John Wesley (NT Notes)

“And he is clothed in a vesture dipped in blood - The blood of the enemies he hath already conquered.”

“He now appears, not as a child, but as a victorious warrior. The nations have long ago felt his "iron rod," partly while the heathen Romans, after their savage persecution of the Christians, themselves groaned under numberless plagues and calamities, by his ri…”

“And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh - That is, on the part of his vesture which is upon his thigh. A name written - It was usual of old, for great personages in the eastern countries, to have magnificent titles affixed to their garments.”

“There were two that went alive into heaven; perhaps there are two that go alive into hell. It may be, Enoch and Elijah entered at once into glory, without first waiting in paradise; the beast and the false prophet plunge at once into the extremest degree of to…”

“Having the key of the bottomless pit - Mentioned before, chap. ix, 1. And a great chain in his hand - The angel of the bottomless pit was shut up therein before the beginning of the first woe. But it is now first that Satan, after he had occasioned the third w…”

“The woman's bringing forth is followed by the casting of the dragon out of heaven to the earth. With this is connected the third woe, whereby the dragon through, and with, the beast, rages horribly. At the conclusion of the third woe the beast is overthrown an…”

“These thousand years bring a new, full, and lasting immunity from all outward and inward evils, the authors of which are now removed, and an affluence of all blessings. But such time the church has never yet seen. Therefore it is still to come.”

“There is room enough for the fulfilling of all the prophecies, and those which before seemed to clash are reconciled; particularly those which speak, on the one hand, of a most flourishing state of the church as yet to come; and, on the other, of the fatal sec…”

“And when the former thousand years are fulfilled, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison - At the same time that the first resurrection begins. There is a great resemblance between this passage and chap. xii, 12.”

“And shall go forth to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth - (That is, in all the earth)-the more diligently, as he hath been so long restrained, and knoweth he hath but a small time. Gog and Magog - Magog, the second son of Japhet, is the fath…”

“And I saw - A representation of that great day of the Lord. A great white throne - How great, who can say? White with the glory of God, of him that sat upon it, - Jesus Christ.”

“And another book - Wherein are enrolled all that are accepted through the Beloved; all who lived and died in the faith that worketh by love. Which is the book of life, was opened - What manner of expectation will then be, with regard to the issue of the whole!”

“And death and hades were cast into the lake of fire - That is, were abolished forever; for neither the righteous nor the wicked were to die any more: their souls and bodies were no more to be separated.”

“All these several representations follow one another in order: so the vision reaches into eternity. A new heaven and a new earth - After the resurrection and general judgment. St. John is not now describing a flourishing state of the church, but a new and eter…”

“And I saw the holy city - The new heaven, the new earth, and the new Jerusalem, are closely connected. This city is wholly new, belonging not to this world, not to the millennium, but to eternity.”

“Neither shall sorrow, or crying, or pain, be any more: for the former things are gone away - Under the former heaven, and upon the former earth, there was death and sorrow, crying and pain; all which occasioned many tears: but now pain and sorrow are fled away…”

“From the first mention of "him that sat upon the throne," chap. iv, 2, this is the first speech which is expressly ascribed to him. Saith to me Write - As follows. These sayings are faithful and true - This includes all that went before.”

“And he - That sat upon the throne. Said to me, It is done - All that the prophets had spoken; all that was spoken, chap. iv, 1. We read this expression twice in this prophecy: first, chap. xvi, 17, at the fulfilling of the wrath of God; and here, at the making…”

“He that overcometh - Which is more than, "he that thirsteth." Shall inherit these things - Which I have made new. I will be his God, and he shall be my son - Both in the Hebrew and Greek language, in which the scriptures were written, what we translate shall a…”

“But the fearful and unbelieving - Who, through want of courage and faith, do not overcome. And abominable - That is, sodomites. And whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters - These three sins generally went together; their part is in the lake.”

“And there came one of the seven angels that had the seven phials - Whereby room had been made for the kingdom of God. Saying, Come, I will show thee the bride - The same angel had before showed him Babylon, chap. xvii, 1, which is directly opposed to the new J…”

“Ezekiel expressly describes the temple, and the worship of God therein, closely alluding to the Levitical service. But St. John saw no temple, and describes the city far more large, glorious, and heavenly than the prophet. Yet that which he describes is the sa…”

“And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb - Figuratively showing that the inhabitants of the city had built only on that faith which the apostles once delivered to the saints.”

“The gold, the pearls, the precious stones, the walls, foundations, gates, are undoubtedly figurative expressions; seeing the city itself is in glory, and the inhabitants of it have spiritual bodies: yet these spiritual bodies are also real bodies, and the city…”

“The like ornaments on the foundations of the walls of this city may express the perfect glory and happiness of all the inhabitants of it from the most glorious presence and protection of God. Each precious stone was not the ornament of the foundation, but the …”