(4) And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia. (5) And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. (6) And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. (7) Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. (8) And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. (9) And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. (10) And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
I beg the Reader to notice what is said here of a voice, which came out of the throne, saying, praise our God all ye his servants. Now the right apprehension of this voice will serve to throw a light upon what follows hereafter. That this voice could not be the voice of God the Father, Son, or Spirit, is, I think, very evident, for if it had, the words would not have been, praise our God, but praise God. The word our could not upon this occasion have been proper, since it is calling upon others to praise with the voice that called. Moreover, it should seem to have been a voice from among the multitude which sung Alleluia, consequently not the voice of God. Add to these things, when it is said, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth, this is plainly said of Christ, whose omnipotency hath been now proved in the destruction of the whore, and her total overthrow. And this hymn is but a continuation of the first hymn, at the opening of the chapter, and repeated again and again in those several verses, third and sixth. For whose is salvation but Christ? And to whom all along did John hear the hymn of salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, ascribed? Was it not to him, (said they), that hath loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood? Revelation 5:9; Revelation 5:9
So once more. What are all the ascriptions of honor which are said to be given to him, but to the Person of Christ, because that his marriage is come, and hence the gladness and rejoicing of his people? The very marriage is with Christ, who from everlasting betrothed his Church to himself from the Father's gift, and Who, when from the time-state of the Adam-fall, hath restored her by redemption; he espouseth every individual to himself by regeneration, at their personal call, and here finally brings home his Church to the marriage supper in the Jerusalem church state in heaven. And with respect to the wife making herself ready, the following verse explains what is meant, when it is said, that to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, meaning, that the Lord, who provided the wedding garment of his righteousness, puts it on. So the Church, by the Prophet, sings: He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels, Isaiah 61:10
And, lastly, to add no more, the whole of this account is closed up by the speaker, whoever it was, in those very remarkable words: And he saith unto me, these are the true sayings of God. Consequently, it could not be God or Christ, or the Holy Ghost, but God's messenger, as upon, many instances before, we find John taught by one o r another.
Now, from all these united considerations, nothing can be more plain, than that the words of the following verse is from the same speaker, an angel or messenger, and no more. And though John, for the time in the glorious intelligence he had just received, was so transported, as Cornelius was in the case of Peter, that he fell down to worship him, yet plain enough it is that this was from the Apostle's state of mind, and nothing else. And that neither John took it to be the Person of Christ that was speaking to him, is as certain; for otherwise he would not have said, I have the testimony of Jesus, if he had been Jesus himself.
I have been the more particular than, perhaps, ninety-nine in an hundred would have thought necessary, because some few persons, untaught of God the Holy Ghost, and of a stamp disposed to doubt the Godhead of Christ, have thought this passage rather leans to that opinion. Than which, when attended to, in these striking particulars, nothing can be more foreign. Most evident it is, from beginning to end, that the whole of what we have gone over, hitherto, in this chapter, is an account John received from the ministry of a messenger or angel, and blessed account it is, to the truth as it is in Jesus.