I. The complacency with which Christ looks back on His own atoning work and sufferings.
II. The perpetual efficacy of the Saviour’s sacrifice.
III. The continued identity of Christ’s person as God-man mediator.
IV. Redemption is the grand theme of adoration forunredeemed angels as well as for the redeemed family of God.
V. The pre-eminent dignity and bliss of the ransomed saints.
VI. The unity which pervades the heavenly ranks.
VII. The vision seems intended to prepare the Church on earth for her own sufferings, and reconcile her to her approaching tribulation. (J. R. Macduff, D. D.)
The hymn of the angels and of creation:
I. First let us understand the attitude and position of the angels. They are round about the throne of God, around the elders--that is, the Church--and around the living creatures. They are, therefore, the sentinels and the guardians of Divine and human things. So they stand equally around the emblem of eternal power, around the fourfold forms of life, around its drudgery as well as its ambition, and around the Church, distressed and broken and divided and betrayed. No thought of fear dims the lustre of their eyes, nor lessens the precision and the emphasis of their song. And it is worthy of notice that they secure ample leisure for worship. It is a lesson that ought not to be lost upon our hurrying age. Thank heaven, there are still secluded corners of our land where the shriek of steam-engines, the clamour of crowded streets, the driving of pulse and brain, is unknown; where the valleys laugh and sing with the standing corn, where the hilltops are silent as the seas, and where jaded brains may shape some thought of God. But heaven is busy too, and there is work enough to be accomplished. There are sinners lost in the wilds of the hill, and in loathsome dens of thecity, who will need to be brought home. There are claims and needs and dangers of the Church the world over--energies to be cherished, works to be encouraged, impurities to be purged, sorrows and disappointments to be assuaged. And with all these interests in hand their eye is upon the throne, for here only do angels and men alike behold, and thence only receive the interpretation of life and the wisdom and guidance for work. And well were it, not only for its honesty, but even more for its progress, if the commerce of England and Scotland and Ireland were directed by the laws which abide in God. Only those who obey can worship, and only those who rightly worship can truly live. And so--
II. The central thought of the angels, like that of the Church, was the worthiness of Christ. “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain.” And as it was in the mind of the Church, so here again this worthiness is associated with sacrifice. For most men suffer only when they must, and they fail to perceive that sacrifice at once tests what we are, and makes us what we ought to be. In this way Christ’s sacrifice proved His essential worth, and, beyond this, proves to-day His permanent worth to His people. It is not His power alone. That never elicits adoration. It is the goodness that reigns paramount within Him which men worship and love.
III. The response of creation. The poet of Palestine had said, many a year before St. John lived, that there is neither speech nor language throughout the earth in which the voice of the firmament is not heard. “The songs of the spheres” was another method of expressing the same truth. The sky vibrates with praise as the great stars stand out in their places. “Earth, with its thousand voices,” said Coleridge, “praises God.” And while these call to man, whatever his tongue or his worship, man the world round feels that he mustrespond. He cannot help worshipping. Under the gaslight, and in the heated atmosphere of some remote meeting-place in the big town, he may lustily proclaim that God is nothing to him. But when the gas is out and the cheering companions are gone, when he is alone on the mountain-side, and the thunder booms out its terror above and the lightning flashes death around him, a voice within answers thevoices without, and the infidel is compelled to pray. And as man must worship, so his worship adopts a more expansive form than that which angels take as yet (Rev_7:12). His eyes, too, are indeed filled with the image of the Lamb. What mind can forget Calvary and Olivet? But away beyond the present fact he contemplates the continuous recognition, and age upon age he hears the same hymn. And further yet, and fuller, the worship of the Lamb broadens into the worship of the Godhead. It is offered to “Him that sitteth upon the throne.” And it expresses the spiritual history of every saint. We see ourselves in this hymn. When first our life lay before us, and we took it up and placed it upon the altar of God’s salvation, Jesus Christ was all, was everything to us. Then as faith deepened and threw up the greater and stronger life, we saw Jesus in all things. And then we beheld the love of the Father to be as great and tender as the love of the Son, and the strength of the Holy Ghost gathered round us and within us, and God in His blessed Trinity embraced all things. (W. M. Johnston, M. A.)
Christ the object of angelic worship
I. The homage here represented as rendered to the Saviour by the angelic hosts.
1. Angels are the worshippers to whom our attention is more particularly directed in the text.
2. The nature of the homage which they render Him. The particulars here specified relate rather to the natural than the moral attributes of our Saviour, to His greatness rather than His goodness; that is, to His prerogatives and glories which He most obscured in His humbled state, or of which He then emptied Himself, as the Scripture expresses it.
3. The ground of this homage. As a person inherently possessed of all Divine excellences and glories, the Son of God, in common with the Father, has an incontestable title to the worship and obedience of the heavenly hosts. He has a further claim as the author and preserver of their existence, and as the source and dispenser of all their happiness. It is not, however, on this ground, strong as it is, that the homage manifested in the text is rendered Him. Look to the passage and you will at once perceive that the basis on which the Son of God is worshipped, both by the representatives of the Church and by the angelic hosts, is His death or sacrifice. But does the death of Christ give Him any new or peculiar claims to the homage of the heavenly hierarchies who are not immediately interested in its benefits? Unquestionably it does, and some of these claims it is not difficult to discover. His death was not only in itself the most extraordinary event that ever took place, it afforded incomparably the most magnificent display that ever was exhibited of generosity and kindness, of compassion and tenderness. It is an essential part of true excellence to admire excellence in another, and the admiration ought to be proportioned to the measure of excellence displayed. What a resistless impulse, then, must it communicate to the adoration and praise of the holy angels, to contemplate the death of the Son of God. Recollect next the display of the Divine character and perfections exhibited in the death of Christ, and you will see in it another reason to ampel the hosts of heaven to honour and adore Him. Consider, again, that while the death of Christ contributes so much to advance the honour of God, it contributes not less to promote the happiness of man. “They rejoice over one sinner that repenteth.” In further illustration of this topic, I might add that it is the opinion of the great Mr. Howe, and of some other eminent divines, that angels, though not redeemed by Christ, are confirmed in happiness in consequence of their union to Him. It is further certain that in Him angels and saints are united in one harmonious and happy association, and that it has pleased the Father by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven.” And these wonderful arrangements furnish angels with another reason to worship and serve “the Lamb that was slain.”
II. The argument suggested by their conduct to induce us to render the Lamb a similar homage.
1. We have a direct and personal interest in His death. If His matchless love excites, as well it may, the admiration even of creatures not immediately interested, and impels them “to prepare new honours for His name,” what words can express the claims which He has to our admiration, gratitude, and praise?
2. We are still in circumstances of danger. Many and formidable are the enemies who seek our ruin, numerous and painful are the toils and hardships we must encounter ere we reach our “Father’s loved abode.” There is one, and only one, who can protect you amid your multitudinous dangers, and bring you to the land which you wish to reach. “Jesus Christ, the captain of salvation, having been made perfect through sufferings, will conduct you to glory,” if only you will confide in Him. What an argument to love and trust, to adore and praise Him!
3. I might remark that, allowing He has conferred on angels higher capacities and higher joys, our happiness has been procured by Him at a price far more costly. To communicate to angels existence and happiness required nothing more than a simple volition of His irresistible will, a single word of His omnipotent voice. It was not thus that the happiness of the apostate race could be restored, that the redemption of our lost world was to be achieved.
Lessons:
1. How inconceivably glorious must heaven be, and how worthy of our earnest desire and our constant pursuit!
2. How reasonable that we should render Divine honours to the Lord Jesus.
3. How important that we cultivate a love to the exercises of heaven.
4. This subject suggests a test by which we may ascertain whether we are fit for heaven. To ascertain your meetness for heaven you havethen only to inquire whether you take delight in devotional exercises and in holy pursuits and enjoyments.
5. This subject shows us the folly of the irreligious. Think of heaven with all its joys and splendours. Contrast with this hell with its horrors, a place of outer darkness and of gnashing of teeth. (R. Balmer, D. D.)
Worthy is the Lamb that was slain.--
The worthy sacrifice of Christ
I. Contemplate Christ as He is represented under the character of a lamb. The lamb is an appropriate symbol of innocence and meekness. Never were thelamb-like virtues brought to so severe a test, and never were they so strikingly portrayed. A recluse in his cell may reason justly on the duties of forbearance and forgiveness, but it is difficult to carry into practice the dictates of sober solitude, yet Jesus gave not only the theory but the practice of every possible virtue.
II. Meditate on the death of Christ.
1. He was slain decretively in the purposes of Jehovah.
2. He was slain emblematically by the sacrifices under the Levitical dispensation.
3. He was slain instrumentally by the hands of the Jews.
4. He was slain really by the justice of God for the sins of His people.
III. Celebrate His praise.
1. He is worthy of the trust and confidence of His people.
2. He is worthy of the adoration and praise of the redeemed spirits above.
3. He is worthy the adoration of the purest intelligences of the universe.
4. He is worthy of the final conquest of the world. (T. Adkins.)
Christ the Lamb slain
I. The wonderful person of the glorious sufferer will furnish occasion of unceasing admiration to the great multitude before the throne.
II. The multitude before the throne will have occasion to give glory to the great Redeemer when they contemplate the mysterious nature of His sufferings.
III. Similar acknowledgments will be called forth when the saints in heaven remember their sins as the procuring cause of the Saviour’s sufferings.
IV. The sufferings of the Redeemer are considered by the multitude before the throne as the result of a plan contrived by the infinite wisdom of God in His eternal counsels.
V. The sufferings of the Redeemer are considered by the multitude before the throne as the genuine effect of His own uncontrolled and sovereign pleasure. To Himself alone, and to the free exercise of His own good will, this act of grace and humiliation must be referred.
VI. The sufferings of the Redeemer are considered by those who stand around the throne as affording the brightest manifestation of the Divine perfections.
VII. The sufferings of the Redeemer present new occasion of admiration and triumph to the multitude before the throne, because thereby redemption is completely purchased. (John Russell.)
Glory ascribed in heaven to the Lamb
1. The sacrifice of Christ has had the effect of developing the hidden perfections and glories of God in what may be considered their Christian and evangelical aspect, both in the Church above and in the Church below, consequently all glory is due to Christ upon this principle.
2. The elementary state cud high reward of heaven is the result of our Saviour’s work, and consequently the glory must be due to Him.
3. The relationship in which the triumphant Church will stand to her Lord will induce these sentiments, and lead to this triumphant song. In what relationship does He stand to us here? “God with us.” In what relation does He appear to the Church above? “God with them.” (J. Dixon.)
The worthiness of Christ to receive man’s riches
I. Because He is the original proprietor of it. The gold that any man holds in his hands is his in a very secondary sense; his property a few years ago was in the possession of others, and a few years hence it will pass from him into other hands. All material wealth belongs to Christ.
II. Because He has enabled you to procure it. Why have you wealth more than others? Has it come to you through heirdom, legacy, or your own industry? In either case you have it through Christ.
III. Because He gives you the qualification to enjoy it. Whogave you the unmiserly spirit, the bodily health, the mental capacity by which you can enjoy your riches?
IV. Because He will make the best use of it.
1. The best use of it for yourselves. There is no better investment. Your contributions to Him serve you in many ways.
(1) Serve to test your character.
(2) Serve to detach you from materialism.
(3) Serve to ennoble your character. It is a great thing to be trusted, to be thrown upon your honour. Christ trusts you.
2. The best use of it for the world. When you are gone Christ’s Church will be here working with the means you have entrusted to it, and working to spread truth, virtue, and happiness through the world. (Homilist.)
Praise a duty
No other duty is enjoined so often in the Scriptures as praise. The Bible is full of music. The woods in the summer days are not so full of bird-notes as this sacred book is of voices of song. Christian life can realise the Divine thought for it only by being songful. The old fable of the harp of Memnon, that it began to breatheout sweet music the moment the morning light swept its chords, has its true fulfilment in the human soul, which, the instant the light of Divine love breaks upon it givesforth notes of gladness and praise. (J. R. Miller,D. D.)
