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 apostle’s 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 thepersons 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 Christ’s 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 Lord’s testimony. The task of a witness is to tell his story, not to argue about it. And there is nothing more characteristic of our Lord’s 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 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.’’ 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. (JamesYoung.)
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 asto 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 Christ’s 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 Christ’s 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 hasHe 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 theseventh 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. (JamesYoung.)
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 nota 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 sinner’s 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 God’s earth? I said I was to speak to you about Christ’s 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 Lord’s 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, thatthere 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. HayAitken,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 anAmerican 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 wasa 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? (WaylandHoyt,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.” (DavidThomas,D. D.)
Christ as Mediator
I. Christ’s 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. Christ’s 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. Christ’s 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. Christ’s faithfulness is seen, notonly 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 Christ’s part calls for faith on ours; and His witnessing, it calls for our assent. Let us hold upon Christ’s faithfulness by trusting perfectly to the grace which is revealed. Second, as for promises, so for threatenings; He is thefaithful 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 Christ’s 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 Christ’s 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 God’s 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 Christ’s resurrection (1Pe_1:3-4). His regal, or kingly office. “And the Prince of kings of the earth.” Christ isnot 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, man’s 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 man’s life is completed or not. I know God’s works are never unfinished, but may not man’s 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 God’s 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 sinner’s 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 Christ’s 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 man’s 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.--
John’s song of praise to Christ
It is not a song which John heard, but a song which welled up in John’s 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 Saviour’s 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 “Saint’s 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 breadthand 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.)
John’s 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 Lord’s 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. John’s 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 notstand 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; itmounts 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 theLord 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 God’s creatures, and secondly, as His servants in office.” This applies to us also. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Christ’s 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 asChrist, 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 Christ’s 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 Christian’s privilege, which is to be washed from his sins in Christ’s 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 Christ’s 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. (DavidThomas,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 hasseen 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 andbroken 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 &ld
