These shall make war with the Lamb
The Lord Jesus Christ, so often spoken of in this book under this
character, ( Revelation
5:6 Revelation
5:12 ) ( 6:1 ) (
7:10 ) ( 14:1 ) .
And this war is not to be understood of a war with him
personally, or of that last and decisive, battle at Armageddon,
in which will be the kings of the earth; but of a war with his
members, of their persecuting of the saints, and faithful
witnesses of Christ in all ages, within their jurisdictions,
being instigated to it by the beast, under whose influence they
are:
and the Lamb shall overcome them:
partly through the constancy of his people, who will not love
their lives to the death, but freely lay them down for him; nor
can anything separate them from the love of Christ, or prevail
upon them to desert him, his truths and ordinances, cause and
interest, but are more than conquerors through him, and so he
overcomes in them; and partly through a reformation which he
effects, as in some of those kingdoms already, as Sweden,
Denmark, England, Scotland, and Ireland, and others, and will do
in others hereafter; see ( Revelation
17:16 )
for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings;
he is so by nature, as God and Creator, to whom the kingdom of
nature and providence belongs; and by office, as Mediator, being
made higher than the kings of the earth; hence he is more than a
match for them, they cannot stand before him; this is a reason
why he overcomes them, and it cannot be thought it should be
otherwise: this Lamb is the lion of the tribe of Judah, and when
he rouses himself, and stirs up his wrath, and exerts his power,
kings and great men flee from him; see ( Revelation
6:15-17 ) ( Psalms 2:6 Psalms
2:9-12 ) . This is a proof of Christ's proper deity, the same
titles being given to him, the Word and Son of God, as to God
himself, ( Revelation
19:16 ) ( 1 Timothy
6:15 1 Timothy
6:16 ) .
And they that are with him:
his servants and his soldiers, that fight under him, and abide by
him,
are called, and chosen, and faithful;
they are chosen in Christ from all eternity, to grace here, and
glory hereafter, and so stand opposed to the admirers of the
beast, whose names are not written in the book of life, (
Revelation 17:8 ) for
this is to be understood of their eternal election, and not of
their separation by the effectual calling in time, for that is
expressed by their being "called"; and though their calling is
here set before election, as in ( 2 Peter 1:10
) yet it does not precede it; the Arabic version reads, "chosen,
called, faithful"; first "chosen" by God the Father, then
"called", not with the bare external call by the ministry of the
word, for, so, many are called, and not chosen; but by special
grace to special benefits, and with an holy and heavenly calling,
and which is irresistible, and without repentance; and being
called they remain "faithful": the meaning is, either that they
have faith, or are believers in Christ; which faith they have
bestowed on them in the effectual calling, as a fruit of electing
grace; and by this they overcome the world: or else, that they
are persons of integrity and uprightness, that are on the side of
Christ; they are the faithful in the Lord, and are made so by
him; and they are faithful to him, and abide by his Gospel and
ordinances, and in his cause and interest, even unto death; and
so this character is expressive of the perseverance of those who
are chosen and called, even unto the end.