and a heresy causing the way of truth to be evil spoken of. They have been redeemed from the curse of the law; they do not serve in order to be redeemed, but because they have been redeemed. Being made free from sin,-delivered from the sting of death-sin having no more power to bring them into condemnation, (Rom. vi. 14,) they become on this account the servants (dovλot) of God-of him to whom they owe their deliver

ance.

It might appear almost unnecessary to predict that the servants of God should serve Him; but we presume the design is to place in a prominent point of view the motive of action, which, as we have elsewhere shown, (180,) characterizes the service; and to show that this motive and the service characterized by it necessarily result from the predominance of the element of sovereign grace (through the imputation of divine righteousness) in securing the eternal life of the disciple, (Rom. v. 21.) The bond-servant or slave, actuated only by the fear of punishment or the hope of reward, although his conduct may be all that is required, could not be said, strictly speaking, to serve his master; because his motive is to serve himself, and he has no other end in view. It could not be said of the master of such slaves, His servants serve him. But without any other change of circumstances, if these slaves could be supposed to act only from a motive of love for their master, or gratitude towards him, without any end of their own in view, then this declaration might be made of them, in the strictest sense of the expression, "His servants serve him.”

In the exhibition here made of the plan of salvation, under the figure of the new Jerusalem, the most abundant provision is seen to have been made for the safety and comfort, and even glory of the inhabitants. In addition to this, it is now shown, (from the location of the throne,) that every benefit, or privilege, or glory, afforded, or to be afforded by this provision, is due to sovereign grace alone; consequently, the recipient of these favours has no motive of action left, and can have no other motive, than that of serving his Benefactor. With him there can be no room for motives resulting either from fear or hope; his bread is given him, his water is sure he is abundantly satisfied with the fulness of God's house, and made to drink of the river of his pleasures, (Ps. xxxvi. 8.) Of such, therefore, it may be said, not only that they are the servants of God, but also that they serve Him.* In like manner the principles of the economy of grace will be manifested to tend directly to the service and honour of God.

*The Romans had two sorts of servants-the slave proper, and the slave made free, or the freed-man. The first served from a motive of fear; the last, after having been made free, remained frequently with his master, sometimes as a confidential servant, and generally so remaining and serving (as we may suppose) from a sentiment of grateful attachment. To this distinction allusion appears to be made, 1 Cor.

6

$517. And they shall see his face.'-Or, as the Greek expression might be rendered, They shall behold his countenance; that is, the face of God and the Lamb-not their faces, but one face-a fulfilment of the prediction, (Is. xxxiii. 17,) "Thine eyes shall see the King in his beauty." That the face of God and the Lamb may be seen, it must be manifested, or unveiled. Such a manifestation we suppose to be here contemplated. Under the old dispensation, no man could see the face of God and live, (Ex. xxxiii. 2 ;) under the new economy, the face of God is exhibited in Jesus Christ; the disciple in Christ enjoying the position of holiness necessary to enable him to see God, ($321;) and God in Christ unveiling himself to the disciple.

To behold the face of a sovereign, is an expression in Scripture for the enjoyment of his favour, receiving marks of his approbation; a deprivation of this privilege of seeing the king's face, being an opposite token of disapprobation. As Absalom, although permitted at the solicitation of Joab to return to Jerusalem, was not allowed to see the king's face, (2 Sam. xiv 28.) The kings of the earth, the great men, and the rich men, &c., could not endure the face of him who sat on the throne, (Rev. vi. 15, 16;) from whose face, also, the former heaven and the former earth fled away, (Rev. xix. 11;) representing, as we have supposed, elements not to be countenanced in an exhibition of divine sovereignty. Opposite to this the elements here personified as the servants of God and the Lamb, in the strict sense of the term, so far from fleeing away, or calling for a shelter to hide themselves, see the face and enjoy the favour of the sovereign on the throne. Elements or principles, as they are, of the divine plan of redemption, tending directly to the service of God and the Lamb, they are countenanced and sustained by the ruling element of sovereign grace.

And his name shall be in their foreheads.'-Like the opposites of those hiding themselves in the dens and the rocks of the mountains, these servants of God and of the Lamb are sealed in their foreheads, (Rev. vi. 15, and vii. 3.) We suppose them to be identic with the one hundred and forty-four thousand of all the twelve tribes-elements of truth resulting from the combined revelations of the old and new dispensations; manifested in the first instance as the chosen servants of God; next seen to be associates and co-operators with the Lamb (the element of propitiation) in exhibiting the glory of God and the triumph of the elements of grace over the principles of self-righteousness and misinterpretation, (Rev. xiv. 1-4, and

vii. 22, 23. The disciple of Christ may be contemplated either as the slave or as the freed-man of his divine master :-as purchased by the blood of Christ, he belongs to Christ, and is, on that account, bound to serve him forever: as placed in a position of freedom by grace, he is the freed-man of Christ, and bound to serve him from a motive of gratitude.

my

xv. 2-4;) and, finally, manifested to be constituent elements of the econoof grace, servants of God and the Lamb as one object of worship, having his name, the name of God and the Lamb, in their foreheads. This mark we suppose (326) to be equivalent to some prominent feature of the doctrinal principle distinguished by it, and places the true character and tendency of that principle beyond dispute; bearing in this respect the seal of divine approbation, and affording upon all occasions a token for the recognition of its correctness.

When the sealing of the one hundred and forty-four thousand was first described, no name was mentioned; when those sealed ones were next seen, the name of the Father of the Lamb is expressly stated to be written in their foreheads, (Rev. xiv. 1;) now the revelation being nearly completed, the same name, (§ 100,) as we presume it to be, is announced (taking the connection of this verse with the preceding into view) as the name of God and of the Lamb ;-doctrines, tending to show the honour and glory of the whole work of man's redemption to belong to God and the Lamb, as one Being, may be considered so characterized as to bear the name of that one Being in their foreheads. The same may be said of the principles of such doctrines; such a characteristic feature being a mark or indication of the setting apart of the doctrine possessing it to the manifestation of the truth.

A plate of pure gold bearing the inscription Holiness to the Lord, was to be placed upon Aaron's forehead, (Ex. xxviii. 37, 38,) "That he may bear," as it was said, "the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall hallow" (sanctify or set apart) "in all their gifts; and it shall be upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord." So, according to the LXX, the servant of Abraham selected a jewel for the forehead, as a mark of the distinction intended for Rebekah, (Gen. xxix. 22.) On the other hand, the mark in the forehead of the leprous man, was the indication of his utter uncleanness, (Lev. xiii. 43–46;) and the harlot in the wilderness bore the inscription upon her forehead," Mystery," "Babylon," &c., and the subjects of the beast, without exception, received a mark in their foreheads, as well as in their right hands. It is thus to the forehead, that we are to look for an index of the character, office, or position of the individual marked; and analogous with this we judge of the character of a system, doctrine, or principle, by some distinguishing feature or manifest tendency to be observed in it.

The apostles wrought miracles in the name of their divine Master. The glory of what they were enabled to perform thus redounded to him, and not to them. The disciple offers his prayers in the name of Jesus; the power of the petition, therefore, and the praise for the answer to the petition, are to be ascribed to the name in which it is offered, and not to the piety, fervency, or merit, of the petitioner. So, Col. iii. 17, " And whatsoever ye do in word

or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus;" as if it were said, that in all things his name may be glorified, and not yours. Thus the leading prominent feature in every principle or doctrine peculiar to the economy of grace must be that of a manifest tendency to exalt the name and magnify the glory of God and the Lamb.*

V. 5. And there shall be no night there; and they shall need no candle, neither light of the sun ; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign forever

and ever.

Καὶ νὺξ οὐκ ἔσται ἔτι, καὶ οὐχ ἕξουσι χρείαν φωτὸς λύχνου καὶ φωτὸς ἡλίου, ὅτι κύριος ὁ Θεὸς φωτίσει ἐπ' αὐτούς· καὶ βασιλεύσουσιν εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων.

§ 518. And there shall be no night there.'-This was said of the city in the preceding chapter, (v. 25,) but the design was then to show that the gates were never closed; now the purpose is to exhibit the perpetual duration of light-that there is no interval of darkness, and none to be apprehended. "Who is among you," says the prophet, (Is. 1. 10,)" that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness and hath no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God"-and this is said in reference to the justification spoken of in the eighth verse of the same chapter.

We have already defined our views of light, in a spiritual sense, as a figure of divine righteousness, the moral perfection of the Deity resplendent as the light, and by imputation clothing the objects of his favour with that light, as with a garment. The economy of redemption (the true vision of peace) fully manifested, affords a constant, perpetual exhibition of this gracious provision; for which reason it is said there is no night there-no season of darkness, (§ 506.) The city is an opposite of the kingdom of darkness, (§ 363 ;) and affording, as it does, an exhibition of the position of the disciple in Christ, it is an opposite of those imperfect views of faith, which correspond only with a position out of Christ. In this stage of revelation, it may be said, "The darkness is past, and the true light now

* In the ordinary affairs of life, it is no uncommon thing to make use of the name of a third person to obtain a desired object. Under a monarchical government, he who seeks the liberation of a pardoned criminal, takes with him a document bearing the royal signature. With this he goes to the prison in the king's name, and it is manifest that by the power of this name the release is effected.

In matters of commerce, he who has no money in the bank, obtains the order of a third person who has money or credit with the institution; thus furnished, the holder of the order receives the amount desired, but it is evidently to the name of the third person that the credit of the operation is due. So the disciple, needing a righteousness to justify him at the great tribunal of divine judgment, and having none of his own, presents himself in the name of him who is declared to be Jehovah our righteousness, (God and the Lamb;) the plea made in this name is admitted, and he is fully justified-the praise and glory of that justification belonging to him whose name is thus employed.

shineth;" an epoch responsive to the prophetic invocation, (Is. lx. 1, 2,) "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people; but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee"-the imputed glory of divine perfection being equivalent to a covering of light.

And they need no candle.'-Or, they have no need of the light of a lamp; that is, of an artificial light; such apparently as we find alluded to, Is. 1. 2: "Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of my hand, ye shall lie down in sorrow”—a state of sorrow arising from erroneous views further described, Is. lix. 8–10: "The way of peace they know not, they have made them crooked paths; therefore they say, We wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness; we grope for the wall like the blind, we stumble at noonday as in the night." Where the knowledge of salvation by imputed righteousness is wanting, there are perpetual efforts (crooked ways) to create some righteousness or some merits of one's own, in the glory of which the deluded errorist thinks himself to be walking, as in the sparks of his own kindling. Where, on the contrary, the truth is manifested and understood, there is no temptation to these efforts: Jehovah once seen as our righteousness, no other light can be required, or even desired-they need no candle.

'Neither light of the sun, for the LORD GOD giveth them light.'*—So it was said in the preceding chapter, (v. 23,) " The city hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it," &c.; and we have there remarked, that the glory of God, as it is manifest in the Lamb, is the light, or lamp of the city, (§ 504.) The purpose then, was to show the glory of divine perfection to be the only and all-sufficient glory, exhibited by, or in, the economy of redemption. Now, we apprehend, the purpose is to show that as the LORD GOD (Jehovah, § 437) is manifested to be the light of the city, there is no occasion for any of the intermediate representations of that that light before employed. Christ (the Sun of righteousness) has now given up the kingdom to the sovereign God, (God and the Lamb;) this figure, therefore, of the sun is no longer called for; so, as the city is now manifested to exhibit the glory of Jehovah himself, the figure of an opaque body reflecting the rays of the Sun of righteousness (§§ 202, 267) is also dispensed with. The Lord God shineth upon them, as it is expressed in the

* Or, 'shall shine upon them,' according to the Greek of some editions, and, we apprehend, correctly; because the allusion is to their position in light, not to a light in them. It is not an intellectual light, but light in a spiritual sense, which is here the subject of contemplation.