Since the preaching of the gospel began, men are instructed to "seek first the kingdom of God" (Mat. 6:33), and they "press into it" (Luke 16:16) by the saving virtue of Him "who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son." Col. 1:13. Taking our place by the side of the writer of the Revelation, we testify with him that we are already "in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ" (Rev. [1:9]), and that we "receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness," whereby "we reign in life by one Jesus Christ." Rom. 5:17. In this happy condition, redeemed by the blood of Jesus, our Savior, made "a royal [kingly] priesthood" in the "holy nation" of "peculiar people" that have been gathered out of all nations of earth (1 Pet. 2:5, 9), we feel like singing anew this glad song of redemption in honor of Jesus, our only Lord and Savior, who is God over all, blessed forever! Amen.
This new and rapturous song of the redeemed was immediately caught by a greater multitude of the angelic order, an innumerable company, even "ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands," and together, with loud and united voices, did they swell the mighty anthem, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing." And again the heavenly strain was raised to loftier heights, until the stupendous chorus rolled around the universe, by every creature in heaven and on earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, saying, "Blessing and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever." A few gifted voices of earth may possess such power and sweetness as almost to entrance us with their melody of song; but what an oratorio will it be, my brethren, when, released from the narrow limits of mortality, that sublime strain sung by the redeemed of all ages and ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands of angels, bursts in upon our ransomed souls! Did human thought ever reach the conception of music like this? Did the eyes of a mortal ever behold such rapturous scenes? You may feast your eyes upon earth's greatest beauty—Yosemite Valley, Yellowstone Park, Niagara Falls, may pass before your vision; you may climb the lofty Alpine summit and behold the snow-streaked and snow-capped peaks towering to the heavens around you—or you may listen to the best music ever composed by a Mozart, a Handel, or a Beethoven, or the finest ever executed by a Liszt, a Rubenstein, or a Paderewski; yet I must tell you upon the authority of God's word that "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." 1 Cor. 2:9.
This vision shows very clearly the lofty position to which Christ has been exalted, possessing "a name which is above every name"; for the entire company of angels and redeemed saints unite in extolling him with songs of praise, and that, too, before the very throne of the Deity and in the presence of his infinite Majesty. Surely we can not doubt that ours is a divine Savior, and one worthy of all praise, honor, power and dominion both now and forever.
Though John beheld this wonderful vision in heaven, yet we must remember that it was given and recorded for the benefit of God's people upon earth. The plan of redemption was not actually revealed in heaven, for "Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners" (1 Tim. 1:15), and it was here that he was ordained to "taste death for every man." Heb. 2:9. The ransomed company thus brought to view is intended to point out the redeemed of earth; for there is no salvation to be obtained in heaven, in which place no blood was shed—the blood is one of the agents that bears witness in the earth. 1 John 5:7, 8. The central figures of this vision were God, the Holy Spirit, and Christ, around whom the living creatures and elders were gathered, and they, in turn, were surrounded by the angelic throng. This entire scene was doubtless intended to represent the exalted character of spiritual things on earth, where the plan of redemption was revealed and the redeemed host gathered out of all nations. In a very important sense the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost all dwell in the spiritual church, or new Jerusalem, and are thus "in the midst" of God's people, surrounded by the redeemed host who unceasingly worship them, and they, in turn, have the promise that "the angel of the Lord encampeth round about them" (Psa. 34:7); yea, "an innumerable company of angels" reside in this "heavenly Jerusalem," or "city of the living God," unto which we, as a part of the "general assembly and church of the first-born," "are come" in this dispensation. Heb. 12:22, 23.
CHAPTER VI.
And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
2. And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.
We have now reached the point where the thrilling interest of this book commences. With the opening of the seals of the book of God's purposes we have the prophecies of the future, the unfolding of the events to be, described under appropriate symbols. The contents of six seals are contained in this and the following chapter, while the seventh occupies the remainder of the volume.