I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her.
A picture of moral error
I. Its history is marvellous.
1. On account of the darkness that enfolds its introduction.
2. On account of the mask under which it works.
3. On account of the wonderful issues that will result from it.
II. Its course is lamentable.
1. It rises from the “bottomless pit”--the fathomless abysses of impure lusts, ravenous greed, burning ambition, sensual yearnings, impious irreverences, blasphemous assumptions, etc.
2. It leads to “perdition”--ruin.
III. Its supports are unstable. Many of the arguments that have sustained it from time to time have appeared as settled and imposing as mountains, as gorgeous and majestic as kings; but “mountains have fallen and come to nought,” and even imperial bulwarks have disappeared as visions of the night. So it has been, so it is, and so it must be to the end. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them.
War and conquest
I. The opposing forces. Look abroad upon the earth. What a pandemonium of vice and crime, injustice and cruelty, heathenism and superstition it is. Oh, how mighty and multiplied the antagonist hosts! They are mustered and marshalled; they are eager for the strife of the battle, they confront us at every step; and the great question is this, Can they be overcome? Must we lay down our arms in despair! Is the world to become no better?
II. The opposing forces vanquished. The Lamb will overcome them.
1. By the interpositions and changes of Providence. God has a purpose, the world is to be converted, and all things are working to accomplish that end; but God’s way is in the sea, and His path in the mighty waters; He is the real, though invisible, ruler, both of matter and of mind. The laws of providence are just as Divine in their appointments and results as the laws of nature. All things work to usher in the day predicted by the angel’s song, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.”
2. By the preaching of His own truth and the outpouring of His Holy Spirit. Preaching is the appointment of heaven.
3. By the indomitable zeal and energy of His own followers. As the conflict advances, one shall chase a thousand and two shall put ten thousand to flight. In all ages God hascarried on His work by the zeal, energy, and courage of His faithful servants. He did it even in the ages of miracles, He will do it till the world is saved; and why shrink from the task His benevolence appoints? Have we had no success? Did not Wesley and Whitfield arouse all England and North America to the worth of the gospel and the importance of eternal things? Are we faithful to the cause of the Lamb? Might He not reproach us for our doubts and fears? Where is the faith which wrought those moral wonders in the apostolic age? (W. S. Edwards.)
The Royal Christ
A Lamb, and yet “Lord of lords, and King of kings.” The ideas seem incongruous. How, then, is “the Lamb” this?
1. By rightful authority. Though Son of Man, He is also Son of God (cf. Psa_2:1-12.)
2. By virtue of His sacrifice (chap. 4.; cf. Php_3:1-21.), “Therefore hath God highly exalted Him, and,” etc.
3. By the might of meekness. See how at His nativity the shepherds were told they should see the “Saviour, Christ the Lord.” Meekness is might, sacrifice is sovereignty, losing life is gaining it; the cross creates the crown.
4. By the consent of conscience.
5. By the grace he imparted to His people. “Their patient continuance in well-doing put to silence” all their foes.
6. In His people. “They that are with Him.” The Revised Version rightly renders St. John’s words, “They also shall overcome that are with Him, called, chosen, faithful.” St. John does not teach that the Lamb was indebted to them for this victory as a general is indebted to his army. They are--
(1) Called.
(2) Chosen. But thus we may know if we be chosen:
(3) If we be of those who are faithful. Called we are; chosen we may be.
II. faithful, then we are of the chosen too; and this, and this only, is the proof. (C. Conway, B. A.)
The great moral campaign
I. The contending forces.
1. The one is represented as a “beast.” Emblem of the mighty aggregate of wrong in all its elements and operations: wrong in theories and in institutions, wrong in sentiments and habits, wrong as imposing as seven mountains and as majestic as kings or empires, wrong sitting as empress over all nations and peoples and tongues.
2. The other is represented as a “Lamb”--emblem of innocence, mildness, and purity.
II. The marvellous conquest.
1. The conqueror. The Lamb, though not a bellicose existence, is
(1) Invested with the highest authority.
(2) Followed by a noble army.
2. The conquered. (D. Thomas,D. D.)
The overcoming Lamb
I. The person mentioned. He is not a lamb, but the Lamb. He is the great universal Lamb, causing the blood which He shed to spread itself, as it were, all over the world, so that every sinner might touch it and be saved from his sins.
II. What He shall overcome. All opposers, both nations and individuals.
III. How He shall overcome His opposers. There are two general methods--
1. That of using certain means to persuade rebellious hearts to become reconciled to God. His greatest effort has always been to overcome by the passion of His love.
2. That of final banishment from His presence. Oh, what can feeble man do against such an all-powerful being as Christ is? How utterly vain have been the threats of infidels, that they would banish Him from the world. (C. H. Wetherbe.)
And they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful.--
The army of the Lamb
This is a description of the best appointed army that was ever brought into the field--the army of Christ Jesus. It has been the presumptuous boast of many earthly generals that their soldiers were invincible--such as no enemy could overthrow. This may, however, be with truth affirmed of this army. They carry, as it were, this inscription on their banners, “Conquering and to conquer!”
I. The Captain of this host of the Lord. The success of every ordinary army depends mainly, under God, upon the skill and valour of its general. But of this spiritual army it may with truth be said that every hope of victory they have arises altogether from Him who leads them to the battle. They have an Almighty leader at their head, One whose presence insures victory to all His followers. In the former part of the verse this “Captain of the Lord’s host” is called by two different titles, which seem, at first sight, scarcely reconcilable.
1. One of these titles is, “the Lamb”--a name which might seem, at first, little suited to the leader of an army. But what does the term signify in the case of Him to whom it is applied? Not that He is weak and feeble as the tender animal which bears this name. But He is a “Lamb” in reference to the death He died for His people, when He was “led as a Lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep is dumb before its shearers so He opened not His mouth.” It is a title, too, of endearment. The Lamb is not more meek and gentle than He is to His faithful followers.
2. But if the epithet “Lamb” represents His gentleness and tenderness towards His people and the death which He has died for them, He has another name which describes, as strikingly, His majesty and power--“Lord of lords and King of kings.”
II. His soldiers. “They that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful.”
1. They are “called”--just as the soldiers of an earthly army are enlisted for the service. The soldiers of an earthly warfare were called into the ranks they fill from very different occupations: some from the shop, some from the plough. Christ’s soldiers, too, were very differently occupied when the call of grace was given them. They were then mere children of the world, “fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind”--each busily occupied in his own favourite and cherished sins. Various, too, were the circumstances under which the call was given to them, and various the means employed by the great Captain of salvation to make them hear that call. But in every case it was the Saviour’s “Follow Me!” which brought His soldiers to His side.
2. They are not “called” only, but “chosen.” There is a difference, even in earthly armies, between being called and being chosen, between being merely enlisted and being what is called “picked men,” men in whom the general can place his confidence. Look at Gideon’s army (Jdg_7:1-7). Two-and-thirty thousand then were called; three hundred only chosen. It is just thus in the camp of Jesus. What multitudes flock into it! But how many of all these become in after life true soldiers of the Cross? Alas! but a small remnant; for “many are called, but few are chosen.” But they that are really with the Saviour, and who constitute His “Church militant here on earth,” are, all of them, “picked men.” Whatever exploits Christ’s soldiers may perform when they have entered on the fight of faith, “by the grace of God they are what they are.”
3. They are faithful. The word may be taken in two senses, in each of which it is equally applicable to the armies of the Living God.
(1) They are “faithful” inasmuch as they are full of faith and confidence in the Captain of their salvation. The soldiers of the Lamb of God place their entire confidence in the Commander whom they follow.
(2) A man is said to be faithful who lives up to his engagements, and who adheres with constancy and perseverance to the person whose service he has undertaken. Faithfulness, in this understanding of the word, is most essential to the character of a good soldier. One part of his faithfulness consists in his remaining true to his commander until he be disbanded or dismissed. To run from his colours, or desert the service of his king and country, is amongst the soldier’s greatest crimes. In this point, too, the soldiers of the Lord are faithful. “They follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth,” and nothing shall ever separate them from His love and from His service. (A. Roberts, M. A.)
