Let us turn once again to God's
Word in the New Testament portion that we read, Revelation chapter
5, and I'll read again there at verse 8 through 10. Reading then in Revelation chapter
5, verses 8, 9, and 10. We read, And when he had taken
the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down
before the Lamb, having every one of them harps and golden
vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. And they
sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book and
to open the seals thereof. for thou wast slain and hast
redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue
and people and nation and hast made us unto our God kings and
priests and we shall reign on the earth. And the words really
that I want to center your thoughts upon for a while as our text
are those that we find at the end of the 8th verse where we
read of the golden vials full of odours which are the prayers
of saints. Here then in Revelation 5, the
end of verse 8, golden vials full of odours,
or as the margin renders it, incense, which are the prayers
of saints. we can think of the language
that we find in the book of Psalms there in Psalm 141, let my prayer
be said before thee as incense and of course we read that passage
in Exodus 13 where as Moses is receiving instruction from God
concerning all the furnishings of the tabernacle that is to
make everything according to the pattern that was shown to
him in the mount well in that short portion that we read at
the beginning of that 30th chapter we have mention of the the golden
altar of incense which was to be attended to daily by Aaron
and the priests and so there would be the burning of the incense
arising as it were before the veil, and beyond that veil there
was the Holy of Holies with the Ark of the Covenant atopped by
the Mercy Seat. It's a picture of the prayers
of the people ascending, as it were, before the throne of God. And later, here in the Revelation,
and Revelation is full of imagery that's taken from the Old Testament
in chapter 8 here and verse 3 we're told another angel came and stood
at the altar having a golden censer and there was given unto
him much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of
all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. As I say, the incense is a wonderful
type of prayers, prayers that are to be presented, prayers
that are to ascend before God as He is seated upon His throne. And when we come to the end of
the Old Testament, we have those words in Malachi, the last of
the Old Testament's prophets. In Malachi 1 verse 11, from the
rising of the sun, even unto the going down of the same, my
name shall be great among the Gentiles, and in every place
incense shall be offered unto my name, and the pure offering
for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of
Hosts. The very day in which we are
favored to be living our lives, the day of grace, the acceptable
time, the day of salvation, or that name that is to be great
among the Gentiles in every place, incense offered unto my name. We are those who can come before
Him, the God of Israel, the only living and the only true God,
and we can approach Him, of course, in and through the Lord Jesus
Christ, that one who is the only mediator between God and men. Again the language of the psalmist,
O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come. Are we those then who desire
to come and to come before God in our prayers? And what a remarkable
portion we have here and the imagery that's contained in the
word that we've read for our text. Golden vials full of odours
which are the prayers of saints. This morning we were saying something
with regards to the great compassion of the Lord Jesus as we see it
in the course of his ministry in the gospel. We took our text
from those verses at the end of Matthew chapter 9. We are
seeing the multitude. The Lord Jesus Christ is moved
with compassion. We said something with regards
to that compassion. The reality of the human nature,
those human emotions that Christ manifests. But not only is compassion how he is so moved, but how he
sees a great multitude. This is a work that he's come
to accomplish, of course, to save a multitude of sinners,
even as many as were given to him in the eternal covenant. And seeing the multitudes as
they are scattered abroad, how he speaks of the manner in which
they are to be gathered, those lost sheep, that were given to
him in the eternal covenants. And we spoke then of the importance
of prayer. Pray the Lord of the harvest,
that he would send forth libraries into his harvest field. All the importance of prayer. And then we said also, of course,
in what follows in the opening verses of chapter 10 of Matthew,
the necessity of the preaching. He sends out the twelve apostles
and gives them charge to preach to the lost sheep of the house
of Israel. That primacy of prayer. And in
Acts 6 we see it again, when the apostles make it plain what
their business is, we will give ourselves continually to prayer,
they say. and to the ministry of the Word. And so tonight coming to say
something here with regards to the significance of this particular
figure that we have, the prayers of the saints. And of course
when we pray we're acknowledging our complete and utter dependence
upon the Lord God. We're looking to the Lord. Without
faith it's impossible to please Him. He that cometh to Him must
believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of all that diligently
seek Him. We are to seek Him, we come and
we come in that attitude of prayer and we come by Him who is the
only mediator and we recognize we recognize our need of the
Lord Jesus Christ in all of those mediatorial offices. He now reigns
as the mediator of that new covenant. It's the day of grace, it's the
gospel dispensation. And surely here in this chapter
we see something of Christ in those various offices. As we
come to pray to Him, we see Him certainly in His kingly office.
As I said, as we came to read the chapter previously in the
fourth chapter, we have the door opened in heaven and then that
that is presented to the Apostle John. Immediately, I was in the Spirit,
he says, and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat
on the throne. Then the description of the throne,
and then what we read here in this fifth chapter concerning
him who is seated upon that throne. What remarkable things are said
concerning this one, because there in the midst of the throne
is the Lamb, as it had been slain, we're told in chapter 6. It's
the Lord Jesus Christ, who now in his kingly office fills the
very throne of God. He is that one to whom all authority
has been given in heaven and in earth. And of course, what
we see in this chapter is Christ is that one who is unfolding
all the providences of God. He really is reigning. He really
is reigning in this day in which we're living. Amidst all the
confusion of the nations of the earth, Amidst all the machinations
of wicked men, all their schemings, all their wicked plans, all their
ambitions, the Lord Jesus Christ is that one who is executing
God's eternal decree. We read back in the book of the
Proverbs how there are many devices in a man's heart. nevertheless
the counsel of the Lord that shall stand says the wise man
and all the language that we have here when John sees that
little book and he weeps he wants someone to open the
book One of the elders says to him, weep not, weep not. Behold
the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David. What a description
of the Lord Jesus. He is the root, he is the offspring
of David. He is David's Lord. He is David's
son. He is that one of the tribe of
Judah that was promised long ago back in Genesis 49 when we
find Jacob blessing his twelve sons. The Lion of the tribe of Judah,
the root of David, prevails to open the book and to loose the
seven seals. And I beheld, and lo, in the
midst of the throne, and of the four beasts, and of the midst
of the elders, stood a lamb as it had been slain, having seven
horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent
forth into all the earth. And he came and took the book
out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And all the great rejoicings
that are then spoken of there in heaven. We see the Lord Jesus
Christ then set before us clearly in his kingly office. Later on
we read of him as that one who is the King of kings. the Lord
of Lords. Surely when we come before Him
in our prayers and we look to Him as our only mediator, we
remember that office. But not only that, surely here
in this book of the Revelation we see the Lord Jesus very much
in His prophetic office. The very opening words of the
book remind us of that blessed truth. How does the book begins the revelation of
Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus is the key to
all that we read here in this book as in every other part of
scripture. He says to the Jews referring
to the Old Testament of course, search the scriptures in them
you think that you have eternal life and these are they that
testify of me. We only do justice to any part
of scripture when we see it having ultimate reference to the Lord
Jesus Christ. This book is the revelation of
Jesus Christ. Now we can take that, of Jesus
Christ, we can take it as what's termed an objective genitive.
In other words, it's a revelation concerning Christ. Christ is
the object Christ is the object that is being revealed. And that's what we see right
at the beginning when John hears the voice and he turns and he
sees the seven golden candlesticks and then in the midst of the
seven candlesticks he sees one like unto the Son of Man, he
sees Christ glorified. Right at the outset then, Christ
is being revealed and he is that one who is the image of the invisible
gods. God who at sundry times and in
diverse manners make him time passed unto the fathers by the
prophets, hath in his last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom
he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made
the worlds, who being the brightness of his glory and the express
image of his person, We read those words in that remarkable
opening chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews where we see so
clearly the deity of the Lord Jesus and that one who has now
come and granted that fall and that final revelation of God. No man has seen God at any time.
The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father,
He hath declared Him. We can understand the revelation
of Jesus Christ in that way. It's an objective genitive. It concerns the Lord Jesus. It's
a revealing of the Lord Jesus. But then, we can also understand
it as a subjective genitive. In other words, it's a revelation
that has been committed to the Lord Jesus. Christ is the subject. The revelation belongs to the
Lord Jesus. He's the author of the revelation. And He is that one, of course,
to whom all power is given in heaven and in earth. God has put all things under
his feet. And how does he speak there at
the end of that opening chapter? Well, he tells John what to write.
It's Christ who has authority. It's not just a revealing of
him, but the revelation belongs to him. Write the things which
thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which
shall be hereafter. The mystery of the seven stars,
which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden standlesticks. The seven stars are the angels
of the seven churches, and the seven candlesticks, which thou
sawest, are the seven churches. And then it's the Lord Jesus
who speaks, who gives the letters to the seven churches there.
It's not that the revelation concerns the Lord Jesus, that
he is the one being revealed, but it's a revelation committed
to him, of which he is the author. And all revelation, of course,
has its completion in the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember those
words in Daniel 9? He came to finish the transgression,
to make an end of sin, to make reconciliation for iniquity,
to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal the vision and the
prophecy. We speak of his priestly work
there, but at the end it's his prophetic work, isn't it? He
seals the vision, the prophecy, no more revelation. There might
be many false prophets, such as Mohammed, But everyone who
claims to have any prophecy after the Lord Jesus Christ must be
a false prophet, because there's no other prophet. All we see
Christ in, when we come to Him in prayer, we're to remember
Him in all His offices as the Mediator. He is that One who
is the King. He is that One who is the Prophet. And certainly here we see Him
in His priestly office. The end of verse 9. Thou wast
slain. Thou wast slain and hast redeemed
us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and
people and nation. Thou wast, it's a past tense,
it's an accomplished death. The pretended sacrifice of the
mass, the Romish mass, is of course a blasphemous fable. The
dangerous deceit. That's the language of the Reformed
Church of England. Strong language, but so true.
What a deceit it is. Christ has made one sacrifice
for sins forever. That's what it says. Hebrews
10, 12. He offered one sacrifice for
sins forever. And as he is in his office as
the priest, the one who has made the great sin-atoning sacrifice,
so also as a priest he is the one who makes intercession. And
that's what we really see in the text that I've announced
this evening. The golden vials, full of odours,
which are the prayers of the saints. He intercedes. He's an interceding priest now.
He has accomplished his sacrificial work here upon the earth and
he has ascended, he has entered into heaven itself where he ever
lives to make intercession. It's interesting what we have. I've already referred to the
language that we find later in chapter 8 verse 3 where again we read of a golden
censer. Another angel came, says, joined
and stood at the altar having a golden censer and there was
given unto him much incense that he should offer it with the prayers
of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And you see there in the margin
to offer, literally add it to the prayers there was given unto
him much incense that he should add it to the prayers of all
saints the incense is added to the prayers and that's significant
because the incense is Christ truly the incense is the Lord
Jesus Christ thy name is his ointment poured forth that name
the only name unto heaven given amongst men whereby we must be
saved. Now that's what prevails when
we come we have to implore that name. It's no prayer at all if
we're not imploring that name, adding that name, adding that
incense to our supplications and our prayers and our petitions
and our confessions. Whenever we come near unto God,
oh, we need to plead that name, the only name unto heaven given
amongst men, whereby we must be saved. And so here, when we
think of the words of the text and the general context and what's
being revealed to us here, the Lord Jesus, it's Christ in all
his offices, prophets, priest and king. But then, As
in our prayers we come and we acknowledge our complete and
utter dependence upon God and all our indebtedness to God.
So we discover many times we have to pray and we feel ourselves
to be in much darkness. And we need prayer, we need faith. Isn't prayer very much an exercise
of faith? It's very much an exercise of
faith to pray. We have to pray in faith. He
that cometh to God must believe that he is. That's faith. We
walk by faith and not by sight. And so we pray not knowing what
the consequence of our prayers will be. And sometimes we pray
in much darkness. It's interesting, Dr. Gill comments here and says of
the vials that they may denote the hearts of believers. The vials may denote the hearts
of believers. And how we feel that when we
come to pray. We need our hearts to be in our prayers. Oh we know
how the Lord rebukes those who simply come with a multitude
of words and their hearts are not in their praying Isaiah 29
and verse 13 the Lord said for as much as these people draw
near me with their mouth and with their lips do honour me
but have removed their heart far from me and their fear toward
me is taught by the precept of men. That's no prayer at all. That's no prayer at all. Our
hearts have to be in our prayers. We need true hearts. We need
single hearts, sincere and simple hearts. We have to come and be
those who are wholehearted when we come before God. And yet,
though wholehearted, we know that we have to present the acceptable
sacrifice. The sacrifices of God are a broken
spirit, a broken and a contrite heart. God will not despise. Oh, we need to be hearted in
our prayer. Prayers that come out of these
golden vials. or that's the heart that God
gives to his children that's the promise of the new covenant
a new heart also I will give you and a new spirit I will put
within you he says and I will take away the stony heart out
of your flesh and I will give you a heart of flesh and do we
not have to come time and again and ask the Lord to grant us
a praying heart and he has to deal with us sometimes and bring
us into into dark places in order to bring us to pray in that fashion,
to draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith. All
the Lord has to do with us, if we're honest, we know without
faith it is impossible to please Him. Whatsoever is not of faith
is sin. And so we're to ask in faith.
Says James, ask in faith, not in wavering either, he that waveth it like a wave
of the sea, driven of the wind and toss, let not that man think
that he shall receive anything of the Lord. O God grant that
we might be favoured then with those those praying hearts that
good Dr Gill says these golden vials may may represent to us. But how often we have to pray
in spite of all our unbelief, in the very teeth of our unbelief.
And I think that can be said to be symbolized in the darkness
of the tabernacle. We read those words there in
Exodus 30 at verse 6, they shall put it, that is the altar of
incense, the golden altar, they shall put it before the veil. Before the veil, beyond the veil
is the Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy Seat, the very place
where God has said He will meet with His people. But the incense
isn't there in the Holy of Holies, it's in the Holy Place. It's
before that second veil. The whole tabernacle, of course,
is is a dark place no question about that a very dark place
the tabernacle there were boards and curtains and there was goat hair and ramskins
and badgerskins and as we read in that portion in Exodus 30 when Aaron goes to present the
incense on the Golden Altar is to dress that seven-branched
candelabra, the lamp. There must be artificial light
there, you see, because it's such a dark place. And how often,
friends, our praying has to be in the face of much darkness.
much darkness I like those lines in the hymn of that good hymn
of John Newton that we just sang prayer can force a passage through
iron bars and brazen gates do we believe that or our prayers
have to force a way through because so often we're sunk in much unbelief but or the way in which the Apostle
speaks of prayer, writing there in that 10th chapter of the epistle
to the Hebrews. He says, verse 19, having therefore,
brethren, boldness, boldness to enter into the holiest
by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way. which he hath
consecrated for us through the valve that is to say his flesh,
and having an high priest over the house of God, let us draw
near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our
hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed
with pure water. O the Lord Jesus Christ, It's
only by and through Him, His person, His work, that we can
ever enjoy any blessing of access into God's presence. In whom
we have boldness, says Paul. Right into the Ephesians, remember
the verse there in the third chapter, in whom we have boldness,
he says, and access with confidence by the faith of Him. Whatever
our situation, our circumstances, however hard it is for us to
pray or we have that assurance that there is access, there's
an entrance it's only through him who is the mediator our Lord
Jesus Christ but not only the mediator there's also of course
that blessed ministry of God the Holy Spirit and again It's
to the Ephesians that Paul makes mentions really of the three
persons in the Godhead in relation to our prayers. How that through
Him, through Christ we have access he says. Through Him we have
access by one Spirit unto the Father. I love that verse. It's a Trinitarian verse isn't
it? And it speaks of prayer and all the persons of the Godhead
Through the Lord Jesus Christ, the Mediator, by the Holy Spirit,
how we need the Spirit of God to work in our hearts, to indict
in us in our cold hard hearts at times, believing prayers,
and then to come and to address God, to have access into the
very presence of the Father, and to call upon Him as our God
and our Father in heaven. And how the Spirit is so necessary
helps. Oh, He helps in all our infirmities. We know not what to pray for
as we ought. You know the passage there in Romans 8, verse 20. But the Spirit itself maketh
intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered. It's
interesting, isn't it? Because it says the Spirit itself, not
Himself. Well, that's a very accurate
translation, really, of the Greek, because that's what it says in
the Greek. The Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with
groanings which cannot be uttered. He that searcheth the heart knoweth
what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession
for the saints according to the will of God. And so we come sometimes and
all we can say is our desire is there. We have a desire towards
God. Do we have that? Yet words are
failing us. All my desire is before them. My groaning is not heard from
them. That's what David says. Always got a desire but he can't
cry. But he can groan. and he can
sigh and dear John Berridge doesn't
he in the hymn 884 speak of real true worship in terms of groanings
and sighings for thee my soul would cry and send a laboring
groan for thee my heart would sigh and make a pensive moan
and he says that's real worship read the hymn It's a hymn on
worship and he contrasts the formalist with the true child
of God. When he comes to worship his
God he can only cry and groan and moan out his prayers before
the Lord. That's true worship. And what do we see here? As the
Lamb is there in the midst of the throne they fell down. Verse 8, when he had taken the
book, the four beasts and the four and twenty elders fell down
before the Lamb, having every one of them harps and golden
vials full of odours, which are the prayers of the saints. What
is his falling? It's worship. It's worship. Even when we're in the midst of trials
and troubles and everything seems so utterly impossible can we
not worship God and fall down before him and come with those
cries and those groans and those moanings. All the golden vials
full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. You see, every
believer really is a priest, isn't he? We believe in the priesthood
of all believers. That is normally reckoned to
be one of the marks of the Baptists. We believe in the priesthood
of all believers. A chosen generation, a royal
priesthood. and holy nation, a peculiar people. That's what God's children are.
And what do we read here in verse 10? He has made us unto our God
kings and priests and we shall reign on the earth. How do you and I, if we are true
believers, how do we reign on the earth? We reign on the earth
by our prayers. Oh, what prayers accomplish,
because it's God's own special ordinance, isn't it? He says,
back in Isaiah 45, 11, concerning the works of my hand, command
ye mine. Speaking to his people, that's
the word of God through his servant, the prophet, concerning the works
of my hand, command ye mine. Boldness in prayer. He goes on later in that same
chapter to say that he said not under the seed of Jacob seeking
my face in vain. Oh, when we come, what a privilege
it is that we have the ear of God and God will hear our prayers
and God will answer our prayers. I will yet for this be inquired
of by the house of Israel, he says. I will do it for them. I will increase them with men
as a flock." Oh, we were reminded of that divine will yesterday,
weren't we? The Lord Jesus, in His prayer, He can say, Father,
I will. And He uses that very strong
verb, the stronger of the two verbs that could be used there.
He can say to the Father, I will. We cannot come in such a fashion
as that. We have to say, Thy will be done.
in earth as it is in heaven. But God has appointed prayers
as the means by which He will accomplish His great purposes.
I will yet be inquired by the house of Israel to do it for
them. I will increase them with men
as a flock. He will save a people. even as many as have been given
to the Lord Jesus Christ in the eternal covenant. But how will
He save them? He will do it as He answers the
prayers of His people. He will be inquired of us. We
are to pray to Him. We are to pray to Him. We are
to call upon His name. And we are to recognize that
the Lord Jesus Christ is that One who has all authority. all
authority in heaven and in earth. In chapter 4 we have the throne
of God and here in this chapter we see that one who is there
in the midst of the throne. In the midst of the elders stood
a lamb as it had been slain having seven horns and seven eyes which
are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the world.
And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him
that sat upon the throne. Oh, this one, he is worthy. He
is worthy. Thou art worthy to take the book
and to open the seals thereof for thou was slain and thus redeemed
us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and
people and nation. O God grant that we might be
then that praying people, those who would plead continually with
the Lord Jesus Christ that his name might be magnified and glorified
in the salvation of many sinners as he unfolds all the gracious
purpose of God. and that significant part of
the unfolding of God's sovereignty in terms of the prayers of His
people. The golden vials full of odours,
which are the prayers of saints. Oh, the Lord grant then that
His blessing might rest upon us and rest upon His Word as
the Lord is pleased to graciously apply it to our hearts. May the Lord bless his words
to us today. Amen. Let us join together in the singing
of hymn number 943. The plaintive cry, the humble
prayer, Nor shall the weak and saint complain, grace. melt their souls. Sing ye my praise, King of all
the Christ's, with joy the contrite heart relies. Thy face I see, The bleeding Christ is all that
can be, and all that guilt is sin has made. for the Lord, like incense bright.