/88/ WE RESUME the subject of these four beasts, or four quarters of the world, as we think we clearly proved today, if we can take their words as evidence; for they said they were of every kindred, tongue, people and nation.

That John did look down to the time when every creature on earth would acknowledge Jesus, is stated in the fourth chapter, when he is speaking to us of the language of these four beasts and twenty-four elders. We closed our remarks to-day by saying that we have the means to bring about this glorious time--we have the means to work with. But the Lord has not left us to surmise or guess at how the world is to be converted to himself.

John informs us that each of these beasts had six wings about him that the beasts themselves were full of eyes, before and behind, and within, and had each of them six wings. And the wings were used to raise them up above the world; to raise the nations up above the world. I use the term world in its common acceptation; not to raise the people up literally, physically, above the earth, but to raise them up in their minds, their feelings, their affections, their thoughts above earthly things. A wing is always given to rise up or fly with. And these four divisions of the human family had each of them six wings to raise them up. Ezekiel saw them in his vision. He describes the faces precisely as John does-- the face of a lion, the /89/ face of an ox, the face of a man, and the likeness of an Eagle. Ezekiel and John are alike about the faces, while Isaiah says the same thing (in the sixth chapter) of the wings, but not of the faces; Isaiah says each of them had six wings. And John heard these living creatures saying, "Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty." Isaiah says, in the sixth chapter, "I heard the seraphim saying, Holy , holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory." It is the same vision John saw, and the same language. Ezekiel makes a little difference in reference to the wings. He said these living creatures came out of a whirlwind, came from the North, and they had each of them four wings, only four, while John and Isaiah both say they had six. At a glance of the mind, that might appear a discrepancy or contradiction in the Bible, but it is not so; it is a beautiful thought, when properly understood. But what are the wings of the nation that raise them up in their affections, their thoughts, and their aspirations, above the groveling things of earth?

I take the position to-night that nothing but the Word of the Lord can ever raise the people up to the high position that Isaiah and Ezekiel spoke of. Nothing but the Bible can do it. I do believe that the Bible is the wings of these living creatures.

They had each of them six wings about him. It would seem rather a strange idea if we put the meaning of the word for the word itself, and say, "each nation had six Bibles." But I am almost certain, at a single glance of the mind, that the wings of these living creatures is the Bible, the word of the Lord. Would you give me much for that argument--"almost certain?" I may give you some very good circumstantial proof that I am right in saying the Bible is the wings. Not six Bibles, but the Bible divided into six divisions. There are just six grand divisions in the Word of the Lord--no more, no less. Do you /90/ wish to hear them? We have in the Old Testament scriptures, history, law and prophecy; and if you can imagine anything in the book of Psalms, or Job, or Esther, or Nehemiah, or Ezra, or Joshua, or Judges, or any book of the Old Testament that is not included in these divisions, I want you to tell me sometime. Every word of the Bible is history, law or prophecy. I know that some of the Psalms of David have all three of these, but it must be history, law or prophecy. That is the three divisions of the Old Testament. In the New, there is precisely the same number--history, law, and prophecy--making the six divisions into which the Word of the Lord, or Bible, is divided. You can not get one out of it; you could not add one to it. But this is only very slight circumstantial evidence that the Word of the Lord is the wings. Another I give, is circumstantial proof from the sixth chapter of Isaiah, read in your hearing. Isaiah said that "the seraphim had each of them six wings about him. And they said, Holy, holy, holy Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of thy glory." That was away beyond our time, for the whole earth is not yet full of the glory of the Lord; the people do not say it, anyhow. But Isaiah said, with the first pair of wings, or twain, they covered the face; with the second pair or twain, they covered the feet, and with the third pair of wings they flew. You remember the reading, do you? Well, Paul says, of the first part of the Old Testament scriptures--the law and historical portion--that while it is read, a vail remains over the heart, as Moses put a vail over his face even until now. The first pair of wings covers the face, and they could not see to the end of all the types and shadows and offerings under the old law; while the historic portion and the law portion raised them up to some extent above earthly things, it left a vail over the face.

But, then, Isaiah said the second pair of wings covered /91/ the feet. Paul says of the New Testament scripture, We have our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, that we may run the Christian race with speed and safety. The first part of the gospel shows the Christian's feet: the second pair of wings used by the human family, covers the feet.

But there are two other divisions. The prophetic portion of the Old Testament, and the prophetic portion of the New Testament, pointing to the same glorious period, are two wings not much in use yet. They are the other pair. And I may as well say here, as at any other point, that we now discover why Ezekiel said they had four wings, while Isaiah and John say six. Ezekiel saw them when they were coming out of the whirlwind in the days in which we live just now. Ile looked at them and saw the four quarters of the world in a whirlwind ; and if we are not in a whirlwind now as nations, the Lord save us from storms! And while they were in the whirlwind period, they had but four wings; that is, they understood to some extent the law and history of the Old Testament, and the law and history of the New; but the prophetic wings they did not understand, and, therefore, they have them not in that sense. We are said not to have that which we can not use. But Isaiah saw them when they said the whole earth is full of the glory of the Lord ; John saw them bowing and worshiping, when every creature on earth said, holy is the Lord of hosts; and at that time when they pass out of the whirl~ind period, and the whole earth is full of the knowledge of the Lord, the prophetic wings are used and the nations fly with them; they are understood then, and will be at that time.

But that is only circumstantial evidence. Pretty strong for circumstantial evidence, isn't it? The wings, I said, were the Word of the Lord;--I thought so. Directly, I will tell you why I know it. How do I know it? If you /92/ hear me read, perhaps you will know. Ezekiel says, in the first chapter, speaking of these creatures and their wings, "I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty." He heard the noise of their wings as the voice of the Almighty---the Word of the Lord; but it was not the Almighty speaking from heaven; he said the voice of speech--men speaking the words of the Almighty. And how many of them? Said he, the words of a host of men speaking the words of the Almighty. But in the tenth chapter of Ezekiel we have this reading: I heard the sound of the cherubim's wings. He makes cherubim out of the beasts, just as Isaiah does. I heard the sound of their wings to the outer court--away off into the world, among the ungodly--not the inner court, not in the house of the Lord only; but he heard the sound of the cherubim's wings to the outer court, and it was the voice of Almighty God when he speaks, not from heaven, but by men's lips. Then I know that the wings of these beasts are the words of the Almighty, because Ezekiel says so twice. And they are divided into the six grand divisions just named. We have four of them partially in use among us in this age, and two we have no use for, it seems, and have never used them at all. Lord help us to gather up the two remaining wings! It will bless the world to understand the prophetic wings of God's holy Word.

Here it is revealed to us as plain as language can be spoken, that the words of the Almighty spoken by men, and a host of them, are the wings to raise the nations up. It is a grand missionary enterprise the old prophet is looking at. But he said a little more than I have read.

"I saw - the hands of a man under their wings." I say praise the Lord for it! I heard a multitude of men's voices speaking the words of the Almighty, and I saw the hands of men holding up the Word of the Lord. As it /93/ were, the hands of men under their wings; and we need not expect the God of heaven to come thundering down from his throne to raise the nations up to the high position that John had seen them occupy; we have to do it ourselves. We have to print the bibles ourselves. We have to send out the missionaries ourselves, and men's hands must do the work, and hold up the Word of the Lord. Do not try, dying friends, to get out of the responsibility; it is the grandest offer ever made to a human being since the God of heaven has made offers to man--to renovate the world and bring about the long-prayed for millennium. Men themselves must speak the words of the Almighty, and we need a host of them; and men's hands must sustain them while they are doing it. John saw this; Isaiah and Ezekiel saw this.

I am glad that we have the privilege of proclaiming the words of the Almighty to a ruined world!

But while John is describing these living creatures, with their wings (the words of the Almighty to raise them up), Ezekiel tells a little more about these four beasts. It is the same vision that the other prophets are talking about. Ezekiel said they had wheels on the earth; they were not only raised up by the words of the Almighty--their wings above the world--but they had their wheels on the earth, and the wheel was, as it were, a wheel in the middle of a wheel. And they had feet--straight feet; and the sole of their foot was like the sole of a calf's foot. Some one has said, no word of the Bible was dropped in to fill up space, but every word is there by the wisdom of the Almighty. The nations' feet are straight feet, and the sole of their foot like the sole of a calf's foot. What is meant by the foot of a nation of men? Just what Paul meant, when, speaking of the feet of those who preached the gospel, he said, "flow beautiful are the feet of those that preach the gospel." There is not an ignoramus in the land, I suppose, /94/ that does not know that Paul did not mean tile literal, or physical foot of the preacher; but he meant their walk, their conduct; he was speaking of genuine preachers, not hypocritical ones. And so the prophet of the Lord meant the walk of the nation would be straight. But not in the wrong direction. The sole of their foot was like a calf's foot--they moved on in obedience to the Lord, and served him. But while he is telling this, he adds, himself, that they went straight forward; that is what he meant by the straight feet.

But about their wheels on the earth. They declare, in the fifth chapter, they are to reign on the earth: "Thou hast made us unto our God kings and priests, and we are to reign on the earth." Then they must have a government on earth, if they reign here; and the government of the millennial age is described right here--I mean the millennial earthly government of tile nations. He said it was a wheel in the middle of a wheel. I have heard some learned men say t hat the idea was that the outside wheel was inside the inside one; and the prophet of God says their wheels are all alike--they four had one likeness, and the wheel was full of eyes all around. And when the living creature went, the wheel went, and when the living creature was lifted up, the wheel was lifted up, for the spirit or life of the living creature was in the wheel. It was their earthly government described--the wheel upon which they moved along in an earthly sense. A wheel within a wheel! Did you ever see the like--the outside wheel within the inside one? One man said, some time since, it is utterly impossible. May be not. If tile Bible says it, it must be so; if that is the idea conveyed. But it does not look so hard when I tell you that the old prophet of God was speaking of a democratic republic--such a government as we are under. A government within a government. Do you not know that in a government like /95/ ours, the people rule? We, the people, are the ruling power of this land. Hence, John and Ezekiel both say they are full of eyes. They are all kings, all overseers, all electors, every one of them, every man in this nation, unless he has forfeited his right in some way. But then, while we are the ruling power, it is not convenient for us all to meet together to enact laws; so we elect fifty thousand servants in this great nation. It may be they are not always good ones, but they ought to be, and they rule over us. We are under their control, and inside of their government, and they are under our control and inside of our government. We are over, above, and outside of them, as far as power is concerned; and they are over, around, and above us as far as position is concerned. They are under our control, and we are under theirs. The outside wheel is the inside, any way you turn it.

The government is full of eyes, the whole living creature. In a government like this, we all watch, or ought to, for the general welfare. We look back, and draw instruction from the past; we look forward for the dangers that may be ahead--the people do, or ought to; we look within for the general welfare of the whole mass. So, the living creature is full of eyes before, behind, and within. The government, or wheel, was full of eyes all around. And the old prophet told us the time was coming u hen the four living creatures, or four quarters of the earth, would have their laws or governments all alike. I am glad of it, and it is when the Word of the Almighty has raised them up to the high position that the God of heaven intended they should occupy in the millennial age. We are not working in vain. There is a mighty revolution on hand just now, such as never was before upon the human family since time began. We had better open our eyes and look, open our ears and hear the warnings of the God of heaven, and work in his vineyard, that we may receive /96/ the reward and hear the welcome plaudit, "Well done thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." The opportunity is granted to us to proclaim the Word of the Lord, to bring about this time ~hen the four quarters of the earth shall have their governments alike, and not a one-man power; and the saints shall rule; at the ballot-box all over the earth, and righteousness shall cover the earth, and the wicked no longer rule,--when the nations shall learn war no more. Lord help us to work for that glorious result!

And when this time comes, then the twenty-four elders will bow and worship." I don't know about that." You don't? Do you know that I am right in saying, when this time comes, that the nations have their governments all alike--a democratic republic, raised to the high position by the Bible--is the time when the elders bow and worship on the earth? Let me read it. Will that satisfy you?" And when those beasts give glory, and honor, and thanks to him, that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, the four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever." When the four quarters of the earth bow before the Lord, and acknowledge Jesus as King, then the twenty-four elders bow down and worship. Who are they? Just the Lord's family on earth--the Lord's Church on earth--the Jews and Gentiles united in one family of the Lord all over the earth. They will not all be members of the Church in the millennial age. While the nations all acknowledge Jesus, they will not all be Christians in the sense of church membership. The Jews will acknowledge Jesus; the twelve tribes of Israel will unite with those who are built upon the foundation of the twelve apostles-- making out the twenty-four names. They are saints, they say; they had crowns of gold; they will have crowns of gold, they are genuine disciples. They had the prayers /97/ of saints to offer, and say with these four beasts, We are kings and priests, and we are to reign on the earth, not up in heaven. These twenty-four say they are all redeemed of God, by the blood of Christ, and made kings and priests, and are to reign on the earth. They belong to the four quarters, it is true, but they are Christians in the four quarters. How do I know? Because the Lord tells me that; I know nothing but as I have learned it from the Bible. They are the city of the living God, as described after a while; and John says, a little further on, when the sixth seal was opened, and when the seventh trumpet sounded, the Jews had acknowledged Jesus. The twelve tribes of Israel are built upon the foundation of tile twelve apostles--making the twenty-four elders, or representative names. W hat did John see then? The gospel triumphing gloriously, and the four quarters of the world acknowledging, Jesus to be the Lord; the Lord's people united in one family, bowing and praising him--Jews and Gentiles together. What more did he see?

"I saw seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.' [Fourth chapter.] What are these seven Spirits of God? God has seven Spirits working in this world. What are they? They are the seven lamps that are burning before the throne; these are the seven Spirits, but what are the seven lamps? The Lord said, these lamps are the churches, and all the Spirit God works with to convert and save dying mortals, is in the congregation of the Lord. I expect to prove, before I am done, that seven is a full number, and in God's Word it means all. And all the Spirit God uses in this work to convert the world, is in his people here--the churches and congregations. Woe to the man that folds his arms; woe to the congregation that loses its first love, and goes in the way of Balaam's doctrine, that boasts of its riches and honors; woe to those that become careless and unconcerned; /98/ for the God of heaven will call them to account for it, and will bless them that labor in his cause to bring about the glorious time that Jesus left his Father's courts to introduce.

Then, to sum up, and close for this evening: When the Lord said to John, I will show you what is to be hereafter, he saw the four grand divisions of the human family, enlightened by the Bible--the Jews and Gentiles--united in one family, bowing before the throne; the churches bright and shining lights, burning before the throne. He saw a glorious company--that other part of the Lord's family that had crossed over Jordan--united with the spirits of just men made perfect. They had crossed tile Jordan of death, and were before the throne of the Almighty.

May God grant we may lay hold of this work. Will we say that Jesus is dealing in nonsense? Will we conclude, for a moment, the Son of the living God is talking of light matters, while he is making known to his people what they may certainly expect? The thunders of his ire will fall on those that will not hear, that close their eyes and stop their ears, and fold their arms and die in idleness. Lord help us all to awaken to a sense of our awful responsibility!