John, Peter, and James had before beheld him when his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them. It is a white cloud on which he comes;* a white thronet that is his; and, emblematically, it is also the same white horse on which he sits, after the victory is accomplished, on which he first went forth to conquer. The calling of his people to be like unto their Lord, to have the same mind in them that was also in him, and to be holy as he who hath called them is holy. It is faith which both purifies the heart, and overcomes the world. The sprinkling and the purifyings under the law, that touched but the skin, are not without their significancy under the gospel, as the power of making white reaches to the heart. The blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin. He loved the church,-which, looking down on earth, is still, in token of that love, the first object in his view, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word; that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. He gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. Every Christian duty, thus inculcated on every Christian principle, was the sound doctrine which the primitive and purified Christians cou'd bear to hear, while yet they grew exceedingly in the faith once delivered to the saints. And these were things which an apostle, writing by inspiration, commanded a preacher of the gospel to speak, and exhort and rebuke with all authority. But it is in the blood of the Lamb that * Rev, xiv. 14. † xx. 11. + xix. 11. § Titus ii. 15. Lamb that was slain, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever. And the four living creatures said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever."-Rev. v. 6—14. Such-involving a power not possessed by any created being, and a wisdom that passes the ken of angels, and enough, of itself, to call forth the loud hosannahs of the host of heaven,-is the opening of that book, which some, called interpreters, have made the plaything of their fancy, which many, called Christians, have profaned into a licence for jesting, and which all sceptics have held as the butt of their scorn.-But the word of God standeth sure, like the sun in the heavens, untouched by the clouds that float in our atmosphere, and untainted by the putrid exhalations that rise from the earth. The brightness of the sun is not extinguished or diminished, though it be hid from our view; but the revolution of the night brings round the day, and the light shines where before there was darkness. And however dark and inexplicable by the human understanding the Book of Revelation may have been, it is no less full of significancy, because we cannot comprehend its meaning, till the revolution of ages shall finally bring to pass all those things of which John saw the image and the end. The retrospect of past history now shows us a long series of momentous events, since the time of the heavenly vision. Many of the things that were to be, have already been. But as the sun is often obscured with clouds after it has arisen, the darkness comprehends not the light; and from causes inherent in the mind, like mist rising from the earth, our perceptions of God's holy word are often dim and indistinct. There is a veil, a cloud, upon the heart. And the eye of the mind is as tender an organ, and its perception as easily disturbed, as that of the body. And difficult to be comprehended, and darkly to be seen, as are the ways of God, by man, who had lost the knowledge of him who dwelleth in the light, it is not to be wondered at, that men should have missed the meaning of the Revelation of the things that were to be thereafter, till the very things should be accomplished, and the predicted time be come that the judgments of God should be manifest. Observation is the only guide; ingenuity would only deceive. All that the human lips can tell, is to repeat what the Lord hath spoken; and all that the hand of man can do, is to point to the things that have been done upon the earth. And if ever genuine humility be a virtue, or proud arrogancy a crime,if ever there be an occasion and a time, as there can never fail to be, for abjuring all vain boasting and rendering unto God the glory, it is with a humble heart, and with a trembling and uplifted hand, that it behoves any erring mortal to enter on the grave, but not hopeless, task of interpreting any portion of that Book, which is the theme of angelic praise, and the Revelation of Jesus Christ. And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four living beings saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a white horse, and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him, and he went forth conquering and to conquer.—Chap. vi. 1, 2. The scene throughout is laid in heaven; and the things seen were to pass upon the earth. On that night in which he was betrayed, and in his last discourse to his disciples, Jesus said, I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of Truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear that shall he speak and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore, said I, he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you. Were any supposition warranted, it might not, from hence, be the most unreasonable to imagine, that in shewing things to come, the fate and interests of his church, which he died to purchase, and lives to purify, would be the first object for Jesus to reveal, and for the apostle to record. In shewing the things that were to be thereafter, as well as those that were, the precedence might well pertain to the things that are Christ's; and the first sign from heaven, might well signify his church. But independent of any such presumption, the figure speaks for itself; and many scriptures shew what it is, and what alone it represents. On the opening of the first seal, the object seen was immediately in view, and I saw, and behold a WHITE horse. Whatever the symbol might represent, whiteness is the mark appropriated as its own. The term white occurs in seventeen other instances, in the book of revelation, and with the exception of two, descriptive of angelic purity, it can only be applied in every one of them to Christ or to his church. Nor can this be a sole exception: for the same figure, under the same character, or designation, is again introduced, towards the close of the revelation, in a manner that can be descriptive only of Christ and of his church. As the Lord Jesus himself was seen in the vision by the apostle,-his head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow ;*. -even as on the mount of transfiguration, * Rev. i. 14, John, Peter, and James had before beheld him when his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them. It is a white cloud on which he comes;* a white throne† that is his; and, emblematically, it is also the same white horse on which he sits, after the victory is accomplished, on which he first went forth to conquer.‡ The calling of his people to be like unto their Lord, to have the same mind in them that was also in him, and to be holy as he who hath called them is holy. It is faith which both purifies the heart, and overcomes the world. The sprinkling and the purifyings under the law, that touched but the skin, are not without their significancy under the gospel, as the power of making white reaches to the heart. The blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin. He loved the church,-which, looking down on earth, is still, in token of that love, the first object in his view, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word; that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. He gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. Every Christian duty, thus inculcated on every Christian principle, was the sound doctrine which the primitive and purified Christians could bear to hear, while yet they grew exceedingly in the faith once delivered to the saints. And these were things which an apostle, writing by inspiration, commanded a preacher of the gospel to speak, and exhort and rebuke with all authority. But it is in the blood of the Lamb that * Rev, xiv. 14. † xx. 11. ‡ xix. 11. § Titus ii. 15. |