Revelation 14:1-13 And I looked, and, see, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand… I. THE INSTRUCTIVE VIEW OF CHRISTIANS which the text presents. 1. To follow Jesus is to maintain a visible profession of His religion. Are we doing this, or are we halting and hesitating? Is our character uniform, or are we religious and the contrary just as serves our convenience, and meets the wishes of our associates? 2. To follow Jesus is to receive Him as a Saviour. This implies the subjection of the soul to Him. 3. To follow Jesus is to listen to Him as a teacher. A scholar follows his master; he respects his authority. 4. To follow Jesus is to obey Him as a Sovereign. 5. To follow Jesus is to imitate Him as an example. II. What there is in such persons REMARKABLE; or why our attention should be so particularly directed to them: "These are they." 1. We see in them the favourites of heaven. The Lord loves them; He honours them; He delights to bless them, and to do them good. 2. We see in them the monuments of Divine mercy. "These are they" whom God hath called out of darkness into His marvellous light. 3. They are the most honourable characters on the face of the earth. Honourable in reality, not in appearance; in the sight of angels and of God, not perhaps in the judgment of men. 4. They are the most happy persons in times of difficulty and trial. These enter into the spirit and life of religion: they taste its comfort, they prove its real enjoyment. 5. They are the instruments of the Redeemer's glory. "All Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine; and I am glorified in them"; glorified in their faith, their patience, their hope, but especially in their holy and active obedience. 6. They will be the inhabitants of a better world, the companions of Christ in His kingdom.In that upper world they still follow Him, but without the least reluctance, without the most distant feeling of languor. Reflections: 1. Are we the followers of Jesus? 2. What cause have we all to lament our carelessness and cowardice in religious concerns! 3. Let us rise to greater vigour in the ways of the Lord, and be unreservedly devoted to Him. (T. Kidd.) Parallel Verses KJV: And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads. |
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