The Pulpit Commentary — Revelation — Section 150

HOMILETICS. · • Vera. 1-H.-C'onUnualion ofwirm. In the preceding homily we noted that the a-poetle records five l!ODg8, We have already referred to two of them. We now hu·e .t6ethree :remaining,onea before us. L The third song is OM new t/Oflg-of retkmption. Creation being <!lfected, what is to be done with it? Of what events is earth to be the scene and the witness? and what are the developments which Providence has in It.ore? See. In the right hand of him who sits upon the throne there ia a book-a roll, written within and without (a rare thing, except through pressure of matter, to write on the back of a roll). Written-by whom? Surely we are left. to .infer that Iha writing was ihat of Jehovah; that the book was his; that in the writing were illdicated the things which were to come hereafter, yea, what was to take piace on this globe I But this book, with the writing of Jehovah in it as to what shall come to pus, is fut aealed. Seven seals, They must be opened ere the mystery of the future ean be tokL As yet h ia fast wrapped and folded up. Wbo,aball.open that book and I D ~ what is there? The apoat.le (oh. v. 2) saw a mighty angel, and heard him proclaim "with a loud voice, Who is worthy," etc.? And no one was worthy-,-for no one was able, either In heaven or on the earth, neither under the earth-to open it or to look into it. No am in all creation I The task is too great for man or angel. Must the roll be ever closed? Is the secret will of God expressed therein to be for ever an insoluble riddle? No one responds. There is awful silence; till later on it ia broken, but onl7 by the sobs of the weeping John I At length, one of the elders come& The tears of an apostle are a magnet to him. He can tell more of trials and lriwnphs than even be who had leaned on Jesus' breast, "Weep not! The Lion • • • }lath prevailed." Rath conqtiered 1 Has there, then, been a conflict ere the book llould ·be opened? At this point ·a new form, before unnamed, appears. " And • • • a Lamb, standing, a, U had betft slam" (ver. 6). This John had long before heard another point him out, saying, '' Behold the Lamb of God f" Since then, that Lamb of God bad· been made an offering fo~ llin ; and now the traces of that self-offering are leeD: in heaven. lie, the offered Lamb, comes, full of strength; with an authorjty all lua own he approaches right up to the throne, nearer than all created ones, and taka the book, etc. (ver, 7). When he in majesty and might takes the book into his owti hands, then the apostle's tears are dried, and heaven's silence, gives place to 8ong. .In the hands of Jeans the sea1a will give way, and under his mediatorial reign will the will of God be disclosed; i.e. in the bands of Jes1£S the devdopment, of providence ·11ecoms aisclosuru of redemption. And lo! at this stage new music is heard. ., They are Binging a new song" (ver. 9). New, for it celebrates a new revelation of God, a new 'Work of God, and a new unfolding pt tlle plans of God. New-ever new. It can never become old. It is a BOl)g of praise from the living creatures and the .redeemed ones 1 to him who wes slain for them.1 Buch a song is this as creation could not inspire. Still there is more to follow, 2. The fourth is ths "as11tnting clwrua of the host of -.gel, " 1 to 11"1 Lamb that was slain (vera. 11, 12), We are taught clearly enough, la the fifteenth chapter of Luke, that angels sympathize in the redeeming work of our Laid, and witness hie joy when one sinner is saved. How fully in accord with thia it • •The twenty-four elden, repreeenting aa tbey do the whole Ohurch of God, are ~ t e d as oft'ering the pr&ll181 and prayen of the whole Chmeh-the harpa repre- ,_tiag the former, the cenll8lll the latter' (Alford, itt loo.). I T!egiellee retains "111 "Ul 1'81', 9. 11 The phralle lllll4. by l>eu AJford.  is to find them joining with the ranl!l)med ancl taldng· up the song, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain "-although from angel-voiC88 we miSB the most wnder, the moll ~uching feature of the heavenly aong I Their praise may he more aublim.e; th.ei, love cannot he like ours. Still, the song swells in grandeur. S. The fifth is 1/H ~ .of all cnatio~ to God, and Ike Lamb. (Ver. 13.) '' E'/16f'Y creature ••• heard I aaying, • , • unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb." All intelligent and. holy hein~, everywhere, Join in a gl'ftnd concert of praise, alike to the Fa~ and. the Son. The love of the Father devised alL The love of the Son undertook, elfPCted, and administered all; and to him, with the Father, shall endless honour he given by an admiring and adoring universe. One burst of harmony fills the eourta of heav,en. . We cannot but feel that we are in the presence of the sublimest acenes that can ever in tbia state he unfolded to mortal view. In fact, 10B could not bear mar,, A fuller discl08111'e would overwhelm us. · As it is, there is enough concealed to quicken our eager expectations; enough revealed to give ua several practical principles to work with in the light thereor.1 WHAT MAY WE LEABN no• THIS l!UJILID TISION? · Or rather, What are the truths concerning the Divine Being and his plans which Ue couched therein? They are many. 1. We see that gathering round the throne, hymning like songs, interested in like themes, are the inhabitants of heaven and the redeemed on and from the earth. There is a oneness of sympathy between them, and all are in full sympathy with God. This is the thought of the fifteenth chapter of Luke. 2. We see that the first and foremost Object of their adoring song is the 'l'riune Jehovah; the Thrice-Holy One. He who sitteth upon the throne is the adorable Centre in whom all holy beings find their eYerlasting home. God is adored for what he is,· as well as praised for what he doee. He himself is infinitely greater than all his works. 3, By the highest orders of beings there is seen in creation matter for adoring praise. It is a revelation of God. It is a witness for him. His perfections are written there. "He formed the seas, he formed the hills, Made every drop and every dust, Nature and time with all their wheels. Au pushed them into motion :first." And whether, in our theories of how thinl?B came to be as they are, we &rQ evulnti1:mists or non-evolutionists, whether we side with eonvulsionists or anti-oonvulsiwts, either way we see matter for jubilation and song. " Thou hast," etc. There is no atheism in beings higher than we are. The best men on earth are not to be found in t:be atheists' camp. "Blessed are the pure in heart : fur they will see God" everywhere. 4:. Croation expresses only in part the Divine mind. There is a book written, w. which are recorded both purpose and plan; and where the earth is looked on as the dwelling- place of man, where man is known to have sinned against God, it cannot .but be a question of absotbin!!: interest-How will God deal with man? What will be the Divine treatment of sin? 6. It is in our Lord Jesus Christ alone that we are furnished with a key to the workings of providence. He alone can take the book and open its seals. He has accomplished a vast reden>ptive work. He has undertaken a trust. He has all power in heaven and on· earth. In the administration of his work. he unfolds and carries out the plan of God. "The Father loveth the Son, and hath put all things int-0 his band." 6. Through Christ's prevailing to open the seals, the history of this globe comes to he the history of redemption. Our Lord Jesus Christ presides over all governments, empires, kingdoms, and thrones. He is "Head over all things _to his Church," and subordinates all to the inbringin\ of his everlasting kingdom to the regeneration of earth, to "making all things new. Thus creation is but the platform -OD which redemption stands, and it ie destined to witness its crowning glory in the re-creation of men in the image of their God I " We, according to his prombe, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousneBB." i'inally, owing to redemption's work, a new song of praise is heard in heaven, in which angels and men and " every creature" join. Redemption is the new song for them alL 1 Tllere are many "81.uable remarb aa to the bealiug of the grand eontents of W. and other Apoca.lyl'tlc ohapters upon the question or thedat, of Ula book, by Principal.Dr. . ».Yid Brown, m ~ &p<mtw, October, 1889, p. 281. ;170 THE REVELATION OP' S'.P. JOHN THE DIVlBJL [OIL v. 1-~