IT is both a happy and a safe place to be an inquirer. Happy, because it keeps the soul in direct intercourse with the Lord, for we must inquire in His temple; safe, because His word will be regarded as that which is to search and guide us, rather than as a subject for the speculation of our minds. But we are naturally prone to be impatient of the place of inquirers, and readily fall in with a theory which, though it may embody great features of truth, hinders the direct application of the truth to our consciences and affections.
Whilst we are thus impatient of inquiring in the temple in the attitude of worshippers, we are no less impatient of inquiring among ourselves. Self-confidence will lead a few to dogmatize; while, to save the trouble of thinking and judging for themselves, the many will follow on in the wake of dogmatic teaching. The result is opposing theories, and then all the help which one might afford another is lost. When Christians, with the single desire of ascertaining the mind of God, have inquired one of another, as in His presence, concerning the meaning of Scripture, how many a crude thought has been shaped, how many a precious thought has been disentangled, while some imaginative mind has perhaps been checked in carrying out a particular truth beyond its limit; and thus have "hearts been knit together in love, unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding; " all have been edified, all have been comforted. And can we only say that such things were? May the Lord, in His abounding grace over all our sin, grant to us in His own time such profit and refreshment again!
I would now desire briefly to inquire as to the expression, "they that dwell on the earth," which so frequently occurs in the Revelation. Is it to be understood as applied universally, or within certain geographical limits, or as expressing the moral condition of a class?
The following are the passages in the Revelation in which the expression occurs:
1. “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.”(3:10.)
2. "And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, (lost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?" (6:10.)
3. "And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!" (8:13.)
4. "And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth." (11:9, 10 )
5. "Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time." (12:12.)
6. "And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, and His tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." (12:6-8.)
7. "And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast, saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live." (13:12-14.)
8. "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come: and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." (14:6, 7.)
9. “And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will show thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication." (17:1, 2.)
10. "And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is." (17:8.)
In reading these passages, there is a great deal to intimate that they do express the moral condition of a class. In the original, the participle is invariably used, whether our translators have rendered it "them that dwell on," or " inhabiters of, the earth." This of itself is presumptive evidence that the expression has reference to quality; i.e. that there is a certain class of persons largely introduced into the scene of the Revelation characterized as "dwellers on the earth." This presumption is greatly strengthened by the dwellers on earth being found in contrast with another class also mentioned in the Revelation, "dwellers in heaven" (or literally, " tabernacles in heaven"). "And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name arid His tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven"—literally, " tabernacle in heaven " (Rev. 13:66And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. (Revelation 13:6)); and then follow in verse 8, “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." We have indeed in this passage heaven and earth locally contrasted; but is there not a moral contrast between the two classes also—heaven giving its impress to those who tabernacle there, and earth its impress to the dwellers thereon?
But this is not a point to be settled philologically, which is rarely satisfactory to the spiritual mind. It will often be found at fault; when dependence on the Holy Ghost, as a present guide into all truth, will furnish the internal evidence for a solid and sound interpretation.
The expression "inhabiters of the earth" cannot well be regarded as universal, because we find the expression, "people, kindreds, tongues, and nations," and in close connection, yet not synonymous with it. "And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nation, shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to he put in graves. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because those two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth." (See also 13: 6-8; 14:6, 7.)
Is the expression to be strictly limited geographically? for that there is a special local sphere, in which the closing scene of the Revelation is laid, is apparent to many. Moreover, that by "the earth," in Revelation, is meant what we regard as the civilized world—that special geographical sphere into which the light has come, and at least externally remained, however it really may have become darkness—is readily conceded. But in allowing all this, the several passages in the Revelation where the expression "them that dwell on the earth" occurs will be found easily to bear a moral meaning, viz., a class who, with all the outward profession of the light, acknowledging even the truth of the testimony in the word of God, both to the present grace of the gospel and to the coming judgment on the world, nevertheless have their interests exclusively on the earth. There may be an actual crisis, as undoubtedly there will be, when this will be clearly manifested; yet, as a principle, it is one of the deepest practical importance to recognize the light in which "dwellers on the earth" are regarded by God.
The two great subjects of the testimony of the Holy Ghost are the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. When these two connected truths are received into the soul by the teaching of the Spirit, they necessarily sever it from the absorbing power of earthly interests. Take the cross, for example. "They are enemies to the cross of Christ who mind earthly things." On the other hand, take the resurrection. “If ye then be risen with Christ... set your affections (the same as mind in the former quotation) on things above, not on things on the earth." (Col. 3.)
The great morale of the gospel, if I may so speak, is heaven as a present enjoyable reality, as the home of our affections, the center of our interests. This is indeed a wondrous truth; but how little do we know the power of it in our souls! The characteristic of our present calling is, that it is "heavenly." We are addressed as “holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling." Our true tabernacle is in heaven; our only Priest is in heaven. The epistle to the Hebrews sets forth the heavenly worship, which faith alone can recognize in direct contrast with earthly worship, which the senses could recognize. The priest of the Jews was a visible person, the sacrifices tangible objects, the temple a material structure: all beautiful and orderly, and suitable to the system with which God Himself had connected them; but to faith they are more shadows of glorious and abiding realities. The heart of man naturally lingers about the shadows; and the full-blown evil of the Judaizing tendency, with which the apostle dealt so sternly, is now become habitual to the thoughts of Christians, and has helped to form the characteristic of "dwellers on the earth." Judaism has been taken as the pattern of what men call Christianity; and thus Christianity itself is regarded as a more improvement or refinement of Judaism, instead of being regarded as the apostle regards it, as its direct contrast. "The now piece has been added to the old garment, and the rent is become worse." "The new wine has been put into old bottles," and all its raciness is gone.
But to turn again to our calling. We are exhorted to walk worthy of the calling wherewith we have been called. (Eph. 4:11I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, (Ephesians 4:1)) This implies the knowledge of our "calling." It is a "high calling." The word rendered high is the same as that rendered above in Col. 3: “Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth." This explains its meaning; we are called of God from beneath to above, from earth to heaven. We are locally and bodily on this earth and in this world, yet we belong not to either; even as the Lord Himself said of us when here: "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." Hence also the pilgrim and stranger character of the saint; heaven is his home, though actually he is away from it; and, oh, that we as ardently desired to be with Christ where He is, as He desires to have us with Him! So entirely is heaven regarded as our home, that the apostle, in speaking of those whom God by His grace had quickened, affirms them to be "raised up together and made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ." God has done this for us, however feeble our apprehension may be of its blessedness. The only place, as it were, in which we can now sit down and take a calm survey of all around us, is heaven. "Our conversation," rather our citizenship, “is in heaven;" and this is stated in a passage in contrast with "minding earthly things." (Phil. 3.) It is from heaven too that we “look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body." “Dwellers upon the earth" can only regard Christ as coming in the character of a Judge. It must necessarily be so, because the coming of the Lord Jesus to the earth is invariably represented in Scripture as coming in judgment, in order to introduce righteousness and blessing into the earth. The popular thought of Christ's coming is in judgment. This indeed is a truth, and a most important one; but it quite overlooks, and, as it were, overleaps the great truth of Christ's coming with respect to His elect Church, which will not be in judgment, but in deliverance. He comes not to the earth, but He meets the Church in the air. He comes to receive the Church unto Himself, that where He is His elect Church nay be also. We then, as “heavenly," wait for the Savior (not the Judge) from heaven. We then "wait for the Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come." If by faith we take our place as tabernacling in heaven, such a distinctive hope appears to us as suitable as it is blessed. But if, declining from our high calling, we settle on the earth, then Christ's coming can only be the expectation of dreaded judgment; for the great event of Christ's coming must necessarily take its character from the point from which we look at it, from heaven or from earth. The day of the Lord, so often mentioned in the Old Testament, is invariably connected with the thought of judgment on the earth.
The consideration of the peculiarity of our calling and the distinctiveness of our hope will very naturally lead us to consider the expression, "those that dwell on the earth," as characteristic. Moralists, philanthropists, and politicians, all recognize something valuable in Christianity, and use it as helpful to their own ends; and thus has Christianity been dragged down from its lofty eminence, till almost all that is distinctive is lost amidst so many elements which are foreign. The long-continued attempt to apply Christianity to the world merely as an aid to its civilization has led to the loss of even the theory of the Church. And if things progress in this line, I can readily believe that nothing will be so offensive to “the dwellers on the earth " as the assertion of the peculiar privileges and special hope of the Church.
PRESBUTES.