Revelation 14:4

FIRST FRUITS UNTO GOD

‘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.’

Revelation 14:4

In our Church calendar Christmas Day is followed by three other holy days: St. Stephen, St. John, and the Innocents. Now, why is this? Why are these three holy days put thus close together, and made to follow immediately after Christmas? And why, of all the New Testament saints, should these three be chosen to be, as it were, the train of followers appointed to wait on the Saviour at His birth?

I. They are examples of the fruits of the Incarnation; instances of the work of restoration and cleansing and refining by Christ of that nature which in Adam had been ruined; instances of what His coming in the flesh could do to make men like Himself and fit for His glory.

II. They show us that Christ’s blessing is not confined to one way of serving Him, to one sort of people, but is meant for all sorts and conditions and ages; that He has a place in His kingdom for young and old, for small and great.

III. They remind us that there are many different ways of serving Christ; many different gifts; many different ways of glorifying Him; yet all are of God, all belong to His one great purpose of saving and sanctifying man.

IV. They exemplify those special graces (in human type) of which He came down on earth to show the perfect pattern, and which were all united in His person. They show us reflections—faint, indeed, but real—in human souls like our own, of the glories of the Sun of Righteousness.

—Dean Church.