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THE
GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE
THE GREAT
OF THE BIBLE
EDITED BY THE REV,
JAMES 4iASTINGS, D.D.
EDITOR OF "THE EXPOSITORY TIMES" "THE DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE'
"THB DICTIONARY OF CHRIST AND THE GOSPELS" AND
"THE ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF RELIGION AND ETHICS "
REVELATION
NEW YORK
CHARLES SGRIBNER'S SONS EDINBURGH : T. & T. CLARK
1915
175
CONTENTS.
TOPICS.
FAQK
Redeeming Lovb ...,,,, 1
The Second Advent
17
The Lord's Day .
31
Fear Not ....
43
The Tree op Life
59
Fidelity and its Reward
79
Victory and Intimacy .
95
A Dead and Alive Church
115
The Waiting Guest
133
An Opened Book and a New Song .
153
The Redeemed
171
The Noble Army op Martyrs .
185
The TiAMB as a Shepherd
205
The Kingdom op our Lord
221
The Dead in Christ
239
The Marriage Supper op the Lamb
257
The Opening op the Books
273
A New Heaven and a New Earth
289
No More Sea
305
God's New World
. 315
The Citizens op the City
329
The Perpect Life
343
The Alpha and the Omega
361
The Privileges op the Blessed
379
Christ's Witness to Himself .
395
Come ....
411
VI
CONTENTS
TEXXa
Revelation.
I.
I.
I.
I.
II.
11.
II.
III.
III.
V.
VII.
VII.
VII.
XI.
XIV.
XIX.
XX.
XXI.
XXI.
XXI.
XXII.
XXII.
XXII.
XXII.
XXII.
5,6 7 . 10 . 17,18 7 . 10 . 17 . 1 . 20 . 9 . 9,10
14 . 17 .
15 . 13 . 9 .
12 . 1 . 5 . 27 . 3,4.
13 .
14 .
16 .
17 .
Kedeeming Love.
REV. — I
Literature.
Cunningham (W.), Sermons from 1828 to 1860, 146.
Davies (J. LI.), The Work of Christ, 72.
Davison (W. T.), Strength for the Way, 16.
Drysdale (A. H.), A Moderator's Year, 95.
Eames (J.), The Shattered Temple, 33.
Genner (E. E.), in A Booh of Lay Sermons, 91.
Griffin (E. D.), Plain Practical Sermons, ii. 20.
Haslam (W.), The Threefold Gift of God, 155.
Holden (J. S.), The Pre-Eminent Lord, 165.
Jowett (J. H.), Apostolic Optimism, 237.
Lightfoot (J. B.), Sermons on Special Occasions, 191.
Mclntyre (D. M.), Life in His Name, 199.
Maclaren (A.), Expositions : Epistles of John to Revelation, 126.
Macpherson (W. M.), TM Path of Life, 182.
Maurice (F. D.), The Doctrine of Sacrifice, 276.
Menzies (A.), in Scotch Sermons, 1880, p. 259.
Meyer (F. B.), The Present Tenses of the Blessed Life, 51.
Munger (T. T.), Character through Inspiration, 118.
Nixon (W.), in Modern Scottish Pulpit, i. 211.
Rattenbury (J. E.), Six Sermons on Social Subjects, 81.
Scott (C. A.), The Book of the Revelation, 30.
British Weekly Pulpit, iii. 481 (J. Robertson).
Christian World Pulpit, liv. 369 (J. H, Jowett) ; Ivi. 38 (Q. Littlemore) ;
Ix. 49 (C. Gore). Church of England Magazine, Ixviii. 240 (E. T. Cardale). Homiletic Review, Iv. 459 (A. Wood). Preacher's Magazine, xxv. 416 (F. C. Hoggarth).
Redeeming Love.
Unto him that loveth us and loosed us from our sins by his blood ; and he made us to be a kingdom, to be priests unto his God and Father ; to him be the glory and the dominion for ever and ever. Amen.— Rev. i. 5, 6.
John is writing to tha seven churches of Asia, representative of all churches in all time. He salutes them in the name of Father, Son, and Spirit, though employing unusual phraseology, coined in his own mint and very precious. While setting forth the work and glory of Christ as " the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, the ruler of the kings of the earth," he can contain him- self no longer. He cannot deliver his message till he has relieved his heart, and he pours forth, as from a fountain of thanksgiving aspiring heavenward, the anthem of the Church of the redeemed below — " Unto him that loveth us ! "
An utterance like this gathers up so many experiences in itself ; it implies so much, reminds us of so much, suggests so much. In the story of the Koman Empire we read of tiie banquet in which, because the rarest wines were not costly enough, the guests drank from goblets in which priceless pearls had been dissolved. But how richly filled is the chalice containing the thanksgivings of saints, forgiven, cleansed, and fitted for lofty service; and who can estimate the significance of the praises they offer to their Saviour for His redeeming grace ? And best of all, such a text, while reminding us of our sins and our redemption, our trials and deliverances, our evil and iis mastery, our low estate and the rank to which Christ has raised us, leads entirely away from self and fastens all our attention on another i/'^ur.. — to JFim be glory for ever !
^ Like Christian who, encountering the perils of the Valley, found there also the delivering power of the Lord of the Hill, the soul redeemed and restored cannot but sing, —
4 REDEEMING LOVE
0 world of wonders ! (I can say no less)
That I should he preserv'd in that distress
That I have met with here! O blessed be
The Hand that from it hath delivered me!
Dangers in darkness, devils, hell, and sin