o happen some time in the future. At once he
is conscious of that same gentle, enveloping presence of the Holy Spirit
as before. At once He is up in heaven. And he tells us the scene that
opens to his eyes.

There is a throne set. What a comfort! There is a _throne_. There is a
centre of authority and power to our world. This Revelation is
peculiarly the book of a _throne_. Up yonder above the moral tangle and
confusion of earth is a reigning throne.

There is One sitting on the throne. That throne is occupied. It has not
been vacated. Men down here may push God off the throne of their lives,
and try to push Him out of the affairs of the earth. But He sits on the
throne above. And that throne dominates the life of the earth. Nothing
can be done without permission.

John can't describe this one sitting on the throne. The sight is too
much for his eyes. When the seventy elders of Israel see God, all that
they can remember is the dazzle of glory in the wonderful pavement under
His feet. It seems like a pavement of precious stones of sapphire, but
as clear as crystal. So now all that John can see is some One who seems
to his eyes like transparent precious stones blazing with light. This is
the only thing he can think of to tell of what he sees.

Rest in the Midst of Unrest.

There is a rainbow around the throne. The radiance of light shining out
from this One on the throne makes a rainbow. If one wonders how God can
look down on the misery and sin, the rebellion and wretchedness that
dominate most of the earth, here is the answer. His finger is never off
the pulse. He knows all as we never can. And he feels as we never do the
pain of life, and the discord of earth. The unceasing cry of earth comes
up in his ears.

But He is controlled by a purpose. It is a purpose of strong patient
love. _He has made a promise_ that man shall have fullest opportunity
unchecked by the natural sweeping judgment, that invariable working out
of sin and wrong. That throne keeps the order of nature working smoothly
and faithfully for man's sake, holding in restraint the forces that
would hinder and destroy. The rainbow is the signature to His promise.
That rainbow is always before His face. That promise has never been
forgotten. This explains the quietness of the One on the throne, looking
down on the moral confusion of the race.

But this rainbow is not like the common rainbows that we know. It
completely encircles the throne. Our rain