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. (Rev. xv. 2.)

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. (Rev. xv. 3.)

The first thought to be considered in this exposition is "the victory over 'the beast,' " who get the victory over the beast, and, to what extent do they obtain the victory. In this Book there are three great enemies spoken of: "The dragon," "the false prophet," and "the beast." These constitute the trinity of enemies to the Triune God in this world. The dragon is a type of heathenism, — dark, blind, idolatrous, devilish. The dragon is an emblem used on the banners of many heathen countries, so that it has always been used as a type of the power, the demon-worship that belongs to the heathen countries; and there are certain passages showing the conflict between Jesus and heathenism — the Son of God and the dragon; but Christians do not particularly have to overcome this enemy in personal experience.

The second is: "The false prophet." This is Mohammed; and, though not exactly a devil worshiper, Mohammedism is a system of the most inconceivable cruelty, and darkness, and depravity in its utmost extreme. The very word Mohammed is a synonym for everything cruel and iniquitous; but Christians do not, in their inner experience, have to overcome the false prophet.

But "the beast," the third enemy, is a figure used to represent worldliness, — worldly power. It is the power that Paul calls god of this world. When the Church fell in the dark ages, it assumed worldly power and worldly pomp. The whole Church became mixed up with worldliness, and the scramble for thrones; and this amalgamation of the Church of God with the government of temporal nations is a mongrel thing; it is "a beast," a mixing of things so diverse. So the word beast represents that amalgamation of the Church of God with worldly government.

In all countries the Church has been invaded by the world, so that worldly pride and ambition and traffic and tricks and worldly pleasures have come in upon God's Church, until all these churches savor of a polluted world. They have in many instances been penetrated to the very core. The Church has been literally moth-eaten with this worldliness, so that whereas we do not have to especially antagonize Mohammedism or the dragon, we do have direct and immediate warfare with the beast, this mongrel thing of being partly of earth and partly of heaven.

Now, who get the victory over this beast, — carnal, treacherous, deceitful spirit, and over " his image and mark and the number of his name, — such believers shall stand on the "sea of glass," or "the glassy sea" "having the harps of God." Now, to overcome this beast requires a wonderful change in human nature; nothing less than a creation in the heart of a spirit opposed to the spirit of this world.

The work of regeneration is a creation of another moral character. God does not create another soul, or other faculties, but he so changes the character that the desires and affections, etc., are so changed that the character is entirely new. When God regenerates your soul, He doesn't change a single faculty of spirit, soul or brain; but He does purge out the sinful nature, so that you have a nature and character as different from the character of the world as if you lived on one planet and sinners on another.

But there is something more to over come than this beast. We are to over come his "image." What can that be? The world is photographed on every human heart. There is in every baby's heart a miniature world, and every baby is a miniature Alexander. There is a desire for wealth, renown, a desire to boss people, and to be supreme, and to have your own way. This desire comes out in infancy. Every human heart wants to be a king above all the rest, and have more, than all the rest; so there is a little world in every heart by nature, and there is the "image" of worldly pride, and ambition, and glory, in every human heart.

It is inborn; even if you never commit any outward sin, you have this "image" ingrained in the very nature of the soul. We have not only to get the victory over the world, — regeneration saves a man from the power of this world; it doesn't take sanctification to do that, — but we are to overcome the "image" of the beast, so that by faith in Jesus we are to have our nature so washed in the blood of the Lamb, that all the Julius Caesar and Bonaparte shall not only not rule us but that our nature shall be free through and through from that " mage  that wants to be the ruler. When our hearts are cleansed, we will not be trying to push ourselves above our fellows, nor scramble for fame, nor build ourselves upon our follow-beings. We will be seeking God's way and will.

The "image of the beast" is that subtle, self-monster, which intuitively and instinctively acts from selfish motives. To have this inner image of popery, or churchly ambition purged away is victory over the beastly image.

But the victory doesn't stop there. Over his "mark." The spirit of this world, — the beast — puts a mark every where he reigns. The god that now ruleth among the children of men, writes his name on the children of men. Its trade mark, its advertising mark. Wherever the spirit of the world can rule it makes its mark. Salvation begins at the inner nature and works its own way out, — strikes at the very tap-root and works its way out; so, getting the victory over the image, that is, internal cleansing from all worldly pride and ambition in its worst form; but to get the victory over the "mark" is to get the victory over the outward "mark."

The devil unconsciously writes his name on all his goods, on his literature, in politics, the traffic in rum, fashions, worldly pleasures, ball-rooms, etc., etc. In all these places, do you know that the devil arid his children are guided by a spirit they are not aware of, and they show the mark of their father, the devil more than they are aware of?

You never see a little lamb or dove, or any other type of innocence, used as a sign for a rum-mill; no, it is the foul figure of a goat; the hog, a figure of greed; the ox, a figure of coarse, vulgar strength; but especially the goat.

In every saloon you find the picture of a goat figure in all ages of the lost; and Jesus, in the Day of Judgment, will command all who engage in saloon patronage to take their stand with the goats, and he will do it by their own verdict.

The devil writes his name on his own goods. Jewelry is wrought out in the shape of frogs, and lizards, and serpents, emblems of things of evil; and theatrical displays have a vulgarity which is the mark of the beast; and in politics the bartering of souls.

You will find the mark of the beast on all the affairs of this world. And when people dress for the ballroom, the style is the mark of the beast, the worldly music; in the way people dress, and transact business, in the very faces you will find that sin produces coarseness; in a woman, vaunting and self-conceit, and in a man, the splurging and the loud laugh, etc.

A soul that is deeply spiritual is delivered from that coarse, loud laugh that sinners have. People that are deeply spiritual, it gives a chastity to the way you look and talk and laugh. There is a gentleness and quietness of manner.

The Holy Ghost changes the expression of people's faces. The Holy Ghost will enable the sinner, when He purifies him, to forget his old bad, evil tricks, and renovates him so that he will talk like a different person. The mark is on all the children of this world, and the Holy Ghost is the only One who can so change the character as to erase the beastly mark. Now, there is still another step, "victory over the number of his name." Name represents character, number the variety of the character of this world.

The spirit of this world takes a thousand shapes. It takes on physical, intellectual, and social shapes, every conceivable character and variety; it sometimes takes the shape of care, or of a great burden. You have no idea of the infinite variety of characters it assumes, now, to get the four-fold victory. Four represents the human race — to overcome the spirit that rules in this human race. To such as get the victory over all these they shall stand on "a glassy sea," a sea so calm, so clear, so beautiful that it is like glass. What are we to understand by the "glassy sea?"

The word sea means people, and a great number of people; "heaven" represents the "Church" "stars," ministers, "sea," people. It here means simply human nature. Now, it means that this human nature has been so purged, and clarified, that it lies placid and calm, like a crystal lake; human nature with the -mud, the turmoil all out, and the boiling all out; so purged of treachery and inward strife, that the heart which is thus purged lies in the Providence of God like a beautiful lake lying in the mountains! — a sea that the soul stands on with perfect ease, — no struggling, — a mind and heart so clarified, that the whole thing from top to bottom, spirit, soul and mind is transparent.

There are lakes in Florida that are just like mirrors, and the famous Silver Spring is a marvel of transparency. It is a delightful sensation to go in a boat and just float along. It looks as though you were in the air; the small blades of grass can be seen clearly growing at the bottom; everything is revealed the same as though no water covered it, so free is it from mud.

That is the state of heart and mind to the soul perfectly freed from the spirit of this world, when storms, quarrelings, etc., like that of other men, have been purged out. And it is not only a "glassy sea," but a "glassy sea mingled with fire."

Fire has been used as the element of purification. Now, can fire live with water? The fire, it would seem, would either dry the water up, or the water put the fire out. Fire, here, represents love, the glow of fervent love. The word fervent means to boil, and the apostles represent pure love -as a hot, boiling affection in the heart. Oh, how the Holy Ghost, when He baptizes us, takes away the coldness, the ice and winter. How we love, and enjoy communing with each other! The Holy Ghost is to purify all social affections. David talks about having a hot heart; that is the fire. Now take a soul purged from the turmoil of sin, and calm and tranquil, all mingled with this fire of love, right in the midst of perplexities, and trials!

There is, in the undercurrent of the heart, a calmness, a sea of transparent simplicity mingled with love! And "they have the -harps of God." We may have literal harps in heaven, no' doubt we will; but all Scripture has a two-fold fulfillment, first the inward, and then the outward. Now, in order to get the harp in heaven, we must first have the inward spirit of it here. It means simply the melody, music, a heart of praise, so that the soul baptized of the Holy Ghost will praise God. That soul has a doxology, and many times on the street, or in the place of labor, that soul is offering up praise. The harp of God simply means an endowment from God to praise God with, so that when you get your harp in heaven, you will find that you have the soul of the harp in you. The harp is the body, but it has no soul. The angels will furnish the harp, but you furnish the soul to put into it!

Now they sing two songs: The song of the Old Testament of Moses, and the song of the New Testament, that of the Lamb. The song of Moses is the song that praises God for His works in nature, and the song of the Lamb, the song that praises God for His works in grace. God revealed to Moses how the world was made; and God revealed to him all the works of nature, and His works in judgment, and so forth, and God gave Moses an harp, and he swept the harp of God's praise for His works in nature. "Great and marvelous are thy works." The word great takes in everything the telescope reveals; but the word marvelous takes in everything the microscope finds — searches into the interstices of space, finds the wonders of God in the leaf.

So Moses had a great and marvelous song to sing. The "song of the Lamb," takes in the blood of Jesus; regeneration, sanctification, glorification, the song of the Lamb is, "Just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints." It involves justice; how to get just, truth, and the work of the Holy Ghost and the Word of God. And when Moses' song is finished, the Lamb has His blood-washed ones to sing out the wonder of that grace and love. And these songs are given in principle to every one who receives the Holy Ghost.

Here we come by regeneration to get the victory over the world; by heart- cleansing, the victory over the image; and in the baptism of the Holy Ghost we lose "the mark." And then God mellows us so, that our hearts are like a beautiful lake. Standing on that crystalized experience, with a calm, lowly, patient mind, we begin to praise God, even here, for what He has done in nature and in grace?