Page images
PDF
EPUB

and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. And I went unto the angel and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings." (ver. 8—11.)

Every Protestant minister of the Gospel, receiving authority to preach, takes the open book, as it were, from the hand of the angel. Such was the belief of Luther, when on referring to his ordination, he said, "I received the Gospel, not from the hand of man, but from Christ." St. John is here called upon, as the representative of Christian ministers, to take the book and make it his food. Nothing beside is to form the subject of his teaching, or to be regarded as of authority in the Church. No Papal Bull-no Decrees of Councils-no human Creeds-no Articles of Faith-no Traditions of the Fathers-no Synodal Results, or Conferential Agreements: the Bible, and the Bible alone, is henceforward to be the only rule of faith and practice.

And it was by the powerful preaching of the simple truths of the Gospel, that such mighty conquests were achieved by the early Reformers. Their biblical sermons afforded a striking contrast to the discourses of the monks and friars, which were filled with ridiculous stories concerning purgatory, and absurd legends of pretended saints. These were no longer palatable; while, on the other hand, the common people heard the Gospel gladly: and many might have said, with the patriarch Job, "I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food."

The Bible was indeed, in the early days of the Reformation, the joy and rejoicing of both preachers and people-it was desired more than gold-and was sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb; and in the keeping of its precepts was found great reward.

This was symbolized by St. John finding the Book in his mouth to be "sweet as honey;"—such was also the experience of Ezekiel when he ate the roll filled with lamentation and woe, against the house of Israel :-the words of God were sweet-but "he went in the bitterness of his spirit." And may we not understand what St. John says of the little book making his belly bitter, as significant of the bitter spirit which soon began to be engendered even among the Reformers themselves. In the controversies which arose on the meaning of the Scriptures, the loving spirit of the Gospel was neglected or contemned; and the word of God became as fire sent upon the earth. Heart-burnings, strife, and divisions arose among Protestants, who ought to have united as brethren against the common enemy; and ultimately they raised the sword of persecution against each other. Luther called in the arm of flesh to help him against Carlstadt, whom he was unable to confute by the Word of God: and in his disputes with Zwingle, he maintained his own dogmas with an unreasoning and unscriptural obstinacy, which gave evident token that the little book had made "his belly bitter."

So it has ever been from that day to the present; all attempts to rule the conscience by authority of men, through private interpretations of Scripture, have only produced opposition and suffering and bitterness of spirit.

Notwithstanding this, the Scriptures make wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus: and the Bible must therefore be sent forth into all lands.-"Thou must prophesy (or preach) again, said the angel to St. John, before many peoples and nations and tongues and kings." "Great was the company of preachers," who went forth, with the love of God in their hearts, and the Bible in their hands, in a few years after the commencement of the Reformation. The Gospel was preached not only in Germany, but in Sweden, Denmark, Pomerania, Livonia, Belgium, Spain and Italy, and throughout England and Scotland,-turning both princes and people from gross darkness unto marvellous light.

The light from heaven still shines farther and farther into the dark places of the earth-the little Book is sent forth open to

125

almost every nation and tribe of the sons of men, and will assuredly accomplish that whereunto it is sent.*

May we, who have the Bible constantly in our hands and in our heads, feel the power of its doctrines in our hearts! Jesus Christ is the sum and substance of the Scriptures; if he is precious to our souls, then will the little Book "be in our mouth sweet as honey."

"Thanks and praise,

Thanks and praise be ever thine,
That thy Word to us is given;

Teaching us with power divine,
That the Lord of earth and heaven,
Everlasting life for us to gain,
Once was slain.

"Lord our God,

May thy precious, saving word,
Till our race is here completed,
Light unto our path afford;
And, when in thy presence seated
We to thee will render for thy grace
Ceaseless praise."

* By no Protestant Church has the command "Thou must prophesy again," been attended to with more alacrity and diligence, than by the renewed Church of the Brethren. From her earliest formation the propagation of the Gospel has been the great object of her existence; as if the voice of the angel, "Thou must prophesy again," was ever sounding in her

ears.

LECTURE IX.

THE MEASURING OF THE TEMPLE.-THE Gentile CourT.-THE PERIOD OF 1260 DAYS.-SPREAD OF ARIANISM.-THE TWO WITNESSES.-REVELATION XI .1-7.

THE first thirteen verses of the 11th chapter are a continuation of the vision which commenced in the 10th; and it would have been more perspicuous, and probably subject to less misinterpretation, had the division in the chapter been made at the 14th verse, where we read, "The second woe is past; behold the third woe cometh quickly," which words form the connecting link, or continuation of the 9th chapter; where the effects of the first and second woes are described. The vision which intervenes, though strictly chronological in its arrangement, forms, as it were, an interlude in the scenic representation of the history of the world in its connection with the Church.

St. John, in his symbolic character, representing the ministering servants of Christ, had received the commission from the "mighty angel," "Thou must prophesy again." This was shewn to be predictive of the revival of Gospel preaching throughout the earth and the sea of the Roman empire, by the numerous and noble band of Reformers at the glorious era of the Reformation.

"And there was given to me, (the Apostle adds) a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles; and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months." (ver. 1-2.)

The meaning of this passage has taxed the ingenuity and research of commentators-some supposing it to refer to the distinction

« PreviousContinue »