An Opened Book and a New Song.
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Literature.
Carpenter (W. B.), The Revelation (EUicott's New Testament Com- mentary), 76.
Chapman (J. W.), Bells of Gold, 26.
Gibson (E. C. S.), The Revelation of St. John the Divine^ 81.
Jeffrey (R. T.), Visits to Calvary, 43.
Kelman (J.), Ephemera Eternitatis, 242.
Kuegele (F.), Country Sermons, New Ser., i. 92.
Little (J.), The Day- Spring, 229.
Livesey (H.), The Silver Vein of Truth, 106.
Matheson (G.), Sidelights from Patmos, 123.
Milligan (W.), The Booh of Revelation (Expositor's Bible), 82.
Moberly (G.), Sermons on the Beatitudes, 236.
Nicoli (W. R.), The Lamb of God, 55.
Nixon (W.), Christ All and in All, 414.
Philip (R.), Redemption; or. The New Song in Heaven, 1.
Pope (W. B.), Discourses on the Lordship of the Incarnate Redeemer, 393.
Pounder (R. W.), Historical Notes on the Book of Revelation, 172.
Robinson (C. S.), Studies in the New Testament, 261.
Rossetti (C. Q.), The Face of the Deep, 181.
Scott (C. A.), The Book of the Revelation, 161.
Simcox (W. H.), The Cessation of Prophecy, 158.
Smellie (A.), In the Hour of Silence, 97.
Spencer (I. S.), Sermons, ii. 464.
Swete (H. B.), The Apocalypse of St. John, 80.
Talmage (T. de W.), Sermons, v. 237.
Vaughan (C. J.), Lectures on the Revelation of St. John, 148.
Waddell (R.), Behold the Lamh of God! 177.
Christian Commonwealth, xxxi. (1911) 265 (R. J. Campbell).
Christian World Pulpit, xiii. 258 (W. J. K. Little) ; li. 394 (T. Jones) ; Ix. 49 (C. Gore) ; Ixxv. 4 (H. H. Snell).
Church of England Pulpit, lii. 194 (C. Gore).
Church Family Newspaper, Nov. 8, 1912 (C. G. Lang).
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An Opened Book and a New Song.
They sing a new song, saying, Worthy art thou to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and didst purchase unto God with thy blood men of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation. — Rev. V. 9.
1. The previous chapter of Eevelation shows us how creation reveals God's glory. But what of His love, and His eternal purpose for man ? Were there nothing beyond the revelation of God in nature, we could speak of these only with hesitating lips and stammering utterance. Hence, to the vision of the four living creatures, with their ceaseless song of praise for the blessings of creation, there succeeds another vision, which discloses how the revelation of God's eternal purpose of love is manifested in the Incarnation, and which thus leads up to the adoration of the Lamb and the hymn of thanksgiving for the blessings of redemption. Once more the Seer looks, and sees in the right hand of the Almighty seated on the throne " a book written within and on the back, close sealed with seven seals." This book wherein are written " the things which are to be hereafter " is best interpreted of the expression of God's purpose and will. It is " close sealed," because apart from Christ, God's purpose is inscrutable.
2. On the unsealing of this book and the revelation of its
contents depends the possibility of counselling and encouraging in
advance the trembling Churches of Christ ; and the heart of the
Seer is heavy as he realizes that even in heaven no one can be
found who is worthy to open the book. To the cynic, life may be
a comedy that provokes to laughter; but to all thoughtful and
serious men, if there be no Divinely given explanation of its
purpose, it is a tragedy that moves to tears. No wonder, then,
that St. John weeps much as he stands before the sealed book,
unable to read it himself or to find one to open it and interpret
its contents to him. His tears, however, are stopped, for the
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156 AN OPENED BOOK AND A NEW SONG
voice of an angel proclaims: "The Lion that is of the tribe of Judah, the Eoot of David, hath overcome, to open the book and the seven seals thereof." The mystery is not destined to remain insoluble. There is One who can unravel it.
3. When the promised figure of the One who is worthy appears, He is seen under the figure of a Lamb, a Lamb "as though it had been slain " — slain in sacrifice, as the word suggests. The lion is the symbol of all that is strong and kingly and majestic, the very type of power and might; the lamb is the symbol of all that is meek and gentle and lowly. Its associations are with suffering and death ; it is the animal fittest for sacrifice. The vision thus teaches us that only in Christ and through the Incarnation and Passion are God's love and purpose disclosed. None but Christ can " open the book." And it is a thought that is full of significance for us that, even when heavenly voices were proclaiming the victory of the Son of God, the saint could see nothing that looked like strength and power and kingship, but only that which was weak and suffering, and bore the marks of sacrifice and death — " a Lamb as it had been slain."
4. When the Lamb "takes the book," when it is seen that there is One capable of revealing God's purpose and of disclosing His will, at once there is a burst of praise from all created life. All Heaven fell down and worshipped the Lamb with a "new song," the Hymn of Eedemption, a redemption purchased unto God by the sacrifice of His life ; the purchase being " men of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation." This new song breaks first from the lips of the heavenly host, from the four living creatures, and the four-and-twenty " elders " ; but it is caught up by voices which have not been heard as yet. Created things not only in heaven but also on earth add their harmonies to swell the song. For now, through the salvation which has been wrought by the Lamb, a place has been made for them along with the unfallen angels, the beings unstained by sin ; the theme of their rejoicing worship is not the redemption only, but to that they add the creation too, which in the preceding chapter had been hymned by the angels alone. The worship which these had offered "to him that sitteth upon the throne," and the worship which is