then shall we know even as also we are known." Oh, then, look forward to that day, and be ready to welcome the returning Lord! And then, when He comes, all will be clear and bright, all will be happy and beautiful, all will be sinless and blameless; and we-ah! we know not what awaits us then, save only that we shall be changed, and that we shall be with Him. This alone we know, that "when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall we also appear with Him in glory;" and "we know that when He shall appear we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is." "Like Him!"-oh, my friends, God grant that, when Christ appears, this may be your blessed lot and mine!

"He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."-REV. ii. 7.

HE book of Revelation is really an epistle to the Seven Churches of Asia, as we see from i. 4. Its form and its contents are indeed very different from the other epistles, and yet in its nature it is the same as they ;

it is a letter written at the inspiration of God Himself by His servant John, and addressed to a certain body of Christians living in what then was called the Roman province of Asia. Like the other epistles, too, while it was originally addressed to a particular portion of the Christian Church, it was really intended for all Christians of every land and every age. Indeed, there is a special significance attached to the reading of this part of the Bible"Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein." (chap. i. 3)-as if the special

study of this confessedly mysterious book was to be the channel and means whereby special blessings would be conveyed to the soul of him who reads and hears, and keeps those things which he reads and hears.

Let us pray that this promise may be fulfilled in our case, and that we may be "blessed," while we consider, as I hope we may be enabled to do (D.V.), on this and the next seven Sunday evenings, some part of the several messages which were sent by the Spirit to these seven Churches. What I am going to say this evening, will be somewhat of the nature of an introduction, showing (1) how the Spirit speaks to the Churches, and through them to individuals; and (2) the duty of those who are thus addressed with regard to the message. And thus, when we have seen the scope and the object of the messages in general, we shall be able to view each of them separately in their relation to ourselves.

First then, let us regard the Spirit speaking to the Churches. The words of the text occur at the close of each of the seven messages, repeated over and over again, as if the warrant or credentials of what is written are to be set, as clearly and as distinctly as possible, before those to whom the epistle is sent. And here we notice one point of difference between the Revelation and the other epistles; they, though they were inspired by the same Spirit, and though they have the same authority as this book, yet are not prefaced with the same express declaration that is attached to the sayings of this book. They indeed contained the utterances of the Spirit, communicated

by means of men directly inspired by God; but these letters to the Seven Churches not merely contain the utterances of the Spirit, but they are themselves the direct messages of the Holy Spirit. The "servant John" is bidden to write just what the Spirit dictates. The Spirit has been watching the progress of these Churches, and is now about to report upon their condition, encouraging them for what is to be commended, admonishing them for what is reprehensible and what is wanting, and especially exhorting them to constancy and faithfulness. These sayings of the Spirit seem like an express intervention, on the part of God, with these particular Churches. God is, as it were, calling them to account for their "works," reviewing the past, giving them directions for the future; and this is just the office of the Holy Spirit as set before us in Scripture. Our Lord, when He was taking farewell of His disciples, spoke of the Spirit in this way. He gave Him the name of "the Comforter," or, as the word also signifies, "the Exhorter." His work is especially to exhort, to admonish, to reprove, to rouse, to encourage the Churches, and the individuals who compose them. And this He does in many ways -by working directly in the hearts and souls, by the reading and ministry of the Word, by the instrumentality of His servants, "the ministers and stewards of His mysteries❞—and it is probably these who are here referred to as the "angels" or messengers of the several Churches. But however varied may be the means of communication used, what we all want to make sure of is this, that it is indeed and in truth the voice of God which speaks to us. That voice may

speak in different ways and different tones, but it is the same voice. We do not hear it now ourselves just in the same way as the apostles, and as St. John himself heard it here, but we do hear it still; the voice comes to us, as it were, after the lapse of ages, but it is the same Spirit that still speaks to man. His divine voice is heard all the world over, though of course it comes in a special manner to those who form the Christian Churches. We do not always remember that this is the dispensation of the Spirit; from the day of Pentecost until the end of the present order of things it is emphatically the reign of the Holy Ghost. This is one reason why in the Acts and epistles we find the Holy Spirit spoken of so much more frequently in a personal sense, i.e. as a living, personal agent, than in other parts of the Bible. He strives with us; He intercedes for us; He teaches us; He brings the words of Christ to our remembrance; He guides us, if we are willing to be led by Him, into "all the truth;" and, unfortunately for us, He may be grieved, and resisted, and quenched, and often is grieved, and resisted, and quenched, by us; and in the same way He speaks to us, speaks as one man speaks to another, only that, being a Spirit, He speaks to our spirits. Have we never heard His voice speaking to us, sometimes through conscience, sometimes through the reading of the Word, sometimes in the very phenomena of nature, sometimes in the ordinances of religion, sometimes in the striking events of human life? We may find an instance of this last in an occurrence that is fresh in our minds. Last Sunday evening, just as I was going into this pulpit to preach,