18. In the judgment-hour message, whom are all called upon to fear, glorify, and worship?
"Saying with a loud voice, _Fear God, and give glory to Him_; for the hour of His judgment is come: and _worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters_." Rev. 14:7.
19. Who will sing the song of Moses and the Lamb on the sea of glass?
"And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and _them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name_, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints. Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? for Thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before Thee; for Thy judgments are made manifest." Rev. 15:2-4.
The Death Of Christ. "He [Satan] persecuted the woman [the church] that brought forth the man child." Rev. 12:13.
1. Under what figure was the Christian church represented to the apostle John?
"And there appeared a great wonder [margin, sign] in heaven; _a woman_ clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars." Rev. 12:1.
NOTES.--Frequently in the Scriptures a woman is used to represent the church. See Jer. 6:2; 2 Cor. 11:2. The sun represents the light of the gospel with which the church was clothed at the first advent (1 John 2:8); the moon under her feet, the waning light of the former dispensation; and the twelve stars, the twelve apostles.
"Woman in her innocence was attacked by 'that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan.' ... At the end of that first crafty assault and speedy victory the dragon met with his rebuff, in words like these: 'The seed of the woman shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel.' ... In the Revelation the scene is changed from Eden to the heavens, and before you stand again the woman and the serpent, in the same position of antagonism as before, the serpent still the assailant, only this time more openly so.... The woman is no longer a simple, childlike personage, but _a wonder_; she walks not among the trees and flowers, but amid the orbs of heaven. She is clothed with the sun, the moon is under her feet, and upon her head is a coronet of twelve stars. In her you see the great cause of truth and righteousness embodied--she is, in fact, the church of God in all ages, the woman whose Seed blesses all the nations of the earth."--_C. H. Spurgeon, in The Tabernacle Pulpit, March 15, 1896._