Revelation 21:25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. I. NOW HERE IS SEEN THE VALUE OF CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLE. The Man of Sorrows is on His march for the morning; for the principles of the passion place you on the track of the dawn. II. THESE PRINCIPLES ARE POWERS OF GUIDANCE IN THREE IMPORTANT — NAY, MOMENTOUS — QUESTIONS OF CONDUCT. 1. What is seriously necessary for any soul in order, in its mortal journey, to be useful and happy? The answer is — Not to live at random, but to have an object in life. 2. What is to be my view of the world? What is the attitude of the soul of the Christian towards the mass of mankind? The optimist views it all through the medium of a rose-coloured dream. All is going onward as merry as a marriage-bell. The only objection is — theories do not alter human suffering, and to this theory facts do not square. It is impossible here reasonably to deny the darkness. It is true it is blessed to remember "there shall be no night there." 3. There is here a revelation of the future. The eternal city is in fact the working out of the twofold Divine benediction. It is the completion and beatified result of purified characters. "Blessed are the undefiled in the way," and "Blessed is he whose unrighteousness is forgiven and whose sin is covered." This is the glorious end of innocence and penitence. The breaking of the dawn! It is coming, there is a land of brightness after darkness; amid all sorrow hope will yet have its triumph: "there shall be no night there"! III. NIGHT HERE, HOWEVER. WHY? From the absence of the sun: from the accumulation of the clouds. 1. There is sin. Wills opposed to the will of changeless goodness: wills almost fixed in evil — eyes from which all vision of brightness seems gone: hearts which seem to keep no trace of pity. Ah me! — a ruined soul, or a soul on the road to ruin, how terrible! To be growing worse instead of better: to be losing foothold, not climbing boldly on. Soul of a sinner! Pause, think twice. It is hard to imagine deliverance: hard to believe at times that God's grace, that fresh breezes from the heavenly courts, can disperse such clouds, but it is true. Look up, march eastward; repent, cry for help, take heart; though the path be rough it is the path of the Holy Passion. The city of the saints is the land of the sunlight. "There shall be no night there." 2. There is sorrow. Ah! who has ever read, who can ever read, the mystery of tears? But there it is. There is a home where no sorrow enters — there dwelleth no evil, "there is no night there." 3. There is death. However it be lightened by the faith of a Christian, what thinking mind can fail to acknowledge there is the solemnity of night about the grave? Well, the dawn of eternity shall break, and death itself shall die. IV. THERE ARE MANY DIFFICULTIES, MANY SORROWS; YET ARE THERE NOT SOME ALLEVIATIONS? Life is never altogether darkness When it is illuminated by hope. Look upward, take courage, never allow the cowardice of permanent despondency, or the blasphemy of final despair. Trust God. Surely even here are streaks in the darkness. There are quiet hours of rest and blessing; such a converse with a dear friend; such a happy day of pleasure; such evidence that the sun is there, though veiled by the vapour; such approaches of the daylight; such streaks of the dawn. To repent, heartily, manfully, thoroughly, when you have sinned; to receive trial and sorrow with loving submission, and willingly to taste the sweet "uses of adversity"; to love goodness, truth, duty, God in Christ, and by the power, the moral power of love, to help and make men better — this, this, surely, whatever happens, is to plant your feet firmly on the track of the dawn. V. WHAT ABOUT THE FUTURE? Well, John assures us that there lies before us something beyond all words happy, which he can only convey to us by speaking of it as "a city." Remember that in that city you will find the result of your toil and the end of your journey. (Canon Knox Little.) Parallel Verses KJV: And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.WEB: Its gates will in no way be shut by day (for there will be no night there), |
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