The Pulpit Commentary — Revelation — Section 29

answer to the charge of anthropomorphism in Bible representations of God. But it will not be adequately profitable for us merely t.oadmire the sublimity of the wordt; we must also set forth thelr vastness of meaning. What. then, do they import? The Most High is the A and the n, enclosing alL Then: 1. .!IU apace is enclosed m Ai• infinite pruenc,e. (Ps. cx:uix.) 2• .AU time i, included in his endless age. With him is no passing away. Re but is. Events, as they move on, pass beneath his eye. .. All thou doet make lies like a lake Benea.th thine iodnito eye. Yt:ars on years, and all appee.n Save God, to die.'• S. All ~ s are mcompassed by his changeles,, boundlesa Being. The (1) origin, the {2) progress. the (3) issue of each one, a.re perfectly known to him. '-. All _created beings «re w,pported in the holdings of his power. The "hollow of his hand" contains them. 5. All hjswry, from the begiMing of creation to tJUJ consummation of all thing-, is encircled by his Spirit. Scripture speaks of a ~nning (Gen. i 1). It also speaks of an end (1 Cor. xv. 24). With God is neither beginning nor end. The beginning and the ending which are enclosed within the limits of Divine· revelation do but .c,ccnpy, as it were, one instant of Jehovah's beiogl At a glance he BU?Veys the whole. IL IN BJS SUBLID SELF•llANIFESTATION. "Which is to come." Here, it must be noted, is a verb, not of becoming, but of movement (cf. margin, 6 lpx6t,m'Or). Who is the Coming One? The Lord Jesus illlj in both the Old and New 'l'esta.ments, "he that cometh," and in the entire scope of Revelation his coming is regarded as a unity-a five- fold one: by the angel of his presence, to the patriarchs; by his Spirit, t-0 the prophets; by his incarnation, to suffer; by Pentooostal gifts, to ina.uglll'8te his kingdom; and by his indwelling with the Church, to complete it; and her~after by his reappearing, t.o eonsummate it. Yet in the text the Almighty Father speaka of himself as "the Coming One." It is even so. The Father ie perpetually carrying on the process of a self-revelation to the world; and it is by the Lord JeBUS Christ and his work that the Father is revealed. There is a ceaseless outgoing of the infinite energy. "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." In this the Father is: 1. Always moving and ener- gizing. 2. Always advancing. · 3. Always controlling events so as to ensure determined issues. 4:. Always revealing himself more and more. 5. Always bringing thin'.!8 out to light; judging, administering, all in equity. This-this is the sublime out.look for this and every age. _Each as it rolls on will open up some new phase of the mysteries of Providence; and in so doing will discloBe some new letter in the unfiniished and unfinishable Name! · III. As BE WHO IS NOW SPEAKING TO JUN. .. Saith the Lord God (Arr•)." This is one of those utterances which compel. us to form some theory of the origin and authority of this Book of Revelation. An utterance of some well-known and self• evident truth, which is kno'\\'Il to be true, whoever may say it, will allow of almost any theory of authorship without 11itally aifecting the value of the words themselves. But it is not so here. The words of this verse are distinctly declared to be Divine. .And as such they must be regarded, tmtil adequate reason to th6 cuntrary i, shoWD. 'fhe claim they make cannot be t.oo reverently treated, if it be valid; nor too sti.,mly rejected, if it be otherwise. We are not left in uncertainty. 'l'he high and holy elevation of the words is utterly inconsistent .with invalidity of claim. Their grandeur is like that of the words of the Lord Jesus, which create the faith they require, and sustain the faith they create. The words are of God. Then they are autlwritaliue. 'l'be question of authority in religion is much disputed nowadays. But there are three kinds of authority which will be admitted-must h&-fiB long as the world stands. 1. The authority of intrinsic and-!!elf-evi,dent truth. 2. The authority of superior knowledge. 8. The authority of rightful supremacy. It is the thim kind which exists here.l The Lord God speaks: then the words must be authoritative, beyond dispute. · · IV. As HE WHO, BY ANNOUlWING HilllBELI!' AS THI! SPEAKER, CALLS FOR OUB A'l"l'EN- TION, This attention and reverent regard should be shown in: 1. Listening. 2. 1 Bee e. pamphlet on 'Ta the Authority of the Church Divine?' by lb~ preeent writer (Hodder a.nil Stoughton}  16 THE REVELATION OF ~T. JOHN THE DIVINE. [cu. L 1-20.