Boy, thank you for that. Such
a blessing. Open your Bibles to Revelation
chapter 4. Revelation chapter 4. Our subject today is a heavenly
sight. Let me show you a heavenly sight. What God was pleased to show
to John Revelation chapter 4, the first two words say, after
this. After this, and so we say after
what? Well, after the first vision. This, you see, is the beginning
of the second vision that John has of the Savior who is victorious. We are great conquerors. We are conquerors through our
great Savior who loved us and gave Himself for us. We've said
before that the book of the Revelation is about the victory of the Son
of God and all of His followers over the dragon and over His
followers. Each of the seven visions takes
us from the first advent of our Lord Jesus to the second advent
of our Lord Jesus. And so the first vision having
finished, now we come to the second vision after this. This vision extends from chapter
4 through chapter 7. It is the vision that John receives
from the Lord of God's majesty God's sovereignty as He sits
forth, He sees the throne of God and the book sealed with
seven seals, which is the book of God's everlasting eternal
purpose. In this vision, John will see
the Son of God, the glorified Christ, opening and executing
all of the purpose of God which is contained in this book, sealed
with seven seals. The first thing that John sees,
after this I looked and behold, a door was opened into heaven. I know this is a vision that
John had. And I know that so much of this
is indeed in simple, But I can't help but make a comment or two
upon this word, behold. A door was open. What does the word behold mean?
It is a word of amazement. It is a word of great surprise. It is a word of something utterly
astounding. We read statements such as these,
Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us,
that we should be called the sons of God. It's an amazing
thing. We read in the Old Testament,
Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and his name
shall be called Immanuel, which is God with us. The angel said
to the shepherds there in Luke chapter 2, Behold, be astounded,
be amazed. This is something shocking. I
bring to you glad tidings of great joy, which shall be to
all people. For unto you is born this day
in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. Be
astounded, be amazed that the Son of God would come into this
vile world to save sinners such as ourselves. And the way that
He would do that would be by the laying down of His life to
save His people from their sins. Consider this statement, Behold,
a door was opened in heaven. It's an amazing thing that a
door would be opened into heaven for us. That there would be a
way to God? That there would be a way to
everlasting life? Can it be that heaven is opened
up for undeserving rebels like you and me? If you say to me that sinners
are going to perish in their sins, that God's vengeance is
going to be poured out upon every rebel, there's no need to put
a hole there because there's nothing amazing about that. That's
just right. That's just justice. After all,
the Bible says the wages of sin is death. That doesn't shock me in the
least, that death is the result of sin. If a sinner gets what's
coming to him or her, if we do indeed perish in our sins, there's
no need to put a bell hold in front of that. For everybody
who perishes gets exactly what they deserve. But if you tell me, according
to the Word of God, that God has chosen a people unto salvation,
and the Lord Jesus has redeemed these people from divine justice,
you tell me that the debt of sin has been removed, been paid
for? You tell me righteousness has
been established for unrighteous people like us? And you tell
me that heaven has been opened up for us? That as it says here,
a door was opened into heaven? Well, you need to put a behold
there. Because this is absolutely astounding
and amazing that folks like us would have access Yes, be amazed
and astounded that those who deserve to perish
and suffer the wrath of a just God forever are brought into heaven. Behold! Behold! Note this word of entrance. There is a way of entrance into
heaven. Behold, a door was opened. Behold, a door was opened. There is a way into heaven. There
is a way of access to God. The Lord Jesus said in John chapter
10, I am the door. He said, by me if any man enter
in, he shall be saved and go in and out and find pastures.
A door was opened. Now this door was virtually opened
in the covenant of grace because the Son of God is said to be
the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world. So the
door was virtually opened in the covenant of grace. The door
was actually opened when our Lord Jesus came into this world,
when He sojourned in the flesh, when He gave His life a ransom
for our sins, When as our substitute, as God's sacrifice for our guilt,
He died upon the cross, the door was actually opened. That's when
the veil of the temple was rent. That veil stood between the holy
place and the most holy place. That veil, as it were, had a
sign on it that said, no entrance, this means you. And only one
man could enter into the Holy of Holies once a year, then not
without blood. That was the high priest. That
veil, it shut off the presence of God because on the other side
of the veil was the Ark of the Covenant with the mercy seat
on top with the Law of God inside the Ark of the Covenant. That's
where the great Shekinah glory of God was. But when our Lord Jesus died,
a door was opened. The veil was rent. It was rent
from the very top to the bottom to indicate God did it. Man couldn't
do that. You can't open up a way to God. You can't make a door to God.
I can't, neither can any other son or daughter of Adam. But
God did this. He did this by Himself through
the death of His Son. Behold, a door was opened into
heaven. Bless the name of our Savior.
We read in the book of Ephesians chapter 2, by Him we, that is
Jew and Gentile, have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
Let no one be mistaken the crucified, buried, risen, ascended Savior. is the only door of entrance
into the Kingdom of God, into salvation, and into heaven itself. And this is not, by the way,
Christ without His work of redemption. It's our Lord Jesus and His substitutionary
death because you can't separate the Redeemer from the redemption
that He accomplished. How gracious of God to have a
door of entrance into heaven. And how gracious of God to show
it to us. Just like the Lord showed John
in this vision. He says, after this, I looked.
I looked. And I know he's enraptured by
vision. But I'm trying to make some application
of this to us. By faith we look. By faith we
look to Christ Jesus and see He is the door. He is the entrance
into the very Kingdom of God. And I'll tell you, when you look,
you hear His voice. You hear His voice. John says
the first voice that he heard was as of a trumpet speaking
with him. It's the same voice that he heard
back in chapter 1 and verse 10. For there it says, I heard, as
it were, a great voice as of a trumpet saying, I am Alpha
and Omega, the first and the last. And that voice went on
to say, I am He that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am alive. Forevermore, amen, and have the
keys of hell and death. John hears the crucified, buried,
risen, ascended Savior speak. Well, in this scripture, what
does he say? After this I looked, and behold,
a door was opened in heaven, and the first voice which I heard
was, as it were, of a trumpet, speaking or talking to me. Oh, that God would speak to us.
Now what do you want? Don't you want God to speak to
you? How does He speak to us today? Not
by vision, but through His Word, by His Spirit's application of
the Word to our hearts. And the voice said to John, come
up hither, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter."
They must be hereafter because God ordained them. Everything
that God has ordained must come to pass exactly as He's ordained
them. Now here's the question. What
has He ordained? The answer is quite simple. Everything. Everything. Now specifically, our Lord Jesus
is going to manifest to John things that will happen during
the church age. He's going to show him the authority
of God, the sovereignty of God, and the reign of God that will
continue all the way to the end of time. until our Lord Jesus
comes back. He says, come up here, I'll show
you things that must come to pass. They must come to pass
because God ordained them. After all, we read, all things
are of God. And so it says in the second
verse, and immediately, I was in the Spirit. He was in a state that wasn't
natural. It's a spiritual state. Somebody
said he's in a trance. But this is unique to John. He says immediately. I tell you,
when the Lord says something, it is going to happen. And John
says the Savior said, come up hither and I will show thee things
which must come to pass. If the Lord says to you, to me,
if He says come, you know what we'll do? We will come. And this
is what happened with John. The Lord Jesus said to him, come
up hither. Well, John didn't say, let me
think about it. I'm not sure I'm going to exercise my free will
this way. Oh no, no. If God in His magnificence
and in His omnipotence, if He says, come, you will come. You will come to the Savior and
John here in this passage, The Lord says to him, come up hither,
and you know what happened? John came up hither in his spirit,
in his vision. He says, immediately I was in
the spirit, and behold! Here's the second usage of the
word behold in just two verses. The first is, behold, a door
was opened. into heaven. Be astounded, be
amazed. A door was opened into heaven.
And then he says, and behold, a throne was set in heaven. Behold, be amazed, be astounded. This throne of God was set in
heaven. John is escorted by the risen
Savior To see things that eye has never seen, ear has never
heard. Things that have never entered
into the heart of those who love him. And when he gets into heaven,
here's the first thing that he sees. Let me take a pause. You've read
books perhaps. You've heard interviews with
people who say they've died and gone to heaven. They see family. They see bright lights. Heard somebody one time say they
saw a long tunnel. They say they see all kinds of
things. Here's a man enraptured raptured in His Spirit, as it
were, by the Son of God into heaven. Here's the very first
thing that he saw. This immediately got his attention. Because it is absolutely the
focus of all of heaven. All of glory is centered around this throne. John says, Behold, a throne was
set. It was set. What does that mean? This throne is fixed. This throne
is immovable. This throne cannot be shaken. Forever, O God, Thy throne is
established in heaven. Behold, a throne was set in heaven." In chapters 4 and 5, this word
throne is used 17 times. What is the meaning? What are
we to gather from this? What's the significance of the
very beginning of the vision? It is this, the absolute authority
and power and sovereignty of our God over all things. That's what we're to take away
from this. John says, I saw a throne was
set. It was established. It was appointed. It was ordained. And as the throne is set, so
is the one who is upon it. A throne was set in heaven, and
one sat upon the throne. Go back to chapter 3, look at
verse 21. To him that overcometh will I
grant to sit with me." Now that's a different word, S-I-T. To sit
with me in my throne even as I also overcame and then sat
down. He doesn't say I sat down, although
he did. He sat down because his work
was finished. Read Hebrews chapter 10. This man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, he sat down at the right hand
of God because he finished the work of redemption. We know that. In the temple, in the tabernacle,
back there where the priesthood worked, where they labored, there
was no seat. because their work was never
finished. But our Lord Jesus, He finished
the work of redemption and reconciliation and the removing of sin and the
bringing in of everlasting righteousness. He finished the work that God
assigned to Him to do in the covenant of grace. And having
finished that work to the satisfaction of God, the Lord said, Sit down! And He did. He sat down at the
right hand of God. He did that. But it also says,
"...and then sat down." Set down. S-E-T. That means our Lord's
position as Sovereign King of Kings and Lord of Lords is fixed. It's established. It's immovable. Nothing can ever change that.
He is the King upon the throne. He is set there. His throne is
set. His throne is fixed and established. And He upon the throne, that's
fixed and established too. It's just another way of saying
He reigns. He reigns. He has all authority
over all things. Our Lord Jesus in His great commission
to His disciples, He said, Go ye into all the world and preach
the gospel. And He said that upon the basis
of saying this just before it, All power is given unto me in
heaven and in earth. And that word power there doesn't
mean so much ability, though He's got all of that. It's authority. All authority is mine in heaven
and in earth. So you go preach the gospel.
Because I'm in charge. Because I have all of the sovereign
authority. So it says here, behold a throne
was set in heaven and one sat upon the throne. Of this much you may be certain,
whoever sets upon this throne is really and actually and fully
rules over all. Psalm 103 verse 19, The Lord
hath prepared his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom ruleth
over all. And he rules to the satisfaction
of his own purpose. This throne is set. So here's
a set king upon a set throne. And this set king upon a set
throne sits. He sits. He's not pacing. He's not leaning over the banishes
of heaven, looking at all the things going on on earth and
saying, my, my, where did they go wrong? He's not saying, I
wish they would let me do something for them, if only they would.
If they would take a step toward me, I would take a step toward
them. No. He sits in regal satisfaction
and splendor. There is no anxiousness. This
is not the position of someone who is troubled, someone who's
wondering what's going to happen. This is the regal position of
satisfaction knowing that he has ordained all things and he's
bringing all things to their full accomplishment. He sits there because his work
of redemption is finished. Look at verse 3. And he that sat was to look upon
like a jasper and a sardine stone. A jasper and a sardine stone. Now John sees the one upon the
throne, but he's really beyond description. After all, who can
describe the wonders and the glories, the magnificence, the
beauties, the perfections, the infinite majesty of the infinite
God? You'll notice that John gives
no description of God because our God cannot be described
by using anything that's physical, anything that we know about. God cannot be described by anything
that's literal. He is simply saying this. He's
saying to look on God was absolutely glorious. He says, like a jasper stone
and a sardine stone. Jasper is a transparent stone. Jasper offers to the eye a variety
of vivid colors, signifying the infinite perfections and glories
of God. Whereas the sardine stone is
blood red. That represents the justice of
God, the holiness of God. You see, God will never give
up His holiness He will never give up His justice, He will
never give up His truth. He gloriously sits upon His throne
with infinite perfections. That's the jasper stones, what
that's symbolic of. And like a sardine stone, He
reigns in justice. God is always just. He must be
just. He may be merciful. He may be
gracious. But He must be just. And if He saves, He saves in
a way that has to honor His justice. Like a sardine stone. He can't
set aside His justice. He can't set aside His truth.
And all the perfections of infinite majesty, all the perfections
and glories and attributes of God, they've all got to be honored
in the salvation of sinners. And if He shows mercy, if He
shows grace, if He saves somebody, it's got to be in accordance
with His blood-red justice. He's just when He damns, He's
just when He saves. He has to be. In sending a sinner to hell,
if you die in your sins, our Lord Jesus said, where I am,
you cannot come. The sardine stone, blood red,
He's got to get justice. He's got to punish you. And if
He saves you, He'll do that in a just way because God is just
to justify the ungodly because our debt of sin has already been
paid. Because the Lord Jesus has already answered to divine
law and justice for us. And then John says, and there
was a rainbow round about the throne in sight like unto an
emerald. An emerald, it was a rainbow
with the main color being a shade of green. What do you think of
when you think of the rainbow? You think of the covenant that
God made with Noah back in the book of Genesis. God put a bow
in the skies, a symbol of the covenant never to destroy the
earth by water again. That rainbow is a sign of another
covenant, an everlasting covenant, the covenant of grace, the covenant
that God will never forget. When He gave to His Son a people
more numerous than the stars in the sky or the sands on the
seashore, He gave them to Jesus Christ for safekeeping. Oh, how
blessed is that covenant of grace! David said, all of my salvation
is in that covenant. He said, it's all my desire. And then, John says in verse
4, in round about the throne, that's in the center. But then, round about the throne,
he said, I saw 24 elders sitting. Round about the throne were 4
and 20 seats, same word as thrones. And upon the seats I saw four
and twenty elders sitting, and they were clothed in white
raiment, and they all had on their head crowns of gold." In
other words, they all looked alike. These were smaller seats, smaller
thrones. 24 seats and the exact same number
of people to occupy the seats. What does this represent? Now remember, this is a book
that is very much symbolic. This symbolism is intended to
teach us spiritual truths. Who are represented by these
24 seats? Remember this. In the Bible, the number 12 or any multiple of 12 is often
used to represent God's elect or the elected purpose of God. You need to remember that because
as you go through the book of Revelation, this is going to
come up again. In the Word of God, the number 12, or any multiple of 12, is often
used to represent the elect of God, the people of God, God's
elective purpose. Twelve sons of Jacob. Beheaded of all of Israel. God's
elect nation. Twelve apostles. Our Lord chose
12 apostles. In chapter 7 of Revelation, as
we shall see before too long, John sees a multitude which cannot
be numbered, but symbolically it's set forth as 144,000. Number
12 is the key number there being squared. For these are the elect of God,
of every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue." In other words,
these are true Israel. In Revelation chapter 12, not a coincidence, Revelation
chapter 12, John sees a woman that has on her head a crown
of twelve stars. That's the church. That's the
elect of God. which goes forth setting the
gospel, preaching the gospel. Get further in, you get twelve
gates of the heavenly city. Who is the heavenly city for?
The elect. You have twelve pearls on each
gate. Twelve foundations. It would be of interest to you,
perhaps, take a concordance and just go through the Bible and
look for the word twelve. Do you remember the daughter
of Jarius that died? How old was she? Twelve. You know what? She was raised
from the dead. All of God's elect have to be
raised from the dead. I'll give you another illustration. The woman with the issue of blood. How long has she been sick? Twelve
years. All of God's elect are sick in
sin and must be healed by the Great Physician. Our Lord fed 4,000, later He
fed 5,000. Each time He fed the multitudes,
how many baskets were left over? Twelve. God has an abundance
of blessings for all of His elect. In fact, we've been blessed with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. So here we have twelve elders
upon their thrones. And I'll tell you what I believe.
Twenty-four elders, excuse me, upon their thrones. Here's what
I believe. Twelve representing the Old Testament
saints. Twelve representing the New Testament
saints. There's all of the elect of God. Right here. In great symbolism,
John sees the very throne of God and around the throne, everybody
equal. Everybody in a circle. Here are
24 thrones occupied by 24 elders. Notice there are not 24 thrones
or 24 seats and 23 elders. Oh no, there's an empty seat. Like somebody said long ago,
I think Brother Barnard said, there's lots of room in heaven,
but no empty seats. No empty seats. Everybody who's
supposed to be there will be there. 24 seats. They're all
occupied by the elect of God. And they're all robed in white
garments. They all wear the same garments,
the garment of salvation. They're robed in the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus that is absolutely freely imputed to them and gladly
received by faith. And they all have crowns on their
head. Everyone has a crown because
they are all kings and priests unto God as John declared back
in chapter 1, verses 5 and 6. Notice, they all have crowns
on their head. It isn't some do and some don't. All are robed alike, all are
crowned alike, all are honored alike, Because they're all perfect
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Nobody's different. Nobody has
more than another one. You see, there's no such thing
as rewards in heaven. The more you do, the more you
get. No. No. You see, all of the getting
was done by Christ Jesus. He did all the labor. He did
all the work. And here's all the church of
God gathered around the throne of God that is set. And one is
set upon that throne and He sits in regal splendor. And there's
a brilliant radiance that goes forth from the throne with all
of His perfections and His justice. all the way around the throne,
24 seats, occupied by 24 elders who represent all of the elect
of God of every age, and they're all just alike. Because we read back in Ezekiel
chapter 16, the Lord said, you became beautiful through my comeliness. Then John's attention is directed
to the throne again, verse 5. And out of the throne proceeded
lightnings and thunderings and voices. This signifies the awesome
and the grandeur, the majesty of the one who sits upon the
throne. There's seven lamps of fire, seven lamps of fire burning
before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God. Preacher,
are there seven Holy Spirits? Oh, remember this symbolic book. Seven's the number of perfection.
It's like twelve is the number of the elect of God. Seven's
the number of perfection. Here's the perfect Holy Spirit
who has enlightened all of these elders upon the thrones. It's
the Spirit of God who's illuminated our hearts. He's penetrated our
darkness. It says in verse 6, And before
the throne was a sea of glass like unto crystal, which constantly
reflects and manifests the glory of God's free grace to sinners
through Christ Jesus. And then John sees four unusual
living creatures. He says, "...and in the midst
of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts
full of eyes before and behind. The first beast was like a lion,
the second beast like a calf, the third beast had a face as
of a man, the fourth beast as a flying eagle." Certainly, if you go back to
Isaiah chapter 6, Ezekiel chapter 1, You'll find that the seraphim
and the cherubim set forth in those passages are like this,
but these are not seraphim and these are not cherubim. This represents somebody different. You say, how do you know that? Well, by comparing Scripture
with Scripture. Go over to chapter 5. Look at chapter 5. Look at verse 8. And we'll get
into this tonight. When He had taken the book, the
four beasts, that's what we're talking about now, and the four
and twenty elders, they all fell down before the Lamb, having
every one of them harps, golden vials full of odors, which are
the prayers of the saints. They sung a new song, saying,
Thou art worthy to take the book and open the seals thereof, for
Thou wast slain. and has redeemed us to God by
Thy blood out of every kindred, tongue, and people and nations."
Now you go back to these four beasts, can they be angels? No. Because angels weren't redeemed. These beasts, they're singing
the same song as the four and twenty elders. They're singing
about blood redemption. They're singing like we're going
to be singing in a few minutes. What can wash away my sin? Nothing
but the blood of Jesus. So these are not the cherubim.
These are not the seraphim. Then who do they represent? I'll
tell you what I think. I think they represent gospel
preachers. Gospel preachers. It says they're full of eyes
before and behind. Gospel preachers have an understanding
of the book of God. We don't understand every single
thing, but we understand how God and justice can save sinners. We have eyes before and behind.
We can see according to the Word of God that our Lord reigns.
He will continue to reign and He will someday bring everything
to an end when He comes back in His glory and every eye shall
see Him. We look ahead and we look behind
and we see His substitutionary sacrifice upon the cross. God's preachers see and understand
all that was necessary to be done for the salvation of God's
elect, for the salvation of the four and twenty elders has been
taken care of by our Lord Jesus Christ. Notice also there are
four of them. Why are four designated? Because
God has a people from the north, the south, the east and the west.
The Savior said, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel.
That's what His preachers do. Then they're living creatures.
They've been made alive by the Spirit of God. Note their positions. They're God's ambassadors. And
as such, they stand between the Lord and His people. Notice how
it says here now, right in the midst of the throne and round
about the throne were the four beasts and then the four and
twenty elders. Now we are not there, God's preachers
are not there as mediators. We are not there as go-betweens.
But we're there as messengers, as messengers setting forth the
gospel that comes from the throne of God. We set forth the water
of life, the river of the water of life. Where is the origin
of the river of the water of life? Is it not the very throne
of God? What do God's preachers preach
to you about? Preach to you about Him who sits
upon the throne. They are His ambassadors. Notice
a description of them very briefly. The first one is, like a lion,
God's preachers are bold. The Lord said to the people of
His day concerning John the Baptist, He said, why did you go out to
see a reed blowing in the wind? Subject to the wishes and the
desires of men? Oh no. That's not God's preachers. God's preachers are bold as a
lion. And then he said, the second creature is like a calf or an
ox that labors. We labor in the Word. The third
creature has the face of a man. You see, the man who preaches
the gospel to you, he is still just a man. He can't save you. He's got to be saved himself. And fourthly, like an eagle ready
to go, ready to fly wherever God sends him to proclaim the
message. Each one had six wings, two covered
their faces. A reverend before the Lord, two
to cover their feet. They're a humble men. They're
nobodies. They're nobodies. They asked
John, they said, who are you? He said, I'm just a voice. I'm
just a voice. A voice crying in the wilderness.
Prepare you the way of the Lord. We're like Abraham's servant
Eliezer who sought a bride for Isaac. He didn't promote himself,
he promoted Isaac. And all of God's preachers have
this distinctive character about them. They promote Christ Jesus. And it says, with two they do
fly. ready to go and preach the gospel
wherever the Lord says. He says they're full of eyes
within and without. They look within to see their
own corruption. They look without to see people
in need. They have a constant message
too. Watch verse 8. The four beasts had each of them
six wings about him. They were full of eyes within,
they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord
God, Almighty, which was and is and is to come." They're all
preaching the holiness of God. And they all do that. Look at
verse 9. They all give glory and honor
and thanks to Him who sat upon the throne, who liveth forever
and ever. They all lead the people into
worship. Now watch this, and I'll give
this to you quickly. I've gone over it just a little
bit. Bear with me. At the end of verse 9, there's
a comma. Because these four beasts who
stand between the throne of God and the people of God as His
ambassadors, What do the beasts do? They lead the people of God
to worship the Lord. That's what we do. We direct
you to honor the King. So, it says at the end of verse
9, who liveth, talking about these four beasts, give glory
and honor, and thanks to Him that sat upon the throne, who
liveth forever and ever. And there's a comma. And as a
result of the message of the beasts, Four and twenty elders,
all of the elect of God. They all fall down before Him
that sat on the throne and they worship. That's what God's preachers
lead us to do. They lead us to worship the Lord.
This One who lives forever and ever and they cast their crowns
before the throne saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord. to receive
glory and honor and power. For thou hast created all things,
all things in the physical world, all things in the spiritual world,
all things in the eternal world, and for thy enjoyment, for thy
pleasure, they are and were created." The first thing he sees is the
throne of God, the majesty emanating from that throne. Oh God, help us to worship. Let's
do sing that song, Nothing But The Blood.