Fragments.

Revelation 21:99And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. (Revelation 21:9). — How singular and how frequent is the blending of the awful and the attractive in the Bible! It was “one of the angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues,” that invited St. John to view the Golden City.
Acts 9:1111And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth, (Acts 9:11). — “For behold he prayeth.” This was the test, the emphatic sign that Saul of Tarsus was “of a contrite heart.” If prayer be not right, nothing is right. No appreciation of the sublimities of scripture, no apprehension of its depths, no acquaintance with its letter, can take the place of the spirit of prayer. But what a glorious superstructure can be reared on that foundation!
Colossians 2:77Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. (Colossians 2:7). — “Rooted,” “built up,” “established.” There is a difference in the force of these expressions which it is difficult to give in English without a circumlocution. Rooted, like grounded in chapter 1:23, implies a fixed state, true of all who are “in Christ,” but the words respectively translated “built up,” and “established,” imply a continuous growth. In short all who are truly born of God are rooted, and grounded, but all are not equally built up, and established. It is only one instance among a thousand of the wonderful niceness and richness of Greek.
R. B. JR.