rances Ridley Havergal.

[33] Mrs. Bessie Porter Head.

II.--THE CROWN BOOK

"All hail the power of Jesus' Name!
Let angels prostrate fall:
Bring forth the royal diadem,
And crown Him Lord of all.

"O that with yonder sacred throng
We at His feet may fall,
Join in the everlasting song
And crown Him Lord of all!

"With all my powers Him I greet,
All subject to His call;
And bowing low at His pierced feet,
_Now_ crown Him Lord of all.

"I hail the power of Jesus' Name,
Before Him gladly fall,
Bring Him my own heart's diadem
And crown Him Lord of all!"

The Crowning Book.

There is a _crown book_ in this old Book of God,--the Revelation of
John. It is _the_ crown book, the only one. It is the crown book of the
sixty-six in two senses. It is the capping climax of the whole
revelation of God's Word. It gathers up into itself in a peculiar way
the dominant characteristics of both the Hebrew Old and the Greek New
Testaments.

And it is the book of the Crown. The King is in action. He Himself gives
the message of the book to John. He is seen stepping forward to take
possession of His realm. Then He takes possession. He dispossesses the
pretender. He reigns over the earth. The Revelation of John is the Crown
book.

This is the peculiarity of the Revelation in comparison with all the
other books. Only here is Christ seen exercising His crown rights. From
end to end of the Old Testament pages, His coming is looked forward to,
with an eager longing that grows in intensity as the national failure
grows ever worse.

In the Gospels He comes, but not as He was expected. He is heralded as
King, and claims to be King. He has all the graciousness of a King in
ministering to the needs of the people, and all the power of a King in
His personal touch. But He is rejected by the nation, and goes to the
Cross, yet still as a King,--a humiliated, crucified King.

In the Acts He is the risen, glorified King seated at the Father's right
hand in glory, and at work through His followers among men on the earth.
But it is always in the midst of sharp, bitter opposition. In the
Epistles He is seen crowned at the Father's right hand, guiding and
teaching His followers who are still suffering persecution.

But in the Revelation of John all this is changed. There's a sharp,
decided, advance step. Here He is not only crowned, but stepping
directly and decisively into the action of the earth