The retribution of God has fallen on the enemies of Christ and his Church. Death and hell, Satan, the beast, and the false prophet, have been cast into the lake of fire. The thunders of God's vengeance are hushed; the manifestations of his love to his redeemed now only remain to be told. And here their ultimate and eternal blessedness is shown to us. Their abode and condition are described as "new heavens and a new earth." Let us inquire -

I. WHEREFORE ARE THEY CALLED "NEW"? The heaven, the earth, the holy city, are each called "new." Now, this may be because, in part, they are:

1. Physically new. We do not think this earth will be "burnt up," nor the elements "melt with fervent heat," nor that there shall be, literally, "a new heaven and a new earth;" all such representations we regard as metaphorical, and as telling only of great moral and spiritual changes that shall take place. But in so far as this earth has been marred and defiled, injured and degraded, by man's sin - as it has been - in that respect and degree will it be made new. The thorns and briars, the poisonous and hurtful herbs, and all else that is significant, and the result of sin, will disappear; the pestilence will no longer walk in darkness, nor destruction waste at noonday. So far will it be new. There will be:

2. A new manner of dealing with us on the part of God. This may be intended by the expression on which we are commenting. For "heaven and earth" is an expression used in Scripture to denote the dispensations of God. "Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens and the earth" (Haggai 2:6). The prophet is telling of the whole Jewish economy, which was to disappear and to give place to another and better. So it had been in the past; the patriarchal gave way to the Mosaic, and that was to give way to the Christian; and that, in its turn, will give way to the new heavens and new earth - a new order of things between God and man.

3. And, assuredly, it will seem new. For "no truth is more clear than this, that the world is to a man according to the state of his mind." To the voluptuary, it is a scene of animal gratification; to the worlding, it is a scene for barter; to the poet, it is beauty; to the philosopher, it is science; to the saint, it is a temple. Change a sinner's mind, and you change the world to him. He feels, and. sometimes says, "The world is a new thing to me" - "a new heaven and anew earth." And may we not, therefore, be sure that, to the new, regenerated, and perfect nature, all things will wear another aspect, the heaven and the earth will be as new?

II. WHEREIN WILL THE NEWNESS APPEAR? There will be, according to these verses:

1. A newness of absence. Much that we have known here we shall not know there, for they will no longer be. See the things of which it is here said they shall be no more.

(1) The sea. It is the emblem of all unrest. Here there is, indeed, much of this, and its causes are manifold. But there, "no more sea."

(2) Death. (Ver. 4.) Here it may be said, "death reigns." His might, past, present, or near at hand, is scarce ever unfelt. What a change, for there to be "no more death"!

(3) Pain. "Neither sorrow nor crying." That will indeed be a new world where these are not. Here, where are they not?

(4) Night. Twice is it told "there is no night there" (ver. 25 and Revelation 22:5). As to the meaning of this, cf. homily on ver. 25.

(5) Sin. (Ver. 27.) Here sin rushes as a raging river down our streets; but there, "there shall in no wise enter," etc.

(6) The curse. (Revelation 22:3.) Here it is everywhere. On health and wealth, home and friends, business and pleasure; for there is no one of them that may not be a source of sore sorrow to us, and a very fountain of tears. Paradises are still turned into thorn beds as of old. The curse does it. "I will curse your blessings." But there, no more.

2. And there will be newness in what is present. Take only these opening verses as proof. They assure us of:

(1) A new revelation of God. The holy city, the new Jerusalem - the place where of old God revealed himself - "having the glory of God."

(2) A new revelation of the Church. "As a bride adorned," etc. Fair and comely, rich and honoured, blessed because perfectly satisfied. Never has it been possible to describe the Church in such way before.

(3) A new realization of God. In intimate fellowship; as a tent shall he shelter and enclose them, tabernacling over them. This abiding, "He shall dwell with them." As to the depth of his love to them, "They shall be his people, and he... their God." - S. C.

When tired of the turmoils of the present, how delightful it is to look up and hear, from the blessed source of all transgression, "Behold, I make all things new!" (chap. Revelation 5). All things — science, literature, arts, philosophies, commerce, trade, intercourse between countries and provinces, and above all, in religion — all things will be made new. This new golden age belongs to a more interior Christianity than earth has yet received: an inner city for the soul, which was imaged by that which John saw, a golden city and a crystal one, descending from the Lord out of heavens a New Church, the Bride, the Lamb's wife. Some are startled when they hear of a new Church; yet nothing can be plainer than that such a Church was in due time to be given to men. Jerusalem in the Scriptures signifies the Church: a New Jerusalem must therefore mean a New Church. The magnificent city beheld in spirit by John was a grand symbol of the future new and glorious Church which would bless the earth. It is to descend from God, the Father of His people and the Author of all good out of heaven. It does not originate with man. When the Lord came into the world and planted the kingdom of God within men, as He said (Luke 17:20, 21), it is foretold by the prophet in similar terms to those used by John, "For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth," etc. (Isaiah 65:17, 18). To alter the state of society altogether, both as to its principles and practices, is to change heaven and earth. "If any man be in Christ," said Paul, "he is a new creature; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17). And, indeed, when this happy change takes place with any one individually, he feels all things to have a new face and a new reality for him. His view of the Lord is altogether bright and new, where it had before been dark and threatening. His thoughts, his hopes, his prospects, are altogether confident and cheerful, and his outward life is new and virtuous. And may we not look around now, and ask, Is it not so? Has not society, even now, immensely changed? Where are the old bigoted principles which taught men to go out and persecute, and even destroy others, in the name of God? Where all the old maxims which taught each nation to regard others as their natural enemies, and to injure and destroy their power and their trade as a patriotic act and a duty? Where are the selfish maxims which confined power and privilege to a few to whom all others should slavishly bend? These are all gone, or rapidly going; and, instead of their unholy reign, we see constantly advanced and constantly extending sentiments of brotherhood, of reverential remembrance that we are all children of One who is our Father and our Saviour. Every year the mutual intercourse of nations, and the good-will which is its attendant, are extending, and, aided by the victorious march of steam and telegraph, will no doubt ere long unite all nations in the ties of mutual love. A new heaven and a new earth are indeed appearing. And now, therefore, is the time that the New Jerusalem may be expected. Oh, what a hope and a blessing for mankind are unfolded by the descent of this city of God! To those who enter it the perplexities of ages are ended. Enmity gives way to love, anxiety to trust, and crime to virtue. God in His Divine humanity dwells with men. They shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God.

(J. Bailey, Ph. D.)

"I saw the holy city." The words are allegorical of course. But they signify something in which we all believe. A city is a real thing. Not the less real if it be heavenly. "The holy city" is what we commonly call heaven.

I. HEAVEN IS A STATE. It is not a place. It may or may not be connected with space: we know not. Certainly that is not its essence. Where God is, where Christ is, there is heaven. If even it have a place, that is not what makes it heaven. Even already, even in this life, we have had experience that neither place nor yet circumstance is a condition of happiness. Such glimpses of happiness as we catch below, whether in others or in ourselves, are absolutely independent of both. Heaven is a state — a state of happiness; of perfect satisfaction for the whole man, in body, soul, and spirit; the entire absence for ever of all that is painful and bitter and sorrowful, and the conscious, the pervading presence of all that is restful and delightful and blessed.

II. HEAVEN IS A SOCIETY. On the one side we have had trying experiences in this world of companies and co-existences which were not delightful. The wear and tear of life, the rubs and jars of life, the annoyances and wearinesses of life, are connected in our "thoughts not with solitude but with society. But when we speak of heaven, of the Holy City, as a society, we must carefully exclude all these experiences. In heaven there will be perfect communion of mind with mind, heart with heart, spirit with spirit.

1. In his vision of the great multitude which no man could number he gives this as the history of them all (Revelation 7:14).

2. There will be this also — a unity of employment (Revelation 14:4; Revelation 22:3). There will be no monotony there — but there will be unbroken harmony; harmony not of praise only but of work.

3. This unity of memory, and this unity of employment in the holy city, will be, further, and yet more briefly, a unity of worship.

(Dean Vaughan.)

But why a New Jerusalem? Because the old one failed of its purpose, and was spoiled by the wickedness of man. What is the idea of Jerusalem as depicted in the Bible? Simply a city where everything is at peace because it is under the full enjoyment of God's presence, a city which is safe and happy because it allows itself to be guided and ruled by God in every detail. As, however, this old Jerusalem failed of its object, it is the work of God in the Christian dispensation to form a new one. And this is going on now; we are still hoping for and working towards the New Jerusalem. But God does not tell us merely to look forward to it. Just as in the wilderness He was with His people, foreshadowing the glory of Jerusalem in the glory of the tabernacle, so now He is still going about with humanity. We are not, then, to look forward to a Jerusalem as something which will be entirely new, or to a heaven which will be absolutely strange, but rather it is our duty in this world to build up a social life upon such principles as we know will form the basis of life in the future state. There are three great principles appearing over and over again in the Apocalypse in its references to this heavenly society, the New Jerusalem; and the first is that it is a life of brotherhood, of social brotherhood. All the beings to be found there are of one mind, of one heart and soul, before the throne of God, all singing one song, all clothed in the same dress. They are a great brotherhood banded together with but one aim, one desire — and that the glory of Almighty God. The second great principle of the New Jerusalem is the awfulness of sin; over and over again we are told that out of it must be cast everything that is unclean; every sin must be banished. God Almighty is the Light of it, and He cannot look upon impurity. Once more, the third great principle is the absolute supremacy of Jesus Christ. Who is the object of worship in heaven? Who is on the throne whom all the saints and angels are worshipping and adoring? Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the Alpha arid Omega, the Beginning and the End, In the New Jerusalem there is but one object of adoration — the Lord Jesus. There is but one beginning and ending, but one answer to every question — Christ. What we want is greater faith in Jesus Christ; a greater belief that God is as good as His word, and that though the world does present a very sorry appearance, and though the Church may seem to be an utter failure, still God is on His throne, and Jesus is interceding for us, and the saints and angels are on our side. But remember, we must be true to our part of the transaction; He needs our co-operation, and it is only by thus working together that we shall produce the New Jerusalem.

(James Adderley, M. A.)

(with Genesis 4:17): — In Genesis we have the first city built by Cain, in Revelation the last city built by Christ. I wish to show how the spirit of Christ will purify and exalt city life, how it will arrest the evil of the multitude within the city walls, how it will develop the good, and bring the corporate life to a glorious perfection. It was said of Augustus that he found Rome brick and left it marble; but Christ shall work a far grander transformation, for, finding the cities of the earth cities of Cain, He shall change them into New Jerusalems, holy cities, cities of God. We must not look for the city that John saw in some future world, strange and distant; we must look for it in the purification of the present order. Now, what makes a great city a sad sight? what is the cause of its terrible and perplexing contrasts? and how will Christ cure these evils, and bring the clean thing out of the unclean?

I. The spirit of Cain was the spirit of UNGODLINESS. It was the spirit of worldliness, it was the fastening to the earthly side of things, and the leaving out of the spiritual and Divine: it made material life a substitute for God, and in all things aimed to make man independent of God. In opposition to this Christ brings into city life the element of spirituality. "Coming down out of heaven from God." It is in the recognition of the living God that Christ creates the fairer civilisation. He puts into our heart assurance of God's existence, government, watchfulness, equity, faithfulness.

II. The spirit of Cain was the spirit of UNBROTHERLINESS. The first city was built in the spirit of a cruel egotism, built by a fratricide, and Cain's red finger-marks are on the city still. The rich things of commerce are stained by extortion and selfishness — the bloody finger-marks are not always immediately visible, but they are generally there, Yes, the foundation-stone of the city was laid on the corpse of a brother, and ever since has the city been built up in the spirit of rapacity, ambition, and cruelty. And what is the outcome of this selfishness? It creates everywhere weakness and wretchedness and peril. It throws a strange black shadow on all the magnificence of civilisation. And in the end, whatever has the stain of blood on it rots and smells and perishes. The spirit of Christ is the spirit of brotherliness. There are red marks once more on the new city, but this time they are the Builder's own blood, teaching us that as He laid down His life for us, so we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. Oh! what a mighty difference will the working of this spirit make in all our civilisation! How it will inspire men, soften their antagonisms, lighten their burdens, wipe away their tears, make rough places smooth, dark places bright, crooked places plain.

III. The spirit of Cain was the spirit of UNRIGHTEOUSNESS. Cain acted in untruthfulness, injustice, violence. Our great populations are full of wretchedness, because there is everywhere such lack of truth and equity and mercy. The spirit of Christ is the spirit of righteousness. Christ comes not only with the sweetness of love, but with the majesty of truth and justice. He creates, wherever He is received, purity of heart, conscientiousness, faithfulness, uprightness of spirit and action. And in this spirit of righteousness shall we build the ideal city. Some time ago, in one of the Reviews, a writer gave a picture of the London of the future, when all sanitary and political improvements shall have been perfected. No dust in the streets, no smoke in the air, no noise, no fog, spaces everywhere for flowers and sunlight, the sky above always pure, the Thames running below a tide of silver; but think of the city of the future in whose life, laws, institutions, trade, politics, pleasure the righteousness of Christ shall find full and final manifestation. Where is the poet, the painter who shall paint for us that golden city so holy and clean? It is painted for us here; it is "the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven," etc.

(W. L. Watkinson.)

JohnJerusalemAdorned, Attired, Beautiful, Beautifully, Bride, Dressed, Heaven, Holy, Husband, Jerusalem, John, Meet, Prepared, Ready, Town1. A new heaven and a new earth.
10. The heavenly Jerusalem, with a full description thereof.
23. She needs no sun, the glory of God being her light.
24. The kings of the earth bring their riches unto her.

Revelation 21:2

     1085   God, love of
     2203   Christ, titles of
     4040   beauty
     5255   citizenship
     5256   city
     5399   luxury
     5654   betrothal
     5702   husband
     5710   marriage, customs
     5712   marriage, God and his people
     5742   wedding
     5744   wife
     5778   adorning
     5895   intimacy
     7021   church, OT anticipations
     7024   church, nature of
     7027   church, purpose
     7031   unity, God's goal
     8136   knowing God, effects
     8349   spiritual growth, means of
     9150   Messianic banquet

Revelation 21:1-2

     5477   property, land
     5659   bride
     6698   newness
     9411   heaven

Revelation 21:1-3

     1680   types
     5598   victory, over spiritual forces

Revelation 21:1-4

     4028   world, redeemed
     4209   land, spiritual aspects
     4906   abolition
     5006   human race, destiny
     5542   society, positive
     6705   peace, experience
     8261   generosity, God's
     9105   last things
     9145   Messianic age
     9160   new heavens and new earth

Revelation 21:1-5

     2565   Christ, second coming
     4915   completion
     6201   imperfection, and God's purposes
     7241   Jerusalem, significance
     8321   perfection, divine
     9130   future, the

Revelation 21:1-7

     9110   after-life

Revelation 21:2-3

     8271   holiness, purpose
     8441   goals

Revelation 21:2-4

     8145   renewal, people of God
     9414   heaven, community of redeemed

Revelation 21:2-9

     5409   metaphor

November 18. "And He that Sat Upon the Throne Said, it is Done" (Rev. xxi. 5, 6).
"And He that sat upon the throne said, It is done" (Rev. xxi. 5, 6). Great is the difference between action and transaction. We may be constantly acting without accomplishing anything, but a transaction is action that passes beyond the point of return, and becomes a permanent committal. Salvation is a transaction between the soul and Christ in which the matter passes beyond recall. Sanctification is a great transaction in which we are utterly surrendered, irrevocably consecrated and wholly committed …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

July the Twenty-Fifth no Temple Therein
"And I saw no temple therein!" --REVELATION xxi. 22-27. And that because it was all temple! "Every place was hallowed ground." There was no merely localized Presence, because the Presence was universal. God was realized everywhere, and therefore the little meeting-tent had vanished, and in place of the measurable tabernacle there were the immeasurable and God-filled heavens. Even here on earth I can measure my spiritual growth by the corresponding enlargement of my temple. What is the size of …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

He that Overcometh.
"He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son."--REVELATION xxi. 7. Year by year as at this time, when the week of our Saviour's Passion and Death is just in front of us, and the shadow of His Cross is falling over us, one generation after another of the boys of this school gather here, and in the face of the congregation, young and old, they take upon them the vows of a Christian life. So we met last Thursday, and your vow is still fresh upon a great …
John Percival—Sermons at Rugby

A New Creation
MEN GENERALLY venerate antiquity. It were hard to say which has the stronger power over the human mind--antiquity or novelty. While men will frequently dote upon the old, they are most easily dazzled by the new. Anything new has at least one attraction. Restless spirits consider that the new must be better than the old. Though often disappointed, they are still ready to be caught by the same bait, and, like the Athenians of Mars Hill, spend their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 61: 1915

29Th Day. A Nightless Heaven.
"He is Faithful that Promised." "There shall be no night there."--REV. xxi. 25. A Nightless Heaven. My soul! is it night with thee here? Art thou wearied with these midnight tossings on life's tumultuous sea? Be still! the day is breaking! soon shall thy Lord appear. "His going forth is prepared as the morning." That glorious appearing shall disperse every cloud, and usher in an eternal noontide which knows no twilight. "Thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself; for …
John Ross Macduff—The Faithful Promiser

31ST DAY. The Vision and Fruition of God.
"He is Faithful that Promised." "God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."--REV. xxi. 3, 4. The Vision and Fruition of God. Glorious consummation! All the other glories of Heaven are but emanations from this glory that excelleth. Here is the focus and centre to which every ray of light converges. God …
John Ross Macduff—The Faithful Promiser

The Disciple, -- Master, it is Clear to Almost Everyone that to Disobey God And...
The Disciple,--Master, it is clear to almost everyone that to disobey God and to cease to worship Him is sin, and the deadly result is seen in the present state of the world. But what sin really is is not absolutely clear. In the very presence of Almighty God, and in opposition to His will, and in His own world, how did sin come to be? The Master,--1. Sin is to cast aside the will of God and to live according to one's own will, deserting that which is true and lawful in order to satisfy one's own …
Sadhu Sundar Singh—At The Master's Feet

The Foundation of the Church among the Jews
A.D. 33-A.D. 38 Before entering upon an account of the Foundation and After-History of the Christian Church, it may be well to consider what that Church really is. Section 1. Definition of the Church. [Sidenote: Twofold nature of the Church.] The Church may be regarded in a twofold aspect, as an external Corporation, and as a spiritual Body. [Sidenote: 1. An external Kingdom.] In the first light it is a Kingdom, in the world, though not of the world, extending through different and widely-separated …
John Henry Blunt—A Key to the Knowledge of Church History

The City that Hath Foundations
"I ... saw the Holy City, New Jerusalem."-- Rev. xxi. 2. J. M. Meyfart, 1642. tr., Emma Frances Bevan, 1899 Jerusalem! thou glorious City-height, Oh might I enter in! My spirit wearieth for thy love and light, Amidst this world of sin-- Far over the dark mountains, The moorlands cold and grey, She looketh with sad longing, And fain would flee away. O fair sweet day! and hour yet more fair When wilt thou come to me? My spirit, safe within my Saviour's care Made glad, and pure, and free-- And calmly, …
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen and Others (Second Series)

The Land of Rest
Gerhard Ter Steegen Rev. xxi. 5 Wanderer, rest thy weary feet; Shapes and sounds forgotten now-- Close thine eyes in stillness sweet, With thy God alone art thou. In the deeps of silence rest, Let Him work His high behest. Silence! reasonings hard and keen, Still--O longings sad and deep-- Waken to the morn serene, Tangled dreams depart with sleep; In the calm eternal day Night's wild visions past away. In the silence of that dawn God shall speak His words of grace, Light that round thy waking …
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen, Suso, and Others

The Heritage of the Lord's People. --Rev. xxi. 5-7.
The Heritage of the Lord's People.--Rev. xxi. 5-7. "He that overcomes through me, Shall an heir of all things be, I his God, and he My Son," Saith the True and Holy One. What an heritage were this! An eternity of bliss, Heaven below and heaven above, O the miracle of love! "Abba! Father!" then might I Through the Holy Spirit cry; Heir of God, with Christ joint-heir, Grace and glory call'd to share. Can a worm such gifts receive? Fear not, faint not, but believe, He who gave His Son, shall He …
James Montgomery—Sacred Poems and Hymns

Whether God Always Loves More the Better Things?
Objection 1: It seems that God does not always love more the better things. For it is manifest that Christ is better than the whole human race, being God and man. But God loved the human race more than He loved Christ; for it is said: "He spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all" (Rom. 8:32). Therefore God does not always love more the better things. Objection 2: Further, an angel is better than a man. Hence it is said of man: "Thou hast made him a little less than the angels" (Ps. …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

The Impassibility and Immortality of the Risen Body.
Besides the attributes which immediately flow from the fact that our animal bodies will rise spiritualized, there are two more qualities, which we shall now consider; namely, the impassibility and immortality of our risen bodies. 1. Impassibility implies the total loss of the power of suffering. What an enormous capacity we have for suffering! The power of receiving pleasure through our senses is only as a drop in the ocean, when compared to our manifold capacities for suffering, in every faculty …
F. J. Boudreaux—The Happiness of Heaven

Christ's Finished and Unfinished Work
'Jesus ... said, It is finished.'--JOHN xix. 30. 'He said unto me, It is done.'--REV. xxi. 6. One of these sayings was spoken from the Cross, the other from the Throne. The Speaker of both is the same. In the one, His voice 'then shook the earth,' as the rending rocks testified; in the other, His voice 'will shake not the earth only but also heaven'; for 'new heavens and a new earth' accompanied the proclamation. In the one, like some traveller ready to depart, who casts a final glance over his preparations, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

All Fulness in Christ
The text is a great deep, we cannot explore it, but we will voyage over its surface joyously, the Holy Spirit giving us a favorable wind. Here are plenteous provisions far exceeding, those of Solomon, though at the sight of that royal profusion, Sheba's queen felt that there was no more spirit in her, and declared that the half had not been told to her. It may give some sort of order to our thoughts if they fall under four heads. What is here spoken of--"all fullness." Where is it placed--"in him," …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871

A Word for the Persecuted
Remember that this supposition is a very likely one. There are a few Christians so favourably circumstanced that all their friends accompany them in the pilgrimage to heaven. What advances they ought to make in the sacred journey! What excellent Christians they ought to be! They are like plants in a conservatory--they ought to grow and bring forth the loveliest Bowers of divine grace. But there are not very many who are altogether in that case. The large proportion of Christians find themselves opposed …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 20: 1874

Why they Leave Us
"Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world."--John 17:24. THE PRAYER OF THE SAVIOR rises as it proceeds. He asked for his people that they might be preserved from the world, then that they might be sanctified, and then that they might be made manifestly one; and now he reaches his crowning point--that they may be with him where he is, and behold his …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 32: 1886

The Apostolate.
"That ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ."--1 John i. 3. The apostolate bears the character of an extraordinary manifestation, not seen before or after it, in which we discover a proper work of the Holy Spirit. The apostles were ambassadors extraordinary -- different from the prophets, different from the present ministers of the Word. In the history of the Church and the world they occupy a unique position and have a peculiar …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

An Impossibility Made Possible
'Can the Ethiopian change his skin?'--JER. xiii. 23. 'If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.'--2 COR. v. 17. 'Behold, I make all things new.'--REV. xxi. 5. Put these three texts together. The first is a despairing question to which experience gives only too sad and decisive a negative answer. It is the answer of many people who tell us that character must be eternal, and of many a baffled man who says, 'It is of no use--I have tried and can do nothing.' The second text is the grand Christian …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

'Three Tabernacles'
'The Word ... dwelt among us.'--JOHN i. 14. '... He that sitteth on the Throne shall dwell among them.'--REV. vii. 15. '... Behold, the Tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them.'--REV. xxi. 3. The word rendered 'dwelt' in these three passages, is a peculiar one. It is only found in the New Testament--in this Gospel and in the Book of Revelation. That fact constitutes one of the many subtle threads of connection between these two books, which at first sight seem so extremely unlike …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Departed Saints Fellowservants with those yet on Earth.
"I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets." The revelation made to St. John in the isle of Patmos, was a comfort to the suffering apostle, and a blessing to the church. "Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the word, of this prophecy." The beginning indeed was dark; the prophetic sketch, was for sometime, gloomy: It unfolded a strange scene of declensions and abominations, which were to disgrace the church of Christ and mar its beauty; and dismal series of woes on woes, …
Andrew Lee et al—Sermons on Various Important Subjects

Greeks Seek Jesus. He Foretells that He Shall Draw all Men unto Him.
(in the Temple. Tuesday, April 4, a.d. 30.) ^D John XII. 20-50. ^d 20 Now there were certain Greeks among those that went up to worship at the feast [The language indicates that they were Greek converts to Judaism, such as were called proselytes of the gate. It is also noted that as Gentiles came from the east at the beginning of Jesus' life, so they also came from the west at the close of his ministry]: 21 these therefore came to Philip, who was of Bethsaida of Galilee [See p. 111. They were possibly …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

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