Revelation 1:4

Prologue, Rev_1:4-9

4. John] The Apostle, the son of Zebedee, who (probably afterwards) wrote the Gospel: see Introduction.

seven churches] The number of course is symbolical or representative: there were other churches in Asia, e.g. at Colossae and Hierapolis (Col_4:13). But the Seven Churches represent “the Holy Church throughout all the world.” It was very early observed, that St Paul also wrote to seven churches—the Thessalonians, Corinthians, Galatians, Romans, Philippians, Ephesians (?), and Colossians.

in Asia] The proconsular province of that name. In Act_16:6 “Asia” seems to be used in a still narrower sense, being distinguished from the adjoining districts of Phrygia and Mysia, as well as from the provinces of Galatia and Bithynia; so that it would correspond approximately with the ancient kingdom of Lydia. But as Pergamum was in Mysia, and Laodicea in Phrygia, it seems that here the word is used to include the whole province.

Grace … and peace] So St Paul in all his Epistles to the Seven Churches, Rom_1:7; 1Co_1:3; 2Co_1:2; Gal_1:3; Eph_1:2; Php_1:2; Col_1:2; 1Th_1:1; 2Th_1:2; and so Phm_1:3. In his later private letters the form varies—“Grace, mercy, and peace,” 1Ti_1:2; 2Ti_1:2; Tit_1:4—as in St John’s second Epistle. St James (Rev_1:1) uses the common secular salutation “greeting” (cf. Act_15:23): St Peter has “grace and peace” as here, but in his first Epistle does not say from Whom they are to come.

from him] The sacred Name is in the nominative, being treated as indeclinable: as though we should say in English “from He Who is,” &c. For general remarks on the grammatical (or ungrammatical) peculiarities of this book, see Introduction, p. xxi. Here at least it is plain, that the anomaly is not due to ignorance, but to the writer’s mode of thought being so vigorous That it must express itself in its own way, at whatever violence to the laws of language.

which is, and which was, and which is to come] A paraphrase of the “Ineffable name” revealed to Moses (Exo_3:14 sq.), which we, after Jewish usage, write “Jehovah” and pronounce “the Lord.” Or, rather perhaps, a paraphrase of the explanation of the Name given to him l. c., “I am That I am”—which is rendered by the LXX. “I am He Which Is;” by the Targum of Palestine on Exod. “I am He who is and who will be.” The same Targum on Deu_32:39 has “Behold now, I am He who Am and Was, and Will Be.”

which was] is again ungrammatical in Greek: the only word that could be used grammatically, would mean “which was made” or “which began to be,” and is therefore avoided. Compare the opposition of the “being” of God or Christ, and the “becoming” or “being made” of creatures, in St John’s Gospel, Joh_1:6; Joh_1:8-9, Joh_8:58.

is to come] Probably only used to express future time—not referring to the “Coming” of Christ; for thus far we have a threefold name for the Father—the Son is separately mentioned afterwards. Else, “He that is to come” is often used as a familiar and distinctive title of Christ: see Mat_11:3; Mat_21:9; Joh_6:14; Joh_11:27; Heb_10:37; John Ep. Joh_11:7 : cf. 1Jn_2:18, where the same word is pointedly used of Antichrist. But with this more general sense we may compare “the wrath to come,” 1Th_1:10, “the world to come,” Mar_10:30, and “things to come,” Joh_16:13; Joh_18:4.

seven Spirits] Son_3:1; Son_4:5; Son_5:6. In the second of these passages it would be possible to understand the name of seven chief Angels (see Rev_8:2): but here it would scarcely seem possible that creatures should be, not merely coupled with the Creator as sources of blessing, but actually thrust into the midst of His being, between the two Divine Persons. “The seven Spirits” thus made coordinate with the Father and the Son can scarcely be other than the Holy Ghost, Who is known to us in His seven-fold operations and gifts, and Who perhaps has some sevenfold character in Himself; which we cannot and need not understand, but of which there seem to be intimations in the passages of this book referred to, and in Zec_3:9; Zec_4:10, by which these are certainly to be illustrated.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rev_1:4-9

John to the seven Churches … in Asia.

The dedication

I. The writer of this book is again named--John. The things he was now about to relate depended upon his own testimony. He therefore mentions his name once, and again, and yet a third time. He refers to his former writings for his credibility as an inspired historian, and relates circumstantially the occasion upon which this revelation was given him. I, John, he says in verse 9, I am the person to whom these disclosures were made, by whose hand they were written down, and am open to the examination of the most sceptical inquirer.

II. The persons to whom he dedicates this book: To the seven Churches, etc. It is dedicated to them particularly, partly because they were more immediately under this apostles care, and partly because they were suffering from the same persecution with himself, and most needed the consolations which the views here given of the final triumph of the Church of Christ were calculated to impart.

III. The salutation. Grace be unto you and peace. The origin of our salvation is grace, the effect peace. In proportion as we perceive the grace, we have peace. First grace, then peace. Both are from God. We are reminded here of their threefold source. The Father is first mentioned as of unchanging form, who has never appeared under any other aspect than that of the Supreme Being, Him which is, and which was, and which is to come. Next we have the Spirit under a divided form, as illustrative of the variety and diffusion, and also of the limitation of His influences; and here we have the Son in the distinguishing characteristics of His mission, and from Jesus Christ who is the Faithful Witness and the First-begotten of the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth. Thus all the persons of the Godhead are mentioned as constituting the well-spring of grace and peace to the Church. Nor is there any saving grace, nor is there any permanent peace, that does not flow from each and all of these.

IV. This dedication includes an ascription of praise to the Redeemer: Unto Him that loved us, etc.

V. This is followed by a reference to the second coming of Christ. Behold He cometh with clouds, etc.

VI. This is further confirmed, by an announcement from Christ Himself, of His proper Divinity. I am Alpha and Omega, etc. To the foregoing truths Christ affixes this as His signature.

VII. This dedication closes with a statement of the time and place in which this revelation was given. I, John, who also am your brother, etc. We need only observe here the humble and affectionate manner in which, though an aged apostle and favoured with these revelations, he speaks of his station amongst other Christians. He is not exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations. He speaks not of anything in which he was superior, but of that only in which he was upon an equality with them. He calls not himself a companion of Christ and of His apostles, but their companion in tribulation. He does not address them as their diocesan, or father in God, but as their brother. The humility of the apostles, it is to be feared, as well as their dignity, died with them. This I, John, which is repeated in the last chapter, yet stands out as on the borderland of that primitive simplicity which the Church has yet many steps to retrace before she regains. (G. Rogers.)

Grace be unto you, and peace.

The gifts of Christ as Witness, risen and crowned

I. Grace and peace from the faithful Witness. But where did John get this word? From the lips of the Master, who began His career with these words (Joh_3:11); and who all but ended it with these royal words (Joh_18:37). Christ Himself, then, claimed to be in an eminent and special sense the witness to the world. What was the substance of His testimony? It was a testimony mainly about God. It is one thing to speak about God in words, maxims, precepts; it is another thing to show us God in act and life. The one is theology, the other is gospel. It is not Christs words only that make Him the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, but it is all His deeds of grace and truth and pity; all His yearnings over wickedness and sorrow; all His drawings of the profligate and the outcast to Himself, His life of loneliness, His death of shame. The substance of His testimony is the name, the revelation of the character of His Father and our Father. This name of witness bears likewise strongly upon the remarkable manner of our Lords testimony. The task of a witness is to tell his story, not to argue about it. And there is nothing more characteristic of our Lords words than the way in which, without attempt of proof, He makes them stand on their own evidence, or rather depend upon His veracity. And now, ask yourselves, is there not grace and peace brought to us all from that faithful Witness, and from His credible testimony? Surely the one thing that the world wants is to have the question answered whether there really is a God in heaven that cares anything about me, and to whom I can trust myself wholly; believing that He will lift me out of all my meannesses and sins, and make me pure and blessed like Himself. Surely that is the deepest of all human needs, howsoever little men may know it. And sure I am that none of us can find the certitude of such a Father unless we give credence to the message of Jesus Christ our Lord.

II. Grace and peace from the conqueror of death. The First begotten from the dead does not precisely convey the idea of the original, which would be more accurately represented by The First born from the dead--the resurrection being looked upon as a kind of birth into a higher order of life. And how is it that grace and peace come to us from the risen Witness? Think first how the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the confirmation of His testimony. In it the Father, to whom He had borne witness in His life and death, bears witness to Christ, that His claims were true and His work well-pleasing. He is declared to be the Son of God by the resurrection from the dead. Strike away the resurrection and you fatally damage the witness of Jesus. If Christ be not risen our preaching and your faith are alike vain; ye are yet in your sins. Grace and peace come from faith in the First begotten from the dead. And that is true in another aspect. Faith in the resurrection gives us a living Lord to confide in, not a dead one, whose work we may look back upon with thankfulness, but a living one, whose work is with us, and by whose true companionship and real affection, strength and help are granted to us every day. In still another way do grace and peace flow to us, from the First begotten from the dead, inasmuch as in His resurrection life we are armed for victory over that foe whom He has conquered. If He be the Firstborn, He will have many brethren.

III. Grace and peace from The King of Kings. The series of aspects of Christs work here is ranged in order of time, in so far as the second follows the first, and the third flows from both, though we are not to suppose that our Lord has ceased to be the faithful Witness when He has ascended His sovereign throne. His own saying, I have declared Thy name, and will declare it, shows us that His witness is perpetual, and carried on from His seat at the right hand of God. He is the Prince of the kings of the earth just because He is the faithful Witness. A kingdom over heart and conscience, will and spirit, is the kingdom which Christ has founded, and His rule rests upon His witness. And not only so, He is the Prince of the kings of the earth because in that witness He became, as the word etymologically conveys both ideas, a martyr. His first regal title was written upon His Cross, and on the Cross it ever stands. He is the King because He is the Sacrifice. And He is the Prince of the kings of the earth because, witnessing and slain, He has risen again; His resurrection has been the step midway, as it were, between the humiliation of earth and death, and the loftiness of the throne. By it He has climbed to His place at the right hand of God. He is King and Prince, then, by right of truth, love, sacrifice, death, resurrection. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

A ministerial salutation and a sublime doxology

I. A ministerial salutation.

1. It was given by an old minister to Churches with whom he was formerly acquainted. It is well for ministers to communicate the experience of their higher moments of spiritual enjoyment to their congregations. Pastors should never forget the old churches from which they have removed. They should always be ready to write to them a holy salutation.

2. It evokes the highest moral blessing to rest upon the Asiatic Churches.

(1) All Christian Churches need Divine grace, to inspire with humility, to strengthen in trial, and to quicken in energy.

(2) All Christian Churches need peace, that sympathy may extend from member to member, that moral progress may be constant, and that the world may have a pattern of holy unity. God only can impart these heavenly blessings.

3. It mentions the Divine Being under the grandest appellations.

(1) Indicative of eternity, Which is, and which was, and which is to come.

(2) Indicative of dignity. And from the Seven Spirits.

(3) Indicative of fidelity. And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful Witness. During the period of His Incarnation Christ was a faithful witness. He was a faithful witness of His Father. He was faithful to the Jews; before Pilate; to humanity. He sealed His testimony with His death.

(4) Indicative of royalty. The Prince of the kings of the earth. Rendered supreme, not by the victory of an earthly conquest, but by the right of eternal Godhead.

II. A sublime doxology.

1. Inspired by a glad remembrance of the Divine love. Unto Him that loved us. Ministers ought to delight to dwell on the love of God. If they did, it would frequently awaken a loving song within them. It would also have a glad effect upon their congregations.

2. Celebrating the Divine and sweet renewal of the soul. And washed us from our sins. The love of Christ, and the renewal of the moral nature, should go together, not merely in the pages of a book, but also in the actual experiences of the soul. He can wash us from our sins, and give purity, freedom, and peace in their stead. What process of cleansing so marvellous, so healthful, and heavenly as this!

3. Mentioning the exalted position to which Christian manhood is raised in Christ. And hath made us kings and priests unto God.

(1) The Christian is a king. He rules himself; his thoughts, affections, and passions. He rules others by the sublime influence of patience and faith.

(2) The Christian is a priest. He offers sacrifices to God, the sacrifice of himself, which is reasonable and acceptable; the sacrifice of his prayer, praise, and service. He also makes intercession for others.

4. Concluding with a devout ascription of praise to Christ. To Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Christ has glory. The glory of Divinity; of heavenly praise; of terrestial worship; of moral conquest; of unbounded moral influence. Christ has dominion; dominion over the material universe; over a growing empire of souls; by right of nature rather than by right of birth. Both His glory and dominion are eternal. Both should be celebrated in the anthems of the Church, as they are glad reasons for human, as well as angelic, joy. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)

Grace

1. A world of grace surrounds us.

2. A time of grace lies back of us.

3. A hope of eternal grace opens up before us. (B. Hoffmann.)

From Him which is, and which was, and which is to come.--

The proper object of all religious worship is the living and true God

1. Divine worship must be presented to God, essentially considered, as possessing all those Divine perfections which form a proper object of contemplation, praise, and adoration; and a proper ground of hope and holy confidence.

2. Worship must be addressed to God, personally considered, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, as possessing all those personal characters that form a ground of confidence, love, and adoration.

3. Worship must be given to God, graciously considered, as possessing all those covenant and gracious excellences that form a ground of hope and everlasting consolation in all our approaches to the throne of grace. Such is the character recognised by the apostle in the prayer before us. The words imply the existence of three Divine persons in the adorable Trinity, and they apply equally to the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. They are also expressive of His adorable sovereignty, as the Ruler, the Lawgiver, and the Judge of the universe. They suppose the kingdoms of nature, of providence, and grace, to be under His power; and they also teach the eternity of that kingdom. (James Young.)

Christ for ever

We speak of time as past, present, and future; but what a mystery it is! The present moment is all of time that actually exists. All past time ends in the present moment. All future time begins in the same point. To use the experience of the past so as to shape the future aright is to redeem the time. This gives to every moment of time a tremendous importance. It makes the thought of it the most practical of all things. It is from this extremely practical point of view that I wish to look at this otherwise most abstruse of subjects. I wish to look at Christs relation to time, in order to determine our own relation to it. He is here spoken of under the aspect of a past, a present, and a future Christ. The relations of Jesus Christ to time span the whole of time. They are commensurate with the whole purpose of God in time. It is only as our lives run into the line of Christs life, as stretching through all time, that we can be saved. The life that flies off at a tangent from that line, or that crosses, contradicts, or reverses it, is a lost life.

I. The Christ of the past. It is very evident to a spiritual reader of the Bible that Christ runs through the whole of it, from the beginning to the end. But what I want specially to notice here is that the Christ of the past represents three great facts that are for ever settled and done. First, that one, and only one, perfect human life has been lived in the world; second, that one, and only one, atoning death has been died in the world; and third, that one, and only one Person, in virtue of the life He lived and the death He died, is the conqueror of sin and death. Those are facts that belong to the past history of this world. They are eternally consummated and complete. Moreover, they are thoroughly well authenticated facts; and it is not easy to see how there can be any real justification of doubt concerning them. You cannot separate the one from the other. You must believe in a whole Christ or not at all. What the age wants is of a diluted Christ--not a mere spectre of Christianity, or ghost of morality, but a whole Christ.

II. The Christ of the present. Christianity is much impeded by the want of progress in the Church. There is not that growth and robustness in our modern Christianity which there ought to be. Why has Christ not remained the Christ of the past alone? Why has He not remained in the grave? Why is He at the right hand of God in heaven--at the very goal of the ages? Because He would not have His people live in the past. He is the Christ of the present, to be with His people to-day, to lead them on to far higher things than they have yet realised. The present ought to be full of Christ. For what does this belief in a living Redeemer imply? It implies three things: First, that in Christ, as seated on the right hand of God in heaven, we have an actual Person in whom might and right are absolutely one. Further, this Christ who exists to-day in the face of all the tyrannies and inequalities of the world, as the absolute embodiment of might and right, is not sitting aloft in heaven in passive contemplation of the conflict here. He is actually ruling over all worlds for the accomplishment of a Divine purpose. There is a third idea here belonging to the Christ of the present. Believing in Him as the actual embodiment of might and right, and as that One who is ruling over all things for the accomplishment of a Divine purpose, we are called upon to co-operate with Him in the present, and we have the promise that just as we intelligently do so will we receive of the power of the Spirit to enable us to do the work to which we are called. He rules in heaven to shed down power upon His people. He walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, and holds the seven stars in His right hand.

III. The Christ of the future, What, then, are the certainties in connection with the Christ of the future in which we are called to believe? There is, first of all, the certainty that the Word and Spirit of Christ will prevail throughout the whole earth. There are tremendous obstacles to be overcome. There are false principles at work everywhere in human society. There is scepticism of first principles altogether. There are the disintegrating forces of a shallow and self-elated criticism. And beyond all these there are the dense masses of pure heathenism. But in view of what we have already considered, we cannot possibly have one atom of doubt as to the result. Who can doubt what the future will be? It must be the legitimate sequel of the things which, in the name of God, have been accomplished in the past, and are being wrought out and applied in the present. Having once got an intelligent hold of these things, we can no more doubt them than we can doubt our own existence. But it follows also that the Christ of the future is that One whom we have individually and personally to meet. There is just one other thought lying in the Christ of the future, and that is the relation that is destined to exist for ever between Christ and His own people--the relation of the heavenly Bridegroom to His bride, the Church. In that sublime relationship we have the consummation of felicity. (F. Ferguson, D. D.)

The seven spirits.--

Omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence

, are here ascribed to the seven spirits which are before the throne.

1. They are called seven spirits symbolically. The number seven is the symbol of blessedness. He sanctified the seventh day; He made it a holy day. The number seven is the symbol of holiness. He rested on the seventh day; He made it a day of sacred repose. The number seven is the symbol of rest. He rested and was refreshed on the seventh day, because His work was finished. The number seven is the symbol of perfection.

2. They are called seven spirits typically, in allusion to the typical use of the number seven in the law of Moses and in the Old Testament.

3. They are called seven spirits prophetically. We find the sevenfold spirit described in prophecy as resting upon Christ (Isa_11:2). And we find a sevenfold effect of the manifold gifts of the Holy Spirit described by the prophet Isaiah (Isa_61:1-3).

4. They are called the seven spirits emblematically. The seven lamps and the seven eyes (Zec_4:2; Zec_4:10), are explained to be the spirit (verses 6, 7). The seven lamps are applied in the same sense in Rev.

4. and 5.; and the seven eyes are explained in this sense in chaps, 5. and 6., all of which refer to the Spirit of God.

5. They are called the seven spirits officially (1Co_12:4-11; Zec_12:10).

6. They are called the seven spirits relatively, in reference to the symbolical number seven applied to the Churches. As there are seven Churches, so there are seven spirits. The number of the one corresponds with the number of the other. The fulness of the Spirit is commensurate with the necessities of the Church. But amid this variety there is still a blessed unity. As the seven Churches are the symbol of the one Church of Christ, so the seven spirits are the symbol of the one Divine Spirit. (James Young.)

Jesus Christ … the faithful witness.--

The trustworthiness of Jesus Christ

Those who do not regard Jesus of Nazareth as the Son of God, find themselves at once placed in a difficulty, by the very attitude which He assumes toward mankind in this respect. The Bible abounds with the very strongest denunciations against the sin of trusting anybody else but God. The ancient law pronounced a distinct curse upon any man who fell into this sin. The Psalmist exhorts us not to allow ourselves to be drawn into it (see Jer_17:5-6). Now, if our blessed Lord laid Himself out to induce, on the part of His contemporaries, a moral attitude towards Himself, which was incompatible with the direct law of God, He was not a good man, but an impostor. Christ was either the Son of God, or else, from first to last, throughout the whole course of His ministry, He allowed persons to fix upon Him a confidence which they ought not to have reposed upon any person--whatever his pretensions--unless that person were God Himself. Nay, it is not merely that He permitted His people to trust Him; but He actually held Himself forward as an object of faith. He positively demanded faith in Himself before He would comply with the entreaties of those that approached Him. Still more emphatic is the position which He occupies in the moral world. He represents Himself ks the object of the sinners confidence. As Moses lifted up the serpent, etc. What blasphemy if He be not the Son of God! I venture to say that the man who fixes the eye of intelligent faith upon the dying Son of Man, if Christ be not the Son of God, is guilty of idolatry, and the blighting curse of the prophet will rest upon him: That man shall be like the heath in the desert, he shall not see when good cometh. I marvel greatly, then, if Christ be not the Son of God, why these results do not follow. How comes it to pass that those who trust Him most fervently, are not the most shrivelled beings on the face of Gods earth? I said I was to speak to you about Christs trustworthiness. There is this great truth that underlies it all; but I want to point out other considerations that lead us in the same direction, in order that our faith may be strengthened. First, He gathered around Him a little band of followers, and asked them to do a good deal. Their fishing boats and nets, to be sure, were not very valuable property; but then, remember, these were all they had. What authority had they to make such a tremendous sacrifice? Simply the bare word of a Stranger, who says, Follow Me. Very well, did He prove Himself trustworthy? They wandered about with Him many a weary night; sometimes their commissariat was very slender indeed; yet, somehow, they never wanted; the five barley loaves managed to supply the wants of all who put their trust in the Lord Jesus. Jesus Christ is the same to-day. In our outward circumstances, how many are there of us that make proof of it? How many are there of us who pass through difficulty and trial, and sometimes have been sore straitened, and yet the Lord has met our wants| He has fulfilled His promise. Is that all? No; by no means. From beginning to end of our Lords blessed ministry, He was continually being approached by the children of want and misery. Now observe--from the nobleman at Capernaum to the dying thief on the cross of Calvary, the very first thing He demanded of them was confidence; and we do not read of one single case where that confidence was ill reposed. There were plenty of enemies who would have been glad to point to such cases. Contemporary history says nothing about them. The Jews have left no contradiction of the glorious facts which our blessed Lord actually achieved: the cases where He failed remain unknown, and will for ever remain unknown, because they never existed. All this leads up to the conclusion that the Lord Jesus Christ was pre-eminently a trustworthy Person. But now, one step further. If He was trustworthy in these minor details of His daily life, does it not seem reasonable to conclude that He would also be trustworthy in the great work which He came into the world specially to perform? Well, you say, it was a greater work than any of the rest. So it was. It entailed a great deal more moral power. Yes, a great deal more. It involved vaster mysteries. Yes; all true. Set against that, however, another consideration. We shall readily admit that God must have known the nature of the work; He must have foreseen its difficulties, understood its condition. Now, there was only one Person God could have trusted with the work--His own eternal Word, co-eternal with Himself--One with Himself for ever--He could afford to trust Him. Now then, if God could trust Him with this work, I think we may trust Him with it. The passage of Scripture which I have brought before you, represents Him as the faithful Witness, the First begotten of the dead. He stands before us as the risen Christ, and the question naturally arises, Is His character different now from what it was when He lived here on earth, 1800 years ago? Well, it seems only reasonable to suppose that the words of the risen Saviour will be even more trustworthy, if possible, than the words of a living Saviour. As the Son of God, He knew all about eternity from all eternity; but, as the Son of Man, He had to make that long, long voyage into that unknown region which lies beyond the stream of death. He has returned from His journey, and He stands before His disciples in the fulness of resurrection-life as The Trustworthy. If He was trustworthy when He lived, surely He is no less trustworthy now. Lo! the risen Jesus stands before you. His very life witnesses to something. The fact that He is raised from the dead to die no more witnesses to something. What does it witness to? The very first words He utters, set my doubt at rest. He speaks of My Father and your Father, My God and your God. What? Has a risen Christ borne faithful witness to me, that there is now established between fallen man and a holy God this blessed relationship, so that I may look up and say, Father! and that I may know that He looks down and says Son! What were His first words to the disciples, as they gathered together in fear and trembling? He stands in their midst, and says, Peace be unto you. Is it true? The risen Christ says so: the faithful Witness says so. It is true; because it is witnessed to by a risen Saviour. The Lord Jesus Christ stands before us as the First begotten of the dead, and as the faithful Witness. (W. Hay Aitken, M. A.)

Jesus His own witness

The two-fold proposition we offer for your acceptance is this: Jesus Christ was not a product of the age in which He lived, but a native of another world who came to this world for a purpose; that He was God and man in one person. The geologist, finding a stone where there was no other stone like it, reasonably concluded that it was imported. A Chinaman walking down the streets of Shanghai meets an American missionary. The missionary is a man like himself, but in dress, language, and religion is totally different A foolish man, that Chinaman, if he does not conclude that he has met a foreigner. Now Jesus Christ was a man like other men, and yet so different from all other men that we are justified in believing that He is more than man and not a native of this world at all. Our first proof of this proposition is Jesus Christ Himself, in His claims, His character, and His works. He claimed that He was the Son of Man. His claim was not that He was a son of man, nor the son of a man, but the Son of Man, of all men, of the human race, of humanity. His was a life world-wide. His was a heart pulsating with the blood of the human race. He reckoned for His ancestry the collective myriads of mankind. Now, was there anything in the environments of Christ to make out of Him such a world-wide Son of Man? Just the contrary. He lived in a mountain village, and village life tends to make men narrow. Travel may correct this tendency, but He did not travel out of Palestine. Born of the tribe of Judah, and having a legal right to the throne of David, we would naturally expect Him to share the narrow, bitter feeling of His Jewish kindred, and, like them, chafe under the loss of national glory. On the other hand, He shares none of their narrow feelings. He teaches them a lesson of brotherly love by condemning their priest and Levite for passing by on the other side, while He praises the hated Samaritan who stops and helps the wounded man. All through His life there was a conflict between His universal sympathy and the narrow bigotry of His people. The forces at work at that time did not produce such a man. He evidently brought into the world this new idea, which we find through Revelation to be native of the world from which He came. Jesus claimed to be the Son of God. He was not a Son of God, but the Son of God. It was evident that His friends and enemies understood Him as claiming that in being the Son of God He was God. In many places He claims attributes which none but God can possess. There are some, however, who demand more evidence than a mere claim. They wish to know the basis on which the claim rests. Let me say to such there are but three positions we can hold with reference to Christ. None but a God, a madman, or a deceiver could have made the claims that He did. The charge that He was a madman no one is foolish enough to defend. Then He was either God or the worst of men. A good man cannot claim to be what he is not. Nor does any one at this day claim that Jesus was a deceiver. There is no middle ground. The very thought shocks the conscience of one who is at all familiar with His character. If, then, there be none foolish enough to claim that He was a madman, or bad enough to assert that He was a bad man, surely the verdict that He was good is universal; and if good He was God. (A. C. Dixon.)

The resources of Christianity

It is no little war which Christianity is waging.

1. Christianity possesses the resource of the truth. Jesus Christ is the faithful Witness. A faithful witness is one who utters the truth. And truth is something conquering and eternal.

2. Christianity possesses the resource of the truth sub-stunt!areal. Christ staked everything upon the Resurrection. But the fact of the resurrection stands. So Christianity stands with it.

3. Christianity possesses the resource of a present Divine power. The pierced hand is on the helm of all things.

4. Christianity possesses the resource of a sacrificial Divine love. It is from the Cross that Christ appeals to men. Such appeal must be irresistible.

Lessons--

1. Of courage. The Christian is on the winning side of things.

2. Of wise prudence. He who opposes Christ must go down before Him. Is it not best to make alliance with the Conquering One? (Wayland Hoyt, D. D.)

Views of Christ

We have Christ here in three aspects--

I. In relation to truth. He is a witness. What is truth? Reality. Christ came to bear witness of the reality of realities. As a witness of God. Christ was a competent witness--

1. Intellectually competent. No man hath seen God at any time, the only-begotten of the Father. He alone knew the Absolute.

2. Morally competent. He had no motive to misrepresent Him. You must be pure to represent purity, just to represent justice, loving to represent love.

II. In relation to immortality. First begotten of the dead. How was He first begotten of the dead? Did not Lazarus rise from the grave? Not in time, but in importance.

1. He rose by His own power. No one else ever did.

2. He rose as the representative of risen saints.

III. In relation to empire. The Prince of the kings of the earth. All power is given unto Him. (David Thomas, D. D.)

Christ as Mediator

I. Christs mediatorial titles.

1. Christ is invested with prophetic order. As a prophet He is faithful. He shed the true lighten the momentous questions.

2. Christ is invested with priestly order. He was the first who rose from death to immortality. He entered heaven with His own blood, to appear before His Father to intercede for the salvation of all who would believe on His name.

3. Christ is invested with kingly order.

II. Christs mediatorial work.

1. The original cause of the work. He loved us.

2. The efficacy of the work. Washed us.

3. The end attained by the work. Hath made us kings and priests.

III. Christs mediatorial glory. To Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever, Amen. Glory and might.

1. It is personally addressed--unto Him.

2. It is constantly felt,--unto Him that loved us.

3. It is everlastingly due--for ever and ever.

4. It is universally approved--Amen. (Homilist.)

A threefold description of Christ

First, from His prophetical; secondly, from His priestly; thirdly, from His regal. We begin with the prophetical office of Christ, expressed in these words, wherein Jesus Christ is said to be the faithful witness. First, it is the witness. Christ is a witness, and He is a special and singular witness, so as there is none else besides that in this particular is like unto Him (Isa_4:4). First, by way of discovery and revelation, as making known to us the will of His Father (Mat_11:27; Joh_1:18). There were two ways wherein Christ did make known unto us the gospel, and the will of His Father. First, in His own person (Isa_61:1, etc.) Second, He did it also, and still does in His servants, who were sent and appointed by Him (1Pe_1:10-11). Third, by way of assurance and confirmation, not only so far forth as He reveals to us those things which we knew not; but also as He does further settle us in these things which we know; He is a witness in this respect likewise. And that by virtue of His Spirit that dwelleth in us (2Co_2:10). Now there are two things which Christ by His Spirit doth thus witness to all those that are members of Him. First, the truths and doctrines of Christianity; and second, their own spiritual condition and state in grace, as having such truths belonging to them. The second is, the faithful. Christ is not only a witness but a faithful witness, which is the chief commendation of a witness. This faithfulness of Christ in point of testimony may be explained in three particulars. First, in the veracity of it. Christ is a faithful witness, because He witnesses nothing but that which is indeed truth. Second, from the universality of it. Christs faithfulness is seen, not only in delivering the truth, but the whole truth. And as without reservation, so without addition likewise; that which the Father commits unto Him to be declared, that alone does Christ declare. Third, His faithfulness is seen in His sincerity in all this, in that herein He seeks not His own glory, but the glory of Him that sent Him (Joh_7:18). The consideration of this point thus explained may have a suitable influence upon ourselves in a way of application. First, as a special argument to us to believe what is propounded by Christ. Faithfulness on Christs part calls for faith on ours; and His witnessing, it calls for our assent. Let us hold upon Christs faithfulness by trusting perfectly to the grace which is revealed. Second, as for promises, so for threatenings; He is the faithful witness here likewise. A second use of this point may be to acquaint us with the blessed estate of the servants of God. Those that are true members of Christ are happy persons, because He is a faithful witness. Whatever they have at present here below they have much in reversion and expectation; and that because they have an interest in Christ, who will be sure not to fail them. Third, seeing Christ is a faithful witness it should teach us also conformity to Christ in this particular, whether ministers or other Christians. The second is taken from His priestly, in these, And the first begotten of the dead. The principal actions of Christs priesthood consist in two particulars--the one is in dying for us, and the other in rising again from the dead, and making intercession for us. First, Christ was once dead. This is one thing which is here implied (1Co_15:3). The death of Christ is a special article of our Christian faith. Second, He rose again from the dead; He was begotten among the dead, that is, He was raised from death to life. And this the Scripture also mentions to be profitable to us, both in point of justification, and in point of sanctification likewise (Rom_4:25; the latter in Rom_6:4). Third, Christ was the first begotten of the dead (Col_1:18). Christ was said to be the first begotten of the dead, in point of order, as being first in the glorious Resurrection. Therefore He is called the first-fruits of them that sleep (1Co_15:20). Christ is before any other in this particular. And this again in a twofold respect. First, as to the principle of His resurrection; and secondly, as to the terms of it. Though Lazarus and some others rose from the dead before Christ, yet they rose from natural death to natural life, and so as to die again; but Christ so rose as never more to die (Rom_6:9). Thus now Christ is the first begotten of the dead, in point of order. The second is in point of influence; so far forth as Christs resurrection was operative and efficacious to ours; by way of merit, by way of efficiency, and by way of pattern or example. Again, He is said to be the first begotten of the dead, in regard of that authority which He has over the dead, obtained by His rising again (Rom_14:9). Christ was Lord of us before He rose again; but His resurrection put Him into the actual possession of this lordship, and was a clearer manifestation of it. This is a point of singular encouragement to Gods children; and that especially against the fear of death, and the horror of the grave. There is an inseparable union betwixt Christ and every believer; and that not only in regard of their souls, but also of their bodies (1Co_6:15). And God has made a gracious covenant with them likewise in Christ, to be their God, even for ever and ever, and in death itself, which they shall at last be also raised up from, upon the account of Christs resurrection (1Pe_1:3-4). His regal, or kingly office. And the Prince of kings of the earth. Christ is not only a prophet and a priest, but likewise a king (Act_5:31). This Christ is said to be upon a twofold consideration. First, in reference to His nature. Second, in reference to His office. Thus He hath all power in heaven and earth committed unto Him (Mat_28:18). Now here He is said not only to be a prince absolutely, but relatively, the Prince of the kings of the earth, as showing both His influence upon them, and likewise their dependence upon Him. The consideration of this point is useful both to princes and people. First, it is useful to princes to teach them to look up to this great and mighty Prince of all, whom they thus stand in subjection unto. And second, it is useful to people in sundry regards likewise. First, to infer their obedience; and second, to regulate it. (T. Horton, D. D.)

The first begotten of the dead.--

The risen Christ the only revealer of immortality

Simple as these words are, it is perhaps impossible for us to understand how deep and blessed their meaning was to him who wrote them. Their brief sentence, beautiful in its brevity, must have formed his only strength against the powerful influences that tended to depress his faith. To that old man, gazing on the desolate sea, and thinking of that unseen and boundless ocean in which all things seemed to perish, every wave which broke on the shores of Patmos would seem to speak of the omnipotence of death, if there were no human Christ exalted above its power. But such a One there was. John saw Him, and His name was this--the First Begotten of the dead. The name, first begotten, implies that He, the first who rose, should lead the great armies of the sons of God to a conquest over death, thereby implying that He was the first who revealed to them the certain truth of their deathless destiny. John says, He is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth. Between these three facts there is a fundamental connection. They teach us, then, that unless Christ had risen, His witness to God and His truth would have been imperfect and vain, and that on His rising stands His kingship over men. And if that be true, it is evident that unless we realise in our individual experience the meaning of Christ, the first begotten of the dead, we can neither understand nor feel the power of the testimony which He bore to God.

I. Let us inquire on what grounds, apart from those given by the risen Redeemer, man could build any belief in a deathless life. Let us imagine that there is no Christ, and we shall find that every ground of belief will fail us.

1. We may grant at once that in hours of glad and hopeful feeling nature might seem to suggest to man a life beyond the sleep of the grave, and that, for a time, he might think he believed it. But that is not a true test. To judge of the real personal value of such natural suggestions, we must test them in times of darkness, doubt, and sorrow. Do you think that then men can rise to faith on the strength of some dim and mystic hint which nature appears to convey--that, because she renews her life, mans life will rise from the tomb? No! The human spirit, startled at its own doubts, and anxiously punting for belief, can never build its faith in a thing so awfully glorious upon any emblems such as those.

2. Again, men have tried to find a proof of immortality by reasoning from the great law that God leaves none of His works unfinished. We admit that this argument is very strong. When taken in union with the truth of Christ, it seems to prove unanswerably the immortality of man. But we can, perhaps, show that, if there were no Christ, it would furnish no certain proof, but only indicate a probability. For, mark, it assumes that we can tell whether mans life is completed or not. I know Gods works are never unfinished, but may not mans life have answered all its ends, though we see not how? The insect sports its life away during a summer morning; the bird pipes his lone desire, and dies unheard amid his tree. And man, before God, is but an insect of a day; even compared with Gods angels, he is an insignificant creature; and may not this strange life of ours have answered the purposes God designed?

3. Once more, men have appealed to the instincts of the human heart as pledges of immortality. These beliefs might afford convincing proofs but for two facts. The first is, that sin deadens aspiration, denies the Divine, and blots out the heavenly. Sin stifles those yearnings after the spiritual and eternal, which nothing finite can satisfy. The sinners eye glances not beyond the visible. The second fact is, that by clothing all faith in a future with terror, sin tends to produce disbelief in it.

II. We proceed to note how Christs rising is the great revelation of immortality.

1. On the one hand, the fact of His rising reveals it to every man. No mere voice from the unseen world would satisfy mans heart. A real Son of God and of man must descend into the dark unknown, and come forth a conqueror. Man stood before the grave in doubt; the Christ rose, the doubt was gone.

2. The risen Christ reveals immortality in a still deeper sense to the Christian. Christ rose, and the man who is in Christ realises the resurrection now. With Christ he is dead to the old life, and is risen with Him into a new spiritual world. (E. L. Hull, B. A.)

Unto Him that loved us.--

Johns song of praise to Christ

It is not a song which John heard, but a song which welled up in Johns heart. It is not a song which came down from heaven, but a song which ascended to heaven from earth. The very mention of the Saviours name awakened in his heart the memory of His love. Here is the song of an exile. Here is the song of one who was solitary, without a heart to sympathise with him, or a voice to unite with him in his praises. It was in a loathsome dungeon that Bunyan followed the Pilgrim from the City of Destruction to the heavenly Jerusalem, and so mapped it out that it has imparted gladness to millions from that day to this. It was in the midst of sickness and when the victim of persecution, of which Judge Jeffreys was the appropriate instrument, that Baxter wrote his Saints Everlasting Rest, picturing by faith and hope, even from this world of sorrow, the depth of joy that remaineth for the people of God. And so here, this apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, banished to Patmos, for the Word of God and for the testimony of Jesus, found Patmos a second Paradise.

I. The theme which awakened his praises was the love of Jesus. It was this that even in Patmos made John sing this doxology of praise, and it is the great theme which pervades the whole of this book.

1. The Lord Jesus Himself had an irrepressible eagerness to speak of His love to His disciples. Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them unto the end. As My Father loved Me, even so have I loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

2. The revelation of the love of Christ was ever on the lips and ever on the pens of those sacred writers. We love Him, because He first loved us. The apostle Paul said, The love of Christ constraineth us. The greatest prayer he offered for man was this, that they might be rooted and grounded in love, and that they might be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, and be filled with all the fulness of God.

3. The love of the Lord Jesus, of which the apostle here speaks, was a love that was undeserved. This very apostle had seen what the love of Christ had cost Christ. This very apostle had heard such language as this from the lips of Jesus: I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished. He had heard Him say, Father, the hour is come, glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son may also glorify Thee. He had heard Him say, Now is My soul troubled. What shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour; but for this cause came I unto this hour. He had stood by the very Cross, and had watched the long hours of agony and of death.

4. It was love which John realised for himself. It was not a sentimental thing with him. He could say, I speak of that which I know, and testify of that which I have tasted.

II. The blessings which the apostle celebrates in his song.

1. Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood. The apostle thought of his past state and his present state. He was a sinner, and he had been cleansed from sin. This separated his song from the songs of the angels in glory. Their song is a song of sympathy with the redeemed; but here is a song for sinners. It is this that makes it suitable for our lips.

2. He has made us kings and priests unto God and His Father. (J. J. Brown.)

Johns first doxology

John had hardly begun to deliver his message to the seven Churches, he had hardly given in his name and stated from whom the message came, when he felt that he must lift up his heart in a joyful doxology. The very mention of the name of the Lord Jesus, the faithful witness, etc., fired his heart. This text is just the upward burst of a great geyser of devotion.

I. The condition of heart out of which outbursts of adoration arise.

1. This man of doxologies, from whom praise flashes forth like light from the rising sun, is first of all a man who has realised the person of his Lord. The first word is, Unto Him; and then he must a second time before he has finished say, To Him be glory and dominion. His Lords person is evidently before his eye. He sees the actual Christ upon the throne. The great fault of many professors is that Christ is to them a character upon paper; certainly more than a myth, but yet a person of the dim past, an historical personage, but who is far from being a living, present reality. Jesus was no abstraction to John; he loved Him too much for that. Love has a great vivifying power: it makes our impressions of those who are far away from us very lifelike, and brings them very near. Johns great tender heart could not think of Christ as a cloudy conception; but he remembered Him as that blessed One with whom He had spoken, and on whose breast he had leaned.

2. John, in whom we notice the outburst of devotion, was a man firmly assured of his possession of the blessings for which he praised the Lord. Doubt has no outbursts; its chill breath freezes all things. Oh for more assurance! I would have you know beyond all doubt that Jesus is yours, so that you can say without hesitation, He loved me and gave Himself for me. John was certain that he was loved, and he was furthermore most clear that he was washed, and therefore he poured forth his soul in praise.

3. John had also felt, and was feeling very strongly, his communion with all the saints. Notice his use of the plural pronoun. It is well for you and me to use this us very often. There are times when it is better to say me, but in general let us get away to the us; for has not our Lord taught us when we pray to say, Our Father which art in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; forgive us our trespasses, and so on? Our usual praises must be, Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins.

II. The outburst itself.

1. It is a doxology, and as such does not stand alone: it is one of many. In the Book of the Revelation doxologies are frequent. If you begin praising God you are bound to go on. Praise is somewhat like an avalanche, which may begin with a snowflake on the mountain moved by the wing of a bird, but that flake binds others to itself and becomes a rolling ball: this rolling ball gathers more snow about it till it is huge, immense; it crashes through a forest. Thus praise may begin With the tear of gratitude; anon the bosom swells with love; thankfulness rises to a song; it breaks forth into a shout; it mounts up to join the everlasting hallelujahs which surround the throne of the Eternal.

2. This outburst carried within itself its own justification. Look at it closely, and you perceive the reasons why, in this enthusiastic manner, John adores his Saviour. The first is, Unto Him that loved us. This love is in the present tense, for the passage may be read, Unto Him that loveth us. Dwell on the present character of it, and be at this moment moved to holy praise. He loved us, first before He washed us. Yes, He loved us so much that He washed us from our sins, black as they were. He did it effectually too: He did not try to wash us, but He actually and completely washed us from our sins. The stains were deep; they seemed indelible, but He has washed us from our sins. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow, has been realised by every believer. But think of how He washed us--in His own blood. Men are chary of their own blood, for it is their life; yet will brave ones pour it out for their country or for some worthy object; but Jesus shed His blood for such unworthy ones as we are, that He might by His atonement for ever put away the iniquity of His people. At what a cost was this cleansing provided I Nor is this all. The Lord that loved us would do nothing by halves, and therefore, when He washed us in His own blood, He made us kings. We walk like kings among the sons of men, honoured before the Lord and His holy angels--the peerage of eternity. Our thoughts, our aims, our hopes, and our longings are all of a nobler kind than those of the mere carnal man. We read of the peculiar treasures of kings, and we have a choice wealth of grace. He has made us even now among the sons of men to possess the earth and to delight ourselves in the abundance of peace. Furthermore, our Lord has made us priests. The world is dumb, and we must speak for it. We are to be priests for all mankind. Oh, what dignity is this! Peter Martyr told Queen Elizabeth, Kings and queens are more bound to obey God than any other persons: first, as Gods creatures, and secondly, as His servants in office. This applies to us also. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Christs love to us in washing us from our sins

To Him that loved us: it is spoken in a manner exclusively, as if none did so much love us as Christ, as indeed there does not. The use of this point is to believe it, and to teach us to labour more and more to assure our hearts of it. We should endeavour to have the sense of this love of Christ more upon our souls, and to be well settled in it. Which was that which the apostle Paul did so much pray for (Eph_3:16-17). This is discerned by such notes as are most proper to it. We may know that Christ hath loved us, according to that which He has done for us, and especially done in us, by changing our natures and by infusing of His graces into us. The second is from the manifestation of this affection in particular, in these words, And hath washed us from our sins in His own blood. First, take it absolutely and in itself, as it is an expression of the privilege of believers, and that is to be washed from their sins by Christs blood. The blood of Christ hath that efficacy with it as to cleanse from all sins (1Jn_1:7). There is a double benefit from the blood of Christ--the one is the benefit of justification, as to the taking away of the guilt of sin; and the other is the benefit of sanctification, as to the taking away of the power and dominion. And each of these are here included in this expression. The improvement of this point to ourselves may be drawn forth into a various application. First, it may serve as a discovery to us of the grievous nature of sin, which had need of such a remedy as this to be used for the removal of it. Secondly, here is matter of encouragement also to the servants of God in all the upbraidings of conscience and of Satan setting in with it, that here is a remedy and help for them. Hence also we have abound of encouragement in our access to the throne of grace and hope of our entrance into heaven at last. Lastly, seeing we have so much benefit by the blood of Christ, we should in a special manner take heed of sinning against it. And so much may be spoken of this passage in its absolute consideration, as it is the expression of a Christians privilege, which is to be washed from his sins in Christs blood. Now, further, we may also look upon it relatively, and in connection with the words before, where it is said that He hath loved us. And so it is an expression to us of Christs affection. First, in His death itself He showed His love to us in that, and that is implied in His blood. It was not only the blood of His finger, but the blood of His heart, His very life went with it. Secondly, in the manner of His death there was His love also in that. And this likewise implied in the word blood, which does denote some violence in it, a cruel and painful death (Col_1:20; Php_2:8). Thirdly, in the full and perfect application of this His death unto us. It is said that He washed us in His own blood. He did not sprinkle us only, but bath us. He did give us a plentiful share and interest in it. And lastly, there is an emphasis also in the word of propriety, in that it is said His own blood. The priests under the old Law, in the execution of their office, sprinkled the people with blood, and did in a sense and after a sort wash them from their sins in it. But that blood was not their own, but the blood of beasts. And this is a further enlargement of His love towards us. The use of all to ourselves is to enlarge our hearts in all thankfulness and acknowledgment to Christ for His goodness, which we should be very much quickened unto. And we should make it a ground of encouragement in the expectation of all things else from Christ which are necessary for us. He that has not stuck at this great expression of love will be sure not to stick to anything which is inferior to it; and He that has given us the greater will not stick to give us the less. And so I have done also with the second general part of the text, which is the description of Christ from the particular discovery of His affection, who hath washed us, etc. The third and last is from the effect and result of it in these words, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father. Wherein there is a twofold dignity which believers do partake of from and with Christ.

I. His kingly office; all true believers are kings. This is to be taken not in a temporal sense, but in a spiritual; and so the Scripture still expresses it (Luk_12:32; Luk_22:29).

1. For the state of grace. All true Christians, they are kings in this particular, namely, so far forth as they have power over their spiritual enemies, and all those things which might hinder their salvation. Thus is he a king in reference to the state of grace.

2. In reference to the state of glory also, so far forth as he is an heir of heaven, and shall reign with Christ for ever and ever. Thus he is a king in regard of right and title, even here in this life, though he be not in actual possession.

II. His priesthood, And hath made us priests, etc.

1. In regard of the prayers which are continually put up by them both for ourselves and others (1Pe_2:5).

2. As to the keeping of themselves from the pollutions and defilements of the world. The priests they were prohibited the touching of those things which were unclean.

3. As to the teaching and instructing of others in the communion of saints (Mal_2:7). And so should every Christian also in his way and within his compass (Gen_18:19).

4. As to the offering up of themselves to God. And then the high priest especially, he entered into the sanctum sanctorum, so should every Christian have his heart always towards the Holy of Holies, etc.

5. The priests they still blessed the people; so would the mouths of Christians do others with whom they converse (1Pe_3:9). (T. Horton, D. D.)

Christ and the soul

I. Christ is the lover of the soul. He loved it with--

1. An absolutely disinterested love.

2. A practically self-sacrificing love.

3. An earnestly forgiving love.

II. Christ is the cleanser of the soul. The grand mission and work of Christ are to put away sin from the soul. Sin is not so ingrained into the texture of the human soul that it cannot be removed; it can be washed out.

III. Christ is the ennobler of the soul.

1. Christ makes souls kings. He enthrones the soul, gives it the sceptre of self-control, and enables it to make all things subservient to its own moral advancement.

2. Christ makes souls priests.

IV. Christ is the hero of the soul. To Him be glory, etc. Worship is not a service, but a spirit; is not obedience to a law, but the irrepressible instinct of a life.

V. Christ is the hope of the soul. Behold, He cometh, etc. (David Thomas, D. D.)

Loved and laved

I. The love of Christ.

1. He loved us freely. He did not love us because we were righteous, because we had neither omitted any duty nor committed any offence. We are described in Scripture sometimes as crimson, and again as scarlet with sin. These are glaring colours, and sin is a glaring thing that must be seen. God has seen it; God abhors it. But though He saw it He loved us.

2. He loved us condescendingly. He loved us and washed us. That God should create, I understand; that He should destroy, I also understand; but that He should wash and cleanse those who have made themselves foul with sin is marvellous. God is so full of power that, if a thing is broken, it is never worth His while to mend it. It is the poverty of our resources that compels us to put up with defiled and broken things and make them better. Yet He loved us, so that He stooped to wash us from our defilement.

3. He loved us in a holy manner. Even the Almighty could not make us happy and let us remain in sin.

4. He loved us at a costly rate; lie hath washed us from our sins in His own blood.

5. He loved us effectually. The text says that Christ loved us and washed us from our sins, or loosed us from our sins.

6. Once more, this love of Christ is perpetual; He loves us still. Turning to the Revised Version we read, Unto Him that loveth us. He did not finish His love by His death. He loves you still, and He will always love you.

II. Glorify this loving, living Saviour.

1. Gladly confess His name. Then, I should have to bear a lot of ridicule, says one. And are you afraid to follow your Master for fear of ridicule? Remember what, for love of you, He bore.

2. Next, if we really do wish to glorify Him, we must shun all sin. A man cannot say, Unto Him that loved me and washed me from my sins be glory, and then go and drink with the drunkard. You dare not say Unto Him be glory, and then, as a professed Christian, go and do a dishonest deed, or speak a lie, or do that which would be discreditable to yourself and would bring dishonour on His name.

3. Again, if we truly say, To Him be glory and dominion, then we must give Him dominion over ourselves. Each man is a little empire of three kingdoms--body, soul, and spirit--and it should be a united kingdom. Make Christ King of it all.

4. And then, next, if we say, To Him be glory and dominion, we must seek to bring others under His sway. There is some way in which every one of us can do it. Begin at home; do not be content till the boys and girls all belong to Christ. Then look after your neighbours. You that are large employers, care for the men who work for you.

5. If we really wish that Christ should have glory and dominion because He has washed us from our sins in His blood, we must do nothing to dishonour Him ourselves, and we shall do anything sooner than see His blessed gospel and His holy name dishonoured by others.

6. Unto Him that loved and laved us let us give all glory and dominion; but if we would do that we must not be cold and indifferent about holy things. You know what kind of hearers some people are. You may say what you will to them, but they are never moved. They are so solid, so cold. Can I hear of that dear name and never catch the sacred fire? Can I think of Calvary and still my heart remain cold and chill? (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Praise to Christ

I. What Christ has done for His people.

1. He hath loved us. Can anything be more evident? He loved us from eternity. He foresaw our misery, and, moved with pity, provided for our relief. He loved us when we existed only in His eternal idea. What a love, reaching through eternal ages and undiminished! He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy, and without blame before Him in love. He hath predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself. All this from the infinite love of His nature; because He loved us. All that He hath done for His Church through ages are proofs of His love to you. By this merciful preservation of the Church the news of salvation has reached us.

2. He hath washed us from our sins in His own blood.

3. He honours us. And hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father.

II. The returns of gratitude and praise which His people render to Him.

1. To Him be glory. He has an essential glory as God. He is possessed of glory arising from His undertaking in behalf of sinful men--from His unparalleled condescension--glorious example--unreserved benevolence--patient submission--from His Cross--spoiling principalities and powers--making a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it--conquest over death--glorious ascension. All this glory the believers see, with gladness, beaming on the crown of the Redeemer. The glory of the Saviour receives additional lustre from those offices which He so successfully fills for His people at the right hand of God. Is He an Advocate? How many causes has He gained! Is He a Priest? All the services of His people are rendered acceptable to God through Him. Is He an Intercessor? What innumerable benefits hath He obtained for them! Is He a Mediator? What hosts of enemies hath He reconciled to God, making them one in Him. Is He a Saviour? How complete and perfect His work, saving to the uttermost all who come unto God through Him. Is He a Leader and Commander of the people? What glorious achievements and conquests have His people made through Him. But His people look forward with pleasing expectation to a period when the glories of their Saviour shall be abundantly increased, and shine forth in their greatest splendour. In the day of judgment He will gather His people before Him, and glorify His grace in their eternal salvation. He will come to be glorified in His saints and admired by all them that believe. He will be glorified by their variety; out of all nations and kindreds and tongues. He will be glorified by the circumstances attending their salvation. These are they which have come out of great tribulation--through reproaches and persecutions. He will be glorified by the infinite rewards which He will then bestow upon them.

2. To Him be dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Christ hath a natural dominion as God, and in this His people acquiesce and rejoice. The Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice, let the multitude of the isles be glad thereof. But He hath acquired dominion as Mediator by grant from His Father. Ask of Me and I shall give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, etc. As the reward of His obedience. He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross, wherefore God hath highly exalted Him, etc. This is but partly established. So He hath taught us to pray, Thy kingdom come, etc. (R. Watson.)

The measureless love of Christ

I. The duration of the love of Christ. He had us in His heart ages before any sign appeared of our existence upon this earth--in spirit He was slain for us--before the foundation of the world. The most ancient of all love is that of Jesus. But turn now from the past to the future. Even as to this present life, what a distinction does it confer on any attachment cherished towards us, the absolute certainty of its continuance, of its surviving all the trials of time, or separation, or misunderstandings, or collisions of interest, or variations of taste and of pursuit. We rejoice in the knowledge that there are earthly friendship, which are wholly delivered from all such fear; that there are those of whom we are assured that, come what will with them or us, they will love us still, will love us to the end. But then, there is that close of all things here below; and what of the existence afterwards? Who shall love us throughout that unknown, unending life which awaits us beyond the grave? Shall those who loved us so long and so tenderly here be there beside us to bless us with an everlasting affection? We hope so; in our best moments we believe that it shall be so. Still, there is a shade of dimness over the prospect. There is, however, one love upon whose continuance through time and throughout eternity we can most securely count. He whose heart it fills, is the same yesterday, to day, for ever.

II. Let us contemplate the love of Christ in the width of its embrace, its amplitude, its infinity. It surrounds us with its vast, its measureless expanse. Its mighty volume is around each separate spirit, as if the enfolding of that spirit, the guiding, guarding, purifying of that spirit were its sole and separate care. Yet what untold multitudes of such spirits does it embrace.

III. The intensity of the love of Christ as shown in actual operation. We measure the intensity of any affection by the difficulties it overcomes, the burdens it bears, the services it renders, the sacrifices it makes. Now, so far as we can see, there was a great, initial difficulty in the love of Christ turning upon such sinners as we are. For what is it that begets love but the sight in the object of that which is lovable? Was there not much fitted rather to alienate than to attract? This very feature, however, of the love of Christ--that it was love to those not worthy of it, is one that goes far to enhance it in our esteem. He saw in us the guilty that might be pardoned, the defiled that might be purified, the lost that might be saved. Nay, the very things in us that might have turned away another benefactor, and led him to seek a more congenial field of labour, gave but the quicker wing, and the firmer footstep to that great love. The life of Christ on earth was throughout a manifestation and expression of this love. For let us remember that it is not merely human heart that beats in Jesus Christ--a human sensibility with which that heart is gifted. The Divine capacity to love is present here, and the Divine sensibility attaching to that capacity. (W. Hannay, D. D.)

Christs present love, and its great outcome

[Read loveth us, and loosed us from our sins.]

I. The ever-present, timeless love of Jesus Christ. John is writing these words of our text nearly half a century after Jesus Christ was buried. He is speaking to Asiatic Christians, Greeks and foreigners, most of whom were not born when Jesus Christ died, none of whom probably had ever seen Him in this world. To these people he proclaims, not a past love, not a Christ that loved long ago, but a Christ that loves now when John was writing, a Christ that loves us nineteenth-century Englishmen at the moment when we read. Another thing must be remembered. He who speaks is the disciple whom Jesus loved. Is it not beautiful that he thus takes all his brethren up to the same level as himself, and delights to sink all that was special and personal into that which was common to all. The foundation of all our hopes and all our joys, and all our strength in the work of the world should be this firm conviction, that we are wrapped about by, and evermore in, an endless ocean, so to speak, of a present Divine love, of a present loving Christ. Then, further, that love is not disturbed or absorbed by multitudes. He loveth us, says John to these Asiatic Christians; and he speaks to all ages and people. Again, it is a love unchilled by the sovereignty and glory of His exaltation. The Christ of the gospels is the Christ in His lowliness, bearing the weight of mans sins; the Christ of the Apocalypse is the Christ in His loftiness, ruling over the world and time. But it is the same Christ. From the midst of the glory and the sevenfold brilliancy of the light which is inaccessible, the same tender heart bends down over us that bent down over all the weary and the distressed when He Himself was weary; and we can lift up our eyes above stars, and systems, and material splendours, right up to the central point of the universe, where the throned Christ is, and see Him that loveth us--even us!

II. The great act in time which is the outcome and the proof of this endless love He loosed us from our sins by His own blood. The metaphor is that of bondage. He that committeth sin is the slave of sin. Every wrong thing that we do tends to become our master and our tyrant. The awful influence of habit, the dreadful effect upon a nature of a corrupted conscience, the power of regretful memories, the pollution arising from the very knowledge of what is wrong--these are some of the strands out of which the ropes that bind us are twisted. We know how tight they grip. But the chains can be got off. Christ looses them by His blood. Like a drop of corrosive acid, that blood, falling upon the fetters, dissolves them, and the prisoner goes free, emancipated by the Son. His blood looses the fetters of our sins, inasmuch as His death, touching our hearts, and also bringing to us new powers through His Spirit, which is shed forth in consequence of His finished work, frees us from the power of sin, and brings into operation new powers and motives which free us from our ancient slavery. The chains which bound us shrivel and melt as the ropes that bound the Hebrew youths in the fire, before the warmth of His manifested love and the glow of His Spirits power.

III. The praise which should be our answer to this great love. Our praise of Christ is but the expression of our recognition of Him for what He is, and our delight in love towards Him. Such love and praise, which is but love speaking, is all which He asks. Love can only be paid by love. Any other recompense offered to it is coinage of another currency, that is not current in its kingdom. The only recompense that satisfies love is its own image reflected in another heart. That is what Jesus Christ wants of you. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

Christs measureless love

I. The love is absolutely sovereign. It was not called forth by any sort of worthiness in the objects of it, but was entirely spontaneous, self-moved. No doubt these objects come to have most attractive features. In course of time they are washed, cleansed from the filthiness in which they lay by nature, or loosed from the degrading bondage in which they were held. They have moral and spiritual excellences of the highest order, though not unmixed with imperfections and impurities. But to whom are they indebted for all this distinction? To Christ alone. And what moved Him to beautify them with salvation, to take them, as it were, from the dunghill and set them among the princes? His love. When the love first rested on its objects, when it contemplated and planned their redemption in the counsels of eternity, it had respect to them simply as fallen, ruined creatures. It was while provoking the vengeance of high heaven that the arresting hand was laid on them. Nothing like personal doing or desert had any place whatever in effecting the blessed change. And this feature is made still more abundantly manifest by a consideration of the persons often thus raised to a participation in the high calling of the saints. They are not seldom those that would have been deemed by us the most unfit and unlikely. They are not the best, but the worst characters; not those standing out from their fellows for good, but for bad qualities.

II. The love is immeasurably great. How shall we estimate its magnitude? In no better way than by considering what it freely bestows on its objects, and the sacrifices it makes for what it thus bestows. Try this love by both these measures. What, then, does it give those upon whom it rests? All the benefits of redemption. Take these benefits as summarised here, in connection with and as the ripened fruit of the love in question. The washing spoken of very specially points to forgiveness, the blotting out of sin in the blood of atonement. The graces of the Spirit spring up where before there were only the works of the flesh, and these graces both beautify the character and satisfy the soul. Thus believers are fitted for being kings and priests unto God and the Father. And has all this cost Him nothing, or cost Him but little? Has no sacrifice, or only a small one, been required? He has washed them in His own blood, and to it is to be traced not less their royal priesthood. His blood was that of sacrifice, of atonement, the price of our redemption. Here was the great ransom, and it is only in consequence of it that any sinner is washed and invested with a royal priesthood. Truly, when tried thus, the love passes knowledge.

III. The love is unchangeably constant. He loved and He loveth us. Who can tell how much He suffers at the hands of His people? How unthankful and rebellious are they! But still He forgives, restores, and keeps them. No doubt there are sometimes appearances to the contrary. He withdraws from His people, hides His face from them, so that they walk in darkness, and feel as if they were utterly forsaken. But there is no proof here that His love is either gone or weakened. Behind the frowning Providence there is still a smiling face. The clouds temporarily obscure, but they do not extinguish, or even really diminish, the light of heaven. And so it will ever be. The love has stood true during all the past, and it will not fail in all the future. (John Adam, D. D.)

The love of Christ

I. With respect to the manifestation of the love of Christ, we may remark, in general, that love was the spring of all His mediatory acts. No doubt, He chiefly sought the glory of His Father, and testified His love to Him by fulfilling His will. But in prosecuting these objects He was gratifying His own love.

1. It was love that induced the Son of God to undertake our cause in the counsels of eternity.

2. The love of Christ appears in the delight He took in the prospect of the work, arduous and grievous as it was, which He had engaged to perform.

3. His love appears in the assumption of our nature. Oh, what a stoop was there!

4. The love of the Redeemer appears in the whole of His obedience unto death.

II. The nature and properties of Christs love.

1. It is the love of a Divine Person.

2. It is the love of a Divine Person in human nature.

3. The love of Christ is transcendently great. It is incredible to all but those who have been taught from above.

III. Let us attend to the practical improvement of this subject.

1. We may see one proof of the deep depravity of mankind.

2. Here is food for faith.

3. The reasonableness and the duty of love to Christ. (T. McCrie, D. D.)

The love of Christ in Redemption

I. Some of the great general characters of the love of Christ.

1. An everlasting love (Jer_31:3; Psa_103:17; Isa_54:7-8; Eph_1:4-5; Eph_3:11; Rev_13:8). Does not this lead us to contemplate the glory of an infinite God, as it shines in this everlasting love?

2. Free and unmerited love (Psa_8:4; Psa_144:3; Job_7:17).

3. Unsolicited love (1Jn_4:10; Rom_5:10). There is something infinitely more noble and generous in extending mercy to the miserable without waiting for their request, than when it is hardly procured, or as it were extorted by importunity or solicitation.

4. A distinguishing love, which must greatly enhance the obligation of those who are the objects of it.

5. An expensive love.

6. A most generous and disinterested love. It was giving to those from whom He could receive nothing.

7. A most fruitful, active, and beneficent love.

II. Practical improvement of the subject.

1. If so great are the obligations of believers to the love of Christ, how dreadful must be the condition of those who die in their sins.

2. Learn that the great and leading motive to obedience under the gospel, is a deep and grateful sense of redeeming love.

3. The necessity of a particular application of the truths of the gospel to ourselves, and the reliance of every believer upon them as the foundation of his own hope.

4. This leads me to invite every sinner to accept of Christ as his Saviour and to rely upon Him as He is offered in the gospel. (J. Witherspoon, D. D.)

The work of works

The word translated washed should be loosened.

I. This is the most important of all works. Sin is a chain that enslaves not the mere body, but all the faculties of the soul. What a chain is this!

1. It is heavy.

2. Galling.

3. Strong, and--

4. Becomes stronger with the commission of every sin.

II. This, the most important of all works, is effected by Christ and by Him only. He came into the world to set the captives free. Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

III. That for this, the most important of all works, Christ receives the praises of eternity. True gratitude implies a belief in three things.

1. A belief in the value of the service rendered.

2. A belief in the kindness of the motive which inspired the service.

3. A belief in the undeservedness of the service on our part. (David Thomas, D. D.)

Living love

It is the echo of the heavenly harping that John hears. This is what they are singing on high, and what we are training for here.

I. The source of salvation in eternity. Unto Him that loved us. When God set out for His journey of redemption He must have looked round the shelves of glory for what to take, as some of you starting on a journey, pack your bag or portmanteau. Certain things you take with you for the journey. So with God. There are the thunders of almighty power. Is He to take these? No. He became man--poor, feeble man, and the thunders slept till He came back. Is He to take the glory above the suns strength? Is He to take the robe of uncreated light? No. He strips Him of the visible Godhead. He lays aside the uncreated Shekinah manifestation, but He takes something--something that heaven can give and that earth needs. He dips His almighty heart in love. He cannot do without that. He will not get love enough here, and if He is to bring love He must get it before He starts. He comes with the only qualification for His great work that He sees needful--love in His heart. And it is that love that you and I need, the love that death hath no power over, a love that is to exist and be strong when yonder sun flickers out into eternal midnight. It is that love that my longing soul craves for, and it is that love that is in Christs heart. Human love--why, we dare only creep from headland to headland; we cannot launch out into the deep, for death is nigh. But in Christs love you can let your soul go. You can sail into the mighty ocean assured that there is no limit, that there is no further shore to it, that there are no shoals to tear the ribs of the vessel of your heart asunder. The love of Christ will outlive the sun; the love of Christ will be strong in mighty current when the stars, the last of them, pull a veil over their faces and die. The love of Christ is the one eternal, abiding, almighty force in the universe. Can you sing it? Unto Him that loved us with a deathless, undying, unchanging, abiding, eternal love, to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever.

II. The effect of salvation in time. The stream runs from the hillside to the valley, and it gets deep and wide and broad, and the masts of the navy of a commercial city are reflected in its fair bosom. So with the love of God. It came rushing out of the pearly gates a mighty torrent, and it came down to the valley and expanded there into a broad lake, and the love has become a fact in time. And the way it has become a fact is this: The love has washed us in the precious blood of Christ. Oh, how foul we were, how the streets of time had left their defilement on our spirit. A thousand rivers--have they water enough to cleanse a sinful heart? What did God find and feel to be necessary? What is that awful tinge that reddens the waves of the laver of regeneration? What is this mysterious chemical, Thou, God, art putting there? Why this agony of Thy beloved Son? Why the open side, why the pierced hands and feet, why the blood? Without shedding of blood there is no remission, says God. If you turn to the Revised Version you will see the word loosed for washing. It is the same idea, but more vigorously expressed. Sometimes when the dirt sticks you take pumice stone, or something that will rub or scrape. And so the Greek word shows that Gods washing is so effectual, the blood of Jesus is so powerful in its cleansing, that it is more like cutting off, it is more like excising and putting aside. The word is a strong word--loosing, cutting us out from our sins by His precious blood.

III. The effect of salvation on man. And hath made us kings. We crouch, a slave, to the Cross, but we give three leaps from it, and tread to heaven with the tramp of a king. The Cross gives dignity, the Cross gives royalty, to the saved heart. Christ crowns us when the heart accepts Him. We are kings, and we have a country. We are not like John Lack-land, for a king must have a kingdom. We are kings from the Cross, and what is our kingdom? It is our heart, our own soul, that is our kingdom. Your great country of promise has to be conquered by your own little fist of fulfilling. So with your heart. It is the promised land, but you have to fight for it. You have, as a conqueror, to make the plains of your own soul reverberate with your own tread. Old habits come out! old sins, passions, lusts, come out! Put your feet on the necks of them, says Christ, and I, by the grace of God, put my feet on old habits, old sins, old passions, and am king over my own heart. And hath made us kings. And it is the priests service that God accepts and needs to-day. It is the profession of adoration, it is the song of praise from my heart that He cannot get from the harps of heaven. It is this, that you and I should just tell Him more that we love Him. You know they say a Scotchman never tells his wife he loves her till he is just dying. Well, it is a great pity. In this world he would be happier and she would be happier, if he would tell his love into the ear while it can hear. So the Lord Jesus is longing for you and me, in time, while we have the opportunity, just to tell Him. Go home, then, to your own room, and kneel down and say in this holy priesthood of thine, Lord Jesus, I adore Thee, I love Thee; to Thee be the glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. (John Robertson.)

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The believers acknowledgment of Christs love

I. What Christ has done for us.

1. Christ loved us. You all know, from the feelings of your own hearts, something of what it is to love, and likewise what it is to be the object of affection. Christs love to His people surpasses in intensity and purity and disinterestedness anything that was ever felt by a human heart. There was no worth or excellence, no good thing about us. In His eyes we were unseemly and loathsome objects. We were altogether unable to render Him any service, or to make Him any compensation for the benefits He might bestow. His essential happiness and glory could neither be diminished by our ruin, nor increased by our salvation. And consider who it was that loved us in this manner; for we are in the habit of estimating the value of any expression of love by the character and condition of the individual from whom we receive it. Now He who thus loved us was not a mere man like ourselves, but He was the Eternal God, the Author and the Head of the whole creation; He was not an angel or an archangel, but One whom all the angels of God are commanded to worship; He was not liable to errors of judgment, or to mistakes of feeling, but He Was possessed of the Divine perfections, as well as the Divine nature and prerogatives.

2. He washed us from our sins in His own blood. This was the first great step that was necessary in order to our deliverance and salvation, and this accordingly is mentioned as the first great manifestation of Christs love that was poured out upon believers.

3. He has likewise made us kings and priests unto God and His Father. Here the priestly character, as well as the kingly one, is but imperfectly developed, and its privileges but partially enjoyed. Here we see through a glass, darkly. But a time will come when all believers shall see face to face--when their intercourse with God shall be much more close and uninterrupted and delightful than it has ever been upon earth--when anything that can defile or annoy shall be taken away.

II. The feelings and desires which the contemplation of what Christ has done for us ought to produce. (W. Cunningham, D. D.)

The love of Christ

I. In this song the redeemed make grateful mention of the love of Christ; that being the spring of all their present privileges and all their future hopes. This is well put first in order, not only because it is the source of every spiritual blessing, but also because it is in itself their chief happiness--they being the objects of his love; and every ingenuous mind will more esteem the kindly heart, than the costly gifts of a benefactor. How, in ordinary cases, do we estimate the strength of a friends affection for us? Is it in the first instance by the ardour with which it is expressed in words? Then what are the terms in which the Redeemer speaks of His people? I have loved them with an everlasting love; therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee. Does it enhance our esteem of the benignant heart of a friend, when his kindness is continued, notwithstanding we have given him cause of offence; and is that friendship sufficient to melt the hardest heart which requites every offence with forgiveness, and suffers us not to sink under an unworthy return? Then is Christ such a friend. Is the love of a friend the more valued because it comes to us in circumstances of great destitution or distress? Now, it was when we were miserable and poor that the Redeemer loved us. His office was to bind up the broken-hearted, and to make the mourner glad. Do we appreciate the friendship which we have reason to believe has no connection with selfish motives or personal ends? The friendship of the Redeemer was purely disinterested. The only reward which He sought was the salvation of His people. The only joy that was set before Him was, that He should see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied. Do we estimate the strength of a friends affection for us by his fondness for our society, by his affording us free access at all times, and by the frequency and kindness of his invitations to meet us? Then with what condescension has the Redeemer invited, nay, urged His people to repair to Him as their friend, as a very present help to them, in every time of need! Do we estimate the strength of a friends affection by the sacrifices he makes, or by the personal sufferings He endures for our sakes? Then what sacrifice is so great, what sufferings so severe as those of the Son of God? Do we estimate the kindness of an earthly friend by his long-suffering patience in bearing with our infirmities, and in dealing tenderly with us, even when we most try his patience by our provocations? And what believer can fail to acknowledge that he is a living monument of the Redeemers mercy, an unprofitable servant whom none but Divine patience could have spared. Finally, do we rest with confidence on the friendship of one who identifies himself with us, and acts as if our interests and his own were the same? Then is Christ the friend of His people. Whoso, saith He, receiveth you receiveth Me: Whoso shall give but a cup of cold water to one of these little ones, in the name of a disciple, shall in no wise lose his reward.

II. But that love was not without effect, and the beloved disciple adverts to some of the benefits which have flowed from it to His people. He has washed us from our sins in His own blood. The words imply that the Saviours blood was shed, and shed for the remission of sins; and it was a noble proof of His love. They also intimate that, besides being shed, that blood had been savingly applied, and had sufficient efficacy to wash them from their sins. And believers will ever regard the sawing application of that blood to their consciences as no less proof of the Redeemers kindness than the fact of His having shed it. His love in leading them to that fountain is not less to be celebrated than His love in having opened it, especially when it is considered that, without such a personal application of His blood to them individually, His death would have been of no avail. By that blood they were delivered from the burden of an accusing conscience, and admitted into peace and friendship with God. By that blood they were delivered for ever from judgment to come.

III. The design of the Saviour was not accomplished, nor His love exhausted, by pardoning the sins of His people. It was His design to advance them as monuments of His grace to a state of great dignity, and to employ them in a very exalted station.

IV. It is the natural fruit, and a strong evidence of faith, and at the same time a source of great spiritual comfort, to be much engaged in reflecting on the love of the Redeemer, and regarding with holy gratitude the benefits which you have received or yet expect at His hands; for while we thus meditate on His love, and on our own honour and privileges, as His people, our hearts will burn within us, and our lips break forth in His praise. To many among us, indeed, who are downcast and sorrowful, it may seem as if this strain were more fitted for those who have already fought the good fight, and finished their course, than for us who are still in the body, burthened with the remains of a corrupt nature; weak, yet beset with strong temptation; prone to backsliding. But may not the most desponding believer take courage at least from their success? May not their triumphant song inspire us with new hopes, since it tells us that men like ourselves have obtained the victory. (James Buchanan.)

The redeemed ascribing glory to Christ

I. What Christs saints owe to him.

1. A debt of everlasting love. Unto Him that loved us.

2. The debt of their redemption.

3. The debt of glory. He hath made us kings and priests unto God, even His Father. A kingdom of priests, some will read it. Be it so. Then they are, in reality, what the Israelites were typically, a kingdom of priests, an holy nation, a peculiar people. In the light of this interpretation we see the significance of the washing previously mentioned; for when any one of that royal and priestly nation had contracted any ceremonial uncleanness, before he was restored to his national privileges--or when any one was called to minister to God in the priestly office, before he was consecrated to the service--and every time before he went into the temple to minister--it was ordained that he should be washed. Or, let us interpret, as promising separate offices in glory, that expression kings and priests. We have here evidently a complete reversal of their condition before regeneration. Once they were slaves, now they are not only set free, they are made kings to God. Once they were afar off, now they are not only brought nigh, they are engaged as priests in His own immediate service; kings and priests to One to whom to serve in the most menial capacity, in the outermost courts of His earthly temple, were a dignity of surpassing honour.

II. We will now advert to the ascription by the saints to Christ, in acknowledgment of their obligations to Him, of glory and dominion for ever and ever--which glory and dominion, you will observe, are the very things of which Christ disrobed Himself in order to accomplish their salvation; and common justice demands that they should be restored to Him when the work is done; nay, more, that they should not only be restored, but restored with increase. (G. Campbell.)

How wonderful that Christ should love us

We know how to love our children, because they are better than we; we know how to love our friends, because they are no worse than we; but how Christ can stoop from out the circle of blessed spirits to love us, who are begrimed with sin, and bestormed with temptation, and wrestling with the lowest parts of humanity--that is past our finding out. He has loved us from the foundation of the world; and because heaven was too far away for us to see, He came down to earth to do the things which He has always been doing profusely above. Christs life on earth was not an official mission; it was a development of His everlasting state; a dip to bring within our horizon those characteristics and attributes which otherwise we could not comprehend;--Gods pilgrimage on earth as a shepherd, in search of his wolf-imperilled fold. And when I look into His life, I say to myself--As tender as this, and yet on earth! What is He now, then? If He was such when imprisoned in the flesh, what is He now in the full liberty and largeness of His heavenly state? (H. W. Beecher.)

And washed us from our sins in His own blood.--

Christs eternal sacrifice

There is no such thing as age in His sacrifice; centuries cannot give antiquity to His atonement, time cannot wear out its virtues. His blood is as precious now as when it was first shed, and the fountain for sin and uncleanness flows with a stream as full and ]purifying as when first it was opened. And how? Simply because by His intercession He perpetuates His sacrifice; and His offering, though not repeated on earth, is incessantly presented in heaven. It was enough that He should once die to make atonement, seeing He ever lives to make intercession. He is now carrying on in heaven the very office and work which He commenced when upon earth; and, though there is no visible altar and no literal sacrifice, no endurance of anguish and no shedding of blood, yet still He presents vividly and energetically the works of His Passion, and the effect is the same as though He died daily, and acted over again and again the scene of His tremendous conflict with the powers of darkness. (E. Mason, D. D.)

The filthy can be made clean

In some of our factories the filthiest of rags are put through a purifying process and made clean. They enter the machine soiled and dirty, they come out beautifully white and clean sheets of paper. Thus will even a poor illustration show us that our righteousness is as filthy rags, but that through the blood of Christ we are washed and made white aa snow. (Silas Jones.)

And hath made us kings and priests unto God.--

Kings and priests

Now, observe that this dignity of kings and priests is conferred as by a definite act, contemporaneous with, or, at the most, immediately consequent on, the loosing from our sins. It is then a present dignity.

I. Jesus Christ, the great King, will crown us kings, too, if we will. Every man who has become the servant of Christ is the king and lord of everything else; to submit to Him is to rule all besides. Reign over what?

1. First, over the only kingdom that any man really has, and that is himself. We are meant to be monarchs of this tumultuous and rebellious kingdom within. We are like some of those little Rajahs whose states adjoin our British possessions, who have trouble and difficulty with revolted subjects, and fall back upon the great neighbouring power, saying: Come and help me: subdue my people for me, and I will put the territory into your hands. Go to Christ and say: Lord! they have rebelled against me! These passions, these lusts, these follies, these weaknesses, these sinful habits of mine, they have rebelled against me! What am I to do with them? Do Thou come and bring peace into the land; and Thine shall be the authority. And He will come and loose you from your sins, and make you kings.

2. And there is another realm over which we may rule; and that is, this bewitching and bewildering world of time and sense, with its phantasmagoria and its illusions and its lies, that draw us away from the real life and truth and blessedness. Do not let the world master you! It will, unless you have put yourself under Christs control. He will make you king over all outward things, by enabling you to despise them in comparison with the sweetness which you find in Him, and so to get the highest good out of them. He will make you their lord by helping you to use all the things seen and temporal as means to reach a fuller possession of the things unseen and eternal. Their noblest use is to be the ladder by which we climb to reach the treasures which are above. They are meant to be symbols of the eternal, like painted windows through which our eye may travel to the light beyond, which gives them all their brilliancy. If you want to be set free from all these things, to be lifted above them, to have a joy that they cannot touch, and an inward life which they will feed, and not thwart, such emancipation from their control, such power of using them for your highest purposes, can only be secured by taking Christ for your King and resting your souls upon Him.

3. And then, all things serve the soul that serves Christ.

II. The King, who is the Priest, makes us priests as well as kings. In what is the force of this grand conception of the Christian mans dignity? Four things make the priest--two of them express his standing, one of them his office, one of them his character. The priestly standing is marked by consecration and free access to God, the priestly office is sacrifice, the priestly character is purity. And these four things--consecration, direct access to God, the power of offering sacrifice which is acceptable to Him, and purity of life and heart--are the gifts of Christs hands to each of you, if you will have them. Every one that is perfect shall be as his Master, and even here on earth, the Christian life is the life of Christ in the soul, and consists in growing likeness to Him. Is He a King? So are we. Is He a Priest? So, therefore, are we. Is He a Son? So are we. Is He the Heir? So are we. Is He the Anointed? He that in Christ hath anointed us is God. His offices, His dignity, His character, His very life becomes ours, if we are His. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

The humility and dignity of the Christian life

(with verse 1):--

I. The humility of the Christian life.

1. The Christian life is a service: rendered to--

(1) God.

(2) Christianity.

(3) The Christian himself.

(4) Humanity.

It is--

(a) Great in requirement.

(b) Solemn in obligation.

(c) Eternal in reward.

2. The Christian life as a service is esteemed lowly.

II. The dignity of the Christian life.

1. It is a life of moral rulership. He is a moral king. He rules by prayer. Many conspiracies are formed against Him, but He outlives and controls them all.

2. It is a life of moral sacrifice. He is a priest, not domineering and exclusive, but loving and expansive in His sympathies.

III. The harmony between the king-hood and the servanthood.

1. The Christian is a king because he is a servant.

2. The Christian is a priest because he has a trust.

Lessons:

1. As servants of God let us do His work.

2. As kings of God, let us extend His kingdom.

3. As priests of God, let us offer His sacrifices. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)

Christians are kings

I. In respect of their birth and extraction. Their lineage is direct and undisputed from Him who is the fountain-head of all honour and authority. They hold in their veins the blood royal of heaven. Though not by natural, yet by spiritual birth, which is better, they are the sons of God; though not by succession or inheritance, yet by adoption which is equally valid, and yet more distinguishing.

II. In respect of their relations and allies.

1. They are members of a family, partly on earth and partly in heaven, which is all legitimate and royal; which is unstained by any inferior, impure admixture.

2. Their allies, too, are royal like themselves. Ye are come to Mount Sinai, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, and to Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant. Truly, our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son, Jesus Christ.

III. In respect of the dominion which they have been called to exercise. The empire of a Christian is his own heart--the kingdom of God is within him. And wisdom, says Solomon, the wisdom of self-government, is better than weapons of war--better, inasmuch as it supersedes the use of them; and he that ruleth his spirit is better, bolder, more truly courageous and noble, than he that taketh a city. Until ye thus become kings, you must needs remain, not only subjects, but slaves. You are not your own masters; your unruly lusts and passions have the command of you.

IV. To the exercise of this kingly dominion, there are princely, kingly revenues attached. Believers are not left to their own resources in maintaining their high dignity. In themselves, and in their own right, they are as poor and dependent after their elevation as they were before it; their ability to rule is derived exclusively from Him who gave them the authority to do so, who made them kings unto God! They are not only the allies, but the stipendiaries, so to speak, of Christ; they have all their riches from Him, and in Him. He is not only the Lord of their treasury, He is their treasury--their storehouse itself. In regard to temporal provision, they may indeed be poor--they often are so. But poor though they be, they always have enough--enough for their real, as distinguished from their imaginary wants. Besides, whatever they have, they have not by permission, or toleration merely, but by inheritance and of right. Then, as to their spiritual provision, if that is not--not only ample but abundant, they have themselves alone to blame for the deficiency. And voluntary poverty of this kind is not only unnecessary, it is injurious, it is sinful; it is dishonouring to Him who has made them what they are. The whole domain of Scripture is theirs--ever fresh and verdant--in which to expatiate and delight themselves: the wells of salvation are theirs--the upper springs, and the nether springs, from which to draw water with joy. Theirs are the treasures of grace--theirs is the hope of glory!

V. Yet, after all, it remains to be added, the chief part of the dignity to which believers are admitted is yet to come; or at least yet to be known and Ben. In the present state, it is the least part of it which is visible. Gods people below are kings in disguise. They are travelling, in the dress of pilgrims, to their dominions above. In conclusion, let me remark--

1. If the statements now given be true, there are few Christians who know what their privileges are; and fewer still, it is to be feared, who are careful to realise and enjoy them.

2. Let me say to those of you who are, or who believe yourselves to be, kings unto God, Be holy. To keep ones own heart with all diligence--to rule ones own unruly spirit, the temper, the appetites, the passions--to have that little member in subjection, which worketh mightily, and which no man can tame, that is to be a king. (J. Burns, D. D.)

Christians a royal priesthood

I. The functions or offices here assigned to believers.

1. They are made kings. Temporal power and dignity belong to earthly kings. To Christ, the great King, belong all Divine power and glory. And all His redeemed followers partake of His power and dignity.

(1) Christians are kings in respect of their power. They have wonderful power over all their enemies, if they are but careful how to use it and to put it forth. Thus they can resist the devil, until he flees from them. They can also resist their own evil tendencies, mortify the deeds of their bodies, crucify their flesh with its affections and lusts. And they can withstand the world, despising its allurements, and patiently enduring its frowns.

(2) Christians are also kings in dignity, as regards both their personal dignity and their bellowed glory.

(a) They partake of the personal dignity of kings. They have in them a kingly nature. There is a moral majesty in the character of all Gods children.

(b) Christians also partake of a borrowed dignity that is Divine. They partake of the glory that belongs to the Divine Redeemer. They are arrayed in the robes of His righteousness. Go to the dying-bed of a mighty, graceless monarch, and you find him, in the midst of weakness and of misery, hastening down to the sides of the pit. Go to the dying-bed of an humble child of God, and, though you find him on his pallet of straw, yielding to the power of dissolution, his face is radiant with the light of the Divine countenance, and with the hopes of glory that fill and cheer his heart; and already you see Satan, death, and hell dragged, as powerless, prostrate foes, at the chariot-wheels of his triumphing faith, and find him raising the song of victory ever all his enemies, as one who already feels that in Christ he is more than conqueror.

2. Christians are made priests.

(1) The foundation of the priesthood of Christians is their oneness with Christ. As bone of their bone, and flesh of their flesh, their surety and repreresentative, their sin-bearer, their righteousness, and their life, all that He did and suffered for them, and is doing for them, they are dealt with as having done and suffered themselves, as now doing in and with Him.

(2) The introduction of Christians into their priesthood.

(a) They are called to it by God.

(b) They are Divinely qualified and prepared for their priestly work.

They have been duly purified, being washed by Christ from their sins in His own blood. They are clothed in the necessary priestly vestments; for Christ has put upon them the garments of salvation; He has covered them with the robe of His righteousness (Isa_61:1-11.); He has arrayed them in that fine linen, white and clean, which is the righteousness of saints (chap. 19.); and they have an unction from the Holy one, a Divine anointing, an anointing of the Spirit, by which they are made to know and ]eve their priestly work (1Jn_2:1-29.). They are thus prepared to yield themselves unto God, as alive from the dead, through Jesus Christ.

(3) Thus called to their work, and qualified for it, they perform the duties of their priesthood, as the proper business of their life. They present their bodies a living sacrifice (Rom_12:1-21.). They present to God the sacrifice of a broken and contrite heart (Psa_51:1-19.). They offer the sacrifice of a living faith (Php_2:1-30.). They offer the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, or what are termed the calves of their lips (Hos_12:1-14., Heb_13:1-25.). They lay on Christ, as their altar, the deeds of love done by them to others; remembering that with such sacrifices God is well pleased (Heb_13:1-25., Php_4:1-23.), and that they are the odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable to God (Php_4:1-23.).

II. The inseparable connection between the royalty and the priesthood of Christians, between their work as kings and their work as priests. They have the honour, and exercise the power, of kings, because thus only can they be prepared to perform their duty as priests. For, as kings, they are laden with honours, make conquests, and in various ways put forth their power, and accumulate the fruits of its exercise, in order that, as priests, they may take their honours, resources, and conquests, and the varied fruits of their power, and consecrate them all to the service and glory of God.

III. The subordination of their kingly to their priestly office and work. The office of Christians, as priests, is higher than their office as kings. And the reason is found in the very nature of the offices of believers, as kings and as priests to God. For, as kings, they but rule over themselves, and over creation around, conquering and keeping under the spiritual enemies that fill and surround them, and causing the creatures around them to pay them tribute. But as priests, they turn their back upon creation, and their faces toward God, and stand in His immediate presence, and minister before His eternal throne. As kings, they but exhibit the honour with which they themselves are invested. But as priests, they are employed in giving all glory to God. They are thus not priestly kings, but kingly priests. They are a royal priesthood. This view of the subordination of their kingly to their priestly office and work, becomes more evident and impressive when we consider how their office, as kings, shall at length be in a great measure absorbed in their office as priests. For when, as kings, they have conquered sin and Satan, and death and hell, they shall come out of all their tribulation, and wash their robes, and make them white in the blood of the Lamb, and be before the throne of God, and, as priests, for ever serve Him day and night in His temple. And though, as kings, they shall at last appear with crowns of glory, yet, as priests, they shall take their crowns, and cast them at the feet of Him who bought them with His blood; and they shall then, and for ever, have it for their chief employment, to give, as priests, all glory to the Eternal. (W. Nixon.)

The responsibility of exaltation

Frederick the Great, before he became the Great, was seated with his roystering companions, and they were drinking and hallooing, and almost imbecile, when word came to him that his father was dead, and consequently the crown was to pass to him. He rose up from among the boisterous crew, and stepped and cried, Stop your fooling; I am Emperor! (T. de Witt Talmage.)

.

To Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.--

A glorified Christ

I desire to speak of Christ glorified. But how shall we learn what He is like on His throne? These dim eyes cannot pierce the skies and the clouds to see Him. Men look through their telescopes at the stars, and mere sparkling points of light prove to be burning suns. But no telescopes can reveal to us Christ on His throne. Some day we shall see Him as He is, but now no eye can behold Him. Yet human eyes have seen Him in vision since He went back to His glory, and those who saw Him have told us what they saw. The beloved disciple had a vision of His glory.

1. He appears as a glorified Lord. Very wonderful is the contrast between the Christ of the Gospels and the Christ of the Revelation. Yet they both are one. In the lowly Jesus of the Incarnation all the Divine glory was enshrined. Men did not see its outflashings, but the splendour was there. But now in heaven there is no longer any concealing or hiding of His glory. In our Lords intercessory prayer at the Last Supper He prayed, Now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own self with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was. This prayer was answered. He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.

2. We must not fail to notice that it is as man--God-man--that Jesus Christ is glorified. John saw in vision one like unto a Son of Man in the midst of the golden candlesticks. That is, Ha bore there in the glory the form of our humanity. It was that same body on whose bosom John leaned, whose feet Mary bathed with her ointment, which had lain in the grave, and in which Thomas saw the wounds--it was that same body that was taken up into heaven and seated at the right hand of the Father. As He never for a moment ceased to be God while here on the earth in lowly flesh, so He has never for a moment ceased to be man since ascending into the heavenly places. The Godhead and the humanity are forever inseparable. How near it brings Him to us to think of Him as really human still, in His eternal glory! How it exalts our thought of the dignity of humanity to remember that one of our race is on the throne of thrones!

3. Another feature of the glorified Christ, as He appeared in vision to John, was His complete victoriousness. We must never forget that His exaltation was won. He was crowned with glory and honour for the sufferings of death. Especially does He appear in Johns vision as victor over death. Those who were raised up before Him were only brought back to a few more years of the old life of struggle, pain, and sinning. They were still under deaths power, ant! had to die again. But Christ was born from death into life--not the old life of pain, infirmity, struggle, tears, and mortality, but into life--full, rich, blessed, immortal.

4. The vision of the glorified Christ shows Him deeply interested and active in our behalf in heaven. In Johns vision the risen Lord appears in the midst of the golden candlesticks. The golden candlesticks are the Churches of the Redeemer in this world. The vision then represents Christ as in the midst of His Churches, always with His people. He is still the Good Shepherd. The same truth is taught in another part of the same vision. He had in His right hand seven stars. The stars, we are told, are the Churches of the redeemed. The symbol is very beautiful. Christs Churches are stars in this dark world. But He held the stars in His right hand, the hand of strength and honour; so He holds His Churches in His right hand. The picture suggests guidance, security, help. Christianity cannot fail while the all-conquering Christ holds the Churches in His right hand. Let us look a little more closely into the manner of Christs activity in heaven for us. What does He do there on our behalf? Several things. Having all power in heaven and earth, He rules so that all things work together for good, not only for His Church at large, through the ages, but for every individual believer who trusts Him and follows Him. Shall we be afraid, amid enemies and storms and convulsions and conflicting providences, while the government of all things is in the hands that were pierced with the nails for our redemption? Another form of the activity of the glorified Christ in heaven is His intercession for us. (J. R. Miller, D. D.)

Thanksgiving

The angel of requests--so the legend runs--goes back from earth heavily laden every time he comes to gather up the prayers of men. But the angel of thanksgiving, of gratitude, has almost empty hands as he returns from his errands to this world. (J. R. Miller, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rev 1:4-6. John — The dedication of this book is contained in the 4th, 5th, and 6th verses; but the whole Revelation is a kind of letter. To the seven churches which are in Asia — That part of the Lesser Asia, which was then a Roman province. There had been several other churches planted here; but it seems these were now the most eminent. And it was among these that St. John had laboured most during his abode in Asia. In these cities there were many Jews. Such of them as believed, in each, were joined with the Gentile believers in one church. Grace be unto you, and peace — The favour of God, with all temporal and eternal blessings; from him who is, and who was, and who cometh, or, who is to come — A wonderful translation of the great name, JEHOVAH: He was of old, he is now, he cometh; that is, will be for ever. And from the seven Spirits which are before his throne — Christ is he who hath the seven Spirits of God. The seven lamps which burn before his throne are the seven Spirits of God. The Lamb hath seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God. Seven was a sacred number in the Jewish Church. But it did not always imply a precise number. It sometimes is to be taken figuratively, to denote completeness, or perfection. By these seven Spirits, not seven created angels, but the Holy Ghost, is to be understood; the angels are never termed Spirits in this book; and when all the angels stand up, while the four living creatures, and the four and twenty elders, worship him that sitteth upon the throne, and the Lamb, the seven Spirits neither stand up nor worship. To these seven Spirits of God, the seven churches, to whom the Spirit speaks so many things, are subordinate; as are also their angels, yea, and the seven angels which stand before God. He is called, The seven Spirits, not with regard to his essence, which is one, but with regard to his manifold operations. And from Jesus Christ, the faithful Witness, the First- begotten from the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth — Three glorious appellations are here given him, and in their proper order. He was the faithful Witness of the whole will of God before his death, and in death, and remains such in glory. He rose from the dead, as the first-fruits of them that slept; and now hath all power both in heaven and earth. He is here styled a Prince. But by and by, he bears his title of King; yea, King of kings, and Lord of lords. This phrase, the kings of the earth, signifies their power and multitude, and also the nature of their kingdom. It became the Divine Majesty to call them kings with a limitation; especially in this manifesto from his heavenly kingdom. For no creature, much less a sinful man, can bear the title of king in an absolute sense, before the eyes of God. To him that loved us, and — Out of that free, abundant love, hath washed us from the guilt and power of our sins with his own blood; And hath made us kings — Partakers of his present, and heirs of his eternal kingdom; and priests unto God and his Father — To whom we continually offer ourselves, a holy, living sacrifice; to him be the glory — For his love and redemption; and the might — Whereby he governs all things.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2. The dedication to the Seven Churches, Rev_1:4-8.

4. John—Adverse, and we may add, perverse criticism asks, If this were truly St. John, why does he nowhere style himself apostle? We reply that he does not write himself apostle just because he was St. John. There may have been, in the seven Churches, many Johns, but everybody knew that to the Churches there was but one John in Asia. Had any other John than he attempted thus to address, admonish, rebuke, command, and threaten these seven Churches, he would have gained no audience.

Seven—The best treatise in English on the apocalyptic numbers is in Stuart’s first volume, largely taken, with due credit, from Bahr, a condensation of which we have given at the end of our notes on Luke 6.

It has been argued that the Apocalypse was written at an early date, because this address shows that there were as yet but seven Churches in Asia. It might as well be assumed that but “seven trumpets” were sounded because but seven were within reach. Seven Churches, like numerous other apocalyptic sevens, are selected under the symbolic seven-form law that rules in the book. Says Stuart: “Whether the Churches of that day, in Asia, were limited to that number is a question easily solved; for in Col_4:13 the Church at Hierapolis is mentioned in connexion with that at Laodicea, and the former is in the neighbourhood of the latter. Colosse also was in the immediate neighbourhood of Laodicea. So, in a few years later than when the Apocalypse was written, we know there were large and flourishing Churches in Tralles, where Ignatius lived, and at Magnesia in its neighbourhood, both in Lydia, and but a moderate distance from Ephesus.” Stuart, be it remembered, maintained the Neronian date of the Apocalypse, but he here fully refutes those who maintain that early date on the ground that there were as yet but seven Churches in Asia when the book was written.

Asia—Proconsular Asia, so called because ruled by a Roman proconsul at Ephesus. Matthew Arnold, in a note to one of his poems, says: “The name Europe (Ευρωπη, the wide prospect) probably describes the appearance of the European coast to the Greeks on the coast of Asia Minor, opposite. The name of Asia, derived from (ασιος, fatal, again comes, it has been thought, from the muddy fens of the rivers of Asia Minor, such as the Cayster or Maeander, which struck the imagination of the Greeks living near them.” Proconsular Asia, as may be seen upon our map, embraces the three provinces of Mysia, Lydia, and Caria, bordering upon the Hellespont. The seven Churches were mostly in Lydia. The different extensions of territory covered by the term Asia are thus well defined by Elliott: “The word Asia was used by the Romans in four senses:

1. For the whole Asiatic continent, as opposed to Europe and Africa; 2. For Asia Minor in its largest sense, including Cilicia and other districts beyond the Taurus; 3. For the same in its smaller sense, embracing only the provinces within the Taurus; 4. For Lydian Asia, or, as it was called towards the end of the first century, Proconsular Asia, extending along the coast from Pergamos to Caria, and inland to the Phrygian frontier, or a little beyond it.

Grace… peace—This Pauline form of benediction was familiar both to Ephesus and the other Asiatic Churches from the epistles of that great apostle, and John’s adoption of it clearly indicates that there was no antagonism between the two apostles and their friends, as was imagined by such writers as Baur and Renan. Is…

was… to come—The threefold divisions under which our minds are obliged to think all time, and so used to express the eternity of Him. The threefold phrase expresses the import of the word JEHOVAH. The elevation of the prophetic style induces the seer to refer to this name for God; and from the reverence with which the utterance of the divine name was avoided by the Jews, he gives the import, and not the name itself. The phrase, though dependent on the preposition from, is sacredly preserved by John as a nominative, thus attaining an expressive emphasis above the ordinary rules of grammar.

The seven spirits—Stuart and others maintain that these are “the seven presence angels,” in regard to which see our note on Rev_8:2. But it seems inadmissible to make grace and peace proceed from mere creatures, and that in position between two of the persons of the Trinity.

As seven is the number of completeness, the one spirit is styled seven in allusion to the perfect manifoldness of his operations. The one Spirit is the seven spirits, as the one atmosphere is “the four winds.” These spirits do not “stand” before Him, like serving waiters or watchers, as Rev_8:2 : they are before his throne, as also is the Lamb.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 4-8. The address and greeting. Of this section only vers. 4-6 are, strictly speaking, the salutation; vers. 7, 8 constitute a kind of summary, or prelude ver. 7 being more closely connected with what precedes, ver. 8 with what follows. The salutation proper (vers. 4-6) should be compared with the salutations in St. Paul"s Epistles.

John. Evidently some well-known John, otherwise some designation would be necessary. Would any but the apostle have thus written to the Churches of Asia? St. Paul had some need to insist upon his being an apostle; St. John lend none. To the seven Churches. From the earliest times it has been pointed out that the number seven here is not exact, but symbolical; it does exclude other Churches, but symbolizes all. Thus the Muratorian Fragment: "John in the Apocalypse, though he wrote to the seven Churches, yet speaks to all." Augustine: "By the seven is signified the perfection of the universal Church, and by writing to seven he shows the fulness of the one." So also Bede: "Through these seven Churches he writes to every Church; for by the number seven is denoted universality, as the whole period of the world revolves on seven days;" and he points out that St. Paul also wrote to seven Churches. Compare the seven pillars of the house of wisdom, (Pro_9:1) the seven deacons, (Act_6:3) the seven gifts of the Spirit. The number seven appears repeatedly in the Apocalypse; and that it is arbitrary and symbolical is shown by the fact that there were other Churches besides these seven Colossae, Hierapolis, Tralles, Magnesia, Miletus. The repeated formula, "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the Churches," proves that the praise and blame distributed among the seven are of universal application. Asia means the Roman proconsular province of Asia, i.e. the western part of Asia Minor. (comp. 1Co_16:19) Grace be unto you, and peace. This combination occurs in the salutations of St. Peter and St. Paul. It unites Greek and Hebrew elements, and gives both a Christian fulness of meaning. From him which is. Why should not we be as bold as St. John, and disregard grammar for the sake of keeping the Divine Name intact? St. John writes, apo d wn , k.t.l. not apo tou ontov , k.t.l. "If in Exo_3:14 the words may run, "I AM hath sent me unto you," may we not also be allowed to read here, "from HE THAT IS, AND THAT WAS, AND THAT IS TO COME"?" (Lightfoot, "On Revision," p. 133). Note the o hn to represent the nominative of the past participle of einai , which does not exist, and with the whole expression compare "The same yesterday, and today, and forever". (Heb_13:8) Here every clause applies to the Father, not one to each Person; the three Persons are marked by the three prepositions, "from... and from... and from." It is a mistake to interpret o ercomenov either of the mission of the Comforter or of the second advent. The seven Spirits. The Holy Spirit, sevenfold in his operations. (Rev_5:6) They are before his throne, ever ready for a mission from him. (comp. Rev_7:15) The number seven once more symbolizes universality, plenitude, and perfection; that unity amidst variety which marks the work of the Spirit and the sphere of it, the Church.

Vers. 4-6. Salutation and song.

The writer of the book again gives us his name: "John." It is extremely unlikely, as the name John was by no means uncommon, that any other John than the apostle would have given his name thus briefly and without a word of explanation. Those to whom the book was addressed are "the seven Churches which are in Asia." It does not lie within our province here to inquire whether these seven Churches are selected from others," to symbolize the whole Church of God." We rather regard them as indicating the circle over which the influence of the Apostle John was chiefly felt, from his home at Ephesus. They range over about one third of the district of Asia, called Asia Minor, not far from its western seaboard. There is a separate letter for each of the Churches, which are distinct in their formation, responsibility, danger, duty, and fault. But what precedes these letters, and also what follows them, is for the whole of them, that they may read, hear, keep, and transmit to those that should follow after. We have in these three verses

I A SALUTATION. Here is evidently an outbreathing of holy love. But in what light are we to regard it? Is it the aged apostle himself expressing his own fervent desires that grace and peace may rest upon the seven Churches? or does he pen these words by commission of the Holy Ghost, as Heaven"s own benediction? Exegetically, either view is tenable. Doctrinally, both would undoubtedly be included, since the actual difference between the two resolves itself into this: if the words were suggested to him, it would be the Holy Ghost that commissioned him thus to write; if they were prompted by his own apostolic fervour, it would be the Holy Ghost who stirred in him thus to feel; either way, therefore, the outbreathing is the result of a Divine inbreathing. This greeting to believers resolves itself into two parts.

1. Here are great blessings specified. They are two.

(1) Grace. It is one of the most interesting historical features of early Christianity, and one of the most striking evidences that with it a new life dawned in the world, that from the very beginning of the Christian era there are both new epitaphs over the pious dead, and new benedictions for these who are living. This is an illustration. The word "grace," though a translation of a word that was common enough in the Greek language (cariv), yet puts on a vastly grander meaning as soon as ever it is applied in distinctively Christian thought. The writings of the Apostle Paul had given it a sublimity before unknown. The word is used a hundred times in his Epistles, but only six times by John. Yet, in his use of it, it conveys a world of meaning. (Joh_1:14, Joh_1:16, 17 2Jn_1:3 Rev_1:4 Rev_22:21)

(2) Peace. Another word which, as light from Christ and his cross shines upon it, has a beauty not its own. (Joh_14:27 Joh_16:33 Joh_20:19, Joh_20:21, Joh_20:26; cf. Eph_2:14 Col_1:20 Php_4:7) There is a peace

(a) possessed,

(b) made,

(c) imparted and sustained peace with God; peace in God; peace of conscience; peace in hope.

2. The Divine origin of these blessings is here named. They come from the Trinity in Unity. The doctrine of the Trinity is never taught in Scripture as an ontological abstraction, but a glorious reality for faith to accept and life to receive.

(1) From the Father. "From him which is, and which was, and who is coming." The great I AM eternally self-existent, and yet who is, as it were, ever moving forward, unrolling on the page of history his unfinished and unfinishable Name.

(2) From the Holy Ghost: represented here in his sevenfold majesty, as the Source of the manifold energy which streams from the eternal throne.

(3) From the Lord Jesus, as

(a) a Testifier of the truth from heaven,

(b) the Beginner of the new realm of life,

(c) the King of kings.

Here are truth, life, power. The sovereignty of the world is Christ"s. In him only are the temporal and spiritual authority rightly and effectively joined. How rich and full is this salutation!

If such blessings come from such a Source, then they are

(1) sure,

(2) constant,

(3) eternal,

(4) personal,

(5) beyond the reach of alien forces.

Thus we are brought within sight of another theme for meditation, though it is not possible for us here to enlarge thereon; viz. the real endowment and large wealth of the Church of God.

II A SONG OF PRAISE. The apostle, ere he launches forth on the disclosures which have been made to him, seems to give relief to his overburdened soul in the rapturous words of the fifth verse. He would have all believers join with him in one united chorus of gladsome thanksgiving. In expounding this song, let us first examine the basis of it, and then its contents.

1. The basis of the song. Again and again do prophet and psalmist invite us to "sing unto the Lord." Apostles oft bid us "rejoice in the Lord." But People will not, cannot sing joyously, unless there be something to make them glad, and thus to inspire the song. The basis of this song is twofold:

(1) There has been a great work effected. A double work.

(a) Evil removed. "Loosed us from our sins (so Revised Version). The burden of sin and guilt once rested heavily. The guilt is cancelled by a forgiving word, the sin cleansed by purifying grace. And this has been done at no less a cost than the sacrifice of himself his blood." Blood. Not the material fluid. Even the Levitical Law should raise our thoughts above that. "The blood thereof, which is the life thereof". (Lev_17:11, Lev_17:14) The blood of Christ is so precious because of the life in laying down which it was shed. He came and stood in our place, and, by bearing our burdens and atoning for our guilt, acquired a perfect right to loose the Penitent forever from his load.

(b) Privilege bestowed. "He made us to be a kingdom." The pardoned and renewed souls form a new creation of redeeming grace the kingdom of heaven upon earth. "Priests." Every believer is a priest unto God. He stands, as it were, between a world that knows not God, and him whom to know is life; that so he may point the way, yea, lead the wanderer home; that he may plead with him for God, and plead with God for him; thus fulfilling the truly priestly function of helping man Godward.

(2) There is a love constantly vouchsafed. "Unto him that loveth us (tw agapwnti)" (Revised Version). The work effected is complete. The love which resteth on believers abideth evermore. To be perpetually an object of redeeming love may well move the heart to joy, and tune the lips to song! But what will the song be? Let us notice:

2. The contents of the song. We see at once that it is a song of praise to the Lord Jesus Christ. As the blessings descend from him and through him, so shall the praises of believers rise to him.

(1) The honour of achieving all this good is attributed to him. "To him be the glory all the glory. "Nothing brought him from above, Nothing but redeeming love.

He could, as Creator, have blotted man out of being for his transgressions, and have brought nobler souls into life. But no; he rushed to our rescue, and gave up his life to ensure our own. He did all the work, and of it he shall bear the glory.

(2) The everlasting royalty is ascribed to him. "And the dominion (to kratov)." The word means one or more of three things strength, sway, victory. Here all three are included. Infinite might is his, who spoiled principalities and powers, and triumphed over them in himself. The sway of souls is his. He who died for them and he alone is worthy to rule them. To this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord. And the ultimate victory shall be his. "He must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet." It seems as if this song were the gladsome echo of the words, "the Ruler of the kings of the earth." For to this royalty of the Son of God the believer responds in triumphant jubilation. The will of the saved one is not only in entire acquiescence therewith, but he could not endure the thought of the world"s sovereignty being anywhere else than in the hands of the Son of God. Yea, more, it is the thought of this sovereignty of Christ that makes his heart swell with noblest joy. For only those pierced hands can be trusted to guide earth"s chariot wheels. Only he who died for man shall by man be owned as Lord. Only this will be his fitting recompense for Calvary"s woes, that the royal diadem encircling his brow shall be there amid the hallelujahs and praise of those whom he has redeemed, pardoned, sanctified, and glorified! How vast will the "gathering of the people be"! How ecstatic their cry, "Crown him, crown him, King of kings and Lord of lords"!

Vers. 4-7. The apostolic salutation.

The servant John, by no other name known, in fulfilment of his duty as the one by whom the great revelation was "sent and signified," hurries to pronounce his salutation to "the seven Churches which are in Asia typical examples of the one Church in its sevenfold, universal experience.

I The salutation INVOKES BLESSINGS:

1. Of the highest character: "grace and peace." The entire revelation is, for the Church, a revelation of "grace and peace." It begins in grace; it terminates in peace. These the alpha and omega of gospel blessings, the origin and end. All is of God"s grace; all tends to peace in man to peace universal.

2. From the Source of all good, the Triune Source of all blessing. From the Eternalhim which is, and which was, and which is to come the I AMJehovah; from the sevenfold Spirit; and from Jesus Christ, "the faithful Witness, the Firstborn of the dead, the Ruler of the kings of the earth." These ascriptions have special reference to the condition and necessities of the Church, whose living Head is "all in all." Christ, the Revelation of the Father, becomes prominent.

II The salutation, therefore, ASCRIBES GLORY AND UNENDING DOMINION unto him; declaring

(1) his love;

(2) his redeeming work, fruit of that love; and

(3) his constitution of his Church as a priestly kingdom a kingdom of which he is the supreme Sovereign; a kingdom of priests, to offer up spiritual sacrifice continually, acceptable unto God.

III The salutation further PROCLAIMS THE SECOND COMING of that Lord Jesus Christ who is the central theme of all the following revelation.

1. The fact of it.

2. Accompanying circumstances of it: "with the clouds.

3. In view of all: "Every eye shall see him.

4. Special reference to offenders: "And they which pierced him.

5. Consequence universal mourning: "All the tribes of the earth shall mourn over him.

Our hearts echo the cry, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus. Amen. R.G.

Vers. 4, 5 (first part). Man divinely dignified.

"John to the seven Churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you," etc. These words lead us to look on man as divinely dignified. Morally, men are degraded creatures; they have degraded themselves and they degrade one another. Man may and should honour his brother, but he cannot dignify him; if he is to be dignified at all he must dignify himself, and this he can only do as God wills and helps him. In these words he appears as divinely dignified in two respects.

I MAN IS DIVINELY DIGNIFIED AS A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE DIVINE. John is here employed to represent Divine things "to the seven Churches which are in Asia" (ver. 4). The men who are employed by worldly kings though they may be in a moral sense contemptible beings esteem it a great honour to be their representatives in foreign courts. But how infinite the honour of him who is employed by the King "eternal, immortal, invisible"!

1. He represents Divine good. "Grace be unto you, and peace." Divine favour and Divine bliss, the sum total these of the highest good in all worlds and times.

2. He represents the Divine Being. He represents him:

(1) In his absolute existence. "From him which is, and which was, and which is to come" (ver. 4). This is a periphrasis for the incommunicable name of Jehovah, the "I AM," the Unnamable and the Nameless, who is without beginning, without change, without succession, without end. Such a Being exists, and all men instinctively feel after him and forge for him names of great variety, but none appropriate the Unknown and the Unknowable.

(2) In his spiritual influence. "From the seven Spirits which are before his throne" (ver. 4). Does the seven mean the totality, or variety in unity, the one essence multiform in influence? The One Eternal wields endless influences through every part of his universe material, intellectual, and moral. The well has many streams, the sun unnumbered beams.

(3) In his transcendent Messiah. "And from Jesus Christ Christ the Anointed, the Messiah of God. This divinely anointed One is here set forth in three aspects.

(a) In relation to truth. "Who is the Faithful Witness." What is truth? Reality. Christ came to bear witness of the reality of realities. As a Witness of God, Christ was a competent Witness. He was intellectually competent. He knew God. "No man hath seen God at any time; the Only Begotten of the Father," he alone knew the Absolute. He was morally competent. He had no motive to misrepresent him. He alone had the moral qualifications fully to represent him. You must be pure to represent purity, just to represent justice, loving to represent love.

(b) In relation to immortality. The "First Begotten of the dead" (ver. 5). How was he the First Begotten of the dead; for did not Lazarus rise from the grave? Not in time, but in importance. He arose by his own power. No one else ever did. He arose as the Representative of risen saints. "Our vile body shall be fashioned and made like unto his glorious body.

(c) In relation to empire. "The Prince of the kings of the earth." All power is given unto him. "He is exalted far above all heavens." Thrones, principalities, dominions, all are subject to him.

II MAN IS DIVINELY DIGNIFIED AS A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE DIVINE TO MAN. "John to the seven Churches which are in Asia" (ver. 4). "The enumeration which presently follows," says Dr. Vaughan, "of the Churches designed, shows that Asia is here used in its narrowest sense: not of the quarter of the globe so denominated, not even of Asia Minor, but of one province on the western side of that country, expressly distinguished in two well-known passages of the Acts of the Apostles, from Cappadocia and Pontus, from Phrygia and Pamphylia, from Galatia, Mysia, and Bithynia." Not only is he divinely dignified who is employed as the Messenger of the Divine, but he to whom the Divine is sent. The seven congregations in Asia Minor were highly honoured of God as the objects of his redemptive message. How dignified of God is the man who is made at once the Recipient and the Messenger of Divine thoughts! D.T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES

Rev_1:4. Churches.—Or congregations. Asia.—The single province, not the whole Asia Minor. It may have been the province in which St. John had chiefly laboured. The Seven Churches are taken as types of the varieties in the churches which make up together the one Church. Seven is the perfect number. Him which is, etc.—God Himself. Note how jealously apostles guard against the possibility of being so interested in Christ as to lose the sense of God. Christ Himself never would come between souls and God, and He will not now. Seven spirits.—Or the one spirit, with differing manifestations. The Holy Ghost must be meant. It is difficult, however, to see why He should be represented as before the throne. Possibly the allusion is to the attendants about God’s throne who reverently agree in what God does.

Rev_1:5. Jesus Christ.—This combines His human name, “Jesus,” and His human office, “Christ,” i.e., Messiah. St. John is the apostle of the veritable humanity. Faithful Witness.—Alluding to the teaching work of His human life. First begotten.—R.V. first-born, which conveys the idea of the text. Christ was the first person born into that spiritual, eternal life, into which we must be born. Prince, etc.—True ruler of mankind, because King in the spiritual sphere, which must necessarily control the material. Bishop Carpenter well says: “The disposition to dwell on the future and more visibly recognised reign of Christ hereafter has tended to obscure the truth of His present reign. He is the real King of kings.” Washed us … blood.—Clearly a strong figure. Taken literally it carries no meaning, for nothing ever is, or can be, washed in blood. It will appear again and again in this book, and, indeed, elsewhere in the New Testament, that Christ’s “blood” stands as a figure for the strenuousness of His endeavour in carrying out His redemptive mission, which mission is figured as “washing us from our sins.” The sentence giving the key to the use of the term is this: “Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin” (Heb_12:4).

Rev_1:6. Kings and priests.—R.V. “to be a kingdom, to be priests”; see 1Pe_2:5. The service which Christ’s redeemed and cleansed ones are called to render is partly represented by the service of a king, and partly by the service of a priest.

Rev_1:7. With clouds.—Mar_14:62. Either as with a glory which must be tempered by clouds, or magnificently surrounded with clouds, or set against a background of clouds, so as to stand out most impressively. There is also the idea that, being in the sky, all eyes can be turned up to Him. But we should clearly see that Christ’s coming is figured, not described; indeed, it cannot be described in human language. Pierced.—Joh_19:34. Type of those who pierced Christ, in a spiritual sense, in every age.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Rev_1:4-7

A Salutation, a Doxology, and a Prophecy.—It is important to notice distinctly to whom this book of Revelation is addressed. It is neither sent to the world in general, nor meant for the world in general; and it takes a point of view which makes it wholly incomprehensible to the world in general. It is altogether a mistake for men who have not the special illumination of the Holy Spirit, which belongs exclusively to the new, Divine life in men, to seek in the book of Revelation for any events or details of human history. The book is prepared for, and addressed exclusively to, the regenerate persons who are in the fellowship of seven particular Christian Churches, but to these Churches as representing the whole Church of Jesus Christ in that age, and so to the whole Church of Jesus Christ in every age. The book of Revelation is, strictly and exclusively, a Christian’s book. It is no disclosure of the progress of human history, even to him; it is the assurance—which is a most gracious and inspiring assurance to him—that the Living Lord Jesus is ruling, controlling, and using all the movements of men, all the calamities of nature, and even all the ills and evils brought in by men’s bad passions, for His purposes in the disciplining and perfecting of His Church. It is the book of Revelation of Christ’s triumph over all material and all human evils, in the interest of His Church. Keeping this in mind will greatly help our understanding of the book, which may properly be called “Christ in History for His Church’s sake.”

I. The salutation.—“Grace and peace” are familiar to us as the Old Hebrew salutation, “Peace be unto you!”—instinct with the new Christian feeling which recognises peace to be dependent on grace. What is peculiar in this salutation is the threefold source from which St. John expects the grace and peace to come.

1. From God, the Being who is thought of as outside of and independent of time. “From everlasting to everlasting thou art God.” This thought of God must be seen in precise relation to the contents of the book. Such are the commotions and the woes of the human story, that men might easily be so unduly oppressed by them as to fear that they were even beyond God’s control. So St. John starts with such an assertion concerning God as involves His absolute superiority—beyondness. All the earth-story is but a day in His eternal years. The conflicts of earth are to Him but as a play fight of children to a father. He holds it all in control, and can give peace in the power of His grace.

2. From the representatives of the Church. “The seven Spirits which are before the throne” (see “Critical Notes”; and Special Note from Moses Stuart). It would be unnatural to bring in the Holy Ghost here, because of the attitude; because of the unnatural description,—“seven Spirits”—and because St. John does not usually deal with the work of the Spirit. He is the apostle of the Person of Christ, human, and glorified. God is thought of under figure of an Eastern king, seated on His throne, surrounded by His courtiers, who cheerfully echo His wishes, and join in wishing for the Church on earth “peace through grace.”

3. From the Son of God, as the mediatorial agent for administering God’s grace to His Church, and so bringing to it peace. Christ is presented in a threefold form, as Witness, New-Born, and Prince. This description must be seen in relation to the contents of the book, and then we see Christ as the Witness for God who prepares the Church for what is coming; as the first to possess that new spiritual life which is to be subjected to the strain of all these earthly associations; and as the Prince—Immanuel commissioned by Shaddai—to do the actual ruling and over-ruling of everything in the interests of the Church.

II. The doxology.—Rev_1:5-6. This is dealt with fully in one of the Outlines. We only notice here that praise is offered for

(1) Christ’s self-sacrificing love;

(2) for the cleansing which that self-sacrificing love effects; and

(3) for the honour which Christ brings for those whom He has cleansed. Two things are desired for Christ; present honour—that honour and glory which come from full trust and loyal service; and final triumph, the hastening of the day when everything shall be put under His feet. The doxologies grow in strength in this book. Here twofold; in Rev_4:9-11, threefold; in Rev_5:13, fourfold; in Rev_7:12, sevenfold.

III. From prophecy.—Rev_1:7. The explanation of this verse depends on our regarding it as indicating what Christ’s coming will be to the Church, or to the world. Probably St. John is briefly declaring what it will be to all who have not been cleansed by Christ from their sins. To Christians, Christ is presented as the Living One, who has come, who is here, and who is now working for them amid world-scenes. But what is Christ to the world? Only the coming One who comes for judgment. The picture of the coming fixes attention on the manifestation of Christ in the majesty and terror of surrounding clouds. Then it bids us see the upturned eyes, and hear the hopeless wail, of unrepentant humanity. For the Saviour of moral beings must become their Judge when His saving grace toward them has been finally despised and refused. Christ coming to a world of sinners can but be an appalling revelation to them. Seeing Him, they will know what they have lost, and what they have to fear. In the righteous dealings of God the good man cannot fail to coincide. “Even so, Amen.” But this must in no way be represented as gloating over the woes of the lost. What is right for God to do, is right for God’s servants to approve. And “shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”

Note on Rev_1:4. “Seven Spirits”; so Rev_3:1, Rev_4:5, Rev_5:6. In the second of these passages it would be possible to understand the names of seven chief angels (see Rev_8:2); but here it would scarcely seem possible that creatures should be, not merely coupled with the Creator as sources of blessing, but actually thrust into the midst of His being, between the two Divine Persons. “The seven Spirits,” thus made co-ordinate with the Father and the Son, can scarcely be other than the Holy Ghost, who is known to us in His sevenfold operations and gifts, and who, perhaps, has some sevenfold character in Himself which we cannot and need not understand, but of which there seem to be intimations in the passages of this book referred to, and in Zec_3:9; Zec_4:10, by which these are certainly to be illustrated.—W. H. Simcox. M.A.

SUGGESTIVE NOTES AND SERMON SKETCHES

Rev_1:4. The Number Seven.—It may not be inappropriate to note that Philo speaks of the number seven in its mystical import as identical with unity, as unity developed in diversity, and yet remaining one. The after recurrence in this book of the number seven is selected to support the thought of completeness and variety; the dramatic unity is preserved, though the scenes which are unfolded are amply diversified; and the seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven vials, are not three successive periods, but three aspects of one complete period, presided over by that one Spirit whose guidance may be seen in all ages and in diverse ways.—Bishop Boyd Carpenter.

Seven Spirits.—There are three possible explanations of this term which claim our careful consideration.

(1) It may mean God, regarded as a most perfect Spirit;

(2) it may mean the Holy Spirit, endowed with a most perfect nature; or

(3) it may mean the seven archangels, or presenceangels, who stand near the throne of God, and are (so to speak) prime ministers in the execution of His will.

The Seven Spirits.—No one who has studied the mystic use of the number “seven” will wonder to find the infinitude of the power and the glories of the Holy Ghost expressed in the language, “the seven Spirits.” The Holy Ghost is described as “before the throne,” to convey, with the idea of equality, His continual procession from the Father and from the Son. There is another reason why the Holy Ghost is called “the Seven Spirits”—in that sevenfold action by which He works upon the soul of a man.

I. The office of reproving or convincing.—“He shall reprove the world of sin.” To show us what we are, to make us feel sin, is the Spirit’s first work.

II. The showing of Christ.—“He convinces of righteousness.” There is no other power that ever can, or will, reveal the Saviour to a sinner’s soul.

III. The Holy Ghost comforts.—All the Spirit’s comfortings have to do with Jesus Christ. He never uses the commonplaces of man’s consolation. He makes Christ fill the empty place, and exhibits the loveliness of Christ’s person, and the sufficiency of Christ’s work.

IV. The Holy Ghost teaches.—He admits the believer into those deeper hidden meanings which lie buried under the surface of the Word. He assists the memory and makes it retentive of holy things. There are none who teach like this Teacher, because He knows all things—not the lesson only, but the learner also.

V. The Holy Ghost sanctifies.—He prompts every good desire and right thought. He gives the taste for spiritual things, and prepares the timid for the occupations and enjoyments of a higher world.

VI. The Holy Ghost intercedes.—Not as Christ, who carries on His work without us and prays for us in heaven; but He inwardly, throwing Himself into the soul, prays. All true prayer in a man is the prayer of the Holy Spirit.

VII. The Holy Ghost seals the soul.—He lays on the believer that stamp with the name and the image of God which every power in earth, or in heaven, or in hell, shall recognise. This is “the seven Spirits which are before the throne.” I thank God the “seven” are one and the one is “seven.” Where He fulfils one of His blessed offices, there, sooner or later, He will assuredly fulfil them all.—James Vaughan, M.A.

Rev_1:4-5. The Gifts of Christ as Witness, Risen, and Crowned.—So loftily did John, in his old age, come to think of his Lord. The words of the text are not only remarkable in themselves, and in the order in which they give these three aspects of our Lord’s character, but remarkable also in that they occur in an invocation in which the apostle is calling down blessings from heaven on the heads of his brethren.

I. How do “grace and peace” come to us from the “Faithful Witness”?—“Witness” is one of St. John’s most familiar words. He received it from Christ Himself, who claimed to be, in an eminent and special sense, the Witness to the world. Witness of what? Mainly about God. All our highest, and purest, and best knowledge of God comes from the life, and conduct, and character, of Jesus Christ. The name “Witness” indicates the characteristic and remarkable manner of our Lord’s testimony. The task of a witness is to affirm; and our Lord makes His words stand on their own evidence, or, rather, depend upon His veracity. The name bears, too, on the ground of His testimony. A faithful witness is an eye-witness. That Christ claims to be in His witness concerning God. Is there not, then, grace and peace brought to us all from that faithful Witness and from His credible testimony?

II. We have grace and peace from the Conqueror of death.—He is the “first-born from the dead,” the resurrection being looked upon as a kind of birth into a higher order of life.

1. The resurrection of Christ is the confirmation of His testimony. In it He is “declared to be the Son of God.” All the truth, and peace, and grace, and hope, which flow to us from the witness of Jesus Christ to the Father are neutralised and destroyed unless we believe in the resurrection from the dead. His words may still remain gracious and true in a measure, only all dashed with the terrible mistake that He asserted that He would rise again, and rose not. Strike away the resurrection, and you fatally damage the witness of Jesus. You cannot strike the supernatural out of Christianity and keep the natural. Moreover, faith in the resurrection gives us a living Lord to confide in. And in Him, and in His resurrection-life, we are armed for victory over that foe whom He has conquered.

III. We have grace and peace from the King of kings.—The series of aspects of Christ’s work here is ranged in order of time, in so far as the second follows the first and the third flows from both; though we are not to suppose that our Lord has ceased to be the Faithful Witness when He has ascended His sovereign throne.

1. He is “Prince of the kings of the earth” just because He is “the Faithful Witness.” That is to say, His dominion is the dominion of the truth; His dominion is a kingdom over men’s wills and spirits: such rule rests upon His witness.

2. He is “Prince of the kings of the earth” because in that witness He dies, and so becomes a “martyr” to the truth. His dominion rests on love and sacrifice. He is the King because He is the Sacrifice.

3. Because He has risen again. His resurrection has been the step mid-way, as it were, between the humiliation of earth and death, and the loftiness of the Throne. By it He has climbed to His place at the right hand of God. He is King and Prince, then, by right of truth, love, sacrifice, death, resurrection. And King to what end? That He may send grace and peace. Is there no peace for a man’s heart in feeling that the Brother that loves him and died for him rules over all the perplexities of life, the confusions of providence, the sorrows of a world, and the corruptions of his own nature? Is it not enough to drive away fears, to anodyne cares, to disentangle perplexities, to quiet disturbances, to make the coward brave, and the feeble strong, and the foolish wise, and the querulous patient, to think that Christ is King, and that the Hands which were nailed to the cross wield the sceptre, and that He who died for me rules the universe, and rules me?—A. Maclaren, D.D.

Rev_1:4-6. The Song of the Forgiven.—Not every gift calls forth a song; but this gift of forgiveness is worthy of, and has obtained, one.

I. This gift of pardon is necessary for the Church.

II. It was purchased at a great cost.

III. Love prompted its bestowment.

IV. It is bestowed freely.

V. Like all the benefactions of love, it is bestowed promptly.

VI. It is all-inclusive.

VII. It brings with it all other blessings.—R. A. Bertram.

Rev_1:5. Christ’s Present Love and its Great Act.—R.V. “Unto Him that loveth us, and looseth us from our sins by His blood.”

I. The ever-present, timeless love of Jesus Christ.—St. John wrote nearly half a century after Jesus Christ was buried, and he proclaims, not a past love, not a Christ that lived long ago, but a Christ that lives now; and he speaks as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” This is unintelligible, unless we believe Christ to be Divine. He loves us with an everlasting love, because He is God manifest in the flesh. The Divine nature of the Lord Jesus Christ is woven through the whole of the book of Revelation, like a golden thread. Christ’s love, then, is

(1) unaffected by time, for it is the love of One who is Divine. As of all His nature, so of all His love, we may be sure that time cannot bound it. And it is

(2) not disturbed or absorbed by multitudes. He loveth us. It is

(3) unexhausted by exercise, pouring itself ever out, and ever full notwithstanding. It is

(4) a love unchilled by the sovereignty and glory of His exaltation. There is a wonderful difference between the Christ of the gospels and the Christ of the Revelation: But the nature behind the differing circumstances is the same.

II. The great act in time which is the outcome and proof of this endless love.—“He looseth us.” The metaphor is that of bondage. We are held and bound by the chains of our sins. Christ looses them by “His blood.” The death of Christ has power to deliver us from the guilt and penalty of sin. His blood looses the fetters of our sins, inasmuch as His death, touching our hearts, and also bringing to us new powers through the Spirit, frees us from the power of sin, and brings into operation new powers and motives, which deliver us from our ancient slavery.

III. The praise which should be our answer to this great love.—Irrepressible gratitude bursts into a doxology from St. John’s lips as he thinks of the love of Christ, and all through the Apocalypse we hear the shout of praise from earth or heaven.—A. Maclaren, D.D.

Rev_1:5-6. A Suggestive Doxology.—This is a doxology—a sudden outburst of praise. There are many such in Scripture, and they show that religion is a matter of emotion, and not of intellect only. St. John, in his vision of the redeemed world, saw that the mention of Christ’s name woke the heavenly song, and set the angels and the redeemed singing together His praise. In the doxology now before us, though we seem to have no more than St. John’s human feeling, we have in reality the praise of the rapt and entranced man, who seems to himself to be actually taking a place among the redeemed hosts, and only giving an earthly form and voice to the utterance of their heavenly song. The doxologies in which the redeemed Church takes part grow in fulness in the early chapters of this book of Revelation. In our text the doxology ascribes “glory and dominion.” The four and twenty elders ascribe “glory and honour and power.” All creation ascribe “blessing, and honour, and glory, and power.” And the angels, and the elders, and the four beasts, solemnly bow before the throne, offering a sevenfold, perfect adoration, and saying, “Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God forever and ever. Amen.” We have, in the text, the threefold marvel for which we should be ever praising Christ now, in our measure, as for this same threefold marvel the redeemed praise Him in the glory.

I. The first marvel is, that He should love us.—“Unto Him that loved us.” St. John dwells on this as if it were a most surprising thing. It is characteristic of dependent and affectionate natures that they cannot understand why it is that they have become objects of love. No one dwells on the mystery of God’s love to sinful men as St. John does. His pleased, satisfied feeling, which so often finds expression, kept the beloved disciple in right relations with his Saviour. It made him feel every day in a clinging, humble, thankful mood. And that is the kind of mood we all need to win. It is a marvel indeed that Christ should love us. If we were lovable we might feel no surprise. But what are we to His all-searching view? Who but the Father could see anything attractive in the prodigal. In view of the actual tone and temper of our daily life, is it really a surprise to us that Christ should keep His arms of everlasting love continually about us?

II. The second marvel is, that Christ should “wash us from our sins in His own blood.”—The cleansing power of the blood of Christ was one of this apostle’s most cherished ideas. The words of Jesus on the supper night, “If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with Me,” gave St. John a key-thought, which unlocked for him the mystery of the risen Christ’s continuous work, and explained the relation in which the redeemed ones must ever stand to Christ. That company of white-robed saints in heaven, is not a company of sinners, all of a sudden washed and cleansed. It is made up of sanctified sinners, whose Christian sins have been washed away by Christ, through the gracious agency of earthly tribulations. The figure of washing is a somewhat difficult one for us to apprehend, because one side—another side—of our Redeemer’s work, His justifying work, His work of setting us in a right standing with God, has been almost unduly pressed on attention. We may be helped by observing that washing is not so much an act as a process, and that it bears relation to stains on the garments, and foulness on the person. It is a prolonged business to get the foulness off, and the stains out; and several processes, and often severe ones, have to be gone through. Christ’s washing is to be distinguished from His forgiving and His justifying. “Ye are washed, ye are sanctified, ye are justified.” Justified, or set in a right standing before God. Washed, or cleansed from the defilements left from the old-time of sin and self-will. Sanctified, or positively endowed, clothed upon, with the beautiful and pure spirit of Christ. We can readily see how those who had been brought over from the defilements and moral corruptions of heathenism would deeply feel the marvel of Divine grace, shown in washing them from their sins. That they would be able to get fully rid of the relics of immorality and foulness, left from their old heathen life, must have seemed to them impossible; and so, for them to be actually clean at last, and dressed in the symbolic white robes, was to them the marvel of marvels. This much is easy in explanation of the figure; but what did the apostle mean by washing “in His own blood.” We do not wash things in blood. Even in Judaism, there was sprinkling with blood, but, in our sense of washing, neither garments, nor persons, nor sacrifices, were ever washed in blood. Perhaps this was the apostle’s meaning: Christ’s blood, as referring to His earthly work, stands for His sufferings, borne in carrying out His life-mission as man’s Redeemer—sufferings which were consummated in His offering Himself unto blood-shedding and death. And so Christ’s blood, figuratively used by St. John concerning His present work in the “heavenlies,” stands for His present efforts and suffering anxieties—up, as it were, to measures of blood—borne in carrying out the heavenly mission of sanctifying that is now entrusted to Him. Christ’s blood, when it is applied to His human history, stands as a figure for His strenuous earnestness, and sacrificing endeavours as a human Saviour. Christ’s blood, if it is applied to His present continuing life in heaven, stands as a figure for the strenuous earnestness, and sacrificing endeavours of His heavenly life, as our Intercessor, High Priest, and Mediator. We are “washed in the blood of the Lamb,” then, means this: We are actually now being cleansed from our pollutions, our corruptions, our evil inclinations, our easily besetting sins, by the present gracious working of the Living Saviour, who still works in us, even as He did on earth for His disciples, up to such measures as can only be represented by the shedding of His blood. “Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin;” but Christ, our Lord, has so resisted, and is so resisting every day. He rolls over us, back and fro, His own great tribulum, the threshing roller of testings and sufferings, parting the chaff from the wheat. But have we watched Him at the rolling? Have we seen that the rolling is hard work to Him—straining work for Him? In His supreme concern for our washing and cleansing, He brings right over us, body and soul, the great threshing roller of tribulation, and will sacrifice Himself up to measures of blood, if He can but cleanse us from all sin, and make us pure grain, free and faultless. It is the marvel of marvels—Christ, the infinite Cleanser, is actually at work in our lives to-day; and the work is so hard that it even costs Him groans, and tears, and blood.

III. The third marvel is, that He should make us “kings and priests unto God.”—The symbol of the washing naturally leads on to the symbol of consecration. God does not merely turn citizens and subjects into kings, and common people into priests. That would be a very little thing to count a marvel of grace. In the old Jewish thought, kings and priests were God’s “anointed ones”—anointed to some special service, as Aaron and David. And it is in just this concerning themselves that redeemed souls rejoice. They are, in the higher sense, king’s and priests, consecrated to God’s service, altogether set apart as His, having every power and faculty absorbed in His work. Will not that be a marvel for us, who have been so long busied with our own things—so busied that we could scarcely find even corners of our time and life for the things of God? At last we shall be wholly Christ’s, to serve Him day and night in His temple. We shall be kings and priests unto God, and in that find an all-satisfying heaven.

Rev_1:7. The Hope of God’s Church in all the Ages.—Sometimes we dwell on the hope of the Old-Testament saints. Christ, Messiah, was to them the coming One. To us, in that sense—perhaps also in a yet higher sense—Christ has come; that old promise has been fulfilled. And yet Christ is to-day what He has always been—the coming One. Can we profitably think of the ever-coming One?

I. The hope, in the old Church, was Messiah’s coming.—The world, everywhere and everywhere, has its “Golden Age,” and it is always somewhere ahead. Men have always been heard saying to their fellows:—

“Courage, boys, wait and see; Freedom’s ahead.”

The world would sink into helplessness and despair without that hope. A soul is not lost till it has lost hope. A nation is not lost till it has lost hope. But how did the hope of the Jewish world differ from the hope of the poetical and imaginative world? Precisely in this: that it centred in a person. And the person was its manifested God. That hope in a coming person kept up faith in the living God. More than that, better than that, the hope kept up, day by day, the sense of living relations with the living God, and the conviction of the Divine presence and Divine interest. And this helps us to understand and to realise what our hope of Christ’s coming should be to us.

II. The hope, in the modern Church, is Christ’s coming.—That is the “Good time coming” of which the Christian ever dreams and sings. But it is still true that the Christian’s hope differs from the world’s hope, just as of old. It centres in a person. Christian life is love to a person. Christian hope is being with the person we love.

1. See how the Christian’s hope keeps up faith in the living God. A faith scarcely needed in this age of “law,” and “material success.”

2. See how the Christian hope brings Christ into present relations with us. His coming is the consummation and issue of what He is now presiding over. We cannot hold the hope of Christ’s coming apart from the spiritual conviction that Christ is now with us.

III. The Christian hope was held in a formal and material way in the apostolic age.—Indeed, it could then be held in no other. Pictures always come before principles. That was the child-age of Christianity. The Christian then “understood as a child.” The apostles took Christ’s words literally. They are not to be so taken, for “they are spirit, and they are life.” Apostles expected the return of the Lord in their day, and as a bodily appearance. Were they right? Certainly Christ did not come in their day, just as they expected. Nay, this further is true, Christ has never so come yet: and that could not have been His meaning; that must have enshrined His meaning. The truth is that our Lord put His spiritual meaning into a formal setting, and we have to find His secret.

IV. The Christian hope gets a final statement in the book of Revelation.—Notice the sudden insertion of this verse, and St. John’s way of giving a thesis, or summary. He really wrote a book of illustrations of this double point. The Living Christ is always here, and yet is always coming into definite relations, for every emergency of His Church. He is ever working towards His own climax. Christ is always coming for—

1. Special help—of the faithful.

2. Special discipline—of the wayward.

3. Special judgment—of the wilful. These are illustrated in the epistles to the Seven Churches in Asia.

The Christ who is the Coming One.—The story of the human race may be read as the story of the successive comings of God in Christ unto it. There have been—

1. Comings in sign and symbol, from the first symbol of the Cherubim set watching and guarding the way to the “tree of life.”

2. Comings in vision and dream, from the first vision to Abraham, who saw the smoking furnace and burning lamp pass between the severed pieces of the victims.

3. Coming in angel manifestation, from the three men whom Abraham led on their way to make due examination of the truth concerning Sodom.

4. Comings in the flesh: “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.”

5. Comings in the Spirit—according to the word of the Lord Jesus: “I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you.”

6. Comings in judgment: all human calamities are Divine visitations.

7. Comings in final judgment: “Inasmuch as He hath appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He hath ordained.” The last two of these comings seem to be more especially referred to in this text. Strange, and complex, and difficult to understand, is this book of Revelation. No real and satisfying key for the unlocking of its meaning and message, as a whole, has yet been found. We cannot so precisely recover the associations of St. John’s age as to know its excitements, controversies, and national perplexities, and set before ourselves the actual historical materials of the various visions. Indeed, we cannot be sure how much of it is historical, and how much symbolical. And we do not quite understand how Old-Testament images, such as are found in the books of Ezekiel and Daniel, can be put to New-Testament uses. There is an exaggeration and an extravagance about the forms of Eastern poetry, and even of Eastern prose, which sorely puzzles the more orderly and formal Western mind. The contents of the book appear to be a series of Divine judgments, running through the Christian ages; and the text affirms that Christ comes in all these judgments, and works His work of grace, for His people, and for His Church, by means of them. But this is a larger and more comprehensive view of Christ’s coming than is usually taken.

I. Christ coming in judgments.—Fix these points: judgments in a man’s life, or in a nation’s life, the book of Revelation teaches us to regard as Christ’s coming. Christianity stands in the closest connection with all human calamity. Read the verse in this light. Clouds: the recognised symbol of calamity, regarded as Divine judgment. (See associations in Jewish history.) Sometimes “clouds” represent “mystery,” but usually “Divine calamity.” Every eye: we are not able to conceive how this can be one localised event. But it is the fact of the ages. Christ in judgment is universal. Every eye does see him. They who pierced: this is for a class. Only one soldier actually pierced; but plainly the words represent the Jews, as a nation, who crucified the Lord. They come into Christly judgments, and, indeed, are under such now. All kindred, etc: who also now come under the Christly testings, as the gospel is preached to them. Jesus is now the World-Test, the Administrator, the Judge. Humanity now stands before God in Christ; all judgment is committed to the Son. Christ does come constantly in judgments on men and nations. No sin ever goes unnoticed. Christ visits for every sin. Bereavement, failure, plague, storm, war, are never seen aright until they are recognised as Christ’s comings. It is true of all men. We need not shift our thoughts away to some appalling day in the far future. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked.” “The avenging Fates are shod with wool,” but it only silences, it does not prevent, their coming.

II. Christ coming to judgment.—Once for all, to judge your life as a whole, when that life is complete. The “when,” the “where,” the “how,” of that final judgment can only be told us in figures. What we can get firm hold of is this: “Our life on the earth will be estimated by an infallible judge, and our future must depend upon the result.” We can also see, more or less perfectly:

1. That God in Christ will be the Judges 2. That the revelations which God has made to us will be the test.

3. That the disabilities under which men have been placed will all be righteously and graciously estimated.

4. And that all actions will be treated as revealing the will and heart from which they come. Then we ought to live in the clear sense of this twofold judgment relation of Christ. As we know Christ’s judgments, in the history of the ages, they have all been designedly corrective. And some are able to cherish the hope that even the final judgment will prove to be corrective, as all the others have been. No one may speak positively on a matter that is not clearly and fully revealed, but it is a sublime possibility that the final judgment may prove to be the judgment of the redeeming love and wrath—the “wrath of the Lamb.” Can we add “Christ the Judge” to our conception of Christ, and find that view of Him add to our confidence and our love? We have not seen the whole of Christ unless we have seen that judgment is committed to Him.

Rev_1:7. Coming with Clouds.—See Dan_7:13. Accompanied or surrounded by clouds; for μετά (with) frequently indicates the relation of a thing with other things which accompany or surround it. The idea here is that He will come seated on a cloud as His throne or chariot, or at least in a cloud moving or conveying these. So God is said to be surrounded, in Psa_18:11. The clouds are His chariot (Psa_104:3). Compare also Exo_19:16; Exo_40:34; Isa_6:4; Isa_19:1; Eze_1:4. The object of this figurative language is to show that Christ will come in a majestic and awful manner, as enthroned upon a cloud fraught with thunder, lightning, and tempest, and thus will execute vengeance upon His enemies.—Moses Stuart.

Christ’s Return in Glory.—Did not the Lord declare, in the assembled sanhedrin, and at the very moment when His death was about to put an end to His presence upon earth, “I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven”? (Mat_26:64). In that notable saying, Christ’s return in glory, as King and Judge—this latter is the idea implied in the symbol of the cloud—is closely connected with the fact of the Ascension. The reason is that in fact from this moment the office fulfilled by Jesus in the world’s history is that of establishing, by the instrumentality of preaching, and of the Holy Spirit, whom He sends forth from the seat of His glory, His kingdom in the earth, and of successively overthrowing all the obstacles which oppose themselves to its progress. His glorious appearance, when the close of this period of His working has been reached, will not be His coming—for that began to take place from the time of His ascension—but His advent. The coming of Christ takes place during the whole of the present age; it will only be consummated in the event which is called the Parousia, or advent. Accordingly, the sigh of the Church, and of the inspired bard, who prays in her name, is not, Come soon, but, more exactly and literally, Come quickly. This expression refers, properly speaking, not to the nearness of the arrival, but to the rapidity of the journey, though the former is the necessary result of the latter. This coming of Christ, from the time of the Ascension to the time of the Parousia, is therefore the true subject of the Apocalypse, just as His first coming, between the fall of man and the Incarnation, was the true subject of Old-Testament prophecy. “Behold, He shall come,” said the last of the prophets, at the highest summit of ancient revelation, speaking of the Messiah-Jehovah (Mal_3:1). The history of the world, in its essential character, is summed up in these three sayings: He is coming; He has come; He will come again. It is upon this idea that the whole plan of the apocalyptic drama rests. In every journey we contemplate, as distinct from one another, the starting point, the journey itself, and the arrival.—F. Godet, D.D.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

Revelation

THE GIFTS OF CHRIST AS WITNESS, RISEN AND CROWNED

Rev 1:4-5

So loftily did John in his old age come to think of his Lord. The former days of blessed nearness had not faded from his memory; rather he understood their meaning better than when he was in the midst of their sweetness. Years and experience, and the teaching of God’s Spirit, had taught Him to understand what the Master meant when He said :-’ It is expedient for you that I go away’; for when He had departed John saw Him a great deal more clearly than ever he had done when he beheld Him with his eyes. He sees Him now invested with these lofty attributes, and, so to speak, involved in the brightness of the Throne of God. For the words of my text are not only remarkable in themselves, and in the order in which they give these three aspects of our Lord’s character, but remarkable also in that they occur in an invocation in which the Apostle is calling down blessings from Heaven on the heads of his brethren. The fact that they do so occur points a question: Is it possible to conceive that the writer of these words thought of Jesus Christ as less than divine? Could he have asked for ‘ grace and peace’ to come down on the Asiatic Christians from the divine Father, and an Abstraction, and a Man? A strange Trinity that would be, most certainly. Rightly or wrongly, the man that said,’ Grace and peace be unto you, from Him which is, and which was, and which is to come, and from the seven Spirits which are before His Throne, and from Jesus Christ,’ believed that the name of the One God was Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

But it is not so much to this as to the connection of these three clauses with one another, and to the bearing of all three on our Lord’s power of giving grace and peace to men’s hearts, that I want to turn your attention now. I take the words simply as they lie here; asking you to consider, first, how grace and peace come to us ‘from the faithful Witness’; how, secondly, they come ‘from the first begotten from the dead’; and how, lastly, they come ‘from the Prince of the kings of the earth.’

I. Now as to the first of these, ‘the faithful Witness.’

All of you who have any familiarity with the language of Scripture will know that a characteristic of all the writings which are ascribed to the Apostle John, viz., his Gospel, his Epistles, and the book of the Revelation, is their free and remarkable use of that expression, ‘Witness.’ It runs through all of them, and is one of the many threads of connection which tie them all together, and which constitute a very strong argument for the common authorship of the three sets of writings, vehemently as that has of late been denied.

But where did John get this word? According to his own teaching he got it from the lips of the Master, who began His career with these words, ‘We speak that we do know, and bear witness to that we have seen,’ and who all but ended it with these royal words, ‘Thou sayest that I am a King! For this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the Truth.’ Christ Himself, then, claimed to be in an eminent and special sense the witness to the world.

The witness of what? What was the substance of His testimony? It was a testimony mainly about God. The words of my text substantially cover the same ground as His own words, ‘I have declared Thy name unto My brethren,’ and as those of the Apostle: ‘The only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.’ And they involve the same ideas as lie in the great name by which He is called in John’s Gospel,’ the Word of God.’

That is to say, all our highest and purest and best knowledge of God comes from the life and conduct and character of Jesus Christ. His revelation is no mere revelation by words. Plenty of men have talked about God, and said noble and true and blessed things about Him. Scattered through the darkness of heathenism, and embedded in the sinfulness of every man’s heart, there are great and lofty and pure thoughts about Him, which to cleave to and follow out would bring strength and purity. It is one thing to speak about God in words, maxims, precepts; it is another thing to show us God in act and life. The one is theology, the other is gospel. The one is the work of man, the other is the exclusive prerogative of God manifested in the flesh.

It is not Christ’s words only that make Him the ‘Amen,’ the ‘faithful and true Witness,’ but in addition to these, He witnesses by all His deeds of grace, and truth, and gentleness, and pity; by all His yearnings over wickedness, and sorrow, and sinfulness; by all His drawings of the profligate and the outcast and the guilty to Himself, His life of loneliness, His death of shame. In all these, He is showing us not only the sweetness of a perfect human character, but in the sweetness of a perfect human character, the sweeter sweetness of our Father, God. The substance of His testimony is the Name, the revelation of the character of His Father and our Father.

This name of ‘witness’ bears likewise strongly upon the characteristic and remarkable manner of our Lord’s testimony. The task of a witness is to affirm; his business is to tell his story-not to argue about it, simply to state it. And there is nothing more characteristic of our Lord’s words than the way in which, without attempt at proof or argumentation, He makes them stand on their own evidence; or, rather, depend upon His veracity. All His teaching is characterized by what would be insane presumption in any of us, and would at once rule us out of court as unfit to be listened to on any grave subject, most of all on religious truth. For His method is this: ‘Verily, verily, I say to you! Take it on My word. You ask Me for proof of My saying: I am the proof of it; I assert it. That is enough for you! ‘Not so do men speak. So does the faithful Witness speak; and instead of the conscience and common-sense of the world rising up and saying, ‘This is the presumption of a religious madman and dictator,’ they have bowed before Him and said, ‘Thou art fairer than the children of men! Grace is poured into Thy lips.’ He is the ‘faithful Witness, who lays His own character and veracity as the basis of what He has to say, and has no mightier word by which to back His testimony than His own sovereign ‘Verily! verily!’

The name bears, too, on the ground of His testimony.

A faithful witness is an eye-witness. And that is what Christ claims when He witnesses about God. ‘‘We speak that we do know, we testify that we have seen.’ ‘I speak that which I have seen with My Father!’ There is nothing more remarkable about the oral portion of our Lord’s witness than the absence of any appearance, such as marks all the wisest words of great men, of having come to them as the result of patient thought. We never see Him in the act of arriving at a truth, nor detect any traces of the process of forming opinions in Him. He speaks as if He had seen, and His tone is that of one who is not thinking out truth or grasping at it, but simply narrating that which lies plain and clear ever before His eyes. I do not ask you what that involves, but I quote His own statement of what it involves: ‘No man hath ascended up into Heaven save He that came down from Heaven, even the Son of Man which is in Heaven.’

There have been plenty of great and gracious words about God, and there have been plenty of black and blasphemous thoughts of Him. They rise in our own hearts, and they come from our brothers’ tongues. Men have worshipped gods gracious, gods loving, gods angry, gods petulant, gods capricious; but God after the fashion of the God whom Jesus Christ avouches to us, we have nowhere else, a God of absolute love, who ‘so loved the world’-that is, you and me-’that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish.’

And now I ask, is there not grace and peace brought to us all from that faithful Witness, and from His credible testimony? Surely the one thing that the world wants is to have the question answered whether there really is a God in Heaven that cares anything about me, and to whom I can trust myself wholly; believing that He will lift me out of all my meannesses and sins, and make me clean and pure and blessed like Himself. Surely that is the deepest of all human needs, howsoever little men may know it. And sure I am that none of us can find the certitude of such a Father unless we give credence to the message of Jesus Christ our Lord.

This day needs that witness as much as any other; sometimes in our unbelieving moments, we think more than any other. There is a wave-I believe it is only a wave-passing over the cultivated thought of Europe at present which will make short work of all belief in a God that does not grip fast to Jesus Christ. As far as I can read the signs of the times, and the tendency of modern thinking, it is this:-either an absolute Silence, a Heaven stretching above us, blue and clear, and cold, and far away, and dumb; or else a Christ that speaks-He or none! The Theism that has shaken itself loose from Him will be crushed; I am sure, in the encounter with the agnosticism and the materialism of this day. And the one refuge is to lay fast hold of the old truth:-’ The only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.’

Oh! you orphan children that have forgotten your Father, and have turned prodigals and rebels; you that have begun to doubt if there is any one above this low earth that cares for you; you that have got bewildered and befogged amidst the manifold denials and controversies of this day; come back to the one voice that speaks to us in tones of confident certainty as from personal knowledge of a Father. ‘He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father,’ says Jesus to us all: ‘hearken unto Me, and know God, whom to know in Me is eternal life.’ Listen to Him. Without His testimony you will be the sport of fears, and doubts, and errors. With it in your hearts you •will be at rest. Grace and peace come from the faithful Witness.

II. We have grace and peace from the Conqueror of Death.

The ‘ first begotten from the dead’ does not precisely convey the idea of the original, which would be more accurately represented by ‘the first born from the dead’-the resurrection being looked upon as a kind of birth into a higher order of life. It is, perhaps, scarcely necessary to observe that the accuracy of this designation, ‘the first born from the dead,’ as applied to our Lord, is not made questionable because of the mere fact that there were others who rose from the dead before His resurrection, for all of these died again. What a strange feeling that must have been for Lazarus and the others, to go twice through the gates of death; twice to know the pain and the pang of separation! But these all have been gathered to the dust, and lie now waiting ‘the adoption, that is the resurrection of the body.’ But this Man, being raised, dieth no more, death hath no more dominion over Him. And how is it that grace and peace come to us from the risen Witness? Two or three words may be said about that.

Think how, first of all, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the confirmation of His testimony. In it the Father, to whom He hath borne witness in His life and death, bears witness to Christ, that His claims were true and His work well-pleasing. He is ‘declared to be the Son of God by the resurrection from the dead.’ If our Lord did not rise from the dead, as all Christendom to-day [1] has been declaring its faith that He did, then, as it seems to me, there is an end to His claims to be Son of God, and Son of Man, or anything other than a man like the rest of us. If He be no more and naught else than a man, altogether like the rest of us, then there is an end to any special revelation of the Divine nature, heart, purposes, and will, in His works and character. They may still be beautiful, they may still reveal God in the same sense in which the doings of any good man suggest a fontal source of goodness from which they flow, but beyond that they are nothing. So all the truth, and all the peace, all the grace and hope which flow to us from the witness of Jesus Christ to the Father, are neutralized and destroyed unless we believe in the resurrection from the dead. His words may still remain gracious, and true in a measure, only all dashed with the terrible mistake that He asserted that He would rise again, and rose not. But as for His life, it ceases to be in any real sense, because it ceases to be in any unique sense, the revelation to the world of the character of God.

And therefore, as I take it, it is no exaggeration to say that the whole fabric of Christianity and all Christ’s worth as a witness to God, stand or fall with the fact of His resurrection. If you pull out that keystone, down comes the arch. There may still be fair carving on some of the fallen fragments, but it is no longer an arch that spans the great gulf, and has a firm pier on the other side. Strike away the resurrection and you fatally damage the witness of Jesus. You cannot strike the supernatural out of Christianity, and keep the natural. The two are so inextricably woven together that to wrench away the one lacerates the other, and makes it bleed, even to death. If Christ be not risen we have nothing to preach, and you have nothing to believe. Our preaching and your faith are alike vain: ye are yet in your sins. Grace and peace come from faith in the ‘first begotten from the dead.’

And that is true in another way too. Faith in the resurrection gives us a living Lord to confide in-not a dead Lord, whose work we may look back upon with thankfulness; but a living one, who works now upon us, and by whose true companionship and real affection strength and help are granted to us every day. The cold frost of death has not congealed that stream of love that poured from His heart while He lived on earth; it flows yet for each of us, for all of us, for the whole world.

My brother, we cannot do without a living Christ to stand beside us, to sympathize, to help, to love. We cannot do without a living Christ with whom we may speak, who will speak to us. And that communion which is blessedness, that communication of power and righteousness which is life, are only possible, if it be true that His death was not the end of His relationship to us, or of His work in the world, but was only a transition from one stage of that work to another. We have to look to Christ, the ‘faithful Witness,’ the Witness who witnessed when He died; but we have to look to Him that is risen again and takes His place at the right hand of God. And the grace and peace flow to us not only from the contemplation of the past witness of the Lord, but are showered upon us from the open hands of the risen and living Christ.

In still another way do grace and peace reach us, from the ‘first begotten from the dead,’ inasmuch as in Him and in His resurrection-life we are armed for victory over that foe whom He has conquered. If He be the first born, He will have ‘many brethren.’ The ‘first’ implies a second. He has been raised from the dead; therefore death is not the destruction of conscious life. He has been raised from the dead, therefore any other man may be. Like another Samson, He has come forth from the prison-house, with the bars and gates upon His mighty shoulders, and has carried them away up there to the hill-top where He is. And the prison-house door stands gaping wide, and none so weak but he can pass out through the ever open portals. Christ has risen, and therefore if we will trust Him we have conquered that last and grimmest foe. And so for ourselves, when we are trembling, as we all do with the natural shrinking of flesh from the thought of that certain death; for ourselves, in our hours of lonely sorrow, when the tears come or the heart is numbed with pain; for ourselves when we lay ourselves down in our beds to die, grace and peace, like the dove that fell on His sacred head as it rose from the water of the baptism-will come down from His hands who is not only ‘the faithful Witness,’ but the ‘first begotten from the dead.’

III. Lastly, we have grace and peace from the King of kings.

The series of aspects of Christ’s work here is ranged in order of time, in so far as the second follows the first, and the third flows from both, though we are not to suppose that our Lord has ceased to be the faithful Witness when He has ascended His Sovereign Throne. His own saying, ‘I have declared Thy name, and will declare it,’ shows us that His witness is perpetual, and carried on from His seat at the right hand of God.

He is the ‘Prince of the kings of the earth,’ just because He is ‘ the faithful Witness.’ That is to say: -His dominion is the dominion of the truth; His dominion is a kingdom over men’s wills and spirits. Does He rule by force? No! Does He rule by outward means? No I By terror? No I but because, as He said to the astonished Pilate, He came ‘ to bear witness to the truth’; therefore is He the King not of the Jews only but of the whole world. A kingdom over heart and conscience, will and spirit, is the kingdom which Christ has founded, and His rule rests upon His witness.

And not only so, He is ‘ the Prince of the kings of the earth’ because in that witness He dies, and so becomes a ‘martyr’ to the truth-the word in the original conveying both ideas. That is to say, His dominion rests not only upon truth. That would be a dominion grand as compared with the kingdom of this world, but still cold. His dominion rests upon love and sacrifice. And so His Kingdom is a kingdom of blessing and of gentleness; and He is crowned with the crowns of the universe, because He was first crowned with the crown of thorns. His first regal title was written upon His Cross, and from the Cross His Royalty ever flows. He is the King because He is the sacrifice.

And He is the Prince of the kings of the earth because, witnessing and slain, He has risen again; His resurrection has been the step midway, as it were, between the humiliation of earth and death, and the loftiness of the Throne. By it He has climbed to His place at the right hand of God. He is King and Prince, then, by right of truth, love, sacrifice, death, resurrection.

And King to what end? That He may send grace and peace. Is there no peace for a man’s heart in feeling that the Brother that loves him and died for him rules over all the perplexities of life, the confusions of Providence, the sorrows of a world, and the corruptions of his own nature? Is it not enough to drive away fears, to anodyne cares, to disentangle perplexities, to quiet disturbances, to make the coward brave, and the feeble strong, and the foolish wise, and the querulous patient, to think that my Christ is king; and that the hands which were nailed to the Cross wield the sceptre, and that He who died for me rules the universe and rules me?

Oh, brethren! there is no tranquility for a man anywhere else but in the humble, hearty recognition of that Lord as his Lord. Crown Him with your reverence, with your loyal obedience, with your constant desires; crown Him with your love, the most precious of all the crowns that He wears, and you will find that grace and peace come to you from Him.

Such, then, is the vision that this seer in Patmos had of his Lord. It was to him a momentary opening of the heavens, which showed him his throned Lord; but the fact which was made visible to his inward eye for a moment is an eternal fact. To-day as then, to-morrow as to-day, for Asiatic Greeks and for modern Englishmen, for past centuries, for the present, and for all the future, for the whole world for ever, Jesus Christ is the only witness whose voice breaks the awful silence and tells us of a Father; the only Conqueror of Death who makes the life beyond a firm, certain fact; the King whose dominion it is life to obey. We all need Him. Your hearts have wants which only His grace can supply, your lives have troubles which only His peace can still. Sin and sorrow, change and trial, separation and death, are facts in every man’s experience. They are ranked against us in serried battalions. You can conquer them all if you will seek shelter and strength from Him who has died for you, and lives to succour and to save. Trust Him! Let your faith grasp the past fact of the Cross whose virtue never grows old, and the present fact of the Throne from which He bends down with hands full of grace; and on His lips the tender old words: ‘Peace I leave with you, My peace give I unto you I’

Footnotes

[1] Easter Sunday.

Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Section 2. (Rev 1:4-8).

The address and response.

We have read now the inscription over the doorway, and we may enter the building itself. What we have first here is the character of Revelation as a writing by John to the seven assemblies in Asia; and we have, as it were, awakened by the first words of this the response of the Church to Him who speaks to them through John, to Him to whose constant love they owe this Book -to Him who is coming, as they now testify, to the earth once more, exchanging His invisible for visible glory, so that "every eye shall see Him," Israel, who pierced Him," and all the tribes of the earth awake to their true condition as they realize His presence. The seal of God is put to this testimony. God it is, in fact, who is giving testimony to His Son, and who is now about openly to glorify Him.

(1) John is writing, then, to the seven assemblies which are in Asia; and, writing by the Spirit, whatever is written is with a benediction. So here, the "grace" "and peace from Him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before His throne, and from Jesus Christ."

But let us notice, first, those to whom the writing is given. It is to all of us, is it not? That has been declared. It is given to show His servants, Christ’s servants, things which must shortly come to pass. No one will dream that that meant only seven assemblies in Asia now passed away, and yet it is to the seven assemblies that the writing is. They are, therefore, in some sense plainly representative assemblies, and, as we see them presently, seven lamps, amid which the Son of Man walks, to see how that which He has kindled is giving light. We must surely understand that it is not simply in Asia that He is walking, or amid seven assemblies there, but that it is the Church as a whole that is addressed; while, nevertheless, it is the Church, in character as such, these seven assemblies present to us. That we shall more and more realize as we go on to what is written, but even upon the face of it one would say it should be evident. Was the epistle to Corinth for the church at Corinth simply? or Paul’s epistle to Ephesus merely to the church at Ephesus? Or has any other epistle in Scripture been written simply for the blessing of those who are formally addressed in it? The seven assemblies in question are long since passed away. Has the instruction passed? or, rather, has it not gained for us a vividness and power such as those to whom it was addressed could hardly realize? The Spirit of God is addressing it today, with fuller application than ever, to the Church at large. He is making it known to those to whom it is really addressed, and the various calls which we find in it to him that hath an ear to hear are decisive as to our part in it. But why, then, is it not directly given to the Church at large, instead of to seven assemblies that are in Asia? There must be a reason for this, as there is a reason for everything in Scripture. The reason is, as already said, that the seven assemblies are, in fact, representative assemblies; that they give us conditions which are found in the Church at large, and which, even by the very uncertainty of where exactly they may be found, appeal to us the more to examine them -the more to exercise ourselves with regard to all that is written here.

But there is another view of the matter. These seven assemblies are all found in one little district (in fact, only the western coast) of what we call Asia Minor, or Little Asia. It was the Roman province of Asia in John’s day, and it was of it that the apostle Paul, who had labored largely there, so much, indeed, that all Asia had heard the Word in some way by his means, wrote in his last epistle to Timothy (the last epistle which, we have reason to believe, he ever wrote), with the sad reminder, "This thou knowest, that all they that are in Asia have departed from me." Whoever these were, however many in fact are embraced by those words, yet it is plain that Asia was already then the scene of a revolt against the apostle himself; a revolt which he himself, in his last address to the elders of Ephesus, had not indistinctly warned them of. Why is it then, just to these that these epistles are addressed? Does not this add its voice to what we have already seen, that the manner of the communication here would speak to us of distance which has come in more or less between the Lord and His own? -on their side, of course, not really upon His, but which still gave character to His utterances. If, then, these seven assemblies in Asia are representative assemblies, as they surely are, if the Lord chose these as the very ones who were to receive this revelation, how can it fail to tell us of the condition of the Church at large, and indeed through the times through which the Revelation itself will carry us -however much there are, thank God, everywhere ears that hear and souls that overcome.

But there is now to be overcoming, not simply the overcoming of the world, as on the part of every Christian who believes that the crucified Lord of glory is the Son of God, but an overcoming in the Church itself of evil that has arisen there, and of evil which, according to the announcements already made in Scripture, would go on more and more developing until, the present restraint upon it being removed, "the mystery of iniquity," already working, would develop into full manifestation in the man of sin," to be destroyed by the breath of the Lord at His appearing.

All the more, if possible, not less, there comes to those addressed this greeting of grace and peace from the whole glorious Godhead. It is what we need first to realize before we enter upon communications of such a nature as we have here: -grace in which we stand, unconditioned grace which can never fail, therefore, in its fulness of blessing for the people of God, whatever their circumstances; and peace, that we may be able to contemplate the sorrows and the evils that are before us -waves which, the higher they are, will only the more cast us upon the Rock of refuge. Always, under all circumstances, broken to pieces as the general Church may be, confusion everywhere, the world and Church mixed up beyond hope of disentanglement, -amid discordant voices, each with a different rendering of "the things that are," contradicting each other with warnings and with promises in the face of all the unity which the Church as the temple of God, indwelt by the Spirit of God, implies, -yet unfailingly is there "grace and peace" for every one who is invited of God to listen to what His voice shall utter, after all so easy to be distinguished, one would say, from every contradictory voice of man that can be. Grace and peace are what this whole communication from Him means.

"Grace," then, "and peace" are "from Him who is, and who was, and who is to come." That is a very different title of God from that which we find in the epistles in the same connection. It is not "from our God and Father," though of course He is this, but from the unchangeable One, the ever-present, ever the same. This is but the translation of "Jehovah," as we see at once; and "Jehovah" is the covenant-God and at the same time God in government. It is not our relationship to Him of which we are reminded, but of His necessary relationship to time, and all things therefore that are in time. The One who was before all, who abides through all, is the One upon whom all created things are necessarily dependent. "Who is" is put first. That He is, is the one great fact for all of us; but then, He "who is," was. There has been no beginning for Him, and there has been no change. He "who is," "was," and He "who is" and "was" is He also "who is to come." There will still be no change, as there will be no successor to Him. Grace and peace from such a One as this, how much it means for us, perfectly revealed as He is now also in the Man Christ Jesus, known in the depths of His love by the redemption which He has accomplished for us! This is not what is spoken of here, but it is what is necessary that grace and peace should be to us from Him. Then it is "from the seven spirits which are before His throne." We see at once the style of Revelation in this. The seven spirits are but the sevenfold energy of the One, the Holy Spirit, acting in accordance with the mind of Him who is upon the throne, and in the energy implied by that throne itself. Revelation is the book of the throne; and that is what gives character to all that we have here. The seven spirits carry us on to where they are pictured as "seven lamps of fire before the throne," light-giving necessarily as God’s acts are, for God’s ways show forth His nature -Himself, whose ways they are. These seven spirits carry us back to the eleventh of Isaiah, where we find them in connection with the King of Israel, the Rod out of the stem of Jesse, of whom it is said, "And the Spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord." Here we have the arrangement of the lamps in connection with the candlestick of the sanctuary, which, as we know, were in three pairs, with a central stem. This central and uniting stem bears witness that the Spirit is the Spirit of Jehovah, the covenant-God. The branches give us the character displayed; the pairs, their character as witness, three pairs bringing in the number of divine fulness and of manifestation; the whole seven, the complete display of God in these ways of His. In Isaiah the seven spirits are in connection with Christ as Man. They make Him "of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord, so that He does not judge after the sight of His eyes, nor reprove after the hearing of His ears, but judges with righteousness the poor, and reproves with equity for the meek of the earth."

Grace and peace then, from these, what does it mean for us? The throne of God, with all that manifests it as His throne, power and wisdom, truth and holiness -all these manifested in fullest blessing for us. What a beginning for the study of Revelation to realize this!

And now we come to Him through whom all this is found for us -"Jesus Christ, the faithful Witness, the First-born from the dead and the Ruler of the kings of the earth." The saints are in witness-character, as we see in John here, but after all, how feeble is their witness; and if you take the Church at large, how unfaithful has often the witness been! But here is the one faithful Witness, who abides as that, whatever may be the failure of His people. A blessed thing to know how His Word speaks for Him in this, and how Christ is indeed a witness to Himself, whatever His people may be! But He has indeed borne witness to our condition naturally, to the sin from which He has come to deliver us. He has gone down into death, the fruit of this sin; and risen up from it, not for Himself alone, but as First-born or pledge of the many who through Him and in His likeness come out of death also. The righteousness of the throne has been fully maintained by Him, and the power of the throne can be safely entrusted in His hands; as the glory of God was entrusted to Him when He went down to death. Risen up from it, He is therefore worthily "the Ruler of the kings of the earth," that earth which He has purchased with all in it for Himself, by His blood shed. "The kings of the earth" are they that in a special manner have rejected Him, as we know. They are still, in the mass, rejecting Him. Nevertheless, He is the Ruler owned of God, now ruling upon the Father’s throne; and, when He asks, to have His own throne given Him, and all His enemies subjected to Him, the footstool of His feet. This is the One to whose servants the Revelation is given; and how simple where faith is simply the service of such an One, whatever may be the destruction and confusion in the world around!

(2) The voice of the Church here breaks in in praise: "To Him that loveth us, and hath washed us from our sins in His own blood, to. Him be the glory and might unto the ages of ages." "Loveth us," it should be, not "loved us;" for His love abides, while it has shown itself out in the removal of our sins from before God forever, so that we can take our blessing fearlessly as in connection with this glorious throne which has subjected us first to itself, our hearts made His whose the kingdom is, while we are brought near -not servants merely, but those who have access as priests to His God and Father. It is His God and Father still, because He is the One who is the Centre of the scene here, the One from whom all the blessing flows, God acting for the Son of His love, seen as His God who has revealed Him to us as well as in unique relationship to Him as Father. "To Him be the glory and the might," not simply for the millennial age, (for the kingdom in the hands of the Son of Man which is soon to come,) but "for the ages of ages." He is "the Father of Eternity," as Isaiah speaks. He is the One who brings everything, after sin has wrought its worst dishonor and done all it could for ruin, into subjection to God.

Our common version has, "He hath made us kings and priests." That which is commonly accepted now is "a kingdom, priests," a kingdom whose subjects, as far as we are concerned, are priests, worshipers brought near to God with the spirit of praise and thanksgiving, eternally. The expression reminds us at once of what was conditionally offered to Israel, that if they would obey God’s voice and keep His covenant, they should be to Him a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. They must be, first of all, a holy nation, in order to be in this way priests to God. The white linen garment of the priest was the testimony of the character which he must have who approached to God in this way; and it was here, as we know, that Israel signally failed. They had chosen a covenant of law instead of the grace that had taken them up and brought them out of Egypt; and the law for them, as for all others, was a law working wrath. They could not abide under it; and instead of a kingdom of priests, the priesthood of Aaron and his sons -merciful provision as it might be in view of their circumstances -yet bore witness to their ruin as under it. But here is a people who are all priests, as Peter has borne witness: "A holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ," and "a royal priesthood" also, "to show forth the virtues of Him who hath called us out of darkness into His marvelous light." Here grace has reigned indeed unto peace, and nothing finally fails of the blessing.

Here, then, is the response of the hearts of His people to Him, the song of victory with which they are taught to go into the battlefield. Conflict is before us, as we know. The very Prince of Peace, as the necessary result of what He is, has brought the sword instead of peace; and all along the way there is now the need of overcoming; but the end is certain, and the song of triumph is raised at the beginning -the song of His triumph who has prevailed for us, and as a consequence a song which can never be silenced by the noise of combatants, by the strife which cannot disturb the ineffable peace of those to whom He gives peace.

This is the tribute of the redeemed to their Redeemer, and now we have their testimony also: "Behold, He cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see Him, and such as pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth shall wail because of Him." This, it is plain, is not the coming of the Lord to take us to Himself. It is a coming to the earth when the heavens give back Him whom they have so long concealed, except to faith -when "every eye shall see Him." And here we are carried back at once to Zechariah to find Israel brought fully to repentance at the sight of Him who was wounded in the house of His friends. "They shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born. In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem" and "in that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness." Thus early the Jew takes his place in the prophecy of Revelation, while it is true that what is here may contemplate a wail wider than that of Israel’s repentance. The word both in Greek and Hebrew for "earth" is the same as "land," and "all the tribes of the earth" (or land) make us necessarily find Israel here as in Zechariah. Nevertheless, the outlook in Revelation is naturally wider here, and there may be a wail, too, which is not that of repentance, but the wail of awful fear, when men cry to the rocks to fall on them and the mountains to cover them, to hide them from the face of the Lamb they have despised. Here is the Christian’s testimony, and it has naturally to do not with Israel only, but with all the earth.

(3) There is now immediately another response. The "Yea, amen," that follow here are not the voice of those that have just spoken, but a greater Voice. They are the affirmation of the truth of this on the part of One who is the Alpha and Omega, the Lord God, whose speech is, as it were, thus the beginning and end of all speech. Nothing can precede, nothing can supplement it, and how blessed is this testimony given by God to Christ! It is the unrepentant, unchanging Lord who says this. It is Jehovah, "who is and who was, and who is to come," and it is the Almighty, able to bring about all that which He foretells. It is He who, as the apostle says in Hebrews, bringeth again the First-born into the world. He comes, not in His own glory only, but in the glory of His Father, with the holy angels. Thus worthily is the seal of God put upon the announcement of the coming One. In Christ Himself, as the apostle tells us, is the Yea and the Amen of all the promises of God. Suited it is that God should put His yea and amen now to this promise; and while it is of necessity, through the sin of man, an announcement of judgment also, yet it is that through which alone blessing can come for man. Through these clouds the bow of promise is manifest, and "when God’s judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness." "The work of righteousness shall be peace, and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance forever." This closes the introduction to the book as a whole.

F. W. Grant, The Numerical Bible (4th ed., 1903) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1:4-8 The second introduction (see study note on 1:1-11) is in the style of a Greek letter.

1:4 To the seven churches does not mean that there were only seven churches in the Roman province of Asia but that these seven churches represent the entire group. Grace and peace is a typical Christian greeting (see study notes on 2 Cor 1:1-2; 2 Thes 1:1-2). The order of the two words is consistent in the New Testament, suggesting that peace follows from God’s grace. • who is, who always was, and who is still to come: God controlled the past, will surely control the future, and is sovereign over every present crisis (see also Rev 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 16:5). • the sevenfold Spirit (literally the seven spirits): Some argue that the “seven spirits” are seven angels, but the phrase fits between references to God the Father (1:4) and to God the Son (1:5), making this passage a description of the Trinity (see Matt 28:19; John 14:26; 15:26; 2 Cor 13:14; 1 Pet 1:2). The number seven acknowledges the Holy Spirit’s perfection (cp. Zech 4:2, 6, 10).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Rev 1:4. Ἀπὸ ὁ) Erasmus introduced ἀπὸ τοῦ ὁ.[5] This is the first of those passages in which the reviewer says, that I cannot at all be defended. And yet the reading approved of by me, ἀπὸ ὁ, is an early one. See App. Crit. Ed. ii. on the passage: When I pray, will they be moved, who, in their ignorance, esteem the press of Stephens of more value than all the traces of John in Patmos?—ἀπὸ ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἦν καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος, from Him, who is, and who was, and who cometh) In this salutation, James Rhenferd, in his Dissertation respecting the cabalistic[6] style of the Apocalypse, seeks for a description of the Ten Sephiroth,[7] three superior, and seven inferior: and he has proved that there is some resemblance; but he has brought forward from the Cabalistic writers nothing which does not exist in a purer form in the writings of John. Comp. Lamp. Comm. on the Apoc., p. 253. The Hebrew noun יהוה is undeclined; and of that noun this is a periphrasis, ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἦν καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος, as we shall see presently at Rev 1:8. And therefore the periphrasis also is used without inflexion of case. The article ὁ, three times expressed, gives to the Greek paraphrase of a Hebrew noun the form of a noun.—ἑπτὰ, seven) The Jews, from Isa 11:2, speak many and great things respecting the Seven Spirits of the Messiah.—Lightfoot.

[5] AC read ἀπὸ ὁ: Rec. Text, with inferior MSB., ἀπὸ τοῦ ὁ.

[6] The Cabalists were teachers of the Cabala, a tradition of hidden things. They professed to discover great mysteries in the letters of the sacred text. They invented the Ten Sephiroth or Cabalistic tree. See Jennings’ Jewish Antiquities, and Lewis’ Origines Judזז, vol. 3.—T.

[7] A magnificent delineation of these, a hundred years ago (1673) prepared at the command and expense of the Princess Antonia, of happy memory, is to be seen in the Deinacensian temple, which, not many years previously, Eberhard Third, Duke of Würtemburgh, the brother of that most illustrious virgin, had caused to be erected for the benefit of the strangers who make use of the mineral waters. A full description of this monument, which is called Turris Antonia, with the addition of an engraving, has been given by S. R. F. C. Ætinger, now Abbot of the Murrhardensian Monastery, s. t. Œffentliches Denkmal der Lehrtafel einer weyl. Würtembergischen Princessin Antonia, etc., Tub. 1763. There are some who superciliously laugh at all such things as Rabbinical trifles; there are some, perhaps, who value them too highly, almost stopping at the rind (instead of penetrating within). Any one may see what true σωφροσύνη advises, or what the measure of faith permits, and the proportion of knowledge derived from the Word of GOD.—E. B.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rev_1:4-8 contain the epistolary dedication of the entire book to the seven congregations of Asia,[543] Rev_1:4-6, and its fundamental thought, Rev_1:7-8. Thus the reference of Rev_1:4-8 to the whole of the book has been correctly expressed in essentials by Beng.[544] So, also, Klief, who, however, separates Rev_1:7-8, from Rev_1:4-6, and tries to refer Rev_1:7-20 a to the fundamental vision. The opinion of Hengstenberg,[545] that Rev_1:4-6 have reference only to the group of the seven epistles, since everywhere, from Rev_1:4 to Rev_3:22, the treatment is concerning the wide province of the entire Church, and there is no special reference to the seven churches, is incorrect, for the reasons that not the contents of the seven epistles, but only those of the entire book, satisfy the announcement of Rev_1:7; Rev_1:19; and that, in a formal respect, the correspondence between the introduction, Rev_1:1 sqq., and the conclusion, Rev_22:6 sqq.,[546] makes manifest as a whole all that intervenes.

[543] Mentioned in Rev_1:11.

[544] Cf. Herder, Ew., Lücke, De Wette, Rinck, Ebrard.

[545] Cf., against him, Lücke, p. 420, Ebrard, and Rinck.

[546] Cf. especially Rev_22:16 with Rev_1:4.

The epistolary introductory greeting, Rev_1:4-5, is similar to the Pauline form,[547] but, in its contents, corresponds to the book which follows, with significative references to which it is filled.

John[548] writes to the seven churches in Asia. Ἀσία[549] is Proconsular Asia, consisting of the provinces of Phrygia, Mysia, Caria, Lydia, Ionia, and Æolis. Ephesus[550] was regarded the metropolis. In this Asia, Paul had planted the gospel; also, the First Epistle of Peter had its first readers there.[551]

In the greeting, ΧΆΡΙς and ΕἸΡΉΝΗ are combined, as in all the Pauline Epistles except 1 and 2 Timothy, where, as in 2Jn_1:3, ἜΛΕΟς is inserted. ΧΆΡΙς always stands in the foreground as the fundamental condition whence all salvation, all Christian ΧΑΊΡΕΙΝ, alone proceeds; the ΕἸΡΉΝΗ, the effect of divine grace, has an important significance at the head of the book which treats in an especial way of the conflicts of believers. Falsely, N. de Lyra: grace in the present life; peace in the future, for there human appetite will be altogether quieted. Rather is the peace which believers already have, through grace, of such nature that they maintain it through patience and victorious perseverance in all tribulations.[552]

ἈΠῸ Ὁ ὬΝ, Κ.Τ.Λ. Description of the divine name יהוה,[553] but not under the cabalistic presupposition, that in that name itself, in a mystical way, the three tenses are indicated.[554] As to the form of the expression, neither is the manifestly intentional combination of the nom. ὁ ὤν, κ.τ.λ., with ἀπό to be impaired by the insertion of τοῦ,[555] or by supplying τοῦ λεγομένου ὁ ὤν, κ.τ.λ., τοῦ ὅς ὁ ὤν, κ.τ.λ., τοῦ θεοῦ ὅς ὁ ὤν, κ.τ.λ., etc.;[556] nor is the irregularity, that, in the absence of a necessary preterite participle in the formula ὁ ην, the finite tense is treated as a participle, to be accounted for by the false conception that ὁ stood for ὅς;[557] nor, finally, is ὁ ἐρχόμενος to be taken as precisely equivalent to ὁ ἐσόμενος[558] by an accommodation of the use of הכָּא, perhaps with an allusion to Mar_10:30, Joh_4:21; Joh_5:25; Joh_16:25; Joh_16:31 : but, in that inflexible firmness of the divine name,[559] there is something mysterious;[560] viz., an intimation of the immutability of the eternal God [see Note XVII., p. 122], who, as is shown also by the idea itself of eternity, and especially by the Ὁ ἘΡΧΌΜΕΝΟς,[561] rules the destinies of his people, as well as of the hostile world, brings his prophecy to fulfilment, and especially holds in his firm hand the entire development of the judgment. Accordingly, John writes not Ὁ ἘΣΌΜΕΝΟς, but with living reference to the fundamental thoughts of the book,[562] Ὁ ἘΡΧΌΜΕΝΟς, as also Rev_1:8; Rev_4:8. [See Note XVIII., p. 122.] The question whether, by the formula Ὁ ὬΝ Κ. Ὁ ἩΝ Κ. Ὁ ἘΡΧΌΜΕΝΟς, the triune God, or only God the Father, be designated, can be answered only in connection with the two following members of the sentence. The ἙΠΤᾺ ΠΝΕὙΜΑΤΑ, Κ.Τ.Λ., are, at all events, to be regarded not as angels, neither[563] as the entire body of angels (universitas angelorum), who are the ministers of our salvation,[564] nor[565] as the seven archangels[566] found again in Rev_8:2;[567] against this, the expression,[568] its occurrence before Ἰησοῦ Χρ., and the circumstance that from the ἑπτὰ πνεύματα, as well as from ὁ ὤν, κ.τ.λ., and from Ἰησ. Χρ., grace and peace are to proceed.[569] The seven spirits are, according to Rev_4:5, where they appear before the throne of God, spirits of God himself; according to Rev_1:6, they are the sent upon the whole earth, and peculiar to the Lamb, as the seven eyes thereof. Christ hath the seven spirits.[570] Thus they belong to God and Christ himself in a way other than can be conceived of any creature. But they cannot be regarded mere attributes or manifestations, the (seven[571]) virtues of Gods providence,[572] the seven members, as it were, of Divine Providence,[573] the most perfect nature of Jehovah,[574] the virtues, or what is proclaimed, of the Supreme Divinity,[575]which is neither clear in itself, nor consistent with Johns concrete mode of view; nor can the cabalistic personifications of the divine glory, nor the ten Sephiroth, be here thought of.[576] Essentially, by the seven spirits before the throne of God, nothing else can be understood than the Spirit who speaks to the churches,[577] and the Spirit of Christ[578] who makes men prophets.[579] Nevertheless, the sevenfoldness of this one Spirit is not to be explained, and, least of all, by an appeal to Isa_11:2, of the assumed seven energies of the Spirit;[580] but[581] Johns type is Zec_3:9; Zec_4:6; Zec_4:10. The Spirit cannot be beheld in his essential unity as he is before Gods throne, or as sent forth into all lands; besides, there is need of a concrete presentation,[582] which occurs according to the holy number of seven, representing the divine perfection; thus the one Spirit, who, as in Zechariah, is the treasure of the Church,[583] appears as seven eyes, lamps, or even as seven spirits.

[547] Rom_1:1 sqq.; 1Co_1:1 sqq. Cf. Ew., De Wette, Hengstb.

[548] Cf. Rev_1:2.

[549] ἡ ἰδίως καλουμένη ʼΑσία (Asia properly so called), Ptolem., v. 2. Cf. Winer, Reallex., in loc.

[550] Cf. Rev_1:11.

[551] 1Pe_1:1. Cf. Introduction, sec. 3.

[552] Cf. Rev_1:9; Rev_3:10 sqq.; Rom_5:1 sqq.; Joh_16:33.

[553] Cf. Exo_3:14. LXX.: ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν.

[554] Cf. yet Bengel: Incomparable and wonderful is the composition of the name יהוה from יְהִי, he shall be, and הוֶה, being, and הָוָהָ, he was. Cf. Jerusalem Targum on Exo_3:14 : Who was, is, and will be, spake to the world. [Etheridges translation, 1. p. 450: He who spake to the world, Be, and it was; and who will speak to it, Be, and it will be.] Targ. Jon. on Deu_32:39. Wetst.

[555] Erasmus.

[556] Cf. Wolf.

[557] Schöttgen.

[558] Ewald, De Wette, Ebrard.

[559] ἀπὸ ὁ ὤν, κ.τ.λ. Cf. Rev_1:5.

[560] Valla. Cf. L. Cappell., Pric., Grot., C. a Lap., Beng., Stern, Hengstenb., Winer, p. 66, etc.

[561] See below.

[562] Cf. Introduction, sec. 2.

[563] With N. de Lyra.

[564] Cf. on Rev_1:4 : By the number seven, the whole class is understood.

[565] With Areth., Ribera, Viegas, C. a Lap., Bossuet, Drusius, J. Mede, etc. In the year 1460, their names (Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Sealthiel, Jehudiel, and Barachiel) were said to have been revealed to a certain Amadeus, a man eminent for holiness, miracles, and prophecies. Cf. C. a Lap., Tir.

[566] Cf. Tob_12:15.

[567] Ew. ii.

[568] Cf. Rev_8:2, ἅγγελοι.

[569] Cf. already Vitr., etc.

[570] Rev_3:1.

[571] Alcasar enumerates the seven virtues of God, or endowments of Providence, thus: Wisdom, fortitude, beneficence, justice, patience, threatening, severity. This exposition C. a Lap. tries to combine with that received by most of the ancient Catholic interpreters, by stating that it is by means of angels that these virtues are exercised.

[572] Pareus.

[573] Grot.

[574] Eichh.

[575] Heinrichs.

[576] Herder.

[577] Rev_2:7; Rev_2:11; Rev_2:29.

[578] Rev_3:1, Rev_5:6; cf. Rev_19:10.

[579] Cf. also Rev_14:13, Rev_22:17

[580] Andreas; cf. Victorin., Primas., Beda, Revius, Zeger, Wolf, etc.

[581] Cf. Ew., De Wette, Hengstenb., Ebr.

[582] Cf. Mat_3:16; Act_2:2 sqq.

[583] Hengstenb.; cf. with Zec_4:6, also Joh_16:8.

This view of the seven spirits before the throne of God gives the answer to the question whether ὁ ὤν κ. ὁ ἦν κ. ὁ ἐρχ. be God the Father,[584] or the triune God[585] The question itself is properly more of a dogmatical than of an exegetical character, because nothing is more distant from John than the dogmatic reflection whence that question originates. Yet the answer must be given, on the one hand, that the expression ὁ ὤν, κ.τ.λ., as a description of the name יהוה designates the God who in Rev_1:1 is called ὁ θεός,[586] and in like manner is represented to be distinct from Christ, as Rev_1:4-5, treat of the seven spirits and of Christ; and, on the other, that the threeness of him who is, etc., of the seven spirits, and of Jesus Christ, not only has an analogy with the Trinity,[587] but actually includes, in itself and in the doctrinal connection of the entire book,[588] the fundamental idea of the Trinity, which, if developed and dogmatically expressed, yields the result that the designation of the divine nature (ὁ ὤν, κ.τ.λ.,) is confined to the representation of the Father. [See Note XIX., p. 122.]

[584] Alcasar, Calov., Hengstenb., Ebrard.

[585] Ribera, C. a Lap.

[586] Cf. especially Rev_1:8.

[587] De Wette.

[588] Cf. Rev_3:1, Rev_5:6; Rev_5:12 sqq.

NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR

XVII. Rev_1:4. ἀπὸ ὁ ὢν

So also Trench: Doubtless the immutability of God is intended to be expressed in this immutability of the name of God, in this absolute resistance to change or even modification which the name presents. Beck: The name of the Immutable is presented in the form of immutability.

NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR

XVIII. Rev_1:4. ὁ ἐρχόμενος

Gebhardt (p. 21): John does not use ἐρχόμενος as synonymous with ἐσόμενος, but in the sense of coming to judgment for the final completion of the eternal world-plan. Cremer (Lexicon): In Rev_1:4; Rev_1:8; Rev_4:8, ὁ ἐρχόμενος denotes God as the God of the future revelation of salvation; cf. Isa_40:9 : and the title (viz., ὁ ὤν, κ.τ.λ.), as a whole, is given to God, as the God of an eternal and unchangeable covenant. Tait: The word ἐρχόμενος is the keynote of revelation. It runs like a silver thread throughout the entire book. It enters into it at the beginning, and it is summed up at the end by Surely I come quickly.

NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR

XIX. Rev_1:4. τῶν ἑπτὰ πνευμάτων

Trench: There is no doubt, that, by the seven spirits, we are to understand, not, indeed, the sevenfold operations of the Holy Ghost, but the Holy Ghost sevenfold in his operations. Neither need there be any difficulty in reconciling this interpretation, as Mede urges, with the doctrine of his personality. It is only that he is regarded here not so much in his personal unity as in his manifold energies, 1Co_12:4. The matter could not be put better than it is by Richard of St. Victor: Et a septem spiritibus, id est, a septiformi Spiritu, qui simplex quidem est per naturam, septiformis per gratiam. Gerhard (Loci Theologici, xviii. 234): By the seven spirits, the Spirit is to be understood metonymically, of whom the Church sings that he is septiformis munere. This paraphrase is to be understood by synecdoche; viz., in the sense that the Holy Spirit is the author and giver, not only of seven but of all spiritual charisms. John, however, employs the number seven, because it is the number of perfection, and denotes multiplicity (Amo_1:6; Pro_24:15; Psa_119:164; Isa_4:1). This interpretation is proved: 1. From the quality and condition of what is predicated. John prays for grace and peace to the seven churches, from the seven spirits. But the bestowment of grace and peace, i.e., spiritual and heavenly blessings, is the part of no creature, but of God alone; and hence the apostles, in their epistles, never pray that grace may be given those to whom they write, from angels or from any other creature, but only from God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, because it is only God who is the author of grace and peace. 2. From the equal conjunction of the seven spirits with God the Father and the Son. John prays that grace and peace be given the churches equally from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven spirits, and from Jesus Christ; and that, too, by a mode of invocation in which the ἀπὸ is thrice repeated, and the seven spirits assigned the same degree of dignity with the Father and the Song of Solomon 3. From the order and position. The seven spirits are interposed between the Father and the Son. Therefore created spirits or angels cannot be understood; for, whenever angels are joined with God and Christ as ministers, they are subjoined (1Ti_5:21; Rev_3:5 : the intention of the passage, Mar_13:32, is different, where the discourse rises to a climax), etc. Cf., also, in the Veni Creator Spiritus, ascribed by many to Charlemagne, by others to Gregory the Great, referred to above by Gerhard,

Tu septiformis munere,

as paraphrased in the most widely used English translation,

Thou the anointing Spirit art,

Who dost thy sevenfold gifts impart.

Luthers rendering

Du bist mit Gaben siebenfalt

more closely conforms to the original and the strict meaning of the passage, although the sevenfold gifts or operations is a necessary inference, and is sustained by such passages as Isa_11:2-3.

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Rev 1:4-8 . The prologue.

Rev 1:4 . ταῖς ἑπτὰ ἐκκλ ., seven being the sacred and complete number in apocalyptic symbolism ( E. Bi. 343 6 ). The ταῖς must refer proleptically to to Rev 1:11 ; for other churches existed and flourished in proconsular Asia at this time, e.g. , at Troas, Magnesia, Hierapolis and Colossae, with which the prophet must have been familiar. These seven are selected by him for some special reason which it is no longer possible to disinter (see above, Introd., § 2). ἀπὸ ὁ ὢν , κ . τ . λ ., a quaint and deliberate violation of grammar (Win. § 10, IC.; Moult, Rev 1:9 ) in order to preserve the immutability and absoluteness of the divine name from declension, though it falls under the rule that in N.T. and LXX parenthetic and accessory clauses tend to assume an independent construction. The divine title is a paraphrase probably suggested by rabbinic language ( e.g. , Targum Jonath. apud Deu 32:39 , ego ille, qui est et qui fuit et qui erit); the idea would be quite familiar to Hellenic readers from similar expressions, e.g. , in the song of doves at Dodona ( Ζεὺς ἦν , Ζεὺς ἔστιν , Ζεὺς ἔσσεται ) or in the titles of Asclepius and Athene. Simon Magus is said to have designated himself also as ὁ ἐστὼς , ὁ στὰς , ὁ στησόμενος , and the shrine of Minerva (= Isis) at Sais bore the inscription, I am all that hath been and is and shall be: my veil no mortal yet hath raised (Plut. de Iside , 9), the latter part eclipsed by the comforting Christian assurance here. ἦν , another deliberate anomaly (finite verb for participle) due to dogmatic reasons; no past participle of εἰμί existed, and γενόμενος was obviously misleading. ὁ ἐρχ ., instead of ὁ ἐσόμενος , to correspond with the keynote of the book, struck loudly in Rev 1:7 . In and with his messiah, Jesus, God himself comes; ἐρχ . (the present) acquires, partly through the meaning of the verb, a future significance. For the emphasis and priority of ὤν in this description of God, see the famous passage in Aug. Confess , ix. 10. τ . ἑπτὰ πνευμάτων : a puzzling conception whose roots have been traced in various directions to ( a ) an erroneous but not unnatural interpretation of Isa 11:2-3 , found in the Targ. Jonath. (as in En. lxi. 11, sevenfold spirit of virtues) and shared by Justin ( Dial . 87, cf. Cohort, ad Grace , c. 32, ὥσπερ οἱ ἱεροὶ προφῆται τὸ ἓν καὶ τὸ αὐτὸ πνεῦμα εἰς ἑπτὰ πνεύματα μερίζεσθαί φασιν ), or more probably to the later Jewish notion ( b ) of the seven holy angels (Tobit xii. 15; cf. Gfrörer, i. 360 f.) which reappears in early Christianity ( cf. Clem. Al. Strom , vi. 685, ἑπτὰ μέν εἰσιν οἱ τοῦ μεγίστου δύναμιν ἔχοντες πρωτόγονοι ἀγγέλων ἄρχοντες ). modified from ( c ) a still earlier Babylonian conception, behind ( b ), of the seven spirits of the sky the sun, the moon, and the five planets. The latter is not unknown to Jewish literature before 100 A.D. ( cf. Jub. ii. 2; Berachoth, 32, b ), corresponding to the Persian Amshaspands (Yasht, xix. 19, 20, S. B. E. xxxi. 145) and reflected in “the seven first white ones” or angelic retinue of the Lord in Enoch xc. 21 f. (Cheyne, Orig. Ps. 281 2, 327 f., 334 f.; Stave, 216 f.; Lüken, 32 f.; R. J. 319). Whether the prophet and his readers were conscious of this derivation or not, the conception is stereotyped and designed to express in archaic terms the supreme majesty of God before whose throne ( i.e. , obedient and ready for any commission, cf. Rev 5:6 ) these mighty beings live. They are not named or divided in the Apocalypse, but the objection to taking the expression in the sense of ( a ) denoting, as in Philo (where, e.g. , ὁ κατὰ ἑβδομάδα ἅγιος or κινούμενος is a characteristic symbol of the divine Logos), the sevenfold and complete energy of the Spirit in semi-poetic fashion, is the obvious fact that this is out of line with the trinity of the apocalypse, which is allied to that of Luk 9:26 ; 1Ti 5:21 ; Just. Mart. Apol. i. 6. The Spirit in the Apocalypse, as in Jude, 2 Peter and the pastoral epistles, is wholly prophetic. It has not the content of the Spirit in Paul or in the Fourth Gospel. Since the writer intends to enlarge upon the person of Jesus, or because the seven spirits stood next to the deity in the traditional mise-en-scène , he makes them precede Christ in order.

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4. Ἰωάννης. The Apostle, the son of Zebedee, who (probably afterwards) wrote the Gospel: see Introduction, pp. xl, xlix.

ταῖς ἑπτὰ ἐκκλησίαις. The number of course is symbolical or representative: there were other churches in Asia, e.g. at Colossae and Hierapolis (Col 4:13). But the Seven Churches represent “the Holy Church throughout all the world.” It was very early observed, that St Paul also wrote to seven churches—the Thessalonians, Corinthians, Galatians, Romans, Philippians, Ephesians (?), and Colossians.

ταῖς ἐν τῇ Ἀσίᾳ. The proconsular province of that name. In Act 16:6 “Asia” seems to be used in a still narrower sense, being distinguished from the adjoining districts of Phrygia and Mysia, as well as from the provinces of Galatia and Bithynia; so that it would correspond approximately with the ancient kingdom of Lydia. But as Pergamum was in Mysia, and Laodicea in Phrygia, it seems that here the word is used to include the whole province.

χάρις … καὶ εἰρήνη. So St Paul in all his Epistles to the Seven Churches, Rom 1:7; 1Co 1:3; 2Co 1:2; Gal 1:3; Eph 1:2; Php 1:2; Col 1:2; 1Th 1:1; 2Th 1:2; and so Phm 1:3; Tit 1:4. In other private letters the form varies—χάρις, ἔλεος εἰρήνη, 1Ti 1:2; 2Ti 1:2—as in St John’s second Epistle. St James (Rev 1:1) uses the common secular salutation χαίρειν (cf. Act 15:23): St Peter has “grace and peace” as here, but in his first Epistle does not say from Whom they are to come.

ἀπὸ ὁ. The sacred Name is in the nominative, being treated as indeclinable: as though we should say in English “from He Who is,” &c. For general remarks on the grammatical (or ungrammatical) peculiarities of this book, see Introduction, p. xxxix. Here at least it is plain, that the anomaly is not due to ignorance, but to the writer’s mode of thought being so vigorous that it must express itself in its own way, at whatever violence to the laws of language.

ὁ ὤν καὶ ὁ ἦν καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος. A paraphrase of the “Ineffable name” revealed to Moses (Exo 3:14 sq.), which we, after Jewish usage, write “Jehovah” and pronounce “the LORD.” Or, rather perhaps, a paraphrase of the explanation of the Name given to him l. c., “I am That I am”—which is rendered by the LXX. Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν, by the Targum of Palestine on Exod. “I am He who is, and who will be.” The same Targum on Deu 32:39 has “Behold now, I am He who Am and Was and Will Be.” Probably ὁ ἑστὼς, ὁ στὰς, ὁ στησόμενος, the Title which according to the Μεγάγη Ἀπόφασις Simon blasphemously assumed to himself, was the paraphrase of the same Name current among Samaritan Hellenists.

ὁ ἦν is doubly ungrammatical. We have not only the article in the nominative after ἀπὸ but a finite verb doing duty for a participle, because γενόμενος or γεγενημένος would be inapplicable to the Self-Existent. Compare the opposition of the “being” of God or Christ, and the “becoming” or “being made” of creatures, in St John’s Gospel, Joh 1:6; Joh 1:8-9, Joh 8:58. Cf. also for another form of the same antithesis, Rev 1:18.

ὁ ἐρχόμενος. Though ἔσομαι is freely used throughout the New Testament, ἐσόμενος is only found once (St Luk 22:49); so ἐρχ. is probably only used to express future time. It certainly does not refer to the Coming of Christ, Who is separately named afterwards. Else “He that is to come” is often used as a familiar and distinctive title of Christ, see Mat 11:3; Mat 21:9; Joh 6:14; Joh 11:27; Heb 10:37; John Ep. II. 7; cf. Ep. I. Rev 2:18, where the same word is pointedly used of Antichrist. With this more general sense we may compare “things to come” Joh 16:13; Joh 18:4, “the wrath to come” 1Th 1:10, and “the world to come” Mar 10:30. As the last was already familiar to the Jewish schools, it may be a question whether it is to be explained from the Coming of God to judge the earth, e.g. Malachi 3; Psalms 98. In any case the threefold name belongs to God—if we are to distinguish—to the Father, rather than to the Trinity.

ἀπὸ τῶν ἑπτὰ πνευμάτων. Cf. Rev 3:1, Rev 4:5, Rev 5:6. If the second of these passages stood alone, it would be possible to understand the name of Seven Chief Angels (see Rev 8:2), but in 6 this is quite impossible, even if we could suppose that here creatures could not only be coupled with the Creator as sources of blessing, but placed between God and Christ. Can we identify “the Seven Spirits,” thus made in some sense coordinate with the Father and the Son, with the Holy Ghost, Who is known to us in His sevenfold operations and gifts, Who perhaps has some sevenfold character in Himself, as some may infer from the passages in this book and from the unquestionably relevant parallels in Zec 3:9; Zec 4:10? This too is difficult: the Seven Spirits are the Eyes not of Him that sitteth upon the Throne, but of the Lamb (cf. Isa 11:2); they are before the Throne, in some sense therefore it would seem external to the Essence of the Most High. It has been generally held since St Augustine, that before the Incarnation the Second Person of the Trinity manifested Himself on earth in a created Angel; if so the Seven Spirits might be a heavenly manifestation of the Third.

ἃ ἐνώπιον τοῦ θρόνου αὐτοῦ. The omission of the copula in a relative clause is not in the style of this book: τῶν ἐνώπιον, the reading of אA, is more in the general style of the book, though it mars the symmetry of the passage.

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1:4-3:22.] Introduction to the prophecy, in the form of a sevenfold Epistle to the seven churches of Asia. And herein, vv. 4-6, address and greeting, ending with doxology. (Ebrard, who seems to love singularity for its own sake, objects to the above arrangement, because the sevenfold epistle has not yet begun, and prefers calling this a dedicatory title to the whole book. But the other view is far simpler and better. The sevenfold Epistle is clearly before St. John’s mind, and, full of the images of the vision which he had seen, he only interrupts it by solemn ejaculatory references to the glories of that vision and the sublime announcement of the Lord’s coming, and then hastens on to introduce it by a prefatory account of his own circumstances when the Epistles were entrusted to him and of the appearance of the Lord who thus entrusted them.) John to the seven churches which are in Asia (the form of address is exactly that in the Epistles of St. Paul: see Rom 1:1 ff., 1Co 1:1 ff., &c. That St. Paul in Rom. and elsewhere is careful to designate himself and his office, and St. John introduces himself without any such designation, belongs doubtless in part to the individual character of the two Apostles, but is besides a strong testimony that the John who here writes needed no such designation in the eyes of those to whom he was writing. See this, and other evidence as to the authorship, urged in the prolegomena. See on the seven churches prolegg. § iii. 7 ff. Ἀσία, as always in the N. T., is the proconsular province so called. “Constabat,—ut a Cicerone alicubi dicitur illa proconsularis Asia, quæ inter præcipuas Romani orbis provincias olim habita,—ex Phrygia, Mysia, Caria, Lydia; sub quibus insuper, sub Mysia nempe et Lydia, intelligi debent Ionia et Æolis, ac addi præterea vicinæ maris Ægæi insulæ. Qui amplissimus terrarum tractus, præ aliis Romani orbis provinciis, ingenti imprimis urbium, et multarum ex iis insignium et magnarum, numero gaudebat. Dicebatur Proconsularis, quod eadem a viro consulari sub Proconsulis nomine regebatur.” Spanheim de usu numismatum, p. 610 (from Hengstenb.)); grace be to you and peace (so St. Paul in all his Epistles except the two to Timothy) from Him who is and who was and who is to come (a paraphrase of the unspeakable name יהוה, resembling the paraphrase אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה in Exo 3:14, for which the Jerusalem Targum has, as here, qui fuit, est, et erit: as has the Targum of Jonathan in Deu 32:39, Schemoth R. 3. f. 105. 2: “Dixit Deus S. B. ad Mosen: Ego fui et adhuc sum, et ero in posterum.” Schöttg., Wetst., De Wette. “ὁ ἐρχόμενος, instants, i. e., futurus: ut Marc. 10:30. Caret lingua Hebræa participio quale est ἐσόμενος.” Ewald. Each of the appellations by itself is to be regarded as a proper name—ὁ ὤν,—ὁ ἦν (not ὃ ἦν: the imperf.—or aor.—being used in the lack of a past participle of εἰμί), and ὁ ἐρχόμενος: and it follows from what is remarked above that the meaning of ἐρχόμενος is not here to be pressed as referring to any future coming, any more than in its English representative, “He that is to come.” By doing so we should confuse the meaning of the compound appellation which evidently is all to be applied to the Father, ὡς αὐτοῦ περιέχοντος ἐν ἑαυτῷ πάντων τῶν ὄντων τὴν ἀρχὴν καὶ τὰ μέσα καὶ τὰ τελευταῖα, as the second alternative in the Catena. In the first (Arethas?) ὁ ὤν is supposed to mean the Father (ἐγὼ εἰμὶ ὁ ὤν, as said to Moses), ὁ ἦν the Son (ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος), and ὁ ἐρχόμενος the Spirit, as ever proceeding forth and descending on the Church. Hengstenb., who presses the literal sense of ἐρχόμενος, avoids this confusion, but falls into that of making the covenant Jehovah, Father, Son, and Spirit, come to judge the world and the Church. At least so it would seem: for when he comes to this the weak part of his exegesis, he obscures his meaning by raising a cloud of rhetorical description of what shall take place at that coming. He connects ἐρχόμενος with ἰδοὺ ἔρχεται μετὰ τῶν νεφ. below, in spite of the καὶ ἀπὸ … καὶ ἀπό intervening. It is needless to say, that that ἔρχεται is to be referred to the last subject only, viz. to Ἰησοῦς χριστός. And wherever the ἔρχομαι ταχύ, with which he also connects it, occurs, it is distinctly said of the glorified Saviour), and from the seven spirits which (are) before His throne (Andreas, in catena, takes these for the seven principal angels (ch. 8:2): so , Beza, Lyra, Ribera, Hammond, Bossuet, Wetst., al. But this is highly improbable, as these angels are never called πνεύματα, and as surely mere creatures, however exalted, would not be equalized with the Father and the Son as fountains of grace. The common view is doubtless right, which regards the seven as τὰς ἐνεργείας τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος (so τινές in catena: , , , al.):—“Thou the anointing Spirit art, Who dost thy sevenfold gifts impart:” but rather perhaps to be regarded as expressing His plenitude and perfection, than to be separately assigned as (but qu.?) in the following lines of the hymn Veni Creator Spiritus. The key to this expression, which is an anticipation of the visions afterwards to be related, is ch. 5:6, where see notes: as also on ch. 4:5. The ἑπτά can hardly be entirely without allusion to the ἑπτὰ ἐκκλησίαι, and to the sevenfold imagery throughout. The number seven denotes completeness, and, as Schöttgen shews h. 1., was much noted by the Jewish Commentators as occurring in the O. T. The seven spirits betoken the completeness and universality of working of God’s Holy Spirit, as the seven churches typify and indicate the whole church. The reference to Isa 11:2 is but lamely made out, there being there but six energies of the Spirit mentioned. That to Zec 4:2, Zec 4:10 is more to the point: see notes as above.

The ἅ, without its verb, is solœcistic), and from Jesus Christ (as we have before had the Father and the Holy Spirit mentioned as the sources of grace and peace; so now the Son, coming last, on account of that which is to follow respecting Him: “quia de illo continuanda erat oratio,” Vitr., who also notices that what follows has respect to His threefold office of Prophet, King, and Priest: see however below), the faithful witness (see Joh 18:37, εἰς τοῦτο ἐλήλυθα εἰς τὸν κόσμον, ἵνα μαρτυρήσω τῇ ἀληθείᾳ. It is to the general mission of the Redeemer to bear witness to the truth, and not merely to the apocalyptic portion of His testimony which is to follow (De W.), that this title must be referred. This book (ver. 2) is ἡ μαρτυρία Ἰησοῦ χρ.: but the title reaches far wider. Embracing as it does that μαρτυρία before Pontius Pilate, and indeed that of His whole life of witnessing to the truth, we can perhaps hardly say that it marks out his prophetic office with sufficient distinctness for us to believe it indicated here), the first-born of the dead (death is regarded as the womb of the earth, from which the resurrection is the birth: see note on ref. Col.: and Act 2:24 note. πρωτότοκος must not with Hengst. be diluted into πρῶτος. The ἀπαρχὴ τῶν κεκοιμημένων, 1Co 15:20, is quite a different figure), and the Ruler of the kings of the earth (this kingly office of Christ is reached through his death and resurrection. In Ps. 88:27, the combination of titles is much as here, κἀγὼ πρωτότοκον θήσομαι αὐτόν, ὑψηλὸν παρὰ τοῖς βασιλεῦσι τῆς γῆς. See also Isa 55:4, ἰδοὺ μαρτύριον ἐν ἔθνεσιν ἔδωκα αὐτόν, ἄρχοντα καὶ προστάσσοντα ἔθνεσιν. “That which the Tempter held forth to Jesus, Mat 4:8, on condition of worshipping him, He has now attained by the way of his humiliation unto death: viz. victory over the world, Joh 16:33.” De Wette). Now follows, consequent upon the glorious titles of Christ which have been enumerated, an ascription of praise to Him for His inestimable love to us. Unto Him that loveth us (ἀγαπῶντι,—present part., not imperf. as Bengel,—includes in itself ἀγαπήσαντι, which is the feebler, as it is the more obvious reading. It is His ever-abiding character, that He loveth His own, Joh 13:1: out of that love sprang the mighty act of love which follows: but it did not exhaust its infinite depth: it endures now, as then. The waiting till He become, in the unfolding of the Father’s purposes, the acknowledged Head over his Church, is in reality as great a proof of that love now, as the Cross was then) and washed (or, loosed) us from our sins in His blood (the aor. points to a definite event, viz. his sacrifice of Himself. In such an image as this, which occurs again ch. 7:14 we have enwrapped together the double virtue of the atoning blood of Christ in justification, the deliverance from the guilt of sin, and sanctification, the deliverance from the power of sin: the forensic and the inherent purity, of both which it is the efficient medium: of the former by its application in faith, of the latter by such faith, in its power, uniting us to Him who is filled with the Spirit of holiness. See 1Jn 1:7 and note),

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

That is, from the holy Ghost which proceedeth from the Father and the Son. This Spirit is one in person according to his subsistence: but in communication of his virtue, and in demonstration of his divine works in those seven Churches, doth so perfectly manifest himself, as if there were many Spirits, every one perfectly working in his own Church, wherefore after Rev. 5:6, they are called the seven horns and seven eyes of the Lamb, as much to say, as his most absolute power and wisdom: and Rev. 3:1. Christ is said to have there seven Spirits of God, and Rev. 4:5, it is said, that seven lamps do burn before his throne, which also are those seven Spirits of God. That this place ought to be so understood, it is thus proved. For first grace and peace is asked by prayer of this Spirit, which is a divine work, and an action incommunicable, in respect of the most high Deity. Secondly, he is placed between the Father and the Son, as set in the same degree of dignity and operation with them. Besides he is before the throne as of the same substance with the Father and the Son: as the seven eyes and seven horns of the Lamb. Moreover, these spirits are never said to adore God, as all other things are. Finally, that is the power whereby the Lamb opened the book, and loosed the seven seals thereof when none could be found amongst all creatures by whom the book might be opened, Rev. 5. Of these things long ago, Master John Luide of Oxford wrote learnedly unto me. Now the holy Ghost is set in order of words before Christ, because there was in that which followeth, a long process of speech to be used concerning Christ.

This is the particular or singular inscription wherein salutation is written unto certain Churches by name, which represent the Church Catholic: and the certainty and the truth of the same is declared, from the Author thereof, unto the eighth verse.

That is, from God the Father, eternal, immortal, immutable: whose unchangeableness S. John declareth by a form of speech which is undeclined. For there is no incongruity in this place, where, of necessity the words must be attempted unto the mysteries, not the mysteries corrupted or impaired by the word.

By these three times, Is, Was and shall be, is signified this word Jehovah, which is the proper name of God.

These are the seven spirits, which are, afterward, Rev. 5:6, called the horns and eyes of the Lamb, and are now made as a guard waiting upon God.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

John--the apostle. For none but he (supposing the writer an honest man) would thus sign himself nakedly without addition. As sole survivor and representative of the apostles and eye-witnesses of the Lord, he needed no designation save his name, to be recognized by his readers.

seven churches--not that there were not more churches in that region, but the number seven is fixed on as representing totality. These seven represent the universal Church of all times and places. See TRENCH'S [Commentary on the Epistles to the Seven Churches in Asia] interesting note, Rev 1:20, on the number seven. It is the covenant number, the sign of God's covenant relation to mankind, and especially to the Church. Thus, the seventh day, sabbath (Gen 2:3; Eze 20:12). Circumcision, the sign of the covenant, after seven days (Gen 17:12). Sacrifices (Num 23:1; Num 14:29; Ch2 29:21). Compare also God's acts typical of His covenant (Jos 6:4, Jos 6:15-16; Kg2 5:10). The feasts ordered by sevens of time (Deu 15:1; Deu 16:9, Deu 16:13, Deu 16:15). It is a combination of three, the divine number (thus the Trinity: the thrice Holy, Isa 6:3; the blessing, Num 6:24-26), and four the number of the organized world in its extension (thus the four elements, the four seasons, the four winds, the four corners or quarters of the earth, the four living creatures, emblems of redeemed creaturely life, Rev 4:6; Eze 1:5-6, with four faces and four wings each; the four beasts and four metals, representing the four world empires, Dan 2:32-33; Dan 7:3; the four-sided Gospel designed for all quarters of the world; the sheet tied at four corners, Act 10:11; the four horns, the sum of the world's forces against the Church, Zac 1:18). In the Apocalypse, where God's covenant with His Church comes to its consummation, appropriately the number seven recurs still more frequently than elsewhere in Scripture.

Asia--Proconsular, governed by a Roman proconsul: consisting of Phrygia, Mysia, Caria, and Lydia: the kingdom which Attalus III had bequeathed to Rome.

Grace . . . peace--Paul's apostolical greeting. In his Pastoral Epistles he inserts "mercy" in addition: so Jo2 1:3.

him which is . . . was . . . is to come--a periphrasis for the incommunicable name JEHOVAH, the self-existing One, unchangeable. In Greek the indeclinability of the designation here implies His unchangeableness. Perhaps the reason why "He which is to come" is used, instead of "He that shall be," is because the grand theme of Revelation is the Lord's coming (Rev 1:7). Still it is THE FATHER as distinguished from "Jesus Christ" (Rev 1:5) who is here meant. But so one are the Father and Son that the designation, "which is to come," more immediately applicable to Christ, is used here of the Father.

the seven Spirits which are before his throne--The oldest manuscripts omit "are."

before--literally, "in the presence of." The Holy Spirit in His sevenfold (that is, perfect, complete, and universal) energy. Corresponding to "the seven churches." One in His own essence, manifold in His gracious influences. The seven eyes resting on the stone laid by Jehovah (Rev 5:6). Four is the number of the creature world (compare the fourfold cherubim); seven the number of God's revelation in the world.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 4. John to the seven Churches] The apostle begins this much in the manner of the Jewish prophets. They often name themselves in the messages which they receive from God to deliver to the people; e.g. "The vision of ISAIAH, the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem." "The words of JEREMIAH, the son of Hilkiah; to whom the word of the Lord came." "The word of the Lord came expressly unto EZEKIEL, the priest." "The word of the Lord that came unto HOSEA, the son of Beeri." "The word of the Lord that came to JOEL." "The words of AMOS, who was among the herdsmen of Tekoa." "The vision of OBADIAH; thus saith the Lord." "The word of the Lord came unto JONAH." So, "The revelation of Jesus Christ, which he sent and signified to his servant JOHN." "JOHN to the seven Churches," c.

The Asia here mentioned was what is called Asia Minor, or the Lydian or Proconsular Asia the seven Churches were those of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Of these as they occur. We are not to suppose that they were the only Christian Churches then in Asia Minor; there were several others then in Phrygia, Pamphylia, Galatia, Pontus, Cappadocia, c., c. But these seven were those which lay nearest to the apostle, and were more particularly under his care though the message was sent to the Churches in general, and perhaps it concerns the whole Christian world. But the number seven may be used here as the number of perfection as the Hebrews use the seven names of the heavens, the seven names of the earth, the seven patriarchs, seven suns, seven kinds, seven years, seven months, seven days, c., c. in which the rabbins find a great variety of mysteries.

Grace be unto you] This form of apostolical benediction we have often seen in the preceding epistles.

From him which is, and which was, and which is to come] This phraseology is purely Jewish, and probably taken from the Tetragrammaton, יהוה YEHOVAH which is supposed to include in itself all time, past, present, and future. But they often use the phrase of which the ὁ ων, και ὁ ην, και ὁ ερχομενος, of the apostle, is a literal translation. So, in Sohar Chadash, fol. 7, 1: "Rabbi Jose said, By the name Tetragrammaton, (i.e. יהוה Yehovah,) the higher and lower regions, the heavens, the earth, and all they contain, were perfected; and they are all before him reputed as nothing:- והוא היה והוא הוה והוא יהיה vehu hayah, vehu hoveh, vehu yihyeh; and HE WAS, and HE IS, and HE WILL BE. So, in Shemoth Rabba, sec. 3, fol. 105, 2: "The holy blessed God said to Moses, tell them: - אני שהייתי ואני הוא עכשיו ואני הוא לעתיד לבוא ani shehayithi, veani hu achshaiu, veani hu laathid labo; I WAS, I NOW AM, and I WILL BE IN FUTURE."

In Chasad Shimuel, Rab. Samuel ben David asks: "Why are we commanded to use three hours of prayer? Answer: These hours point out the holy blessed God:- שהוא היה הוה ויהיה shehu hayah, hoveh, veyihyeh; he who WAS, who IS, and who SHALL BE. The MORNING prayer points out him who WAS before the foundation of the world; the NOONDAY prayer points out him who IS; and the EVENING prayer points out him who IS TO COME." This phraseology is exceedingly appropriate, and strongly expresses the eternity of God; for we have no other idea of time than as past, or now existing, or yet to exist; nor have we any idea of eternity but as that duration called by some aeternitas a parte ante, the eternity that was before time, and aeternitas a parte post, the endless duration that shall be when time is no more. That which WAS, is the eternity before time; that which IS, is time itself; and that which IS TO COME, is the eternity which shall be when time is no more.

The seven Spirits-before his throne] The ancient Jews, who represented the throne of God as the throne of an eastern monarch, supposed that there were seven ministering angels before this throne, as there were seven ministers attendant on the throne of a Persian monarch. We have an ample proof of this, Tobit 12:15: I am Raphael, one of the SEVEN HOLY ANGELS which present the prayers of the saints, and which go in and out before the glory of the Holy One. And in Jonathan ben Uzziel's Targum, on Ge 11:7: God said to the SEVEN ANGELS which stand before him, Come now, c.

In Pirkey Eliezer, iv. and vii: "The angels which were first created minister before him without the veil." Sometimes they represent them as seven cohorts or troops of angels, under whom are thirty inferior orders.

That seven ANGELS are here meant, and not the Holy Spirit, is most evident from the place, the number, and the tradition. Those who imagine the Holy Ghost to be intended suppose the number seven is used to denote his manifold gifts and graces. That these seven spirits are angels, see Rev 3:1; Rev 4:5; and particularly Re 5:6, where they are called the seven spirits of God SENT FORTH INTO ALL THE EARTH.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(4) JOHN to the seven churches (or, congregations) which are in Asia.—It is needless to observe that the Asia here is not to be regarded as co-extensive with what we know as Asia Minor. It is the province of Asia (comp. Act_2:9-10; Act_16:6-7), which was under a Roman proconsul, and embraced the western portion of Asia Minor. In St. John’s time it consisted of a strip of sea-board, some 100 square miles in extent. Its boundaries varied at different periods; but roughly, and for the present purpose, they may be regarded as the Caycus on the north, the Mæander on the south, the Phrygian Hills on the east, and the Mediterranean on the west.

Seven churches.—It has been maintained by some (notably by Vitringa) that the epistles to the seven churches are prophetic, and set forth the condition of the Church in the successive epochs of its after-history. The growth of error, the development of schisms, the gloom of superstition, the darkness of mediæval times, the dawn of the Reformation, the convulsions of after-revolutions, have been discovered in these brief and forcible epistles. Such a view needs no formal refutation. The anxiety for circumstantial and limited fulfilments of prophecy has been at the root of such attempts. When we read God’s words as wider than our thoughts we stand in no need of such desperate efforts at symmetrical interpretations; for the truth then is seen to be that words addressed to one age have their fitness for all; and that these epistles are the heritage of the Church in every epoch. In this sense the churches are types and representatives of the whole family of God. Every community may find its likeness here. This much is admitted by the best commentators of all schools. “The seven churches,” says St. Chrysostom, “are all churches by reason of the seven Spirits.” “By the seven,” writes St. Augustine, “is signified the perfection of the Church universal, and by writing to the seven he shows the fulness of one.” And the words, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches,” ‘are, as has been well observed, a direct intimation that some universal application of their teaching was intended.

Grace be unto you, and peace.—Three apostles, St. Peter, St. Paul, and St. John, adopt the same salutation. Not only is this a kind of link of Christian fellowship between them, but its adoption by St. John, after St. Paul had first used it, is a slight token that the Apocalypse cannot be regarded (as some recent critics would have it) as an anti-Pauline treatise. As the Christian greeting, it transcends while it embraces the Greek and Hebrew salutations. There is no tinge of the sadness of separation; it is the greeting of hope and repose, grounded on the only true foundation of either, the grace of God, which is the well-spring of life and love.

From him which is, and which was, and which is to come (or, which cometh).—The phrase presents a remarkable violation of grammar; but the violation is clearly intentional. It is not the blunder of an illiterate writer; it is the deliberate putting in emphatic form the “Name of Names.” “Should not,” says Professor Lightfoot, “this remarkable feature be preserved in an English Bible? If in Exo_3:14 the words run, ‘I AM hath sent me unto you,’ may we not also be allowed to read here, from ‘HE THAT IS, AND THAT WAS, AND THAT IS TO COME?’“ The expression must not be separated from what follows. The greeting is triple: from Him which is, and which was, and which cometh; from the seven Spirits; and from Jesus Christ—i.e., from the Triune God. The first phrase would therefore seem to designate God the Father, the self-existing, eternal One, the fount and origin of all existence. Professor Plumptre suggests that the phrase used here may be used in allusion and contrast to the inscription spoken of by Plutarch, on the Temple of Isis, at Sais: “I am all that has come into being, and that which is, and that which shall be; and no man hath lifted my vail.” The heathen inscription identifies God with the universe, making Him, not an ever-being, but an ever-becoming, from whom personality is excluded: the Christian description is of the personal, everlasting, self-revealing God—who is, who was, and who cometh. We should have expected after “is” and “was” “will be;” but there is no “will be” with an eternal God. With Him all is; so the word “cometh” is used, hinting His constant manifestations in history, and the final coming in judgment. This allusion to the Second Coming is denied by Professor Plumptre, but as he admits that the words, “He that cometh,” used in the Gospels, and applied by the Jews to the Messiah, may be designedly employed here by the Apostle, it is difficult to see how the Advent idea can be excluded. The word appears to imply that we are to be always looking for Him whose “comings” recur in all history as the earnests of the fuller and final Advent.

From the seven Spirits.—The interpretation which would understand these seven Spirits to be the seven chief angels, though supported by names of great weight, is plainly untenable. The context makes it impossible to admit any other meaning than that the greeting which comes from the Father and the Son comes also from the Holy Spirit sevenfold in His operations, whose gifts are diffused among all the churches, and who divides to every man severally as He will. For corresponding thoughts in the Old Testament, compare the seven lamps and seven eyes of Zechariah (Zec_3:9; Zec_4:2; Zec_4:10), “the symbols of eternal light and all embracing knowledge.” It may not be inappropriate to note that Philo speaks of the number seven in its mystical import as identical with unity, as unity developed in diversity, and yet remaining one. This unity in diversity is the thought St. Paul seems anxious to keep before the minds of the Corinthians, lest their gifts should become the source of division. All work that one and self-same spirit (1Co_12:11). The after-recurrence in this book of the number seven is, I think, selected to support this thought of completeness and variety; the dramatic unity is preserved, though the scenes which are unfolded are amply diversified; and the seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven vials, are not three successive periods, but three aspects of one complete period presided over by that one Spirit whose guidance may be seen in all ages, and in diverse ways. The Spirits are before the throne. This reference to the throne gives a touch of authority to the description. The Holy Spirit who pleads with men is the Spirit from God’s Throne.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John to the seven churches which are in Asia,.... In lesser Asia; their names are mentioned in Rev 1:11,

grace be unto you, and peace; which is the common salutation of the apostles in all their epistles, and includes all blessings of grace, and all prosperity, inward and outward: See Gill on Rom 1:7. The persons from whom they are wished are very particularly described,

from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; which some understand of the whole Trinity; the Father by him "which is", being the I am that I am; the Son by him "which was", which was with God the Father, and was God; and the Spirit by him "which is to come", who was promised to come from the Father and the Son, as a Comforter, and the Spirit of truth: others think Christ is here only intended, as he is in Rev 1:8 by the same expressions; and is he "which is", since before Abraham he was the "I am"; and he "which was", the eternal Logos or Word; and "is to come", as the Judge of quick and dead. But rather this is to be understood of the first Person, of God the Father; and the phrases are expressive both of his eternity, he being God from everlasting to everlasting; and of his immutability, he being now what he always was, and will be what he now is, and ever was, without any variableness, or shadow of turning: they are a periphrasis, and an explanation of the word "Jehovah", which includes all tenses, past, present, and to come. So the Jews explain this name in Exo 3:14,

"Says R. Isaac (k), the holy blessed God said to Moses, Say unto them, I am he that was, and I am he that now is, and I am he that is to come, wherefore is written three times.

And such a periphrasis of God is frequent in their writings (l),

And from the seven spirits which are before his throne; either before the throne of God the Father; or, as the Ethiopic version reads, "before the throne of the Lord Jesus Christ"; by whom are meant not angels, though these are spirits, and stand before the throne of God, and are ready to do his will: this is the sense of some interpreters, who think such a number of them is mentioned with reference to the seven angels of the churches; or to the seven last "Sephirot", or numbers in the Cabalistic tree of the Jews; the three first they suppose design the three Persons in the Godhead, expressed in the preceding clause, and the seven last the whole company of angels: or to the seven principal angels the Jews speak of. Indeed, in the Apocrypha,

"I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels, which present the prayers of the saints, and which go in and out before the glory of the Holy One.'' (Tobit 12:15)

Raphael is said to be one of the seven angels; but it does not appear to be a generally received notion of theirs that there were seven principal angels. The Chaldee paraphrase on Gen 11:7 is misunderstood by Mr. Mede, for not "seven", but "seventy angels" are there addressed. It was usual with the Jews only to speak of four principal angels, who stand round about the throne of God; and their names are Michael, Uriel, Gabriel, and Raphael; according to them, Michael stands at his right hand, Uriel at his left, Gabriel before him, and Raphael behind him (m). However, it does not seem likely that angels should be placed in such a situation between the divine Persons, the Father and the Son; and still less that grace and peace should be wished for from them, as from God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ; and that any countenance should be given to angel worship, in a book in which angels are so often represented as worshippers, and in which worship is more than once forbidden them, and that by themselves: but by these seven spirits are intended the Holy Spirit of God, who is one in his person, but his gifts and graces are various; and therefore he is signified by this number, because of the fulness and perfection of them, and with respect to the seven churches, over whom he presided, whom he influenced, and sanctified, and filled, and enriched with his gifts and graces,

(k) Shemot Rabba, sect. 3. fol. 73. 2. (l) Targum. Jon. in Deut. xxxii. 39. Zohar in Exod. fol. 59. 3. & in Numb. fol. 97. 4. & 106. 2. Seder Tephillot, fol. 205. 1. Ed. Basil. fol. 2. 2. Ed. Amsterd. (m) Bemidbar Rabba, sect. 2. fol. 179. 1.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;

Ver. 4. From him which is] An august description of the Father by a manifest allusion to Exo 3:14. Some critic reading the words απο ο ων και ο ην as they lie in the original, would be apt to complain of an incongruity, and to say, Nove et duriter dictum. But God, methinks, should have leave given him by these Logodaedali, to pronounce his own name undeclined, and by an outrule, who himseff is undeclined, and comes not under any rule. Non debent verba caelestis oraculi subesse regulis Donati. (Greg.)

And from the seven spirits] So the Holy Ghost is here called, for his manifold gifts and operations in the hearts of those seven, and all other Churches. In like sort he is called the seven golden pipes through which the two olive branches do empty out of themselves the golden oils of all precious graces into the golden candlestick the Church, Zec 4:2-3. So some interpret those seven eyes upon one stone, Zec 3:9, concerning the Spirit in his several operations upon Christ, according to Isa 11:2. There is a prophetic perfection of this number of seven, with which the Spirit of God is much delighted in this prophecy; seven Churches, seven stars, seven candlesticks, seven lamps, seven seals, &c.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John to the seven churches which are in Asia - The word “Asia” is used in quite different senses by different writers. It is used:

(1)As referring to the whole eastern continent now known by that name;

(2)Either Asia or Asia Minor;

(3)That part of Asia which Attalus III, king of Pergamos, gave to the Romans, namely, Mysia, Phrygia, Lycaonia, Lydia, Carla, Pisidia, and the southern coast - that is, all in the western, southwestern, and southern parts of Asia Minor; and,

(4)In the New Testament, usually the southwestern part of Asia Minor, of which Ephesus was the capital. See the notes at Act 2:9.

The word “Asia” is not found in the Hebrew Scriptures, but it occurs often in the Books of Maccabees, and in the New Testament. In the New Testament it is not used in the large sense in which it is now, as applied to the whole continent, but in its largest signification it would include only Asia Minor. It is also used, especially by Luke, as denoting the country that was called “Ionia,” or what embraced the provinces of Caria and Lydia. Of this region Ephesus was the principal city, and it was in this region that the “seven churches” were situated. Whether there were more than seven churches in this region is not intimated by the writer of this book, and on that point we have no certain knowledge. it is evident that these seven were the principal churches, even if there were more, and that there was some reason why they should be particularly addressed.

There is mention of some other churches in the neighborhood of these. Colosse was near to Laodicea; and from Col 4:13, it would seem not improbable that there was a church also at Hierapolis. But there may have been nothing in their circumstances that demanded particular instruction or admonition, and they may have been on that account omitted. There is also some reason to suppose that, though there had been other churches in that vicinity besides the seven mentioned by John, they had become extinct at the time when he wrote the Book of Revelation. It appears from Tacitus (History, xiv, 27; compare also Pliny, N. H., v. 29), that in the time of Nero, 61 a.d., the city of Laodicea was destroyed by an earthquake, in which earthquake, according to Eusebius, the adjacent cities of Colosse and Hierapolis were involved. Laodicea was, indeed, immediately rebuilt, but there is no evidence of the re-establishment of the church there before the time when John wrote this book.

The earliest mention we have of a church there, after the one referred to in the New Testament by Paul Col 2:1; Col 4:13, Col 4:15-16, is in the time of Trajan, when Papias was bishop there, sometime between 98 a.d. and 117 a.d. It would appear, then, to be not improbable that at the time when the Apocalypse was written, there were in fact but seven churches in the vicinity. Prof. Stuart (i., 219) supposes that “seven, and only so many, may have been named, because the sevenfold divisions and groups of various objects constitute a conspicuous feature in the Apocalypse throughout.” But this reason seems too artificial; and it can hardly be supposed that it would influence the mind of John, in the specification by name of the churches to which the book was sent. If no names had been mentioned, and if the statement had occurred in glowing poetic description, it is not inconceivable that the number seven might have been selected for some such purpose.

Grace be unto you, and peace - The usual form of salutation in addressing a church. See the notes on Rom 1:7.

From him which is, and which was, and which is to come - From him who is everlasting - embracing all duration, past, present, and to come. No expression could more strikingly denote eternity than this. He now exists; he has existed in the past; he will exist in the future. There is an evident allusion here to the name Yahweh, the name by which the true God is appropriately designated in the Scriptures. That name יהוה Yahweh, from היה haayah, to be, to exist, seems to have been adopted because it denotes existence, or being, and as denoting simply one who exists; and has reference merely to the fact of existence. The word has no variation of form, and has no reference to time, and would embrace all time: that is, it is as true at one time as another that he exists. Such a word would not be inappropriately paraphrased by the phrase “who is, and who was, and who is to come,” or who is to be; and there can be no doubt that John referred to him here as being himself the eternal and uncreated existence, and as the great and original fountain of all being.

They who desire to find a full discussion in regard to the origin of the name Yahweh, may consult an article by Prof. Tholuck, in the “Biblical Repository,” vol. iv., pp. 89-108. It is remarkable that there are some passages in pagan inscriptions and writings which bear a very strong resemblance to the language used here by John respecting God. Thus, Plutarch (De Isa. et Osir., p. 354.), speaking of a temple of Isis, at Sais, in Egypt, says, “It bore this inscription - ‘I am all that was, and is, and shall be, and my vail no mortal can remove’“ - Ἐγώ εἰμι πᾶν τὸ γεγονός, καὶ ὅν, καὶ ἐσόμενον καὶ τὸν ἐμὸν πέπλον οὐδείς τω θνητὸς ἀνεκάλυψεν Egō eimi pan to gegonos, kai hon, kai esomenon kai ton emon peplon oudeis tō thnētos anekalupsen. So Orpheus (in Auctor. Lib. de Mundo), “Jupiter is the head, Jupiter is the middle, and all things are made by Jupiter.” So in Pausanias (Phocic. 12), “Jupiter was; Jupiter is; Jupiter shall be.” The reference in the phrase before us is to God as such, or to God considered as the Father.

And from the seven Spirits which are before his throne - After all that has been written on this very difficult expression, it is still impossible to determine with certainty its meaning. The principal opinions which have been held in regard to it are the following:

I. That it refers to God, as such. This opinion is held by Eichhorn, and is favored by Ewald. No arguments derived from any parallel passages are urged for this opinion, nor can any such be found, where God is himself spoken of under the representation of a sevenfold Spirit. But the objections to this view are so obvious as to be insuperable:

If it refers to God as such, then it would be mere tautology, for the writer had just referred to him in the phrase “from him who was,” etc.

(2)It is difficult to perceive in what sense “seven spirits” could be ascribed to God, or how he could be described as a being of “Seven Spirits.” At least, if he could be spoken of as such, there would be no objection to applying the phrase to the Holy Spirit.

(3)How could it be said of God himself that he was “before the throne?” He is everywhere represented as sitting on the throne, not as before it. It is easy to conceive of angels as standing before the throne; and of the Holy Spirit it is more easy to conceive as being represented thus as ready to go forth and convey a heavenly influence from that throne, but it is impossible to conceive in what sense this could be applied to God as such.

II. The opinion held by Grotius, and by John Henry Heinrichs, that it refers to “the multiform providence of God,” or to God considered as operating in seven or many different ways. In support of this Grotius appeals to Rev 5:12; Rev 7:12. But this opinion is so far-fetched, and it is so destitute of support, as to have found, it is believed, no other advocates, and to need no further notice. It cannot be supposed that John meant to personify the attributes of the Deity, and then to unite them with God himself, and with the Lord Jesus Christ, and to represent them as real subsistences from which important blessings descend to people. It is clear that as by the phrase, “who is, and who was, and who is to come,” and by “Jesus Christ, the faithful and true witness,” he refers to real subsistences, so he must here. Besides, if the attributes of God, or the modes of divine operation, are denoted why is the number seven chosen? And why are they represented as standing before the throne?

III. A third opinion is, that the reference is to seven attending and ministering presence-angels - angels represented as standing before the throne of God, or in his presence. This opinion was adopted among the ancients by Clemens of Alexandria Andreas of Cesarea, and others; among the moderns by Beza, Drusius, Hammond, Wetstein, Rosenmuller, Clarke, Prof. Stuart, and others. This opinion, however, has been held in somewhat different forms; some maintaining that the seven angels are referred to because it was a received opinion among the Hebrews that there were seven angels standing in the presence of God as seven princes stood in the Persian court before the king; others, that the angels of the seven churches are particularly referred to, represented now as standing in the presence of God; others, that seven angels, represented as the principal angels employed in the government of the world, are referred to; and others, that seven archangels are particularly designated. Compare Poole, Synoptists in loco. The arguments which are relied on by those who suppose that seven angels are here referred to are briefly these:

(1) The nature of the expression used here. The expression, it is said, is such as would naturally denote beings who were before his throne - beings who were different from him who was on the throne - and beings more than one in number. That it could not refer to one on the throne, but must mean those distinct and separate from one on the throne, is argued from the use of the phrases “before the throne,” and “before God,” in Rev 4:5; Rev 7:9, Rev 7:15; Rev 8:2; Rev 11:4, Rev 11:16; Rev 12:10; Rev 14:3; Rev 20:12; in all which places the representation denotes those who were in the presence of God, and standing before him.

(2) It is argued from other passages in the Book of Revelation which, it is said (Prof. Stuart), go directly to confirm this opinion. Thus, in Rev 8:2; “And I saw the seven angels which stood before God.” So Rev 4:5; the seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, are said to be “the seven Spirits of God.” In these passages, it is alleged that the article “the” designates the well-known angels; or those which had been before specified, and that this is the first mention of any such angels after the designation in the passage before us.

(3) It is said that this is in accordance with what was usual among the Hebrews, who were accustomed to speak of seven presence-angels, or angels standing in the presence of Yahweh. Thus, in the Book of Tobit (12:15), Raphael is introduced as using this language: “I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels, which present the prayers of the saints, and which go in and out before the glory of the Holy One.” The apocryphal Book of Enoch (chapter 20) gives the names of the seven angels who watch; that is, of the watchers (compare the notes on Dan 4:13, Dan 4:17) who stand in the presence of God waiting for the divine commands, or who watch over the affairs of people. So in the Zendavesta of Zoroaster, seven amshaspends, or archangels, are mentioned. See Prof. Stuart, in loco.

To these views, however, there are objections of great weight, if they are not in fact quite insuperable. They are such as the following:

(1) That the same rank should be given to them as to God, as the source of blessings. According to the view which represents this expression as referring to angels, they are placed on the same level, so far as the matter before us is concerned, with “him who was, and is, and is to come,” and with the Lord Jesus Christ - a doctrine which does not elsewhere occur in the Scriptures, and which we cannot suppose the writer designed to teach.

(2) That blessings should be invoked from angels - as if they could impart “grace and peace.” It is evident that, whoever is referred to here by the phrase “the seven Spirits,” he is placed on the same level with the others mentioned as the source of “grace and peace.” But it cannot be supposed that an inspired writer would invoke that grace and peace from any but a divine being.

(3) That as two persons of the Trinity are mentioned here, it is to be presumed that the third would not be omitted; or to put this argument in a stronger form, it cannot be supposed that an inspired writer would mention two of the persons of the Trinity in this connection, and then not only not mention the third, but refer to angels - to creatures - as bestowing what would be appropriately sought from the Holy Spirit. The incongruity would be not merely in omitting all reference to the Spirit - which might indeed occur, as it often does in the Scriptures - but in putting in the place which that Spirit would naturally occupy an allusion to angels as conferring blessings.

(4) If this refer to angels, it is impossible to avoid the inference that angel-worship, or invocation of angels, is proper. To all intents and purposes, this is an act of worship; for it is an act of solemn invocation. It is an acknowledgment of the “seven Spirits,” as the source of “grace and peace.” It would be impossible to resist this impression on the popular mind; it would not be possible to meet it if urged as an argument in favor of the propriety of angel-invocation, or angel-worship. And yet, if there is anything clear in the Scriptures, it is that God alone is to he worshipped. For these reasons, it seems to me that this interpretation cannot be well founded.

IV. There remains a fourth opinion, that it refers to the Holy Spirit, and in favor of that opinion it may be urged:

(1) That it is most natural to suppose that the Holy Spirit would be invoked on such an occasion, in connection with him “who was, and is, and is to come,” and with “Jesus Christ.” If two of the persons of the Trinity were addressed on such an occasion, it would be properly supposed that the Holy Spirit would not be omitted, as one of the persons from whom the blessing was to descend. Compare 2Co 13:14; “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.”

(2) It would be unnatural and improper, in such an invocation, to unite angels with God as imparting blessings, or as participating with God and with Christ in communicating blessings to man. An invocation to God to send his angels, or to impart grace and favor through angelic help, would be in entire accordance with the usage in Scripture, but it is not in accordance with such usage to invoke such blessings from angels.

(3) It cannot be denied that an invocation of grace from “him who is, and was, and is to come,” is of the nature of worship. The address to him is as God, and the attitude of the mind in such an address is that of one who is engaged in an act of devotion. The effect of uniting any other being with him in such a case, would be to lead to the worship of one thus associated with him. In regard to the Lord Jesus, “the faithful and true witness,” it is from such expressions as these that we are led to the belief that he is divine, and that it is proper to worship him as such. The same effect must be produced in reference to what is here called “the seven Spirits before the throne.” We cannot well resist the impression that someone with divine attributes is intended; or, if it refer to angels, we cannot easily show that it is not proper to render divine worship to them. If they were thus invoked by an apostle, can it be improper to worship them now?

(4) The word used here is not “angels,” but “spirits”; and though it is true that angels are spirits, and that the word “spirit” is applied to them Heb 1:7, yet it is also true that that is not a word which would be understood to refer to them without designating that angels were meant. If angels had been intended here, that word would naturally have been used, as is the case elsewhere in this book.

(5) In Rev 4:5, where there is a reference to “the seven lamps before the throne,” it is said of them that they “are,” that is, they represent “the seven Spirits of God.” This passage may be understood as referring to the same thing as that before us, but it cannot he well understood of angels; because:

(a)If it did, it would have been natural to use that language for the reason above mentioned;

(b)The angels are nowhere called “the spirits of God,” nor would such language be proper.

The phrase, “Spirit of God” naturally implies divinity, and could not be applied to a creature. For these reasons it seems to me that the interpretation which applies the phrase to the Holy Spirit is to be preferred; and though that interpretation is not free from difficulties, yet there are fewer difficulties in that than in either of the others proposed. Though it may not be possible wholly to remove the difficulties involved in that interpretation, yet perhaps something may be done to diminish their force:

(1) First, as to the reason why the number seven should be applied to the Holy Spirit:

(a) There would be as much propriety certainly in applying it to the Holy Spirit as to God as such. And yet Grotius, Eichhorn, Ewald, and others saw no difficulty in such an application considered as representing a sevenfold mode of operation of God, or a manifold divine agency.

(b) The word “seven” often denotes a full or complete number, and may be used to denote what is full, complete, or manifold; and might thus be used in reference to an all-perfect Spirit, or to a spirit which was manifold in its operations.

(c) The number seven is evidently a favorite number in the Book of Revelation, and it might be used by the author in places, and in a sense, such as it would not be likely to be used by another writer. Thus, there are seven epistles to the seven churches; there are seven seals, seven trumpets, seven vials of the wrath of God, seven last plagues; there are seven lamps, and seven Spirits of God; the Lamb has seven horns and seven eyes. In Rev 1:16, seven stars are mentioned; in Rev 5:12, seven attributes of God; Rev 12:3, the dragon has seven heads; Rev 13:1, the beast has seven heads.

(d) The number seven, therefore, may have been given to the Holy Spirit with reference to the diversity or the fulness of his operations on the souls of people, and to his manifold agency on the affairs of the world, as further developed in this book.

(2) As to his being represented as “before the throne,” this may be intended to designate the fact that the Divine Spirit was, as it were, prepared to go forth, or to be sent forth, in accordance with a common representation in the Scriptures, to accomplish important purposes on human affairs. The posture does not necessarily imply inferiority of nature, anymore than the language does respecting the Son of God, when he is represented as being sent into the world to execute an important commission from the Father.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]

Ab eo qui erat, & qui est, & qui venturus est, Greek: apo tou o on, kai o en, kai o erchomenos, as if it was said, Greek: apo tou os legetai o on, &c.

John to the seven churches,[1] afterwards named; and by them, to be understood of all churches, bishops, and people in the like dispositions. --- From him, who is, who was, and who is to come. As these words are only applied, and applicable to him, who is truly God and eternal, Alcazar (p. 176) applies them to God the Father. Others think them to be spoken of God, as the word God agrees to all the three divine Persons, who are one and the same God. See Ribera. --- And from the seven spirits. Alcazar understands them of seven of God’s attributes, or perfections, but, by the common exposition, are meant seven of the chief created spirits, who in a special manner assist at the throne of God, employed to execute God’s commands, as Raphael saith. (Tobit. xii. 15.) I am one of the seven who stand before God. (Witham) --- Spirits, &c. Some understand this of the Holy Ghost, on account of his seven gifts; but the most literal interpretation is of the principal Angles, who always surround the throne of God, and are his ministering spirits. (Calmet) --- And from Jesus Christ,[2] made man, and the Redeemer of mankind, whom St. John here names after the seven spirits, because he continues his discourse about Christ, who is the faithful witness; testified and approved of God by so many miracles, prophecies, &c. He is the chief of the martyrs or witnesses, as the Greek word signifies. --- The first begotten of the dead, both first in dignity, and first that rose to an immortal life. --- The prince of the kings of the earth, whose power is infinetely greater than all theirs; and this to put the suffering Christians in mind, that they needed not to fear the persecuting emperors, who have no power after this life. --- And Christ hath made us a kingdom, inasmuch as by his grace he has made us members of his true Church, called the kingdom of God, and promised us to reign with him in his glorious kingdom in heaven. --- And hath made us priests to God, and his Father, to offer up spiritual sacrifices. See 1 Peter ii. 9. --- To him be, or is due, glory and empire, for ever and ever. Amen. That is, to Jesus Christ. (Witham)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

John to the seven churches which are in Asia: John, the apostle and evangelist, writes either to all the churches of Asia under the notion of seven, (which is the number of perfection), or to those seven churches mentioned Rev 1:11, Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea, seven famous places in Asia the Less, where the gospel was planted; which being the most famous churches in that part of the world, John is commanded to deposit this prophecy in their hands, by them to be communicated unto other churches. These churches were in the most famous cities of the Lesser Asia: some think John was the apostle that preached most in Asia, and founded these churches; others, that though they were founded by Peter and Paul, yet after their death John took upon him the charge of them. It is the opinion of some learned men, that the apostle did not, in the epistles to the churches in Asia, design only to tell them of their error, and prescribe to their cure; but that in writing to them, he assigns both a prophetical instruction of us all concerning the state of the church in all periods from that time to the day of judgment, and also to reprove and counsel all present and succeeding churches; but of this we may possibly speak more afterward.

Grace be unto you, and peace: grace and peace is the common apostolical salutation, as to the sense of which we have often spoken: the apostle wisheth them the free love of God, that is, grace, and the seal of it, Rom 5:1, peace with God and their own consciences, and each with other.

From him which is, and which was, and which is to come: these words are a description of God, particularly of Jesus Christ in his eternity and immutability: he was from eternity; he is now; and he shall be for ever. Or, (as some), he was in his promises before his incarnation; he is now God manifested in the flesh; and he is to come as a Judge, to judge the quick and the dead. This was an ancient name of God, Exo 3:14, I am that I am.—I AM hath sent me unto you. These words interpret the name Jehovah.

And from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; it is very difficult to determine what is meant by the seven Spirits here before the throne: we read of them also, Rev 3:1; 4:5; 5:6. Christ is described, Rev 3:1, as having the seven Spirits of God. It is said, Rev 4:5, that the seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, are the seven Spirits of God; and Rev 5:6, that the Lamb’s seven eyes were the seven Spirits of God. This is all the light we have from Scripture. Some think they are seven angels that are here meant. We read, Rev 8:2, of seven angels that stood before God; and in Rev 15:6-8, there is a like mention of seven angels; and Zec 4:2,10, Zechariah had a vision of seven lamps, and seven pipes, which, Rev 1:10, are said to be the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth. But John saluting the churches with grace and peace from these seven Spirits, and joining them with Christ, they do not seem to be creatures, angels, that are here meant, but such a Being from whom grace and peace cometh. Others therefore understand by them, the seven workings of Divine Providence in his management of the affairs of the world, with relation to the church, of which we shall read after; but this also seems hard. The sense seems to be, and from the Holy Ghost, who, though but one spiritual Being, yet exerteth his influence many ways, and by various manifestations, called here seven Spirits, because all flow from the same Spirit. They are therefore called, Rev 4:5, burning lamps; the Holy Ghost descending in the appearance of fire, Act 2:3,4, and being compared to fire, Mat 3:11. They are called the Lamb’s seven eyes and seven horns, Rev 5:6. Christ had the Spirit without measure; and the Holy Spirit is oft called the Spirit of Christ. This seemeth the best sense; the reader may find the objections to it answered in Mr. Pool’s Synopsis Criticorum upon this verse.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

John - The dedication of this book is contained in the fourth, fifth, and sixth verses; but the whole Revelation is a kind of letter. To the seven churches which are in Asia - That part of the Lesser Asia which was then a Roman province. There had been several other churches planted here; but it seems these were now the most eminent; and it was among these that St. John had laboured most during his abode in Asia. In these cities there were many Jews. Such of them as believed in each were joined with the gentile believers in one church. Grace be unto you, and peace - The favour of God, with all temporal and eternal blessings. From him who is, and who was, and who cometh, or, who is to come - A wonderful translation of the great name JEHOVAH: he was of old, he is now, he cometh; that is, will be forever. And from the seven spirits which are before his throne - Christ is he who "hath the seven spirits of God." "The seven lamps which burn before the throne are the seven spirits of God." " The lamb hath seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God." Seven was a sacred number in the Jewish church: but it did not always imply a precise number. It sometimes is to be taken figuratively, to denote completeness or perfection. By these seven spirits, not seven created angels, but the Holy Ghost is to be understood. The angels are never termed spirits in this book; and when all the angels stand up, while the four living creatures and the four and twenty elders worship him that sitteth on the throne, and the Lamb, the seven spirits neither stand up nor worship. To these "seven spirits of God," the seven churches, to whom the Spirit speaks so many things, are subordinate; as are also their angels, yea, and "the seven angels which stand before God." He is called the seven spirits, not with regard to his essence, which is one, but with regard to his manifold operations.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

The prologue:

v. 4. John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace from Him which is, and which was, and which is to come, and from the seven spirits which are before His throne,

v. 5. and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful Witness and the First begotten of the dead and the Prince of the kings of the earth. Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood,

v. 6. and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His father: to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

v. 7. Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him; and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen.

v. 8. I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

This paragraph strikes the keynote of the entire book, its sentences moving forward with majestic grandeur. This is evident even in the salutation: John to the seven congregations that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him that is and that was and that is coming, and from the seven Spirits that are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful Witness, the First-born of the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth. The effect of this greeting is overwhelming in its stateliness and beauty. John is addressing the seven congregations in the province of Asia, the seven principal stations where the Word of God had taken hold, congregations whose conditions permit us to form a picture of the circumstances of the Church of Christ until the end of time. The greeting comprises the summary of the Gospel: grace, the free favor and love which the sinner has in the message of redemption, through the mercy of the Father, through the atonement of the Son, through the sanctification of the Spirit: peace, the effect of grace, which follows the reconciliation of the sinner with God, Rom 5:1, the peace of God which passes all understanding. This is the blessing of Jehovah, of Him that is from everlasting to everlasting, that was before the mountains were brought forth, that is coming soon to judge the world in righteousness, Jesus Christ, the Messiah. When Christ comes for the final redemption of His own, to sit in judgment upon His enemies, He will reveal Himself as the One that was from the beginning, the same throughout the eternities. The great spiritual blessings are also from the seven Spirits before the throne of grace, from the sevenfold Spirit: the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of wisdom and of knowledge, of grace and prayer, of strength and of power, of sanctification and the fear of God, Isa 11:2. The blessings are transmitted through the office of Jesus Christ, who is a faithful Witness, a Witness to the truth of the Gospel, Joh 3:32; 1Pe 2:22. He sealed His message with His blood and death, but He also conquered death and rose as the First-born from the dead, 1Co 15:23. And now that He is exalted to the right hand of the divine power, He is the Prince of the rulers of the earth, the Lord of lords and the King of kings, Psa 2:1-12.

To this exalted Christ John now addresses a doxology: To Him that loved us and loosed us from our sins with His blood, and made us a kingdom, priests to God and His Father, to Him be glory and power forever and ever, Amen. The eternal love which Christ had in His heart for us has been shown by the most indubitable proof: He delivered, or loosed, us from our sins at the cost of His own life, by giving His blood as a ransom for us. Thereby He has brought us into a relationship with Him which includes glorious privileges. He has constituted us His kingdom, we are kings before Him, Exo 19:6. At the same time we are priests to God and His Father: we have the privilege of intimate access to God as the result of Christ’s sacrificial death. We are a royal priesthood. a chosen generation, a peculiar people, 1Pe 2:9. All our enemies are conquered before us, and we are heirs of the everlasting kingdom of heaven. For this we give eternal praise, glory, and power to Him alone; that is our true priestly sacrifice.

The apostle now takes up the thought which was interrupted by the doxology: Behold, He is coming on the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those that pierced Him, and all the tribes of the earth will howl over Him. Yea, Amen. The mind of the prophet is here carried forward to the great day when the majesty of the Lord will appear, the great Day of Judgment. With or on the clouds He will appear, Mat 26:64; Dan 7:13. The eyes of all men mill see Him as He comes to Judgment, and those that pierced His hands and feet and sides with nails and the lance, all the godless men of the whole earth to whom this sin is imputed by virtue of their unbelief, will behold Him returning as their Judge, for then it will be too late for repentance. All that the unbelievers can do and will do on that day will be to weep and howl because of Him, gibbering in helpless terror in anticipation of the horrible fate which they see before their eyes. That is the solemn, dreadful truth.

Now the Lord Himself is introduced as speaking: I am Alpha and Omega, says the Lord God, He that is and was and is coming, the Almighty. Alpha and Omega, as the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, are designations of the beginning and the end, and are fitly used of Him and by Him who is true God with the Father from eternity, Isa 41:4; Isa 44:6; Isa 45:12. Like the Father, Christ is from everlasting to everlasting, and He is the almighty God. No enemy is too mighty for Him, not even the hosts of Satan; all things are placed under His feet. That is the great comfort of the believers, the certain foundation upon which their faith rests.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Observe here, 1. The persons to whom St. John writes, and the particular churches which he does salute, namely, the seven churches of Asia, which were then the most famous and flourishing churches in the Christian world, but now overrun with barbarism. Sin has laid the foundation of ruin in the most flourishing churches and kingdoms.

Observe, 2. The apostolical salutation given to these churches, Grace be unto you, and peace; by grace understand the free favour and rich love of God in pardoning, sanctifying, and saving; and by peace, the inward sense of that love, and all outward mercies and temporal blessings whatsoever.

Observe, 3. The persons in whose name, or from whom this salutation is sent and given;

1. From God the Father, who is described by his eternity and immutability, which is, which was, and which is to come.

2. From the seven Spirits which are before the throne: from the Holy Ghost, who is thus described in regard of the perfection and variety of his gracious operations: the Holy Spirit is called seven, because he is perfect in working; and he is said to be before the throne, because continually present with God, and ready to perform what is needful for the church of God.

3. From Jesus Christ, who is described according to the threefold office, of a prophet, priest, and king; his being called the true and faithful witness, points out his prophetical office, that he is the great prophet of his church, who reveals the will of the Father fully and faithfully to the sons of men; his being styled the first begotten of the dead, points out his priestly office, and intimates that he died, that he rose again from the dead, and that he first arose, or was the first begotten from the dead; that is, the first that arose from the dead by his own power, to a state of immortality, and never to die more; some indeed rose before him, but then they were raised by him, he was the first that ever raised himself: others were raised from the dead, as Lazarus, before Christ, but they died again; whereas Christ rose from the dead never to die more; he entered into a state of immortality after his resurrection, and lives for ever to make intercession for us.

Lastly, Christ is styled the prince of the kings of the earth, which phrase shows both his influence upon them, (as giving laws and rules unto them,) and their dependence upon him, who do recieve their power and government, their protection and dominion, all from his hand.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

THE AGES

The Antediluvian Ages have come and gone. The Patriarchal, Mosaic, and Prophetical Ages have all come and gone. The Jewish Age and Dispensation closed with the destruction of Jerusalem. The Father’s Dispensation lasted four thousand years; that of the Son, during His incarnate ministry; and that of the Holy Ghost, from Pentecost to the second advent. So we are now living, not only in the last dispensation — i.e., that of the Gentiles, the Holy Ghost, and the Church — but, as we will show you (D.V.) in this book, we are right at the end of that dispensation. John warned the people: “The time is at hand.” Oh, how much more pertinent to ring out the warning now, as we are eighteen hundred years nearer than the generation in which John lived! Good Lord, help us to sound the alarm and wake up a slumbering world and a dead Church!

Heb 1:2 : Created the worlds; i.e., the ages, as the Greek reads. So, also, 1Co 10:11, “On whom the ends of the world have come,” should read, “ends of the ages.”

These Scriptures, and others innumerable, confirm the conclusion that we are living in the last age, which is to be followed, not by the extermination of this earth, but by the glorious kingdom of our descended Lord. For this long anticipated and prayed for Millennial reign all the bygone ages were successive preparations. Our Savior came to destroy the works of the devil, which are sin, and restore this world to its Edenic state.

4. Seven Churches. — Doubtless there were hundreds of Churches in Asia Minor at that time. The reason why seven only are mentioned is because the Church is the bride of Christ, and seven is the sanctified number always representing Christ. Four represents humanity, as man is the king of the world, specified by the cardinal points, North, South, East, and West. Three represents Divinity — Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Christ is both man and God. Therefore, seven is the sanctified number in the Bible always symbolizing Christ. These seven Churches successively represent the visible Church from the Apostolic Age till the Lord comes. Seven spirits mean the Holy Ghost, as seven represents Christ, and the Holy Ghost is the Spirit of Christ, and first begotten of the dead. Elijah and Elisha raised people from the dead. Saints arose at the time of the crucifixion before His resurrection. But we have no assurance that any of these received their transfigured bodies. Hence, our Savior was the first to rise and receive His transfigured body — washed us from our sins in His own blood. The Greek says, loosed — “Made us a kingdom.” God’s saints constitute His spiritual kingdom on the earth.

7. “Behold, He comes with clouds, and every eye shall see Him, even those who pierced Him, and all the tribes of the earth shall wail at Him. Yea, Amen.” 1Th 4:13-18 :

“But I do not wish you, brethren, to be ignorant concerning those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and is risen, thus God will also bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For we say this to you in the word of the Lord, that we who are living who have been left unto the coming of the Lord, may not go before those who are asleep. Because the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive who have been left shall at the same time be caught up along with them to meet the Lord in the air; and thus shall we be forever with the Lord. So exhort one another by these words.”

The Resurrections. — The Bible plainly discriminates between the resurrection of the just and the unjust, thus clearly revealing two separate and distinct resurrections, the one for the just, and the other for the unjust. Yon see, from the above quotations, that the Lord will raise the sainted dead and translate the living saints when He comes after His bride, before He descends to set up His Millennial kingdom. Dan 12:2 :

“Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and others to shame and everlasting contempt. This is the first resurrection.”

Identical with the above quotations from Paul and John, and will take place when the Lord comes to deliver his bride. The English translation involves the conclusion that the wicked will be also raised at that time. But the most reliable expositions of the Hebrew state that some will be raised to everlasting life, and others doomed to shame and everlasting contempt— will not be raised, but sleep on to the end of time, when all the wicked shall be raised, and stand before the great white throne. Php 3:11 :

“If perchance I may attain unto the resurrection, which is out from the dead.”

We see here, as in other Scriptures, that the Apostle Paul was incessantly and enthusiastically and importunately striving after an especial resurrection. This shows positively that there are two resurrections, the one replete with blessing, glory, and immortal emolument and the highest association of saintship, and the other full of shame, everlasting contempt, and fearful augmentation of the damnation which the wicked enter when they die. Even the saints of the Old Testament times, as well as the Apostolic Age, were constantly striving for a better resurrection (Heb 11:35). This glorious doctrine of the resurrection is one of the gems of the long-lost gospel, which God, in His mercy, is now restoring to the world through the medium of the Holiness movement. The Greek phraseology in these quotations plainly reveals an especial, extraordinary, and glorious resurrection for the saints.

“Bro. Godbey, you clearly show by these Scriptures that the first resurrection will take place when the Lord comes for His bride, immediately preceding the great tribulation, after which our Lord will descend with His glorified bride, and set up His Millennial kingdom. Now, what shall I do with Rev 20:4-6, Bro. Godbey?” This is simply a supplement to the first resurrection, and takes in the tribulation saints, who have suffered martyrdom during the great tribulation.

The Rapture. — This word “rapture” means taking up, and it designates the Lord’s deliverance of his saints from the great tribulation. Paul says positively that He will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. This can not mean spiritual sleep, but must mean the sleep of the body in the grave. Therefore, the Lord must come after them, in order to have them to bring with Him when He comes to reign.

Mat 24:27 :

“For as the lightning cometh from the east and appeareth even unto the west, so shall be the coming of the Son of man.”

Hence, we see that the light of His glorified person will flash round the world and affright the slumbering millions now resting in carnal security throughout every nation under heaven. Appalled and panic-stricken, they will howl out one universal wail at Him. The phrase, “all the tribes of the earth,” means the wicked multitudes of all nations meanwhile, His saints will not join in the wailing, but run to meet Him, with shouts of welcome.

1Jn 2:28,

“Now, little children, abide in Him, in order that, when He may appear, we may have boldness, and not shrink with embarrassment from Him in His presence.”

In this letter John teaches that we must have perfect love, which casts out fear and takes away our embarrassment, and prepares us to meet our coming Lord with joy. When shall we expect our Savior to come and take away his bride, raising the sainted dead and translating the living saints? Now, all the New Testament certifies over and over that we are in the last age preceding the coming kingdom. We are not only in the last age, but rapidly approaching the end of the Gentile Age.

The Theocray. — This word means the government of God. It was the original economy, prevalent in Eden till the fall. It was revived, in a modified sense, after the fall. Almost totally eclipsed erelong by the wickedness of the Antediluvians, it received the grand impetus in the divine intervention of the Flood, sweeping ostensible rebellion out of the world, and leaving a solitary righteous family to re-people the earth. Nimrod’s impious attempt at Babylon to establish a human government, independently of the divine, was the first overt assault against the theocracy in post-diluvian times.

The wicked enterprise of Nimrod, so signally anathematized by the Almighty, proved the unfortunate precursor of all the governments on the globe. God was sorely grieved when Israel asked for a king, because it was an indirect rejection of His government. Yet, in His loving kindness and condescending mercy, He selected their king for them. Even the golden age of Israel, immortalized by the brilliant reigns of David and Solomon, only exhibits the theocracy in a modified form. Then begins the sad downward trend, with the revolt, alienation, and final deportation of the ten tribes into Babylonian captivity, culminating ultimately in the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, B.C. 587, and the final transportation of the Jews into Chaldea. It seemed that the theocracy had utterly evanesced, without the faintest hope of its revival. But remember, God’s plans never fail. Human and diabolical rebellion may interrupt and postpone them. but Omnipotence, in due time, will sweep away all the fabrications of men and devils, and perfect His plans to the admiration of saints and angels. With the fall of Jerusalem, the theocracy went into a total eclipse. The Jews — God’s earthly people — receded from the world’s leadership. The Gentiles came to the front, and became the rulers of the world during the theocratic eclipse. The Millennial reign will be the final restoration of the theocracy in its Edenic splendor and glory, never again to go into eclipse, but to brighten in the sweep of a thousand years, accumulate new luster in Satan’s post-Millennial defeat and ejectment into the lake of fire, brighten through the final judgment, earth’s fiery sanctification and final celestialization, and sweep on through all eternity-the bliss of glorified saints and the joy of angels, archangels, cherubim, and seraphim.

Thus we see the Gentile Age began with the fall of Jerusalem, B.C. 587. Now, if we know how long it is to continue, we can certainly ascertain proximately the time of the Lord’s coming. It is fanatical to appoint the day of His advent, which no one knows, from the simple fact that there are three distinct systems of chronology, all differing somewhat either from the other, and we do not know which chronology is correct, or whether any one of them is precisely right. In these expositions, it is pertinent that you keep all of the three chronologies — i.e., the lunar, calendar. and solar — constantly before your mind. Mohammedans and Jews use the lunar chronology, which contains three hundred and fifty- four days in the year; Europeans use the calendar, which contains three hundred and sixty days in the year; while Americans use the solar, which contains three hundred and sixty-five days in the year. How do we know the length of the Gentile Age? Leviticus 26 says several times over that the Jews shall suffer expatriation and persecution at the hands of the Gentiles seven times. Dan 4:25, we find Nebuchadnezzar was crazy and exiled, playing king among the beasts of the field seven times. The Hebrew means seven years for Israel’s expatriation and Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity. When the world became so wicked that there was no place for the Divine Government, God, in His mercy, chose Nebuchadnezzar, probably the most competent man in the world, to rule the nations; hence, in a sense, he symbolizes God in the dominion of the world. The crazy parenthesis of his reign typifies the human parenthesis in the world’s government, which began with the fall of the theocracy, B.C. 587, and will continue till Christ returns to set up the theocracy. In all these prophecies, a day represents a year. Daniel predicted that it would be seventy weeks from the return of the Jews out of Babylonian captivity till Christ should come (Dan 9:24). It is a well-known historic fact that this period proved to be four hundred and ninety years, thus, with many other prophecies, proving the year-day system of interpretation. The lunar year, 354 days, multiplied by 7, equals 2478; calendar, 360, multiplied by 7, equals 2520; and solar, 365, multiplied by 7, equals 2555. Hence. you see the time of Gentile rule in lunar chronology is 2478 in calendar, 2520; and in solar, 2555.

The period begins with the fall of Jerusalem, B.C. 587; now add A.D. 1896, and the total is 2483. So you see 2483 years have elapsed since the Gentile period began.

Now you will readily see when the Gentile Age will have an end. 2483 minus 2478 leaves 5. You see, according to lunar time, the Gentile Age has already expired, and five years over. 2520 minus 2483 leaves 37 years. Hence you see, according to calendar time, we have only thirty-seven years to await the Lord’s coming to reign. 2555 minus 2483 leaves 72 years. Here you see, according to solar chronology — the longest system — we have only seventy-two years to await the Lord’s kingdom.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4–8. John to the seven churches which are in Asia. The churches are named in verse 11. The term “Asia” did not mean in the first century what it does now, but only the Roman province called Asia, of which Ephesus was the capital. All the seven churches are in that province. It is supposed that SEVEN, the perfect and sacred number, were chosen, because the seven were to symbolize the whole Church of Christ. There were in the province of Asia more than seven churches at this time, as we know, Colosse, Miletus (Acts 20:17) and Hierapolis (Col. 4:13) being named in the New Testament. Grace be to you. The benediction, like that in the apostolic epistles, shows that Revelation is an epistle also, addressed directly to seven churches and through them to all the church. From him which is. The I AM. See Exod. 3:14. From the seven Spirits. The Holy Spirit. The numeral seven indicates fulness, perfection. It is the sacred number. The sevens are constantly repeated through Revelation. There are seven churches, seven spirits, seven seals, seven trumpets, seven thunders, seven vials, etc.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

General Information:

This is the beginning of John's letter. Here he names himself as the writer and greets the people he is writing to.

May grace be to you and peace from the one who is ... and from the seven spirits ... and from Jesus Christ

This is a wish or blessing. John speaks as if these were things that God could give, although they are really ways in which he hopes God will act for his people. AT: "May he who is ... and the seven spirits ... and Jesus Christ treat you kindly and enable you to live peacefully and securely" (See: Abstract Nouns)

from the one who is

"from God, who is"

who is to come

Existing in the future is spoken of as coming. (See: Metaphor)

seven spirits

The number seven is a symbol of completeness and perfection. The "seven spirits" refers either to the Spirit of God or to seven spirits who serve God. (See: Symbolic Language)

the firstborn from the dead

"the first person to be raised from death"

from the dead

From among all those who have died. This expression describes all dead people together in the underworld. To come back from among them speaks of becoming alive again.

has released us

"has set us free"

has made us a kingdom, priests

"has set us apart and begun to rule over us and he has made us priests"

his God and Father

This is one person. AT: "God, his Father"

Father

This is an important title for God that describes the relationship between God and Jesus. (See: Translating Son and Father)

to him be the glory and the power

This is a wish or prayer. Possible meanings are 1) "May people honor his glory and power" or 2) "May he have glory and power." John prays that Jesus Christ will be honored and will be able to rule completely over everyone and everything. (See: Abstract Nouns)

the power

This probably refers to his authority as king.

translationWords

John (the apostle)

church

Asia

grace

peace

spirit

throne

Jesus

faithful

testimony

firstborn

die

rule

king

earth

love

sin

blood

kingdom

priest

God the Father

glory

power

eternity

amen

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

John. Note the absence of all official titles, such as are found in Paul; showing that John writes as one whose position is recognized.

Seven. Among every ancient people, especially in the East, a religious significance attaches to numbers. This grows out of the instinctive appreciation that number and proportion are necessary attributes of the created universe. This sentiment passes over from heathenism into the Old Testament. The number seven was regarded by the Hebrews as a sacred number, and it is throughout Scripture the covenant number, the sign of God 's covenant relation to mankind, and especially to the Church. The evidences of this are met in the hallowing of the seventh day; in the accomplishment of circumcision, which is the sign of a covenant, after seven days; in the part played by the number in marriage covenants and treaties of peace. It is the number of purification and consecration (Lev 4:6, 17; Lev 8:11, 33; Num 19:12). "Seven is the number of every grace and benefit bestowed upon Israel; which is thus marked as flowing out of the covenant, and a consequence of it. The priests compass Jericho seven days, and on the seventh day seven times, that all Israel may know that the city is given into their hands by God, and that its conquest is a direct and immediate result of their covenant relation to Him. Naaman is to dip in Jordan seven times, that he may acknowledge the God of Israel as the author of his cure. It is the number of reward to those who are faithful in the covenant (Deu 28:7; 1Sa 2:5); of punishment to those who are froward in the covenant (Lev 26:21, 24, 28; Deu 28:25), or to those who injure the people in it (Gen 4:15, 24; Exo 7:25; Psa 79:12). All the feasts are ordered by seven, or else by seven multiplied into seven, and thus made intenser still. Thus it is with the Sabbath, the Passover, the Feast of Weeks, of Tabernacles, the Sabbath - year, and the Jubilee."

Similarly the number appears in God 's dealing with nations outside the covenant, showing that He is working for Israel 's sake and with respect to His covenant. It is the number of the years of plenty and of famine, in sign that these are for Israel 's sake rather than for Egypt's. Seven times pass over Nebuchadnezzar, that he may learn that the God of his Jewish captives is king over all the earth (partly quoted and partly condensed from Trench 's " Epistles to the Seven Churches ").

Seven also occurs as a sacred number in the New Testament. There are seven beatitudes, seven petitions in the Lord 's Prayer; seven parables in Matthew 13; seven loaves, seven words from the cross, seven deacons, seven graces (Rom 12:6 - 8), seven characteristics of wisdom (Jas 3:17). In Revelation the prominence of the number is marked. To a remarkable extent the structure of that book is molded by the use of numbers, especially of the numbers seven, four, and three. There are seven spirits before the throne; seven churches; seven golden candlesticks; seven stars in the right hand of Him who is like unto a son of man; seven lamps of fire burning before the throne; seven horns and seven eyes of the Lamb; seven seals of the book; and the thunders, the heads of the great dragon and of the beast from the sea, the angels with the trumpets, the plagues, and the mountains which are the seat of the mystic Babylon, - are all seven in number.

So there are four living creatures round about the throne, four angels at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds; the New Jerusalem is foursquare. Authority is given to Death to kill over the fourth part of the earth, and he employs four agents.

Again the use of the number three is, as Professor Milligan remarks, "so remarkable and continuous that it would require an analysis of the whole book for its perfect illustration." There are three woes, three unclean spirits like frogs, three divisions of Babylon, and three gates on each side of the heavenly city. The Trisagion, or "thrice holy," is sung to God the Almighty, to whom are ascribed three attributes of glory.

Seven Churches. Not all the churches in Asia are meant, since the list of those addressed in Revelation does not include Colossae, Miletus, Hierapolis, or Magnesia. The seven named are chosen to symbolize the whole Church. Compare chapter Rev 2:7. Seven being the number of the covenant, we have in these seven a representation of the Church universal. In Asia. See on Act 2:9.

Grace - peace. For grace [χαρις] , see on Luk 1:30. Both words are used by Paul in the salutations of all his Epistles, except the three Pastorals.

From Him which is, and which was, and which is to come [απο του ο ων και ο ην και ο ερχομενος] . The whole salutation is given in the name of the Holy Trinity : the Father (Him which is, and was, and is to come), the Spirit (the seven spirits), the Son (Jesus Christ). See further below. This portion of the salutation has no parallel in Paul, and is distinctively characteristic of the author of Revelation. It is one of the solecisms in grammatical construction which distinguishes this book from the other writings of John. The Greek student will note that the pronoun which [ο] is not construed with the preposition from [απο] , which would require the genitive case, but stands in the nominative case.

Each of these three appellations is treated as a proper name. The Father is Him which is, and which was, and which is to come. This is a paraphrase of the unspeakable name of God (Exo 3:14), the absolute and unchangeable. JO wn, the One who is, is the Septuagint translation of Exo 3:14, "I am the oJ wn (I am) :" " oJ wn (I am), hath sent me unto you. "The One who was [ο ην] . The Greek has no imperfect participle, so that the finite verb is used. Which is and which was form one clause, to be balanced against which is to come. Compare Rev 11:17; Rev 16:5; and" was [ην] in the beginning with God " (Joh 1:2). Which is to come [ο ερχομενος] . Lit., the One who is coming. This is not equivalent to who shall be; i e., the author is not intending to describe the abstract existence of God as covering the future no less than the past and the present. If this had been his meaning, he would have written oJ ejsomenov, which shall be. The phrase which is to come would not express the future eternity of the Divine Being. The dominant conception in the title is rather that of immutability.

Further, the name does not emphasize so much God 's abstract existence, as it does His permanent covenant relation to His people. Hence the phrase which is to come, is to be explained in accordance with the key - note of the book, which is the second coming of the Son (chapter Rev 1:7; Rev 22:20). The phrase which is to come, is often applied to the Son (see on 1Jo 3:5), and so throughout this book. Here it is predicated of the Father, apart from whom the Son does nothing. "The Son is never alone, even as Redeemer" (Milligan). Compare "We will come unto him," Joh 14:23. Origen quotes our passage with the words : "But that you may perceive that the omnipotence of the Father and of the Son is one and the same, hear John speaking after this manner in Revelation, 'Who is, etc. '" Dean Plumptre cornpares the inscription over the temple of Isis at Sais in Egypt : "I am all that has come into being, and that which is, and that which shall be, and no man hath lifted my veil."

The Spirit is designated by

The seven Spirits [των επτα πνευματων] . Paul nowhere joins the Spirit with the Father and the Son in his opening salutations. The nearest approach is 2Co 13:13. The reference is not to the seven principal angels (chapter Rev 8:2). These could not be properly spoken of as the source of grace and peace; nor be associated with the Father and the Son; nor take precedence of the Son, as is the case here. Besides, angels are never called spirits in this book. With the expression compare chapter Rev 4:5, the seven lamps of fire, "which are the seven Spirits of God :" chapter Rev 3:1, where Jesus is said to have "the seven Spirits of God." Thus the seven Spirits belong to the Son as well as to the Father (see Joh 14:26). The prototype of John's expression is found in the vision of Zechariah, where the Messiah is prefigured as a stone with seven eyes, "the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth" (Zec 3:9; Zec 4:10). Compare also the same prophet 's vision of the seven - branched candlestick (iv. 2).

Hence the Holy Spirit is called the Seven Spirits; the perfect, mystical number seven indicating unity through diversity (1Co 12:4). Not the sevenfold gifts of the Spirit are meant, but the divine Personality who imparts them; the one Spirit under the diverse manifestations. Richard of St. Victor (cited by Trench, "Seven Churches ") says :" And from the seven Spirits, that is, from the sevenfold Spirit, which indeed is simple in nature, sevenfold in grace. "

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.