All right, let's go back to Revelation
chapter 4. And it's good to see each of
you here this evening. I hope you're having a good week
so far. Each day finds you rejoicing
in the goodness of the Lord. I ask you this weekend to be
especially remembering this. Nancy and I will be leaving Saturday
to go to Michigan. I'll be speaking up there on
the Lord's Day. And we ask that you'd be prayerful
for us as we travel And may the Lord bless his word as it goes
forth. And then, of course, remember
Brother Traban, he's speaking in the AM service here. And then
Brother Adler will be speaking in the PM service for you this
coming Sunday. And we will miss you. Lord willing,
we'll be back Monday evening. Let's go to Revelation chapter
4. What I want to speak to you about
this evening is the throne of God and the one who sits upon
the throne. And really without any introduction,
I just want to get right into the scripture here in chapter
4. This is the second vision that
John has received from the Lord Jesus, and he says this, After this I looked, and behold,
a door was opened in heaven. Now, this is really quite astounding,
that there would be a door opened in the heaven, for a sinner like
John and for a sinner like me and a sinner like you. No wonder
the Spirit of God has the inspired writer who is John to attach
a behold to this. Behold, be amazed, be astounded. This is something to be marveled
at. This is a subject for deep study. This is a subject that still
awes us, that our God would open up a way into heaven for folks
like us. God Almighty, that one who is
holy, that one whose name is reverend and holy, he has opened
up for us a way into his presence. There is a door. That door is
God's own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I am the door. I am the door. And by me, if
any man enter in, he shall be saved and go in and out and find
pasture. God, holy, righteous, and just. In his infinite wisdom, he's
found a way whereby he can open up himself and open up the very
gates of glory to folks like us without compromising his law
and his justice. And well might there be a behold
attached to this. As I read different writers on
this today, one writer said, this is an exclamation of vivid
emotion. Behold, a door was opened in
heaven. God in whose sight the heavens
aren't pure, God who charges his angels with folly, God who
is righteous in all of his ways, He has opened up for us a door
into heaven. There is a way, but just one
way to God, to salvation, to life, to forgiveness, to the
very presence of the Holy One. And that door is Christ Jesus
Himself. He said, I am the way, I am the
truth, and I am the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. John says, behold, a door was
opened in heaven. Notice then, he says, and the
first voice that I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking
with me. This voice was as a trumpet.
He's actually heard this voice before. So he recognizes the
voice. Go back into chapter 1. Let me
show you this. Chapter 1, look at verse 9. Chapter 1, verse 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. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's
Day. By the way, this is the only place in the Bible where
Sunday is spoken of as being the Lord's Day. And he said,
I heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet. And the voice
said, I am Alpha and Omega. Well, what does that mean? Well,
here's a commentary on that. the first and the last. Remember this, the very best
commentary on the Bible is the Bible. That's why you should always
run references in the Scriptures. That's why I like cross-referencing. Get you a good cross-reference
Bible. Get a Bible that has a center
column, that has some references that you can run, so that you
can connect the dots as it were. Because all of the word of God
is indeed connected, is it not? There's a unity about the scriptures. And so John says, I heard a great
sound as of a voice, as of a trumpet, saying, verse 11, I am Alpha
and Omega, the first and the last. What thou seest, write
in a book, and then send it to the seven churches which are
in Asia. Then he listened to Ephesus,
and to Smyrna, and to Pergamos, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis,
and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. And then he said, I
turned to see the voice that spoke with me. Once he turned
to see the voice that spoke to him, he said, I saw seven golden
candlesticks. And in the midst of the seven
candlesticks, one likened to the Son of Man. John had seen
the Savior. Well, he spent three years with
him. John was one of the faithful apostles. He's the one whom Jesus
loved. He's the one that John referred
to himself as laying his head upon the Master's bosom. He had
heard his voice many times. He had seen him many, many times. He sat at his feet. He learned
the gospel from him. And now John sees him again.
And he says he's likened to the Son of Man. He's the same, but He looks a
little different. Because this is the glorified
Christ. This is not Christ during His
days of humiliation. This is not our Lord as a man
of sorrows and acquainted with grief. This is not our Lord despised
and rejected of men. This is the Son of God exalted.
He has redeemed His people. He has risen from the dead. He
has ascended back to glory. He has taken His position at
the very right hand of the Majesty on high. He is the sovereign,
conquering, victorious Christ. And John says, I heard this voice. It sounded like a trumpet. And
then when I turned around to see the one who spoke to me,
He looked like the Son of Man. He had a garment clothed down
to the foot. He was girded with pats with
a golden girdle. He said his head and his hairs
were white as wool, as white as snow. In the Song of Solomon,
it says that his hair is black and bushy. And yet here, John
says, his hair is white like wool, white as snow. Well, is
there a difference of opinion among the writers of scripture?
Well, of course not. Because Solomon is writing about
the fact that he's, the dark hair, he's always in his youth.
He always has his power, like a young man. Mighty to fulfill
his will. Whereas John sees him as the
everlasting God. That one who is eternal. And then he said his eyes. Oh,
how often John looked into his eyes. Eyes that wept. Eyes that were
often red and swollen from a sleepless night. When he spent the night
praying unto the Father. John had seen these eyes. And
now he says, His eyes, they were as a flame of fire. They just
burned their way right into your heart. After all, Hebrews chapter
4 says, All things are open and naked before the eyes of Him
with whom we have to do. His eyes burned their way and
see our very hearts. There is no hypocrisy before
Him. Because He sees things as they
are. And I'll tell you, as He sees
them, that's the way they really are. That's the way they really
are. And then His feet, verse 15,
His feet were like in the fine brass, as if they burned in a
furnace. And His voice, He's already said of His voice, it
sounded like a loud trumpet. And now he says his voice is
as the sound of many waters. John looked, he said he had in
his right hand seven stars. And out of his mouth, a sharp
two-edged sword. That's his word. It's two-edged,
it cuts coming and going. It's not a blunted sword. It's
razor sharp. And his countenance was as the sun shineth in his
strength. John got a glimpse of this countenance
once before on the Mount of Transfiguration. When our Lord gave to Peter,
James, and John just a glimpse of his inner glory, His deity,
His divinity, His eternality. They were blinded. And now John
says, I looked on Him, that's the way He is. Here's the glorified
Christ. And he said, and when I saw Him, when I saw Him with understanding,
with discernment, I fell at his feet as dead. That's what sinners
do when we get a real glimpse of who he is in his glory, in
his awesomeness, in his exaltation. We fall at his feet as a dead
man. We fall at his feet in worship,
in adoration, and in praise. And John said he laid his right
hand on me. Oh, that stilled the fears. That will calm your soul when
He lays His right hand on you. When you fall down by the power
of the Spirit, when you get a real understanding of who Christ is
in His glory, and you fall down before Him, and then by His Spirit
He puts His hand on you and touches you and says to you, fear not. Oh, what sweet relief to the
soul. Fear not. You have nothing to
be afraid of. God's people have nothing to
be afraid of. Why, He's put our sins away.
There's therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.
He's working all things together for the good of His people. You've
got nothing to fear. Oh, Lord Jesus, by Your Spirit,
touch us with Your right hand tonight and let us know we have
nothing to fear. He said, I'm the first and the
last. I am he that liveth, watch this, and was dead. I was dead. I did die. I gave my life for
you. I laid it down of myself. Nobody
had the power to take it from me. I had the power to lay it
down and I had the power to take it again and I did. I was dead. And behold, John, behold me,
and see, and be filled with wonder and amazement. I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys. I have the
keys of death and hell. You know who has the keys? The
owner has the keys. He's your owner of all things.
But John said, I heard his voice. This is the voice that he's heard.
So he's heard this voice before. So he knows who's speaking to
him. And he said this voice, go back
to chapter four, he said this voice, the first voice that I
heard. And this word first is a word of priority. We hear his
voice. And it came like a trumpet. like a trumpet. I was in fifth
grade when I started playing the trumpet. Made my way all the way up to
the marching band in high school. I was first chair, first trumpet,
and I was a drum major, a junior and senior year in high school.
That's my claim to fame. But I loved playing the trumpet.
But you know who didn't like my trumpet playing sometimes?
my daddy, because he's trying to study. And that's when he
said, I wish you'd taken up the flute or something like that.
Because, you know, there's something about a trumpet, it just, whether
you want to pay any attention to it or not, I mean, you've
got to, right? That's why in the morning, you
play revelry with a trumpet. You don't play revelry with a
clarinet. Play it with a trumpet so that
everybody can hear. What it does, it arrests your
attention. It gets your attention real quick,
a trumpet does. Let me tell you something. If
God the Son by His Spirit takes His gospel and speaks to you,
it will get your attention because it will be like a trumpet to
you. grabs hold of you and you won't
be able to turn away the sound of it. John says the voice was
like a trumpet, effectual. When the Savior comes in saving
power to His sheep, when He speaks with the voice of a trumpet,
His sheep will hear. He said, Let my sheep hear my
voice. And I know them. And they follow
me. And I give unto them eternal
life. And they shall never perish.
Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which
gave them me is greater than all. And no man is able to pluck
them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one on this,
He said. And we're united on this. The
sheep will hear His voice. Have you heard the trumpet call? Have you heard the trumpet call
of the Gospel? And oh, what a glad sound it
is! Forgiveness of sins and righteousness
freely imputed and salvation by grace! And the trumpet sounds! I'll tell you, I'm listening,
aren't you? And I hear the trumpet again
tonight. I hear His Word again tonight
with power, effectual power in my soul. And I know who it is
that's speaking. It's the Lord God of glory. And if He ever gets your attention,
He'll keep it forever. Forever. Here's the voice of the Savior.
Now watch. Watch what He said. Look at the
rest of verse 1, chapter 4. He says, Come up hither, and
I'll show thee things which must be hereafter. Come up hither. That's an effectual call. This
is not an invitation for John to come. This is a command. You come up hither. Thy people
shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of
holiness from the womb of the morning. Thou hast the dew of
thy youth. The Savior said no man can come
to me except the Father which has sent me. Draw him. I'll raise him up the last day.
I love that word draw. Because what it means is something
that is absolutely passive is being acted upon. And I'll give
you an illustration of that. When Simon Peter, the Lord was
being arrested and there was the servant of the high priest,
it says Simon Peter drew out his sword. Now that sword didn't
just jump out of the, what do you call it, the scaffold? What
do you call it? Scabbard. Thank you. The sword
didn't just jump out of the scabbard. It was acted upon. The sword
is passive. And he reached down there and
he pulled that sword out. And he was active with it and
over it. The Lord God is active over sinners. We're passive in this regeneration. We're passive. We're dead in
trespasses and sins. He acts upon us. John said, the voice said, come
up hither. It's not an invitation. It's
a command. And I'm going to show you some
things. This voice said, I'm going to manifest some things.
That's what the word show means. S-H-E-W means manifest. I'm going to have some things
revealed to you, John. Things which must be hereafter. They must be. No question about
it. No ifs, ands, or mights about
it. They must be because God's ordained
them. They must be because God has
appointed them to happen. And so as you read through the
book of the revelation of Jesus Christ, one revelation of Jesus
Christ, as you read through the book, remember this, always keep
this in mind, the things that are going to be unveiled and
revealed throughout the book of the Revelation, they must
be hereafter. They must come to pass. They
must come to pass because God has ordained them. Now don't
let the word hereafter throw you or confuse you. You listen to some of these so-called
experts on prophecy and they'll say, well now these are things
that are going to happen after this. John wrote this nearly
2,000 years ago. The things that he is going to
see are the things that happened after that, going all the way
through the 2,000 years that have passed since he wrote this,
since the vision was given to him, and things that will happen
all the way to the end of time. And they must happen. They must
happen. Because the Lord has ordained
them to happen. John was writing this at a time
when God's people were suffering severe persecution. I mean, you
and I, we have it easy, really, don't we? We're not shedding
any blood for the cause of Christ. Nobody's shutting us down so
that we can't preach the gospel. And right now we have liberty
and freedom for which I'm very thankful and I'm afraid we take
it for granted. That we can come from our comfortable
houses and our comfortable automobiles into a beautiful and comfortable
building and worship God as He's revealed Himself through His
Word. We can listen to His gospel without fear of somebody coming
in here and trying to shut us down. But it's not been like
that for all the saints of God. And especially when John was
writing this, there were people who were sealing their faith
with their blood. And throughout the centuries
since John wrote this, behold the martyrs. men and women who love this same
gospel that we love and they've had to lay down their lives for
the cause of Christ. And what He's reminding them
and what He's reminding us of is this. All these difficulties,
all these hardships, all these persecutions, all these troubles,
all these trials, they must be because God's ordained them.
Nothing's happening by chance. Satan's not in charge in the
world. Evil men are not running this
universe. God Almighty is. And every single
thing that comes to pass throughout what we call time has been ordained
of God. That's predestination. He's ordained
everything that will happen and by His providence, He's bringing
it all to pass. These things must be hereafter. Well, look at the second verse.
And immediately, I was in the Spirit. In other words, John's
soul is suddenly drawn away from earthly things. Now we know he's
on the Isle of Patmos for the Gospel's sake. Go back to chapter
1 again. Look at the first couple of verses.
Revelation chapter 1. The Revelation of Jesus Christ. Now my Bible here says, this
is the title of the book, The Revelation of Saint John the
Divine. Well, that title was given to
it by men. But here's the real title of
the book, The Revelation of Jesus Christ. Which God gave unto him,
to show Him, to manifest to Him, to expose to Him, to reveal to
Him and unto His servants things which, there's that word again,
must, they must shortly come to pass. And He sent and signified
it by His angel unto His servant John. The word signified is a
very important word here. Just think of that word signified
as being sign language. He signified it. The book of
the Revelation, if you would understand it, it is full of
sign language. It is full of pictures. It is
full of typology. And God the Spirit has to give
us understanding to properly interpret it. Look at verse 2,
who bear record of the Word of God, John speaking of himself
now, who bear record of the Word of God and of the testimony of
Jesus Christ and of all things that he saw. Now, drop down to
verse number 9 again and I'll re-read this. I, John, who am
also your brother and companion in tribulation and in the kingdom
and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle, that is called
Patmos, and here's the reason, for the word of God and for the
testimony of Jesus Christ. And the word testimony is record
or report. That's why he's on this isle. But while he was on this island,
and we know he was put on this island in order to shut his mouth. He was a mighty preacher. He's
one of the sons of thunder. And so, it was thought, we'll
just shut this preacher up. We'll exile him out into an island
out here, a rocky island, away from everybody. He won't have
a congregation. He won't have anybody to preach
to and that will be the end of him. We won't hear from John
anymore. But it was on this island that
the Lord gave him this glorious vision of the revelation of Jesus
Christ. And he says, immediately, I was
in the Spirit. In other words, I lost sight
of fleshly things, of all the carnal things, of all my troubles. I mean, he's exotic. He's out
there by himself. No friends, no family. It would
be easy to just get all caught up in your troubles. I mean, John, He was a sinner
just like all the rest of us. I expect he had his days of moaning
and groaning. Lord, why am I here on this rocky
island? I mean, I've been busy preaching
your gospel, declaring your grace, and yet now I've got nobody to
preach to. But now the Lord fetches him
away to where he's lost sight of these earthly things. And
he's in the Spirit. He's in the Spirit. He stopped
seeing things with the physical eyes. He stopped hearing things
with the physical ears. And he began to see things with
spiritual eyes and to hear things with spiritual ears. Now his
soul is totally wrapped up with the Lord and the cares of the
world for a little while just seem to vanish. And I thought
as I studied this and prepared this message for you today, we
gaze so much on the things of this world and all the troubles
around us and all the trials that some of our friends are
going through with, some of our family members, maybe some of
us are going through with them right now. But we need to see things more
clearly like John did with spiritual eyes. And I thought, and I wrote
this down, I typed it in my notes, Oh Lord, fix the eyes of my soul
on thee and let my spiritual ears be opened to hear thy word
and thy gospel. And that will loosen me from
the things of this world. That's my prayer. I don't know
about you, but sometimes I hear voices around me and voices of
doom and gloom. And woe is us. And how bad things
are. And things are bad. There's no
denying that. But we can get so caught up in
that, so wrapped up in that, that we forget God's still on
the throne. Let us lose sight of these earthly
cares and troubles and worries. Let me stop listening to these
negative voices and, oh Lord, let me see a spiritual vision,
as it were, of the glorified Christ. Let me see you on your
throne. Let me hear your voice saying
to me, fear not. Everything's under control. You don't have anything to worry
about. Now watch this. Two things caught
his attention. He says, immediately I was in
the Spirit and behold, first thing he saw, behold be amazed,
a throne was set on heaven, set in heaven. That's the first thing
he saw, a throne. A throne. That caught his attention.
A throne was set. The word set means fixed, immovable. It's a symbol of power and authority
and dominion exercised by God. In fact, the very throne of God
is the theme of this chapter and the next chapter. And make a note of this if you
like, the word throne is used 17 times in chapters 4 and 5,
and it's used 39 times, which is the same number of the books
of the Old Testament by the way, 39 times the word throne is used
in the book of the Revelation. Don't ever lose sight of the
fact that our God sits upon His throne and actually rules. You read for us this evening
in Psalm 93, the Lord reigneth. He is clothed with majesty. The Lord is clothed with strength,
wherewith he hath girded himself. The world also is established
that it cannot be moved. Thy throne is established of
old. Thou art from everlasting. Our
Lord has universal dominion over all the kingdoms of this earth.
You name a kingdom, He's got authority over it. I don't care
what kingdom you mention, He's got absolute authority over it.
He's got authority over all the kingdoms of men. The heart of
the king is in the Lord's hand. As the rivers of water, and He
turneth it whithersoever He will. The Lord brought Nebuchadnezzar
down to teach him this. It was to the intent. The Lord
said, this is what Daniel said, the reason the Lord did this
to Nebuchadnezzar was to the intent or to the reason that
the living may know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom
of men and giveth it to whomsoever He will and setteth up over it
the basest of men. We hold our elections and we
should vote. We should be informed. Absolutely. But don't get too worked up over
these things. God appoints men to rule over
countries. And we may like those men and
what they stand for, or maybe we don't like them and we don't
like what they stand for. But always remember this, who's
the one that put them there? And it wasn't the votes of the
public. It's God and His eternal purpose to fulfill some purpose
that is most likely unknown to us right now. You see, I don't
know why God is, what God is doing. I don't know what God
is doing. And I don't know all the reasons
why He's doing what He's doing. except for this, He's doing everything
for His glory. He's doing everything to fulfill
His eternal purpose. And He's doing everything so
as to cause it all to work out for the good of His people. He
rules over the kingdoms of men. So if your man doesn't win in
an election, don't get all bent out of shape. God's man won. Is that right? That's a hard
pill for us to swallow sometimes, isn't it? God's appointed best for one, to fulfill God's purpose. He
rules over the kingdoms of men. God has authority and He rules
over the kingdom of grace. He said, I'll have mercy on whom
I'll have mercy. I'll have compassion on whom
I'll have compassion. He rules over the kingdom of
grace. He may give His grace to you and the person sitting
right beside of you may not be a recipient of His grace. That's
God's business. I don't know who will argue with
Him, will you? Because doesn't a potter have power over the
clay? Well, sure he does. He can make you into any kind
of vessel he wants to make you. And what's more, he is going
to make you into whatever kind of vessel he wants to make you. And men can fuss and argue and
fight about that. That's not going to change God.
God just laughs at men's foolishness. And God has the authority and
he rules over the kingdom of darkness. He even rules over
the principalities and powers of darkness. Because the lion of the tribe
of Judah has already conquered that lion that goes about seeking
whom he may destroy. The first thing that got John's attention
was the throne. Let me ask you this. Does God's
throne have your attention? That throne stands for His sovereign
rule. And His rule cannot be frustrated. It cannot be hindered. You can't
speed Him up and you can't slow Him down. The wheels of God's
providence, they are turning. They may not turn as fast as
you think they ought to turn or as slow as you think they
ought to turn. They are turning right on schedule.
Just the way God has ordained. Everything is good. Everything
is alright. And the second object that captured
his attention was the last phrase of verse 2, and one sat on the
throne. That got his attention. John doesn't pay any attention
to the other things in heaven. Nothing is said of the angelic
beings in their glorious array until after this. He's focused on the one that
sat on the throne. He sits in royal splendor. He sits in satisfaction. He's not pacing the walkways
of heaven. He's not leaning over the banisters
of heaven saying, where did things go wrong? He sits. God over all, blessed forever,
fulfilling His decrees, over into chapter 5 and I'll
give you this and I'll quit. I'll pick up next Wednesday night. The one who sat on the throne,
John says, I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne
a book written within and on the back side sealed with seven
seals. In other words, it's a book fully
filled out. It's written within and on the
back side. It's a full book. It's a full
book. What is this book sealed with
seven seals? It's a book of God's eternal
decrees. This is a book of predestination.
Everything that will ever happen, all the fates of men and of angels
are in this book sealed with seven seals. It's a book of predestination. John said, I saw a strong angel
proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open this book
and to loose the seals? Who is worthy to execute God's
decrees? Let them step up here and take
the book out of the hand of God Almighty who sits on the throne. In verse 3, no man in heaven
nor in earth, neither under the earth was able to even open the
book. neither to look thereon, much
less execute the decrees written in the book. This is a God who has ordered
and ordained all things sitting on the throne. And He has got
in His hand, in His right hand, the book of predestination. Who is going to execute? Who
is going to bring His predestinated plans to pass. Verse 4, John
said, I wept much because no man was found worthy to open
and read the book, neither to look thereon. And one of the
elders said, stop crying. Behold, be amazed, marvel, the
Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed. He's gotten the victory by his
death. He prevailed to open the book
and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and low
in the midst of the throne, and of the four beasts, and in the
midst of the elders stood a lamb." A lamb. Edward, the lamb is mentioned
26 times in the book of the revelations. As it had been slain. Don't leave
that out. We're always brought back to
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. He had seven horns, absolute
power, seven eyes, absolute knowledge, omniscience, which are the seven
spirits of God sent forth into all the world. He came and took
the book out of the right hand of Him that sat upon the throne.
Who's worthy to take that book? The Lamb of God. And when he took the book, the
four beasts and the four and twenty elders fell down before
the Lamb, having every one of them hearts and golden vows full
of odors, which are the prayers of the saints, and they all began
to sing. It's a new song. Thou art worthy to
take the book and open the seals thereof, for thou was slain and
hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every nation and
out of every kindred and tongue. and people and nation, you made
us unto God, kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth."
Universal praise for King Jesus. John said, I saw a throne. And
I saw the One who sat on the throne. And I'm just going to
stop here and pick it up next Wednesday. Just stop right there. OK? It leaves us in a final song. Glorious passage of Scripture.