rtf1ansiansicpg1252deff0deflang1033fonttblf0fnilfcharset0 Georgia;f1fnilfprq2fcharset0 Padua; colortbl ;red0green128blue0; viewkind4uc1pardf0fs24 par par b The Grace And Peace Of The Three-One God.b0 par par par cf11ulbf1fs22 Rev_1:4-5cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24. par par 'In the last days perilous times shall come;' yet in those days, where 'sin shall abound, grace shall much more abound.' It shall be the grace of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; the manifold and perfect fullness of the grace of Godhead; 'exceeding riches of grace.' Then shall be the greatest of all the manifestations of graceu8212?both to the Church and to the world. It shall be grace to the uttermost, patience to the uttermost, love to the uttermost, from the Three-one Jehovah to the chief of sinners. Before judgment comes grace; and not until that large fullness of grace has been rejected shall the wrath descend. par par b Verse 4u8212?John to the seven churches which are in Asia.b0 par par Here is the apostolic salutation; very like Paul's (cf11ulbf1fs22 Rom_1:7cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24; cf11ulbf1fs22 1Co_1:1-2cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24), only shorter. It is Jesus who writes; it is the Holy Spirit who writesu8212?yet also Johnu8212?John the servant of Christ, and His witness-bearer. He addresses the seven Asian Churches. There were many othersu8212?Colosse, Tralles, Magnesiau8212?but seven are chosen as representative Churches, selected because of certain peculiar characteristics and conditions which were found in them, that, in speaking to these seven co-existing peculiarities, he might i speak to all Churches in all ages; so that each Church, in every age, might find, in some one of these seven, a picture of itself, and, in the words of warning or of cheer, something exactly suited for admonition to itself.i0 par par To speak 'symbolically'u8212?no one of these Churches has passed away. Ephesus has always existed and still exists in some of the many Churches throughout the world. So with Smyrna and Pergamos and the rest. They are not representatives of successive stages or conditions, spiritual or ecclesiastical; they are not prophetical or consecutive, as if Ephesus pictured the primitive Church, Smyrna that of the third and fourth century, down to Laodicea, the representative of the Church of the last days. They picture 'seven states in which the Church will always be found', and in regard to which each should put the questionu8212?Is it I? Lord, is it I? par par Why they are selected from Asia Minor is hard to say. Certainly it is Gentile ground; and it is to the Churches of the Gentiles that the book is written. Israel had been cast off and had gone out of sight. Jerusalem had fallen; and the apostles, rejected by the Jew, had turned to the Gentile. But why these representative Gentile Churches were selected from Asia, and not from Greece or any Gentile region, we cannot say, further than that John preached at Ephesus and superintended the neighboring Churches. Seven is the number of completenessu8212?manifold completeness; fullness in variety; covenant-certainty. The portrait is one; of the one Church of God on earth. But of this one portrait there are seven different views, each bringing out something special, while preserving the common outline and features; all combined giving the complete enumeration or i record both of the evil and the good belonging to the universal Church below, in this the day of her imperfection and continual declension.i0 par par b Grace be unto you, and peace, from Him who is, and who was, and who is to come.b0 GRACEu8212?'Free favor' (or free love) is the first note of blessingu8212?apostolic blessing, as in Paul's epistles; and then 'PEACE,' as the stream flowing from the heavenly fountainhead of grace. 'Peace' simply as the master's blessing (cf11ulbf1fs22 Joh_14:27cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24), as if the 'grace' were not needed to be expressed, He Himself being the visible grace or love. 'Grace and peace,' or sometimes 'grace, mercy, and peace,' we find to be the blessing of His servants, full and large, containing all they needed. 'From Him which is, and who was, and who is to come.' This is the inspired interpretation of the name Jehovah, 'who is, and was, and shall be.' Here it is given to the Father, as elsewhere to Christ. 'Yesterday, today, and forever,' 'from everlasting to everlasting God.' The Father's grace and peace must be, like Himself, eternal. Eternal grace, eternal peaceu8212?this is the Church's portionu8212?this is the heritage of each saint. par par b And from the seven Spirits who are before His throne.b0 This must mean the Holy Spirit in His sevenfold completeness and fullnessu8212?this sevenfold fullness corresponding with the seven Churches, and intimidating the manifold abundance of the gifts which flow out of Him to the whole Church of God. par par From this storehouse are dispensed the 'gifts of the Holy Spirit,' which Christ has received for men. These seven Spirits are 'before the throne of God;' and from that throne they issue forth like 'the pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God, and of the Lamb.' The Holy Spirit is 'the promise of the Father;' and He comes in His fullness, from His throne, the seat of all authority and power. par par b Verse. 5. And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful Witness.b0 It is not merely the Father's grace that is prayed for, but the grace of the Son, the grace of Him whose name is Jesusu8212?Jesus the Christ; and it is the peace of Him who saidu8212?Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, that is here dispensed. And this Jesus is the 'faithful Witness,' who has come to us from God with a true testimonyu8212?a testimony concerning the Father and the Father's purpose; a testimony to the church and to the world; a testimony which, on being received, enables us to say, "We know;' for if we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater. par par b The first-begotten of the dead.b0 The word 'first-begotten' in the Old Testament is almost always used in its literal sense, the eldest of the family, or the first of the heard and flock. So in the New Testament (cf11ulbf1fs22 Mat_1:25cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24). But in one or two places it is used symbolicallyu8212?in reference to majesty or excellency, to power, to possession of the inheritance or birthright (cf11ulbf1fs22 Psa_89:27cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24; cf11ulbf1fs22 Jer_31:9cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24); and in the New Testament the allusions to Christ are symbolical of these, referring not so much to priority in time as to the birthright. These allusions are the followingu8212?(1) "First-born among many brethren' (cf11ulbf1fs22 Rom_8:29cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24); (2) 'First-born of every creature' (cf11ulbf1fs22 Col_1:15cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24; lit., 'first-born of the whole creation'); (3) 'First-born from the dead' (cf11ulbf1fs22 Col_1:18cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24; same as in cf11ulbf1fs22 Rev_1:5cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24); (4) "the first-born; or 'first-begotten' (cf11ulbf1fs22 Heb_1:6cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24, where the word stands alone, like 'only-begotten'); (5) Church of the first-born' (cf11ulbf1fs22 Heb_12:23cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24). par par Christ then has the resurrection-birthright; whether actually He was or was not the first that rose, as to time, He has the primogeniture of resurrection. All of excellency, and power, and glory, and inheritance that belongs to the first-born is His. He is, moreover, 'the first-fruits of those who slept' (cf11ulbf1fs22 1Co_15:20cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24); the pledge, the model and type of resurrection. He is the resurrection and the life. He stands at the head of the long procession of the risen saints, the Church of the first-born, who are in their turn 'a kind of first-fruits of His creatures' (cf11ulbf1fs22 Jam_1:18cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24). par par b And the Prince of the kings of the earth.b0 The word 'prince' is simply 'ruler' or 'president,' as 'ruler of the synagogue' (cf11ulbf1fs22 Luk_8:41cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24); 'Nicodemus a ruler of the Jews' (cf11ulbf1fs22 Joh_3:1cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24). As, then, the ruler presided over the synagogue, or the head of the Sanhedrin presided in that court of the elders, so does Christ preside in the assembly of the kings of the earth. The expression is not exactly the same as 'King of kings and Lord of lords;' it rather refers to presidency and power, such as is described in the 82nd Psalmu8212?'God stands' (or 'has taken His stand,' a solemn act, for the solemn purpose, immediately declared) 'in the congregation of God' (cf11ulbf1fs22 Num_27:17cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24, cf11ulbf1fs22 Num_31:16cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24, cf11ulbf1fs22 Jos_22:16-17cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24 , 'the congregation of Jehovah'); 'in the midst of the gods He judges;' showing Himself president of earth's kings, and as such taking His place among them (for judgment upon them), even as they do in their court or cabinet; and they are called 'gods,' not simply as having authority or worthy of an honorable name, but as His vice-regents, 'God's ministers' (cf11ulbf1fs22 Rom_13:4cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24), to whom their subjects are to look for the embodiment of all that is divine, and in whose laws and actings they expect to find exemplified and represented the laws and actings of God Himself. par par Christ is thus declared God; and as such He presides over the assembled potentates of earth as their Ruler and Lord, by whom they reign, to whom they are responsible, and for whose glory they are to make use of all that they possess of power, and honor, and wealth. 'Worthy is the Lamb of to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength!' (cf11ulbf1fs22 Rev_5:12cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24). The gold and silver of earth, the thrones and kingdoms of the world, all belong to him, and are to be employed for His glory, in all ages, present and to come!