I. THE CHARACTERISTIC GIVEN OF THE SAINTS.

1. They are a people, the people of God, and grace has made them so.

2. The saints are represented as "much people," a multitude which no man can number.

(1)They consist of some of all ages of the world.

(2)Some of all nations.

(3)They will be found among some of every sect and party.

(4)The number of the redeemed includes persons of all ranks and conditions in life, and possessing every variety of talent and disposition; the young and the old, the rich and the poor, the most renowned monarchs, and the most abject slaves.

II. THE WORK IN WHICH THE SAINTS IS HEAVEN ARE EMPLOYED.

1. It was "a great voice" which the apostle heard in heaven, and may be so denominated on three accounts.(1) It was exceeding loud, like that which John heard in another vision, as the sound of many waters, or as when seven thunders utter their voices.(2) It was a great voice in regard to the subject or occasion of it, for it related to a great salvation on the one hand, and a great destruction on the other.(3) It was a great voice in reference to the numbers who joined in it, a uniform and melodious voice from all that were round about the throne.

2. The great voice of much people in heaven cried "Hallelujah." This may teach us —(1) That it becomes the people of God to be joyful: praise is comely for the upright, however unseemly it may be in the lips of a deceiver.(2) That our joy must not terminate in ourselves.(3) That our praises must not terminate in any creature like ourselves.(4) Our praises must all centre in God, in the excellences of the Divine nature.

III. THE SUBJECT MATTER OF THE SONG OF THE REDEEMED.

1. Observe, after the general shout of "hallelujah," they ascribe "salvation" unto the Lord our God.

2. They ascribe "glory and honour" unto the Lord our God. Glory is the highest degree of honour, and is more immediately appropriated to the Supreme Being, to whom alone the highest praise is due, and who will not give His glory to another.

3. The ascription of "power," as well as honour and glory, makes a part of the song of the redeemed. Power implies ability or strength, and when predicated of the Supreme Being it denotes His almightiness and all-sufficiency, by which He is able to do all things.

4. All this glory is ascribed unto the Lord our God, as what properly belongs to Him. Salvation and glory, and honour and power, are His exclusively, and in the most eminent degree.IMPROVEMENT.

1. How dreadful is the sin of ingratitude, especially towards our best and only Benefactor.

2. The exultations of the saints in glory may teach us how unseemly are the idle songs and profane mirth of carnal men, and how utterly inconsistent everything of this kind is with the profession of Christianity.

3. The spirit and employment of the redeemed and glorified, may serve as a criterion of true religion, by which we may judge whether we are made meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.

4. A gracious heart would have all that is glorious ascribed to God, and to Him alone; and not only the glory of salvation in general, but of his own salvation in particular.

5. Let mourning saints take comfort, from a view of the blessedness of the spirits of just men made perfect. Those who now hang their harps upon the willows, saying, "How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?" shall shortly have their hearts attuned to joy and praise, when like Judah they return from their captivity.

(B. Beddome, M.A.)

I. We have in these two words (which sum up and condense the whole spirit and tenour of the adoration of the saints in bliss) a marvellous simplicity of perfected intelligence, blending in one eternity of love and infinity of thought. It would not be heaven if either of these words were wanting; it must be heaven where both are felt. For what is Amen? The perfect receiving of every dispensation from God. And what is Alleluia? The perfect giving back of all praise in every dispensation to the bosom of God. Amen is the open breast to receive; Alleluia is the full heart to return the ray: for Amen gathers all, and Alleluia reflects all: Amen sits still and endures; but Alleluia soars away in praise. The one sets to its seal that God is true; but the other encircles the confession with a crown of glory: and the passing and repassing of their crossing rays is heaven. But let us look for a moment at each component part in the whole, which is not to be divided.

1. Amen is nothing else but the ratification of another's will. Thus Christ, being the ratification, in the counsels of the adorable Trinity, of His Father's will, and perfectly performing it, is called the true "Amen." The promises of our redemption in God are said to be "Yea and Amen." God Himself is called in Isaiah the "God of Truth," or (in the original) the "God of Amen." Thus man's truth comes from God's truth. They who desire to say a full Amen in prayer, must thereby understand that they not only ask or appropriate to themselves all that the mouth of the interceding priest or of the petitioner desires; but far more than this; that there may be on all points agreement between their mind and the mind of God; that whether the prayer be granted or denied, they may equally subscribe with the heart, and say "Amen," and desire that all the mind of God, expressed or unexpressed, may be fulfilled in them. This is indeed to say "Amen." And who can estimate the peace of a mind thus at one with God, which should never turn over a leaf of time before subscribing an Amen to the last? Would you gain such a mind? You must recognise the ever-present care of God. You must seek to acquaint yourself with Him whom you seek to obey. You must not only connect the event with God, and God with love; but you must connect God and all events in one great scheme, of which you see only the outline: you must look on to the grand result of all this complicated work: you must live much in the distant future; and there — not in this preparatory scene, but in that grand development — must learn to ponder reverently on the being, the character, the design of God, till you are able to bring back with you to this lower world your firm Amen.

2. Now consider the word "Alleluia." It is one which, in the letter, is found only in this chapter, where it is several times repeated as the native language of heaven. But that it is known too upon earth, David shows: for in all those Psalms which begin "Praise the Lord," the word is "Alleluia"; yet, doubtless, we shall pronounce it as a foreign word, till we have learnt the accents of our home. Still, even upon earth, we can associate and connect it with our nearest approaches to the future bliss. It is when no cloud comes in between to obscure the light of God's countenance; it is when we read Him in His full and overflowing mercy; it is when we kneel in lowly adoration at the altar, and the Lord whom we seek comes to His temple; it is when we most feel, as then, "This God is our God for ever and ever," that Alleluia, unprompted and untaught, is wont to flow. Had we to define Alleluia as it regards God, we should say it is admiration of God, affection to Him, joy in Him. Had we to define it as regards man, we should call it a present bliss, the earnest of a bliss future, and deeper still.

II. It is not needful to consider whether of the two is the sweeter sound, the Amen or the Alleluia. Let us not so love the one as to forget the other. Sometimes the thought of past mercies will give us preparation of heart, and the Amen will grow up out of the Alleluia. Sometimes trial itself will lead us into the experience of such deep and blessed comfort, that our Amen will pass gradually from acquiescence into Eucharist. The more we join the two, the deeper our portion of the Spirit of Christ, the nearer our approach to the worship of redeemed souls.

(J. S. Bartlett, M. A.)

Consider what God is; how infinitely above the highest angels; the only Fountain of goodness and life and immortality, and whatsoever is blessed and glorious either in heaven or in earth. Consider again what we are — mortal, sinful, unworthy creatures. Does it not almost seem as if we might well be afraid to praise Him? But Almighty God, by His infinite condescension in Holy Scripture, encourages us not to keep silence. He declares Himself ready to accept our praise and thanksgiving as a sacrifice of a freewill offering. Here in the text we find His approbation yielded, in a very remarkable manner, to the duty and blessing of praising Him, as it has been understood and practised from the beginning by all saints. "A voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye His servants, and ye that fear Him, both small and great." What voice was that? It was the voice of God, for it came out of the throne; out of the unapproachable glory, where none but God was. It was the voice of the Lamb of God, of Him who is set down in glory on His Father's right hand, having been slain, and redeemed us to God by His blood. We know it is His voice from the manner in which He speaks: "Praise our God, all ye His servants"; not your God only, but our God. "I ascend," He said, "unto My Father and your Father, and unto My God and your God." In like manner, here at the very end of the New Testament, He speaks from His everlasting throne to the whole Church, now represented as triumphing over her enemies, and makes Himself one, in the work of praising God, with all God's servants, and all who fear Him, of all sorts and degrees, "both small and great." "Praise our God, all ye His servants," says that gracious but awful voice. His servants only are privileged to praise Him; that is, as we should call them, His slaves; those who have given themselves up to Him entirely; who try to have no will but His; who give up what else would please them best when they understand it to be displeasing to Him, and take joyfully affliction, labour, self-denial, when He lays it upon them, and would prepare them thereby for His heavenly kingdom. Nor let any one Christian draw back in indolence or timidity, as if he, for one, had no part in this merciful invitation of our Saviour. Observe with what encouraging words He concludes it: "Praise our God all ye His servants, and ye that fear Him, both small and great." Fearing God is the great thing; and they who have that in their hearts, how unequal soever in other respects, may come here with all saints and unite in praising Him. In this place, if nowhere else, all ranks and degrees are equal.

(Plain Sermons by Contributors to the Tracts for the Times.)

I wish to speak to you about our Church services. I wish to ask you to help me in making them different from what they now are. There is a coldness and a lifelessness about our services which to my mind is very painful. When we meet together in God's house we come especially to pray. And if we come to pray, we come to present ourselves before God. The very idea of prayer and of all worship implies at once that we are entering into God's presence.

1. Now, first, if God is in the midst of us the thought will teach us reverence.

2. And one word about inattention and wandering thoughts before I go on. It is a great grief to many a worshipper, and it comes even to the best. But you are not without a remedy. Besides your prayers for grace to resist these wanderings of eye and thought, I believe the best help will be to use the Prayer-book more, and to keep the eye more fixed on the page. You are less likely to think of other things when you are following the words.

3. But there is another help, which perhaps is more effectual still, that you should take your proper part in the services of the Church. And it is especially of this, the responding aloud, the joining in the common worship of Almighty God, that I wish to speak. In the early days of the Church we read of the worshippers joining so heartily in the prayers that their responses, we are told, sounded like thunder, or like the roar of waters. And still, in our own day, when our missionaries come back to England, they almost invariably speak with pain of the coldness of our English worship. Among their own people, among the converts whom they have gathered round them, there is an intelligent taking part in the services; all responding where the responses are to be made, and all repeating the "Amen" at the end of the prayers. It is to our great loss that we fail in this. It is a mighty power, that power of sympathy. It helps to keep up our own flagging attention. it helps to increase our own devotions to find that others are praying at our side, following the words, and joining in the service. It moves and quickens the heart to feel that your voice is blending with the voice of others, that your petitions are going up, not singly, but united with other prayers, to the throne of grace. And surely in that stronger enthusiasm there was a sense of God's presence: a real honest belief that He was near to bless, because His blessing was really desired. The real dignity and power of the service of our Church will not be understood till you have learned its congregational character, till you have come to understand how grand is the effect of a great multitude of voices uniting in praise together, or together imploring God's pardon and grace; each encouraging the other, and so each contributing to the noble tribute of worship, which ascends like sweet incense before God's throne from a Christian congregation met together in His name. And in this way, also, you will be approaching negater to the service of the redeemed in heaven. We read in the Revelation of St. John of the great company of all nations and kindreds, and people and tongues, standing around the throne. And out of the throne there came forth a voice, calling all that mighty host to praise their God. And we are to do our part in fulfilling the vision of the apostle, when he heard "every creature which is in heaven and on the earth," etc.

(Canon Nevill.)

This hymn is sung after the destruction of Babylon. They sang with no diffident breast. It was a great voice breaking forth into syllables distinct and strong. They sang of the reign of God. At last the yearned-for result has been attained. "The Lord God Omnipotent reigneth."

I. IT IS THE TRUE INTERPRETATION OF WORLDLINESS. The name of the world is applied in Scripture to two facts — one is transience, the other is godlessness. Because it is passing away we are warned against loving the world: but we are told how transience may degenerate, and the feeling of insecurity infect the whole character, because "if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." This is a natural sequence; for the affection towards the trivial and passing destroys affection towards the great and abiding. It is a contradiction of our nature too; and any such contradiction, any continued violation of a natural law in the moral world, means weakness and disease. What else cored come to that great world-city of Babylon? Her delicious living and extravagance, her selfishness and impurity, could find in all the universe but one goal. Nor can it be otherwise. For nations, for cities, and for men, there is the one law unchangeable and irrevocable. The worldly mind, the fleshly, sensuous mind, is decay and death. Selfishness can only destroy self; luxury but ruin comfort, and passion but annihilate pleasure.

II. IT TEACHES US THAT FAITH AND HOLINESS ARE NEVER ALONE. It was as the voice of a great multitude — a voice of thunder — a voice of many waters. The young Christian thinks he stands sometimes absolutely by himself. In the counting-house, the school, the shop, he finds none to stand with him. There is not a voice to utter anything in harmony with what his heart most dearly loves. All have gone after their Baal, and the danger is that he rolls himself within his own loneliness, and shrinking back becomes morbid and unhappy. But all the while others, under perhaps the colour of some worldly cant, are longing as he has longed. The same thoughts have filled their minds; the same fears have held their hearts. Had any of them the courage to speak out his own thoughts, had the voice been strong and his heart brave, he would instantly have won companions and friends.

III. IT SHOWS US THE NATURE OF TRUE PROGRESS. The first step therein is the marriage of the Lamb.

(W. M. Johnston, M. A.)

I. HE REIGNETH THROUGH THE EXERCISE OF HIS PROVIDENCE. When we speak of the providence of God, we speak of the exercise of His perfections, of His power and wisdom and goodness, co-operating for the direction of the universe. We say that He is everywhere present, and superintends whatever happens here below; that all things are the result, not of unmeaning chance or relentless fate, but of the purpose and pleasure of God. We say that all dispensations, whether great or small, prosperous or adverse, are entirely to be explained on the supposition of the present as an arrangement of things of which we are enjoined to confide in the equity of the end, though neither our diligence nor sagacity can always discover the fairness of the means. We say theft He exercises a moral government over His rational creation; that angels and archangels fulfil His pleasure; that the spirits of darkness are under His control, and that we ourselves arc, in an especial manner, the subjects of His administration; that by Him our very thoughts are observed; the circumstances of our condition arranged, and watched, as it were, with the vigilance of individual attention. We say, in short, that the world, instead of being a kingdom deprived of its head, abandoned to be the victim of the lawless passions of its inhabitants, and to suffer all the vicissitudes of degradation and advancement, is under the direction of Him to whom not merely its interests are known, but by whom they are also secured. It is interesting to trace the workings of a pious character that has taken much of its form, and that is advancing towards its maturity, under the strong operation of this consolatory truth. Even in the ordinary course of events, when others see things going on only as they did since the beginning of the world, he discerns an Intelligent Reality, silently, but successfully, supporting an infinite charge of dependent beings, and not the less everywhere present, hidden though His glory be beneath the curtains of the material world. Amid the uncertainty of surrounding events, amid the fluctuation of his hopes and fears, he feels that he need not be afraid; for this Providence, as the Providence of One incomprehensibly excellent in all perfection, has in it every quality which can recommend and endear it — every quality which can brighten even the darkest appearances — everything which tends not only to secure the submission, but also to engage the affections of the heart. He can look upon the present and enjoy the plenitude of the passing moment, because he knows by whom every moment, and all the events of every moment, are dealt out to him; and upon the faith which he reposes on this Providence is he willing to make the great experiment of futurity — ready to go wherever He will transmit him, satisfied that everywhere, in height and depth, in time and eternity, He will be his portion for ever.

II. HE REIGNETH THROUGH THE MEDIATION OF HIS SON. In appointing the Son to act as mediator between Himself and us, God did ordain certain offices for Him to execute and certain characters for Him to assume ere the purposes of His mediation could be accomplished. He commissioned Him as a teacher to instruct us in the knowledge, and to reveal to us the will of God — to republish that law of nature which the fall had obscured — to dispel those apprehensions of futurity which our ignorance and guilt had engendered. He gave Him up as a sacrifice to make atonement for our guilt as well as to dispel our ignorance. He has established Him as a lawgiver to subdue our stubborn wills, and to bring them into His holy captivity; to make them obedient in word and deed; to fashion our lives after the rules He lays down; and to mould our hearts to the sway which it is given Him to exercise. He has revealed Him as an advocate, as our ever successful intercessor within the veil, pleading for the pardon of our sins, for the supply of our wants, for the strengthening of our faith. And, finally, He has exhibited Him as a model for us to admire, a character for us to resemble, a pattern which we are called upon industriously to copy, that upon the table of our hearts we may inscribe those graces and those affections and those virtues which animated and which distinguished His; and that, striving to walk even as He did walk, we may, by the zeal with which we seek to imitate Him, and the prayers we put forth that we may imitate Him with success, endeavour to be in all our conversation and in all our practice the images and the representatives of what He was during all the days of His earthly manifestation. And from this view of the mediation of Jesus Christ, slight and superficial though it be, it must be evident that the government which the Divine Being doth maintain by means of it, is a government which is adapted to all the varieties of its subjects. What are all the means of grace which we receive — what are they but just so many ways in which this government takes effect? What is the removal of our ignorance — what is the forgiveness of our sins — what is the subjection of our rebellious wills, and the improvement of our own characters in excellence and perfection — what are those spiritual changes when they are effected and brought about upon us, but each a separate field in which its influence has been displayed?

III. HE REIGNETH THROUGH THE MEANS OF GRACE AND THE ORDINANCES OF HIS APPOINTMENT. It is true, indeed, that God might reveal all the essential truths of the gospel by a direct and immediate process to any man — that inward devotion might be excited and expressed without the agency of outward acts — that did it but seem good in His sight He could produce the change which is necessary to be produced upon our hearts and affections without the intervention of means. But though this might be the case, and sometimes is the case, we have no warrant for expecting that it ever will be the case. Such a mode o: procedure forms no part of His ordinary providence. We have no ground for anticipating that His saving impressions will descend upon us, except in the use and through the channels of the appointed means of grace. Now if we reflect on the object which those ordinances have directly in view, on the preparation which is necessary for their right observance, and upon that spiritual good which they actually do produce, in respect both of the instruction they communicate and the impression which they make in the case of all who sincerely observe them, we may have some conception of that reign or influence which, through these means, the Almighty doth exercise.

IV. HE REIGNETH THROUGH THE AGENCY OF AFFLICTION.

(John Paul.)

I. THE WIDE EXTENT OF JEHOVAH'S GOVERNMENT.

1. With respect to holy and happy angels in heaven.

2. Over the powers of darkness — . restraining their malignity, bounding their furious rage, and turning all their stratagems into artillery against themselves.

3. Over the children of men on earth.

II. THE ESSENTIAL PROPERTIES OF HIS PROVIDENTIAL ADMINISTRATION TOWARDS MANKIND IN GENERAL, AND TO HIS OWN RENEWED ADOPTED CHILDREN IN PARTICULAR. The word "providence" suggests two ideas intimately connected together, namely, preservation and government.

1. In His dispensations our God acts as an independent sovereign, carrying into certain accomplishment the purposes He has formed, and fulfilling them in His own way and at His own time.

2. Another property of the Divine administration is its perfect rectitude and purity: "The Lord is righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His works."

3. The dispensations of Providence in this world are all subservient to the enlargement of the glorious Redeemer's kingdom in the world.Lessons:

1. Doth the Lord God Omnipotent reign? and are you the subjects of His providential kingdom? Then be it your care to think, and speak, and act, as becomes His creatures; as the dependent pensioners on His bounty, and as the dutiful subjects of His administration.

2. While praising the Lord God omnipotent for all the comforts of life you hitherto have enjoyed, entrust also to Him all your future interests; for He justly claims the right of imparting mercies in His own time and manner.

3. Is there a kingdom of grace on earth, as well as a kingdom of providence? Then be it your highest concern to know if you are the real subjects of this spiritual kingdom.

(A. Bonar.)

I. THE ANTECEDENTS OF THIS MARRIAGE. What will happen before the public marriage is celebrated?

1. One great event will be the destruction of the harlot church. Everything which sets up itself in opposition to the sacrifice of Christ is to be hurled down, and made to sink like a millstone in the flood.

2. Furthermore, in the immediate connection, we note that before the marriage of the Lamb there was a peculiar voice. Read the fifth verse: "And a voice came." Where from? "A voice came out of the throne." The Mediator, God-and-man in one person, was on the throne as a Lamb, and He announced the day of His own marriage. Who should do it but He?

3. The voice from the throne is a very remarkable one; for it shows how near akin the exalted Christ is to His people. He saith to all the redeemed, "Praise our God, all ye His servants." In that glory He still owns His dear relationship, and in the midst of the Church He singeth praise unto God (Hebrews 2:11, 12).

4. Next notice the response to this voice; for this also precedes the marriage. No sooner did that one august voice summon them to praise, than immediately "I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude." He heard the mingled sound as of an innumerable host all joining in the song; for the redeemed of the Lord are not a few.

5. Observe that this tremendous volume of sound will be full of rejoicing and of devout homage. "Let us be glad and rejoice," etc.

II. THE MARRIAGE ITSELF.

1. The marriage of the Lamb is the result of the eternal gift of the Father. Our Lord says, "Thine they were, and Thou gavest them Me."

2. Next: this is the completion of the betrothal which took place with each of them in time. I shall not attempt elaborate distinctions; but as far as you and I were concerned, the Lord Jesus betrothed each one of us to Himself in righteousness, when first we believed on Him. Then He took us to be His, and gave Himself to be ours, so that we could sing, "My beloved is mine, and I am His." This was the essence of the marriage.

3. The marriage day indicates the perfecting of the body of the Church. The Church is not perfected as yet. We read of that part of it which is in heaven, that "they without us should not be made perfect."

4. I can. not tell you all it means, but certainly this marriage signifies that all who have believed in Him shall then enter into a bliss which shall never end; a bliss which no fear approacheth, or doubt becloudeth.

III. THE CHARACTER UNDER WHICH THE BRIDEGROOM APPEARS IS THAT OF THE LAMB. "The marriage of the Lamb is come."

1. It must be so, because our Saviour was the Lamb in the eternal covenant; when this whole matter was planned, arranged, and settled by the foresight and decree of eternity.

2. It was next as the Lamb that He loved us and proved His love. He did not give us words of love merely when He came from heaven to earth; but He proceeded to deeds of truest affection. The supreme proof of His love was that He was led as a lamb to the slaughter.

3. Love in marriage must be on both sides, and it is as the Lamb that we first came to love Him. I had no love to Christ, how could I have, till I saw His wounds and blood? This is the great heart-winning doctrine. Christ loves us as the Lamb, and we love Him as the Lamb.

4. Further, marriage is the most perfect union. Surely, it is as the Lamb that Jesus is most closely joined to His people. Our Lord came very close to us when He took our nature, for thus He became bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh.

5. We never feel so one with Jesus as when we see Him as the Lamb.

IV. THE PREPAREDNESS OF THE BRIDE: "His wife hath made herself ready." Up till now the Church has always been spoken of as His bride, now she is "His wife" — that is a deeper, dearer, more-matured word than "bride": "His wife hath made herself ready." The Church has now come to the fulness of her joy, and has taken possession of her status and dower as "His wife." What does it mean — "hath made herself ready"?

1. It signifies, first, that she willingly and of her own accord comes to her Lord, to be His, and to be with Him for ever. This she does with all her heart: "she hath made herself ready." She does not enter into this engagement with reluctance.

2. Does it not mean that she has put away from herself all evil, and all connection with the corruptions of the harlot church has been destroyed? She has struggled against error, she has fought against infidelity, and both have been put down by her holy watchfulness and earnest testimony; and so she is ready for her Lord.

3. Does it not also mean that in the great day of the consummation the Church will be one? Alas, for the divisions among us!

4. Notice what the preparation was. It is described in the eighth verse: "To her was granted." I will go no further. Whatever preparation it was that she made, in whatever apparel she was arrayed, it was granted to her. When we shall be united to Jesus, the ever blessed Lamb, in endless wedlock, all our fitness to be there will be ours by free grant. Look at the apparel of the wife, "To her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white." How simple her raiment! Only fine linen, clean and white! The more simple our worship, the better.

(C. H. Spurgeon.)

I. THE CHURCH'S FINAL BLESSEDNESS IS FOUND IN AN INDISSOLUBLE UNION WITH CHRIST.

II. FOR THIS THE CHURCH IS PREPARED BY SANCTITY AND FIDELITY.

III. THE ULTIMATE BLESSEDNESS OF THE SAINTS IS THE OCCASION OF JOY TO ALL. "Blessed are they that are bidden to the marriage supper of the Lamb."

(R. Green.).

A very slight acquaintance with the lives of those who may most truly be called saints will satisfy us that they are not all cast in one mould. On the contrary, they are characterised by an almost infinite variety, diversity, and even contrariety of form. But beneath all this contrariety, diversity, and variety, there may be traced a fundamental unity, a substantial identity. Features and form are endlessly different; the spirit is one. I do not speak now of the mere surroundings and outward circumstances of a life. Riches and poverty, solitude and society, sickness and health, all may be said to come alike to it; inasmuch as it is independent of all, and can turn all to good account. We may represent human life, the life of each one of us, to ourselves, as a series of concentric circles, circle within circle, all having the same centre, and that centre being the "I," the soul, the spirit, the will, the very substance of our human personality, call it by what name we will. What we describe as the "circumstances" of our lives will be represented by the outermost of these concentric circles. But we may pass inwards from one to another on our way to the centre of all, and still find endless variety and diversity, and yet the saintly life still. Thus we will take what is certainly much nearer to the centre than the circle already described, which was that of outward circumstance and surrounding. We will take the circle of ritual and worship, which, you will all agree, touches the soul much more nearly than the outward form or fashion of our lives does or can do. Let our thoughts range back over the history of this our own beloved place of worship. What changes and varieties of ritual has it not witnessed in the course of the many centuries that have elapsed between its first conversion from a pagan temple into a Christian Church, and the present moment! Each generation in turn has worshipped here after its own fashion, now with Roman splendour, and now with Puritan simplicity. Better the coldest, barest, ugliest ritual, with spiritual edification, than the costliest and most beautiful and most ornate, without. We pass yet again within — nearer and nearest to the innermost circle and centre of all. We take the circle of religious opinion, of doctrine and dogma; which is indeed the very vesture of the soul. For our intellectual beliefs, our modes of thought upon religious questions — what are they but the garment, as it were, and most immediate environment of the soul; an environment, which acts upon the soul, and upon which the soul reacts, at once moulding and moulded? The saintly life, therefore, cannot but be deeply affected by this intellectual environment; and, according to the nature of that environment, accordingly, to a great extent, will that life be conceived of and lived. Yet, even in this nearest circle of all, it is astonishing to note the amount of possible variety and diversity that is consistent with that fundamental unity and substantial identity of which we have still to speak. To stereotype thought is to kill it; to stereotype religious thought is to destroy its fructifying, generating, or regenerating power. The word of God, if it is to be spoken with power, must be spoken under the influences, and according to the intellectual, as well as the moral and spiritual, necessities of the day in which it is spoken. To borrow our modes of thought and speech from the repertory of a past generation however excellent, or from teachers however devout and learned in their day, is to be, at the best, but as a scribe half instructed unto the kingdom of God. For our Saviour said: "Every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old." We pass through all these circles, which, even to the last, are still external, to that innermost circle which is the centre of all. What is that inner fundamental unity, that substantial identity, of which we are in search, and which constitutes the veritable communion of saints; the true, everlasting bond of fellowship between God's elect, past, present, and to come, here and hereafter? The answer is not far to seek: but an example will be better than any definition. "I see nothing else in the world that can yield any satisfaction besides living to God, pleasing Him, and doing His whole will": such is the dying confession of Brainerd. "Wish always, and pray, that the will of God may be wholly fulfilled in thee": so writes the devout a Kempis. And we might multiply such statements from the lips and pens of the saints of one generation after another, almost without number — whatever their intellectual creed, and what men call their "Denomination." But why spend time on the testimony of those, who are, after all, but the satellites of the Sun of Righteousness? Listen to the language of Him, who is the King of Saints, the faithful and true Witness: "My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work." "Whosoever shall do the will of My Father which is in heaven, the same is My brother, and sister, and mother." Saints we already are — we all of us are — in name, by title and profession, according to the Scripture meaning of the word "saints," that is, persons consecrated or dedicated to God. Saints we are by title; but woe to us, if we rest content with being mere titular saints! To the outward consecration must be added the inward sanctification, which converts the name into a reality; the righteousness of saints — the saintly life. We see now very clearly in what that life or righteousness consists; that it consists, above everything else, in devotion to the will of God, in the reconciliation of our wills to His holy and blessed Will, alike in action and in suffering, in joy and in sorrow. Here is the root of the matter. And this root has such marvellous virtue in it, that it will grove and flourish and bear fruit in any soil of circumstance, of ritual, of religious opinion. But if it is to do this it must be cultivated with all diligence, by watching, by striving, by praying — by incessant struggles against the snares and temptations and enticements of the world, the flesh, and the devil — by repeated efforts after self-mastery and self-renunciation — in a word, by earnest imitation of Christ in the power of the Spirit of Christ.

(Canon D. J. Vaughan.)

JohnPatmosAlleluia, Band, Belong, Crying, Ears, Far-echoing, Glory, Hallelujah, Heaven, Honor, Honour, Loud, Multitude, Power, Praise, Roar, Salvation, Saying, Seemed, Shouting, Voice, Voices1. God is praised in heaven for judging the great harlot, and avenging the blood of his saints.
7. The marriage of the Lamb.
10. The angel will not be worshipped.
17. The birds called to the great slaughter.

Revelation 19:1

     1045   God, glory of
     5279   crowds
     5528   shouting
     8646   doxology
     8666   praise, manner and methods

Revelation 19:1-2

     1075   God, justice of
     1193   glory, revelation of
     5597   victory, act of God
     6103   abomination

Revelation 19:1-5

     8642   celebration

January 22. "His Wife Hath Made Herself Ready" (Rev. xix. 7).
"His wife hath made herself ready" (Rev. xix. 7). There is danger in becoming morbid even in preparing for the Lord's coming. We remember a time in our life when we had devoted ourselves to spend a month in waiting upon the Lord for a baptism of the Holy Ghost, and before the end of the month, the Lord shook us out of our seclusion and compelled us to go out and carry His message to others; and as we went, He met us in the service. There is a musty, monkish way of seeking a blessing, and there is …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

King of Kings and Lord of Lords
And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, K ING OF K INGS AND L ORD OF L ORDS T he description of the administration and glory of the Redeemer's Kingdom, in defiance of all opposition, concludes the second part of Messiah Oratorio. Three different passages from the book of Revelation are selected to form a grand chorus, of which Handel's title in this verse is the close --a title which has been sometimes vainly usurped by proud worms of this earth. Eastern monarchs, in particular, …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

The Lord Reigneth
Hallelujah; for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth! T he book of the Revelation, being chiefly prophetical, will not, perhaps, be fully understood, till the final accomplishment of the events shall draw near, and throw a stronger light upon the whole series. But while the learned commentators have been, hitherto, divided and perplexed in their attempts to illustrate many parts of it, there are other parts well adapted for the instruction and refreshment of plain Christians. Particularly, those passages …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

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

The Saviour's Many Crowns
My brethren, it needs John himself to expound this glorious vision to you. Alas my eye has not yet seen the heavenly glory, nor has my ear heard the celestial song, I am therefore but as a little child among topless mountains, overawed with grandeur, and speechless with awe. Pray for me that I may utter a few words which the Holy Spirit may comfortably apply to your souls, for if he help me not, I am helpless indeed. With his divine aid, I dare to look upon the glorious diadems of our Lord and King. …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 5: 1859

"They have Corrupted Themselves; their Spot is not the Spot of his Children; they are a Perverse and Crooked Generation. "
Deut. xxxii. 5.--"They have corrupted themselves; their spot is not the spot of his children; they are a perverse and crooked generation." We doubt this people would take well with such a description of themselves as Moses gives. It might seem strange to us, that God should have chosen such a people out of all the nations of the earth, and they to be so rebellious and perverse, if our own experience did not teach us how free his choice is, and how long-suffering he is, and constant in his choice. …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Christ's Kingly Office
Q-26: HOW DOES CHRIST EXECUTE THE OFFICE OF A KING? A: In subduing us to himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies. Let us consider now Christ's regal office. And he has on his vesture, and on his thigh, a name written, "King of kings, and Lord of lords", Rev 19:16. Jesus Christ is of mighty renown, he is a king; (1.) he has a kingly title. High and Lofty.' Isa 57:15. (2.) He has his insignia regalia, his ensigns of royalty; corona est insigne …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

The Seventh (And Last) vision "On Earth"
E^7, xix. 17&151xx. 15. THE FINAL FIVE JUDGMENTS. We must get a complete view of these in order to embrace them all and view them as a whole. The Structure shows their true sequence: E^7., xix. 17-- 15. The Seventh (and Last) Vision "on Earth." E^7 A^1 xix. 17-21. MEN. The Judgment of the Beast and the False Prophet. B^1 xx. 1-3. SATAN. The Judgment of Satan (Before the Millennium). A^2 xx. 4-6. MEN. The Judgment of the overcomers. The "rest of the dead" left for Judgment. B^2 xx. 7-10. …
E.W. Bullinger—Commentary on Revelation

The Last Watch of the Night
C. P. C. Rev. xix. 7 It ends--the vigil of high festival, The solemn night of song; For lo! the crimson day has lit the hills, The day desired so long. From peak to peak there spreads the jasper glow, The morning star grows dim; How passing strange the joy that now we know-- So soon to look on Him! Oh, deeper than our longing and our love, More wondrous than our bliss, His love that waited while the ages rolled To welcome us as His! And now, the watching and the waiting o'er, The sin and sadness …
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen, Suso, and Others

Moses' Prayer to be Blotted Out of God's Book.
"And Moses returned unto the Lord and said. Oh! this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou--wilt, forgive their sin; and if not, blot me, I pray they, out of thy book which than hast written." In the preceding discourse we endeavored to show that the idea of being willing to be damned for the glory of God is not found in the text--that the sentiment is erroneous and absurd--then adduced the constructions which have been put on the text by sundry expositors, …
Andrew Lee et al—Sermons on Various Important Subjects

That Worthy Name.
James ii:7. IN the second chapter of the Epistle of James the Holy Spirit speaks of our ever blessed Lord as "that worthy Name." Precious Word! precious to every heart that knows Him and delights to exalt His glorious and worthy Name. His Name is "far above every Name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come." (Ephes. i:21.) It is "as ointment poured forth" (Song of Sol. i:3); yea, His Name alone is excellent (Psalm cxlviii:13). But according to His worth that blessed …
Arno Gaebelein—The Lord of Glory

He Shall not Keep Silent.
THE heavens have long been silent. It is one of the leading characteristics of this present age, the closed, the silent heavens. But they will not be silent forever. "Our God shall come and shall not keep silence" (Ps. i:3). In His divine Patience the Lord has been at the right hand of God for nearly two thousand years. He will not occupy that place forever. It is not His permanent station to be upon the Father's throne. He has the promise of His own throne, which He as the King-Priest must occupy. …
Arno Gaebelein—The Lord of Glory

The Disciple, -- Master, what is the Real Meaning of Service? is it that We...
The Disciple,--Master, what is the real meaning of service? Is it that we serve the Creator and then His creatures for His sake? Is the help of man, who is after all but a mere worm, of any value to God in caring for His great family, or does God stand in need of the help of man in protecting or preserving any of His creatures? The Master,--1. Service means the activity of the spiritual life and is the natural offering prompted by love. God, who is Love, is ever active in the care of His creation, …
Sadhu Sundar Singh—At The Master's Feet

The Third vision "In Heaven"
H3, xi. 15-19-. THE SOUNDING OF THE SEVENTH TRUMPET. The Seventh Trumpet brings us back to Heaven and to the Third Vision seen there by John. For it is "in heaven" that the Trumpet is sounded. After it is sounded, we again hear the heavenly utterances which tell us of the design of this sounding. In xix. 1-16, heavenly voices again tell us of the completion of its effect. After it is sounded, and its object unfolded, there is a break; and an episode occupying chaps. xii., xiii. and xiv.; the effects …
E.W. Bullinger—Commentary on Revelation

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

An Advance Step in the Royal Programme
(Revelation, Chapters iv. and v.) "We are watching, we are waiting, For the bright prophetic day; When the shadows, weary shadows, From the world shall roll away. "We are watching, we are waiting, For the star that brings the day; When the night of sin shall vanish, And the shadows melt away. "We are watching, we are waiting, For the beauteous King of day; For the chiefest of ten thousand, For the Light, the Truth, the Way. "We are waiting for the morning, When the beauteous day is dawning, We are …
by S. D. Gordon—Quiet Talks on the Crowned Christ of Revelation

The Power of God
The next attribute is God's power. Job 9:19. If I speak of strength, lo, he is strong.' In this chapter is a magnificent description of God's power. Lo, he is strong.' The Hebrew word for strong signifies a conquering, prevailing strength. He is strong.' The superlative degree is intended here; viz., He is most strong. He is called El-shaddai, God almighty. Gen 17:7. His almightiness lies in this, that he can do whatever is feasible. Divines distinguish between authority and power. God has both. …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

The Living One
"I am He that liveth, and was dead" (i. 18). (...) (ho zon), THE LIVING ONE. Like the previous title, it is used as a special designation of the One whose unveiling is about to be shewn to John. Its use is peculiar to Daniel and Revelation. The two books thus linked together by it are linked as to their character and subject matter in a very special manner. It is used twice in Daniel:- Dan. iv. 34 (31 [19] ) and xii. 7; and six time in Revelation:- Rev. i. 18; iv. 9,10; v. 14; x. 6; and xv. 7. [20] …
E.W. Bullinger—Commentary on Revelation

The Seventh vision "In Heaven"
H^7. Chap. xix. 1-16. The final heavenly Utterances and Actions. We now come to the last of the seven Visions seen "in Heaven," which is the subject of chap. xix. 1-16, giving us the final heavenly Utterances and Actions which lead up to, explain, and introduce the five concluding judgments which close up the things of Time, and pass on to what we call the Eternal State. This last Vision "in Heaven" is divided into two parts, each having its own independent construction. The first contains the words …
E.W. Bullinger—Commentary on Revelation

An Appendix to the Beatitudes
His commandments are not grievous 1 John 5:3 You have seen what Christ calls for poverty of spirit, pureness of heart, meekness, mercifulness, cheerfulness in suffering persecution, etc. Now that none may hesitate or be troubled at these commands of Christ, I thought good (as a closure to the former discourse) to take off the surmises and prejudices in men's spirits by this sweet, mollifying Scripture, His commandments are not grievous.' The censuring world objects against religion that it is difficult …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

Opposition to Messiah Ruinous
Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel T here is a species of the sublime in writing, which seems peculiar to the Scripture, and of which, properly, no subjects but those of divine revelation are capable, With us, things inconsiderable in themselves are elevated by splendid images, which give them an apparent importance beyond what they can justly claim. Thus the poet, when describing a battle among bees, by a judicious selection of epithets …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

The Lord's Supper
We are approaching now the end of our Saviour's life. The last week has come, and we are in the midst of it. This is called Passion week. We commonly use this word passion to denote anger. But the first and true meaning of the word, and of the Latin word from which it comes, is--suffering. And this is the sense in which we find the word used in Acts i: 3. There, St. Luke, who wrote the Acts, is speaking of Christ's appearing to the apostles, after his resurrection, and he uses this language: "To …
Richard Newton—The Life of Jesus Christ for the Young

In Reply to the Questions as to his Authority, Jesus Gives the Third Great Group of Parables.
(in the Court of the Temple. Tuesday, April 4, a.d. 30.) Subdivision D. Parable of the Marriage of the King's Son. ^A Matt. XXII. 1-14. ^a 1 And Jesus answered and spake again in parables unto them, saying, 2 The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a certain king, who made a marriage feast for his son, 3 and sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the marriage feast: and they would not come. 4 Again he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them that are bidden, Behold, I have made …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Consolations against the Fear of Death.
If in the time of thy sickness thou findest thyself fearful to die, meditate-- 1. That it argueth a dastardly mind to fear that which is not; for in the church of Christ there is no death (Isa. xxv. 7, 8), and whosoever liveth and believeth in Christ, shall never die (John xi. 26). Let them fear death who live without Christ. Christians die not; but when they please God, they are like Enoch translated unto God (Gen. v. 24;) their pains are but Elijah's fiery chariot to carry them up to heaven (2 …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

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