The Revelation of Jesus Christ - The Herald

"When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven, in flaming fire [judgments] taking
vengeance upon them that know not God and obey not the Gospel, He does not come
alone. He is married now and His Bride is with Him. Even before the flood, Enoch
prophesied of this epiphany of the promised One and said, 'Behold, the Lord cometh with
ten thousand of His saints to execute judgment upon all.' (Jude 14,15.) They are with Him
now, therefore, they must have been taken before. John saw, and writes, 'The armies, the
ones in the heaven were following Him.' Christ is the Head and Leader, and He goes
before; the saints follow in His train. The promise from the beginning was that the seed of
the woman should bruise the serpent's head and here it is emphasized that He Himself
treadeth the winepress of the wine of the anger of the wrath of the God, the All-Ruler. He
Himself is the Great Hero and Conqueror in this battle. But He is [the Messenger of]
'Jehovah of hosts.' He has many under His command. The armies of the sky are His and
He brings them with Him, even the 'called and chosen and faithful.' . . .
"They wear no armor. They are immortal, and cannot be hurt; and they are not the
executors of this vengeance. It is Christ's own personal victory in accordance with the
Apostolic declaration that 'for this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might
destroy the works of the Devil.' (1 John 3:8.) He bears the only sword and He alone uses it.
He treadeth the winepress alone. Those who accompany Him in the scene of conflict
therefore need no weapons. The Sword of the Great Captain is enough. Their defense is in
Him and their victory is in Him; . . . it is David who slays Goliath, and the hosts of God's
Israel have only to follow up the mighty triumph, shouting their songs along the path of
victory."--Joseph Seiss.
"These hosts of the redeemed on white horses accompany Him to be witnesses of His
victory, and to participate in the joy of the triumph, not to engage in the work of blood, for
He has said, 'I have trodden the winepress alone.'--Isa. 63:3."--Albert Barnes.
"In the power of this, He now comes forth; the armies that are in heaven following their
white horsed Leader, themselves also upon white horses, sharers with Him in the conflict
and the victory, clothed in fine linen, white and pure. It is this fine linen which we have
just seen as granted to the Bride, and which needed the blood of the Lamb to make it
white. It is therefore undoubtedly the same company here as there, only here seen in a
new aspect, even as the Lord Himself is seen in a new one. . . .
"The Lord comes then, and all the saints with Him. How impossible to think of a
providential coming merely here! 'When Christ, who is our life, shall appear [be
manifested to the world],' says the Apostle, 'then shall ye also appear [be manifested] with
Him in glory.' (Col. 3:4.) 'Know ye not that the saints shall judge the world?' he asks
elsewhere."--F. W. Grant.
"In the Apocalypse, the key note of the final revelation is sounded, 'Behold He cometh
with the clouds, and every eye shall see Him, and they which pierced Him; and all the
tribes of the earth shall mourn over Him.' To that coming all the preliminary letters to the
Churches, and all the subsequent actions of the [Revelation] prophecy are directed; the