put off those robes which, after all your efforts and all your prayers, never remain unsullied for a single day on earth, and untorn by the briars of the world through which you are walking, some hasty word, some unholy temper, some sinful imagination, spotting and defiling them, some harrassing event, or some unworthy action tearing and disfiguring them; and that you shall put on those robes of immortality and glory which throughout the ages of eternity shall never be discoloured by a single stain, or injured by a single rent. That, instead of confessing Christ before men, always a difficult and painful duty, the Lord Jesus Christ has declared, "I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels." Instead of the imperfect services of these earthly temples, where every prayer and every praise carries up with it to the throne of grace, its sad accompaniment of carelessness, and weariness, and worldliness, I and sin, you shall for ever unite your voice with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven who laud and magnify God's glorious name, evermore praising Him and saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts, heaven and earth are full of thy glory, glory be to Thee, O Lord Most High. 185 LECTURE VII. REVELATION iii. 12. HIM THAT OVERCOMETH WILL I MAKE A PILLAR IN THE TEMPLE OF MY GOD, AND HE SHALL GO NO MORE OUT. In our comments upon the last epistle, we brought before you those evidences, which we deemed sufficient to demonstrate that it was typical, and probably prophetical, of the state of the Christian Church at the present day. We also added, that we had reason to believe that the period in which our lot is cast, is the last church-state previous to the great spiritual change, of which the prophets have so frequently spoken; |