(ò vizov,) and this in a most signal manner. We follow him then after his victory, and we next meet with the representation (chap. xx.) of one that sat upon the great white throne. We compare this appearance with the promise made in the Epistle to the angel of the Laodicean church: "To him that overcometh, (or, to the overcoming,) will I grant to sit with me on my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father on his throne." We look forward to the declaration of Him who makes all things new, (chap. xxi.,) and we find this great white throne to be the throne of God. We look further, and find (chap. xxii.) God and the Lamb occupying one and the same throne or seat. The promise is then fulfilled: the overcoming the conqueror of the beast and of the false prophet-is manifested to occupy the seat or throne of God and the Lamb.

Again, in the Epistle to the church of Pergamos, we find a white stone promised to the overcoming; "and in the stone a new name written, which no one knoweth except he that receiveth it." It is not said of Him that overcame the beast, that he had a white stone given him, but it is said that he had a name written, that no one knew but himself. So it is said of the overcoming in the Epistle to the church of Philadelphia, "I will write upon him the name of my God;" and of the warrior of Armageddon we find it said, "He hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, and LORD OF LORDS." In the address to the church. of Thyatira, it is said, "Unto him that overcometh, I will give power over the nations and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers." Corresponding with this, the Rider of the white horse is described as having a sharp sword proceeding from his mouth, "that with it he should smite the nations, and rule them as with a rod of iron :" and so we find he did smite the kings of the earth and their forces, under the conduct of the beast, with the sword out of his mouth. On this occasion, too, his name is expressly declared to be the Word of God;-ó dóyos roũ dɛov is, therefore, & λóyos ó vizor. The Word of God is he that overcometh. Connecting this declaration with the implied definition of the Deity of his own Word, (Jer. xxiii. 29,) we see in the fire from heaven, by which the nations, Gog and Magog, were destroyed, (Rev. xx. 9,) a further fulfilment of the same promise; while the fire by which the harlot and the city (Babylon) were destroyed (chap. xvii. and xviii.) affords a like exhibition of the power of this overcoming Word;-fire and the sword being interchangeable figures of the instrument employed in the destruction of error. We have already supposed the same Word to be the occupant of the great white throne, both as suggested by the course of the narrative, and as a fulfilment of the promise to him that overcometh. If we are correct in this particular, the accuser, and death, and hell, must be all overcome by the same all-powerful Word.

We find no other champion in the Apocalypse to whom we can apply

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this epithet of the overcoming in connection with the promises, except the Lion of the tribe of Judah, who overcame to open the book; the Lamb by whose blood the brethren overcame the dragon, and by whom the ten kings in alliance with the beast were to be overcome, (Rev. xvii. 14;) and Jesus, who speaks in the introductory Epistles as having himself overcome, (Rev. iii. 21.) The Lion of the tribe of Judah, and the Lamb, and Jesus, we know to be identic; and as there cannot be two conquerors, we are shut up to the conclusion, that the Rider of the white horse is Jesus, the Son of God; the manifestation of this truth being a fulfilment of the promise of the Alpha and Omega, Rev. xxi. 7: "He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my Son."

The Word of God is thus manifested or revealed to be the Son of God. Certain promises are made to him that conquers. The Rider of the white horse undertakes to conquer; he does conquer, and he obtains the promised reward. This, we think, must be indisputable; although some portion of these promises may not be easily explained. The conqueror is identic with Jesus Christ; all, therefore, that is revealed of the one, is a revelation or unveiling of the other. So, as the beast and false prophet are represented to be antagonists of the Word of God, whatever is revealed of them as opposites, serves to throw light upon the character and offices of him with whom they are so directly at variance.

§ 557. As before suggested, we do not suppose the contest on the battle-field of Armageddon to be something in addition to the occurrences previously detailed; it is rather a representation of the same contest between truth and error, under a different figure. We lost sight of the Rider of the white horse immediately after his first appearance, at the opening of the first seal, but the overcoming operations of the Word of God were then commenced. They were to be seen in the results of the opening of the sixth seal; in the effects of the hail and fire mingled with blood, of the burning mountain cast into the sea; of the star cast from heaven, "burning, as it were a lamp." They were to be seen in the stroke inflicted upon the sun, moon, and stars; in the action of the scorpion-locusts, and in that of the Euphratean horsemen; in the testimony of the two witnesses, and in the results of that testimony and from the moment that the dragon began his persecution of the seed of the woman, when the seven-headed beast first rose from the sea, and the two-horned beast from the earth, the warfare was commenced. The same operations are to be seen in the proclamations of the heavenly herald, in the harvest, in the vintage, and in the process of the wine-press; in the effusion of the seven vials of wrath, in the thunder and in the earthquake, and in the lightning and the hail; in the war between the ten horns and the harlot, in that between the ten horns and the Lamb, and in the final judgment upon Babylon. In all these processes the Logos, or Word of God, was pursuing his victorious career, going forth

conquering (overcoming) every principle of error; sustained by the same power of divine righteousness, although that power may not have been equally manifested. The Spirit of the mouth of the Lord was employed, although not always exhibited as a drawn sword.

Whatever shape the adversary may assume, and whatever may be the figure by which the contest is illustrated, the weapon of the victor is the same ;—the revelation of truth is the instrument of destroying error. The revelation of the purpose of God, as it is in truth, is the means of destroying every system or principle of doctrine inconsistent with it. In this respect it must be perceived, that as the new Jerusalem is an exhibition in detail of the purpose of God, as pertaining to the means of salvation; and as the divine purpose or economy of grace is, in fact, the Word of God; so the new Jerusalem coming down from heaven must be in substance equivalent, as a figure, to the appearance of the Rider of the white horse upon the field of battle. The two representations are exhibitions of the same Word (Logos) of God. The revelation of the new Jerusalem, rightly understood, like that of the Word or purpose of God, is the destined instrument of destroying every principle or doctrine inconsistent with the divine plan of salvation; the Spirit and the bride performing the same part in the destruction of error, as is performed by the Word and the sharp sword. The holy city is thus a convertible term for the Word of God; and is, accordingly, an appellation applicable to the overcoming, (the rider of the white horse.) It is, at the same time, that scheme of doctrine by which, and by which alone, the worship of God, in the true sense of the term, can be sustained, as by a pillar; corresponding with the promise of Jesus in the address to the angel of the Church of Philadelphia: “Him that overcometh (the overcoming) will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out and I will write upon him the name of my God, (King of kings,) and the name of the city of my God, new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and my new name," (Jehovah our righteousness.)

The overcoming Word of God being identic with the new Jerusalem, and the new Jerusalem being the wife or bride of the Lamb, we see in the bridal array of the wife, prepared for the marriage feast, the fulfilment of another of these promises: "He that overcometh (the overcoming) the same shall be clothed in white raiment and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels." The exaltation of the overcoming Word on the great white throne may be considered a fulfilment of the latter portion of this promise.

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As the bride or wife is identic with the Lamb, and the Lamb identic with Jesus, and Jesus himself is the morning-star, the promise to give the morning-star to him that overcometh is fulfilled in the manifestation, that the overcoming Word and the new Jerusalem are identic with the star itself.

So the promise of the participation of the tree of life is fulfilled in the manifestation, that that tree is a constituent element of the new Jerusalem, and that the new Jerusalem is identic with the overcoming Word. In like manner, the promise to participate in the hidden manna, (§ 110,) is fulfilled by the manifestation that the overcoming Word is identic with Jesus Christ, for he has declared himself to be the true bread, which came down from heaven; that is, the hidden manna. So, the promise, "He that overcometh shall inherit all things," is fulfilled by the manifestation of the identity of the overcoming Word with him, to whom the heathen was to be given for an inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for a possession. In accordance with this construction, also, we may take the promise to receive the white stone to be fulfilled in manifesting the identity of the overcoming Word with him who is the elect, precious corner-stone-the only sure foundation of faith or hope.

558. Jesus Christ is thus exhibited to us in this Apocalypse in the midst of the churches, and on the white cloud, as the Son of man; in the act of opening the sealed book, or of unfolding the mystery of redemption, as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Lamb as it had been slain; in the war in heaven, as the conqueror of the dragon; on the Mount Zion, as the Lamb triumphant; throughout the whole tissue of the narrative as the overcoming; and towards its close as the Word of God, as the bride or wife, as the new Jerusalem; and, finally, as the Lamb enthroned, the Son of God identic with God, occupying the same seat, and in effect that God who is all in all.

In the Son of man, we see him who became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him. In the Lamb, as it had been slain, we see him who was wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities; in the conqueror of the dragon, him who satisfied the law, and overcame the accuser by the power of his blood. In the overcoming, (the Word of God,) whether exhibited under the figure of destructive earthly elements, or under that of vials of wrath, or that of a victorious warrior, or that of the new Jerusalem, (the bride,) we see the same purpose of sovereign grace the latter figure (the holy city) exhibiting this purpose in all its details; and thus, by its ample exhibition of truth, proving in effect the same instrument in the destruction of error as that elsewhere represented as the sword of the mouth of the Word.

As the history of the overcoming (the Word) is part of the unveiling of Jesus, so also is the history of that which is overcome,-the beast, with his aid, the false prophet; these latter figures serving to give prominence to the illustration afforded by the former. The beast is the antagonist of the Word, as the dragon (the accuser) is the antagonist of the Lamb; and as the harlot, or Babylon, is the opposite of the wife, or new Jerusalem. The mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, (Rev. xvii. 7,)

is calculated, in proportion as it is unfolded, to place in high relief the opposite mystery of the Lamb or Word, and bride. We may derive, accordingly, a knowledge of the beast from a knowledge of his antagonist the Word; and by this accession to our information, we obtain a further knowledge of Him who here unveils himself.

$559. The overcoming (the Word of God) is the purpose of sovereign grace to save freely, through the vicarious offering or imputed merits of Christ; a purpose figuratively spoken of by Paul as the cross of Christ, the preaching of which, he says, is foolishness to them that perish, but the power of God to them that are saved, (1 Cor. i. 17, 18; Gal. v. 11 ;) a purpose, the only object of the disciple's glorying ;—to glory in the cross of Christ (Gal. vi. 15) being equivalent to glorying in the Lord: a purpose of grace, by which alone the sinner can be reconciled to his offended Judge, (Eph. ii. 16, Col. i. 20;) "the blood of the cross," and "the blood of the Lamb," being interchangeable expressions for the same propitiatory sacrifice. Of this purpose, Word, or Cross, (žvλov, § 47,) the beast is the antagonist or adversary;—the figure of a principle having a direct tendency to oppose the doctrine of a free salvation, through the vicarious offering of the Son of God. To this adverse principle we have given the appellation of SELF, because, in proportion to its operation on the mind, its tendency is to lead to a dependence upon one's own merits or righteousness-making the cross of Christ of none effect, and prompting the disciple to ascribe to himself, or to something in himself, the glory even of his eternal happiness; making himself the author of his own salvation, and consequently assuming for self the position of the Deity, (§ 294.) It must be easy to perceive an exposure of this error to be equivalent to a revelation of the opposite of truth; we have, therefore, no occasion to go out of our way to search for the connection between the particulars related of the beast and those we expect to meet with in a revelation of the true character and offices of Christ; the narrative of one is part of the unveiling of the other. The same is to be said of Babylon, or the harlot. As a mixed system, or a doctrinal system of mixed and confused principles, sustained by the blasphemous principle of self, the mystery of the woman is intimately blended with that of the beast; they seem to be spoken of, in fact, as one mystery. The bride is a help-meet for the Lamb in the work of unfolding the mystery of sovereign grace; and, by parity of symbolical representation, the harlot (Babylon) is a help-meet for the beast, in exhibiting the mixed, mercenary, confused, and selfish principles of the kingdom or system of the enemy of the cross. For this reason the particulars related of Babylon, both as a consort of the beast, and as an opposite of the bride, form a portion of the general doctrinal development, comprehended in the unfolding of the word, or economy of grace the divine purpose once manifest in the flesh.

These several exhibitions thus uniformly tending to illustrate the work