(1.) The position of the prophecy in the general structure of the Book.
The prophecies of this wonderful book are arranged on a divinely ordered
plan. There are some chapters to which it is difficult to assign their
place; but it is easy to see what may be termed the backbone running
through the whole. To use a very homely illustration, there is the main
line of rail conspicuously running through the whole, and you may trace
that clearly, though you cannot always trace the branches. Now in this
outline there are three great series of prophetic periods—the seven
seals, the seven trumpets, and the seven vials; and these three series
appear in a remarkable manner to follow each other. First there are the
seals, as in chap. vi.; and when the sixth seal is opened, and the
seventh about to follow, there appears a general expectation of the
coming of the Lord. But when the seventh seal is actually opened,
instead of our coming to the end, as apparently was expected, we find a
second series developed. The seven trumpets were wrapped as it were in
the seventh seal (viii. 1, 2), so that when it was opened they appeared,
and a fresh series commenced, and the trumpet-angels one after another
blew their blast. At length the seventh trumpet is sounded, and again it
appears as though you had reached the end. But like the seventh seal,
it, too, is found to contain within itself a third series. The seven
vials are wrapped within it, and when that last trumpet is blown they are
poured forth in awful succession on a wicked world. Thus the seventh
seal contains all the trumpets, and the seventh trumpet all the vials.
Now if this be the case it is clear that the sixth vial must come very
near the end. The trumpets are none sounded till the six seals are
passed and the seventh seal is opened. The vials do not begin till the
six trumpets have completed their blast and the seventh has sounded; and
of the vials six must have been poured out already, so that there can be
nothing remaining but the seventh, or the last.
To take the very homely illustration of a railway. Suppose a series of
stations on a line, the seventh being a junction; suppose that on the
branch from that junction there was another series of stations, the
seventh again being a junction; and from that second junction there was
another line of seven stations, the last being your home. What would you
think of your position when you had travelled the whole length of the
main line, and the whole of the first branch, and when you had gone so
far along the second branch that you had actually reached the sixth
station on that last line? You would say, surely, that you were near the
end of your journey, close to home. Now whenever the Church of God
reaches the sixth vial that will be its position. All the seals will
have been opened, all the trumpets blown, and six of the seven vials
poured out.
But that I believe to be our position now, and that we are at this
present time living under the sixth vial. I believe that the great
public, political event of the sixth vial, is the drying up of the
Ottoman Empire, and that we can all see to be in progress. There can be
no doubt about the great, public, political fact. It is confirmed by
every newspaper, and is forced on the attention of England by the sore
distress brought on many families through the Turkish bankruptcy. But if
this be the fact predicted by the symbol of the drying up of the
Euphrates, then it follows that we are living under the sixth vial, and
that the seventh vial is all that remains of the great prophetic series.
(2.) But consider next the contents of the seventh vial. The seventh
seal contained the series of seven trumpets, and the seventh trumpet the
series of seven vials. May there not be some similar series wrapped up
in the seventh vial?
Such a question would be perfectly reasonable, but the only answer that
we can give is that we do not find any such series described in the
prophecy. On the other hand, everything in it looks like the end. When
the seventh angel poured out his vial there came a great voice out of the
temple of heaven from the throne, saying, ‘It is done!’ It certainly did
not look like the commencement of another series, but taught us rather to
look out for the great winding up of the whole and the final close of the
great prophetic plan. So in the account of the seventh vial you may see
four things plainly revealed—the fall of Babylon, which I believe to be
the fall of Rome, chap. xvi. 17, to the end of xviii.; the marriage
supper of the Lamb, chap. xix. 1–9; the triumphant victory of the Son of
God, chap. xix. 11, 12; and, last of all, the millennial reign, chap. xx.
Surely, then, this vial brings us to the end. Surely when it is poured
forth we shall have done with the politics of the world, and shall cease
to look for the gradual development of history. All thoughts will then
be occupied by the unspeakable blessedness of the marriage supper of the
Lamb.
It seems clear, then, that the seventh vial is the close of the series,
and that under it we are to expect the final victory of the Lord Jesus
Christ. The conclusion, therefore, is plain, that if the exhaustion of
the Ottoman Empire is the event symbolized by the drying up of the
Euphrates, it is high time that we awake out of sleep: for the sixth vial
is already begun, and we must soon expect to behold Christ Himself, with
all the joys of His kingdom and all the terrors of a crushing victory. I
say ‘soon,’ not ‘immediately,’ for it does not appear that this passage
teaches us to expect it any day or hour, for it describes certain great
political events which have not yet taken place. The Euphrates is
drying, but not yet dry. The kings have not yet passed over from the
East, and the battle of Almighty God, whatever it may symbolize, has not
yet been fought. All, therefore, that we can say is, that we appear to
have reached what Daniel terms ‘the time of the end’; that now it is high
time to awake out of sleep, for we already begin to see the first streaks
of morning dawn. We have already witnessed some of the great events that
must very shortly precede the Advent, and we may begin to look out full
of hope for the actual return of the Lord Himself.
(3.) This conclusion is confirmed by the words of our Lord Himself. I
need not stop to prove that He is the speaker in this passage, but we
must carefully observe His words. What does He say when the sixth vial
is poured out, and the Euphrates is drying up, and when the three evil
spirits are gone forth through Christendom? What is the warning voice
which He Himself then gives out with reference to His coming? What
lesson would He have us learn from these great events? Of what are they
His signal? Does He not teach us to be looking out for His coming? Does
He not say, ‘Behold, I come as a thief?’ {79} Does He not call us to a
double watchfulness, and teach us not merely to watch against the
seductive influence of these foul spirits, but to watch also for His own
appearing, and for the bright hope of joyfully meeting Him? But if this
be the case, and if the prophecy of the sixth vial is really being now
fulfilled, as we believe it to be, by the drying up of the Turkish power;
then every fresh symptom of decay in that power, every loss of territory
by the Turks, every fresh insurrection, and every proof that the empire
is reduced to hopeless bankruptcy, is like a clarion blast of the trumpet
of God ringing through the ears of Christendom; and proclaiming, with a
distinctness which cannot be mistaken, ‘Watch, therefore, for ye know
neither the day nor the hour when the Son of Man cometh!’
II. But if this be the case, it behoves us carefully to examine our
second question. If such a warning is so clearly given, how can He be
said to come as a thief? He Himself teaches us perfectly clearly that
the meaning of the illustration is that, as the thief comes without
giving notice, so He will return without previously giving any such
notice of His approach as will arouse the sleepers. The thief does not
tell you when he is coming; and when he comes, he neither knocks at the
door nor rings the bell. But he comes quietly. He does nothing to
disturb those that are asleep, and his object is to enter unobserved. So
our Lord teaches us, that when He comes He will do nothing to startle the
world. There will be nothing to prevent men eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage, right up to the very end. The men of
the world will find Him in the house before they have the least idea of
His approach. That this is the meaning of the words is perfectly clear
from what He said (Matt. xxiv. 42–44): ‘Watch, therefore; for ye know not
what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the
house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have
watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son
of Man cometh.’
But, you may say, how far is this consistent with what has been said of
the probability of His return following quickly on the exhaustion of the
Ottoman Empire? If there be a prophetic series in the book of
Revelation, and we have already reached the last station on the last
branch of the line, how is it that He can be said to come upon us without
notice as a thief does? Has He not given us notice in this prophecy?
In answer to that question we must observe the clearly marked distinction
between His own believing people and the unbelieving world. To His own
people He will not come as a thief, for we read in 1 Thess. v. 4, 5, ‘But
ye, brethren, are not in darkness that that day should overtake _you_ as
a thief.’ _You_ are in the light, _i.e._, for you can see Him coming; so
_you_ will not be found asleep. So He Himself taught us distinctly in
the very passage in which He uses the illustration; for He there shows
that His own disciples are to expect His coming when they see the
predicted signs, just as they expect the summer when they see the budding
of the trees in spring (Matt. xxiv. 32, 33). Nor are they to wait in
their expectation till they see these signs fully developed; not to wait,
_i.e._, till the young branch is fully grown; but they are to watch
beginnings, and learn from them. They are to draw their conclusion when
the branch is yet tender, without waiting till it is fully ripened; as He
Himself taught us in Luke, xxi. 28: ‘When these things _begin_ to come to
pass, then look up, and lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth
nigh.’ If, therefore, you be amongst the people of God, you need never
be taken by surprise. We do not know the exact time, but we may study
the predicted signs, and, having them before us, may look out for the
second advent just as Simeon and Anna looked out for the first. We may
be like the servant of Elijah, going up again and again to the hill-top
to watch for the coming rain; or like the loving servant watching for the
footsteps of the master whom he loves, and perfectly ready, whenever he
returns, to open the door, and welcome him to his home. The Lord came
suddenly to His temple, but He did not come suddenly to Simeon; and the
Lord will come as a thief to the world, but if you hold fast to His own
word He will never be as a thief to you.
As I have already said, it is the _world_ that will be found asleep, and
to whom He will really come as a thief. But some man may say, ‘If there
be these signs beforehand, will they not arouse the world as well as
believers? Will they not awaken society? Will they not compel men to
prepare?’ I answer that by another question, Do they? There are certain
signs already given; do they wake up society? Have they produced such an
impression as to arouse the great mass of worldly men? There are the
Jews preserved as a separate people, in fulfilment of a prophecy given
more than three thousand years ago; what effect has such a fulfilment of
God’s word had in the City? There are all the politicians of Europe at
their wits’ end because of the decay of Turkey; how many even of
yourselves have been led thereby to look out for the near approach of our
blessed Saviour? There is Rome stripped of its temporal power in
fulfilment of great prophecies given, some of them, more than two
thousand years ago; how many are there that have been led by that
fulfilment to look out even for the fall of Babylon? The simple fact is,
that these great fulfilments, though conspicuous to the eye of those who
study them, completely fail to produce the least impression on the deep
sleep of the unconverted world. The prophecies are not read; the facts
are not compared with them; the lessons are not learned; and the soul is
not aroused to preparation. How many are there even in this very town on
whom the fulfilment of God’s prophetic word has never produced the
slightest effect? They are living just as they would have lived, or
rather sleeping as they would have slept, if there had been no prophecy
to give the warning, and no history to confirm its truth. Can you
wonder, then, that the Lord Jesus should come upon such persons as a
thief?
But I trust, dear brethren, that He may not come as a thief to you, but
that you may be found in the light and awake, not in darkness and asleep;
or, to use the illustration of this text, that you may not wake up naked
to your everlasting shame. I am sure you desire when He comes to be
found awake, looking out, ready to welcome Him. You wish to be found
clothed. Oh, think what it would be to be found naked, when all the
saints of God are standing around you in their resurrection robe! We
have lately read of poor people startled in the night by shipwreck, and
rushing as they were to the deck, utterly unprotected against the bitter
blast of the winter’s snow-storm. Think what it would be to be suddenly
aroused from your own deep sleep, to see all that you have in the world
wrecked around you, and to find your poor soul quite naked, while the
terrible storm of God’s most just judgment beats upon you, and breaks
down every hope of escape! Oh, dear brethren, may it never be so with
you! May you be amongst those who can peacefully look for His appearing,
because you are clothed in His righteousness! May you be kept walking in
the light, and cleansed from all sin through His most precious blood!
Then you will have nothing to fear, but everything to hope for, in the
thought of His coming. Then He will never come as a thief to you, for
you will be ready at any time to open the door and welcome Him. As the
bride delights in the bridegroom, so will you delight in Him. Your trial
will consist, not in the dread of His coming, but in the difficulty of
patiently waiting for His return, and when He comes you will find no
language to bless and praise His holy name for His boundless and
unmerited love in having redeemed you by His atoning blood; in having
called you by His sovereign grace; in having forgiven you through His
finished atonement: in having sanctified you by the Holy Ghost; and in
having preserved you in His own unchanging faithfulness, till He shall
have finally presented you spotless and faultless before the throne of
His everlasting glory.