to move, and being "almighty" to execute
the purposes of God, he is perfectly qualified to act as the final Judge
of the world. And in the great and last day "every tongue must confess
that he is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Phil. ii. 11.) "For
to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be
Lord both of the dead and living." (Rom. xiv. 9.)--"God is judge
himself." (Ps. 1. 6.)

9. I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and
in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is
called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus
Christ.

Ver. 9.--Again, the inspired writer addresses the Christians in Asia,
acquainting them very briefly and simply with his present local
situation; not so much to move their sympathy with him, as to express
his unabated affection for them:--"I am your brother, and companion in
tribulation." Although the "like afflictions were accomplished in his
brethren," the Devil was permitted to "cast" only "some of them into
prison." But it is remarkable that John utters not a word, much less
manifests any resentment, against the persecutor. He was "in the isle
that is called Patmos:"--but he does not say who sent him there.
Historians tell us that he was banished by Domitian, the Roman emperor;
others say, by Nero; but the former is more probable. This island is
proverbially barren. It is situated among a number of islands in the
Aegean sea, a point of the Mediterranean running northward between
Europe and Asia, and not very remote from most of the churches here
addressed.

The ground of controversy between John and his persecutors was "the word
of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ." Of these he "bare record."
(v, 2.) "This," say most expositors, "was the cause of John's
banishment." This unguarded language confounds the difference between a
_cause_ and an _occasion_. John had given no cause of banishment to his
enemies. The true cause of their hostility was their hatred of the "word
of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ." For these John contended
earnestly, as Jude enjoined; (ver. 3:) just as Paul and others were
"bold in their God to speak the gospel of God with much contention." (1
Thes. ii. 2.) We have here the standing ground of strife between the
believer and the infidel; between Christ and Belial, between the church
and the world. There is a divine hand interposed all along in this
warfare, and