I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the book, and to break its seals?” No one in heaven above, or on the earth, or under the earth, was able to open the book or to look in it. Then I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look in it. One of the elders said to me, “Don’t weep. Behold, the Lion who is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome: he who opens the book and its seven seals.” I saw in the middle of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the middle of the elders, a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth. Then he came, and he took it out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne. Now when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
They sang a new song, saying, “You are worthy to take the book and to open its seals: for you were killed, and bought us for God with your blood out of every tribe, language, people, and nation,
and made us kings and priests to our God, and we will reign on the earth.”
I saw, and I heard something like a voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders. The number of them was ten thousands of ten thousands, and thousands of thousands; saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who has been killed to receive the power, wealth, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and blessing!”
I heard every created thing which is in heaven, on the earth, under the earth, on the sea, and everything in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb be the blessing, the honor, the glory, and the dominion, forever and ever! Amen!”
The four living creatures said, “Amen!” Then the elders fell down and worshiped.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14 Thus neither of them that are in heaven, nor…
Thus neither of them that are in heaven, nor of them which are in the earth, etc. And this I like better. Now this enumeration of parts is sufficient to the denying of the whole. For of the creatures one sort is in heaven above the earth: another in the earth: and another under the earth in the sea, as is after declared, verse 13.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv2–14 2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with…
2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?
Ver. 2. And I saw a strong angel] Angels are very desirous to know the mystery of Christ, 1Pe 1:12, and to profit daily in that knowledge, Eph 3:10.
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.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv2–13 There were no weak angels, but possibly this angel…
There were no weak angels, but possibly this angel might, in appearance to John, look as if he were stronger than others; or rather, so judged from the great and
loud voice he used.
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Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? Not that he thought any was able, or worthy. We can only conclude from hence the impotency of men to search, and find out, and expound the deep things of God, and consequently the unlawfulness of too narrow a prying into his secret mysteries.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On vv2, 6, 11 Observe, 1. Here is a proclamation made by an…
Observe, 1. Here is a proclamation made by an extraordinary angel, like an herald or officer, inquiring who was worthy, either in regard of authority, or in respect of ability, to open this book, and unloose the seals, that is, to disclose the secret counsels of God, and to make them known unto the sons of men, implying, that every angel in heaven is not worthy or meet to be the expositor of God’s mind and mysteries unto man.
Observe, 2. The great silence which there was in heaven upon this proclamation, amounting to an absolute and peremptory denial, that not any one, either in heaven or earth, or under the earth; not any angel in heaven, nor any saint living upon earth; not any dead saint under the earth, nor any devil or infernal spirit; was either worthy to open the book, or able to foresee or foretell the least event concerning the church, farther than revealed to them.
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Learn hence, That neither angels nor devils do understand the mysterious counsels of God, or can reveal future things to man, any farther than as God is pleased to reveal the same unto them.
Observe, 3. St. John’s great and bitter lamentation, because no person was found worthy to open the book, and reveal unto the church the secret counsels of God concerning her, I wept much; fearing, no doubt, lest the church of God should be deprived of the benefit and comfort of this revelation. Such as are the true members of the church are greatly afflicted with all the providential dispensations of God which do befall her; but nothing goes so near them, as to have the mind and will of God hidden and concealed from her.
Observe, 4. A seasonable consolation given to St. John: one of the elders that were about the throne said to him, Weep not, for care is taken for the opening and revealing of the book. Christ, who is called the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Son of David, as man, and the root of David, as God, is found worthy, in regard of the divinity of his person, and the prevalency of his merits, to open unto the church all the mysteries of God, which are meet and convenient for her to understand and know.
Quest. Why is Christ called the Lion of the tribe of Judah?
Ans. In allusion to Jacob’s blessing, Genesis 49 where Judah is called a lion’s whelp, denoting the dignity and superiority of that tribe above the rest.
Now Christ descended of this tribe, and is called a lion, in regard of his kingly power and strength, in regard of his stoutness and courage, in regard of his mildness and clemency, and true nobleness of spirit, to them that submit and yield unto him, and in respect of his vigilancy and watchfulness over his church; all which are the known properties of the lion; and as that creature is the king of beasts, so is Christ King of kings, and Lord of lords, the only potentate; dominion and fear are with him.
Quest. But how could Christ be called David’s root, when we know that David did not spring from him, but he from David, according to the flesh?
Ans. In a natural sense, David was the root of David. David, as man, was the root of Christ: Christ, as Mediator and Godman, was the root of David. Thus he was both David’s lord, and David’s son, Psa 110:1.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v6 Here, I. The apostle beholds this book taken into…
Here, I. The apostle beholds this book taken into the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ, in order to its being unsealed and opened by him. Here Christ is described, 1. By his place and station: In the midst of the throne, and of the four beasts, and of the elders. He was on the same throne with the Father; he was nearer to him than either the elders or ministers of the churches. Christ, as man and Mediator, is subordinate to God the Father, but is nearer to him than all the creatures; for in him all the fulness of the Godhead dwells bodily. The ministers stand between God and the people. Christ stands as the Mediator between God and both ministers and people. 2. The form in which he appeared. Before he is called a lion; here he appears as a lamb slain. He is a lion to conquer Satan, a lamb to satisfy the justice of God. He appears with the marks of his sufferings upon him, to show that he interceded in heaven in the virtue of his satisfaction. He appears as a lamb, having seven horns and seven eyes, perfect power to execute all the will of God and perfect wisdom to understand it all and to do it in the most effectual manner; for he hath the seven Spirits of God, he has received the Holy Spirit without measure, in all perfection of light, and life, and power, by which he is able to teach and rule all parts of the earth. 3. He is described by his act and deed: He came, and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat on the throne (Rev 5:7), not by violence, nor by fraud, but he prevailed to do it (as Rev 5:5), he prevailed by his merit and worthiness, he did it by authority and by the Father's appointment. God very willingly and justly put the book of his eternal counsels into the hand of Christ, and Christ as readily and gladly took it into his hand; for he delights to reveal and to do the will of his Father.
II. The apostle observes the universal joy and thanksgiving that filled heaven and earth upon this transaction. No sooner had Christ received this book out of the Father's hand than he received the applauses and adorations of angels and men, yea, of every creature. And, indeed, it is just matter of joy to all the world to see that God does not deal with men in a way of absolute power and strict justice, but in a way of grace and mercy through the Redeemer. He governs the world, not merely as a Creator and Lawgiver, but as our God and Saviour. All the world has reason to rejoice in this. The song of praise that was offered up to the Lamb on this occasion consists of three parts, one part sung by the church, another by the church and the angels, the third by every creature.
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1. The church begins the doxology, as being more immediately concerned in it (Rev 5:8), the four living creatures, and the four-and-twenty elders, the Christian people, under their minister, lead up the chorus. Here observe, (1.) The object of their worship - the Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ; it is the declared will of God that all men should honour the Son as they honour the Father; for he has the same nature. (2.) Their posture: They fell down before him, gave him not an inferior sort of worship, but the most profound adoration. (3.) The instruments used in their adorations - harps and vials; the harps were the instruments of praise, the vials were full of odours or incense, which signify the prayers of the saints: prayer and praise should always go together. (4.) The matter of their song: it was suited to the new state of the church, the gospel-state introduced by the Son of God. In this new song, [1.] They acknowledge the infinite fitness and worthiness of the Lord Jesus for this great work of opening and executing the counsel and purposes of God (Rev 5:9): Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof, every way sufficient for the work and deserving the honour. [2.] They mention the grounds and reasons of this worthiness; and though they do not exclude the dignity of his person as God, without which he had not been sufficient for it, yet they chiefly insist upon the merit of his sufferings, which he had endured for them; these more sensibly struck their souls with thankfulness and joy. Here, First, They mention his suffering: "Thou wast slain, slain as a sacrifice, thy blood was shed." Secondly, The fruits of his sufferings. 1. Redemption to God; Christ has redeemed his people from the bondage of sin, guilt, and Satan, redeemed them to God, set them at liberty to serve him and to enjoy him. 2. High exaltation: Thou hast made us to our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth, Rev 5:10. Every ransomed slave is not immediately preferred to honour; he thinks it a great favour to be restored to liberty. But when the elect of God were made slaves by sin and Satan, in every nation of the world, Christ not only purchased their liberty for them, but the highest honour and preferment, made them kings and priests - kings, to rule over their own spirits, and to overcome the world, and the evil one; and he has made them priests, given them access to himself, and liberty to offer up spiritual sacrifices, and they shall reign on the earth; they shall with him judge the world at the great day.
2. The doxology, thus begun by the church, is carried on by the angels; they take the second part, in conjunction with the church, Rev 5:11. They are said to be innumerable, and to be the attendants on the throne of God and guardians to the church; though they did not need a Saviour themselves, yet they rejoice in the redemption and salvation of sinners, and they agree with the church in acknowledging the infinite merits of the Lord Jesus as dying for sinners, that he is worthy to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. (1.) He is worthy of that office and that authority which require the greatest power and wisdom, the greatest fund, all excellency, to discharge them aright; and, (2.) He is worthy of all honour, and glory, and blessing, because he is sufficient for the office and faithful in it.
3. This doxology, thus begun by the church, and carried on by the angels, is resounded and echoed by the whole creation, Rev 5:13. Heaven and earth ring with the high praises of the Redeemer. The whole creation fares the better for Christ. By him all things consist; and all the creatures, had they sense and language, would adore that great Redeemer who delivers the creature from that bondage under which it groans, through the corruption of men, and the just curse denounced by the great God upon the fall; that part which (by a prosopopoeia) is made for the whole creation is a song of blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, (1.) To him that sits on the throne, to God as God, or to God the Father, as the first person in the Trinity and the first in the economy of our salvation; and, (2.) To the Lamb, as the second person in the Godhead and the Mediator of the new covenant. Not that the worship paid to the Lamb is of another nature, an inferior worship, for the very same honour and glory are in the same words ascribed to the Lamb and to him that sits on the throne, their essence being the same; but, their parts in the work of our salvation being distinct they are distinctly adored. We worship and glorify one and the same God for our creation and for our redemption.
We see how the church that began the heavenly anthem, finding heaven and earth join in the concert, closes all with their Amen, and end as they began, with a low prostration before the eternal and everlasting God. Thus we have seen this sealed book passing with great solemnity from the hand of the Creator into the hand of the Redeemer.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv2–14 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a…
And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice,.... This was not the uncreated angel, Jesus Christ; for he is after spoken of as the lion of the tribe of Judah, and as the Lamb in the midst of the throne, but a created one; though who he was, whether Gabriel, as some say, because his name signifies the strong or mighty One of God, is not material to be known; angels are said to be mighty, and to excel in strength: this is called so here, chiefly with respect to his voice, which he, by reason of his great strength, exerted so loudly, as to be heard by all the creatures in heaven, and in earth, and under the earth however, this was not John the Baptist, but if a minister of the Gospel, rather some one since, making the following proclamation:
who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? suggesting, that if there was any such person, that he was desired to come, and do it; and it seems, that he must not only be one of power and ability, but of dignity and authority, a person of greatness and worth, from whence his ability arises; as he ought to be that can engage his heart to draw nigh to God, and take a book out of his right hand, this mysterious book of the Revelation, as it was indeed while sealed; and open and explain it to others, unseal it or exhibit it, as it afterwards was in the following scenes and visions, and gave a view of all that is contained in it; and not only so, but fulfil and accomplish all the prophecies in it; and who can, or is worthy to do all this, but he that sits at the right hand of God, and who is God as well as man? and this proclamation was made to stir up an earnest desire in John, and all the saints he represents, to know what was in this book; and to show the impotence of all creatures to make any discovery of it; and to illustrate, and set off with a greater foil, the glory, excellency, ability, and worth of Jesus Christ. There seems to be an allusion to the president of the temple calling to the priests under him, to attend to the several parts of service assigned them, saying unto them, , "whosoever is worthy, let him" do so and so (c).
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(c) Misna Tamid, c. 1. sect. 4. & c. 5. sect. 4. 5.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv2–13 And I saw a strong angel - This proclamation…
And I saw a strong angel - This proclamation to every creature was too great for a man to make, and yet not becoming the Lamb himself. It was therefore made by an angel, and one of uncommon eminence.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv2–14 Verse 2. A strong angel] One of the chief…
Verse 2. A strong angel] One of the chief of the angelic host.
Proclaiming] As the herald of God.
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To open the book, and to loose the seals] To loose the seals that he may open the book. Who can tell what this book contains? Who can open its mysteries? The book may mean the purposes and designs of God relative to his government of the world and the Church; but we, whose habitation is in the dust, know nothing of such things. We are, however, determined to guess.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv2, 4, 6, 8, 11 Rev 5:2-3. And I saw a strong angel, &c.…
Rev 5:2-3. And I saw a strong angel, &c. — I beheld in my vision an angel of chief power, as attendant upon the heavenly court, making proclamation, with a strong audible voice, to every creature; a proclamation too great for a man to make, and yet not becoming the Lamb himself, and therefore made by an angel, and one of uncommon eminence. Who is worthy to open the book, &c. — Is any being able and fit to reveal and make known the counsels of God registered in this book, and to bring them into execution? And no man — Greek, ουδεις, no one, no creature; no, not the Virgin Mary herself; in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth — That is, none in the universe; for these are the three great regions into which the whole creation is divided; was able to open the book — To declare the counsels of God; neither to look thereon — So as to understand any part of it.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv2–14 And I saw a strong angel - An angel…
And I saw a strong angel - An angel endowed with great strength, as if such strength was necessary to enable him to give utterance to the loud voice of the inquiry. “Homer represents his heralds as powerful, robust men, in order consistently to attribute to them deep-toned and powerful voices” (Prof. Stuart). The inquiry to be made was one of vast importance; it was to be made of all in heaven, all on the earth, and all under the earth, and hence an angel is introduced so mighty that his voice could be heard in all those distant worlds.
Proclaiming with a loud voice - That is, as a herald or crier. He is rather introduced here as appointed to this office than as self-moved. The design undoubtedly is to impress the mind with a sense of the importance of the disclosures about to be made, and at the same time with a sense of the impossibility of penetrating the future by any created power. That one of the highest angels should make such a proclamation would sufficiently show its importance; that such an one, by the mere act of making such a proclamation, should practically confess his own inability, and consequently the inability of all of similar rank, to make the disclosures, would show that the revelations of the future were beyond mere created power.
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Who is worthy to open the book, ... - That is, who is “worthy” in the sense of having a rank so exalted, and attributes so comprehensive, as to authorize and enable him to do it. In other words, who has the requisite endowments of all kinds to enable him to do it? It would require moral qualities of an exalted character to justify him in approaching the seat of the holy God, to take the book from his hands; it would require an ability beyond that of any created being to penetrate the future, and disclose the meaning of the symbols which were employed. The fact that the book was held in the hand of him that was on the throne, and sealed in this manner, was in itself a sufficient proof that it was not his purpose to make the disclosure directly, and the natural inquiry arose whether there was anyone in the wide universe who, by rank, or character, or office, would be empowered to open the mysterious volume.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 No man was able,[2] &c. As to the contents,…
No man was able,[2] &c. As to the contents, some understand the prophecies and mysteries both of the Old and New Testament; others, the events that should afterwards happen to the Church of Christ, as various persecutions against Christians. Alcazar would have the sense of these words to be, that only Christ and his Spirit could open the book to others, and make them believe and know the punishments prepared for the wicked, and the reward reserved for God’s faithful servants. (Witham)
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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]
Aperire librum, neque videre illum, Greek: blepein kai anagnonai, legere.
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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv2–14 strong-- (Psa 103:20). His voice penetrated heaven, earth, and…
strong-- (Psa 103:20). His voice penetrated heaven, earth, and Hades (Rev 10:1-3).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv2–14 2. Strong angel—Personal physical vigour is implied in the…
2. Strong angel—Personal physical vigour is implied in the word strong, as in Rev_10:1; Rev_18:21. The present angel is strong, as being herald and challenger for God. Who is competent to break the seals that Jehovah has stamped? Who may reveal the secrets of the future, “which the Father has reserved in his own power?” Act_1:7. Dusterdieck’s statement, that as the seven trumpets spring from the seventh seal, and the seven vials from the seventh trumpet, so the Apocalyptic revelation is at first all enclosed in the seals, is nearly true. But the sixth chapter is not in the real series, but a contrastive picture without, and over against, the seals. And as this strong angel is without the real series, so the parallel strong angel of chapter x is outside the series, both being one of the personal managers of the panorama. And as the challenging question of this verse dimly suggests Michael, so Gabriel seems suggested by Rev_10:1; where see note.
A loud voice—Which (next verse) was so loud and strong as to peal through heaven and earth.
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Who is— This may be an allusion to the name Michael, which signifies, Who is like God?
Worthy—If force could have torn up the divine seals, the strong angel who issues the challenge might, perhaps, have accepted the task. It was, however, the highest worthiness, desert, dignity, alone which could presume to open the divine seals of futurity.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 3. no man] Better, no one—the term includes others…
3. no man] Better, no one—the term includes others as well as men.
under the earth] i.e. in the world of the dead. In view of Rev_5:13, we can hardly make it mean “in the sea,” on the analogy of Exo_20:4 fin.
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neither to look thereon] Which would have enabled him to read some fragments of its contents, viz. as much as was written on the outer fold of the back of the roll.
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.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14 (2) And I saw a strong (better, mighty) angel…
(2) And I saw a strong (better, mighty) angel proclaiming with (or, in) a loud voice, Who is worthy . . .—We must not let the word “worthy” pass as though it were simply equivalent to “strong enough.” It seems to imply moral fitness (comp. Rom_1:4), which is the true strength in the heavenly world. It was not lack of intellectual capacity so much as the taint of moral unworthiness which hindered the reading of the book. This is in harmony with what we have noticed before. “To commune with God, there is need of no subtle thought, no foreign tongue, no newest philosophy: ‘ the pure in heart shall see Him:’ and Fox and Bunyan can more truly make Him known than ‘masters of sentences’ and ‘ angelic doctors.’” Those who are willing to do God’s will know of God’s doctrine. This thought corresponds, too, with the stress which is laid (in Rev_5:5) on the victory of Christ. It is not simply as divine Son of God, but also as victorious Saviour and King of His people, that He opens the book: His worthiness has been established in conflict and temptation (Joh_14:30; Heb_2:9; Heb_4:15).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv2–14 And I saw (see on ver. 1). A strong…
And I saw (see on ver. 1). A strong angel; iscuron , rendered "mighty" in Rev_10:1. Possibly, as De Wette and others think, so called because of higher rank De Lyra says Gabriel; but probably on account of the great voice, which sounded "as a lion roareth". (Rev_10:3) Proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? with a great voice. "Worthy" is axiov , fit morally, as in Joh_1:27.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv6, 8, 11 A Lamb as it had been slain.
Rev_5:6-7
A Lamb as it had been slain.
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The Lamb and the book
I. God has a plan for the construction of His Church.
1. The plan is on a large scale. It fills a book. Redemption is Gods greatest effort.
2. God is resolved to work out the plan. Right hand--symbol of executive energy.
3. The plan is an infinitely difficult one. Sealed with seven seals. How to reconcile man to God, the great mystery of the universe.
4. The plan is essential to the happiness of humanity. John wept when no one could open the book.
II. Christ is the administrator of Gods plan for the construction of His Church.
1. He is qualified by appointment. My servant.
2. He is qualified by character. Lamb.
3. He is qualified by suffering. Slain.
4. He is qualified by perfection of ability. Seven horns, etc. Perfection of knowledge and power.
III. The administration by Christ of Gods plan for the construction of His church is productive of universal joy.
1. The joy of the Church (verses 8-10).
2. The joy of the angels (verses 11, 12).
3. The joy of the creation (verse 13).
4. The joy of God. This is My beloved Son, etc. (B. D. Johns.)
The Lamb in the midst of the throne
I. The blessed object which John beheld is heaven.
1. The title given Him is most endearing.
(1) A favourite one with the inspired writers (Isa_53:7; Joh_1:29; 1Pe_1:19, etc.). St. John uses the expression nearly thirty times, and always in most important connections.
(2) An appropriate and expressive title.
2. The position He occupies is pre-eminently striking.
(1) Conspicuous.
(2) Dignified. And if such be His position in heaven, should He be placed in the background upon earth?
3. The attributes symbolically ascribed to Him are highly imposing. These are power and wisdom.
II. The special act which He is represented as performing.
III. The feelings of joy and adoration with which the circumstance referred to was regarded.
1. By the redeemed.
2. By the angelic hosts.
3. By the whole intelligent creation. (Expository Outlines.)
The Lamb in the midst of the throne
I. The lamb in the midst of the throne. The designation of the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, appealed to one class of associations in the apostles mind; the appearance of a lamb as it had been slain, to another. The design was to combine the two, as better calculated than each one singly to convey the full impression of the person who had prevailed to open the sealed book. A lamb was selected by God from the period of the Fail as best calculated, by its natural meekness and innocence, to typify the real propitiation for sin which tie had provided from the foundation of the world. As such He was foretold by Isaiah, He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter. As such He is pointed out by John the Baptist, Behold, the Lamb of God! and as such He is described by Peter, Ye were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. The Book of Revelation records the triumphs of the Lamb. The Old Testament had given the history of the preparation for His coming; the New had tracked His sorrowful course on the earth; all that was now needed was to trace the effects of the death of Christ upon future ages of the world, and throw out some intimations of its blissful and inter-ruinable reward. A Lamb as it had been slain, in the midst of the throne, suggests that certain indications remain in the glorified person of the Redeemer in the midst of its purity and splendour, of its oblation on the Cross. Were the sufferings of Christ the foundation of the glory that should follow? Is His exaltation in proportion to His humiliation? Then must the glory of His person be in proportion to its shame, and the radiance of His scars pre-eminently bright. This becomes the everlasting memorial to the redeemed of their title to those realms, and of the ever-living intercession within the veil. Justice requires the detention of this memento of their chartered bliss.
II. The acceptance of the challenge by the Lamb to open the sealed book. AS the rising sun chases from a whole hemisphere the gloom and silence of night, burnishes the billows, gems the crystal caves, tinges the forests, gilds the waving corn, enamels the flowers, fringes the clouds, empurples the sky, fills cities with life, homes with mirth, and groves with songs; so the appearance of the Lamb on the throne turns the stillness of creation into life, the gloom into day, the silence into songs. The joy that spread through the whole creation when the Lamb took the sealed book intimates that all creation was interested in its contents. The book in the hand of Christ insured its fulfilment. (G. Rogers.)
Christ in heaven
1. There is a wide difference between the present and former condition of the Saviour.
2. The exaltation of Christ has made no change upon the spirit and disposition by which He is actuated.
3. Jesus Christ is invested with a threefold office. He is here symbolised by a Lamb, which naturally reminds us of His sacrificial work and of His priestly character; but, as this Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, He must be a king and a prophet as well as a priest.
4. Jesus Christ is a Divine person.
5. Saints are under peculiar obligations to praise and honour God.
6. See the true and direct way for relief to the burdened mind. Is the soul afflicted with a deep sense of guilt? Look to the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. (R. Culbertson.)
The appearance of the Mediator in heaven
I. That the mediator appears as the centre of heavenly society.
1. The position is indicative of the pre-eminence of Christ. While on earth He was despised and rejected of men; in heaven He is the centre of enjoyment and worship.
2. This position is indicative of the attraction of Christ. We are assured that Christ is not merely the centre of the society of heaven because of His royal dignity, but also because of the beauty of His character, the glory of His redemptive work, the wealth of His mercy, the depth of His condescension, and the wondrous achievements of His grace in bringing so many to the promised kingdom.
3. This position is indicative of the supreme life and activity of Christ. The Redeemer stood in the midst of the throne and of the company of heaven; thus indicating His rising up from the grave, His entrance upon a life which should never again yield to death, and His readiness for the redemptive work of the future.
II. That the mediator appears with the tokens of redemptive suffering. A Lamb as it had been slain (verse 6).
1. This figure indicates the gentle spirit of Christ. He deals tenderly with wounded spirits, now that He is in heaven, even as He did when on earth.
2. This figure indicates the painful sufferings of Christ. Here then is great encouragement for all penitent sinners, in that humanity is represented in heaven, and in that Christ can never forget the humiliation He endured to bring them to God.
III. That the mediator appears as executing the most important work.
1. He accomplished a work vastly important to mankind. Surely nothing could be of greater importance than that man should have light cast upon destiny.
2. lie accomplished a work which none other being could achieve. All created intelligences had been challenged to open the book which they saw in the Divide hand, but were not equal to the task. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
Christ the expounder of the mystery
I. Christ, as the expounder of the mystery of the Divine government, occupies a central position, and assumes the most extraordinary aspects.
1. The position He occupies. He is in the midst of the throne; He is in the very centre of the intelligent creation. He attracts all--lie enlightens all--lie governs all--He blesses all with new life and beauty.
2. The aspect He assumes. In His person are combined the marks of suffering humanity and the attributes of perfect Divinity.
II. Christ, as the expounder of the mystery of the Divine government, awakens, in all classes of holy mind, ineffable delight.
1. Here is humility: they fell down before the Lamb. The profoundest reverence mingled with their joy.
2. Here is harmony: here are harps--emblems of music.
3. Here is acceptableness: golden vials full of odours. Its breathing ecstacies ascend as fragrant incense to God.
4. Here is prayerfulness: the prayers of saints. Death terminates the saints need of prayer for certain objects, such as forgiveness, deliverance from error, and victory over foes, but not the spirit of prayer--the spirit of felt dependence upon God.
III. Christ, as the expounder of the mystery of the Divine government, is deemed worthy of the office, because of his redemptive achievement.
1. He has redeemed. The redemption of man consists in a deliverance from the power and penalty of sin.
2. He has redeemed by sacrifice. What was the sacrifice? A few self-denying efforts?--a world? No; His life. By Thy blood; by the sacrifice of Thy life--Thyself.
3. He has redeemed, by sacrifice, all classes. Out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation. The atonement is designed to redeem the world, and some of all its multitudinous sections have been thus redeemed, and millions more are to follow yet.
4. He has redeemed all classes, by sacrifice, to the highest honours. They are priests, in relation to their Maker, offering up the sacrifice of a devout and grateful soul; they are kings, in relation to their race, wielding a governing influence over their thoughts and hearts. A true Christian is a moral sovereign. (Homilist.)
The Lamb in glory
I. Jesus in heaven appears in His sacrificial character; and I would have you note that this character is enhanced by other conspicuous points. Its glory is not diminished, but enhanced, by all the rest of our Lords character: the attributes, achievements, and offices of our Lord all concentrate their glory in His sacrificial character, and all unite in making it a theme for loving wonder.
1. We read that He is the Lion of the tribe of Juda; by which is signified the dignity of His office, as King, and the majesty of His person, as Lord. The lion is at home in fight, and the Lord is a man of war. Like a lion, He is courageous. Though He be like a lamb for tenderness, yet not in timidity.
2. Further, it is clear that He is a champion: The Lion of the tribe of Juda hath prevailed. What was asked for was worthiness, not only in the sense of holiness, but in the sense of valour. One is reminded of a legend of the Crusades. A goodly castle and estate awaited the coming of the lawful heir: he, and he only, could sound the horn which hung at the castle gate; but he who could make it yield a blast would be one who had slain a heap of Paynim in the fight, and had come home victorious from many a bloody fray. So here, no man in earth or heaven had valour and renown enough to be worthy to take the mystic roll out of the hand of the Eternal. Our champion was worthy.
3. In this wonderful vision we see Jesus as the familiar of God. To Him there is no danger in a close approach to the infinite glory, for that glory is His own.
4. We observe, in addition to all this, that He is the prophet of God. He who unveils the eternal will of the Highest is the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.
5. Our Lord always was, and is now, acknowledged to be Lord and God. Yet, in the glory of His Deity, He disdains not to appear as the Lamb that has been slain. This still is His chosen character. Write, then, the passion of your Lord upon the tablets of your hearts, and let none erase the treasured memory. Think of Him mainly and chiefly as the sacrifice for sin.
II. In the second place, note that, in this character, Jesus is the centre of all. In the midst of the throne, and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain. The Lamb is the centre of the wonderful circle which makes up the fellowship of heaven.
1. From Him, as a standpoint, all things are seen in their places. Looking up at the planets from this earth, which is one of them, it is difficult to comprehend their motions--progressive, retrograde, or standing still; but the angel in the sun sees all the planets marching in due course, and circling about the centre of their system. Standing where you please upon this earth, and within human range of opinion, you cannot see all things aright, nor understand them till you come to Jesus, and then you see all things from the centre. The man who knows the incarnate God, slain for human sins, stands in the centre of truth.
2. The Lambs being in the midst signifies, also, that in Him they all meet in one. Christ is the summing up of all existence. Seek you Godhead? There it is. Seek you manhood? There it is. Wish you the spiritual? There it is in His human soul. Desire you the material? There it is in His human body. Our Lord hath, as it were, gathered up the ends of all things, and hath bound them into one.
3. Being in the centre, to Him they all look. As the Fathers eyes are always on Jesus, so are the eyes of the living creatures and the four-and-twenty elders which represent the Church in its Divine life and the Church in its human life. All who have been washed in His blood perpetually contemplate His beauties.
4. All seem to rally round Him as a guard around a king. All things ordained of the Father work towards Christ, as their centre; and so stand all the redeemed, and all the angels waiting about the Lord, as swelling His glory and manifesting His praise.
III. Thirdly, our Lord is seen in heaven as the Lamb slain, and in this character He exhibits peculiar marks. None of those marks derogate from His glory as the sacrifice for sin; but they tend to instruct us therein.
1. Note well the words: Stood a Lamb as it had been slain. Stood, here is the posture of life; as it had been slain, here is the memorial of death. Our view of Jesus should be two-fold; we should see His death and His life: we shall never receive a whole Christ in any other way.
2. Note, next, another singular combination in the Lamb. He is called a little lamb; for the diminutive is used in the Greek; but yet how great He is! In Jesus, as a Lamb, we see great tenderness and exceeding familiarity with His people. He is not the object of dread. A lamb is the most approachable of beings. Yet there is about the little Lamb an exceeding majesty. The elders no sooner saw Him than they fell down before Him.
3. He hath seven horns and seven eyes. His power is equal to His vigilance; and these are equal to all the emergencies brought about by the opening of the seven seals of the Book of Providence.
IV. Jesus appears eternally as a Lamb, and in this character He is universally adored.
1. Before He opened one of the seals this worship commenced. We trust Him where we cannot trace Him. Before He begins His work as the revealing Mediator, the Church adores Him for His work as a sacrifice. Jesus our Lord is worshipped not so much for what benefits He will confer as for Himself.
2. That adoration begins with the Church of God. The Church of God, in all its phases, adores the Lamb. If you view the Church of God as a Divine creation, the embodiment of the Spirit of God, then the living creatures fall down before the Lamb. No God-begotten life is too high to refuse obeisance to the Lamb of God.
3. The Lamb is not only worshipped by the Church, He is worshipped by angels. What a wonderful gathering together of certain legions of the Lords hosts we have before us in this chapter I
4. Nay, it is not merely the Church and angelhood; but all creation, east, west, north, south, highest, lowest, all adore Him. All life, all space, all time, immensity, eternity; all these become one mouth for song, and all the song is, Worthy is the Lamb.
5. Now, then, if this be so, shall we ever allow anybody in our presence to lower the dignity of Christ, our sacrifice? (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Lamb in the midst of the throne
I. The scene in heaven.
1. A redemption scene. There is not one person or one object in the heavenly mansions but stands closely connected with the wonders of redeeming love.
2. A rejoicing, blissful scene. Let us mark here not merely the fact that it is a scene of triumphant song, but especially the object that causes the gladness, and the difference in the mode of expressing it. We have here four different songs. First, the song of the living creatures; secondly, the song of the elders; thirdly, the song of the angels; fourthly, the song of all creation. But the one grand question is, who is the object of praise? Clearly, in all cases, the Lamb on the throne; all eyes are turned to Him; all hearts fixed on Him. He is the life, the soul, the all in all of these songs. Heaven is full of triumph. The universe is glad in its exalted and crowned Saviour.
3. A communion scene. Observe how clearly this is set forth in the terms of the text. The Lamb is in the midst of the throne; but the elders, the living creatures, the angels, are all holding fellowship with the Lamb, and with one another. He is the object of all their love, the centre of all attraction, the source of all their light, and life and joy. The Eternal Three are holding their blessed communion of love, into the depths of which no creature may penetrate. But the four living creatures, the elders, the angels, are holding intercourse with that Lamb, and with one another. All are linked to the throne by love. Now remember that Gods family are partly on earth, and partly in heaven; some at home with their Father, others still pilgrims and sojourners in a foreign land. But Jehovah has no greater love for the saints now in glory than for you. Jesus is not more certainly in the midst of the Church in triumph than in the midst of her in tribulation. There is not a more certain fellowship with Him around the throne than in this vale of tears. There is positively no other opening up of the wells of salvation to the glorified saints than to us. The grand thing is, the Lamb is the same, the life and love are the same. Yes, and all the more you can feel your own poverty, necessity and sinfulness, the more will you exalt the Lamb as your all; and then the sense of your necessity, and the sight of His riches and glory endearing Him to your soul, will bring Him near to your heart.
II. The connection between these things and certain other things here specified of the Lamb on the throne, as the foundation of them.
1. The most prominent is the death of the Lamb. He appears a Lamb as it had been slain. It is in His death that all the virtue is found which produces the results to which we have directed your minds. The death of that Lamb is death to all our fears; for we see how He that spared not His own Son will with Him also freely give us all things. That death of the Lamb is also the death of a guilty conscience; for while reposing on this Lamb of God, the effect of His righteousness is quietness and assurance for ever. His death is even the death of death itself; for as we fix our faith on the throne, we hear Him say, I am He that liveth, etc.
2. The attitude of the Lamb. He stands in the midst of the throne. This is manifestly His attitude as the intercessor of His people. He has entered in once for all into the holiest of all, there to appear in the presence of God for us. A soldier of old, who was accused of being a traitor to his country, came into the presence of his sovereign, showed the scars on his breast, the memorials of his courage while fighting in the thickest of the battle, and was there received with applause in the face of all his accusers.
3. The freshness of the Lamb slain is a wonderful sight. The Lamb appears standing, bleeding still, as if the sword of justice had been just then drawn from the wounds it inflicted, and the blood were still streaming from the victim. It is not like the blood of bulls and of goats, that could grow cold, and hard, and unfit for sacrifice; but through eternal ages the Father sees that blood, and saints behold it, in all the power of a recent death. By faith the sinner ever sees it too, and has no fear it shall ever lose its efficacy with God.
III. The connection of both these former heads of discourse with the special work of communion to-day.
1. Now you see prominently here that we are alike showing forth the cross and crown-rights of our glorious Immanuel. I have little fear that you forget His death on a day like this; but I am certain that we do often overlook His exaltation. And now we put ourselves afresh under His sway, and vow submission to His law as a rule of life and holiness.
2. There is an inseparable connection between this and all the consolations of the believer. The Lamb has not only the seven crowns or seven horns, but He has also the seven eyes, or seven spirits of God. Christ has all authority and power in heaven and on earth, and He has all the spiritual graces to bestow. The power would be useless without the spiritual influences to shed forth, and these again would be in vain without the rightful authority to bestow them. But Christ has both.
3. Another thing is the hope of the Church in the second coming of the Lord. (John Walker.)
The slain Lamb, beheld in heaven by the redeemed
I. There will be a glorious manifestation of the Lord Jesus in the heavenly world.
1. The manifestation of the Saviours person.
(1) In His exalted human nature.
(2) In connection with His divinity.
2. The manifestation of the Saviours offices. We speak here of a manifestation to the minds of the redeemed.
(1) In this manner, for instance, they will be led to know and meditate upon His priesthood; a capacity in which He gave Himself as a sacrifice for us. And the redeemed, gazing upon Him thus, will dwell with enlarged comprehension upon the wonders of His dying love, in its source, in its process, and in its results.
(2) In this manner, again, they will also know and meditate upon His royalty; a capacity in which He undertook the government of all beings and of all worlds, that their redemption and the purposes of the Godhead might be completed and performed.
3. In the heavenly world the manifestation of the Saviours person and offices will be unchanging and eternal. Yes, there will be no shrouding of Him, there will be no withdrawal of Him, there will be no separation from Him. He is the Root of the tree; and that Root will never dry or fail to circulate its fertilising influences. He is the Shechinah of the temple; and that Shechinah will never be obscured or extinguished, He is the Sun of the firmament: and that Sun will never be clouded, or decline, or set, or cease from pouring out the beams of its high, eternal noon.
II. The glorious manifestation of the Lord Jesus in the heavenly world will produce animating and delightful influences on all to whom it is revealed.
1. From the manifestation of the Lord Jesus there will be secured purity. The character of the Lord Jesus Himself is that of unsullied purity; and it is impossible but that there should be an assimilating influence exercised upon all those who are brought spiritually to commune with Him. Surely these who have been redeemed by His precious blood from our apostate race, will find, in their contemplation of Him, reasons for incessant and invariable conformity to His likeness. Besides this, we must remember the nature of those employments, in which He will engage them while they shall dwell before Him. And so it is, according to the conclusion of inspiration, that we shall be like Him because we shall see Him as He is; and we shall be like Him for ever, because we shall see Him for ever.
2. This manifestation will also be found to secure pleasure.
3. The manifestation of the Saviours presence in the heavenly world also, we find, secures praise.
(1) It is the praise of worship.
(2) It is the praise of gratitude. (J. Parsons.)
The Lamb in the midst of the throne
I. The vision is set before us to remind us of the method of atonement; it is by the blood of Jesus, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. Amid all the error abounding in this world there are few so infatuated as to maintain that they have not committed sin. Hew is this sin to be forgiven? By our repentance and reformation, may possibly be the reply. But till there is a work of grace upon the heart there can be no genuine repentance, no godly reformation. There may be feelings of remorse and regret; but these are not penitence. But granting, for the sake of argument, that man could of himself wring out a true repentance, still it can be shown that there is nothing in that repentance to make atonement for past sin. In no case can it make any amends to the insulted justice of God. Perhaps you now say that you trust in the mercy of God. You trust, you say, in the mercy of God; but how is this mercy to be exercised? Mercy is not the sole perfection of God. Holiness and justice--these are as essential to His nature as benevolence. How, then, can God be just, and yet the justifier of the ungodly? Human reason can give no intelligent, no satisfactory answer to this question. The mind feels that it has nothing to rest on; no truth on which the understanding can settle and the heart repose, till such time as it sees a Lamb as it had been slain, in the very midst of the throne of God.
II. The vision is set before us to remind us of the character of Jesus, of His meekness and gentleness, so fitted to win the human heart. The question under the last head was, How is God to be reconciled to man? The Question under this head is, How is man to be reconciled to God? How is his confidence to be won and his heart engaged?
1. I remark that in order to the gaining of the feelings of the heart it is needful that the conscience be pacified. A troubled conscience always leads the mind to avoid, as if instinctively, the remembrance of the party offended. There cannot be true and filial love in a mind in which conscience has not been appeased, nor can there be any of those allied graces, such as faith and confidence, hope and joy, which ought to fill and animate the soul. Not only so, but in order to gain the heart there must be a free, a full, and an instant forgiveness. It must be free; for it cannot be purchased or earned by us. It mast be full; for if anything were left unforgiven the conscience would still reproach. Observe how all this is secured in the very view here presented to our fatten. The Lamb, the image of gentleness, in the midst of the throne, shows that God is pacified, and the blood that flows from it proves that this has been done in strict accordance with justice. The conscience, the law in the heart, is satisfied, for God Himself, the law-giver, is satisfied. The believer, as he looks to the object set up, can say, It is God that justifieth; who is he that condemneth?
2. But secondly, in order to gain the heart there must be a lovely object presented to it. Such an object is presented in Jesus, a Lamb as it had been slain. The character of our Lord, set forth as an object on which the faith and affection of mankind may rest, has in itself everything that is grand and attractive. Just as fleece is a beauty in shape and colour that pleases the eye, and a sweetness of sound that delights the ear, so there is a moral loveliness that should draw towards it the affections of the soul. But here, in the character of God set forth in the face of His Son, we have all kinds of beauty meeting and harmoniously blending. In the Mediator the Divine and human natures are united in such a manner that the one does not destroy or overpower the other, but each retains its own properties, while the whole is a unity. The brightness of the Fathers glory, without being shorn of a single ray, is seen in Christ under a milder lustre. Coldness and indifference are dispelled when we think that in drawing near to Jesus it is man coming to man. Unbelief vanishes when we realise that we have a brothers heart beating for us on the throne of glory. While our hearts are naturally drawn by sentiments and sympathies towards every brother man, there are certain men of classes of men towards whom we are attracted with greater force; as, for instance, towards all whose sensibilities are quick and whose feelings are tender. And if the persons have themselves been in trouble, if their heart has been melted and softened by fiery trial, our hearts go towards them in yet fuller assurance. Disposed at all times to love such, we are especially drawn towards them when we ourselves are in trouble. It is by this attracting power that believers are drawn so closely to their Saviour. The brotherliness of His human nature, as well as the holy love of His Divine nature, are brought out before us in almost every incident of His life. The forsaken lift up their head and are comforted in communion with Him who was Himself forsaken. Every one acquainted with mans nature knows that if his heart is gained it must be gained by love. It must be by presenting a loving object. Such is the loving object set before us--a Lamb as it had been slain.
III. The vision is set before us to remind us that Jesus is the grand source of joy to the saints in heaven. As it was the view of Christ crucified that first gained the heart of the sinner, so it is a view of the same object seen in the visions of faith that continues to keep and fix his regards. The faith that saves does not consist of a single glance; looking unto Jesus is the habitual attitude of the believers soul. Led to love the Lamb of God when on earth, trained by the Spirit of God and by all the dispensations of God to love Him more and more, he finds when he has crossed the dark valley of the shadow of death that the first object that meets his eye, and the most conspicuous, is a Lamb as it had been slain. But we cannot utter that which is unutterable, or describe that which is indescribable; and so we cannot picture or so much as conceive of that joy unspeakable and full of glory which the believer feels on his first entering into the presence of his Saviour, and which he is to enjoy for ever. True, there will be enjoyments not flowing so directly, though still proceeding indirectly from Him. There will be joys springing from the holy affections of confidence and love, which Christ by His Spirit plants in the breasts of His people. These graces, flowing, overflowing, and ever increasing, will be a source of great and ever-deepening happiness throughout eternity. Again, there will be joys springing from the glorious society of heaven, from the company of saints and angels. The question has often been asked, Where is heaven? We may not be able to answer it geographically, but we can answer it truly. It is where Jesus is. Where I am, there ye shall be also.
1. A man must be born again before he can enter the kingdom of God.
2. Oh, that I had but lived in the days when Jesus sojourned on the earth! is the wish that will sometimes rise up in our breasts. Oh, that I had but seen His sacred person i Oh, that I had but heard His gracious words! These wishes, if proceeding from a sincere and sanctified heart, may yet be gratified, lie who was dead is alive, and behold He liveth for evermore. As He was on earth, so is He now in heaven. (J. McCosh.)
The Zion--the lamb
He looked for a lion; he saw a lamb; the Greek says little lamb--lamb, emblem of meekness; little lamb, emblem of apparent meekness; slain, emblem of sacrifice. And yet this lamb had seven horns and Seven eyes; the horns, emblem of power; seven horns, emblem of perfect power; eyes, emblem of wisdom; seven eyes, emblem of perfect wisdom. We continually make this mistake; we think that it is might that rules; we look for a lion. We think that the power in government is to be found in congresses, presidents, kings, armies, and have not yet learned that the power is in homes and wives and mothers. The disciples, when Christ came, were looking for a lion. They believed that the Messiah would appear suddenly, and the hosts of heaven would gather about Him and the hosts of paganism would gather against Him, and in one terrible last battle He would conquer and ride victorious over a bloody field. But when the angel told the watching shepherds the Messiah was come, the angel also said to them, This is the sign of His Messiahship--that He is but a babe, and a babe cradled in s manger. Because Thou hast died, and hast purchased us unto God, Thou art worthy to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and glory and honour and blessings. Power belongs to love. The most potent of all earths potencies love. Only love has any right to power. It is not the lion, it is the lamb that conquers. The eagle is dead, the lamb lives on for ever. To the lamb belongs the worlds wealth. It is not the greedy, ravening lions that acquire wealth, it is the lamb. Only the lamb is worthy to receive riches. They do not belong to shrewd selfishness, but to large-minded love. No man has a right to wealth save he who holds it as a trust and administers it in love. It is only love that is worthy to be rich; nay, it is only love that really has riches; for we have not what we hold in our hand, but what ministers to life. It is love serving and sacrificing itself for others that alone is worthy to be rich, that alone is truly rich. It is love only that is wisdom. The cynic and the misanthrope pride themselves on their knowledge of human nature. They know just as much of it as a man might know of the cold earth who did not know there were any seeds beneath the surface. It is love only that is wise; for love sees the possibility in human nature which eyes blinded by cynicism fail to see. It is love which sees a future statesman in a rail-splitter. It is love which sees the emancipator of Europe in the monk. Love looks beneath the surface and sees the Divine in humanity. Wisdom belongs to love. It was the Lamb that saw in the publican Matthew the great biographer: the Lamb that saw in the recreant and unstable Simon the great Apostle Peter. And to the Lamb ,t belong the glory, and the honour, and the blessing--not to power, not to wisdom, save as power and wisdom are used by love to make itself impart more. There are ranks and hierarchies of glory. Conscience is a great glory--conscience that sees righteousness and understands it; and faith is a great glory--faith that rejoices in the invisible and the eternal; and hope is a great glory--hope that beckons on the man to a larger and nobler and yet larger and nobler achievement. But best and highest of all is love. And so to love will come the song of universal blessing. To the lamb, and the little lamb as it had been slain. We worship Thee, O God, not for Thy power, though that power we might fear; nor for Thy wisdom, though that wisdom we must admire; we worship Thee for Thy love. (Lyman Abbott, D. D.)
The lamb on the throne
The first impression of these words must have been one of the most startling originality. To that old world the idea of a lamb on a throne was a contradiction in terms. I do not mean that the ancient earth was a stranger to gentleness. To combine in one nature the elements of the lion and of the lamb would be as natural for Livy as it was for the writer of the Apocalypse. But the old Pagan world, like the pre-Christian Jewish world, could never say of this element of gentleness, Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory; the kingdom, the power, and the glory were not for it. The part of mans nature reserved for them was the self-asserting part. No nation that I know had a lamb as a symbol of its greatness. The Roman would have understood an eagle on the throne, for his ideal was the soaring of ambition. The Jew would have understood a lion on the throne, for his Messiah was a physical conqueror. But the lamb was ever victim, the symbol of the vanquished, the sign of the dependent soul. Its place was not the throne, but the altar; it could never be the emblem of dominion. It suggests to us that even in our days we have a strong view of Christs exaltation. What is our view of Christs exaltation? It is that He has vanquished His Cross, ceased to be a servant, and become once more a king. St. John says it is the Cross itself which has been exalted, it is the Servant Himself who has been ennobled. No one will deny that at the present hour Christ occupies a different position in the world from that which He held in the first century of our era. He has passed from the foot to the head of the social ladder; He has become the name that is above every name. This will be admitted by all classes--believing and unbelieving. What is the cause of this transformation? It is that Christianity exerts more physical power over the world in our days than it did in the days of St. John? Assuredly not. In point of fact it does not exert more physical power. There are laws in every Christian land as to the regulation of Christian worship, but no individual man is compelled to worship. Why then is it that, in some sense, men of every creed and of no creed bow down before the name of Jesus? It is because the thing which the old world disparaged is the thing which the new world prizes. We are living after the resurrection; but let us never forget that it is the resurrection of the Crucified. The Christ who has risen from the grave is not Christ who has triumphed over suffering; it is a Christ in whom suffering has triumphed. And let us begin by asking what was that kingdom which the seer of Patmos had in his mind when he claimed for Christ the throne of universal dominion. If the empire to be conquered be a physical one, it is not a lamb that will do it. No man who looked for a physical conquest could for a moment have conceived the simile of a world held in restraint by the power of a sacrificial life. But suppose now we test the logic of St. Johns words by another empire. For there is another empire--a kingdom more unruly than the physical, more hard to subdue and more difficult to keep; it is the dominion of the human heart. The kingdom to be conquered, then, is the heart; we may consider this as settled. The next question is, How is the conquest to be made? Now, at the time when St. John wrote there had already been three attempts to deal with the problem of the heart. They may be described under the names Stoicism, Buddhism, and Judaism. Stoicism proposed to quell the passions of the heart by plucking out the heart altogether; it sought to get rid of temptation by getting rid of feeling. Buddhism proposed to quell the passions of the heart by teaching that the heart itself was a delusion, that every pursuit of human desire ended in the discovery that the object was a shadow. Judaism proposed to quell the passions of the heart by the restraining hand of fear; it proclaimed the presence of a lawgiver; it set up an embankment against the flood;. it kept the tree of life by the cherubim and the flaming sword. Now, to these three methods there is one thing in common--they all achieve their end by contracting the object of their search. Their aim is to conquer a certain tract of country; they do conquer it, but they reduce it to the ashes in the process. Can any of these systems be said to possess the throne of the heart? It is a conquest without a kingdom, a victory without a prize, a triumph that has been only purchased by the mutilation of what was made to be beautiful. Now, this is not the conquest which any man desires. Even in the physical sphere, what a potentate seeks is an extended, not a contracted possession. In the sphere of the heart it is the same. The reason why we object to lawless passion in the soul is that it contracts the soul. We do not want to cure either by plucking, withering, or stunting the flower; we wish to expand it. We wish to cure lawless passion on the homoeopathic principle--by creating passion on the other side. It is more life and fuller that we want. You want a counter-passion, an opposing attraction, a positive stimulus pushing the other way. The desire of the flesh can only be met by the desire of the spirit--the thing called love. Now, remember that to St. John light is ever the analogue of love. He applies the two names as synonymous descriptions of God. And why? Because to his mind there was an identity between the process of the redemption of the flower by light and the redemption of the heart by love. The light conquers the flower. It conquers, not by contracting, but by expanding the flower. But there is one other thing which must be added to this; it conquers by dying for the flower; ere it can bring out the bloom it must itself be slain. For, what is the process by which the flower is kindled? It is an act of death on the part of the kindling substance. So far from waiting till it grows, it must itself be the principle of its growth. It must go down to it in the dark and in the cold, must take part in its darkness and its coldness. If it reaps the glory of its resurrection, it is because it shares the ignominy of its grave. It sits upon the throne by reason of its sacrifice. Such is the thought which St. John sees in light and transfers to love. He sees Christ sitting on the throne of human hearts--King, by the most infallible mode of conquest, and by a conquest that enhances the value of the possession. (George Matheson, D. D.)
The atonement
The mere crucifixion of any slave has in it that which would excite compassion; but this event has no parallel in the history of the world; never was a death like the death of Jesus.
1. As we look at this Lamb of God, let us mark the direful malignity of sin.
2. But we see in the Lamb slain, not only the work of sin, but the work of love. Review the whole history of this Lamb of God, and as we feel that He crowned all this love by dying in our stead, that we might have life, let us ask ourselves what return of love ought we to make to Him who loved us even unto death (Rom_12:1). (Bp. Stevens.)
Having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits.--
Union with Christ by the Spirit
The mystical scene before us is the appearance of the Lord, once crucified, once sacrificed, and now the Conqueror, in the heavenly sanctuary; at, and then upon, the heavenly throne. It is the ascension, it is the triumph of the Lord ascended, shown to us in sign and symbol, from the point of view of heaven. It is a new fact, a new phenomenon, in the holy region. The Lord of propitiation, of redemption, is seen here as the immediate fountain-head for earth, the sacred point of radiation downward, of the sevenfold Spirit. To the Spirit, I venture to believe, refer not only the seven mystical eyes but the seven horns, the symbol of perfect spiritual power. I wish to speak of our union by the Holy Spirit with our exalted Lord; of the life of the true members in their Head through the Divine Lifegiver, that Head being the Lamb that was slain. Now, the union of Christ with His people and of them with Him is a truth which may be described, in the light of the New Testament, as not only a great truth of spiritual life, but the truth of truths. It is related to all other kindred doctrines as that which combines, harmonises, and explains them. It appears as the end where they appear as means. Hither they gather and converge. If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. That word, the Spirit of Christ, reminds us of Him who is the earthward eyes, who is, as it were, the effluent presence for His Church below, of the exalted Lamb. The Paraclete comes, and behold He mediates and makes for the Christians soul and self a presence of the Lord which somehow is better, far better, for the Christian in this his pilgrimage and tabernacle than even the joy and glory, if it were granted, of His Saviours corporeal proximity. It is in the Spirit that the saint, that is to say the genuine Christian here below, has access in Christ unto the Father. It is those who are led by the Spirit who are in truth and deed, not in a certain sense, but in reality and nature, the sons of God in His Son. It is by the Spirit that they mortify, they continuously do to death, the deeds of the body, in the power and name of Christ. It is by the Spirit that they walk in Christ. It is because of the Spirit dwelling in them, a truth full of deep significance as to the nature of the body of the resurrection, that their mortal body shall be quickened in the day when their Lord from heaven shall change it into likeness to His own. Of that harvest the indwelling Spirit is the first-fruits. Of that inheritance He is the earnest. So the sevenfold One is sent forth into all the earth, as the eyes, as the presence, of the exalted Lamb of the blessed Sacrifice. It is by Him, and by Him alone, that that presence is in the Church and is in the Christian. Sent forth into all the earth: from the presence of the blessed, from the heaven of heavens, into all the earth; from the heart of God to the heart of man; from amidst the song of the heavenly elders to you and to me, to the concrete circumstances of our life to-day, to the stones and dust and thorns and pollutions in our path, to the snares and the illusions, to the crowds and to the solitude, of earth. Yes, He is sent forth into the present, the visible, the temporal. He is intended, He intends Himself, to be no dreamy abstraction above our heads and hearts, but to be the inmost Friend, the living strength, the infinitely ready and versatile resource and expedient, of the hour of your temptation and of mine. Over the real deeds of our body, He is able to give victory. Our tremendously real infirmities, He is here and now able to subvent, to help, to transfigure into strength, as to us who look for Him He makes perfect in our weakness the strength of the Lamb who has overcome. He is able so to undertake our feeble, our erring steps, that we shall walk by the Spirit, and, in a blessed reality of deliverance, not fulfil the lusts of the flesh, yea, in all the range of the meaning of that phrase. He is able, and indeed He is willing, here and now, to take and shew to us the things of that Christ of whom He is the eyes and presence here below. He is able to make all the flying days and hours of inestimable and never-returning time sacred to us, and yet to take out of them all anxiety; to fill the heart with the things eternal and yet to open to it as no other touch can do all that is truly rich and beautiful in the things of this life. He is able, in a word, having united us to Christ, to make that union a living, bright reality, a possession that we use as well as have, in the whole of life. All these things worketh that one and the self-same Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He will. And, meanwhile, He worketh thus as the eyes, as the presence, of the Lamb. All is drawn from, all is related to, Christ, still Christ, Christ glorified, Christ crucified. Ah, be that in its turn recorded and remembered. Of whom is this Holy One the presence? Whose life, and love, and peace, and power does He convey and mediate to the heart and life He has Himself regenerated, breathing where He listeth, but so breathing that thou hearest the sound of the heavenly wind in the being that He vivifies? It is not a merely abstract Christ, if I may use the phrase. It is not merely archetypal goodness, righteousness, truth and beauty, It is the Lamb that was slain. It is the propitiation. It is the sinners Prince of peace. (H. C. G. Moule, M. A.)
The seven eyes of the slain Lamb
The eye seems a singular symbol for the Spirit, but it may be used as suggesting the swiftest and subtlest way in which the influences of a human spirit pass out into the external universe. The teaching of this emblem, then, is: He, being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received the promise of the Father, sheds forth this. The whole fulness of spiritual Divine power is in the hand of Christ to impart to the world.
I. The slain Lamb is the Lord and Giver of the spirit. He hath the seven spirits of God. Whatsoever there is, in Deity, of spirit and power; whatsoever of swift flashing energy; whatsoever of gentleness and grace; whatsoever of holiness and splendour; all inheres in the Man Christ Jesus; unto whom even in His earthly lowliness and humiliation, the Spirit was not given by measure, but unto whom in the loftiness of His heavenly life that Spirit is given in yet more wondrous fashion than in His humiliation. But it is not as the recipient, but as the bestower of the Spirit, that He comes before us in the great words of my text. All that He has of God He has that He may give. Whatsoever is His is ours; we share in His fulness and we possess His grace.
II. Look at the representation here given of the infinite variety of gifts which Christ bestows, The number seven, of course, at once suggests the idea of perfection and completeness. So that the thought emerges of the endless, boundless manifoldness and wonderful diversity of the operations of this great life-spirit that streams from Jesus Christ. Think of the number of designations by which that Spirit is described in the New Testament. In regard to all that belongs to intellectual life, He is the Spirit of wisdom and of illumination in the knowledge of Christ, He is the Spirit of truth. In regard to all that belongs to the spiritual life, He is the Spirit of holiness, the Spirit of liberty; the Spirit of self-control, or, as rendered in our Bible, of a sound mind; the Spirit of love. In regard to all that belongs to the practical life, He is the Spirit of counsel and of might; the Spirit of power. In regard to all that belongs to the religious life, He is the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba! Father! the Spirit of grace and of supplication; the Spirit of life. So, over the whole round of mans capacity and nature, all his intellectual, moral, practical and religious being, there are gifts which fit each side and each part of it. Whatsoever a man needs, that he will find in the infinite variety of the spiritual help and strength which the Lamb slain is ready to give. It is like the old fable of the manna, which the Rabbis tell us tasted upon each lip precisely what each man chose. So this nourishment from above becomes to every man what each man requires. Water will take the shape of any vessel into which you choose to pour it; the Spirit of God assumes the form that is imposed upon it by our weaknesses and needs.
III. The unbroken continuity of the gifts which the slain Lamb has to give. The word sent might be rendered being sent, expressive of a continual impartation. Ah! Gods Spirit is not given once in a way and then stops. It is given, not by fits and starts. There are variations in our receptiveness; there are no variations in its steady efflux. Does the sun shine at different rates? Are its beams cut off sometimes, or poured out with less energy, or is it only the position of the earth that makes the difference between the summer and the winter, the day and the night, whilst the great central orb is raying out at the same rate all through the murky darkness, all through the frosty days? And so the gifts of Jesus Christ pour out from Him at a uniform continuous rate, with no breaks in the golden beams, with no pauses in the continual flow.
IV. The universal diffusion of these gifts. Seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. The words are a quotation from a remarkable prophecy in the book of Zechariah, which speaks about the seven eyes of God, running to and fro over all the earth. There are no limitations of these gifts to any one race or nation as there were in the old times, nor any limitations either to a democracy. On My servants and on My handmaidens will I pour out of My Spirit. In olden days the mountain tops were touched with the rays, and all the lowly valleys lay deep in the shadow and the darkness. Now the risen sunshine pours down into the deepest clefts, and no heart so poor, no illiterate so ignorant but that it may receive the full sunshine of that Spirit. Every Christian man and woman is inspired, not to be a teacher of infallible truth, but inspired in the true and deep sense that in them dwells the Spirit of Jesus Christ. All of us, weak, sinful, as we are, ignorant and bewildered often, may possess that Divine life to live in our hearts. Only remember it is the slain Lamb that gives the Spirit. And unless we are looking to that Lamb, slain as our hope and confidence, we shall not receive it. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
The sevenfold offices of the Holy Spirit
The seven operations of the Holy Ghost are--
1. First as the Convincer of sin. There is a certain consciousness of sin which may be without the Holy Ghost. There is scarcely any man who is not aware that he has done many wrong things. But there are two things in that mans sense of sin which prevent its being real repentance. He does not view his sins as grieving God, still less as having crucified Christ.
2. Then the Holy Ghost will show that man the real and only ground of all pardon. He will show him that Christ has been to this world to this very end, to bear our sins.
3. Then comes the great, blessed office of the Holy Ghost, to be our Comforter. First He makes us so to accept Gods mercy that we rest in our forgiveness. And when the Holy Ghost has given us this first and chief comfort, then He will continue to be our Comforter every day in all our other sorrows. Other comforters generally try to remove our sorrow by making us forget it, or by putting something in its place. The Holy Ghost does not do that. He finds the elements of His comfort in the sorrow. He turns it into joy.
4. Then the Holy Ghost is the Great Teacher. He teaches as none else can ever teach. And for this reason He has the mind of God. And when He comes into our mind, He makes that mind to conform to the mind of God.
5. And He sanctifies. That is His great aim--to imbue us with Himself, to make us like God. In the Divine alchemy every metal turns to gold. A higher motive; a whole heart; a humble spirit; an untiring love; an inward communion of all thoughts--that changes, that purifies, that elevates. The old nature becomes gradually the new man, and God Himself sees us in Him; sees His own image, and He is satisfied.
6. From that time we carry within us wherever we go an inward light, a spring of joy, a voice which says so gently and yet so distinctly, This is the way, walk ye in it; when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.
7. And, finally, in all these wonderful and living ways, the Holy Ghost puts a seal upon us. He impresses us in our inner and outer life, with that image of the superscription of God--that badge of our high calling. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14 3. And no one in the heaven, or on…
3. And no one in the heaven, or on the earth … was able to open the book. No one (the word man does not occur in the Greek) was found able to open the book, for no one can penetrate the future. It is held in the strong right hand of Him who sits on the throne, the omnipotent disposer of the future, who controls the destiny of churches, men, and nations. The sweep of the panorama, that has pictured forth upon its canvas the destiny of the Church and the world, cannot begin until the seals of this book are opened. Had no one been found able to open the seals, the closing book of the Bible would never have been written.
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.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v6
Revelation
THE SEVEN EYES OF THE SLAIN LAMB
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Rev 5:6
John received a double commission, to write the things which are and the things which shall be. The things which are signify, I suppose, the unseen realities which flashed upon the inward eye of the solitary seer for a moment in symbol when the door was opened in Heaven. All that is here is seeming and illusion; the only substantial existences lie within the veil. And of all those ‘things which are,’ in timeless, eternal being, this vision of the throned ‘Lamb, as it had been slain’ is the centre.
Between the Great White Throne and the outer ring of worshippers, representing in the ‘living creatures’ the crown and glory of creatural life, and in the elders, the crown and glory of redeemed humanity, stands the Lamb slain, which is the symbolical way of declaring that for ever and ever, through Christ and for the sake of His sacrifice, there pass to the universe all Divine gifts, and there rise from the universe all thankfulness and praise. His manhood is perpetual, the influence of His sacrifice in the Divine administration and government never ceases.
The attributes with which this verse clothes that slain Lamb are incongruous; but, perhaps, by reason of their very incongruity all the more striking and significant. The ‘seven horns’ are the familiar emblem of perfect power; the ‘seven eyes’ are interpreted by the seer himself to express the fullness of the Divine Spirit.
The eye seems a singular symbol for the Spirit, but it may be used as suggesting the swiftest and subtlest way in which the influences of a human spirit pass out into the external universe. At all events, whatever may have been the reason for the selection of the emblem, the interpretation of it lies here, in the words of our text itself. The teaching of this emblem, then, is: ‘He, being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received the promise of the Father, sheds forth this.’ The whole fullness of spiritual Divine power is in the hand of Christ to impart to the world.
I. The ‘slain Lamb’ is the Lord and Giver of the Spirit.
He ‘hath the seven Spirits of God’ in the simplest sense of all, that the manhood of our Brother who died on the Cross for us, lifted up to the right hand of God, is there invested and glorified with every fullness of the Divine Spirit, and with all the mysteries of the life of God. Whatsoever there is, in Deity, of spirit and power; whatsoever of swift flashing energy; whatsoever of gentleness and grace; whatsoever of holiness and splendor; all inheres in the Man Christ Jesus; unto whom even in His earthly lowliness and humiliation the Spirit was not given by measure, but unto whom in the loftiness of His heavenly life that Spirit is given in yet more wondrous fashion than in His humiliation. For I suppose that the exaltation with which Christ is exalted is not only a change of position, but in some sense His manhood is progressive; and now in the Heavens is yet fuller of the indwelling Spirit than it was here upon earth.
But it is not as the recipient, but as the bestower of the Spirit, that He comes before us in the great words of my text. All that He has of God, He has that He may give. Whatsoever is His is ours; we share in His fullness and we possess His grace. He gives His own life, and that is the very central idea of Christianity.
There are very many imperfect views of Christ’s work afloat in the world. The lowest of them, the most imperfect, so imperfect and fragmentary as scarcely to be worth calling Christianity at all, is the view which recognizes Him as being merely Example, Guide, Teacher. High above that there comes the view which is common amongst orthodox people of the more superficial type - the view which is, I am afraid, still too common amongst us - which regards the whole work of Jesus Christ as terminated upon the Cross. It thinks of Him as being something infinitely more than Teacher and Guide and Example, but it stops at the thought of His great reconciling death as being the completion of His work, and hears Him say from the Cross, ‘It is finished,’ with a faith which, however genuine, cannot but be considered as imperfect unless it is completed with the remembrance that it was but one volume of His work that was finished when He died upon the Cross. His death was really a transition to a form of work which if not loftier was at all events other than the work which was completed upon Calvary. His earthly life finished His perfect obedience as Pattern and as Son; His death on the Cross finished His mighty work of self-surrender and sacrifice, which is propitiation and atonement for the sins of the whole world. His life on earth and His death on the Cross taken together finished His great work of revealing the Father in so far as that revelation depended upon outward, objective facts. But His life on earth and His death on the Cross did not even begin the work, but only laid the foundation for it, of communicating to men the life which was in Himself. He lived that He might complete obedience and manifest the Father. He died that He might ‘put away sin’ and reveal the Father still more fully. And now, exalted at the right hand of God, He works on through the ages in that which is the fruit of His Cross and the crown of His sacrifice, the communication to men, moment by moment, of His own perfect life, that they too may live for ever and be like Him.
He died that we might not die; He lives that the life which we live in the flesh may be His life and not ours. We may not draw comparisons between the greatness of the various departments of our Master’s work, but we can say that His earthly life and His death of shame are the foundation of the work which He does to-day. And so, dear brethren, whilst nineteen centuries ago His triumphant words, ‘It is finished,’ rang out the knell of sin’s dominion, and the first hope for the world’s emancipation, another voice, far ahead still in the centuries, waits to be spoken; and not until the world has been filled with the glory of His Cross and the power of His life shall it be proclaimed: ‘It is done !’
The interspace between these two is filled with the activity of that slain Lamb who, by His death, has become the Lord of the Spirit; and through His blood is able to communicate to all men the life of His own soul. The Lord of the Spirit is the Lamb that was slain.
II. Then let me ask you to look, secondly, at the representation here given of the infinite variety of gifts which Christ bestows.
Throughout this Book of the Revelation we find this remarkable expression, in which the Spirit of God is not spoken of as in His personal unity, but as in sevenfold variety. So at the beginning of the letter we find the salutation, ‘Grace and peace from Him which is and was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before His Throne.’ And again we read, in one of the letters to the churches: ‘These things saith He that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars’; the correspondence being marked between the number of each. And again we read in the earlier part of this same vision, in the preceding chapter, that before the throne there were seven torches flaming, ‘which are the seven Spirits of God.’ And so, again, in my text, we read, ‘seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.’
Now it is obvious that there is not any question here of the personality and unity of the Divine Spirit, which is sufficiently recognized in other parts of the Apocalypse, such as ‘the Spirit and the Bride say: “Come!”‘ and the like; but that the thing before the Evangelist’s mind is the variety of the operations and activities of that one Spirit.
And the number ‘seven,’ of course, at once suggests the idea of perfection and completeness.
So that the thought emerges of the endless, boundless, manifoldness, and wonderful diversity of the operations of this great life-spirit that streams from Jesus Christ.
Think of the number of designations by which that Spirit is described in the New Testament. In regard to all that belongs to intellectual life, He is ‘the Spirit of wisdom’ and of ‘illumination in the knowledge of Christ,’ He is ‘the Spirit of Truth.’ In regard to all that belongs to the spiritual life. He is ‘the Spirit of holiness,’ the ‘Spirit of liberty’; the Spirit of self-control, or as rendered in our Bible, ‘of a sound mind’; the ‘Spirit of love.’ In regard to all that belongs to the practical life, He is ‘the Spirit of counsel and of might,’ the ‘Spirit of power.’ In regard to all that belongs to the religious life, He is ‘the Spirit of Adoption, whereby we cry, Abba! Father!’; the ‘Spirit of grace and of supplication,’ the ‘Spirit of life.’ So over the whole round of man’s capacity and nature, all his intellectual, moral, practical, and religious being, there are gifts which fit each side and each part of it.
Think of the variety of the symbols under which He is presented: ‘the oil,’ with its soft, gentle flow; ‘the fire,’ with its swift transmuting, purifying energy; the water, refreshing, fertilizing, cleansing; the breath, quickening, vitalizing, purifying the blood; the wind, gentle as the sigh of an infant, loud and mighty as a hurricane, sometimes scarcely lifting the leaves upon the tender spring herbage, sometimes laying the city low in a low place. It is various in manifestation, graduating through all degrees, applying to every side of human nature, capable of all functions that our weakness requires, helping our infirmities, making intercession for us and in us, with unutterable groanings, sealing and confirming our possession of His grace; searching the deep things of God and revealing them to us; guiding into all truth, freeing us from the law of sin and death. There are diversities of operation, but the same Spirit. It is protean, and takes every shape that our necessities require.
Think of all men’s diverse weaknesses, miseries, sins, cravings - every one of them an open door through which God’s grace may come; every one of them a form provided into which the rich molten ore of this golden Spirit may flow. Whatsoever a man needs, that he will find in the infinite variety of the spiritual help and strength which the Lamb slain is ready to give. It is like the old fable of the manna, which the Rabbis tell us tasted upon each lip precisely what each man chose. So this nourishment from above becomes to every man what each man requires. "Water will take the shape of any vessel into which you choose to pour it; the Spirit of God assumes the form that is imposed upon it by our weaknesses and needs. And if you want to know the exhaustless variety of the seven Spirits which the Lamb gives, find out the multiplicity and measure, the manifoldness and the depth, of man’s necessities, of weakness, of sorrow, and sin, and you will know how much the Spirit of God is able to bestow and still remain full and unexhausted.
III. Still further, my text suggests the unbroken continuity of the gifts which the slain Lamb has to give.
The language of the original, for any of you that can consult it, will show you that the word ‘sent’ might be rendered ‘being sent,’ expressive of a continual impartation.
Ah! God’s Spirit is not given once in a way and then stops. It is given, not by fits and starts. People talk about ‘revivals,’ as if there were times when the Spirit of God came down more abundantly than at other times upon the world, or upon churches, or upon individuals. It is not so. There are variations in our receptiveness; there are no variations in its steady efflux. Does the sun shine at different rates, are its beams cut off sometimes, or poured out with less energy, or is it only the position of the earth that makes the difference between the summer and the winter, the days and the nights, whilst the great central orb is raying out at the same rate all through the murky darkness, all through the frosty days? And so the gifts of Jesus Christ pour out from Him at a uniform continuous rate, with no breaks in the golden beams, with no pauses in the continual flow. Pentecost is far back, but the fire that was kindled then has not died down into grey ashes. It is long since that stream began to flow, but it is not yet shrunken in its banks. For ever and for ever, with unbroken continuity, whether men receive or whether they forbear. He shines on, communicating Himself and pouring out the Spirit of grace, ay! even into a non-receiving world! How much sunshine seems to be lost, how much of that Spirit’s influence seems lost, and yet it pours on for ever.
Men talk about Christianity as being effete. People to-day look back upon the earlier ages, and say: ‘Where is the Lord God of Elijah?’ The earlier ages had nothing that you and I have not, and Christianity will not die out, and God’s Church will not die out, until the sun that endureth for ever is shorn of its beams and forgets to shine. The seven Spirits are streaming out as they were at the beginning, and as - blessed be God! - they shall do to the end.
IV. And, lastly, my text suggests a universal diffusion of these gifts. ‘Seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.’ The words are a quotation from a remarkable prophecy in the book of Zechariah, which speaks about the ‘seven eyes of God,’ running - ‘To and fro over all the earth.’
There are no limitations of these gifts to any one race or nation as there were in the old times, nor any limitations either to a democracy. ‘On My servants and on My handmaidens will I pour out of My Spirit.’ In olden days the mountain-tops were touched with the rays, and all the lowly valleys lay deep in the shadow and the darkness. Now the risen sunshine pours down into the deepest clefts, and no heart so poor, so illiterate, so ignorant but that it may receive the full sunshine of that Spirit.
Of course, in the very widest of all senses the words are true of the universal diffusion of spiritual gifts from Christ; for all the light with which men see is His light; and all the eyes with which they have ever looked at truth, or beauty, or goodness, come from Him who is ‘the Master-light of all our seeing.’ And poet, and painter, and thinker, and teacher, and philanthropist, and every man that has helped his fellows or has had any glimpse of any angle or bit of the Divine perfection, has seen because the eye of the class or order. Christianity as the true Lord has been in some measure granted to him, and ‘the inspiration of the Almighty has given him understanding.’
But the universal diffusion of spiritual gifts of this sort is not what is meant in my text. It means the gifts of a higher religious character. And I need not remind you of how over broad lands that were heathen when John in his rocky Patmos got this vision, there has now dawned the glory of Christ and the knowledge of His name. Think of all the treasures of the literature of the Christian Church in Latin and African and Teutonic lands that have come since the day when this chapter was written. Think of what Britain was then and of what it is to-day. Remember the heroisms, holinesses, illuminations that have shone over these then barbarous lands since that time; and understand how it has all come because from the Lamb by the Throne there has been sent out over all the earth the Spirit that is wisdom and holiness and life.
And think how steadily down through layers of society that were regarded as outcast and contemptible in the time of the founding of the Church, there has trickled and filtered the knowledge of Himself and of His grace; and how amongst the poor and the humble and the outcast, amongst the profligate and the sinful, there have sprung up flowers of holiness and beauty all undreamed of before; and we shall understand how all classes in all lands may receive a portion of the sevenfold Spirit.
Every Christian man and woman is inspired, not to be a teacher of infallible truth, but inspired in the true and deep sense that in them dwells the Spirit of Jesus Christ. ‘If any man have not the Spirit he is none of His.’ All of us, weak, sinful as we are, ignorant and bewildered often, may possess that Divine life to live in our hearts.
Only, dear brethren, remember it is the slain Lamb that gives the Spirit. And unless we are looking to that Lamb slain as our hope and confidence, we shall not receive it. A maimed Christianity that has a Christ, but no slain Lamb, has little of His Spirit; but if you trust to His Sacrifice, and rest your whole hopes on His Cross, then there will come into your hearts His own mighty grace, and ‘the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus will make you free from the law of sin and death.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 14 (See Scofield "Heb 1:4")
angel
(See Scofield "Heb 1:4")
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv5, 8, 11 The Lamb that was slain:
The Lamb that was slain:
v. 5. And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book and to loose the seven seals thereof.
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v. 6. And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.
v. 7. And he came and took the book out of the right hand of Him that sat upon the throne.
The flood of tears which John’s love for the Church had caused him to weep was soon stopped: And one of the elders says to me, Do not weep; behold, the Lion out of the tribe of Judah has conquered, the Root of David, to open the scroll and its seven seals. One of the twenty-four elders that sat on twenty-four thrones about the central throne of the Lord comforted John with a wonderful word of consolation, bidding him not to weep. The Church at all times has the best, the most reliable comfort for all situations in life, from the Word of God’s grace. Lifting up his finger with impressive solemnity, the elder pointed out the true Comforter, who in His humiliation resembled a lamb, was the Lamb of God, but now, in His exaltation, is the victorious Lion Jesus Christ, the Lion out of the tribe of Judah, Gen 49:9-10, set out to conquer all the enemies of mankind, and He, the God-man, did overcome and vanquish them all. He, the Root of David, Isa 11:1-10, that grew up as a root out of dry ground, a shoot of a stem that had practically died, He had prevailed, He had gained the victory. And so the result was that He could loose the seals and unroll the scroll of the counsels of God. The only-begotten Son of God has revealed the Father to us, and He is still making known to us what we need to know for this short life, until we leave its trials and problems behind us and enter into the presence where all that we must know shall be revealed to us in glory. Note: in the great work of redemption and government of the Church the Lord, our heavenly Father, does not deal with us directly, but through His Son, Jesus Christ. Just as Christ wrought a complete vicarious redemption for us, so He is active as our Prophet to this day, making known to us the gracious and good will of the Father.
John having dashed away the tears of his weeping was gladdened by a wonderful sight: And I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living beings and in the midst of the elders a Lamb standing as having been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent into all the earth. The description is such as to concentrate the entire attention of the reader upon that wonderful Lamb: Christ, the crucified and risen Lord, is the center of all contemplation in the New Testament. The Lamb was in the very midst of elders and cherubs, it occupied the very throne of God. He bore the marks of having been slain, it was still to be noticed that He had been the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world, and yet He stood forth in triumphant power. For He possessed seven horns and seven eyes, which the prophet himself explains as signifying the sevenfold Spirit, the Spirit of wisdom and of knowledge, who searches all things, even the deep things of God. In Christ all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden. The powers of Christ’s Holy Spirit go forth into the world and gain one victory after the other for the Lamb that was slain, as He wills it.
That Christ, He who was slain for the sins of the world, but has now been exalted to the right hand of the power of God, is immeasurably supreme over all creatures is shown by the action which is ascribed to Him: And He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him that sat upon the throne. That was Christ, the patient Lamb of God, but also Christ, the conquering Lion out of the tribe of Judah. He was worthy and fit, He had the right and the power to go to His heavenly Father and receive from Him the counsels concerning the Church. He alone is the proper interpreter of the divine counsel, for He Himself is the Ruler, to whom the Father has entrusted the Kingdom. As the eternal God. coordinated Kith the Father in majesty and power, also according to His human nature, Jesus is the Head of the congregation, over all, which is His body, the fullness of Him that fills all in all, Eph 1:23. Thus Jesus Christ is on the throne of the Father, but also in the midst of His Church, and therefore the fortunes of the believers are safe in His hands
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv3, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13 in heaven or on the earth or under the…
in heaven or on the earth or under the earth
This means everywhere: the place where God and the angels live, the place where people and animals live, and the place where those who have died are. AT: "anywhere in heaven or on the earth or under the earth" (See: Merism)
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Look
"Listen" or "Pay attention to what I am about to tell you"
The Lion of the tribe of Judah
This is a title for the man from the tribe of Judah that God had promised would be the great king. AT: "The one who is called the Lion of the tribe of Judah" or "The king who is called the Lion of the tribe of Judah"
The Lion
The king is spoken of as if he were a lion because a lion is very strong. (See: Metaphor)
the Root of David
This is a title for the descendant of David that God had promised would be the great king. AT: "the one who is called the Root of David"
the Root of David
The descendant is spoken of as if David's family were a tree and he were a root of that tree. AT: "the Descendant of David" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
heaven
scroll
worthy
elder
lions
tribe
Judah
David
seal
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 5:2-3 At first, no one in the entire universe…
5:2-3 At first, no one in the entire universe seemed to have the divine authority or power to answer the angel’s call.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.