Revelation 14:4. These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins.
This is the Scriptural metaphor for those who have not turned aside to idol gods, or to false opinions, or to unholy practices. You remember how Paul longed to present the Corinthian Christians "as a chaste virgin" to Christ; he desired that Christ might have all their love. These servants of God are of this sort, wholly the Lord’s.
Revelation 14:4. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.
Let no man deny, then, that there is a special and particular redemption of God’s people. All men are not redeemed as these were redeemed, else the expression would be untruthful, or without meaning: "These were redeemed from among men." There is an elect company for whom Christ especially laid down his life; they are his, and they are made to know that they are his, and to take the position of a blood-bought people who belong not to themselves, but to him who has bought them with his blood. These are the hundred and forty and four thousand who stand on the mount Sion with the Lamb in the midst of them.
Revelation 14:4. These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins.
This is the Scriptural metaphor for those who have not turned aside to idol gods, or to false opinions, or to unholy practices. You remember how Paul longed to present the Corinthian Christians "as a chaste virgin" to Christ; he desired that Christ might have all their love. These servants of God are of this sort, wholly the Lord’s.
Revelation 14:4. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.
Let no man deny, then, that there is a special and particular redemption of God’s people. All men are not redeemed as these were redeemed, else the expression would be untruthful, or without meaning: "These were redeemed from among men." There is an elect company for whom Christ especially laid down his life; they are his, and they are made to know that they are his, and to take the position of a blood-bought people who belong not to themselves, but to him who has bought them with his blood. These are the hundred and forty and four thousand who stand on the mount Sion with the Lamb in the midst of them.