time doubt Christ's
supreme divinity ? That which books and argu-
ments could not do, that which God's declarations
and Christ's former miracles failed to effect, must
surely be accomplished then. The imiversal
creed, on that awful but welcome morning, will
read, " Truly this is the Eternal Son 5 this is
the Almighty God."
TEE VISION AND THE SEER.
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 candle-
sticks one hke 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
76 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
as a flame of fire ; and liis feet like unto fine brass, as
if tliej 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. Rev. 1 : 9 — 16.
APOSTOLIC SYMPATHY.
Turning our eyes to Rome, we behold a man
invested with the imperial purple, whose emi-
nence in civil position is surpassed only by his
eminent wickedness. Gloomy, suspicious, and
stained by vices, Domitian became the most
unscrupulous and cruel of tyrants. His gov-
ernment, supported only by spies and assassins,
and by the bribery of a debased populace and
soldiery, marked one of the most frightful periods
of human history. Without one virtue to give
moral force to his mandates, he held sway from
the Atlantic to the Euphrates, and from the Ger-
man Ocean to Mount Atlas.
Near the close of that monarch's reign, as we
suppose, the last surviving apostle, sympathizing
THE VISION AND THE SEER. 77
deeply with fellow-christians who are persecuted
by heathen Kome, is a prisoner, in " the isle that
is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the
testimony of Jesus Christ." Which is the more
enviable man ? To which pertains most of true
royalty ? " The name of the wicked shall rot ; "
"The righteous shall be in everlasting remem-
brance."
" I John, who am your brother, and companion in
tribulation and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus
Christ."
Though an apostle, and though full ninety
years of age, he does not here style himself their
father, or instructor; but puts himself upon a
level with his readers. He had labored among
them ; his heart is with them ; and now that
they are suffering under the same persecution
that has sent him into exile, his sympathies are
drawn out to them with peculiar warmth.
There is nothing like community in suffering
to make Christian attachments firm, to cement
the higher and holier bonds, and to make the
feelings of brotherhood paramount to all others.
7*
78 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
No one of the Lord's people lives or clies^ suffers
or triumphs, for himself alone. There is a quick
sympathy pervading the great brotherhood, which
distributes, and in some measure equalizes, the
benefits of tribulation. Not only do we " take
the prophets who have spoken in the name of
the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction,
and of patience ; " we claim kindred w^ith them ;
we gratefully acknowledge ourselves their debt-
ors. It was for me that the patriarch of Uz so
endured under the hand of God. I claim a share
in John the Baptist's imprisonment, in the shower
of stones under which Stephen fell asleep, and in
every pang of the glorious army of martyrs.
The whole great family cry unto God with one
voice, " Our Father who art in heaven," and unto
the risen Saviour, " My Lord, and my God." All
say to each, "Our brother;" each says to all, "I
am your brother in tribulation, and in the king-
dom and patience of Jesus Christ." Blessed
privilege of a share in the great loan-fund of
sanctified sufferings, in the joint-stock fraternity
of tribulation, and the patience of Jesus Christ !
Let me not lose the benefits of the imj^risonment.
THE VISION AND THE SEER. 79
bastinado and anathematizing of brethren and
sisters in Christ, who now hve for us amidst
habitations of cruelty.
" In the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ."
Here is a fellowship not only of sufferings, but
also of honor and privilege. The royal rank of
true Christians is a reality of the present, as well
as a prospective heirship. Believers are too
nearly related to the only Potentate, not to stand
as high as mortals can stand in this world. They
are a commonwealth of royal priests and of
sacerdotal kings ; and with reference to them is
Christ King of kings, But as Christ's regal
office was under an eclipse during his sojourn
on earth, so is it with the whole family ; and
hence, in their present state there is large occa-
sion for patience.
CHRIST'S SYMPATHY.
" In the kingdom and in the patience of Jesus
Christ."
So closely are Christ and Christians bound
together, so lively and intimate is the sympathy
80 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
between them, that he suffers in then' sufferings,
and endures in their endurance. Neither can be
touched in a way that the other does not feel it.
All the patience exliibited in that kingdom which
is not of this world, has its home and origin in
one heart — even in his who endured such con-
tradiction of sinners against himself — and who,
as the Great Captain of Salvation, was made per-
fect through sufferings. To the Pharisee, on his
way to Damascus in hot haste and a frenzy of
wrath, Christ speaks : " Saul, Saul ! why persecut-
est thou me?"
Do you wish sympathy ? — You have it, and
from One tempted in all points like as you are ;
you have it far more cordially, wisely, and effec-
tively, than can be rendered by any fellow-sufferer
who has not the experience and the heart of our
Elder Brother. It falls, indeed, sweetly on the
ear of persecuted saints in Proconsular Asia, and
on ours, to hear the beloved disciple, the most
honored of prophets, profess himself "your brother
and companion in tribulation ;" but our hearts
dissolve, and withal soon grow triumphant also,
as we hear him announcing a fellowship " in the
THEVISION AND THE SEER. 81
kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ." Assur-
ance gathers strength. From the highest author-
ity is the pledge given^ " If we suffer, we shall
also reign with him."
Our suffering " brother and companion in trib-
ulation, was in the isle that is called Patmos," —
an island of small extent, one that the ancient
geographers say little about ; a barren spot, with
few inhabitants, and perhaps the majority of
them criminals. But, because this persecuted old
man was banished there, — because there he had
such visions of Christ's glory, and the church's
later history, and final consummated blessedness,
— that insignificant island has become memorable
beyond any gem of the ocean. A few years
more, and it will seldom be mentioned that St.
Helena was once the abode of a distinguished
exile ', but Patmos will be a household word
through eternity. And how many of the dreary,
doleful places of earth — as Joseph's dungeon,
Paul's prison, and Bunyan's cell in Bedford jail —
will be subjects of resplendent pictures in the
mansions of our Father's house !
82 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
THE CAUSE OF BANISHMENT.
How came John in penal confinement on Pat-
mos ? Of what crime had he been guilty ? " For
the word of God, and the testimony of Jesus
Christ." Because he obeyed and preached the
word of God, — the God abhorring idolatry, and
demanding spiritual worship, — because he testi-
fied that Jesus Christ is the only Saviour, whose
blood cleanseth from all sin, and " that this is the
true God and eternal life," — therefore is he at
Patmos ; that is the seditious occupation, the high
crime and misdemeanor which has subjected him
to banishment. Was he also an exile from the
presence of the Comforter, or the joys of holy
time ?
THE DAY OF VISION.
" I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day."
Honored day ! appointed by the Lord, and for
the Lord ; the witness that Christ is the first-
begotten from the dead ; the grand memorial of
the finished work of redemption ; the seal set
upon the great charter of blessings under the
THE VISION AND THE SEER. 83
new covenant. Queen of days ! pearl of days !
what a hallowed influence does it bring ! What
refreshing communications come from on high to
the souls of believers at home and in exile, in
the prison and on ship-board ! How many thou-
sands of God's children find a weekly banquet
spread for them ; and what other thousands, if
they would but come, might find bread enough
and to spare !
John was " in the Spirit." This denotes some-
thing more than ordinary spiritual influences. It
was a peculiar, and supernatural state, which may
be termed an ecstasy. It was, doubtless, the
same, or a similar condition, to that when Peter
fell ^^into a trance," "and in a trance saw a
vision ; " and when Paul, while praying in the
temple, " was in a trance ; " — the individual being
raised above himself in a preternatural manner,
the faculties divinely quickened and sustained,
and under the immediate illumination of the
Holy Spirit. Such was the state of prophetic in-
spiration experienced, for instance, by Ezekiel :
" The heavens were opened, and I saw the visions
of God ; " " And the Spirit lifted me up between
81 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the
visions of God to Jerusalem."
THE COMMISSION.
" And heard behind me a great voice, as of a trum-
pet, 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."
It was by the voice of the trumpet exceeding
loud that the people were summoned to receive
the law at Sinai. And generally that was the
signal for calling attention to divine appoint-
ments and announcements. So, too, " when the
Son of man shall come in the clouds of heaven,
with power and great glory, he shall send his
angels with a great sound of a trumpet." The
introduction of this signal here betokens an occa-
sion peculiarly august, and that something of
special importance is to be communicated.
THE VISION AND THE SEER. 85
" What thou seest, write in a book." The same
is repeated in the nineteenth verse : " Write the
things which thou hast seen, and the things
which are, and the things which shall be here-
after." The subject-matter of the Apocalypse,
therefore, and its form, are not the result of
study, or of long preparation in any way ; it was
an immediate and direct revelation, being " the
record of the word of God, and of the testimony
of Jesus Christ."
The order in which the seven churches are
mentioned is not arbitrary. Ephesus was nearest
Patmos, and in sight of it, the chief city of Pro-
consular Asia. Hence, naturally, it stands at the
head of the list. It was also natural to proceed
thence northward to Smyrna, the other maritime
city, and thence to Pergamos ^ — these three being
the most important of the group. The remain-
ing four are very nearly upon a line running
south-east from Pergamos, and in the same order
as they here stand : Thyatira, Sardis, Philadel-
phia, and Laodicea.
8
86 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
THE OPENING VISION.
" And I turned to see the voice that spake with me.
And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks."
The signification of this symbol is given by the
Lord himself in the twentieth verse : " The seven
candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven
churches." Among the temple furniture was a
golden lamp-stand, with seven branches. It is
not improbable that here seven distinct candle-
sticks were presented to view, because of an
equal number of distinct churches symbolized,
and to be addressed ', while it is possible that by
the material, gold, is betokened requisite purity
— a pure membership, pure niinistry, and pure
ordinances. There follows — thirteenth verse to
the sixteenth — a further description of what
John saw ; the one transcendent figure in the
scene being the person of our Lord himself, with
the most impressive majesty.
"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."
THE VISION AND THE SEER. 87
The long robe was a symbol of high dignity
in general, and not distinctively of priest or
prince. To be girded about the loins, would
indicate preparedness for travelling or labor ; but
the girdle, as here described, indicates rather the
calmness of infinite majesty, the perfect ease of
omnipotence.
" 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."
Here is a form at once venerable and teriible.
Wisdom and purity, omniscience and vindicatory
justice beam forth. That is the voice which will
once more shake not the earth only, but also
heaven. That is the face before which heaven
and earth will yet flee away. Those are the feet
beneath which Satan and all enemies are to be
bruised. Similar imagery is continued in the
sixteenth verse.
" And he had in his right hand seven stars ; and
out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword ; and
88 MORNING HOURS IN PATH OS.
his countenance was as the sun shineth in his
strength."
The first symbol here is explained by the
same divine Interpreter himself in the twentieth
verse : " The seven stars are the angels of the
seven churches." The clause might properly be
translated, He had on his right hand seven stars ;
and the image would then be that of a signet-
ring or rings, embellished with brilliants. Refer-
ence may be made to Jeremiah, twenty-second
chapter : " As I live, saith the Lord, though
Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah,
were the signet upon my right hand, yet would
I pluck thee thence."
The sword is the symbol of executive justice ;
and the imagery here is quite consonant with
what we find elsewhere in Holy Writ, respecting
Messiah, who is also the Prince of the kings of
the earth. Thus in Isaiah it is said : " With right-
eousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove
with equity for the meek of the earth ; and he
shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the
wicked."
THE VISION AND THE SEER. 89
How does the judicial and regal dignity of
Jesus Christ now challenge our awe ! The Christ
of the manger, of the wilderness, the synagogue,
the Judgment-hall and Golgotha, is the Christ
of history. Humiliation belongs wholly to the
past. The spirit of prophecy has testified not
only to his sufferings, but to the glory that
should follow. With identity unimpaired, the
Christ of this age is the one whose eyes are as a
flame of fire ; whose feet are like unto fine brass,
as if they burned in a furnace ; whose counte-
nance is as the sun shineth in his strength.
Would the spear pierce him now? Could the
soldiers drive those nails now ? What bold scof-
fer can now smite the cheek of the King of
kings? He who did not break a bruised reed,
who did not lift up his voice in the streets, who
was led like a lamb to the slaughter, now has
a voice as the sound of many waters ; out of his
mouth proceedeth a sharp two-edged sword ; and
he will reign till he hath put all enemies under
his feet.
8*
90 MORNING HOURS IN P ATM OS.
SUFFERINGS HONORED.
Though exalted thus, and armed with all
might, he precipitates nothing. He does not
hasten prematurely to the rescue of his friends.
For their individual good, and the general good,
he sends a trial, and permits it to continue, but
at the same time employs the sufferer in some
high service. Special divine communications
have usually been connected with the afflictions
of God's people. It was in persecution and exile
that famishing Elijah sat down to die ; but an
angel touched him, and said, " Arise and eat ; "
and soon remarkable demonstrations of the divine
presence were made. It w^as immediately after
receiving the mantle of the ascended prophet,
that Elisha, having miraculously divided the
waters of Jordan, and healed those of Jericho,
was saluted with, '* Go up, thou bald head ! "
From what high communion did Daniel go to the
lions' den ! In the midst of, and because of the
messages from heaven announced by him, Jere-
miah was scourged, " put into the stocks that are
in the high gate of Benjamin," " and the priests
THE VISION AND THE SEER. 91
and the prophets, and all the people took him,
sajing, Thou shalt surely die j" and Zedekiah
imprisoned him, and the princes thrust him into
a dungeon. It was close upon the abundance of
revelations enjoyed by Paul, when caught up into
Paradise, that he received a thorn in the flesh, a
messenger of Satan to buffet him. So in banish-
ment John beholds scenes such as were never
granted to other eyes. It is in the depths of
bitter experience, and an experience of sweetly
sustaining grace, that he speaks. He sj^eaks as
a martyr ; and this is the Holy Spirit's Book of
Martyrs. A crimson hue pervades a large j^art of
the scroll ; it registers awful struggles and groans,
but also the most enrapturing announcements
that ever fell upon the ear of man. How ill could
the militant church afford to do without the trib-
ulation of Christ's prophets, apostles, and minis-
ters ! Suffering for the word of God and the
testimony of Jesus Christ, is the highest style of
preaching. Christ's more eminent servants spe-
cially need it; without it the church at large
might become extinct.
C^apfer Jfifflj.
THE LORD OF LIFE.
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 ever-
more, Amen ; and have the keys of hell and of death.
Eev. 1 : 17, 18.
strength and comfort.
Holier men than perhaps any now living,
have been overpowered by a sight of the Son
of God. It was his glory that Isaiah saw when
he cried, " Woe is me ! for I am undone ; for
mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of
hosts." More than once did Ezekiel fall on his
face at a similar discovery; whilst John now
swoons under the intensity of grandeur which
he beholds. The man of ninety years, the
bosom-friend of Christ when on earth, — who
THE LORD OF LIFE. 93
travelled much with him, who saw him on the
momit of transfiguratioiij who writes with so
much affection of that "which we have seen
with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and
our hands have handled of the Word of life," —
falls as dead at the sight of his Lord ! It was
not strange that when Christ said to Judas and
his company, "I am he," they went backward,
and fell to the ground ; though our Lord was
then in his humiliation. It was not strange
that Saul of Tarsus, when he saw in the way a
light from heaven above the brightness of the
sun, fell to the earth, trembling and astonished.
But what means it that John should become as
a dead man ?
Surely the Lord will comfort this aged apostle.
But how will he do it ? Does he say to him.
You have preached abundantly and acceptably ;
you have written an invaluable gospel, and
epistles that breathe the very spirit of Heaven ;
your example, and your exhortations to love
have had a wide and happy effect ; you have
presided well over the churches of Asia; you
are deeply respected, tenderly beloved, by multi-
94 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
tudes in Judea and Syria, in Greece and Kome ?
No ; John does not yet stand before Christ in
judgment ; the time has not yet come for the
sentence, "Well done, good and faithful ser-
vant;" there are still elements, even in that
bosom, which render it not perfectly safe to deal
in commendation. This venerable man of God,
like ourselves, will suffer less from banishment
than he would from compliments. It is only
in solitude, and under the heavy hand of perse-
cution, that there will be no risk in his wii>-
nessing what is about to be disclosed.
" And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto
me, Fear not."
That touch ! how gentle it was ! what a sense
of might did it convey ! The hand that touched
blind eyes, and they opened ; that touched a life-
less form on the couch and another on the bier,
and the dead stood up alive in the midst of re-
joicing friends; the hand that holds high the
mediatorial sceptre ; that waves in this direction,
and armies flee apace; in that, and the moun-
THE LORD OF LIFE. 95
tains are moved, — is the right hand now laid on
the seer in Patmos.
Disciple of the Lord ! sinking at times imder
a sense of his glorious presence, at times in the
deep waters of trial, faint-hearted now and then,
and ready to slip in the narrow way — do you not
find a right hand laid on you, gently yet firmly ?
What strength does it impart! How many
thousands has it calmed and rescued ! What
would become of every believer, but for thy
mighty hand, 0 Immanuel !
" And he said unto me. Fear not." That voice
sounds familiarly. It once spake, "When they
persecute you, fear them not ; " " fear not them
which kill the body, but are not able to kill
the soul ; " " fear ye not, ye are of more value
than many sparrows." It once said to Simon,
" Fear not," and to Jairus, " Fear not." On the
mount of transfiguration Jesus touched them^ —
touched this same John — and said, " Arise, and
be not afraid." On the stormy lake he came
walking, and saying, " It is I ; be not afraid."
You have heard it, have you not? Did
you not once listen to the words, " Daughter,
96 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS,
thy sins be forgiven thee"? Have you not
often heard, " My grace is sufficient for thee ; "
" Fear not, little flock ; it is your Father's good
pleasure to give you the kingdom" ? Have
not these words many a time greeted your ears,
" Let not your heart be troubled " ?
Ye fainting and fearful 5 ye who see fiery darts
flying thick; ye who cry, "All thy waves are
gone over me ; " ye who, on the Way to Emmaus,
are holding sad discourse about your buried
master, — he is risen; his kind, mighty hand is
upon you, and his voice is saying, "Fear not"!
Aged disciple, it is the experience of one who
has seen fourscore years and ten, that is here
presented to you. And probably it was not
surprise alone at the majesty of Christ's person,
which overpowered him, but also a vivid concep-
tion of his own unworthiness. And when you
lift up your eyes to the same glorified Saviour,
you have a similar sense of your sins ; a despair-
ing apprehension comes over you; you fall as
dead at his feet. Yet the exiled apostle, the
holy prophet who had been more than three-
score years maturing in grace, felt thus, and
THE LORD OF LIFE. 97
more deeply, too, than you. But he felt also,
what you may feel, the right hand of Jesus
upon him; he heard, what you too may hear,
the reassuring words, " Fear not."
THE ALPHA AND OMEGA.
" I am the first and the last."
The same declaration occurs in the eighth
verse, and one similar in the eleventh. Thus
repeatedly does our Lord claim supreme divin-
ity. He thinks it no robbery to be on a level
with the Most High; yea, one with Jehovah,
whose own sublime assertion of infinite and ever-
lasting independence is: "Thus saith the Lord
the King of Israel, and his Eedeemer the Lord
of hosts : I am the first, and I am the last ; and
beside me there is no God." When, therefore,
in this apocalyptic address, the glorified Re-
deemer announces himself as the first and the
last, he proclaims his Deity ; for what else is his
possession of the highest attributes, his perpetual
presence, and his rule over all things ?
" I am the first ; " there is none higher than I
98 MORNING HOURS IN PAT M OS.
in rank. No one preceded me in time ; " Before
Abraham was, I am." No inquiry can run far-
ther back than my being; in me, then, let all
retrospective thoughts centre. " I am the first,"
as cause of all things ; for without me was not
anything made that was made.
"I am the last." — I Am that I Am, from
everlasting to everlasting ; eternity is the meas-
ure of my being. In me let all aspirations
terminate. How does this fortify our confi-
dence ! John was addressed, and so is every
believer now, by Him who is the same yester-
day, to-day, and forever; who has undertaken
nothing that he will not carry through to its
full accomplishment. His word still is, '' Take
ye no thought for the morrow ; fear not ; I
am the first and the last."
OUR RISEN LORD.
" I am he that liveth and was dead ; and behold
I am alive for evermore. Amen."
"Was dead;" yes, he took a human, and
therefore mortal form. Death was in the bond
THE LORD OF LIFE. 99
under which he came into tlie world. Only by
dying could he redeem from death, and from
him that had the power of death. But that
has been accomplished. All that could be
achieved by an experience so dark, has been
already effected ; and whatever was mortal per-
taining to him, belongs to the things that are
past ; he " was dead."
Now he lives. This Jesus hath God raised
up; and, by so doing, has with his own right
hand set upon him the decisive seal of Media-
torship. He raised him from the dead, and gave
him glory. He is now alive, all the more glo-
rious and efficacious for having died. By dying
and rising, he has become the certain pledge of
life. He is at once its giver, preserver, and
arbiter. He was raised " to be a Prince and a
Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and
forgiveness of sins." " Because I live, ye shall
live also." His was a meritorious dying ; it Avas
with a view to life for others ; it was to the end
that he might become the fountain and Lord of
life for all given him by the Father, who there-
fore have eternal hfe, and shall never perish.
100 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
He is the living and tlie life-giving One. "Be-
hold I am alive for evermore. Amen." His was
not such a resurrection as that of Lazarus, or
the young man of Nain, or the ruler's daughter,
who soon died a second time. He died once for
all; being raised from the dead, he dieth no
more ; death hath no more dominion over him.
CHItlSll THE AltBITER OF HADES.
"And hath the keys of hell and of death."
By general consent, our English version, ad-
mirable as it is, fails in some instances to convey
the meaning of the original, where words occur
which, in part, are translated hell. For in-
stance, a certain term, Sheol, occurring sixty-four
times in the Hebrew Scriptures, is, by the trans-
lators of our English Bible, rendered grave in
thirty instances; and it is jDlain that, in some
at least of the remaining instances, it ought
to have been translated, the region of the dead ;
because the place of torment distinctively is
not intended, but the under-world in general,
the world of spirits, without discriminating,
THE LORD OF LIFE. 101
much less denying, a distinction of abode there
between the righteous and the wicked. While
the Old Testament reveals a separation after
death between the good and the evil, and appro-
priate retributions to each of the two great
classes, that particular word, Sheol, often denotes
the region of the dead, in distinction from the
living, without distinguishing the condition of
the righteous and wicked when they leave this
world. Since, then, the word hell now signifies
only the place of future punishment, it is too
restricted a term to represent, even in a majority
of cases, that original word which covers the
whole territory of the unseen world.
Opening the New Testament, we find a Greek
word, Gehenna^ denoting the place of future
punishment, and properly translated \ as in the
passage, " Fear him which, after he hath killed,
hath power to cast into hell." But w^e find
another word. Hades, answering to Sheol, and
which in one instance is rendered grave : " 0
grave ! where is thy victory ? " but more gener-
ally it signifies, as here, the world of the de-
parted, and does not, of itself, direct thouglit to
102 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
the two great departments of that world. Thus,
Christ entered the region of the dead ; and we
read in the Acts, " Thou wilt not leave my soul
in Hades;" i e.^ in the domain of death, in the
world of disembodied spirits. The rendering,
as we have it, hell, is there peculiarly unhappy,
for that denotes but one section of the invisible
regions, where only the incorrigibly wicked are
sent, and where no one can imagine our Saviour
to have gone when he gave up the ghost.
That clause of the text now considered, should
read, "And hath the keys of Hades and of
death," — the keys of the unseen world, the
world into which all enter as they leave this, —
the universe of intelligent creatures being di-
vided between those here and those not here.
Of that vast territory'-, and of death the entrance
to it, Christ holds the keys — has complete
authority over them. Having been himself into
Hades, he came forth, and his return was his
coronation over those realms. He "died and
rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both
of the dead and living." That world whereof
we now speak has a heavenly Hades, and a
THE LORD OF LIFE. 103
Hades of outer darkness ; a paradise of perfect
blessedness, Abraham's bosom, and a lake that
burneth* with fire and brimstone ; a right hand
and a left hand, — one leading to our Father's
house, in which are many mansions, the other
into outer darkness. He who is the Alpha and
Omega, has supreme control over that vast do-
main. All spirits, on passing into that empire,
are by him directed where to go, and by him
are kept in their respective places of abode.
"For there is a great gulf fixed" between the
two, and those eyes which are as a flame of fire,
guard sleeplessly on either hand. Never did, and
never will, a soul pass from one to the other.
What a population is there in that empire of
departed spirits ! How suggestive are the cem-
eteries of earth ! In the catacombs of Paris,
closed long since, may be seen two millions of
skulls, placed in order. In England alone, ter-
ritorially so small, there are ten thousand church-
yards, and each has a silent congregation far
more numerous than can ever be gathered above
ground. Our country receives an immigration
of more than three hundred and sixty thousand
104 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
annually ; but tlie world of spirits receives
that immigration every five days. There have
lived in former generations perhaps fifty times
as many as are now living, or fifty thousand
millions. And to the present abode, to the
everlasting condition of all those hosts, Jesus
Christ holds the key.
It is the Kesurrection^ however, that will
furnish the most stupendous proof of Christ's
authority over the regions of the departed.
" If the dead rise not, then is Christ not risen ;
but now is Christ risen ; " he is alive for ever-
more ; at the appointed time will he descend
from heaven with a shout, and all that are in
their graves shall hear his voice, and shall come
forth.
What a morning, what a spectacle, when,
through the reversed gates of Hades, all the
countless millions of the departed shall reappear
once more ! 0 Thou who art the first and the
last; who art He that liveth, and wast dead,
and art alive for evermore, and hast the keys
of hell and of death — grant a blessed resurrec-
tion and everlasting life with thee !
THE LORD OF LIFE. 105
CHRIST THE ARBITER OF DEATH.
He holds also the key of death. It rests with
him to say when we shall pass the gate. Our
times are in his hand. It rests with him to deter-
mine how and where we shall go. The earth-
quake supplies one door to the unseen world.
At Lisbon, a century ago, in the course of six
minutes, sixty thousand persons perished. The
fortress and the battle-field are gates of death.
At Arbela, three hundred thousand men marched
through at one time. A few months since, Lom-
bardy became one grand entrance to Hades.
Another door is through the sea. ^^Hast thou
entered into the springs of the sea, or hast thou
walked in the search of the depth ? Have the
gates of death been opened unto thee, or hast
thou seen the doors of the shadow of death ? "
No, thou hast not ; yet tens of thousands have
passed through that lower gate, into the invisible
world.
The more usual entrance, however, is found
within each man's own dwelling. It is through
disease that, slowly or rapidly, Christ opens the
106 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS-
door for millions every year ; and when lie points
the way, who may hesitate, who can withstand ?
The wounded Marshal Lannes, the hero of many
a battle, when told he must die, and that nothing
could save him, " Not save a marshal ! " he ex-
claimed, " and a Duke of Montebello ? " No,
marshal ; an order has come from one higher
than the emperor, from the Prince of the kings
of the earth. " There is no man that hath power
over the spirit to retain the spirit ; neither hath
he power in the day of death ; and there is no
discharge in that war." In the grave, in the
world of disembodied spirits, the rich and the
poor meet together : the Lord is the Maker of
them all.
Equally vain is any attempt to return from
those regions. Christ holds the key with an om-
nipotent hand : " He shutteth, and no man open-
eth ; he openeth, and no man shutteth." True,
he himself has but to say, " Lazarus, come forth !"
and the brother of Mary and Martha reappears
through the opened gate ; he has merely to
step to the door, and call, " Talitha cumi!" and
the departed soul of the maiden obeys. But
THE LORD OFLIFE. 107
when an apostle would do the same, it is only
in the name, and by the power, and at the in-
stance of Him who holds the key of Hades and
of death.
This brings a suggestion of fearful import to
the perseveringly impenitent. He whose eyes
are as a flame of fire never relents toward .them,
when once he has turned the key upon them.
In the closing of this "testimony of Jesus
Christ," it is recorded : " He that is unjust, let
him be unjust still -, and he which is filthy, let
him be filthy still." You may have stood, as
did the writer once, in the city of Venice, gazing
at the covered bridge over the Hiva del Schiavoni,
which connects an upper story of the old Ducal
Palace with the massive, grated, gloomy prison
opposite. Eemembering that no one, behind
whom the door closed, and who crossed by the
passage, called " The Bridge of Sighs," ever came
back, did you not think of the throng moving on
toward the other side of the great gulf, to the
dungeon where are only sighs and endless des-
pair ? "These shall go away into everlasting
punishment."
108 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
DEPARTURES CONTRASTED.
Do not departing believers find a friend at the
gate of death ? He who is the Living One is in-
deed there, and smiles upon them. He has him-
self been through that entrance to the realm of
spirits, and come back again. His smile so lights
up the passage, that it seems only an attractive
avenue to glory. Often does he open the door a
little while beforehand, and let the approaching
saint look in upon the region whither he is going.
.So Stephen saw the heavens opened, and the Son
of man standing on the right hand of God. So,
on his death-bed, the godly man John Janeway
testified : " Methinks I stand, as it were, with one
foot in heaven, and the other upon the earth.
Methinks I hear the melody of heaven, and by
faith I see the angels waiting to carry my soul to
the bosom of Jesus, and I shall be forever with
the Lord in glory!" So, too, Edward Payson :
" The celestial city is now full in my view. Its
glories beam upon me ; its sounds strike upon
my ears, and its spirit is breathed into my heart."
tx Skil^,
TEE EPISTLE TO EPHESUS.
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 labor, 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 labored, and hast not
fainted. Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee,
because thou hast left thy first love. Remember,
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
10
110 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
overcometh, will I give to eat of the tree of life,
which is in the midst of the paradise of God. Kev.
2 : 1—7.
EPEESUS.
For a moment, we retrace tlie course of
eighteen centuries. We visit the south-western
coast of the Roman province of Proconsular
Asia. We sail up one of the numerous bays of
that region, and enter a harbor, into which a
small river, called the Cayister, pours its waters.
It is the harbor of Ephesus ; and to the right,
partly on alluvial land along the river, and partly
on neighboring hills, lies that wealthy and popu-
lous city. It is the largest in Asia this side Mount
Taurus — is the seat of a flourishing trade, and
the convenient resort of merchants and others,
from the three great continental portions of the
Eoman Empire.
The first object which attracts our eye is one
of the Seven Wonders of the world, the temple
of Diana, larger by far than the Parthenon at
Athens, being four hundred and twenty-five feet
in length, and two hundred and twenty in width ;
having one hundred and twenty-seven columns,
THE EPISTLE TO EPHESUS. HI
sixty feet in height, each the contribution of a
different king. More than two centuries were
consumed in its erection. This temple is the
great treasure-house of the goddess, where im-
mense wealth is deposited in the statues, paint-
ings, and various munificent gifts of kings and
princes. Other immense and costly edifices at-
tract our gaze. But we find in the midst of all
this magnificence, a gloomy superstition and an
enthusiastic idolatry. It is the very focus of
sorcery, a great university of magic, the metrop-
olis of heathen spiritualism.
There is, however, to be an onset upon this
stronghold of Satan. An earnest, fearless man,
on his way from Corinth to Jerusalem, accom-
panied by Aquila and Priscilla, visits the place,
remains a few days, and then leaves. During his
absence, there comes one Apollos from Alexan-
dria, '' an eloquent man, and mighty in the Scrip-
tures." But Paul returns at length, and jDlants
himself for a vigorous and patient effort to intro-
duce the new religion. He baptizes a number
of disciples, who had previously been instructed,
though very imperfectly. He enters the syna-
112 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
gogue, and there, for three months, speaks boldly
concerning the kingdom of God ; till, owing to
the perverseness of certain Jews, he is con-
strained to withdraw, and to carry on labors at
a different point, where Tyrannus opens his
school for the purpose. Soon the " name of the
Lord Jesus is magnified," so mightily grows the
word of God, and prevails. Text-books of Magic
to an enormous value are burnt, and the whole
craft who manufacture shrines for Diana are
filled with consternation. A tumult ensues, and
Paul once more leaves the place. But Chris-
tianity has taken root, and a church has been
gathered.
Some months later, in sailing along the coast,
Paul touches at Miletus, between thirty and forty
miles distant, and, not having time to go up to
the city, he sends for the elders of the church at
Ephesus to come down and meet him. The part-
ing scene, and his address reviewing his three
years' labor among them, are peculiarly touching.
One prediction of his is particularly memorable :
" For I know this, that after my departing shall
grievous wolves enter in among yon, not sparing
THE EPISTLE TO EPHESUS. 113
the flock. Also, of your own selves shall men
arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away dis-
ciples after them." That sad announcement was
fulfilled ; for, writing afterwards to Timothy,
whom he had left at Ephesus as spiritual teacher
and guide, the apostle speaks of some who " con-
cerning faith have made shipwreck."
It appears that, as an apostle, Paul resided
longer at Ephesus than at any other place ; and
there is evidence that, under the nurture of im-
mediate apostolic labors, and subsequent prayers
and exhortations, as indicated by his epistle to
the saints at Ephesus, the church in that favorite
field became a flourishing one. Little, however,
is known with certainty in regard to it, till after
the lapse of thirty years, when we hear Jesus
Christ himself dictating this epistle. How easily
understood it is ! How direct, how kind, yet how
pointed ! Christ's recorded sermons, epistles, and
prayers, are all short, earnest, weighty.
If the question is raised by any one. Was the
threatening fulfilled which is here conveyed ?
the answer is, Most certainly. The precise date
at which the candlestick was removed from
10*
114 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
Epliesus, we know not; but it was long since,
and now there is only darkness in that once
favored spot. The famous temple, and the
church edifices, are alike demolished. As is well
known, and as it came under the writer's eye, all
is ruin and solitude. The place is a fearful mon-
ument of the desolation that follows the leaving
of first love.
PRECEDENCE OF THIS EPISTLE.
" Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write."
" Unto the angel," — the messenger ; evi-
dently not one of the heavenly host -, but one
sent and appointed by the Lord Jesus, to be the
head, guide, and representative of the church,
with messages from Him who is in the midst of
the seven golden candlesticks, and whose voice
is as the sound of many waters.
This is a letter "to be communicated;" not
designed exclusively, or even specially, for the
presiding angel or pastor, but for the whole
body, the one body of believers in that city.
The salutation of the first chapter is "To the
THE EPISTLE TO EPHESUS. 115
seven churches which are in Asia ; " but the
angel of each church respectively is addressed,
because, as Moderator, or President, he is the
proper organ of communication.
Of the seven cities to which these epistles are
sent, Ephesus stands first, because it is the
largest, and is the metropolitan city, — the one
nearest Patmos, and the one which the traveller
and the seer, in the local progress of thought
through the circle of the seven, would visit first.
The probable circumstance, that in the order
of time this too was the first church gathered
in the province, and that — if the tradition has
any value — John resided longest here, may
have been among the reasons w^hy He who
is the Alpha and Omega should direct his first
communication to the angel of the church of
Ephesus.
Each of these several letters from the faithful
and true Witness commences, as in the present
instance, with one or more image from the
drapery of that impressive vision portrayed in
the previous chapter. Thus does the speaker
establish his identity, and thus he keeps vividly
116 MORlSriXG HOURS IN PATMOS.
before the mind tlie elements of awe whereby he
reveals himself
CHRIST WITH HIS MINISTERS AND CHURCHES.
" These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars
in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the
seven golden candlesticks."
We have already been told the mystery of the
stars in his right hand : " The seven stars are the
angels of the seven churches." Christ's accred-
ited ambassadors are stars, some of them of the
first magnitude, some of the tenth ^ all, however,
alike shining with borrowed light, — light from
Him who is the glorious central sun.
He holdeth the seven stars in his right hand ;
and in good hands they are, — otherwise, alas
for them ! What would become of every sinking
Peter, but for Christ's outstretched hand ? Strong
is his right arm. How. many, century after cen-
tury, has it upheld, who have diffused the light of
pure doctrine and a blameless life ! How many
has it thus upheld for scores of years, and some
for half a century or more ! Thus was it with the
THE EPISTLE TO EPHESUS. 117
apostle to the Indians, so-called, — John Eliot, —
for nearly sixty years, and his immediate successor
more than sixty, — two men ministering to the
church for one hundred and twenty consecutive
years ! " And they that be wise shall shine as
the brightness of the firmament ; and they that
turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever
and ever."
"Who walketh in the midst of the seven
golden candlesticks ; " and these are the seven
churches. His presence among them is no less a
reality now than then. Would that it were an
habitual thought that the First-begotten of the
dead, the Prince of the kings of the earth, is now
in the midst of our churches! — that his eye scans
the catalogue, creed, and conduct of each ; that he
is in the midst of our churches, to mark the style
of living, to mark the subscription-list, to mark
what difference in business transactions and social
life there is between those called and those not
called his people ; that he is present in families, to
observe whether children are trained for him, or
for Mammon and the great Diana of fashion ;
that he is present at church-meetings, to observe
118 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
who are there, and who not there ; present
always and everywhere, and, though unseen,
seeing all !
EXCELLENCES RECOGNIZED.
" I know thy works, and thy labor, 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 labored,
and hast not fainted."
He speaks in commendation, so far as may be
done. Divine impartiality ! divine condescen-
sion ! — to speak of excellences in any of his
servants ; to commend them for that which they
have received from him ! Behold the goodness
and severity of God, — goodness first, goodness
predominant.
"I know thy works." There was not then
there is not now, one labor of love ; not one step
taken for the love of Jesus, and the love of souls;
not one cup of cold water given in the name
of a disciple ; not one instance of meek endur-
THE EPISTLE TO EPHESUS. 119
ance under misrepresentation or persecution, of
which there is not a mindful spectator. Mistress
of a family ! your quiet, persevering efforts for
the spiritual good of an ignorant, bigoted domes-
tic, are not unheeded ; and when, without saying
aught to any one, 3^ou go down the street, with
some little delicacy in your hand, and with kind
thoughts in your heart and kind words on your
lips, to the room of sickness ; or turn the corner
to where there was a funeral not long ago, and
then pass with a loving welcome to some family
lately come to your neighborhood, — -"for ye know
the heart of a stranger," — your movements are
observed by Him in whose steps you follow. And
so are yours who, for his name's sake, engage in
the thankless work of securing subscriptions to
Foreign Missions, Home Missions, or any kindred
cause. There is One who seeth in secret, and will
openly reward you who kneel with the Holy
Scriptures before you, as you prepare for the
Sabbath-school, or Bible-class, and who study,
pray, and sjDcak with an earnest desire for the
everlasting welfare of precious souls. When, in
these Christian endeavors, you meet with rebufls.
120 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
with impertinence or abuse, it is noted by Him
who endured such contradiction of sinners against
himself.
"Thou canst not bear them which are evil."
The patience just commended, is qu.ite consistent
with the impatience also here approved. One
may endure hardships and trials without mur-
muring, yea, with entire Christian meekness, and
at the same time feel the strongest dislike to
wrong doing. There is as truly a sanctified im-
/ patience as patience ; and it is not a different
) face, nor a double face, but the same counte-
nance looking in opposite directions. A holy
complacency in good men, and a holy aversion to
the bad, are mutual tests of each other. He who
came to save sinners, the chiefest of them, who
was called a friend of publicans and sinners, was
at the same time " undefiled, and separate from
sinners." He who says, " Come unto me," is
preparing to say, " Depart ye cursed."
"And hast tried them which say they are
apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars."
John himself, a few years before, writing his first
epistle at Ephesus, gives the injunction : " Be-
THE EPISTLE TO EPHESUS. 121
loved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits
whether they are of God ; because many false
prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby
know ye the Spirit of God : Every spirit that
confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh,
is of God. And every spirit that confesseth not
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is not of
God : and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof
ye have heard that it should come ; and even
now already is it in the world." Every individual
and every church is bound to exercise discrimina-
tion in regard to religious teachers. It is not
enough that we reject the false prophets of Mor-
monism and Spiritualism ; there are more dan-
gerous forms of error, and those having abler
advocates. The lax, the lukewarm, may cry out
against intolerance and heresy-hunting, but the
Head of the church has an encomium for such as
try them which say they are apostles, and are
not, and prove them liars. There can be no
enlightened, consistent piety, without a zeal for
sound doctrine and a pure ministry.
" And hast borne, and had patience, and for my
name's sake hast labored, and hast not fainted."
11
122 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
This shows that it was from no captious and
unreasonably complaining spirit that the Ephe-
sian church could not endure the pseudo-apos-
tles, — those teaching unsound doctrines, and
sanctioning unscriptural practices, — but that
theirs was as w^ell a spirit of forbearance and
persevering endurance, as of uncompromising
aversion to heresy and immorality.
THE GREAT DELINQUENCY.
'' Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee, be-
cause thou hast left tlij first love."
Can a church with such excellences have any
grave defects requiring correction ? " Never-
theless, I have somewhat against thee.'* And
what is it ? Is there schism at Ephesus ? Are
they split into parties? Have they been run-
ning wild in new measures, or in theoretical
ultraisms? Have corruptions touching the or-
dinances crept in ? What is it ? — " Thou hast
left thy first love." Not less worthy of warning
than departure from fundamental doctrine, or
THE EPISTLE TO EPHESUS. 123
from scriptural morality, is the leaving of first
love. The charge here is not that of falling
from grace, nor that love is extinguished, but
diminished. No zeal, no suffering can atone
for the want of first love. Such an attachment
was shown by the one who washed our Saviour's
feet with her tears, and wiped them with the
hair of her head, — loving much, because she
was much forgiven. Such was the attachment
generally shown by the first disciples under
apostolic preaching, who " gladly received " the
word, and who therefore abounded in works of
faith and labors of love. The Ephesian Chris-
tians did at one time realize in some measure
the fulfilment of the prayer of Paul in their be-
half: " That Christ may dwell in 3^our hearts by
faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in
love, may be able to comprehend with all saints
what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and
height ; and to know the love of Christ, which
passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with
all the fulness of God." But they had declined ;
and the Lord now says to them, as to Israel of
old, "I remember thee, the kindness of thy
124 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
youth, the love of thine espousals." Such
waning of attachment to God^ is a grievous
offence.
Do you observe tokens of abated regard on
the part of a friend ? Do you notice proofs of
growing coldness in the one between whom and
yourself there are sacred vows, — vows sealed, it
may be, in the solemnities of marriage ? What
agitating fears arise! What poignancy of grief!
Oh, what a weight presses upon your heart ! And
is the Lord Jesus less alive to the fidelity of his
espoused church? In deep, sad earnestness he
chides : " I have somewhat against thee, because
thou hast left thy first love."
Shall there not be a prayerful, searching in-
quiry relative to this leaving of first love ? Be
sure of this, that if you see less of Christ now
than formerly in his word and ordinances; if
less disposed to daily cross-bearing ; if, with equal
or increased means, you are less ready to give
to his cause ; if there is a disposition to quiet
yourself by thinking that you and some others
were once too strict, and that too much has been
made of differences in doctrine and practice be-
THE EPISTLE TO EPHESUS. 125
tween evangelical and unevangelical denomina-
tions; if you find it easier to let business, or
a secular lecture, take you from a church prayer-
meeting; if, on the score of position among
Christ's people, you grow more select in your
social habits and feelings, — then, surely, have
you left your first love.
A WARNING AND A COMMENDATION.
" Remember, 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."
Kemember, — call to mind an earlier period
of comparative spiritual activity, comfort, and
growth. Take time for it. Be as careful as 3'ou
would if scrutinizing accounts in the fear of
bankruptcy. Eemember from whence thou art
fallen, and repent. Humble yourself before an
offended God, and do the first works. Eeturn
11*
126 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
to a prompt, prayerful, scrupulous discharge of
all known duties, "or else I will come unto
you quickly, and will remove thy candlestick
out of his place." Does the threatening seem
severe for the offence? We will allow the
faithful and true Witness to estimate the de-
merit of sins, and graduate the penalty. In
his esteem, it is no slight thing to leave one's
first love. Notwithstanding, however, their
abated attachment to Christ, mark the ten-
derness of Christ's love to them : " But this
thou hast." How much more anxious to com-
mend than to reprove ! How prompt to pour
balm into the wound that needed to be opened !
Who the Nicolaitanes were, or what they
held, we can only conjecture. It is of no
special importance to us to know. Enough,
that their deeds were hateful to the Lord Jesus,
and to his church at Ephesus. We may have
a deep scriptural aversion to false doctrines and
wicked deeds, consistently with the love of be-
nevolence to the persons of those who hold and
practice them.
The great fault of the Ephesian church was
THE EPISTLE TO EPHESUS. 127
that, in the midst of their commendable zeal
against heresy and immorality, their love to
Christ and the souls of men had waxed cold.
They had come to be a one-idea church. But
a solitary virtue cannot long stand alone ; it is
dangerous having only one excellence. In the
zeal of modern reform, in the overheated anxi-
ety to do away with abuses, it is no unusual
thing for professed benevolence to exhibit itself
as real malignity. To hate well, it is necessary
to love much.
A PROMISE TO THE VICTOR.
" 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 tree of life, which is in the
midst of the paradise of God.
Listen, every one who would not go on con-
tentedly in disloyal remissness, every one willing
to be aroused from lethargy, and for whom
heaven has any real charms ! — "To him that
overcometh, will I give to eat of the tree of life
128 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
which is in the midst of the paradise of God."
Refreshing promise ! animating close to this epis-
tle ! The inward and the outward life of the
believer is a warfare. There is a contest to be
maintained with indwelling sin, with an opposing
world, and with its malignant prince. We are
to fight the good fight of faith. But how joyful
this assurance ! how invigorating the foretaste to
a saint, as, weary and way-worn, he approaches
the marriage supper of the Lamb ! '^ I feed on
angel's food," said Rutherford. Was that the
first time he had tasted it? No; it had been
his nourishment, as it is every true Christian's,
from the hour of new birth, onward through
eternity. The children of God do from day to
day taste the hidden manna of life while on
earth, and are strengthened by it. Still it seems
foreign in this world. Fragrant it is, and its
flavor is celestial ; still it is not like partaking of
the same in paradise. And in that blest abode
there is to be no forbidden fruit. Through ever-
lasting ages its freshness will be found gladden-
ing and vivifying. " To him that overcometh
will I give to eat of the tree of life that is in
THE EPISTLE TO EPHESUS. 129
the midst of the paradise of God." And never
again will the petition be heard, " Give us this
day our daily bread;" for "they shall hunger
no more, neither thirst any more."
TEE EPISTLE TO SIITRNA.
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 the synagogue of Satan. Fear none of
those things which thou slialt 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. Rev. 2 : 8 — 11.
^ SMYRNA.
Sailing up a beautiful gulf for thirty miles, our
eyes caught sight at length of the busy empo-
THE EPISTLE TO SMYRNA. 131
rium that crowns its head. And this is Smyrna !
— still the great mart of the Levant, nmnerous
ships in her harbor, and gayly painted boats dartr
ing hither and thither ; the town stretching two
miles or more along a narrow plain that inter-
venes between the water and a hill, against whose
base the city presses. This is Smyrna, the crown
of Ionia, the ornament of Asia, as the ancients
called her ; and yet not the same now, for ten
times has she risen anew from the ruins of war
or earthquakes. With what sagacity and taste
did the Greeks of old select the sites of their
cities — so often fronting upon the fine sheet of
water, and resting in the rear upon a mountain
that supplied at once marble for building, and a
natural ornament and defence !
This, then, is Smyrna, in classic times one
of the most flourishing and magnificent cities of
Asia, and famous not only for her commerce,
but for her schools of rhetoric and philosophy.
We hasten to the shore. We thread our way
through crowded bazaars, and streets so narrow
that over some of them the eaves of opposite
houses almost meet, though all of them have but
132 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
one story above the basement, and from none is
a chimney seen to rise. What a variety of nar
tions and costumes is there among the one
hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants, who
occupy different quarters of the town according
to their faith, — here Armenians, there Greeks ;
the Turk in a more commanding section, and the
Jew in the most obscure.
We chmb to the summit of Mount Pagus, once
the Acropohs, and where still stands a ruined
castle. We look down upon the city with its
barn-like churches, its mosques and minarets ;
upon the extensive cemeteries, with their sombre
cypresses, and in some of which the turbaned
tombstones indicate the standing and office of
each turbaned Moslem who sleeps beneath. Along
the approaches to the city we observe caravans
of laden camels, the only vehicle of the country.
We look off upon mountains and plains rich in
historic memories. Our eye lingers around the
spot where the Haemvis discharges its bright
waters, and we watch the silvery course of the
Meles, which gave a name to Homer ; for Smyrna
claims to have given birth to the patriarch of
THE EPISTLE TO SMYRNA. 133
uninspired poets, and to his name she built a
splendid temple and statue.
At a httle distance from where we stand was
the Stadium ; and here, upon this immediate spot,
stood the amphitheatre. Yes, on that side were
the seats for spectators, and on this side you see
remains of the dens where wild beasts were kept;
and here, with a solitary cypress beside it, is the
reputed tomb of Polycarp, the martyr Bishop of
the place, who on this high altar sealed with his
blood his loyalty to Christ. From the summit
thus hallowed, our eye at once glances to the
village of Boujah, distant a league or two, where
sleepi, beneath a more luxuriant cypress, the
remains of the well-known Sarah Lanman Smith.
At the memory of these, and of all faithful
witnesses for Jesus, our hearts rejoice.
" Sing to the Lord ! let harp and lute and voice
Up to the expanding gates of Heaven rejoice,
While the bright martyrs to their rest are borne :
Sing to the Lord ! their blood-stained course is run,
And every head its diadem hath won,
Rich as the purple of the Summer's morn :
Sing the triumphant champions of their God,
While burn their mounting feet along their sky-ward road."
12
134 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
THE LIVING ONE.
In dwelling on Christ* s epistle to Ephesus, it
was remarked tliat he introduces each of these
letters with some one or more of his character-
istics, as disclosed by the opening vision. In the
present instance we have :
" These things saith the First and the Last, which
was dead, and is alive."
It is also to be borne in mind, that the church
at Smyrna is one of the only two out of the
whole seven which receive no censure, and to
whom all that is addressed by the enthroned
Saviour wears the aspect of commendation and
encouragement, If, now, we may suppose there
is a designed correspondence between the title
selected and the character of each particular
church — and is there not ground for such a sup-
position ? — then may we derive a comforting
consideration from the words in their connection.
It is his own eternity, his complete and glorious
independence, which our Lord would bring par-
ticularly to the view of faithful yet suffering
THE EPISTLE TO SMYRNA. 135
disciples at Smyrna. About to speak of their
tribulations, he introduces himself as " the first
and the last, which was dead, and is alive ; " and
he thus intimates to us under what character we
are to look to him in our deeper trials. It is no
recent friend who spake of old, and who speaks
to-day to distressed disciples, — no inexperienced,
though well-meaning acquaintance, who proffers
a doubtful ability for our succor, — but one who
has summered and wintered with the family
from the first ; who stood by our brethren under
the. persecuting Roman emperors; who stood by
the three confessors in the burning fiery furnace ;
who was with the church in the wilderness, with
her in the ark, and before the deluge ; the same
yesterday, to-day and forever. All that is soul-
quieting and elevating, all of strength and incite-
ment that resides in the attributes of eternity
and unborrowed, infinite fulness, belong to Him
from whom comes the message.
This, too, is enhanced and brought down within
the reach of our sinking souls and feeble arms,
by a community of experience. These high
qualities of Him who dictates the epistle, are
136 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
presented in connection with his suffering man*
hood, and the atonement.
THE SUBJECT-MATTER OF ADDRESS.
" I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty."
Ah ! how did that thrill the hearts of brethren
and sisters in Christ at Smyrna ! How does it
thrill ours ! It is not a letter of inquiry that is
handed to us, — a note from some kind-hearted
stranger, who has had an intimation that we are
in circumstances of want and peculiar trial, and
who wishes to be informed in what way he can
aid us. We have nothing to tell him ; he is per-
fectly apprised of all that is done, and all that is
suffered. " I know thy works, and tribulation, and
poverty ; my thoughts are not all occupied with
these adoring seraphim round about me here in
glory, with the jubilant songs of David and
Isaiah ; my eye is upon you too, little flock ; my
ear catches every sigh, and every supplication."
The heart of Christ is with us. The Elder
Brother stands confessed as truly and closely as
when an agitated company heard the words, " I
THE EPISTLE TO SMYRNA. 137
am Joseph;, your brother ! " You who are striv-
ings amidst many domestic disadvantages, to serve
your Lord and Master ; you whose efforts after a
more strict conformity to him, and a more active
discharge of Christian duties, are not seconded as
they should be ; you whose pubHc acts or private
proceedings are misconstrued, and on whom reck-
less tongues open a fusilade ; you who often meet
rebuffs and vexations in your noiseless home mis-
sionary work ; and you who feel the force of a
vertical sun, and of heathen jibes, or Mohamme-
dan execrations, — all ye saints in Christ Jesus,
who are suffering aught for his sake, — rejoice
and be exceeding glad. He who is the first and
the last, who was dead and is alive, knows it all.
There is a telegraph from each throbbing heart to
the throne on high. Every tremor of fear, every
pang of grief, every throb of holy joy, is regis-
tered. Oh, how soothing the thought ! With
what consoling power does it come, that One on
high is all the while thinking of us and looking
upon us !
"I know thy poverty; but thou art rich."
Strange paradox, is it not ? Nay, only to those
12*
138 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
who have never learned to judge aright. The
pohtical economy of the Bible has faith for its
fundamental principle, — that faith which is the
substance of things hoped for, the evidence of
things not seen; which silently carries on its
foreign commerce, laying up treasures where
moth nor rust corrupt, and where thieves do not
break through nor steal. One may be — we see
it every day — poor in temporalities, but wealthy
in things spiritual. In a literal sense, who is the
rich man ? The man whose desires and means
measure each other; who has no need to bor-
row, and has no temptation to flatter ; who does
not envy the possessions of others, and cheer-
fully foregoes what he cannot suitably obtain ;
he who is least covetous, and most contented,
must be pronounced the true millionaire. But
the poor man, the really poor one, and ever
growing poorer and poorer, is he who desires
and dreams of that which he has not; who
hoards and doats on the coin not current in
heaven ; the man who is verging nearer and
nearer to that awful bankruptcy, which makes
THE EPISTLE TO SMYRNA. 139
the victim cry, " Soul, thou hast much goods laid
up for many years !"
A widow lady, with a very small income, was
remarkable for her generous liberality, especially
for religious objects. In process of time, she
came in possession of an ample fortune. But it
was with deep regret that her pastor observed
she no longer gave spontaneously to aid the
cause of Christ, and when applied to, gave
grudgingly, and sometimes not at all. On one
occasion, having presented a shilling, where she
had formerly given a guinea, her minister felt
it his duty to expostulate with her. " Ah, sir,"
she replied, " then I had the shilling means, but
the guinea heart ; now I have the guinea means,
but only the shilling heart. Then, I received
from my heavenly Father's hand, day by day,
my daily bread, and I had enough, and to
spare; now, I have to look to my ample in-
come ; but I live in constant apprehension that
I may come to want." And generally, who are
those harassed by the fear of poverty? Who
are they that have most of corroding cares
about property ? Not those in moderate, or
140 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
ill straitened worldly circunistances. A distin-
guished physician states, that the patients in
our lunatic asylums who are and have been
goaded by the fear of want, are persons of
wealth, and that the dread of poverty seldom,
if ever, brings insanity to the truly poor. There
is many a rich poor man, and many a poor rich
man.
At the date of this epistle before us, who
really held all the wealth in the world? Not
the Emperor Domitian, counting his revenue by
millions of sestertii; not an oriental prince,
whose vaults were filled to overflow with gold
and diamonds ; but the banished old man on
Patmos, and such as he ; the disinherited, out-
cast believer at Smyrna, and such as he. For
this historical statement, we have the authority
of no Tacitus or Gibbon, but of Him who is the
first and the last : " I know thy works, and tribu-
lation, and poverty; but thou art rich." The
indigent Christians of Smyrna were rich toward
God — rich in faith, rich in the fruits of the
Spirit, with a reversionary title to an inheri-
tance inestimable and incorruptible. " Having
THE EPISTLE TO SMYRNA. 141
nothing, they possessed all things;" they alone
were lifted above all fear of want.
SATAN'S SYNAGOGUE.
" And I know the blasphemy of them which say
they are Jews, and arc not, but are the synagogue
of Satan."
The solution of this is probably to be found in
such passages as these : " For he is not a Jew,
which is one outwardly ; neither is that circum-
cision, which is outward in the flesh. But he is
a Jew, which is one inwardly ; and circumcision
is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in
the letter ; whose praise is not of men, but of
God." " For they are not all Israel, which are
of Israel ; neither because they are the seed of
Abraham, are they all children; but, in Isaac
shall thy seed be called. That is. They which
are the children of the flesh, these are not the
children of God : but the children of the prom-
ise are counted for the seed."
A citizenship, with its immunities, in God's
spiritual kingdom, is not indicated by natural
142 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
descent or outward ordinance, but by inward
transformation, and invisible naturalization. For
any company of persons, therefore, destitute of
the seal of the Holy Spirit, to get together and
cry : " The temple of the Lord — The temple of
the Lord are we ! " is by the Lord himself pro-
nounced blasphemy. Are there no modern
parallels ? The mild and judicious Henry says :
" As Christ has a church in the world, the spir-
itual Israel of God, so the devil has his syna-
gogue ; those assemblies that are set up in
op|)osition to the truths of the gospel, and that
promote and propagate damnable errors; those
which are set up in opposition to the purity
and spirituality of gospel-worship, and promote
and propagate the vain inventions of men, and
rites and ceremonies which never entered the
thoughts of God ; and those assemblies which
are set up to revile and persecute the true
worship and worshippers of God, — these are all
synagogues of Satan. He presides over them,
he works in them, his interests are served by
them, and he receives a horrid homage and
honor from them."
THE EPISTLE TO SMYRNA. 143
Touching that most obvious right, rehgious
freedom, the present Pope says: "The absurd
and erroneous doctrines or ravings in defence
of conscience, is a pestilential error, — a pest of
all others most to be dreaded in the State."
One Koman Catholic journal of this country
makes use of the following language : " When,
we ask, did we profess to be tolerant of Protes-
tantism, or to favor the doctrine that Protestant-
ism ought to be tolerated? On the contrary,
we hate Protestantism, — we detest it with our
whole heart and soul, and pr^y our aversion
to it may never decrease." Another says :
" There can be no religion without an Inquisi-
tion, which is wisely designed for the promotion
and protection of the faith." To whose syna-
gogue do such belong ?
HOLY COURAGE ENJOINED.
" Fear none of these things which thou shalt suffer."
Excellence is no safeguard against persecu-
tion; it rather provokes it, and, in turn, is
promoted by it. The comparatively blameless
14.4 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
church at Smyrna, as well as others, had a
prophetic perspective of sufferings opened up
before them. To have said then, to say now.
Strange that so good a man, so good a woman,
should suffer so much, would betray forgetful-
ness of the example, the pledges and the pro-
ceedings of the Great Captain of our salvation,
who was made perfect through sufferings ; whose
declaration is, "In the world ye shall have trib-
ulation," but whose word still is, " Fear none of
those things which thou shalt suffer." The great
Apostle of the Gentiles, taking pleasure himself
in his infirmities, distresses, persecutions, writes
to the Phihppian Christians : " Unto you it is
given" — as one of the good and perfect gifts
coming down from the Father of lights — " Unto
you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only
to believe on him, but also to suffer for his
sake." There is generally something wanting
about those who have never been severely
tried.
Those wholly strangers to the dungeon, and
the fiery furnace, must also be strangers to cer-
tain depths of import in this inspiriting message,
THE EPISTLE TO SMYRNA. 145
"Fear none of those things which thou shalt
suffer."
A word of encouragement from human lips,
especially if it send the thoughts to the Great
Source of support, is most welcome. Just as
Martin Luther was about to appear in the pres-
ence of his judges at the Diet of Worms, the
venerable and valiant knight George Freunds-
berg said to him: "My poor monk, my poor
monk ! thou hast a march and a struggle to go
through, such as neither I nor many other cap-
tains have seen the like in our most bloody
battles. But if thy cause be just, and thou art
sure of it, go forward in God's name, and fear
nothing ! He will not forsake thee." But how
is the whole soul calmed, and girded for contest
and suffering, when we hear the voice of Him
who is the first and the last, which was dead
and is alive, saying, " Fear none of those things
which thou shalt suffer!" And is not he who has
promised, faithful? Has his grace been found
insufficient by any sufferer in any exigency ?
\^ Behold the devil shall cast some of you into
: 13
146 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
prison, that ye may be tried. And ye shall have
tribulation for ten days."
The incarceration of Christ's people, and
every form in which they are persecuted, are
by the instigation of the devil. If prophetic
days are here meant, then is the definite period
of ten years signified. It is a noticeable fact,
that the last and bloodiest persecution, under
Diocletian, continued ten years, — from the year
of our Lord 302 to 312, — during which the
Asiatic churches suffered extremely.
A CORONATION PROMISED.
" Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee
a crown of life."
The Christians of Smyrna are not bidden to
make an urgent representation of their case to
the proconsul ; to carry an appeal before the
emperor, and seek redress ; not to flee from the
city, nor to gird on sword and buckler, and
make a valiant stand for liberty of conscience;
but they are bidden to be faithful to the doc-
THE EPISTLE TO SMYRNA. 147
trines and duties of their religion, faithful unto
death.
There is a promise : " And I will give thee a
crown of life." Those poor, despised disciples
of Smyrna, candidates for the wreath of victory,
and that, too, from the hand of the King of
kings ! Yes, and you too, followers of the Lord
Jesus, struggling with poverty, oppressed with
loneliness, ready to sink in the deep waters of
trial, '^ now are ye sons of God ; " ye are of the
seed royal ; be ye faithful unto death, and ye
shall have a crown of life. Paul the aged
caught a glimpse of that victor's wreath which
was laid up for him, and not for him only, but for
all them also that love Christ's appearing. Pov-
erty-stricken disciple, in the midst of great trib-
ulations! thou art a prince of the blood, yea,
crown-prince. Be thou faithful unto death ;
then Christ's appearing will be thy coronation
day. And when, ere long, you pass on to the
world of spirits, let flowers be strown, let men
clap their hands, let lingering heirs-apparent
here look up with half-envious joy as angels
escort you to hear the welcome, " Well done.
148 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
good and faithful servant! enter thou into the
jo J of thy Lordl"
THE MARTYR POLYCARP.
That salutation, we have no doubt, awaited the
venerable Polycarp, who was angel of the church
in Smyrna. He has been apprehended. The
Irenarch, Herod, and his father Nicetes meet
him. They take him into their chariot, and be-
gin to advise him, asking, " What harm is it to
say. Lord Caesar? and to sacrifice, and be safe ?"
He is silent ; but, being pressed, replies : " I will
not follow your advice." Unable to persuade
him, they treat him abusively, and thrust him
out of the chariot, so that in falling he bruises
his thigh. Still unmoved, as if nothing had oc-
curred, he goes on cheerfully, under the conduct
of his guards, to the Stadium. The proconsul
urges him: "Swear, and I will release thee;"
"Reproach Christ." Poly carp rejoins : "Eighty
and six years have I served him, and he hath
never wronged me ; and how can I blaspheme my
King who hath saved me?" The proconsul still
THE EPISTLE TO SMYRNA. 149
urges : " Swear by the fortune of Ca3sar." Poly-
carp replies : " If you still vainly contend to
make me swear by the fortune of Caesar, as you
speak, affecting an ignorance of my real charac-
ter, hear me frankly declaring what I am ; I am
a Christian." — "I have wild beasts," says the
proconsul ; " I will expose you to them, unless
you repent." — ^^ Call them," repUes the martyr.
" I will tame your spirit by fire," says the other,
"since you despise the wild beasts, unless you
repent." — "You threaten," answers Polycarp,
" with fire which burns for a moment, and will
be soon extinct ; but you are ignorant of the
future judgment, and of the fire of eternal pun-
ishment reserved for the ungodly. But why do
you delay ? Do what you please." Saying this,
and more, he is filled with confidence and joy,
and grace shines in his countenance. He is
fiiithful unto death. Just before his soul goes
up amidst the flames of martyrdom, he pours
forth this prayer:
"0 Father of thy beloved and blessed Son
Jesus Christ, through whom we have attained
the knowledge of thee ! 0 God of angels and
13*
150 MORXING HOUPwS IN PATMOS.
principalities, and of all creation, and of all the
just who live in thy sight ! I bless thee that thou
hast counted me worthy of this day and this
hour, to receive my portion in the number of
martyrs, in the cup of Christ, for the resurrec-
tion to eternal life, both of soul and body, in the
incorruption of the Holy Ghost ; among whom
may I be received before thee this day, as
a sacrifice well-savored and acceptable, which
thou the faithful and true God hast prepared,
promised beforehand, and fulfilled accordingly.
Wherefore I praise thee for all those things.
I bless thee, I glorify thee, by the eternal
High Priest, Jesus Christ, thy well-beloved Son ;
through whom, with him, in the Holy Spirit,
be glory to thee, both now and forever. Amen."
" 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."
Whose ear is not open ? Who can close the
ear to such a message ? The first death is of
small moiifent; but the second — that death in
THE EPISTLE TO SMYRNA. 151
" the blackness of darkness forever," that " wrath
to come/' that " everlasting destruction from the
presence of the Lord" — whose soul does not
quake at the sound?
" 'T is not the whole of life to live,
Nor all of death to die.
" There is a death whose pang
* Outlasts the fleeting breath ;
Oh, what eternal horrors hang
Around ' the second death ! ' '*
THE EPISTLE TO PERGAM08.
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 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 Balak 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 thee with the sword of my
mouth. 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 hidden manna, and
THE EPISTLE TO PERGAMOS. 153
will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new
name written, which no man knoweth saving he that
receiveth it. Rev. 2 : 12—17.
PERGAMOS.
The first of the seven messages is to Ephesus,
the nearest of the churches, and almost within
sight of the apostle's island-prison. That epistle
is one of mingled commendation and censure.
The next, to the church at Smyrna, is charac-
terized by the absence of all censure. There
now follows one similar to the first in the series.
These messages occur in the geographical order
of the cities named ; Smyrna lying at a mod-
erate distance to the north of Ephesus, upon
the coast, and Pergamos about the same distance
beyond the latter, though retired somewhat from
the sea. A right line from this, the most northern
of the seven cities, to Patmos, would not run far
from either of the other two just mentioned.
Making an excursion to Pergamos, we find it
twenty miles from the coast, on the north side
of the river Caicus, partly on a hill-side, but
chiefly on a plain of great beauty and fertility,
154 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
stretching westward to the ^gean Sea, and
bounded, apparently, by the blue mountains of
Mitylene. We approach the modern city, called
Bergamo, through avenues lined with Turkish
cemeteries, abounding here, as elsewhere, with
poplars and cypresses.
But, how changed from what it was ! Fourteen
thousand inhabitants are sheltered in rude cabin-
like houses, amidst the massive ruins of former
magnificence. A river still runs through the an-
cient amphitheatre. One of the bridges across
the main stream is of such width as to form a
tunnel underneath, a furlong in length, while on
the bridge may still be seen the foundations of
an immense palace.
Here, then, was once the capital of a kingdom,
that of the wealthy Attali. Here was born the
celebrated Galen ; here was an unrivalled temple
of jEsculapius ; here may still be found earliest
samples of tesselated pavements; here tapestries
first adorned the halls of royalty. This city
gave name to parchments ; and from here Mark
Antony carried away a library of two hundred
thousand volumes, as a present . to Queen Cleo-
THE EPISTLE TO PERGAMOS. 155
patra. It was a metropolis of literature, splendor,
and immorality. But we are more interested to
know the state of the first Christian church in
Pergamos.
THE IRRESISTIBLE WORD.
" And to the angel of the church in Pergamos
write : These things saith he which hath the sharp
sword with two edges."
From the symbols under which the Lord Jesus
reveals himself in the vision, he here selects a
startling representative of one attribute of his —
the sharp sword with two edges. By this is in-
dicated the fearful efficiency of his sentence.
His is a sword that cuts deep. How shall it
be parried ? Who has an effective shield ? By
the breath of his mouth was the fig-tree with-
ered; and is not his word quick and powerful,
and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing
even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit ?
Will not the Lord, at the appointed time, con-
sume the wicked one, with the spirit of his
mouth, and destroy him with the brightness of
156 MORNING HOURS IN PATH OS.
his coming ? Has not the breath of his mouth
kindled a fire that shall burn to the lowest hell ?
What terrific energy there is in Christ's voice !
That breath which once breathed peace in the
ear of agitated disciples; which spoke so sooth-
ingly the words, " Son, be of good cheer, thy sins
be forgiven thee ; which sent forth the sweetest
invitation ever uttered in human hearing, " Come
unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest," — that voice will,
ere long, speak in trumpet-tones, pronouncing a
word at which millions will quake, " Depart, ye
cursed ! " As the sound of many waters, may it
reverberate in the soul of every one now at ease
in Zion !
CHRIST'S COGNIZANCE OF THE CHURCH.
" I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even
where Satan's seat is."
The church at Pergamos need not fear that
the Lord will forget them in their tribulations,
nor dream that he will overlook them in their
declensions. " I know thy works," — I know the
THE EPISTLE TO PERGAMOS. 157
daily deportment of every member; I know
your business dealings ; I know the character of
your recreations ; I know the tone of your social
intercourse ; I know the neglect or performance
of private duties ; I know who is punctual at the
sanctuary, and I mark those who sometimes slip
away to a place of heathen worship ; I know who
of. you are never at the assembly for conference
and prayer, and who merely drop in now and
then ; I know who of you silently debate the ques-
tion of contracting marriage with a known unbe-
liever, and I know who proceed openly to the
same. Thy works — all thy works, private and
public, from first to last — I know.
" And where thou dwellest." All the peculiar-
ities of Pergamos are familiar to me. Whatever
allowance should be made or not be made on
their account, I am able to decide ; and impar-
tiality will govern the decision.
" Where Satan's seat is." But is not Satan the
God of this world ? Do we not read of his work-
ing in the children — all the children of disobe-
dience ; and that he hath blinded the minds of
them — all of them that believe not? Indeed,
14
158 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
we do, yet consistently with the fact that he
also has a special home in particular places, and
particular hearts. In one of the very earliest
records extant, we read : " Now there was a day
when the sons of God came to present them-
selves before the Lord, and Satan came also
among them. And the Lord said unto Satan,
Whence comest thou ? Then Satan answered the
Lord and said. From going to and fro in the
earth, and from walking up and down in it."
Amidst his general movements and operations, he
manifested himself especially in that gathering at
that time. Does not his presence, and that of
subordinate spirits, seem to be only less than
ubiquitous ?
There is nothing, however, to require an equal
distribution of his malicious efficiency. He is
allowed to discriminate and concentrate. Hence,
in all lands, certain localities are his strongholds,
and certain individuals his select agents. The
city of Benares, in Hindostan, is now one of
Satan's heathen seats, where he holds, and for
centuries has held, his court. But whoever has in-
spected a heathen idol-car, or witnessed a heathen
THE EPISTLE TO PERGAMOS. 159
festival, with its insane and abominable orgies ;
whoever has looked into a Brahminic temple,
with its hideous images, its dark, filthy apart-
ments and passages, must have pronounced each
to be one of Satan's seats.
Papal Kome is another. There is the central
residence of the Man of Sin, even him whose
coming is after the working of Satan, with all
power, and signs, and lying wonders. Every
court of Inquisition, every Jesuit college, is one
of Satan's chosen seats and pleasure-houses. So
is every infidel press ; the study of every pan-
theist, and of many a novelist; and it would
seem that every circle of spiritualists and table-
turners is a place of diabolical gymnastics.
He who hath the sharp sword with' two edges
is particularly observant of all such centres of
special infernal agency, and of his own disciples,
when residents in their neighborhood. The
church of Pergamos came specially within his
penetrating glance. Full well did he know that
there was Satan's seat. The city was wholly
given to idolatry. Nowhere else did the god
iEsculapius receive such distinguished honors.
160 MORNING HOURS IN PAT M OS.
There Asiatic effeminacy at that time attained its
lowest degradation ; wantonness and debauchery
were triumphant.
THEIR FIDELITY ACKNOWLEDGED.
" And thou boldest fast my name, and hast not
denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas
was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you,
where Satan dwelleth."
They avowed themselves Christians ; they had
not become ashamed of bearing a title which
invited the scorn and enmity of all around. To
profess Christianity at that time was to incur the
loss of goods, the loss of position, and the loss
of affection. It was to incur the sneers of the
populace, and the suspicion of the magistrate.
Confessing Christ then, was often to receive the
seal of martyrdom. Nobly did many a disciple
of our Lord, under examination before the civil
tribunal, reply to every question, " I am a Chris-
tian."— "What are you ?" said a Koman governor
of Cilicia to the first of three men brought be-
fore him at Tarsus, — "What are you?" The
THE EPISTLE TO PERGAMOS. 161
prisoner replied, "A Christian." He was scourged,
chained, and thrown into a dismal dungeon. The
second of them was asked, "What is your
name ?" He answered, " The most valuable name
I can boast is that of a Christian." Scourged till
every part of his body flowed with blood, he
too was cast into prison. The third, brought up
and interrogated in the same manner, replied, " I
am a Christian," and then suffered the same
torture. Similar scenes were doubtless wit-
nessed at Pergamos, for there, too, had been
martyrdom.
" Where Satan dwelleth." Persecution is emi-
nently a Satanic work. In the iniquitous trials
of Christ's faithful witnesses — the hatred, the
perjury, the mockery of justice exhibited, and in
the punishments inflicted upon them — how do all
the passions of the pit inflame the human actors
and spectators ! Their fiendish shouts are in-
cense most acceptable to the Prince of darkness.
The fact of a Christian martyrdom at Pergamos,
was one proof of the presence of Satan's seat
there. Who Antipas was, we know not ; enough
that his record is on high.
14*
162 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
We would pause here, and look back on
Christ's commendation of his people in that
wicked city. Our hearts rejoice while we see
him going just as far in that commendation as
the facts would warrant. Impressive, terrific
even, as is the outward form under which he
reveals himself in Patmos, there beats beneath
that a heart of fathomless love for his true disci-
ples. And though faithfulness to them requires
the plainest reproof and warning, yet will he first
make mention of their trials and the peculiar
disadvantages of their residence. Behold the
goodness and severity of God ! 0 thou Alpha
and Omega! thou Prince of the kings of the
earth, who hast the sharp sword with two edges,
what tenderness to thy ransomed people dwells
in thy bosom ! How art thou evermore the
Good Shepherd to thy little flock !
FALSE DOCTRINES REPROBATED.
" But I have a few things against thee, because thou
hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam,
who taught Balak to cast a stumbling-block before tlie
THE EPISTLE TO PERGAMOS. 163
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."
It here attracts notice, that our Lord does not
regard disadvantages of location as an apology
for unfaithfulness. To be where Satan's seat is,
whether in Pergamos or in the pit, is no valid
excuse for sin. It holds good in every house, in
every city, in every world, " Thou shalt love the
Lord thy God with all thy soul, mind, and
strength."
There is a great deal of mere local virtue, of ?
geographical piety. It is painful to find how
much of sobriety and outward correctness ap-
pears to be owing to the simple matter of lati-
tude and longitude ; how removal from one's
native atmosphere, from the restraints of a whole-
some public sentiment, from the customary obser-
vation of watchful eyes, seems often to be the
signal of an equally wide remove from previous
proprieties of behavior. Not a few professors at
the East, when going to our western country, con-
ceal their church membership; and some, when
164 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
going to Europe, act worse than merely to con-
ceal the same. The adage, "With the Romans, do
as the Romans do," has m reality more force
than the most positive command of the Lord
Almighty. Practically, many a one acts upon the
maxim, While in Satan's seat, let us do as Satan
would have us. Would that it might be kept in
mind, that a godless family, a wicked neighbor-
hood, a dissolute city, a foreign country, do not
take one beyond the domain of God's holy law,
or the reach of his omniscient eye !
If, then. He whose eyes are as a flame of fire,
shows the church in Pergamos no leniency on
the score of their residing, though providentially,
where Satan's seat is, how must he look upon
the delinquencies of his- professed people in this
land ? Under our vine and fig-tree, none to
make us afraid ; the bounties of God's provi-
dence flowing in upon us abundantly ; the means
and the oflers of his grace, if possible, yet more
abundant ; no heathen around to beguile or
annoy; in our heritage, which has come to us
bathed in the tears and hallowed by the prayers
of men who walked with God ; — with what an
THE EPISTLE TO PERGAMOS. 165
eye must the Lord Jesus look upon us ! What
apology have we to offer for supineness, for world-
Imess, for withholding our substance from his
treasury, and our children from the most self-
denying branches and places of his service ? If
an easy Christianity be ours, if the doctrine of
Balaam and of the Nicolaitanes be held by us,
better had we lived in Bethsaida or Capernaum,
— better in Sodom or Gomorrah.
What are the "few things" which our Lord
has against the Pergamean church ? " Thou hast
there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam," —
them whose spirit is the same with his, and whose
teaching leads to the same results. It was at the
suggestion of that money-loving prophet that the
King of Moab seduced the children of Israel into
those licentious practices which usually attend
heathen worship and festivals. He "taught
Balak to cast a stumbling-block before the chil-
dren of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and
to commit fornication."
The chief fault of the church at Pergamos
was their toleratino; among; them men whose
teachings had a corrupting tendency. There was
166 MORNING HOURS IN P ATM OS.
guilty remissness on their part, in not arousing to
the discipUne, and, if need be, to the expulsion, of
those who were vitiating the doctrines and prac-
tices of the church. No body of believers that
does not maintain scriptural discipline, may look
for the favor of him who is Head of the church,
and is jealous for the purity of its faith and order.
Stumbling-blocks must be removed, be they per-
sons or customs, incompatible with the peace,
purity, and growth of Christ's church.
" So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine
of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate." The
church at Ephesus, as we have seen, was culpable
also, but not to the same degree, or in the same
way, as this at Pergamos. They had, indeed, left,
but only left, their first love. In the matter of
false teachers, and unsound doctrines, they re-
ceived commendation : " Thou hast tried them
that say they are apostles, and are not, and hast
found them liars." "This thou hast, that thou
hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also
hate." What the Nicolaitanes held, or what their
practices were, we are not informed. This we
know, that Christ hated their doctrines and their
THE EPISTLE TO PERGAMOS. 107
deeds. It is not in a private conversation that
our Lord drops these remarks, but in all the
dignity and solemnity of official utterance, and
with the intent that they go down to the end of
time, a warning to every disciple and every
Christian church. It is not wicked practice alone,
but false doctrine, which awakens the deep dis-
like, the detestation of Jesus Christ : '^ Which
thing I hate." And herein are we to follow him,
" abhorrino; that which is evil." A distino-uished
poet, who wrote many a line that might well
have been blotted, never succeeded in condensing
more of flippant falsehood into few words than
the distich so often quoted, —
" For modes of faith, let graceless zealots fight ;
His can't be wrong, whose life is in the right."
Quite consistent and natural is the sentiment
in an author who vibrated between Romanism
and Protestantism, and was true to nothing but
bitterness. The chief misfortune about these
lines, which are in the mouth of every apologist
for lax sentiments, and every adherent to the
doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, is, that it brands as a
168 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
" graceless zealot/' the heroic apostle who bids us
contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to
the saints ; that it puts into the same category
of " graceless zealots/' the whole noble army of
martyrs, from Stephen to the present hour.
" Repent ; or else I will come unto thee quickly,
and will fight against them with the sword of my
mouth."
Here is a challenge and a threatening. Ke-
pent ; humble yourselves in penitence for crim-
inal toleration of dangerous errorists, and their
corrupt practices. Look to it, that offenders are
reformed or expelled, lest I, who dictate this
epistle, quickly, with the sharp sword, avenge me
of my adversaries.
From the commendation in the fourteenth
verse, it would seem that the major part of the
church were still sound in the faith ; but their or-
thodoxy could not sanctify their practical defects.
It is not enough that professing Christians hold
fast the name of Christ, and show laudable zeal in
defending their creed, or possess even the martyr
spirit in maintaining one class of duties, while
THE EPISTLE TO PERGAMOS. 1G9
another class is neglected ; consistency of prac-
tice, and symmetry of character, are also de-
manded.
HIDDEN MANNA AND THE WHITE STONE.
" He that hatli 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."
A censure and a warning have been communi-
cated. The tenderness of the Saviour's love
shows itself once more^ in its more obvious form.
All between the thirteenth and seventeenth
verses is a fearful parenthesis, — startling under-
tones in the anthem of Immanuel's good-will to
men.
" To him that overcometh will I give to eat of
the hidden manna." After victory comes the
feast. How are believers allured to heaven ! By
what imagery of reserved blessedness are their
souls animated for present struggles ! With what
refreshing supplies are they furnished after each
15
ITO MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
successive victory this side the final distribution
of crowns! The hidden manna has healing as
well as nutritive power. It is the balm of Gilead
for every wounded soldier of the Great King.
The Emperor Caracalla, like many another, once
repaired to Pergamos to try the virtues of its
vaunted drugs ; but he went away as much an
invalid as he came. Not so with his Christian
subjects, or with any who have fought the good
fight of faith. Amid contests with princij^alities
of darkness, they have angels' food, bread from
heaven, of wdiich, if a man eat, he shall never
die. Not so indispensable, not so lasting, not so
gladdening was the manna of old, Avhereof was
preserved a memorial specimen in the holy of
holies ; on wdiich, however, the high-priest alone
might look, but of which even he might not
taste. The food here promised, and now fur-
nished, is the free portion of every saint whose
life is hid with Christ in God, and is thus quick-
ened and invigorated.
" And I will give him a white stone, and in
the stone a new name written, which no man
knoweth, saving he that receiveth it." To him
THE EPISTLE TO PERGAMOS. 171
that overcometh there is pledged not only sup-
lilies for lasting spiritual refreshment, but also a
token, which is a proof of friendship, and of a
right to peculiar privileges. It is not necessary
to enlarge upon the estimate we place on any-
thing so well known, whose value is not so much
intrinsic, as that it represents the donor's heart,
whose fond memory calls to mind many such
delicate and beautiful pledges —
" AH the token-flowers that tell
What words can never speak so well."
You are thinking of one precious ring, and of
the hour when it was received. You know what
initials are traced within that more than golden
heart's treasure. Connected with it is an en-
shrined history known to no one but the giver,
and you who hold the sacred gift. To the faith-
ful at Pergamos, and to all the faithful in Christ
Jesus, there is given a white stone, and in the
stone a new name written, which no man know-
eth saving he that receiveth it.
Various ancient customs might be referred to
as an explanation here, but the most satisfactory
172 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
appears to be this : Among the usages of hospi-
tality, it was the case that when a host and a
guest contracted friendship for each other, they
would take some small article appropriate to the
purpose, often a stone, and breaking it in two,
each would write his name upon the piece he
held. These pieces were then exchanged, and
were called tessarae hospitales. They were proofs
respectively of private friendship, and of a claim
to the privileges of hospitality, if preserved and
presented even by descendants of the parties.
Christian pilgrim 1 you call to mind the hour
of your first successful contest with spiritual ene-
mies, and how the one who was passing there,
and who enabled you to overcome, kindly took
you home with him, and gave you such bread as
you never tasted before. And did he not give
you a white stone with a new name in it ? As
you now look at the precious memento, does not
that seem a name above every other ? And
when you have since presented yourself from
time to time at his table, and have shown your
token, has he not shown its counterpart with the
name you wrote when you subscribed that pri-
THE EPISTLE TO PER GAM OS. 173
vate compact ? Does not a wayfarer come often
to jom' door and knock, and you open the door,
and he shows the well-known token ; and you bid
him come in, and he sups with you, and you with
him ?
Be careful of that treasure ; you will one day
want it still more. It will be your passport at
the threshold of another world. And when at \
length you come to the marriage supper of the (
Lamb, the Master will draw near, and you must /
have the white stone with the new name upon it j
ready ; and if it tallies with the one he holds, he
will say, "Welcome! sit down with Abraham,
and Isaac, and Jacob, in my kingdom, and go no (
more out forever." /
15* ^ (
CIja;pter pmtlj*
TEE EPISTLE TO THYATIRA.
And tinto the angel of the church in Thyatira
write: These things saith the Son of God, who hath
his eyes like unto a flame of lire, 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. Notwith-
standing, I have a few things against thee, because
thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth her-
self a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants
to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto
idols. And I gave her space to repent of her fornica-
tion ; 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 search-
eth the reins and hearts ; and I will give unto every
one of you according to your works. But unto you
THE EPISTLE TO THYATIRA. 175
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 unto 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. Rev. 2 : 18—29.
THYATIRA.
There was anciently a Eoman road, running
from Pergamos seventy-five miles in a south-
easterly direction, near the northern line of the
kingdom of Lydia, to Sardis its capital. Not
far from two-thirds of ' the way to Sardis, was
Thyatira. It was a city of no very high an-
tiquity, nor does it hold a conspicuous jDlace in
secular history. It is said to have been founded
by a Macedonian colony. This may stand con-
nected with the circumstance, that when Paul
176 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
preached in the chief city of Macedonia, there
was present a certain woman named Lydia, a
seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, whose
heart the Lord opened that she attended unto
the things which were spoken of Paul.
There is no record of the time or manner of
the introduction of Christianity to Thyatira ; but
it is not improbable that the pious woman who
received baptism at Philippi had the first, or at
least an important though humble and quiet
agency, in making known the name of Christ
to her native city. It was a female, Anna, the
aged prophetess, who first spake of the joyful
appearance of our Lord to all them that looked
for redemption in Jerusalem ; and it was a
woman of Samaria who, after a conversation at
Jacob's Well, hastened to invite the inhabitants
of Sychar to come and see the one who had
told her all things that ever she did, adding,
^^Is not this the Christ?" The agency of woman
in making known the gospel, fills no narrow
space in the history of the church.
A wearisome, l^ut most interesting day's ride
THE EPISTLE TO TIIYATIRA. 177
from Sardis, brought us to Thyatira just as the
shadows of Saturday evening lengthened over
the plain. That plain, surrounded by elevated
hills, and between ten and twenty miles in
breadth, is well watered and fertile. Grain and
cotton are its chief productions. The city,
having a low and almost marshy situation, is in
a measure hid from the approaching traveller
by the luxuriant growth of willows, poplars, and
cypresses. More than half a dozen minarets pro-
claim Mohammedan ascendency in a population
of seven thousand souls. As is general in Turk-
ish towns, the houses are low and mean, and the
streets narrow and dirty. Indeed, were it not
for a fine supply of pure water from a neighbor-
ing hill, they would be intolerable. Although a
place of some trade, neither it nor its environs
present very much to please the eye of a stran-
ger. The Turk is an architect of ruin. He has
no reverence for antiquity, and little regard for
perpetuity.
On the hill referred to, are two windmills in
ruins. The curb-stones of neighboring w^ells are
the fine wrought capitals of Corinthian coliimns.
178 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
which have been perforated^ and through which
play leaking buckets, suspended from rudest
well-sweeps. The gravestones in the cemeteries
are chiefly fragments from antique columns.
Fragments of carved stones may everywhere
be seen in the pavement of the streets, and in
the half-mud walls of houses; but the founda-
tions, and chief remains of former magnificence,
are for the most part buried out of sight by the
accumulated debris of successive centuries. A
deep feeling of sadness, not to say. disgust, is
inevitable.
It serves, however, to withdraw thoughts from
the past, and from an outwardly unattractive
aspect of the present, to know that there are
souls in Thyatira now passing their probation
— souls for whom our common Saviour died.
And how does it shed even a radiance upon
that otherwise uninteresting city ; how does the
thought of its dingy streets, and dismal abodes,
and ignorant populace, quicken the pulse, be-
cause there are now a few there, in the judgment
of charity, whose minds the Holy Spirit has en-
lightened and brought into the family of Christ !
THE EPISTLE TO THYATIRA. 179
Tliyatira is an out-station of the American
Board's mission at Smyrna. Through the agency
of laborers from this country, a small church
has, within the last few years, been gathered
there, and is probably the only true church
which has existed in that place since its original
candlestick was removed.
A Lydia of the present time, the wife of one
Constantine, a Greek, "besought us," as Lj^dia
of old did the Apostles, "saying. If ye have
judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into
my house, and abide there ; and she constrained
us." In her little court-yard was a flower-bed ;
and I noticed flowers growing in other houses of
Protestant Christians. They are emblematic of
those Christian families in that spiritual wilder-
ness. The attentive hostess poured fresh water
upon our hands. After oriental usage, we seated
ourselves upon the carpet, leaning upon cushions.
Supper was then " set before us " upon the floor ;
and after our repast, the family, according to the
custom of the country, said, with great heartiness,
"You are welcome." The prayer of her guest
then, and now is, " The Lord give mercy unto
180 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
the house of Onisephorus, for he truly refreshed
me."
I will not detail the interesting religious ser-
vices of the next day, which was the Sabbath.
During one of them, held in the house of an
Armenian, "the doors being shut for fear" of
the bigoted Greeks, stones were thrown at us
by rude boys and others in the street. At the
afternoon service, held in a different house, where
the small congregation seemed very attentive
and devout, the native preacher had no other
pulpit than a large basket, covered by a large
copper dish, with a tablecloth thrown over the
whole.
It was my privilege to call at the houses of all
the Protestants in the city, and to give a word
of private exhortation and sympathy, in addition
to what had been addressed to them more pub-
licly and collectively. The last of those visits
was at the house of one Demetrius, a Greek.
During conversation with him, I noticed a pile
of paving-stones in the court, under the flight of
stairs leading to the top of the house. Upon
inquiry, I learned that they were thrown in by
THE EPISTLE TO THYATIRA. 181
a mob, three years before, when Demetrius was
entertaining a Protestant preacher from Con-
stantinople. The doors and windows still show
with what violence the house was assaulted. An
impressive monument, that rude pile of stones!
None of the sculptured sarcophagi, none of the
fluted columns, or highly-wrought entablatures
belonging to ancient edifices, and still visible in
Thyatira, so moved my admiration as that heap
of rough paving-stones, the witness of heroic
attachment to truth.
The Lord be your defence, ye Protestants of
Thyatira ! The Lord be praised for the candle-
stick restored, and the light rekindled ! May it
burn more and more brightly, till the whole
dark region is illumined ! The Lord give your
Stephen the grace of martyrdom, if occasion
require ! The Lord's own message to thee is,
"He that overcometh, and keepeth my works
unto the end, to him will I give power over the
nations, and I will give him the morning-star.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit saith uinto the churches."
16
182 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
CHRIST'S SEARCHING SCRUTINY.
"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."
In addition to the title, " Son of God/' there
are here again symbols selected from the intro-
ductory vision. They are well suited to fix at-
tention, and even to awaken alarm, for the
church at Thyatira is about to receive a sharp
censure. "These things saith the Son of God,
who hath eyes like unto a flame of fire." Eyes
like unto a flame of fire ! How startling ! How
had those addressed by this message doubtless
grown insensible to the fact of such piercing
scrutiny. How, it may be, has the one reading
these lines grown oblivious to the same ! Is it
so that you are habitually more thoughtful about
the observation of men, than of the Son of
God ? When tempted to use the tongue or the
pen wrongfully, to lay a hand wrongfully upon
property, to do some indiscreet or wicked act,
do you not look cautiously around to see if any
TPIE EPISTLE TO THYATIRA. 183
human spectator is in sight, unmindful of the
presence of the Son of God ? Do you not some-
times say, " Surely the darkness shall cover me " ?
not thinking of his eyes, which are as a flame of
fire, and to whom the darkness and the light are
both alike ; who compasseth thy path, and thy
lying down, and is acquainted with all thy ways ;
yea, understandeth thy thought afar off.
We talk of secret thoughts, of keeping our
own counsels. We imagine that in having
turned the key upon private documents, they are
safe from every one ; or, as a last resort of effect-
ual suppression, we commit them to the flames.
Eyes like unto a flame of fire trace every word,
even in the evanescent ashes scattered to the
winds. Not a feeling, not a purpose arises in the
mind that does not, though unuttered, indelibly
daguerreotype itself there under the great Eye
of Heaven. He who said to Nathaniel, " Before
that Philip called thee, when thou wast under
the fig-tree, I saw thee ;" he who so often replied
to the unexpressed thoughts of those about him,
and "needed not that any should testify of man,
for he knew what was in man," — " his eyes be-
184 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
hold/' — keep it in mind, — " his eyehds try the
children of men." You have no secret thoughts,
no hidden purposes.
" And his feet are like fine brass." He moves
amidst his churches in might and majesty ; with
purity and power ; his step firm and awful. He
comes for inquest. Careless ones, beware ! You
may hear his approaching footfalls. With resistr
less energy will he trample upon all the unre-
penting, and none the less because they bear his
name.
EXCELLENCES RECOGNIZED.
" 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."
How marked the commendation ! It is not
merely general, and condensed into a single word
of compliment ; nor do these varied excellences
simply belong to them at the time, but their
virtues are on the increase ; at least their religi-
ous labors are more abundant: "And the last to
be more than the first." They were more indus-
trious than ever in their Christian efforts, such as
THE EPISTLE TO THYATIRA. 185
they were. What a lovely picture ! What an
enviable portraiture ! Surely no dark shade will
be thrown upon it. Yes, darker than upon the
escutcheon of Ephesus, or even Pergamos.
NEGLECT OF DISCIPLINE CENSURED.
" Notwithstanding, I have a few things against thee,
because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which
calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my
servants to commit fornication, and to eat things
sacrificed unto idols."
The Jezebel of Old Testament history, daugh-
ter of Ethbaal, king of the Zidonians, a gifted,
artful, and unscrupulous woman, married Ahab.
Reared in idolatry, she became an earnest
and successful patroness of the same in Israel.
Through her influence the king "went and
served Baal, and worshipped him. And he reared
up an altar for Baal, in the house of Baal, which
he had built in Samaria. And Ahab made a
grove ; and Ahab did more to provoke the Lord
God of Israel to anger, than all the kings of
Israel that were before him." " There was none
16*
186 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work
wickedness in the sight of the Lord, whom Jeze-
bel his wife stirred up."
We are not to understand that there was at
Thyatira a particular person bearing that name,
nor perhaps that any individual woman w^as indi-
cated under the name Jezebel, so much as a class,
a faction, whose spirit and tendency were similar
to those of that ancient propagandist of heathen-
ism. It is not improbable that in the censured
portion of the church, a majority were females ;
or, at least, that some one or more conspicu-
ous and active individual of the same was a
woman. A party appears to be personified un-
der the name Jezebel, and for the same reason
that the rampant error at Pergamos was called
the doctrine of Balaam. It would, indeed, be
quite analogous to the circumstances of after-
times, if there had been at Thyatira some strong-
minded woman, insinuating, and influential in
giving currency to pernicious sentiments and
practices. It has been no uncommon thing,
in different periods of church history, for a
female zealot of error and mischief to figure as
THE EPISTLE TO THYATIRA. 187
lieresiarcli. '^ Let your women keep silence in
the churches ; for it is not permitted unto them
to speak ; for it is a shame for women to speak in
the church." Such an offence against evident
propriety and apostohcal command, existed at
Thyatira : " Thou sufferest that woman Jezebel,
which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach."
They were inefficient in discipline ; they were
weakly and criminally tolerant. Their acknowl-
edged virtues, their great zeal in kind offices did
by no means atone for the flagrant mischief of
tolerating such a pest as that self styled proph-
etess, who was seducing Christ's servants to com-
mit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto
idols.
As in the case of the church at Pergamos,
their orthodoxy did not screen them from cen-
sure and threatening for failure to eject the
Balaamites, so now at Thyatira, the praiseworthy
charity, and service, and faith, and patience, and
works of the church, do not avert the righteous
visitation of Him whose eyes are as a flame of
fire.
188 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
RETRIBUTION THREATENED.
" 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 accord-
ing to your works."
Apostasy in doctrine or practice is very often,
particularly in the Old Testament, and with no-
ticeable frequency in Ezekiel, spoken of under
the figure of this crime. By children we are to
understand the disciples, the dupes, of that cor-
rupt and corrupting faction whose iniquity is
denominated spiritual fornication. They, with
their seducers, were to be cast — continuing the
figure — into a bed, not of roses, but of thorns.
If an apostle could say, " I am jealous over you
with godly jealousy ; for I have espoused you to
one husband, that I may present you as a chaste
virgin to Christ," how much more may Christ
himself be jealous for the honor and purity of
THE EPISTLE TO THYATIRA. 189
tlie church, which he has won to himself at such
an infinite cost, including his own precious blood,
— the church, the bride who has given the
warmest pledges of affection and fidelity ! The
Lord of glory has no sentimental delicacy in
dealing with bold offenders. Is not the denun-
ciation here recorded most just ?
Shall not he whose feet are like fine brass
assert his judicial rights, his vindicatory purpose ?
He will have the churches understand and feel
their responsibilities touching the creed they
adopt, the teachings to which they listen, and the
practices they tolerate. Latitudinarianism in be-
lief or morals is treason — is a domestic infidelity
to Him whose eyes are like unto a flame of fire.
A CHARGE TO THE FAITHFUL.
" But unto you, I say, and unto the rest, even
unto the rest, — or, as some editors read, rightly
throwing out the conjunction altogether — 'Unto you
I say, 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.'"
190 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
Having denounced just judgments upon the
Jezebel of Thyatira, and her adherents, should
they continue impenitent, our Lord now turns to
address, as at the commencement, those not im-
plicated in apostasy from the marriage covenant :
" As many as have not this doctrine, and have
not known the depths of Satan, as they speak."
The manner in which that faction talked and
lived, enticing the professed Christians of Thya-
tira "to commit fornication, and to eat things
sacrificed unto idols," revealed the deep things
of the Arch-adversary. Such a j)ernicious sub-
tlety could be attributed to no intellect and no
heart of less capacity than Satan's.
It is worse than supercilious, it is impudent
infidelity, for men boasting of philosophical en-
lightenment to talk about the superstition of
former behef in a personal devil, and make
themselves merry over the narrowmindedness of
those who cannot quite emancipate themselves
from the old notion of a real, busy, powerful
prince of darkness. For our own part, we are
disposed to think that He who is Alpha and
Omega, whose eyes are as a flame of fire, who
THE EPISTLE TO THYATIRA. 191
searches all hearts and all worlds, knows best
about it. We are willing to be a good way^
behind the so-called liberal philosophy, and the
vaunted spirit of the age, if we are left in com-
pany with, the Lord Jesus Christ. Most fully do
we believe that Satan — an active, sagacious,
malignant spirit, the god of this world — has
to do largely with Mormonism, Jesuitism, Spir-
itualism, and a good deal that j)asses under the
name of Christianity.
" I will put upon you none other burden." It
was enough for them to throw off the enormity
of that Jezebel. There is seldom a case of re-
quired discipline in which the whole church is
not practically on trial, and which from family,
business, or other connections, does not give rise
to a party, and prove an entangled, burdensome
affair. But is that a sufficient reason why the ear
should be closed to the Saviour's summons ?
Nay, let all the churches know assuredly that it
is he who searcheth the reins and hearts ; and
that he will give to every one of us according to
our works.
192 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
STEADFASTNESS ENJOINED.
"• But that which ye have already, hold fast till I
come."
" Hold fast " come what may of perplexity, of
inconvenience, of suffering : " Hold fast," happen
what may, swerve who may. Sound doctrine and
practical godliness are all that is worth caring
for. Let goods be spoiled, your name cast out as
evil, " Hold fast that which ye have till I come."
It calls for careful consideration, that in the
New Testament those appeals to believers which
derive their force from revelations yet future,
turn, very often, upon the grand event of Christ's
second coming. That is to be the stupendous,
all-consummating crisis ; then will come the res-
urrection and judgment, and the new and more
glorious developments of his kingdom. Till then
nothing in the spiritual world receives its final
form and status. The creation of all things by
Jesus Christ, his incarnation as our atoning Sa-
viour, his second coming in triumph and great
glory, are the three grand epochs of all duration.
The sons of God shouted for joy at the first ; a
THE EPISTLE TO THYATIRA. 193
multitude of the heavenly host sung a paean at
the second ; the whole ransomed church will lift
up their heads with an exultant song at the last.
Not till then will be fulfilled, in its more blessed
import, Christ's promise : ^^ If I go and prepare a
place for you, I will come again and receive you
unto myself, that where I am there ye may be
also."
Due prominence has not been given by the
general Christian mind of our country to this
momentous truth, while the event of the indi-
vidual deaths of believers has held relatively too
high a place. Our Lord and his apostles spake
less of Christians dying than of Christ's coming
again. It is with great detriment to the scrip-
tural breadth of our conceptions, and the stable
peace of our souls, that we erect ourselves into
such disproportionate egotistical prominence, and
fail to get a comprehensive view of Christ's
church in its sympathetic unity with itself, and
its vital union wdth him.
It was not alone the company of believers at
Thyatira to w^hom Christ said, "That wdiich ye
have already, hold fast till I come." He said it to
17
194 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS. •
the Waldensian cliurcli of Piedmont ; he said it
to the reformed churches of the sixteenth cen-
tury ; he said it to the church on Plymouth
Eock, and to the entire community of militant
saints onward. How have Christ's people of
former generations been longing, and how should
w^e still patiently long for his appearing ! Said
that vigorous reformer, Martin Luther: "The
world has grown very stubborn and headstrong
since the revelation of the word of the gospel,
it begins to crack sorely, and I hope wall soon
break and fall on a heap, through the coming of
the day of judgment, for wdiich we w^ait with
yearnings and sighs of heart." Said Archbishop
Usher : " We should always live in expectation
of the Lord Jesus in the clouds, with oil in our
lamps, prepared for his coming."
That saintly man Joseph Alleine, testifies :
" But w^e shall lift up our heads, because the day
of our redemption draweth nigh. This is the
day I look for, and wait for, and have laid up all
my hopes in. If the Lord return not, I profess
myself undone ; my preaching is vain, and my
suffering is vain." " The thing you see is estab-
THE EPISTLE TO THYATIRA. 195
lislied, and every circumstance is determined.
How sweet are the words that dropped from the
precious lips of our departing Lord ! What gen-
erous cordials hath he left us in his jDarting ser-
mons and his last prayer ! And yet^ of all the
rest, these are the sweetest : ' I will come again
and receive you unto myself, that where I am,
there you may be also.' What need you any
further witness ? "
THE VICTORS TO BE CROWNED.
"And he that ovcrcomethj and kecpeth my works
unto 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."
To him — whether an individual saint, a par-
ticular church, or the whole collective household
of faith — to them, to him that holds fast till
Christ reappears -, to him who perseveres in fidel-
ity, and comes off victor at last, will the Prince
of the kings of the earth grant a most exalted
station ; he will associate him with himself in
196 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
ruling over the ungodly. During his humble
sojourn on earth he said, while acting as a ser-
vant to his disciples — and there was something
grandly sublime in it — "I appoint unto you a
kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me."
In assured expectation of that, Paul inquires :
" Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the
world ? " " It is a faithful saying, If we suffer,
we shall also reign with him."
The union of Christians with Christ, begun
here, does not end with the present life ; nor is it
a union merely for maintaining the believer's
spiritual life ; it is also for securing to him out-
ward honor and immense social advancement.
" Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun
in the kingdom of their Father;" "To him that
overcometh, will I grant to sit with me on my
throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down
with my Father in his throne." They are made,
and are to be made, kings and priests unto God
and his Father ; are to be associated with the
Lord Jesus in high functions of his kingly office ;
are to be raised to a share in the glories and
joys of Him who has been set as King upon
THE EPISTLE TO THYATIRA. 197
the holy hill of Zion. In a measure that will
exalt to participation in judgment, ^' To him will
I give power over the nations ; and he shall rule
them with a rod of iron ; as the vessels of a pot-
ter shall they be broken in shivers ; even as I re-
ceived of my Father." No pride, no revengeful
feelings will attend that exaltation ; yet, sure as
is the word of Heaven, the Ancient of Days will
come, and the saints of the Most High will rank
side by side with Him, on whose vesture and on
whose thigh is written a name "King of kings,
and Lord of lords." Oh, marvellous change ! Oh,
surpassing contrast ! That little flock — those
poor, despised men, women and children, called
evangelical Christians, on a throne with the Lord
of heaven, radiant with his glory, and with him
wielding a sceptre over all his enemies and
theirs ! The universe has witnessed nothing like
that, save the supreme coronation of Him who
once had not where to lay his head.
Joy to you, ye associates of the enthroned
Son of David and Son of God ! All hail to you,
ye Old Testament saints, who had trial of cruel
mocking and scourgings, yea, moreover, of bonds
17
198 MORNING HOUPwS IN PATMOS.
and imprisonments ! ye who were stoned, were
sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the
sword ; who wandered about in sheep-skins and
goat-skins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented ;
who wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and
in dens, and caves of the earth ; — ye have dif-
ferent clothing now, very different accommoda-
tions to-day. With your Redeemer ye now judge
the world. Look up, ye unrepenting men who
stoned Stephen ! ye Jews of Thessalonica, and
lewd fellows of the baser sort, who dragged
Jason and certain brethren before the rulers,
saying, " These that have turned the world up-
side down have come hither also," — look up !
ye now stand at the bar of the Son of God, and
as ye persecuted him in his saints, so now does
he judge you in the persons of the same.
Papal Rome, thou scarlet-clad Jezebel, "drunken
with the blood of the saints"! those martyrs of
Jesus hold a rod of iron over you. Aye, Baby-
lon the great is fallen, is fallen ! " Rejoice over
her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and
prophets ; for God hath avenged you on her ! "
There are hmitations to sympathy for the
THE EPISTLE TO THYATIRA. 199
persecuted disciples of Christ. Wait a little ;
those defamed and reviled as the filth of the
world, the offscouring of all things unto this
day, will presently shine forth as the brightness
of the firmament, and will sit upon a throne in-
finitely higher than that of the Caesars. " Fear
not, little flock ; it is your Father's good pleasure
to give you the kingdom." Bide your time ;
the day for a distribution of crowns and scep-
tres is not far off!
" And I will give him the morning-star."
The blessed condition of believers between
death and the resurrection is a sweet harbinger
of the far more blissful state that will follow.
It is the morning-star to the sun shining in his
glory. That star of mild and beauteous radi-
ance, the symbol of purity, the herald of full-
orbed day, shall be the victor s prize. Let any
one be faithful till the close of his earthly cam-
paign, and his shall be an immediate inheritance
of light. Till the great epoch of coronation,
the whole church of the departed wears a bril-
liant gem on her forehead ; but when that mar-
200 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
riage morning comes, she will be presented a
glorious church, the pure and resplendent bride
of Him who covereth himself with light as with
a garment. " He that hath an ear, let him hear
what the Spirit saith unto the churches."
TEE EPISTLE TO SARDIS.
And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write :
These things saith he who 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. Eemember, therefore, how thou hast received
and heard, and hold fast and repent. If, therefore,
thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief,
and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon
thee. Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which
have not defiled their garments ; and they shall walk
with me in white : for they are worthy. He that over-
cometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment ;
and I will not blot 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. Rev. 1 : 3 — 6.
202 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
SARDIS.
" 0 Solon ! " exclaimed the last king of Sardis,
as he lay in chains on the funeral pile. His
army had been routed, his capital was in the
hands of victorious Persians, and in a moment
more the captive monarch himself will be
wrapped in flames. " 0 Solon, Solon, Solon ! "
cries the wretched man. Pressed to tell why
he repeats the philosopher's name so earnestly,
he narrates the visit of that celebrated Athe-
nian to his court, who remained unmoved by
all the display of wealth and luxuries. Solon
could not be betrayed into any flattery of his
royal guest, but spoke to him plainly of the
vicissitudes of life, of the dangers and reverses
to which royalty is subject ; and bade him wait
till the hour of death, before claiming to be
pronounced a happy man.
O Croesus ! Croesus ! was the irrepressible ex-
clamation, as the writer stood amidst the ruins
of that monarch's palace. In proceeding to
Thyatira, we made a detour of one day, in order
to visit this ancient capital of Lydia, situated
THE EPISTLE TO SARDIS. 203
between fifty and sixty miles east of Smyrna.
But how shall I describe the emotions awakened,
upon reaching the site of that once thronged
metropolis, now levelled, and its ruins nearly
buried by debris from the neighboring moun-
tain ! Here stands a wall of great thickness ;
there, the remains of an arch. Our horses now
leaped a prostrate Roman column, and now
stumbled against a Grecian cornice. At the
foot of the hill we explored a roofless and more
than half-demolished church, and on the slope
above traced the foundations of a vast amphi-
theatre.
But, how silent now! Oh, what desolation!
The wars, earthquakes, and storms of centuries
have done their work upon the once proud and
populous city. Two insignificant mills, one small
shop, and a wretched cafenet, far inferior to our
stables, make up the present village of Sart.
There is not a family, not a woman there. The
Pactolus, that used to roll down golden sands,
now turns a grist-mill; and amidst the streets
and gardens of what was once the rnost^ wealthy
and magnificent city of Asia Minor, there are
204 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
to-day fields of that most abused of all weeds,
which the lazy Turk — and, alas ! not the Turk
only — is perpetually smoking.
I climbed to the almost inaccessible summit
of the ancient Acropohs, once crowned by a
palace, temple, and citadel, and around which
lay the enterprising and luxurious city of Sar-
dis. That eminence, worn by the elements, and
rent by earthquakes, resembles the Acropolis
of Athens, and the Castle Hill of Edinburgh,
though more lofty and precipitous than either
of them. It is a projecting spur from the
classical Mount Tmolus. In the distance stands
the abruptly terminating Sipylus, of which Ho-
mer sings, and on a vertical rock of which you
may still see the rudely sculptured Niobe, while
a hot spring at the base still sends forth her
fabled tears.
Fronting the Acropolis is the plain of Sardis,
— one of the most magnificent and fertile in
the world, — from five to fifteen miles in width,
stretching away to PhiladeljDhia on the east and
Magnesia on the Avest, and through which the
Hermus still winds its silvery way, receiving still
THE EPISTLE TO SARDIS. 205
the Pactolus, which flowed through the ancient
city.
What an historic panorama presents itself to
the mind ! Across that plain come the destruc-
tive hordes of Turks and Saracens ; the Eoman
eagles are seen gleaming in the sun ; then the
tents of Xerxes' millions stud the plain ^ the
troops of Alexander, flushed with victory at the
Granicus, march to the gates, demanding and
receiving surrender; while the hosts of Cyrus
and Croesus, six hundred thousand strong, en-
gage in the battle of Thymbria. The Lydian
cavalry come flying over the plain, and the de-
feated monarch makes a last stand on the Acrop-
olis. I looked down the precipice where the
bold Mardian soldier, as a thief in the night,
scaled the defences at an unsuspected spot, and
Sardis fell.
On the opposite side of the plain, is a long,
moderately elevated hill, covered with mounds,
called by the Turks Bin Tepeh, or " The Thou-
sand Hills." That is the Necropolis, the royal
cemetery of Sardis, where kings and princes
have lain entombed nearly three thousand years.
18
206 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
We visited those tumuli, and found them to re-
semble the mounds of our Western country, and
the pyramids of ancient Mexico. One of them,
half a mile in circumference, had recently been
excavated to its centre, under the direction of
a learned society in Europe. We entered by a
lateral opening, and, with torches, penetrated
along the narrow gallery to the immense marble
tomb. It is the mound and tomb of Alyattes,
the father of Croesus, who flourished six hundred
years before Christ
I need not say that it awakened peculiar
feelings to be standing there, so far from the
light of day, by the resting-place of one who
lived as long before the writing of the Apoca-
lypse as twice the period since the discovery
of America, — a monarch who reigned when
ancient Kome was yet in its cradle ; whose
kingdom was opulent and flourishing when Tyre
fell, and the temple at Jerusalem was burned ;
who was a contemporary of Daniel, Ezekiel, and
Nebuchadnezzar.
O Sardis ! where are thy kings, and thy teem-
ing hosts ? Where are the sages drawn to thy
THE EPISTLE TO SARDIS. 207
court ; where the wealthy strangers who swelled
thy luxuries, and shared thy debaucheries;
where thy purple-clad princes and curious ar-
tificers, thy tributary troops, and thine own
Lydian cavalry that wheeled and charged so
gallantly on the plain ? 0 Croesus ! thy name
long the proverb of wealth, — where are thy
treasures ? Of what avail were the millions
sent to Grecian oracles? Thou didst cross the
Halys, and didst indeed ruin a great empire.
" Howl, 0 gate ! cry, 0 city ! " " Woe to her
that was filthy and polluted, to the oppressing
city ! She obeyed not the voice ; she received
not correction; she trusted not in the Lord.
Her princes within her were roaring lions; her
judges evening wolves." " Therefore God made
of a city a heap; of a defenced city a ruin; a
palace of strangers to be no city." The Pac-
tolus has ceased to bring down golden sands ;
the stork builds her nest on deserted walls,
and the black tents of roving Turcomans alone
are seen on the broad, silent plain.
Sitting amidst the ruins, on a fallen, but once
beautiful column, I read these words : " And unto
208 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
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 hvest, 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. Ke-
member therefore how thou hast received and
heard, and hold fast, and repent. If, therefore,
thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a
thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will
come upon thee. Thou hast a few names even
in Sardis which have not defiled their garments ;
and they shall walk with me in white : for they
are worthy. He that overcome th, 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."
SPIRITUAL DEATH.
When, and by whom, Christianity was planted
at Sardis, we know not. Of the church gath-
ered there we hear nothing, till He who " hath
THE EPISTLE TO SARDIS. 209
the seven spirits of God, and the seven stars,"
bids John write to it this epistle. It is the su-
preme Alpha and Omega — the God of ministers
and churches, sending his messengers, now scru-
tinizing, and ere long to judge them — who
speaks here.
" He who 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."
That is, the Holy Spirit — in person one, in
efficiency manifold ; He to whom the Spirit
hath been given not by measure ; who, by virtue
of his mediatorial prerogative, sends the Spirit
to renew and educate souls for heaven — now
sends a message to Sardis. Here is directness
and comparative abruptness. Other epistles have
commenced with commendation ; there is none
for this church. " Art dead ! " What a knell is
sounded from Patmos! He who needeth not
that any should testify of man, whose province
it is to give life to as many as he will, who once
said, " She is not dead, but sleepeth," now speaks
to the Sardian church : " Thou hast a name that
18*
%
210 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
thou liveth, and art dead." Yes ; she that liveth
in pleasure, is dead while she liveth. The seduc-
tions of Satan, the lust of the flesh, the lust of
the eye, and the pride of life, have eaten out
spirituality at Sardis. Nothing is said about di-
visions or heresies; not a word about Nicolai-
tanes, or the doctrine of Balaam. For aught
that appears, the ordinances are maintained;
there is liberality, and courtesy, and refinement ;
but there is death. Exact they may be in forms,
but they are dead. Their meetings are cheer-
less, their prayers lifeless. Thej^ dare not offend
cultivated and wealthy neighbors, by making a
stand on principle. They have kept conform-
ing and conforming, running down and running
down, till they are dead. They probably thought
Paul very strict, and that, although disciples in
Palestine could not well escape persecution, there
was no need of it in a place of so much urbanity
as Sardis; that as they were charged with pre-
ciseness and bigotry, it was well to show they
knew how to enjoy life as well as others — qui-
eting conscience by the plea, that in this way
they hoped to win over many to their ranks.
THE EPISTLE TO SARDIS. 211
The result is, they have themselves become
dead. They have lost all spiritual comfort, all
spiritual power. They are a withered branch,
bearing no fruit, ready to be cut off and cast
into the fire.
A dead professor, one spiritually a corpse, what
an object! We have seen such a one. He lost
his hearing first. His pastor seemed to him to be
growing dull, and not to preach half so well as
formerly. There was no music in the praises of
the sanctuary, unless performed with highest ar-
tistic excellence ; and his ears waxed heavier and
heavier, till he ceased to catch one word of the
still, small voice. So with his sight and taste of
things spiritual ; and so with all the senses, till
nothing but faint respiration and a sluggish circu-
lation seemed to remain. A deadly stupor was
stealing over him ; and finally an unseen hand
appeared to press down the last valve of life, and
he is dead. Go to him — repeat the name that
is above every name in his ear — does it awaken
any emotion ? Present the sacramental bread —
does he discern the Lord's body ? Let an angel
bring a coal from off the altar — does he feel any
212 MORNING HOURS IN P ATM OS.
glow ? He is dead ! But go to him and whis-
per of a pleasure-party, of a political meeting,
of a witty lecturer, of a splendid bargain to be
made, and he is on his feet ; no one more active
than he. " He has a name that he liveth." Are
there not at the present time many such living
dead men — many whose epitaphs might be
written to-day ?
VIGILANCE ENJOINED.
" 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
repent."
The majority, but not all, at Sardis are dead.
There is a little vitality remaining ; enough re-
liu^ious consciousness to heed an alarm. The
plants of righteousness are dying out ; and if the
little life that is left be not fostered, a total
extinction of the church must ensue. "Be
watchful ) " it is by rernissness in covenant en-
gagements to one another, and to me your
THE EPISTLE TO SARDIS. 213
Redeemer, by remissness in private duties and
public deportment, that you have come to this
criminal and most deplorable condition. Be
watchful, then, as to social entanglements, and in
business transactions ; be watchful over heart, lip,
and life ; watchful against spiritual torpor, and all
the depths of Satan. Bethink thee of the grace
bestowed in giving thee the word of life, and
how thine ear was opened to hear the joyful
sound ; bethink thee how much has been done
for Sardis, and that the little thou hast is of more
value than all the treasures ever accumulated in
the city, and hold fast. If there be any author-
ity in my name, any value in my rewards, hold
fast, and repent. Repent of backslidings ; repent
of present decays and coldness ; mourn that my
cause ever made so little progress, and has been
so dishonored in Sardis; and turn, turn at once
unto Me, with humiliation and weeping.
THE WARNING.
" If, therefore, thou slialt not watch, I will come on
thee as a thief, and thou slialt not know what hour I
will come upon thee."
214 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
Before his ascension, our Lord had said,
" Watch, therefore ; for ye know not what hour
your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the
goodman of the house had know^n in what watch
the thief would come, he would have watched,
and would not have suffered his house to be
broken up. Therefore, be ye also ready ; for in
such an hour as ye think not the Son of man
cometb." The apostle Peter takes up the figure:
" But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in
the night;" and the apostle Paul the same : "For
yourselves know perfectly that the day of the
Lord so Cometh as a thief in the night. For
when they shall say. Peace and safet}^, then sud-
den destruction cometh upon them. Therefore,
let us not sleep, as do others ; but let us watch
and be sober."
As the Persian, at a time, by a way, and in a
manner not thought of, scaled the castle of Sar-
dis, so will the coining of the Son of man be to
the church of Sardis, if they be not "watchful,
and strengthen the things which remain, and that
are ready to die."
So, too, will be his coming at the end of the
THE EPISTLE TO SARDIS. 215
world, an advent of alarm and confusion of face
to all slumbering virgins, whose lamps are gone
out, and who are destitute of oil to fill them.
" Behold, I come as a thief," he reiterates ; " Bles-
sed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his gar-
ments."
COMPANIONSHIP WITH CHRIST.
" Thoii hast a few names even in Sardis, which
have ' not defiled their garments ; and they shall walk
with me in white ; for they are worthy."
By " names," we are to understand persons ;
as in the first chapter of Acts : " And in those
days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples,
and said (the number of names together were
about one hundred and twenty.")
" Thou hast a few names even in Sardis," —
even in luxurious, dissolute Sardis, for centuries
proverbial as a city of effeminacy, where the
stream of life flows on with the accumulated in-
fections of ages, and where all associations and
traditional influences tend to unnerve and de-
bauch, — even in Sardis hast thou a few names
216 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
which have not defiled their garments. They
have kept themselves unspotted from the world,
and great shall be their reward in heaven ;
'- They shall walk with me in white, for they
are worthy."
Take heart, ye faithful few in Sardis ! ye are
not overlooked by your Lord. He launches a
merited threatening against the church as a
whole, but is at the same time tenderly mindful
of his true disciples. Not that they deserve this
by their good deeds, yet are they — by union to
their Lord, and not having with the rest sunk
into spiritual death — fitted and appointed for
the rewards of heaven. It is in the blood of the
Lamb that they have washed their robes and
made them white.
" And they shall walk with me in white," — - in
white, the emblem of purity and joy. What a
blessed promise ! The priests and Levites, when
they ministered before the Lord were clothed in
white ; we are made kings and priests unto God
and his Father. All the fiiithful in Christ Jesus
belong to that church which he loves^ and for
which he gave himself, that he might sanctify
THE EPISTLE TO SARDIS. 217
and cleanse it with the washing of water by the
word, that he might present it to himself a glo-
rious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any
such thing, but that it should be holy and with-
out blemish. " To the bride, the Lamb's wife, is
it granted that she should be arrayed in fine
linen, clean and white ; for the fine linen is the
righteousness of saints."
There is nothing to soil those pure and spotless
robes. They will remain untarnished, yea more
and more resplendent, for ever and ever. Such is
the livery of heaven, and thus are saints clad ap-
propriately for the presence of Him' with whom
they are to walk. When, on the mount, he was
transfigured into a temporary and partial antici-
pation of his glorified form, " His face did shine
as the sun, and his raiment was white as the
Hght."
Was it ever your privilege to walk familiarly
with a person of high distinction, a nobleman, it
may be ? As he took you leisurely through his
ample grounds, with here a wide-spreading elm
and there a tuft of evergreens, now by a foun-
tain and now to a hill-top, a velvet lawn stretch-
19
218 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
ing far on the one side, and a charming grove on
the other — did he converse in the freest manner,
and make you feel perfectly at home with him ?
And were those among the most favored hours
of your life, and has character, or at least the
course of thought, taken a decided direction from
that interview ? The Lord of glory makes the
believing wayfarers welcome to his broad pleas-
ure-grounds, and they shall walk with him —
walk with him along the shaded avenues, and
amidst the enchanting bowers of Paradise, where
amaranths and all things beautiful greet the
eye ; where the rose of Sharon and the lily of
the valley shed their fragrance : shall walk with
him along the banks of the river of life, and
beneath the tree of life, in high and leisurely fel-
lowship. That is a walk with royalty ; unabashed,
with profound admiration, and with a ceaseless
elevating and assimilating power will the quiet,
sublime converse go on through everlasting ages.
Christ's presence will shed divine beauty and
lustre on every object.
THE EPISTLE TO SARDIS. 219
THE PRESENTATION IN GLORY.
" 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." '
■The Book of Life — what a volume that must
be ! How vast, how ponderous ! None but a
divine hand may turn its leaves. How fair,
how resplendent the pages of that great Register
for New Jerusalem, wherein names were written
from the foundation of the world; wherein is
reference to all the mansions prepared before the
foundation of the world ! In it are no erasures,
no doubtful entries. By deaths, by removals, by
excommunication, our catalogues are constantly
changing ; but in the Lamb's book of life are no
alterations, except, perhaps, as the saints one
after another fall asleep in Jesus, the recording
angel may write against the name, "Reached
home to-day in safety."
Each of the names in that company which no
man can number, will Christ confess before his
Father and before his angels. There is ere long
to be a grand review of the great army in the
220 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
presence of the King of kings, and of the elect
angels. There will be a distribution of honors
then. A great cloud of ancient witnesses, from
righteous Abel onwards, having waxed valiant in
fight, and obtained a good report through faith,
will pass under the approving eye of the Lord
of Sabaoth. So, too, the early Christians and
martyrs, each band with its standard-bearer
whose dying testimony on the field of battle
was, " I have fought a good fight, I have finished
my course, I have kept the faith."
As the heroes and the hosts of each century,
all clothed in white, all having crowns and harps
of gold, move in their shining ranks with sol-
emn step before the throne. He who hath the
seven stars in his right hand, whose countenance
is as the sun shining in his strength, and his voice
as the sound of many waters, will pronounce
every name before the Father, and before his
angels ; and to the whole collective multitude
will say. Well done, good and faithful servants ;
enter ye into the joy of your Lord ! What a
shout of rapturous jubilee will go up to Him
that sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb
THE EPISTLE TO SARDIS. 221
for ever and ever ! How will they cast their
crowns at his feet ! How will they harp upon
their harps, " Worthy is the Lamb that was slain
to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and
strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing ! "
" He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear what
the Spirit saith unto the churches."
19*
TEE EPISTLE TO PHILADELPHIA.
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 ; 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
fast that which thou hast, that no man take tliy crown.
Him that overcometh, will I make a pillar in the temple
of my God, and he shall go no more out ; and I will
THE EPISTLE TO PHILADELPHIA. 223
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.
Rev. 3 : 7—13.
philadelphia.
There is little of the ancient city of Philadel-
phia now remaining. The modern town bears
the imposing name of Allah Sheher, City of God,
andj like the one which by divine appointment
was so called, is " beautiful for situation ; " but
otherwise presents little to attract the tourist.
Portions of the old walls remain upright ; im-
mense fragments of buildings, huge square stone
pillars, supporting brick arches, are also stand-
ing, and are called the ruins of an ancient
church.
From the Acropolis there is a magnificent
view, diversified by gardens, vineyards, and fields
of luxuriant poppies, white, lilac and purple,
which present a rich and beautiful appearance.
Looking down immediately upon the walls and
224 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
roofs, you see the stately stork, and the turtle-
clove, whose tender affection is still a symbol
of brotherly love, and recall to your mind the
signification of the ancient name, Philadelphia.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SPEAKER.
" 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.''
All the elements that can command deepest
respect — perfect purity, perfect veracity, and
supreme authority — meet in him. The whole
drapery of the vision, as presented in the first
chapter, is symbolic of those qualities.
" These things saith he that is holy." It was
his glory that Isaiah saw, and of him that he
spake, when he had the vision of the enthroned
King, and the adoring Seraphim, who cried one
unto another, " Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of
hosts." And with what profound reverence do
the victorious hosts " sing the song of Moses, the
servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, sav-
THE EPISTLE TO PHILADELPHIA. 225
ing, Thou only art holy!" Who shall not fear
him ? What earthly potentate shall be named
when we speak of him ?
"These things saith he that is true." When
" the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,
and we beheld his glory, it was the glory as
of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth." He himself proclaimed, I am the
truth ; and his disciples are able to respond, " We
know that the Son of God is come, and hath
given us an understanding that we may know
him that is true ; and we are in him that is true,
even in his Son Jesus Christ : this is the true
God, and eternal life." Not only is he truthful
and trustworthy as man, but he is the true Mes-
siah. For this purpose came he into the world,
that he might bear witness to the truth, in its
highest forms. As opposed to all false gods, and
all refuges of lies for salvation, as the great an-
tagonist of the father of lies, and of all human
deceit and perversity, he came the divine em-
bodiment, the appointed revealer of everlasting
truth. And now that he is enthroned amidst the
radiance of celestial verities, how should his
226 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
message be heeded by us who still tabernacle
where vain show, hypocrisies, and treacheries
have their home ?
" These things saith he that hath the key of
David ; he that openeth, and no man shutteth ;
and shutteth, and no man openeth," He hath the
regal key, the key to that kingdom on the
throne of which sits David's greater Son accord-
ing to the flesh, — sits as the Prince of the kings
of the earth, girded with all power in heaven and
in earth.
All the avenues of earth, and from earth to
other worlds, are under his control. He openeth
the eyes, ears, and hearts of men. He openeth
the doors of providence, the ways of deliverance
from danger, temptation and destruction, for his
people. He openeth the doors of opportunity
for usefulness, yea, for eflective obedience to his
command, to evangelize all nations, — a great door
and effectual being opened to his preachers, — the
Sublime Porte, for instance, at the present time,
and the Flowery Kingdom, and the island-world
eastward of Asia, hitherto closed to the truth.
In his own time will he open the graves of all his
THE EPISTLE TO PHILADELPHIA. 227
saints, and call them forth in their immortal
resurrection bodies.
He, too, shutteth. He shut the gate of ter-
restrial Paradise, guarding it with a flaming
sword ; he shut up the door of the Ark, for pro-
tection to its inmates, and for a bar to those who
afterwards would fain have entered. How often
has he shut the mouths of lions, and shut up the
sea with gates ! And the lioLir cometli when He
who holds the keys of death and of Hades will
close forever the door of the prison-house upon
the devil and his angels, and all the finally
impenitent.
What hand ever reversed a bolt turned by
that key ? What combination of human skill
and strength ever closed one entrance, or opened
one closed door, on which was the hand of the
Lord Jesus ? Pilate had no power except what
was given him. The Emperor Domitian had
power only for a brief period, and over a small
portion of the earth's surface. Whatsoever the
Lord pleaseth, that doth he in heaven, and in
earth, in the seas, and in the deep places. Yes ;
he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the
228 MORNING IIOUPwS IN PATMOS.
key of David, doing according to his will in all
worlds, through all ages to come, is the one who
sends a message to the angel of the church in
Philadelphia.
FIDELITY REWARDED.
" 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."
Not the smallest degree of fidelity is unnoticed
or forgotten by the Lord. Though his be the
sharp sword with two edges, and his the eyes
that are as a flame of fire, and his voice as
the sound of many waters, yet does he kindly
mark and graciously reward every item of faith-
fulness on the part of his people. Though pos-
sessing but a little strength, believers at Philadel-
phia find that little recognized. The church at
Smyrna received no censure ; and this is the
only other one of the seven similarly honored.
There is allegiance here ; they have kept Christ's
word, and have not denied him, and hence
THE EPISTLE TO PHILADELPHIA. 229
receive commendation, and tlie assurance of
divine intervention in their behalf. " Behold, I
have set before thee an open door, and no man
can shut it;" an open door for testifying to the
truth as it is in Jesus ; such as Paul had found, a
little to the north of them, in Troas, where a door
was opened unto him of the Lord. They were
not to be hampered by Jewish exclusiveness, nor
cast into prison, or otherwise forcibly hindered
from bearing witness to the truth and grace of
God. They would also find an open door of
escape from the machinations of their enemies.
And before them stands an open door, to all the
interior privileges of the kingdom. No fee is
exacted, and no entrance difiicult to find intro-
duces to its enchanting entertainments. On the
lofty and beautiful arch beneath which they pass,
is inscribed. Free grace. Keaching at length the
city of their destination, they find "the gates
of it shall not be shut at all by day, and there
shall be no night there."
Disciple of the Lord ! be not discouraged,
though you have but little faith ; it is a great
thing to have that little. Genuineness does not
20
230 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
depend upon amount. Keeping Christ's word,
you will presently hear the plaudit, " Well done
good and faithful servant ; thou hast been faith-
ful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over
many things ; enter thou into the joy of thy
Lord." There stands before you an open door
from this period in your pilgrimage onward, till
3^our feet are fairly within some one of the
twelve gates of pearl, and " no man can shut it."
THE DOOM OF HYPOCRITES.
" 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."
There is ample evidence that the early Chris-
tians suffered greatly from the malice of Jews.
Thus at Antioch, " When the Jews saw the multi-
tudes, they were filled with envy, and spake
against those things which are spoken by Paul,
contradicting and blaspheming ; " and " The Jews
stirred up the devout and honorable women, and
the chief men of the city, and raised persecution
THE EPISTLE TO PH IL ADE LI^ H I A . 231
againsi? Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them
out of their coasts." There had been similar
demonstrations at Thessalonica, and similar too,
probably, at Philadelphia ; while those engaged
in such violent proceedings would claim, in the
blindness of their bigotry, to be doing God ser-
vice, as his chosen synagogue. But all are not
Israel that are of Israel, and these lying Jews
will the Lord put down as the synagogue of
Satan ; yea more, he will reduce them to a hu-
miliating deference to his faithful ones in that
city.
The time and mode of fulfilment, we know
not ; but the fulfilment came ; and it was only
one of the many instances of retribution which
He who loves and leads his own people is often
bringing about — mere earnests of what will be
witnessed when " the sons also of them that
afilicted thee shall come bending unto thee ; and
all they that despised thee shall bow themselves
down at the soles of thy feet ; and they shall call
thee. The city of the Lord, The Zion of the Holy
One of Israel."
232 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
DELIVERANCE CERTAIN AND NEAR.*
" 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."
The gospel largely illustrates the long-suffering
of Christ, and enforces the same virtue upon his
followers. They that received seed on good
ground are declared in the parable to be those
who " in an honest and good heart, having heard
the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with
patience." " In patience possess ye your souls,"
is Christ's bidding ; whilst they only who " en-
dure unto the end shall be saved."
A pledge of deliverance accompanies the ac-
knowledgment. Without pronouncing positively
upon the period of accomplishment, it should be
stated as a noteworthy fact, that Philadelphia,
though only about twenty-five miles east of Sar-
dis, escaped wonderfully the sacking by Eoman
armies which the other six cities experienced ; nor
w^as it captured by the Turks till a century before
Columbus discovered this New World. Even the
THE EPISTLE TO PHILADELPHIA. 233
infidel Gibbon bears unintended testimony to the
faithfulness of Him who cannot lie. " At a dis-
tance from the sea," he remarks, " forgotten by
the emperor, encompassed on all sides by the
Turks, her valiant citizens defended their religion
and freedom above four-score years, and at length
capitulated with the proudest of the Ottomans, in
1390. Among the Greek colonies and churches
of Asia, Philadelphia is still erect — a column in
a scene of ruins."
" Behold, I come quickly : hold that fast which thou
hast, that no man take thy crown." ■
This patient waiting, this watch and struggle,
will not last always. Events hasten to their ac-
complishment. Individual life runs on apace ;
and the end of all things, too, is at hand. Hold
fast, then, for it is only a short time that you
have to hold at all. Hold fast to your profession
of faith, to your Scripture doctrines and ordi-
nances, vilified though they may be ; hold fist to
your cross-bearing, and adherence to Christ's pre-
cepts and examples, amidst surrounding declen-
sion ; lest thou fail of thine award of victory,
20*
234 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
hold fast. It is for a little while : " Behold I
come quickly."
In the future review, how short will the
struggle seem! How faint, in after-years, the
recollection of perils and discomforts experi-
enced during a voyage ! Who would not renew
the purpose and effort to hold fast to secret
prayer, to circumspect living, to active benev-
olence, and so fail not of the crown? Before
we know it, Christ will be here, and the victory
won.
THE VICTOR REWARDED.
" Him that overcometh, I will make a pillar in the
temple of my God, and he shall go no more out."
There is something more specific than a
general intimation of deliverance from pending
dangers, and of an open door into a place of
security and triumph. There is here presented
to the view of Philadelphian saints, and of
believers to-day, a vista most attractive and
animating.
Let the eye be raised to Mount Zion, a
THE EPISTLE TO PHILADELPHIA. 235
mountain lofty, broad and beautiful, as is no
terrestrial height, surmounted by the temple
of God. How insignificant are all edifices of
earth — St. Paul's, St. Peter's, the Duomo of
Milan, or Solomon's temple, in comparison ! It
stretches far away, for many a furlong ; it tow-
ers story above story, hundreds of cubits, ac-
cording to the measure of the angel. The
light thereof is like unto a stone most precious,
even like a jasper-stone, clear as crystal. The
wall thereof hath twelve foundations, and in
them the names of the twelve apostles of the
Lamb. That magnificent, glorious edifice is
built up of lively stones quarried here. As the
several States of our confederacy, and many
cities and foreign States too, send their tribu-
tary blocks to the monument now rising at the
seat of our national government to the Father
of his Country, so does that structure at the
metropolis of the Great King, draw its mate-
rials from every land and city and neighborhood
of earth. How symmetrically does it rise !
With what strange beauty do materials, so di-
verse here, blend in their appropriate places,
236 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
under the hand of the all-wise Architect, every
one of them polished after the similitude of a
palace !
Perhaps the most impressive edifice now
standing is the Cathedral of St. Marks, at
Venice. In its decoration, without and within,
five hundred pillars are employed, which were
brought chiefly from Greece and the Levant,
many of them bearing Armenian, Syrian, or
other inscriptions. While in progress, every
vessel that sailed from Venice for the East
was obliged to bring back pillars or materials
of some kind for that stupendous work. What
columns of Verd-antique, and porphyry, and ser-
pentine meet the eye ! What a pavement of
tesselated marble ! What a magnificent vault-
ing, with mosaics in golden grounds ! What
strange variety of richest and rarest marbles,
oriental alabaster and other stones, some al-
most transparent, the light of a taper shining
through ! That unique edifice is made up of
the rarest spoils, purchases, and contributions
of the civilized world, so far as known when it
was erected. Yet it shows signs of age. There
THE EPISTLE TO PHILADELPHIA. 237
are rents, indicating that it is not founded on
a rock. It is a dingy and gloomy pile. But
the temple of our God stands on the chief
Corner-stone. Its gold and pearls do not tar-
nish. Its sapphires, amethysts, and emeralds,
never lose their lustre.
Him that overcometh will I make "a pillar
in the temple of my God, and he shall go no
more out." Earth is covered with fallen me-
morials of magnificence. In its older regions,
you stumble upon their fragments everywhere.
At almost any point on the coast of the Med-
iterranean, as you leap ashore, you step upon
prostrate columns. They strew the mountain
sides ; they lie buried in the sands of the desert.
But will earthquakes ever displace those pillars
in the temple of our God ? Will the lightning
rend them? Will engines of war disfigure
them? No pressure, no heat, no frosts, no ar-
tillery, will ever warp or discolor, or cause a
flaw to appear in one of them. There is no
leaning tower, no rubbish-heap in New Jerusa-
lem. ^^Walk about Zion, and go round about
238 MORNING HOURS IN PAT M OS.
her; tell the towers thereof. Mark ye her
bulwarks; consider her palaces."
THE NEW NAME.
" 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."
How honored, how resplendent each one in
the temple ! The name of my God, and the
name of the city of my God ; and my new
name, — not the former name of Lamb of God,
that su2f«:ested sufferino: and humiliation, but
the new one of triumph and everlasting do-
minion, — " King of kings, and Lord of lords ! "
Was it an honor to wear the insignia of Na-
poleon's Old Guard, or Cassar's Tenth Legion ?
Is it grateful to surviving officers of the Cri-
mean campaign to wear medals with conspic-
uous inscriptions, "Inkermann," "Balaklava"?
And will it be no honor to wear such names
as are written hy Christ's own hand in heaven ?
Those who have visited the French capital,
THE EPISTLE TO PHILADELPHIA. 239
never forget the triumphal pillar in the Place
Yendome, with its spiral band of bas-reliefs,
more than eight hundred feet in length, pre-
senting two thousand human figures, and exhib-
iting in chronological order the principal events
in the famous campaign of 1805, from the de-
parture of the troops from Boulogne to the
achievements of Austerlitz.
It pleases the Great Captain of our salvation
to have the heroism of the church militant
commemorated at his capital. Each individual
campaign, with all its victories over internal en-
emies, and the hosts of darkness, and the general
warfare, wherein all bear arms, are to be de-
picted and immortalized. There will be seen
the spiritual heroes " who through faith sub-
dued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained
promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched
the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the
sword, out of weakness were made strong,
waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the
armies of the aliens." There will be the great
battles with Judaism, Heathenism, and Moham-
medanism. There Athanasius will lead forth his
240 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
band against Arianism. The great generals of
the sixteenth and of later centuries will put to
flight the Man of Sin; and many a hero will
stand forth as champion for Truth against So-
cinianism, Universalism^ Infidelity, and Formal-
ity. "He that hath an ear, let him hear what
the Spirit saith unto the churches"
THE EPISTLE TO LAODICEA.
And unto the angel of the church of the Laodi-
ceans write : These things saith the Amen, the faithful
and true Witness, the beginning of the creation of
God ; 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 eye-salve, 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
21
242 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
come ill to him, and will sup with him, and he with
me. To him that overcometh, will- 1 grant to sit with
me in my throne, even as I also overcame, 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. Rev. 3 : 14—22.
LAODICEA.
The present chapter completes our circuit of
the seven churches. Climbing the lonely and
rocky island, Patmos, we heard on the Lord's
day " a great voice, as of a trumpet." With the
hoary-headed apostle, we turned and saw the
seven golden candlesticks, and in the midst of
them one like unto the Son of man, resplendent
and awful. Directing our way across the gulf
to the mainland, we visited Ephesus, and lis-
tened while the church there was receiving a
message from him who spake as never man
spake. Going northward, we paused for the
same purpose at Smyrna and Pergamos. Thence,
in a generally south-eastern direction, and at in-
tervals of a day's journey apart, we find Thy-
atira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea, — the
THE EPISTLE TO LAODICEA. 243
latter not far from seventy miles to the east of
Epliesus, and about the same distance that Per-
gamos lies to the north of that city. We thus
complete a triangle, two sides being equal, and
the base somewhat longer.
Laodicea, the city farthest east, is on the
confines of ancient Lydia and Phrygia Major,
and about a mile south of the small river Ly-
cus. Like Eome, it was built on several hills ;
but neither they nor the surrounding region
present much that is picturesque, or specially
attractive. Former fertility no longer exists,
and many barren knolls of sand may be seen
in the vicinity. Like Philadelphia and its
neisrhborhood, this reo:ion has suffered much
from earthquakes.
Approaching the spot, we find no houses,
churches, or mosques; but, as at Sardis, com-
plete desolation. The two cities of which the
churches were most corrupt, are now the most
desolate. "We find, however, extensive ruins,
indicating the w^ealth of the place when it
was a residence of Roman governors. Exca-
vations show that the city, once opulent and
244 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
populous, is now chiefly buried. Above ground
may still be seen an arched entrance, with a
portion of the city wall; also the massive re-
mains of a bridge, an aqueduct, and of theatres.
On the north of the town are scattered sar-
cophagi, long since rifled of their contents ; but
living: residents in Laodicea there are none, save
foxes, wolves, and jackals, and, when a passing
camel or other beast falls, a flock of vultures
and eagles. Physical convulsions, and the rav-
ages of Turks and Mongols, have made a deso-
lation like that of Nineveh and Babylon.
Strolling amidst the ruins, we find a profusion
of broken columns, scattered pedestals, and other
frag-ments. We enter the silent enclosure of
the amphitheatre, capable, when entire, of seat-
ing more than twenty thousand spectators. We
find an arch with an inscription purporting that
the edifice was twelve years in building, was
dedicated to Vespasian, and was completed dur-
ing the consulate of Trajan, in the eighty-second
year of the Christian era. By a singular coin-
cidence, the same year that witnessed the com-
mencement of this building devoted to savage
THE EPISTLE TO LAODTCEA. 245
exhibitions, saw also the destruction of the
temple at Jerusalem, which had been forty and
eight years in building, whereof not one stone
was left upon another ; and that abomination
of desolation was accomplished by the same
commander to whom the amphitheatre of La-
odicea, a structure still standing in part, was
dedicated.
We pass on to the capacious theatre on the
hill-side, fronting to the north ; and as we walk
around the rows of marble seats, rising in suc-
cessive tiers, our eyes are attracted by a name,
Zenonos, "Of Zenon," "The seat of Zenon."
Here, then, Zenon used to sit. Yes ; the right
to occupy this particular spot he purchased.
No one else might sit here. He could come
at any time, and be sure of a place, and could
Q;loat to his heart's content on the savao;e ex-
hibitions below. That was towards two thou-
sand years ago. If Zenon were to come back
from the unseen world, would he buy a seat at
the theatre ? Would he not rather find his way
to the conference-room and the church of the
despised Christians ? What is Dives' answer ?
21*
246 MORNING HOURS IN PAT M OS.
With respect to the introduction of Chris-
tianity into Laodicea, we have no knowledge;
though it is not improbable that Paul preached
there. He certainly felt an affectionate interest
for the Christians of that city. Writing to the
saints at Colosse, distant only a few miles, he
says : " For I would that ye knew what great
conflict I have for you, and for them at Lao-
dicea, and for as many as have not seen my face
in the flesh;" and "Salute the brethren which
are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the church
which is in his house. And when the epistle is
read among you, cause that it be read also in
the church of the Laodiceans; and that ye like-
wise read the epistle from Laodicea." He also
bears record that Epaphras had a great zeal
for them in Laodicea and them in Hieropolis,
a city distant only five miles, and plainly visible
from the theatre just referred to.
Having surveyed the silent ruins, we open
an epistle dictated one-third of a century later
than that of Paul. It is at once alarming and
winning.
THE EPISTLE TO LA GDI CE A. 247
May He who" speaketh to the churches, grant
an open ear and an open heart ! May the dread
of Him who is the Alpha and the Omega, fall
upon us ! May every one be effectually taught
by the address of Him who holdeth the seven
stars in his right hand, to whom be glory in the
church universal, world without end. Amen.
THE FAITHFUL WITNESS.
" Unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans
write, These things saith the Amen : the faithful and
true Witness."
Was not Paul, too, and w^ere not all authors
of epistles in the New Testament, true witnesses ?
Indeed they were ; but their messages are infal-
lible only because penned under the guidance
of the Holy Spirit — the Spirit sent by Him wdio
here speaks in his own name, who is himself in-
finite truth, its fountain, its embodiment and
revealer; who, in the sublime consciousness of
his own character, without arrogance could say,
" Though I bear record of myself, my record is
248 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
true; for I know whence I came^ and whither
I go."
Was there a real meaning in the numerous
symbols of the Old Testament? Jesus Christ
is their Antitype. To the whole costly and com-
plicated ritual system, to the many and varied
messianic prophecies, he is the responsive Amen.
Every divine purpose and proceeding from eter-
nity has centred in him. At Immanuel's first
advent, all holy beings cried Amen; at his sec-
ond coming, a mightier host will shout, as the
sound of many waters, Amen,
CHRIST'S SUPREMACY.
" These things saith the Beginning of the creation
of God."
He who so wonderfully reveals himself in the
first apocalyptic vision, and who now sends a
message to the church in Laodicea, is at the
head of created things — is Lord paramount of
Asia Minor, of the Koman Empire, of the whole
earth. He taketh up the isles, as a very little
thing. If he but touch the hills, they smoke.
THE EPISTLE TO LAODICEA. 249
To liim belongs the primacy over every world,
and all things therein, great or small, near or
afar off, in the wide universe. When on the
eve of being apprehended, and put to death,
Jesus lifted up his eyes to, heaven, and said,
" Father, the hour is come ; glorify thy Son,
that thy Son also may glorify thee, as thou
hast given him power over all flesh." On the
eve of ascension to glory, he declares: "All
power is given unto me in heaven and in
earth." Inspired apostles take up the testi-
mony : " For he hath put all things under
him." But will he ever have that preeminence
visibly, and by the acknowledgment of all?
"Wherefore God hath also highly exalted him,
and given him a name which is above every
name : that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow, of things in heaven, and things in
earth, and things under the earth ; and that
every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord to the glory of God the Father."
250 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
THE LUKEWARM REJECTED.
" 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."
As this church is the last, so it is the worst
of the seven. Here is no commendation, no en-
couraging reference even to the past. Far gone
as Sardis was, still "things that remain" could
be mentioned. Not so here. Without exception,
and without qualification, the Laodiceans are
pronounced lukewarm. The whole church is
lifeless.
For aught that appears, they have kept them-
selves free from the doctrines of Balaam, and of
the Nicolaitanes ; they have no Jezebel, and no
synagogues of Satan ; their creed is still sound,
and their modes of worship unexceptionable.
What, then, can be wanting ? Heart is wanting ;
earnestness is wanting. There is no self-denial
that costs anything ; no cross-bearing that they
feel; no determined witnessing for Christ; no
valiant aggression, that keeps sinews strained,
THE EPISTLE TO LAODICEA. 251
that brings wounds and martyrdom. Genuine
spirituality, and all religious geniality of soul, are
gone. The realities of a world to come have
sunk into semi-fictions. And the most ominous
feature of their state is contentedness with this
statue-like religion, tolerably faultless, except that
it has no life. They are not Jews, to be sure ; they
are not heathens ; they are nominal Christians;
a class of respectable dissenters from surrounding
idolatry, experimenting upon a compromise be-
tween God and Satan. Most offensive is this to
Him who is the faithful and true witness.
" I would thou wert cold or hot." We do not
understand that there are three degrees of spirit-
ual affections, ranging from fervor down to freez-
ing-point ; but two comparatively commendable
phases of inner life, both of which stand in con-
trast with a third, which is altogether censurable.
Our Lord does not place lukewarmness as a
state intermediate between the other two, — one
through which a believer must pass, in rising
from the cold to the hot. A mere difference
in degree, and yet something less desirable than
a lower degree, does not answer to the descrip-
252 MORNING HOURS IN PA:TM0S.
tion. There is a difference in kind from both
the other states. One cannot ascend from the
cold to the ardent, through a yet more dangerous
temperature. There is an invincible harshness in
supposing Christ to employ such a representation.
By cold, he seems to designate a spiritual con-
dition not usually so designated, but ordinarily
indicated rather by desertion, or the absence of
light ; as in the familiar case of Job : " Oh that I
knew where I might find him ! " In that state,
though very unlike the one of ardent and joyous
affections, there is not indifference,* nor is there
content ; but a sense of its unfitness and discom-
fort, and a longing and groping after something
better. Now, it is far more hojDcful to be thus
discontentedly devoid of comfort, than to be
lukewarm, which, as the verse following shows, is
to be highly self-satisfied. Of all spiritual symp-
toms that is the least auspicious, and with that
our Lord is highly displeased.
"So, then, because thou art lukewarm, and
neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my
mouth." To be tepid, is to be nauseous ; and
hereby is expressed the feeling of deep disgust,
THE EPISTLE TO LAODICEA. 253
of intense loathing. To be thus hstless and sloth-
ful, thus without the power though with the form
of godliness, is to be a living blot upon Christi-
anity— to be a virtual antichrist. "If any man
love the world, the love of the Father is not in
him." The whole genius, all the truths, condi-
tions, and considerations of spiritual Christianity,
require earnestness and action.
The first great fact, patent to all, undeniable
and universal, is that of human depravity ; a
moral corruption, deep and all-pervading, which
no lapse of time ameliorates, and no skill and no
effort of man can eradicate or arrest ; an apos-
tasy from God, carrying irreparable disorder
through the individual soul, and ruin through the
race ; an apostasy which awakened the holy dis-
pleasure of God, and called down his curse. The
moment men awake to their situation, there goes
up a deep wail -, they try to rescue themselves.
One cries, Lo, here ! and another, Lo, there ! —
but to no purpose. On they go, still in the broad
road to destruction.
The other great fact, the only one more won-
derful than the former, — and these two stand
22
254 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
out before the universe as incomparably the most
mysterious and far-reaching that mortal man can
know, a truth of strange, sublime immensity, — is
that of atonement — the coming hither of the
adorable Son of God, made under the law, mal-
treated, rejected, yet standing in the sinner's
place, and suffering for him. Thus in the great-
ness of his strength he makes expiation and pro-
pitiation, reconciles heaven and earth, reopens
the closed gate to the favor and the paradise of
God, and invites all who will to come and freely
«. receive pardon and the blessedness of heaven.
Now, what may be expected of suiih ransomed
sinners ? what but that, roused from the torpor
of sin, they remain through life and through
eternity awake with intensest gratitude and
love ? Lukewarm ! Shall the man snatched from
the surging caldron of a volcano, turn listlessly
away from his benefactor, as if nothing had hap-
pened ? Lukewarm ! " Every drop of my blood
thanks you," said a condemned criminal to Dr.
Doddridge, who brought a pardon for him, —
" Every drop of my blood thanks you : I will be
your servant as long as I live ! " What shall a
THE EriSTLE TO LAODICEA. 255
justified sinner say to his Savionr? Let young
plighted hearts grow lukewarm, let a mother's
love grow lukewarm, but not the soul of a sinner
saved from wrath, and made a joint heir with
Christ.
SPIRITUAL POVERTY.
" 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."
Such self-righteous conceitedness is contempt
of Christ's whole work on earth — his law-magni-
fying obedience and sufferings, his amazing self-
denial, his soul-conflicts with the powers of dark-
ness, his bloody sweat, his agony when bereft of
the Father's countenance — all which was to pro-
cure for his people the wealth of peace with God
and life everlasting.
A self-satisfied spirit always characterizes re-
ligious declension. It is only in the dark that
fireflies sport themselves. When a man feels that,
touching the righteousness which is of the law,
he is blameless, and gives pharisaic thanks that
256 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
he is not as other men are, then look for the
displeasure of the Holy One. An invariable and
a most unpromising feature of that state is self-
ignorance. But there is no such ignorance as
that which exists in the midst of profuse means
of knowledge ; no such want of vision as that
which exists at noon-day. It is not from a defect
of light, but a defect in the eye itself
There would be some hope, indeed all hope,
for the Laodiceans, if they only felt their true
condition. It was an auspicious hour when Ezra,
in behalf of himself and the people, cried, " 0
my God ! I am ashamed, and blush to lift up my
face to thee, my God ; for our iniquities are in-
creased over our head, and our trespass is grown
up unto the heavens." And so was it when David
confessed, " I acknowledge my transgressions, and
my sin is ever before me." But the church at
Laodicea have no such feelings ; they look upon
these, no doubt, as extreme statements ; they re-
gard themselves as well-off in the world — well
to do in the spiritual kingdom ; they have won
golden opinions from the public and from them-
selves ; they have decked one another with titles.
THE EPISTLE TO LAODICEA. 257
They, however, mistake gifts for graces. They are
smitten with spiritual lunacy ; their treasures are
all imaginary ; and He who once spake a parable
unto certain which trusted in themselves that
they were righteous, and despised others, now
speaketh plainly, and speaketh no parable, when
he declares, " I will spue thee out of my
mouth."
TRUE RICHES.
" 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 naked-
ness do not appear ; and anoint thine eyes with eye-
salve, that thou mayest see."
Strange traffic this ! The poor challenged to
buy — to buy refined gold, and costly raiment !
Such, however, is the usage in that kingdom
over which He presides who is the beginning of
the creation of God, and whose munificence is
more than royal. Merchantmen go thither and
buy, without money and without price. They
find gold such as the Pactolus never carried
amidst its sands ; they gather up ingots of in-
22*
258 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
estimable worth, and pearls of great price ; and
they store them where thieves do not break
through nor steal.
All are invited to visit that land, more orient,
more wonderful than the Indies, with their palm-
groves, and diamond mines, and mountains and
plains of teeming wealth. The poor, the halt,
the maimed, those deepest sunk in misery, are
invited to resort, free of cost, to Immanuel. He
welcomes them ; the fatted calf is killed ; the
costly wardrobe thrown open, and beautiful gar-
ments are put on.
The sick of all descriptions, the leprous, the
paralytic, and those possessed of devils, throng
there, and are healed. And w^hen the Great
Physician has condescendingly anointed the
eyes of the blind, they wash, and come seeing.
Not one highway beggar cries, " Have mercy on
me ! " to whom the Lord does not say, " Be of
good comfort : go thy way ; thy faith hath made
thee whole." Though blind before, now he sees
— sees Jesus the Lamb of God ; sees what he had
no idea of before, in the world around him ; sees
the blackness of darkness beneath, and the con-
THE EPISTLE TO LAODICEA. 259
suming fire ; beholds the high altar, the bleeding
victim, and justice appeased ; looks into the un-
seen world, and discovers glories unutterably
attractive. He is humbled ; his self-conceit is
gone ; he cries, " I have heard of thee by the
hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth
thee ; wherefore, I abhor myself, and repent in
dust and ashes." Did the once famous school of
medicine at Laodicea, or any modern seat of
science, ever effect such wonders of healing?
Proud philosophy does not indeed admit depend-
ence for virtue. " That we live," says Seneca, "is
the gift of God ; but that we live well, is owing
to philosophy." But the Lord counsels us to
come at once to him for supplies, such as no one
else can give, and without Avhicli we sink in
perpetual bankruptcy.
DISCIPLINE A TOKEN OF LOVE.
" As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten ; be zeal-
ous, therefore, and repent."
Here comes out the heart of Jesus. Desperate
as is the case of the Laodicean church, and
deeply as they have wounded the Lord that
260 MORNI^TG HOURS IN PATMOS.
bought them, by turnmg away self-satisfied in
their poverty from the wealth which he acquired
so expensively, and offers so freely, yet are they
not apostate beyond all hope. Sharp and mer-
ited rebuke has been administered ; but it had its
root in love to the remnant of believers, despite
of prevailing self-righteousness. Christ's heart
yearns still toward any real disciple, however
backslidden: "How shall I give thee up, Eph-
raim ? " If Christ were an enemy to the Laodi-
ceans, he would leave them to themselves, undis-
turbed by a friendly alarm.
A general law of his gracious economy is here
set forth: "As many as I love, I rebuke and
chasten." As all need chastisement in some
measure, they in some measure receive it, and
thus have proof of the Saviour's attachment.
This is a hard lesson to learn, and believers are
dull scholars ; yet here and throughout God's
word and ]Drovidence it stands, that trials are his
benedictions, and that no child escapes the rod.
The incorrigibly misshapen and coarse-grained
blocks are rejected, whilst those chosen for the
glorious structure are subjected to the chisel and
THE EPISTLE TO LAODICEA. 261
the hammer. There is no ckister on the true vine
but must pass through the wine-press. " For my-
self," said an old divine under affliction — " for
myself, I bless God, I have observed and felt so
much mercy in this angry dispensation of God,
that I am almost transported. I am sure highly
pleased with thinking how infinitely sweet his
mercies are, when his judgments are so gracious."
In view, then, of the origin and design of the
chastisements you receive, " Be zealous and re-
pent." Lose no time ; lose not a blow of the
rod, but repent at once. Be fervent in spirit.
Such is the first appliance of encouragement.
CHE 1ST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR.
" 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 will sup with him, and he with me."
Here is the heart of hearts. Notwithstanding
their offensive attitude, their unlovely character,
such is his love to their souls, that he humbles
himself to solicit the privilege of making them
blessed.
262 MORNING HOURS IN P ATM OS.
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock."
Why does he? Not because he is without
home elsewhere. There are hearts open to him
at Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Phila-
delphia. At many a door, far and near, he finds
welcome. Among the mansions in his Father's
house there is not one entrance closed to him.
He is the life of every heart, the light in every
eye, the song on every tongue in glory. But he
goes round from door to door in Laodicea. He
stands at each and knocks, because he came to
seek and to save that which is lost ; because he
cannot give up the purpose of communicating
eternal life to as many as the Father hath given
him; and because he cannot become known to
the inmate unless the door be opened, and a
w^elcome given him.
Have you bought a piece of ground; have
you bought five yoke of oxen; is your hat in
hand, and do you pray to be excused ? He
knocks and knocks. But you cannot receive
company at present; you are worn out with
labor; you have wheeled round the sofa; you
are making yourself comfortable, and you send
THE EPISTLE TO LAODICEA. 263
word you are engaged. He knocks and knocks.
But it would spoil the game to have Him come
in. Besides, there must needs be a little slan-
der, and a little scandal, and, as the shutters are
closed, and the young people wish it, a little
dancing, perhaps, before breaking up ; and to
unbolt the door would spoil the whole. He
knocks and knocks. It is the hour for church
prayer-meeting, or for monthly concert ; there
is opportunity to pay a Christian visit to an
individual or a family ; but you move not.
To be frank, you deem it the pastor's business
to attend to these things; you help support him,
and that is your part ; it is not every one's duty
to do everything. As for so many meetings,
you think them rather injurious than otherwise ;
at least, uncalled for. You do not like a noisy,
officious religion. There is a handsome bound
Bible on the centre-table, and a Philosophy . of
the Plan of Salvation on the side-table, and a
Baxters Saint's Best somewhere about the
house — and you have need of nothing.
Oh, nauseous lukewarmness ! Oh, fatal world-
Hness! The Lord of glory comes all the way
264 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
from his celestial palace — comes in poverty, in
sweat, in blood — comes to the door of a pro-
fessed friend, who owes all to him, and cannot
get in ! — comes to rescue a man whose house
is on fire, and he will not admit him ! Oh, the
height, the depth of Jesus Christ's forbearance !
Even the heathen Publius received Paul, and
lodged him three days courteously. Shall nom-
inal Christians tell the Lord of apostles they
have no room for Him ?
THE VICTOR TO BE EXALTED.
"' To him that overcometh, will I grant to sit with
me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set
down with my Father in his throne."
If Laodicean carnality is not broken up by
such an appeal, what can avail ? If the pros-
pect of advancement like this does not enkindle
a holy ambition, what sensibility to heavenly
things remains ?
The precise form and manner of the saint's
future exaltation we know not. Enough for us,
that the redeemed are to be superlatively hon-
THE EPISTLE TO LAODICEA. 265
ored, by being intimately associated with the
Prince of the kings of the earth. " If we suffer,
we shall also reign with him."
A LAODICEA!^ SPIRIT NOW.
Is there not similar declension now ? Is there
no floating on the current of worldliness ? Is
there no unchristian, no antichristian deference
to fashion ? Has not public sentiment often
more weight than the oracles of God ? Plung-
ing into business, to the neglect of the soul and
of the family ; mingling daily with men who are
n-oino; direct to destruction, wdthout a word of
warning to them ; treating one's self to comforts
and luxuries, but doling out a mere pittance, or
nothing at all, for the spread of the gospel, —
what is all this but an attempt at a decent denial
of the Lord that bought us ?
In amusements there is alacrity, in business
there is earnestness, in travelling there is hot
haste, in politics the public mind keeps^ up to
the boiling-point, — why this lukewarmness in
religious duties and affections ? So long as that
23
206 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
lasts, all other zeal is apostasy, and the heart of
Jesus is grieved by such behavior.
It is awful mockery to be dallying with the
Christian name — merely to think well of Christ's
23erson, Christ's work, Christ's ordinances. If
such be our character, He who in the days of
his flesh offered up prayers and supplications
w^ith strong crying and tears ; who, amidst
groans, amidst rending rocks, a quaking earth,
a sun veiled in sackcloth, offered up himself
a vicarious sacrifice, will spue us out of his
mouth, except we repent.
THE CLOSING LESSON.
The Book of Revelation is, in some sense, one
great epistle. It winds up most appropriately
the series of inspired communications to man ;
and to no other does it yield in the scope, gran-
deur, and importance of its contents. But these
seven epistles have peculiar practicalness and
weight. They are our Lord's only direct and
specific messages from heaven, to the church at
large, since he left the earth ; they are his last
words, that will be so addressed, till he shall
THE EPISTLE TO LAODICEA. 267
come again, and by his mighty voice shake not
the earth only but also heaven.
These words are as truly catholic and perma-
nent in their design and adaptation as any part
of the New Testament ; not less truly so than
Paul's epistles to Ephesus, Colosse, or Corinth.
They \veve for all churches and all ages, as well
as for those immediately addressed. Along the
tide of centuries has come the challenge —
" He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit
saitli unto the churches."
To-day it becomes audible to every one who
does not close the ear and heart to Him who
speaketh from heaven. By the waning love at
Ephesus, by neglected discipline at Pergamos
and Thyatira, by the far-gone decay of Sardis
and Laodicea, is every church now warned. The
same eyes, as a flame of fire, pierce through our
disguises ; the same feet, like unto fnie brass, as
if they burned in a furnace, walk still amidst
the golden candlesticks ; and from those lips,
mingling kindness and severity, still flow gra-
cious promises to every victorious soldier of the
288 MORNING HOURS IN PATMOS.
Great King. Oh ! by the fruit of the tree of hfe,
and by the crown of Ufe ; by the hidden manna
and the white stone ; by the white raiment and
the lasting record in heaven's register ; by the
liigh titles of honor and a place in the temple
of our God ; yea, by a share in the victories and
on the throne of the King of Zion, are we in-
cited to fight the good fight of faith, to do the
first works, to be zealous, to hold fast, and at
length to overcome. The Lord grant us to be
conquerors, and more than conquerors, through
the blood of the Lamb ! And now, 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.
THE END
PUBLISHED BY
OOULD AND LINCOLN,
59 WASHINGTON STREET, BOSTON.
. 00*«:i00
CriRlSriAN'S DAILY TREASURY: a Religious Exercise for every day
ill the year. By Rev. H. Temple. 12mo, cloth. $1.00.
WREATH AROUND THE CROSS; or, Scripture Truths Illustrated. By
Rev. A. MoKTON Brown, D. D. 16rao, cloth, 60 cents.
SCHOOL OF CHRIST; or, Christianity Viewed in its Leading Aspects. By
Rev a. R. L. Foote. 16mo, cloth. 50 cents.
THE CHRISTIAN LIFE, Social and Individual. By Peter Bayne, M. A.
12mo, cloth. $1.25.
THE PURITANS; or, The Church, Court, and Parlianaent of England. By
Rev. Samuel Hopkins. In 3 vols., octavo. Vol. I., cloth, ready. $2.50.
MODERN A THEISM; under its various forms. By James Buchanan, D.C
12mo, cloth. $1.23.
THE MISSION OF THE COMFORTER ; with copious Notes. By Julius
Charles Hare. American edition; Notes translated. 12mo, cloth. $1.25.
GOD REVEALED IN NATURE AND IN CHRIST. By Rev. James
B. Walker. 12mo, cloth $1.00.
PHILOSOPHY OF THE PLAN OF SALVATION. New, improved,
and enlarged edition. 12mo, cloth. 75 cents.
YAHVEH CHRIST; or, The Memorial Name. By Alex'r MacWhorter.
Introductory Letter by Nath'l W. Taylor, D.D. 12mo, cloth. 60 cents.
SALVATION BY CHRIST: Discourses on some of the most important
Doctrines of the Gospel. By Francis Wayland, D D. 12mo, cloth. $1.00.
THE SUFFERING SAVIOUR; or, Meditations on the Last Days of Christ.
By Frederick W. Krummacher, D. D. 12mo, cloth. $1.25.
THE GREAT DAY OF ATONEMENT; or, Meditations and Prayers on
the Sufferings and Death of our Lord. 75 cents.
EXTENT OF THE ATONEMENT IN ITS RELATION TO GOD
AND THE UNIVERSE. By Thomas W. Jenkyn, D.D. 12mo, cloth. $1.00.
THE IMITATION OF CHRIST. By Thomas a Kempis. With a Life
of 3l Kempis, by Dr. C. Ullmann. 12mo, cloth. 85 cents.
THE HARVEST AND THE REAPERS. Home Work for all, and how
to do it. By Rev- Harvey Newco.mb. 16mo, cloth. 63 cents.
(41)
^0ulir ani> "^xntoln^ publications.
(RELIGIOUS.)
LIMITS OF RELIGIOUS THOUGHT EXAMINED. By Henry L.
Mansel, B. D. Notes translated for American ed. 12mo, cl. $.100.
THE CRUCIBLE; or, Tests of a-Regenerate State. By Rev. J. A.Goodhue.
Introduction by Dr. Kirk. 12mo, cloth. $1.00.
LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. Luther -Calvin -Latimer -
Kuox. By John Tulloch, D. D. 12mo, cloth. $1.00.
BARON STOW. Christian Brotherhood. l6mo, cloth. 50 cents.
First ThixgS: or, the Development of Church Life.
16mo, cloth. 60 cents.
JOHN AN G ELL JAMES. Church Member: s Guide. Cloth. SScts.
Church m Earnest. i8mo, cloth. 40 cts.
■ Christian Progress. Sequel to the Anxi-
ous Inquirer. 18mo, cloth. 31 cents.
THE GREA T CONCERN. By N. Adams, D. D. 12mo, cloth. 85 cents.
JOHN HARRIS'S WORKS. The Great Teacher. With an Intro-
ductory Essay by H. Humphrey, D. D. 12mo, cloth. 85 cents.
'■ The Great C03IMISSI0N. With an Intro-
ductory Essay by William R. Williams, D. D. 12mo, cloth. $1.00.
The Pre-AdaJHTE Earth. Contributions
to Theological Science. 12mo, cloth. $1.00.
Man Primeval: Constitution and Prim-
itive Condition of the Human Being. Portrait of Author. 12mo, cloth. $1.25.
Patriarchy; or. The Family, its Constitu-
tion and Probation. 12mo, cloth. $1.25.
Sermons, Charges, Addresses, ^c Two
volumes, octavo, cloth. $1.00 each.
WILLIAM R. WILLIAMS. Religious Progress. 12mo, cloth. 85 cts.
Lectures on the Lord's Prayer. l2mo,
cloth. 85 cents.
THE BETTER LAND. By Rev. A. C. Thompson. 12mo, cloth. 85 cents.
EVENING OF LIFE; or, Light and Comfort amid the Shadows of Declin-
ing Years. By Jeremiah Chaplin, D. D. 12mo, cloth. $1.00.
HEAVEN. By James William Kimball. 12mo, cloth. $1.00.
THE SAINT'S EVERLASTING REST. Baxter. 16mo,cl. 50 cts.
(49)
(EDUCATIONAL.)
LECTURES ON METAPHYSICS. By Sir William Hamilton. With
Notes from original materials. 8vo, cloth. S3.00.
LECTURES ON LOGIC. By Sir William Hamilton. With an Appen-
dix, containing the author's latest development of his new Logical theory.
8vo, cloth.
ELEMENTS OF MORAL SCIENCE. By Francis Wayland, D. D., late
President of Brown University. 12mo, cloth. $1.25.
THE SAME, Abridged for Schools and Academies, half morocco. 50 cents.
ELEMENTS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. By Francis Wayland,
D. D. r2mo, cloth. Si -25.
THE SAME, Abridged for Schools and Academies, half morocco. 50 cents.
MENTAL PHILOSOPHY; including the Intellect, the Sensibilities, and the
Will. By Joseph Haven, D. D. 12mo, cloth. $1.50.
MORAL PHILOSOPHY; including Theoretical and Practical Ethics. By
Joseph Haven, D. D. 12mo, cloth. $1.25.
THE EARTH AND MAN; Lectures on Comparative Physical Geography
in its relation to the History of Mankind. By Arnold Guyot. 12mo,
cloth. $1.25.
THE ELEMENTS OF GEOLOGY; adapted to Schools and Colleges.
With numerous Illustrations. By J. H. LooMis, President of Lewisburg
University. 12mo, cloth. 75 cents.
PRINCIPLES OF ZOOLOGY; for the use of Schools and Colleges. With
numerous Illustrations. By Louis Agassiz and Augustus A. Gould,
M. D. 12mo, cloth. $1.00.
PALEY'S NATURAL THEOLOGY. Illustrated by forty Plates. Edited
by John Ware, M. D. 12mo, cloth. $1.25.
GUYOT' S MURAL MAPS; A series of elegant colored maps, exhibiting th«»
Physical Phenomena of the Globe.
MAP OF THE WORLD, mounted. $10.00
MAP OF NORTH AMERICA, mounted. $9.00.
3IAP OF SOUTH A3fERICA, mounted. $9.00.
MAP OF GEOGRAPHICAL ELEMENTS, mounted. $9.00.
GEOLOGICAL MAP OF THE UNITED STATES AND BRITISH
PROVINCES; with Geological Sections and Fossil Plates. By Jules
Marcou. 2 vols., 8vo, cloth. $3.00.
(A3)
(EDUCATIOXAL.)
THESAURUS OF ENGLISH WORDS AND PHRASES; arranged to
facilitate the expression of ideas. By Peter Mark JRoget. With additions
by Barnas Sears, D. D. 12mo, cloth. $1.50.
THE CICERONIAN; or, the Trussian method of teaching the elements of the
Latin Language, adapted to American Schools. By Prof Barnas Sears.
ISmo, half mor. 50 cents.
HALL'S GEOLOGICAL CHART; with a section of geological formations
from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. By Prof. James Hall, Albany.
Mounted. $9.50.
A KEY TO THE GEOLOGICAL CHART. By Professor James Hall.
25 cents.
SERIES OF TEXT-BOOKS. By W. S. Barton, A. M.
• Easy LESsojffs ix Englisij Grajumar,
For young beginners. 12mo, half morocco. 50 cents.
Intermediate Grammar. For the use of
Schools and Academies. 12mo, half morocco. 75 cents.
High School Grammar. l2mo, half mo-
rocco. SI.OO.
Practical Exercises ix English Com-
POSITION ; or, the Young Composer's Guide. 12mo. 75 cents.
Rhetoric. In Press.
ROMAN ANTIQUITIES AND ANCIENT MYTHOLOGY. By C K.
Dillaway. Illustrated by elegant Engravings. Eighth edition, improved.
' 12mo, half morocco. 67 cents.
THE YOUNG LADIES' CLASS-BOOK. Lessons for reading in Prose
and Verse. By Ebenezer Bailey, A. M. Fifty-second edition. Cloth
embossed. 84 cents.
BLAKE'S NATURAL PHILOSOPHY; with Notes, Questions, and a Dic-
tionary of Philosophical Terms. 28 Steel Engravings. By J. L. Blake^
D. D. Sheep. 67 cents.
BLAKE'S FIRST BOOK IN ASTRONOMY; for the use of Com.mon
Schools. Illustrated with steel-plate Engravings. By J. L. Blake, D. D.
Cloth. 50 cents.
MEMORIA TECHNICA ; or, the Art of Abbreviating those Studies which
give the greatest labor to the memory. By L. D. Jounson. Half bound. 50 cts.
PROGRESSIVE PENMANSHIP, Plain and Ornamental, for the use of
Schools. By N. D. Gould, author of " Beauties of Writing," "Writing
Master's Assistant," etc In live i)arts, each 13 cents.
(4=4)
(BIOGRAPHICAL.)
LIFE OF JOHN MIL TON, in connection with the Political, Ecclesiastical,
and Literary History of his time. By David Masson, M. A. 3 vols., 8vo.
Vol. I., cloth. $2.75.
LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF REV. DANIEL WILSON, D. D.,
late Bishop of Calcutta By Rev. Josiah Bateman. "With portraits, map.
and illustrations. One volume, royal octavo. $3.00.
LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF THE LATE AMOS LAW-
RENCE. By W. K. Lawrence, M. D. 8vo, cloth. $1.50. 12mo, cloth. $1.00.
DR. GRANT AND THE MO UNTAIN NESTORIANS. By Eev. Thomas
Laurie, his surviving associate. 12mo, cloth. $1.25.
MEMOIR OF THE LIFE AND TIMES OF ISAAC BACKUS. By
Alvah Hovey, D. D. 12mo, cloth. $1.25.
LIFE OF JAMES MONTGOMERY. By Mrs. H. C. Knight, Author of
*' Lady Huntington and her Friends." 12mo, cloth. $1.25.
MY MO THER ; or, Recollections of Maternal Influence. By a New England
Clergyman. 12mo, cloth. 75 cents.
MEMOIR OF ROGER WILLIAMS. By Professor William Gammell.
16mo, cloth. 75 cents.
LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF JOHN FOSTER. By John 5
Ryland. 2 vols, in one, 12mo, cloth. $1.25.
PHILIP D ODDRID GE. His Life and Labors. By John Stoughton, D. D.
16mo, cloth. 60 cents.
MEMOIR OF ANN H. JUDSON. By Rev. J. D. Knowles. 18mo, cloth.
58 cents.
MEMOIR OF GEORGE D. BOARD MAN. By Rev. A. Kino. Intro-
duction by W. R. Williams, D. D. 12mo, cloth. 75 cents.
LIFE OF GODFREY WILLIAM VON LEIBNITZ. By John. M.
Mackie. 16mo, cloth. 75 cents.
THE TEACHER'S LAST LESSON; A Memoir of Martha Writing, of
Charlestown Female Seminary. By C. N. Badger. 12mo, cloth. $1.00.
MEMOIR OF HENRIETTA SHUCK, the first Female Missionary to China.
By Rev. J. B. Jeter, D. D. 18mo, cloth. 50 cents.
MEMOIR OF REV. WILLIAM G. CROCKER, Missionary to West Af-
rica. By R. B. Medbury. 18rao, cloth. 63 cents-
THE KAREN APOSTLE; or, Memoir of Ko-thah-byu, the first Karen
Convert. By Rev. F. Mason, D. D. ISmo, cloth. 25 cents.
MEMORIES OF A GRANDMOTHER. By a Lady of Massachusetts.
16mo cloth. 60 cents.
(451
(LITEHABr.)
THE PURITANS; or, the Court, Church, and Tarliament of England By
Samuel Hopkins. 3 vols., 8vo, cloth. $2.00 per volume.
HISTORICAL EVIDENCES OF THE TRUTH OF THE SCRIPTURE
RECORDS, STATED ANEW, with Special Reference to the Doubts and
Discoveries of Modern Times. Bampton Lecture for 1859. By George
Kawlinson. 12mo, cloth. $1.00.
CHRIST IN HISTORY. By Robert Turnbull, D. D. A New and En-
larged Edition. 12mo, cloth. $1.25.
THE CHRISTIAN LIFE; Social and Individual. By Fetek Bayke.
12mo, cloth. $1.25.
ESSAYS IN BIOGRAPHY AND CRITICISM. By Peter Bayuk. Ar-
ranged in two series, or parts. 2 vols., 12mo, cloth. $1.25 each.
THE GREYS ON LETTERS. By ELenry Rogers, Author of the "Eclipse
of Faith." 12mo, cloth, $1.25.
CHAMBERS' WORKS. Cyclopedia of English Literature. Se.
lections from English Authors, from the earliest to the present time. 2 vols.,
8vo, cloth. $5.00.
Miscellany of Useful axd ENTERTAiyiya
Knowledge. 10 vols., 16mo, cloth. $7.50.
Home Book; or, Pocket Miscellany. 6 vols.,
16mo, cloth. $3.00
THE PREACHER AND THE KING; or, Bourdaloue in the Court of
Louis XIV. By L. F. Bungener. 12mo, cloth. $1.25.
THE PRIEST AND THE HUGUENOT; or, Persecution in the age of
Louis XV. By L. F. Bungener. 2 vols, 12mo, cloth. $2.25.
MISCELLANIES. By William R. Williams, D. D. 12mo, cloth. $1.25.
ANCIENT LITERA TURE AND AR T. Essays and Letters from Eminent
Philologists. By Profs. Sears, Edwards, and Felton. 12mo, cloth. $1 25.
MODERN FRENCH LITERATURE. By L. Raymond De Vericour.
Revised, with Notes by W. S. Chase. 12mo, cloth. $1.25.
BRITISH NOVELISTS AND THEIR STYLES. By David Masson.,
M. A., Author of Life of Milton. 16mo, cloth. 75 cents.
REPUBLICAN CHRISTIANITY; or. True Liberty, exhibited in the Life,
Precepts, and early Disciples of the Redeemer. By E. L. Magoon. 12mo,
cloth. $1.25.
THE HALLIG ; or, the Sheepfold in the Waters. Translated from the Ger-
man of BiERNATSKi, by Mrs. George P. Marsh. 12mo, cloth. $1.00.
MANSEDS MISCELLANIES; including " Prolcgomina Logics," "Meta-
physics," " Limits of Demonstrative Evidence," "Philosophy of Kant." etc
12mo. In press.
(40)
^aulb mxti l^mcolit's |3ub(it:itioiis.
(JUVENILE.)
THE AMERICAN STATESMAN; or, Illustrations of the Life and Charac-
ter of Damel Webstek. lOmo. 75 cents.
YOUNG AMERICANS ABROAD; or, Vacation in Europe. By J. O.
Choules, D. D., and his pupils. ICmo. 75 cents.
THE POOR BOY AND THE MERCHANT PRINCE. Elements of
Success drawn from the life of Amos Lawrence. By Rev. W. M. Thayeu.
16mo. 75 cents.
THE POOR GIRL AND THE TRUE WOMAN. Elements of Success
drawn from the life of Mary Lyon. By Rev. W. M. Thayer. Ifmo.
75 cents.
PLEASANT PAGES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE; or, Book of Home Edu-
cation and Entertainment. By S. Prout Newcomee. 16mo. 75 cents.
THE GUIDING STAR; or, the Bible God's Message. By Louisa Payson
Hopkins. 16mo 50 cents.
AGNES HOPETOUN'S SCHOOLS AND HOLIDAYS. By Mrs Oli-
PHANT. IGmo. 75 cents.
THE ISLAND HOME; or, the Young Castaways. By Christopher Po-
MAUNT. 16mo. 75 cents.
GA THERED LILIES; or, Little Children in Heaven. By Rev. A. C. Thomp-
son. 18mo. 25 cents.
0 UR LITTLE ONES IN HEA YEN. By Walter Aimwell. ISmo. 50
cents.
SAFE HOME; or, The Last Days and Happy Death of Fannie Kenyon.
With an Introduction by Prof. J. L. Lincoln, LL. D. 18mo. 31 cents.
CHAMBERS' HOME BOOK ; or, Pocket Miscellany of intere.^tin<? and in-
structive reading for old and young. 6 vols. 16mo. In elegaut box. ft3 UO.
GLAD TIDINGS ; or, The Gospel of Pence. A Series of Daily Mcditafions
for Christian Disciples. By Rev. W. K. Tweedie, D. D. With an elegant
illustrated title-page. IGmo. 63 cents.
A LAMP TO THE PA TH ; or, the Bible in tlie Heart, the Home, and the
Market-place. With an elegant illustrated title-page. 16mo. 63 cents.
SEED-TIME AND II AR VEST; or, Sow Well and Reap Well. A Book for
the Young. With an elegant illustrated title-page. IGnio. 03 cents.
MY MOTHER ; or. Recollections of Maternal Influence. By a Now England
clergyman. With a beautiful Frontispiece. 12mo. 75 cents.
(4.J*1
(SABBATH SCHOOL.)
POPULAR CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE. Con-
densed, by John Kitto, D. D. Numerous Illustrations. 8vo. $3.00.
THE HISTORY OF PALESTINE; with Chapters on its Geography and
Natural History, its Customs and Institutions. By John Kitto, D. D.
With Illustrations. 12mo. $1.25.
ANALYTICAL CONCORDANCE TO THE HOLY SCRIPTURES;
or, The Bible under Distinct and Classified Topics. By John Eadie, D. D.
8vo. $3.00.
CRUDEN'S CONDENSED CONCORDANCE. By Alex. Cruden. 8vo.
Half boards, $1.25. Sheep, $1.50.
COMMENTARY ON THE ORIGINAL TEXT OF THE ACTS OF
THE APOSTLES. By H. B. IIackett, D. D. 8vo. $2.25.
ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE. Suggested by a tour through the
Holy Land. With Illustrations. New, Enlarged Edition. By H. B.
Hackett, D. D. 12mo, cloth. $1.00.
PROF. H. J. RIPLEY'S NOTES.
— On the Gospels. For Teachers in
Sabbath Schools, and as an Aid to Family Instruction. With Map of Ca-
naan. Cloth, embossed. $1.25.
• 0]^ THE Acts of the Apostles.
With Map of the Travels of the Apostle Paul. 12mo, cloth, embossed. 75
O.v THE Epistle of Paul to the
Romans. Timo, cloth, embossed. 67 cents.
COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. E.k-
planatory, Doctrinal, and Practical. By E. E. Pattison, D. D. 12mo. 85
cents.
MALCOM'S NEW BIBLE DICTIONARY of Names, Objects, and Terms,
found in the Holy Scriptures. By Howard Maloom, D. D. 16mo, cloth.
GO cents.
HARMONY QUESTIONS ON THE FOUR GOSPELS, for the use of
Sabbath Schools, By Kev. S. B. Swaim, D. D. Vol. I. 18mo, cloth backs.
13 cents.
SABBATH-SCHOOL CLASS-BOOK. By E. Lincoln. 13 cents.
LINCOLN'S SCRIPTURE QUESTIONS; with Answers. 8 cents.
THE SABBATH-SCHOOL HARMONY; with appropriate Hymns and
Music for Sabbath Schools. By N. D. Gould. 13 cents.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY, as exhibited in the writings of its apol-
ogists, down to Augustine. By Prof. W. J. Bolton, Cambridge, England,
V2iuo, cloth. 80 cents.
(SO)
(BoxxWi mxts "^uxtolns ^ublicatioits.
(RELTOIOUS.)
GOTTIIOLD'S EMBLEMS; or, Invisible Things Underslood by Things that
are Made. By Christian Scriver. Tr. from the 28th German Ed. by
Kev. Robert Menzies. 8vo, cloth, $1.00 i'iue Edition, Tinted Taper,
royal 8vo, cloth, S1.50.
I'HE STILL HO UR ; or, Communion with God. By Trof. Austin Thelps,
D. D., of Andover Theological Seminary. 16mo, cloth. 38 cents.
LESSONS AT THE CROSS; or, Spiritual Truths Familiarly Exhibited in
their Relations to Christ. By Samuel Hopkins, author of " The Puritans,"
etc. Introduction by George W. Blagden, D. D. 16mo, cloth. 75 cents.
NEW ENGLAND THEOCRACY. From the German of Uhden's History
of the Congregationalists of New England. Introduction by Neandeu.
By Mrs. H. C. CONANT. 12mo, clolh. $1.00.
EVENINGS WITH THE DOCTRINES. By Rev. Nehemiah Adams,
D. D. 12mo, cloth.
TEE' STATE OF THE IMPENITENT DEAD. By Alvah Hovey,
D. D., Prof of Christian Theology iu Newtou Theol. Inst. 16mo, cloth.
50 cents.
FOOTSTEPS OF OUR FOREFATHERS; what they Suffered and what
they Sought. Describing Localities, rersoiiages, and Events, in the Struggles
for Religious Liberty. By James G. Miai.l. Illustrations. 12mo, cloth.
$1.00.
MEMORIALS OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY. Presenting, in a graphic
form, Memorable Events of Early Ecclesiastical History, etc. By Rev. J.
G. MiALL. With Illustrations. 12rao, cloth. $1.00.
THE MISSIONAR Y ENTERPRISE. The most important Discourses in
the language on Christian Missions, by distinguished American Authors
Edited by Baron Stow, D. D. 12nio, cloth. 85 cents.
THE RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD, and their Relations to Christianity.
By Frederick Denison Maurice, Prof of Divinity in King's Coll., Lou-
don. 16mo, cloth. 60 cents.
THE CHRISTIAN WORLD UNMASKED. By John Beruidge, A. M.,
Vicar of Everton, Bedfordshire. With a Life of the Author, by Rev.
Thomas Guthrie, D. D. 16mo, cloth. 50 cents.
THE EXCELLENT WOMAN, as described in the Book of Proverbs. With
an Introduction by W. B Sprague, D. D. Twenty-four splendid Illustra-
tions. 12mo, cloth. SBl.OO.
MO THERS OF THE WISE AND G 0 OD. By Jabez Burns, D. D. 16mo,
cloth. 75 cents.
THE SIGNET-RING, and its Heavenly Motto. From the German. Illus-
trated. 16mo, cloth, gilt. 31 cents.
THE MARRIAGE-RING ; or, How to Make Home Happy. From the writ-
ings of John Angkll James. Beautifully Illustrated edition. IGmo,
cloth, gilt. 75 cents.
(5S)
(ELEGAST MiyiATURES. 32mo, rjilt, 31 cts. each.)
THE BIBLE AND THE CLOSET. Edited by J. O. Choules, D. D.
r//^ FAMILY ALTAR; or, the Duty, Benefit, and mode of Conducting
Family Worship.
THE FAMIL Y CIRCLE; its Affections and Pleasures. Rev. H. A. Graves.
THE MARRIAGE-RING; or, How to Make Home Happy. By Rev. J.
Angell James.
THE CASKET OF JEWELS, for Young Christians. By James, Edwakds,
and Harris.
THE A CTIVE CHRISTIAN; from writings of John Harris, D. D.
DAIL Y MANNA ; for Christian Pilgrims. By Rev. B. Stow, D. D.
THE CYPRESS WREATH; Consolation for those who mourn. Edited by
Rupus W. Griswoi.d, D. D.
THE YOUNG COMMUNICANT; an Aid to the Right Understanding and
Spiritual Improvement of the Lord's Supper.
LYRIC GEMS; a Collection of Original and Select Sacred Poetry. Edited
by S. F. Smith, D. D.
THE MOURNER'S CHAPLET; an Offering of Sympathy for Bereaved
Friends. Selected from American Poets. Edited by John Keese.
THE ATTRACTIONS OF HEAVEN. Rev. H. A. Graves.
THE SILENT COMFORTER ; a Companion for the Sick-Room. By
Louisa Pa YSON Hopkins.
GOLDEN GEMS, for the Christian. From the writings of John Flavel,
with Memoir of the Author. By Rev. Joseph Banvaud.
EQ~ Sets of the ahove fourteen volumes, forming a beautiful Miniature Libkaky, put up in
neat boxes, f 4.34.
ELEGANT DOUBLE MINIATURES. 32mo, gilt, 50 cts. each.
THE WEDDING GIFT; or, the Duties and Pleasures of Domestic Life.
Containing the " Marriage-Ring" and the " Family Circle."
THE YOUNG CHRISTIAN'S GUIDE to the Doctrines and Duties of a
Religious Life. Containing " Casket of Jewels" and " Active Christian."
THE MOURNER COMFORTED; containing the " Cypress Wreath," and
the " Mourner's Chaplet."
DAIL Y D UTIES ; containing the " Bible and Closet," and " Family Altar."
THE CHRISTIAN'S DAILY COMPANION; containing the " Daily
Manna" and the " Young Communicant."
CONSOLATION FOR THE AFFLICTED; containing the " Silent Com-
forter" and the "Attractions of Heaven."
a3" Sets of tlic above, in neat boxes, six volumei, $."3.00. (a&)
(Bonk uiitj liuicolii's l^ublicatbns*
(LITERARY.)
CYCLOPAEDIA OF ANECDOTES OF LITERATURE AND THE
FINE ARTS. Contaiuing a copious aud choice Selectiou of Anecdotes of
the various forms of Literature, of the Arts, of Architecture, Engravings,
Music, Poetry, Tainting, and Sculpture, and of the most celebrated Literary
Characters and Artists of different Countries and Ages, etc. By Kazlitt
Arvine, A. M. Numerous Illustrations. Octavo, cl. .fS.OO.
This is unquestionably the choicest collection of Anecdotes ever published. It contains three
thousand and forty Anecdotes: and such is the wonderful variety, that it will be tbuud an
almost inexhaustible fund of interest for every class of readers.
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER. A View of the Productive Forces and the
Results of Labor, Capital, and Skill. By Charles Knight. With numer-
ous Illustrations. Revised by David A. Wells. 12mo, cloth. $1.25.
LANDING AT CAPE ANNE; or, The Charter of the First Permanent
Colony on the Territory of the Massachusetts Company. By J. Wingate
Thornton. 8vo, cloth. $1.50.
la^- " A rare contribution to the early history of New England."— Mercantile Journal.
THE CRUISE OF THE NORTH STAR. Excursion to England, Russia,
Denmark, France, Spain, Italy, Malta, Turkey, Madeira, etc. By Rev. John
O. Choules, D. D. With Illustrations, etc. 12mo, cloth, gilt. $1.50.
PILGRIMAGE TO EGYPT. A Diary of Explorations on the Nile, the
Manners, Customs, and Institutions of the People, the condition of the An-
tiquities and Ruins. By Hon. J. V. C. Smith. Numerous Engravings.
12mo, cloth. $1.25.
VISITS TO EUROPEAN CELEBRITIES. Graphic and life-like Per-
sonal Sketches of the most distinguished men and women of Europe. By
the Rev. William B. Sprague, D. D. 12mo, cloth. $1.00.
THOUGHTS ON THE PRESENT COLLEGIATE SYSTEM in the
United States. By Francis Wayland, D. D. 16mo, cloth. 50 cents.
SA CRED RHETORIC; or. Composition and Delivery of Sermons. By H. J.
Ripley, D. D. With Dr. Ware's Hints on Extemporaneous Preaching.
12mo, cloth. 75 cents.
MANSEDS MISCELLANIES; including "Prolegomina Logica," "Meta-
physics," "Limits of Demonstrative Evidence," " Philosophy of Kant," etc.
12mo, cloth. In •preparation.
MA CA ULA Y ON SCO TLAND. A Critique, from Hugh Miller's " Edin-
burgh Witness." 16mo, flexible cloth. 25 cents.
NOTES ON THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. By T. H. Grand
Pierre, D. D., Pastor of the Reformed Church, Paris. 16mo, cloth. 50 cts.
IIISTOR Y OF CHURCH MUSIC IN AMERICA. Peculiarities; its legit-
imate use and its abuse; with notices of Composers, Teachers, Schools,
Choirs, Societies, Conventions, Books, etc. By N. D. Gould. 12mo, cloth.
75 cents.
THE CAPTIVE IN PATAGONIA; or. Life among the Giants. A Per-
sonal Narrative. By B. Franklin Bourne. With Illustrations. 12mo,
cloth. 85 cents.
(53)
GOUIB AND LiNKOLN,
59 V/ASHINGTON STEEET, BOSTON,
Would call particular attention to the following valuable works described
in their Catalogue of Publications, viz. :
Hugh. Miller's Works.
BayBo's Works. Walker's Works. Miall'3 Works. Bungener'a Work.
Annnal of Scientific Discovery. Knight's Knowledge is Power.
Krummaeher's Suffering Saviour,
Banvard's American Histories. The Aimwell Stories.
Wewcomb's Works. Tweedie's Works. Chambers's Works. Harris' Works.
Kitto'3 Cyclopoedia of Biblical Literature.
Mra. Knight's Life of Montgomery. Kitto's History of Palestine.
Whewell's Work. Wayland's Works. Agassiz's Works.
^r.-SM^r^-Si.
Williams* Works. Guyot's Works.
Thompson's Better Land. Kimball's Heaven. Valuable Works on SEissione.
Haven's Mental Philosophy. Buchanan's Modern Atheism.
Cruden's Condensed Concordance. Eadie's Analytical Concordance.
The Psalmist : a Collection of Hymns.
Valuable School Books. Works for Sabbath Schools.
Memoir of Amos Lawrence.
Poetical Works of Milton, Cowper, Scott. Elegant Miniature Volumes.
Arvine's Cyclopaedia of Anecdotes.
Bipley's Notes on G-ospels, Acts, and Romans.
Sprague's European Celebrities. Marsh's Camel and the Hallig.
Ilogct's Thesaurus of English Words.
Hackett's Notes on Acts. M'Whortcr'a Yahvch Christ.
Sieoold and Stannius's Comparative Anatomy. Marcou's Cfeoloeical Mi'p, IT. S.
Religious and Miscellaneous V.'orlis.
Works in the various Departments of Literature, Science and Art.
%ai^-
DATE DUE
^-^,r-~
'SKII^|i'<>^..feA4U 7
CI
1
^^3^
^Nff<*
'^
GAYLORD
PRINTED IN U.S. A
^mm^.
m
if
r
RS2825 T468
Morning "hours in Patmos: the opening
Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library
1 1012 00014 1459