The Pulpit Commentary — Revelation — Section 199

"the Amen" of our prayer ano 11ervice, then he will make that r~l which we oon only ask may be ~o. It is his endorsement of our petition. And when at length life's pilgrimage is done, and the shadows of our earthly days are deepening down into the night of death, if our hope and trust be in him who is "the Amen," then amidst the increasing gloom we shall see him ooming to ns, according. to his wonl that so. he would come; and onr last word shall be, ":Amen. Even so, come, Lord JeBUs."--8. C. · Ver.l, 1~, 15.-The redeemed in heaven. "These are they," etc. We long to know som,ething of the life to come, the unseen world, the abode of those who die in the Lord. And here in this chapter a. glimpse, which suggests much more than it reveals, Is given to us. Especially is .this desire for knowle<lge concerning the blessed dead intense when any of our own beloved ones are amongst their number. And of whom is not this true? Hence we search the Scriptures to gather up any the least hint that they may give; we study the records of the transfiguration of our Lord on the holy mount; we ponder the many sayings of his apostles on this most interesting th9llle; and this section of the Book of the Revelation, which tells of it more expressly, has ma.de the whole book precious for its sake. We know not where heaven is, but here we have a vivid picture.of the pl~ and .those who dwell the,re. It was doubtless given in order to cheer the hearts of the afflicted and depressed Church of St. John's day, and we may well believe that it ministered blessed help and hope to them, as it has done to myriads s~noo. . Note- . I. WHO ARE IN BEAVEN. St. John tells us that: 1. They are a multitude. Heaven is no unpeopled place. It is the answer given by the Lord to the question his disciples asked him when he was on earth," Are there few that be saved?" Then he did not see fit to answer it plainly, but here there can be no question u~ to the reply. For: 2. They are "a great multitude," one that "no man can number." How could it be otherw.ise? Would God have created and perpetuated the race of mankind know• ing-for how could he not know the issue of his own work, '' Known nnto God are a,ll his works? "-that sin and Satan would win the most of them? How, in such case, could our Lord be said to. have "destroyed the works of the devil~•? . Without doubt sin,doth abound, but grace doth much more abound. If, at the time St. John was made glad through this vision, as we a.re through him, already there were in heaven this mighty mulUtttde, what roust they be now? and what will they be when the end cometh, and our blessed Lord hath delivered up the kingdom to the Father ? They had already" begun to be merry" (Luke u.). What must the holy mirth be llOW? &nd what shall it not be? 3. A miscellaneous multitude. " Out of every kindred and nation," etc. How greatly, then, do th?y err who think and teach that only those nations who her9 on earth have heard the joyful sound of Christ's· holy gospel can furnish contingents to that redeemed throng upon whom St. John delightedly grufed ! What did our Lord go to "the spirits in prison" for, as St. Peter tells us he did, if not to bring them there the joyful tidings which here on earth they had not heard? How lit~e we yet comprehend of "the breadth, and length, and. deptb, and height" of the love. o1i Christ I Surely this vision should help us to a larger understandh:1g of that infinite love. 4. To them all life had been full qf trouble. They had all of them "come out of great tribulation." Whilst we may not omit the final tribulation of which our Lord tells in Matt. xxiv., and to which the opening of the sixth seal refers, we cannot lii;nit it to that. "Man fa born to trouble;" he is "of few days, and full of misery." "The whole creation groaneth and travaUeth together in pain until now." T,o. h9w few would life be worth living were it not for the hope of a better one! But l!'8 are place4 here as at a school, and the trials of lile a.re the appointed methods of instruction whereby we unlearn evil and learn good, The poor often envy the rich; but if all were,known, the lot in life, or rather ere eternal life be gained, of us all is much alike. "The rich and· the poor meet together," and share in their common inheritance of trouble. But from all this they have now "come out," and are" before the throne of God and the Lamb." 5. They had all been lost but for (Jhrist. For they had all sinned. None pf them had kept their garments undefiled. But he who came "to ~k and to save them that were lost" found them; by his Spirit drew them to him• .i,elf; by hiij blood washed their sin-stained robes, and made them white; and now, all ~ them, not one excepted, are in heaven full of adoring gratitude to him who redeemed •  01!, m. l---,:-11.j THE RE~LATtON OE' ST; JOH:& TH:m DfV.INlt . 223