And again, doing sentinel duty at the rear-end, is the same plea. "Blessed is he that _keepeth the words_ of the prophecy of this book."[53] Reading, heeding, obeying, watching, living up to, this is the earnest plea peculiar to this book. Clearly our Lord Jesus desires earnestly that it be read. And He expects us to understand it. And He pleads with us to live in the light of what He tells us here. He that willeth to do shall know what he ought to do. He that doeth the thing he does know will know more. And that more done will open the door yet wider into all the fragrance of a strongly obedient life, and into a clear and clearing understanding of the Lord Jesus Himself. He that brings his life bit by bit up to the level of the earnest plea of this special revelation, as bit by bit it opens to him, will find his understanding of it wonderfully clearing. Obedience is the organ of understanding. Through it there comes clear grasp of the truth. A single recent illustration of this comes from Korea, that land that gives us so much of the romance of missions, as well as so much of its pathos. Dr. James S. Gale, of Seoul, tells of a Korean who had travelled some hundred miles to confer with him about Christian things. He recited to Dr. Gale the whole of the Sermon on the Mount without slip or error. After this surprising feat of memory, the missionary said gently that memorizing was not enough; the truth must be practised in daily life. To his surprise the Korean quietly said: "That's the way I _learned_ to memorize. I tried to memorize, but it wouldn't stick. So I hit upon this plan; I would memorize a verse, then find a heathen neighbour and practise the verse on him. Then I found it would stick." That's the _rule for understanding_ this revelation of Jesus through John, as well as all of this inspired Word of God. This rule simply, faithfully, followed will open up this little end-book which to many has seemed a sealed book. He that "keepeth the things" that are written here will find these pages opening to his eyes. He that liveth the truth he does understand will understand more and better, and so live in the wondrous power of it, and in the sweet presence of Him who gives it to us. FOOTNOTES: [34] John i. 35-42. [35] Luke ix. 54. [36] John xviii. 15-16. [37] Luke xxii. 8. [38] Acts iii. 1, 3, 4, 11; iv. 13, 19; viii. 14, 25; Galatians ii. 9. [39] Mark xvi. 9; John xx. 1, 11-18. [40] I John ii. 18-29; iv. 1-6. [41] Revelation i. 1-3. [42] Revelation i. 4-8. [43] i. 9-20. [44] Chapters ii. and iii. [45] Chapters iv. and v. [46] xix. i-xx. 3. [47] xx. 4-6. [48] xx. 7-15. [49] xxi. i-xxii. 5. [50] xxii. 6-21. [51] i. 3. [52] xvi. 15. [53] xxii. 7. III.--A SIGHT OF THE CROWNED CHRIST (Revelation, Chapter i.) "Since mine eyes were fixed on Jesus, I've lost sight of all beside, So enchained my spirit's vision, Looking at the Crucified."