Now, we're going to begin there
in Romans, or Revelation, rather, chapter four, concerning the
topic of God's throne in heaven. Now, if you recall the outline
that I gave you, I put it in the bulletin several weeks ago,
of Revelation as it consists of seven different visions, visions
of the last days, Each vision spans the last days from the
first coming of Christ to the second coming of Christ under
judgment. And each vision gives us a different
view of things as they will transpire on earth and in heaven during
that time. The first vision was the first
three chapters here ended with the letters to the churches which
those letters showed that things that the church would face, gospel
churches would face and go through during this new covenant age. This thousand years, that's what
it is. That's a symbolic number now.
You need to understand that. That's not a literal calendar
thousand years. Remember in 2 Peter 3 is Peter
wrote by inspiration of the spirit, a thousand years to the Lord
is as a day. And a day is a thousand years.
And on the Old Testament, the number thousand is what they
call a Hebrew idiom, which means it was a symbolic number of a
time span that only God knows. Only God knows the exact day
and time. Remember, Christ told his disciples
that. He said, it's not for you to know the time that he's going
to come again. He said, the Father knows that.
So the first vision ended in chapter 3 here with the church
at Laodicea. And now in chapter 4, chapters
4 through 7 is the second vision and it gives us a view of the
last days from the throne of God. You want to know how God
looks upon these things. It also includes the opening
of what is called a seven sealed book. And we'll talk about that
number seven, it's the number of a finished work, a completed
work, and that's the book of God's sovereign purpose, will,
and decrees. And you'll find that there's
only one person who's worthy to open that book and reveal
its contents, and that's the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so in chapters four through
seven, we have some of the most beautiful symbolism the most
beautiful language describing how things are going to transpire
throughout these last days, this gospel millennium is what I call
it, this new covenant age, gospel covenant, and it describes it
to the point to where anyone who's looking to Christ, trusting
Him by the power of God, can find so much comfort so much
peace in a world that, as we say, the world's going to hell
in a basket or whatever they call it. This world is not our
home. And wherever this world's going,
if we're in Christ, we're not going with it. We're going to
be with Him. And that's what this is all about.
So this shows the last days viewed from God's throne. and Christ
opening that seven-sealed book of God's sovereign purpose and
will. Christ, the Lamb of God, slain for the sins of His people,
He's the only one that's worthy to do that. Well, look at verse
one. Now, I'm not gonna get through the whole chapter, as you can
see in your bulletin. I'm probably just gonna cover
up through verse five. But there's enough here to get
us through the week. Let's say it that way. There's
enough here to comfort God's people. Are you looking to Christ
for all the salvation? Am I? That's what we need to
be concerned with. And he says, after this, that
is after these things that he just revealed in the first vision,
he says, I looked and behold, a door was opened in heaven. That door in heaven. Well, you
know what the door is. Christ said, I am the door. He
said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto
the Father but by me. There's one way to heaven, one
way to eternal glory, and that's Christ crucified unto death,
risen again, and ascended unto the Father. He opened the door
by his death on the cross. He provided the way. It's the
way of the cross. We sing of Him, the way of the
cross leads home. Not our suffering, but His suffering. For by one offering, He, Christ,
hath perfected, fulfilled, finished, completed forever them that are
sanctified. He's the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. He's the Lord, our righteousness.
As Daniel said in Daniel 9 and verse 24, he made an end of sin,
finished the transgression, brought in everlasting righteousness.
He is the door into heaven, into glory. And there's only one door. There's not many doors. There's
only one. And this door is open to anyone
and everyone who comes God's way through Christ, by His grace,
His sovereign grace through Christ. And of course, we know that anyone
and everyone who desires that, they desire it because God has
made them willing in the day of His power. Man by nature doesn't
desire this. He wants another door. He wants
the door of His works, the door of His decision, the door of
His sincerity, the door of His ways. There's a door open in
heaven. Think about that. There's a way,
but it's God's way. And it glorifies him and leaves
us no room to boast. It's the way of Christ. And look
here, he says, and the first voice, which I heard, a voice
came from this throne. And he said, the first voice,
which I heard as it were of a trumpet talking with me, a trumpet. Now
in the Bible, the trumpet is a symbol of a great announcement. You remember back in those old
movies about Rome where when the emperor came in, they blow
the trumpets. Well, this trumpet, you know
the gospel, preaching the gospel is called a trumpet call. Remember
Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 14, if the trumpet give not a clear
sound, who can know what to do? He's talking about the gospel
there. And this trumpet talking with me which said, come up hither
and I will show thee things which must be hereafter. The trumpet
calls John and essentially all of God's people to come up to
the throne. Listen, listen to what God says
here. come up to the throne and he's
going to reveal things, now notice what it says here, things which
must be hereafter. Not things which may or may not
be, but things which must be. Why must they be? Because they're
coming from the throne of God who does his will in the heavens
and in the earth. He's the one who works all things
after the counsel of his own will. God is working out His
will. Do you understand that? Do I
understand it? The things that happen on this
earth. Now God is not the author of evil, but He's in control
of it and if He's not, now listen to me, I know people don't like
to hear that, but if God is not in control of it, we're in trouble.
Now think about that. I told the people in the 10 o'clock
study hour, Bible study hour, that I saw a statement by a famous,
popular, false preacher today. And he said somebody in his congregation,
I think it was somebody got sick and died or something like that.
And somebody said, well, it was God's will. And he looked at
him, he said, are you kidding me? He said, in a world of free
choices, God's will is rarely done. And I thought, do you know
the Bible? I mean, every Sunday that guy
gets up and opens a Bible and says something from it, but he's
blind. The blind leading the blind.
Now, I do make a distinction, and I think we need to do this.
I think it'll help our understanding of the Bible. There is what we call God's sovereign
will, which cannot be broken. And then there is God's revealed
will by way of commandment to us, which is always broken. Because
we don't always obey what God commands us to do. You understand
that? But this is the view from the
throne, the sovereignty of God. That's what that throne represents.
God's sovereignty. None can stay his hand, or saying
to him, what doest thou? Who are you to reply against
God? The apostle wrote by inspiration
of the spirit. He asked, Joe, where were you
when I created the earth, when I put the waters in place and
put Leviathan in the sea? Do you think you're qualified
to debate with God, to argue with God, or even to demand an
answer from him? He's the potter, we're the clay.
Bow down, sinner, and worship God. His throne is his authority,
his power, his sovereignty. And yet, he commands sinners
like us, come up hither. How in the world can we approach
the throne of God and not be destroyed? It's what we deserve. It's what we've earned. Oh, God
is so holy. Later on in this passage, he
talks about the four beasts, the four living creatures, crying,
holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty. None like our God. But these
things must be because God has sovereignly decreed them. And
he did it before the foundation of the world. And these things
must be hereafter. What he's talking about is throughout
the last days. These things must be. These are
not things that may or may not be, but they must be. Look at
verse 2. It says, and immediately I was in the Spirit. John was
elevated in his mind and in his heart to set his mind on things
above. Remember what Colossians chapter
3 says? Set your affection on things above and not on things
on the earth. John realized that he's getting
ready to see some things that not everybody will see. Only those to whom God will reveal
them. And isn't that like the gospel? The gospel is revealed
to whomsoever he pleases. He said, I thank thee, O Lord,
that you've revealed these things unto babes, and hid these things
from the wise and the prudent. Those babes are His children,
adopted into the family of God by His grace, redeemed by the
blood of Christ, justified, forgiven, declared righteous, all of the...
He says, immediately I was in the Spirit. My mind was consumed
with spiritual matters now. Now you know, Right now, as we
worship God, our minds ought to be consumed with spiritual
things. But it's still tough, isn't it? It's tough for us at
any given moment here on earth to get our minds completely off
of the earth, the things of this world, the things that bother
us, the pains that hurt us. Sometimes I have to preach through
pain. Sometimes you have to listen
through pain. I know we're just pitiful creatures,
aren't we? But John here in this vision,
he was consumed with the Spirit. And he said, and behold, a throne
was set in heaven. Notice the word there, set, not
sitting or put in heaven, it's set. This is an established throne. This is a fixed throne. This
is a throne that was set in heaven. This is God's throne of grace
for God's people. Oh, it talks about God's justice
and God's power, but it also speaks of God's mercy and grace
and love to his people. Remember what the writer of Hebrews
wrote in Hebrews 4? Because we have a great high
priest, let's come boldly unto a throne of grace. How can we
come to God's throne and find peace and help, mercy, only through
Christ? It's only through Christ, our
great high priest, who is passed through into the heavens. Christ
did the work on earth, and he passed through the very heavens
unto the place of God, sat down at the right hand of God. And
there was a throne set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. Somebody
asked me one time, well, who's sitting on this throne? Is it
the Father? Is it the Son? Is it the Holy Spirit? Well,
I'll tell you who's sitting on this throne. It's the Godhead.
As revealed in Christ, who is the fullness of the Godhead completely
and perfectly. In Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. The only way that we're going
to approach the Father and be accepted and see His glory is
through the Son, based upon His blood and righteousness alone.
Without Christ, all we will come to is a throne of justice that
will consume us. The Bible says our God is a consuming
fire. But we have one who stood before
us and for us on that cross and was consumed with the fire of
God's wrath as our surety, our substitute, and our redeemer
so that we won't have to go through that. The Bible said, as we read in
the opening of our service in Psalm 45, this is the King of
kings sitting on this throne. This is Christ. Again, representing
the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, all three persons of
the Godhead, as revealed in him. And he holds a scepter, a rule. And his scepter is a scepter
of righteousness, as his kingdom was and established upon righteousness. This is the righteousness of
his judgment. because God has appointed that
day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that
man whom he hath ordained, in that he hath given assurance
unto all men, and that he hath raised him from the dead. And
I thought about this. This is our, somebody says, well,
when we get to heaven, I wanna see this one, I wanna see that
one. Here's what we're gonna see.
The throne of God. Christ sitting upon that throne
with that scepter of righteousness. Look at verse 3. And he that
sat was to look upon like jasper and a sardine or sardine stone.
And there was a rainbow round about the throne in sight like
unto an emerald. This is all symbolic language
now. This jasper stone. Over in Revelation
21 and verse 11, It tells us that this Jasper stone is clear
as crystal, like a diamond, but it reflects many colors. It stands
for the holiness, the purity of God's nature, and it also
stands for the multifaceted glory of God's attributes. I remember
when I first came to hear the gospel, one of the first books
I got hold of was called The Attributes of God. And I began
to read that, and I read things there that I had never heard
in false religion. Who God is in every facet of
his attributes. You know, the Jasper stone was
the last stone in the breastplate of the high priest. You can read
about that in Exodus 28. Stood for the tribe of Benjamin,
whom Jacob called the son of my right hand. So this Jasper
stone represents all of God's attributes, all of God's character,
all of God's nature coming together, working consistently together
in the person and work of Christ. You know, if you look to Christ
for salvation, truly look to him as he's identified and distinguished
in the word of God, You're honoring every attribute of God's nature. Now you may not be able to list
them or define every one, as that book did that I read, but
they're in him. It's called The Glory of God
in the Face of Jesus Christ in 2 Corinthians 4-6. So how do
I know I'm honoring God's sovereignty? How do I know I'm honoring his
infinity, his holiness, His truth, His righteousness, His immutability. How do I know I'm honoring that?
Look to Christ, the author and finisher of our faith. Jesus
Christ the same, yesterday, today, and forever. On that cross, Christ
working out that righteousness, that by which we stand before
God, His righteousness imputed to us. Christ on that cross,
satisfied the glory of God, the character of God, the justice
of God, and brought every one of God's attributes working consistently
together in the salvation of a sinner. That's God's glory. This sardine or sardine stone,
it was blood red, symbolizing the holy justice of God. My friend,
without the shedding of blood, There's no remission of sin,
no forgiveness. God is a merciful God. He's a
loving God, He's a gracious God, but He will never deny, dishonor,
or pervert His justice, neither in the punishment of the wicked
nor in the salvation of His elect. God is a just God and a Savior. And for God's elect, this symbolizes
the blood of Christ, obviously, the Lamb of God, sacrificed for
our sins, the redemption He accomplished to save us from our sins. This
sardine stone was the first stone in the breastplate of the high
priest, represented the tribe of Reuben, the firstborn of Jacob. But what does the Bible say about
Christ in Colossians 1? It says He's the firstborn from
the dead. He is the representative. He
is the substitute. And he came out of that grave
so every one of his children will live forever. And both of
these stones are part of the foundation of the New Jerusalem
in Revelation 21. We won't turn there. But Jastor
makes up the walls of the New Jerusalem, the church of the
living God built by Christ. Remember he said the gates of
hell will not prevail against it. And it represents His finished
work of our redemption. He was raised from the dead,
ascended to the right hand of the Father. And then look here
in verse 3, it says, there was a rainbow about the throne, in
sight like unto an emerald. Now you know what the rainbow
stands for. You remember Noah and the ark? When the rains quit
and Noah came out of the ark, God sent a rainbow. And that
represented God's covenant promise of mercy. In Christ, He would
not destroy the earth with water again. But that's what it was. And Noah's Ark, when God destroyed
the earth, that saved His people from wrath, the Ark separated
God's people from the condemned world. And Jesus Christ is our
Ark, separates us as sinners by the grace of God from the
condemned world. God will have mercy upon whom
He will. And all of that, and the rainbow
was multicolored. We know that symbolizing the
multifaceted glory of God's mercy. But here it had a green hue like
an emerald. And what does that green represent?
It represents life. It represents healing. All spiritual
and eternal life comes from Christ who is our life. Symbolizes resurrection
from the dead and the new creation. And after the storm of condemnation
and death comes resurrection and life for God's people in
and by Christ. And that points us to another
covenant, a greater covenant, the covenant of grace made before
time began between the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. God
chose a people, gave them to his Son. The government was on
his shoulder. The government of the kingdom
of God's grace. Look at verse four. He says,
round about the throne were four and twenty seats. Now that word
seats there is the same as throne. We're looking at the throne of
God now. But here's twenty-four thrones. They're lesser thrones. And upon the seats I saw four
and twenty elders sitting clothed in white raiment, and they had
on their heads crowns of gold." Twenty-four. Twenty-four elders. What does that represent? That's
the church. That's the complete makeup of all the people of God
in all time and eternity. From election, before the foundation
of the world, all the way to final glorification. And as you
know, When you look back and compare, chapters one and three
showed the church on earth in its earthly struggles. But here
we see the identity of the church in heaven assuring us that all
the struggles on earth in the last days will not defeat God's
people. Every one of God's people will
be there. As one old theologian said, there's
plenty of room, plenty of seats, but there's no vacancies. You
say, well, how do you know this? Well, 24 is a multiple of 12,
12 times two. 12 is a number that symbolizes
the complete, full makeup of God's government of his church,
his church. And if you look back in the Old
Testament, you'll find there were 12 patriarchs, sons of Jacob,
the tribes of Israel. representing the church in the
Old Testament. And then in the New Testament,
you'll find there were 12 apostles representing the church in the
New Testament. And what this number 24 is telling
us that all believers, all the elect of God in the Old Testament
and the New Testament will be in heaven around this throne.
Not one will be missing. Isn't that a glorious thing?
You see, the church is built upon the foundation of the apostles
and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone.
All of God's elect, they were chosen in Christ, they were justified
in Him, redeemed by Him, called out, given life and called out
by Him, and they're gathered under the headship of Christ.
Twelve is the complete government of God. The government is on
His shoulders. He carries it to glory. by His
work and His power. And sitting upon these thrones,
these smaller thrones subordinate to the greater throne of God,
subjects to the King and have authority from Him, is His people.
You know, the Bible says over in Revelation 1 that we're kings
and priests unto God. Well, how is that? Well, when
I'm standing here preaching to you, I have an authority. It's not the authority of who
I am. It's not the authority of how long I've been here, or
how long I've read and studied, or any degrees that I might have
accumulated. It's not any authority that you
give me. It's the authority of the Word of God. Isaiah said it back in Isaiah
chapter 8, I believe it's verse 20, he said, to the law and to
the testimony, if they speak not according to this Word, There's
no light in them. And we preach the gospel. Look
at it. These 24 elders in verse 4 are sitting. That means they're
sitting in that seat. They're not working for their
salvation. They're resting in Christ. They're not busy, but
they're resting in Him. And it says, they're clothed
in white raiment. Now you know what that is. That's
the imputed righteousness of Christ. That's the white raiment. That's the joy that God's people
have in Christ. Look over at Revelation 19. Revelation 19 and look at verse
7. He talks about the marriage of
the Lamb here. Now this is in another vision,
but it coincides with what we're looking at here in this second
vision. And verse 7 says, Let us be glad
and rejoice and give honor to him, for the marriage of the
Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. Now you know
who his wife is, that's his bride, that's his church. How do we
make ourself ready? By working our way into God's
favor. Well, the Bible says that it's not by works of righteousness
which we have done. The Bible says salvation is by
grace through faith and that not of yourselves, it's the gift
of God, not of works lest any man should boast. So how are
we making ourself ready? By looking to and resting in
Christ, in the power of God. We won't even do that unless
God brings us to. That's how we're making ourself
ready. looking to and resting in Christ.
Well, verse eight, and to her was granted that she should be
arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine linen
is the righteousness of saints. Now, what is the righteousness
of saints? I heard a man on TV years and
years ago. I think it was Pat Robertson. And a woman called in and asked
him about this verse. What is the righteousness of
saints? You know what he said? You can pretty much figure what
he said. He said, that's the good works of saints here on
earth. Not so. What does the Bible tell us about
the righteousness of saints? What is the name of Christ in
his redemptive glory? The Lord our righteousness. What
is the name of his bride? The Lord our righteousness. What
does the Bible say about righteousness given to us? In Romans chapter
four and verse six, speaks of the blessedness of the man to
whom the Lord imputeth righteousness without works. For God made him sin, Christ
who knew no sin, for us that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. The righteousness of the saints
is Christ's righteousness imputed to us. And he says in verse nine,
he saith, right blessed are they which are called unto the marriage
supper of the Lamb, and he saith unto me, these are the true sayings
of God. God's preachers are preachers
of righteousness, not their own, but Christ. And those who come
along claiming to believe salvation and preach salvation by grace,
who preach man's righteousness, are wolves in sheep's clothing.
They're liars. Go back to chapter four. Clothed
in white raiment. You see, God on his throne can
find no flaw, no imperfection, no impurity in the white raiment
that we wear as we stand washed in the blood of Christ. and clothed
in His righteousness. Doesn't that give you comfort? It says they had on their heads
crowns of gold. By the authority and power of
Christ, we who are His subjects rule earth and heaven under Him,
the Bible tells us over in Revelation 5. These are not crowns we earn. He doesn't give you a bigger
crown than me or put More stars in your crown than I have, or
vice versa. These are crowns that belong
to us because Christ gives them to us. It's called a crown of
life. Eternal life, the gift of God. It's called a crown of righteousness.
His righteousness freely given to us. It's a crown of glory.
Because the only way that you and I will enter glory is by
the grace and the power and the goodness of God in Christ. He
keeps us. The crowns of gold. And verse
5 says, And out of the thrones proceeded lightnings and thunderings
and voices. This is power. This is authority. It's like no power on earth.
No power on earth can compare to it. I don't care how strong
or how rich a king on earth gets. Nothing to be compared to this.
This is like lightning and thunder and voices from the throne of
God. When God speaks, that's it. The power of God. And there were
seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven
spirits of God throughout the last days. The Holy Spirit to whom this
refers. is actively working in the sovereign will of God, both
in the judgments of God against sin and in the salvation of God's
elect. And these seven lamps, that's
the word of God, is fire burning before the throne, the light,
which the Holy Spirit is the spirit of truth. And the seven
spirits, we learned about that back in chapter one. This is
not talking about seven different spiritual beings. It's talking
about the Holy Spirit who does a complete work. What is the
complete work of the Holy Spirit? In bringing God's elect to salvation. Well first, he brings them under
the gospel of God's grace in Christ. That's the first thing,
providentially. He's gonna get God's people under
the gospel. The Gospel is the power of God
unto salvation. That's part of His work. To bring
you to where the Gospel can be communicated to you in some way. Through a man standing behind
a pulpit or listening to a tape or a CD or something. You're
going to hear the Gospel. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing
by the Word of God. And then by His power, the Spirit
from Christ gives you an unction. John called it, an unction from
the Holy One. That's a power. And what is that? That's regeneration. He's going
to give you new life, a new heart, ears to hear, eyes to see, hearts
and minds to receive the Word of God. And then in power, in
conviction, He's going to bring you to faith in Christ and repentance
of dead works and perseverance in that faith. He's going to
continually indwell His people. And He will not let us go. 1
John 3 speaks of that. If we're truly born of God, we
can never be lost again. And then, He's going to bring
us on up to glory. Whether it be in our death here
on earth, or when Christ comes again. He's going to keep us
unto glory. That's his complete work. And
he will not fail. He will not fail. This is the
decree, the power, the purpose that comes from the throne of
God Almighty, whereupon the Lamb sits, working all things after
the counsel of his own will. All right.