And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within; and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, Which was, and is, and is to come. That is to say, that when Isaiah saw the "glory" of Christ on His throne, and the seraphims in adoration, it was but the symbol of what is now fulfilled in the Christian Church, while the souls of His saints in Heaven and on earth worship the Three Persons in One God, saying, "Holy, Holy, Holy," as to each Person in the Godhead; and add the threefold expression, "Lord," and "God," and Almighty;" and "Which was," i. e. our Creator, Which "is" our Redeemer, Which "is to come," our Sanctifier.

And when those beasts give glory, and honour, and thanks to Him that sat on the throne, Who liveth for ever and ever; when all created things are brought by the blessed Gospels, full of wings and full of eyes, full of love and full of knowledge, to worship Christ sitting at the right hand of God; then the four and twenty elders fall down before Him that sat on the throne, and worship Him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns bejore the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and power; for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created; that is, when the multitude of those that are saved, represented by those living creatures, give thanks for their salvation, then the Christian priesthood fall down and cast their crowns before the throne; that is, they attribute all to Christ, nothing to themselves. The more they are exalted, the more do they humble themselves in the sight of God; for the better any one becomes, the more is he capable of the knowledge of God, and the more he knows God, the more is he himself lost in His Presence.

Thus

is it with all the saints. As St. Paul so often speaks of himself: "I laboured more abundantly, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." He speaks of his crown: he says to his converts, "Ye are my crown," and "henceforth is laid up for me a crown of righteousness." Yet whenever he sees the fruit of his labours, ever in heart and soul does St. Paul seem, as it were, to fall down before Him that sits on the throne, and to cast his crown before the throne, ascribing all to the undeserved goodness of God. Indeed, this memorable passage in the Apocalypse describes the very nature of all Christian righteousness which consists of faith, and the more it labours, the more it comes to know that all is of Christ in God. Thus this reverential adoration is but the acknowledgment in heart and life of that awful Name into which we are baptized, of the Three Persons in one God.

So peculiarly well suited and instructive is this passage in the Apocalypse to this season and this great day, having in it a peculiar living power of expression, as consisting of very striking imagery, whereby the Christian Church is portrayed after the descent of the Holy Spirit. And now let us consider what connexion this may bear with the Gospel for this day. The Gospel is of the mystery of Baptism, and Baptism is by the saving Word of the Three Persons in one God. But to come to it more particularly, we may observe that St. John says that "a door was opened in Heaven," that he "was in the Spirit," when he beheld the throne in Heaven, and Christ sitting on His throne. And in the Gospel our Lord declares to Nicodemus that no man can see and understand heavenly things unless he is born of the Spirit. "Hardly do we guess aright," says the Wise Man, "at things that are upon earth; but the things that are in Heaven, who hath searched out, except

Thou give wisdom, and send Thy Holy Spirit from above?"1 We may consider the Gospel therefore as bringing down to us that great mystery of which the Apocalypse speaks in figure. For Baptism in the Name of the Three Persons in one God is as the "door opened in Heaven;" in like manner as at our Lord's Baptism the heavens were opened, the Father's Voice was heard, and the Spirit was seen. To us, as born of water and of the Spirit, are the mysteries of Heaven made known, which eye hath not seen nor ear heard. In other words, to us "a door is opened in Heaven," and the mystery of the Godhead is reflected in the sea of glass which is before the throne. At the first Creation the Spirit moved on the face of the waters; so even now is it in the Christian kingdom. "There were seven lamps of fire before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God; and before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal." This is the description of Christ's kingdom after the Day of Pentecost; and it is this which our Lord would explain to us in the Gospel for to-day by earthly similitudes. For who is equal to these things? and who should understand them, if God did not come down to us in our weakness, and meet us in our infirmities, overcoming by His humility our pride?

There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, one of station and of learning in the Holy City, and therefore ashamed in the light of day to give any heed to the lowly Teacher of Galilee and Nazareth. The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto Him, Rabbi, we know that Thou art a teacher come from God; for no man can do these miracles that Thou doest except God be with him. Nathanael had said on far less evidence, "Thou

1 Wisd. ix. 16, 17.

art the Son of God;" but this is all that the wisdom of the Pharisees could reach unto, "except God be with him!" Yet how patiently did Christ bear with him and teach him, not quenching the smoking flax! for his coming at all, even though it were under covering of the night, and acknowledging Him as a Teacher from God, was as a spark ascending in the smoke,-like the beginning of a faith, however weak; and even this our Lord did not despise.

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God. He cannot "see" it, however near it be to him, for he has no eyes to discern God; and where God is, there is His kingdom. Alas! how vain are all outward signs, unless God Himself teach us by His Spirit within, and reveal Himself unto our hearts as God! And here let us observe the difference between this man and all those creatures of God, in the Revelation:-they fall down; they worship with all prostration of soul and body; they rest not day or night from giving Him glory; the Saints in Heaven cry aloud, "Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord?" But the learned ruler of the Jews questions, and inquires, and doubts. He seems to stand erect in His presence; to look with half-suspicion; and to think such a change as a new birth absurd, if not impossible. Nicodemus saith unto Him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Surely we may say, to be born again of his earthly mother would be no better than his former birth in sin; for to be a child of the Resurrection, he must be born of a new mother, which is the Church of God, and of His Spirit. He understood and spake of it carnally, as they of Capernaum did of the other Sacrament, when they said, "How can this man give us His flesh to eat?"

and His disciples, "This is an hard saying; who can hear it?"? "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."3

Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water, and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. The great truth which our Lord here expresses, is as needful for us to consider as it was to Nicodemus. The doctrine of the Blessed Trinity, into which we were baptized, is not to be understood, except by a spiritual mind; carnal knowledge is of no avail; it must be revealed by the Father from above, because the knowledge of these things is made up of faith and love. How can it be otherwise. For to know this truth in the Scriptural sense of knowledge is everlasting life; and to know God, even here below, is rest and peace for the soul; then to know Him must be the first and best gift of the Spirit.

O Spirit of love! how shall we keep this great day, unless Thou givest us to do so by prayer and communion with Thee; to know the Father our Creator, and commit the keeping of our souls to Him in well-doing; to know Jesus Christ, Whom He hath sent, and to find peace in His cleansing Blood; to know Thee the Sanctifier, and to feel in our hearts Thy holy flame ever ascending upward, in prayer and devout aspirations to Heaven, from whence it came. And, surely, if we are baptized into this faithif by the Spirit of God alone we can understand it—what more suitable lesson could there be for this Sunday, than to consider this mystery of the new birth by water and

2 St. John vi. 52. 60.

3 1 Cor. ii. 14.