Chapter XIV.

THE THREE MESSAGES.

VERSE 1. And I looked, and, lo, a lamb stood on the Mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads. 2. And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder; and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps. 3. And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders; and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. 4. These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the first-fruits unto God and to the Lamb. 5. And in their mouth was found no guile; for they are without fault before the throne of God.

It is a pleasing feature of the prophetic word that the people of God are never brought into positions of trial and difficulty and there left. Taking them down into scenes of danger, the voice of prophecy does not there cease, leaving them to guess their fate, in doubt, perhaps despair, as to the final result; but it takes them through to the end, and shows the issue in every conflict. The first five verses of Rev. 14, are an instance of this. The 13th chapter closed,

with the people of God, a small and apparently weak and defenseless company, in deadly conflict with the mightiest powers of earth which the dragon is able to muster to his service. A decree is passed, backed up by the supreme power of the land, that they shall worship the image, and receive the mark, under pain of death if they refuse to comply. What can the people of God do in such a conflict, and in such an extremity? What will become of them? Glance forward with the apostle to the very next scene in the programme, and what do we behold? The very same company standing on Mount Zion with the Lamb, a victorious company, harping on symphonious harps, their triumph in the courts of Heaven. Thus are we assured that when the time of our conflict with the powers of darkness comes, deliverance is not only certain, but will immediately be given, being the next event in our history, the glorious rest after the weary pilgrimage, the glorious consummation of a life of toil, suffering, and ceaseless conflict here.

That the 144,000 here seen on Mount Zion, are the saints who were just before brought to view as objects of the wrath of the beast and his image, several considerations show:

1. They are identical with those sealed in Rev. 7, who have already been shown to be the righteous who are alive at the second coming of Christ. 2. They are the overcomers in the sixth, or Philadelphian state of the church. See Rev. 3: 11, 12. 3. They are "redeemed from among men," verse

4, an expression which can be applicable only to those who are translated from among the living. Paul labored, if by any means he might attain to a resurrection out from among the dead. Phil. 3: 11. This is the hope of those who sleep in Jesus— a resurrection from the dead. A redemption from among men, from among the living, must mean a different thing, and can mean only one thing, and that is translation. Hence the 144,000 are the living saints who will be translated at the second coming of Christ.

Where is the Mount Zion where this company is seen standing? The Mount Zion above; for the voice of harpers, which no doubt is uttered by these very ones, is heard from Heaven; the same Zion from which the Lord utters his voice when he speaks to his people in close connection with the coming of the Son of man. Joel 3: 16; Heb. 12: 26-28; Rev. 16: 17. A just consideration of the fact that there is a Mount Zion in Heaven, and a Jerusalem above, would be a powerful antidote against the hallucination of the doctrine called "The Age to Come."

A few more particulars only respecting the 144,000, will claim notice in these brief thoughts.

1. They have the name of the Lamb's Father in their foreheads. In chapter 7, they are said to have the seal of God in their foreheads. An important key to an understanding of the seal of God is thus furnished us; for we at once perceive that the Father regards his name as his seal. That com

mandment of the law which contains God's name is therefore the seal of the law. The Sabbath commandment is the only one which has this; that is, that contains the descriptive title which distinguishes the true God from all false gods. Wherever this was placed, there the Father's name was said to be; Deut. 16: 6; and whoever keeps this commandment has, consequently, the seal of the living God.

2. They sing a new song which no other company is able to learn. In chapter 15: 3, it is called the song of Moses, and the song of the Lamb. The song of Moses, as may be seen by reference to Ex. 15, was the song of his experience and deliverance. Such therefore is the song of the 144,000. No others can join in it; for no other company will have had an experience like theirs.

3. They were not defiled with women. A woman is in Scripture the symbol of a church; a virtuous woman representing a pure church, a corrupt woman an apostate church. It is then a characteristic of this company that at the time of their deliverance they are not defiled with, or have no connection with, the fallen churches of the land. Yet we are not to understand that they never had any connection with these churches; for it is only at a certain time that people become defiled by them. In chapter 18: 4, we find a call issued to the people of God while they are in Babylon, to come out, lest they become partakers of her sins. Heeding that call, and leaving her connection, they escape the

defilement of her sins. So of the 144,000. Though some of them may have once had a connection with corrupt churches, they sever that connection, when it would have become sin to retain it longer.

4. They follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. We understand that this is spoken of them in their redeemed state. They are the special companions of their glorified Lord in the kingdom. Chap. 7: 17, speaking of the same company, and at the same time, says: "For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters."

5. They are "first-fruits" unto God and the Lamb. This term appears to be applied to different ones to denote especial conditions. Christ is the first-fruits as the antitype of the wave-sheaf. The first receivers of the gospel are called by James 1: 18, a kind of first-fruits. So the 144,000 ripening up for the heavenly garner here on earth, during the troublous scenes of the last days, being translated to Heaven without seeing death, and occupying a pre-eminent position, are in this sense, we understand, called first-fruits unto God and the Lamb. With this description of the 144,000 triumphant, the line of prophecy commencing with chapter 12, closes.

VERSE 6. And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, 7, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his Judgment is