434 THE MYSTERY OF THE SEVEN STARS interpretations of men, but the living truth of the Word of God. The Lord's Coming is not to destroy men's lives, but to save them. The destruction attending His Advent, is the overthrow of the systems of evil and error which have crept into the church, perverting its doctrines, and falsifying the genuine teaching of the Word. This overthrow is necessary to the revelation of truth and righteousness which is to attend His Advent. It is the passing away of the first heaven and the first earth, that there may be a new heaven and a new earth; the removal of a kingdom of darkness, preparatory to the setting up of a kingdom of truth and righteousness, wherein the kingdoms of this world shall become "the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign for ever and ever." The Lord's Coming is thus an event in which the church, both in heaven and on earth, is intensely interèsted. At His First Advent, when "darkness had covered the earth, and gross darkness the people," the Lord arose upon the firmament of the church “a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of His people Israel.” And, in like manner, His Second Coming will be to bring increased light and knowledge of salvation, in an age of darkness, of obscurity, and doubt. The true members of the church, therefore, earnestly desire this Coming, and patiently wait for its approach. This is expressed in the prophecy-"Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein, for the time is at hand." And, in like manner, in the last chapter"And the Spirit and the Bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." The "spirit and the bride" is the church in heaven and on earth; "he that heareth" are they who hearken to the Word that they may obey its teaching; "he that is athirst" denotes those who earnestly desire the genuine truths of the Word for their spiritual refreshment; "and whosoever will," those who are in the will of goodness, and who from this will desire the knowledges of truth corresponding with their good. To all these are the waters of truth disclosed, that they may take of them freely. It is this new state of the church which is symbolically described in the text. "Write the things which thou hast seen." What is written remains for the instruction and guidance of the church. It denotes, therefore, the permanency and the preservation of the truth about to be revealed. The apostle had seen the vision of the Son of Man walking in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. All the particulars of this AND THE SEVEN GOLDEN CANDLESTICKS. 435 sublime vision have relation to the higher revelation of Jesus Christ, which is to take place at His Coming. All the titles of the Lord are significant. He is the Son of Man as to His humanity, specifically, as the Word, which is the essentially human principle. The divinity of His humanity is what is very clearly manifest in the apostle's vision. He appears not as "a root out of a dry ground," but "His head and His hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and His eyes were as a flame of fire; and His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and His voice as the sound of many waters." It is this revelation of the divinity of the Lord's Humanity which is the latterday glory of the church. It is everywhere taught in the book of Revelation, and is indicated by much variety of imagery. The Lord as to His Humanity is "the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." In the Apocalypse, as the Lamb, He overcomes all the enemies of the church, for "He is Lord of Lords and King of Kings;" and in the most glorious condition of the church He is her bridegroom and husband. The Lord's Humanity is the temple which in three days He would raise up. In the Apocalypse, He is the living temple of the New Jerusalem, the Author and the Object of the worship of the church in heaven and on earth. In the Gospels, He is "the light of the world." In the Apocalypse, He is the lamp of the New Jerusalem, and the light proceeding from His glorious body is the glory of God, which illumines the holy city. "The things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter," involve all things of the church, both present and to come. These are presented in the text. "The mystery of the seven stars." The word mystery does not signify something that is incomprehensible. In its Scriptural meaning it denotes a concealed truth-a truth that is hidden beneath the vestment of outward fact or symbolic statement. Such a truth is capable of being rationally understood when the literal fact is correctly interpreted. Hence the Lord said to His disciples-"To you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven;" and the apostle in his Epistle to the Ephesians says "By revelation He made known unto me the mystery, as I wrote afore in few words; whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ." The word is correctly interpreted by Mr. Barnes, who, in his comment on the text, says "The word mystery means, properly, that which is hidden, obscure, unknownuntil it is disclosed by one having the ability to do it, or by the course of events. 436 THE MYSTERY OF THE SEVEN STARS When disclosed it may be as clear and as capable of comprehension as any other truth. The meaning here, as applied to the seven stars, is that they were symbols, and that their meaning as symbols, without a suitable explanation, would remain hidden or unknown." The mystery before us, then, is the mystery of the seven stars and of the seven golden candlesticks. Every portion of the Word is spiritual and divine. This is especially manifest in the Apocalypse, where a literal interpretation is often impossible, and without a spiritual sense its prophecies remain in inexplicable darkness. The stars are the symbols of spiritual knowledge and intelligence. This will appear from a correct exposition of many portions of the Word where they are named. In the 8th chapter of the prophecy by Daniel, we read in the 10th verse respecting the little horn of the he-goat, that "it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them; but in the 12th verse we read that "it cast down the truth to the ground." The prophecy is thus a prediction of the contemptuous rejection of the knowledges of genuine truth and goodness, by the pride and ascendancy of self-domination and the insane persuasions of self-intelligence. Truth is one. It is the unbroken light of the Sun of Righteousness, the resplendent form and radiant manifestation of the infinite benevolence and love. But while truth is one, the knowledges of truth are almost infinite in number and in diversity of rational discernment and intellectual beauty. These knowledges are hence denoted by the stars, which are distinguished by their numbers, their distances, and their endless diversities of brightness and of glory. "He telleth the number of the stars; He calleth them all by names." To number the stars is to distinguish the inward quality of all the knowledges of truth in the church, and to ordain and arrange them in the order of wisdom and goodness. In this arrangement they attain their perfection and glory. They are the host of Jehovah, mighty to resist, and omnipotent to overcome all the assaults of evil and error. "Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number; He calleth them all by names, by the greatness of His might, for that He is strong in power; not one faileth." The source of all true knowledge is the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who is the truth itself. He is the true light that enlighteneth every man that cometh into the world-the fountain of wisdom to the entire rational creation. He is predicted as the star that shall come out of Jacob; He is the day-dawn and the day-star that shall arise in the AND THE SEVEN GOLDEN CANDLESTICKS. 437 hearts of His followers; and He Himself says "I am the bright and morning star," and "To him that overcometh and keepeth My works unto the end . . . I will give him the morning star." The brightest manifestation of Divine knowledge in the creature is in those spirits of "just men made perfect," who after serving the Lord on earth, come to occupy the nearer circles round His throne. Of these it is said—“ And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever." These stars are said to be held in the right hand of the Son of Man. The right hand is the executive of the body, the member by which the body exercises its power. It is hence used in the Word as a symbol of power, and when speaking of the Lord, of Divine power, which is His omnipotence. Hence, we read-" Thy right hand, O Lord, is become glorious in power; thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in pieces the enemy;" and again-"Thou hast a mighty arm; strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand." The power which maintains the stars in their courses, is the power which causes them to shine on the earth. To hold the stars, therefore, in His right hand, is to impart to the church all the knowledges of truth and love, to sustain them by the power of His love, and to enlighten them by the splendour of His wisdom. "And the seven golden candlesticks." The vision is an allusion to the seven-branched candlestick of the tabernacle. There are three particulars respecting it from which we may learn its signification-its structure, its use, and the number of its lamps. It is constructed "of pure gold, of beaten work shall the candlestick be made." So also in the prophet Zechariah—" And the angel that talked with me," says the prophet, "came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep; and said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof." All the metals named in the Bible have a spiritual signification. Gold and silver, from their great value, their extreme brightness and beauty, and their resemblance to heat and light, correspond to the principles of internal or spiritual goodness and truth. Brass and iron, which resemble gold and silver in their appearance, but are of less value, and susceptible only of a duller polish, correspond to external or natural goodness and truth. This correspondence will illustrate a very striking prophecy by 438 THE MYSTERY OF THE SEVEN STARS Isaiah, describing the higher glory of the church under the Christian dispensation "For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver;" that is, for the merely natural goodness and truth of the Jewish church, the Lord should bring the spiritual and heavenly goodness and wisdom of the Christian church; replacing the brass and iron of carnal ordinances, which "could not make the comers thereunto perfect," by the gold and silver of a spiritual service, which should enrich the heart by its inward love, and enlighten the understanding by its wisdom and truth. This signification of gold furnishes the reason for its lavish employment in the structure of the tabernacle and its furniture. Thus the ark was to be overlaid with gold, the mercy-seat was of gold, the cherubim were of gold, the table was to be overlaid with gold, to have a border of gold and a golden crown, the candlestick was of gold, the altar of incense overlaid with gold, having also a crown of gold round about. How emphatically these facts teach us that the foundation of all the worship of the church is the principle of internal goodness, the fervent love of God, manifesting itself in a life of active benevolence, which is to love our neighbour as ourselves! So also of the New Jerusalem. "The angel had a golden reed to measure the city." The city itself was "pure gold, like unto clear glass;" and "the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass;" instructing us that all the doctrines of the church, and all it teachings, are to be the transparent manifestations of its inward benevolence and love. 66 From the structure of the candlestick we proceed to its use. "No man," says the Saviour, "when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed, but setteth it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light." The use of the candlestick, therefore, is to receive and hold the light. It is the medium through which the light is to be manifested, and its rays extended to all around. Spiritual light is truth; which enlightens the mind as the solar rays enlighten the body. The church, therefore, which is represented by the candlestick, is to have truth in the inward parts; it is to walk in the light, and to be a city of truth. Another particular which throws light on the true signification both of the stars and of the candlestick, is the number seven—the seven stars and the seven-branched candlestick, or, as given in the text, the seven golden candlesticks. All the numbers named in the Word signify spiritual things. The number seven denotes what is full, complete, and perfect, Thus the seven stars denote a fulness of |