As this vision continues, as
we looked at the first, as I said, the first five verses, John had
been given this vision of this glorious, glorious tapestry and
the pattern, the God working all things after the counsel
of his own will. And this is the throne of God.
A vision from the throne of God. And he says in verse 6, look
at it, he says, Before the throne there was a sea of glass like
unto a crystal, and in the midst of the throne and round about
the throne were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. Now
this is all symbolic language. Here's a sea of glass like unto
crystal. Now you have to understand that
especially back then, even today this is true, but more so back
in these New Testament days, when people thought of the ocean
or they thought of the sea, it was something that was terrible,
it was something that was fearful, something that was dreadful,
it represented the unknown, even death. A lot of times you'll,
you know, even when you think about it going back to the flood,
You know, Noah's flood. You know, that was something
that when they thought of that, you know, it wasn't like you
could just go down to the ocean or swim in the ocean or take
a cruise or anything like that. You remember when the Apostle
Paul was on his way to Rome, you know, they had those terrible
storms, and that's the way they thought of the sea. But here
we see an ocean, a sea of glass, smooth as glass. This is calmness. This is the opposite of the dreadful,
terrible, mysterious darkness of the unknown. This is something
that is smooth. It's something that is clear.
And that's what he's showing here is that from God's throne,
even though from our viewpoint here on earth, looking up you
might say, there are rough times. There are times of trial, times
of persecution. We're groping in the dark as
we walk each day in Providence. We don't know what tomorrow holds.
We have the promise of God that nothing's going to separate us
from the love of God in Christ, that we cannot be condemned.
There's no condemnation to them who are in Christ. We have those
promises, but we don't know how each day is going to unfold.
And remember I mentioned last week about looking up at the
bottom of the tapestry where we see that mishmash and confusion
of colors with no pattern. But we have the promise that
all things are working together for good, for the glory of God
and the good of His people and that God's working all things
after the counsel of His own will. But from God's point of
view, it's a sea of glass. It's smooth. Everything's working
according to plan. God's on the throne. He's in
control. There's nothing out of kilter.
There's no confusion from God's point of view. Again, He works
all things after the counsel of His own will. And that's what
this sea of glass represents. And it's clear as crystal. And what that shows is that the
ultimate purpose and plan of God for His people is to remove
all sin from our lives. He's done that judicially in
Christ, having our sins imputed to Him, and His righteousness
imputed to us, so that no sin is charged to us. He does that
spiritually by the power of the Holy Spirit, not making us sinless,
but cleansing our hearts as we look to Christ for all salvation. And in the end of all things,
He's going to remove us from all presence, power, all corruption
and contamination of sin when we're raised unto glory. So that's what all this represents.
And there's another place in Revelation 15, you don't have
to turn there, I've got it marked in your lesson, where it talks
about this sea of glass mingled with fire. And of course, fire
is representative of the wrath of God. And what that's showing
there is that this smooth sea of glass, this clear crystal
glass, is not accomplished without the wrath of God. God must be
just when He justifies. It's not accomplished without
the wrath of God on the wicked, and it's not accomplished without
the wrath of God upon His people in the person of Christ as our
surety and our substitute. So justice is satisfied. This
is not just God snapping his finger. I heard a fellow one
time preaching a message. He said, God didn't have to send
Christ into the world to redeem us by his death. God could have
just snapped his finger and redeemed us. And that's a lie. Because
God must be just. The soul that sinneth must surely
die. Shall not the judge of the earth
do right? That's what Abraham asked. It
was a rhetorical question. The obvious answer is yes. When
God condemns the wicked, He does that which is right. That's justice. You know, people talk about God's
hatred, and people today, they don't want to think about a God
who hates. God's hatred is His justice. It's only right. And
if we're not under God's wrath, God's hatred, it's by His grace.
Now, God's justice will be done upon His people, but in the person
and work of Christ. He will be just to justify the
ungodly. Now one thing that's worth noting
here, and I'll put in your lesson, is that a lot of commentators,
when they go to this sea of glass like under crystal, they say
it's a direct reference to the brazen labor in the holy place
in the tabernacle. And there are times, I think
I've got it, yeah, like for example in Exodus 30 and 2 Kings, and
I've got those scriptural references, where that is actually called
a C, that brazen labor. And that's where the priests,
when they went in to perform the duties of the holy place,
you remember you had the outer court, where you went into the
entrance of the tabernacle and there was the brazen altar. And
then you had that court, and then that inner tent, it was
divided. The first chamber was called
the holy place. That's where all the priests
of Levi could go, and you had the table of showbread and the
candlestick, golden candlestick, and you had the brazen laver
where they would wash And that represented the cleansing by
the blood of Christ. Sometimes you can reference it
to the washing of the water by the word, the cleansing of the
Holy Spirit in regeneration and conversion. Again, which is the
heart cleansed by faith by looking to Christ. And some say that
this has a direct reference to that, but there's no big argument
there. What it's talking about is Listen,
as you look at these things from the point of view of God's throne,
everything is going as planned. Everything is clear as crystal.
Everything is right. And look at verse 6 again. He
says, round about the throne, in the midst of the throne and
round about the throne were four beasts full of eyes before and
behind. Now the term beast is really
important that we understand that if we're going to understand
the book of Revelation. You know, later on we're going
to talk about the beast that rises out of the sea. He's an agent of Satan. And then
there's the beast that forms on land, an agent of Satan. And
that word beast, when it refers to the agents of Satan, it's
a word that means a wild, untamed animal. But here it's a word
that's different. The word beast here is just simply
a living creature. One whom God created and gave
life. It's not a wild, untamed beast. So these four beasts are four
living creatures and they represent the ministers of Christ. They're
not wild and untamed like those beasts of later on in Revelation
13. They represent ministers of the gospel. Some say they're
angelic beings, but they are messengers. And they're ministers
of the gospel, willing, loving, bond slaves of Christ, servants
of the throne. And what it is, they have eyes
before and eyes behind. They know what's happened, they
know what is, and they know what's coming. And how do they know
that? Well, they know it because God reveals it. In other words,
when I say, when it talks about eyes before, they're looking
forward. They're like Paul when he described, I forget those
things which are behind and I press forward to the mark of the high
car. Now again, I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow,
but I know how all this thing's going to end up. That's part
of what he's saying. I know what's happened in the
past. I know what God's done in the past. And especially in
the past in redemption when we talk about His purpose before
the foundation of the world, when we talk about the redemptive
work of Christ a little over 2,000 years ago on the cross
of Calvary to redeem us from our sins. We have the history
recorded of the New Testament church. And then we know what's
going on today as we look around us. I don't know what's going
to happen tomorrow, but I know how it's going to end up. Eyes
behind and eyes before. And then look at verse 7. Now
this is really interesting. Listen to it. What we have here
in verse 7 is a picture of the centrality of our message set
forth in the person and work of Christ. Look at it. The first beast was like a lion.
Now the lion there refers back to Christ, the lion of the tribe
of Judah. And if you'll look at this, think
about Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the four Gospels. Matthew
is a very Jewish gospel. His target audience was the Jews
who had been raised under the old covenant. And so when he
talks about the lion, the lion of the tribe of Judah, what is
that? Back in Genesis chapter 49, when Jacob was blessing his
son and he blessed Judah, and he talked about Judah, thou art
a lion's wealth, and that's when he talked about the scepter,
the scepter will not depart from Judah till Shiloh comes. The
minister's message is preaching Christ as the lion of Judah,
the powerful Invincible animal that cannot be defeated. That's
what he's talking about. The lion though he says is the
king of the jungle. Well Christ is the king of this
universe. And so then it says the second beast was like a calf
or like an ox. That's what it really is. And
that's Christ the servant of Jehovah. That's the book of Mark.
Mark has no genealogy. Remember Matthew's gospel starts
with the genealogy of Christ beginning with Abraham and David.
And then Mark has no genealogy. It gets right to work. And that's
what Christ is the servant. He's the suffering servant. Remember
Isaiah 53. So not only is Christ the lion,
He's the ox. He's the servant. He's the calf.
He pulls the yoke. All salvation is conditioned
on Him. And in His service, He fulfilled
all those conditions. That's what it's talking about.
And then it says the third beast had a face as a man. That's Christ's humanity. Luke
emphasizes Jesus Christ, the Son of Man. His humanity. His
holy, sinless humanity. He had to be made in the likeness
of sinful flesh in order to redeem us. He had to be God. You see,
now Luke doesn't deny his... Let me say this. When we talk
about Matthew emphasizing this, we're not talking about this
is exclusive. Matthew emphasizes Christ the...
He reveals Christ the servant, Christ the man too. But his major
emphasis is Christ the Lion of Judah. Mark's major emphasis
is Christ the servant of Jehovah. Luke's major emphasis is Christ
the son of man. See, they're to go together.
And so his holy humanity had to be a reality in order for
him to save his people from their sins. He had to be Emmanuel,
God with us. And you can read in so many passages
of scripture, in the fullness of the time, God sent forth his
son, made of a woman, made under the law. The sinless humanity
of Christ. Look at the next one, verse 7.
And the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. And that eagle
there represents the deity of Christ. More so, and that's the
Book of John. In beginning was the Word, the
Word was with God, the Word was God. That's the emphasis of the
Book of John. Christ, who is our Savior, is
God in human flesh. He's the Lord, our righteousness.
He's the very righteousness of God. That's what we need to be
saved. We don't need the righteousness of man. Because the righteousness
of man will do us no good. That was proved in the Garden
of Eden, wasn't it? Adam had the righteousness of
man and he lost it. We need one that cannot be lost. One that's perfect. We need the
righteousness of God. And that's the emphasis there.
So you see how this message of the messengers of God is founded
upon and centered on the whole person and finished work of the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's what this whole kingdom
is based on. It's the kingdom of God. Christ is the establishment
of the kingdom of God. And these symbolize the whole
gospel message right here in one verse in symbol and type
and picture. And that's amazing to me how,
you know, I've read a lot of books, and I'm not just saying
that to brag, but there's no book like this. There's no book
like this. I think about myself, and when
I study these things, To me, the Lord just reaffirms this
in my mind and in my heart. That this book could not have
been the product of human creativity or ingenuity or even effort. That it's totally the work of
God. Because there's no other book like it. And I'm talking
to you as one who had, at one time in his life, absolutely
no respect for the Bible. I thought it was a fake. I thought
it was full of contradictions. I thought it had some good moral
things to say. But to say that it's the inerrant
word of God, I wouldn't have done that back then. But, as
you know, the Lord gives us ears to hear and eyes to see. He knocks
us down on the road to Damascus, so to speak, and puts us in the
dust where we belong. And ever since then, every time
I study this book, I was thinking about that last week on what
I'm going to preach to you this morning in the main service. I don't know why I call that
the main service. This is a main service, too. But anyway, on
Ezekiel 47, an Old Testament type there. And what it does,
it just reaffirms to me how beautiful and how great, how miraculous
this book is. And listen, I've studied how
it come together. You know, people say, you know,
well, that takes some credibility. It doesn't, because that's all
the providence of God. Well, let's go on. Verse 8. He
says, And the four beasts had each of them six wings about
him, and they were full of eyes within, and they rest not day
and night. In other words, they don't take
a break here. In this, saying, holy, holy,
holy, Lord God Almighty, which was and is and is to come. Now,
if you studied the book of Isaiah, that takes you right back to
Isaiah chapter 6, doesn't it? Isaiah. Remember, he's talking
about his conversion. In the year the king Uzziah died,
I saw the Lord high and lifted up. His train filled the temple. And the seraphim, you know, having
six wings, Two of them he did this, two of them he did that.
And he said, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty. And that's
how it's described. And let me say this at the outset.
Normally when we think of the number six, we think of the number
of man and being evil. But the number six here is not
used that way. Don't think of it as six wings.
Think of it as two by two by two. And two in the Bible is
the number of witness. And that's what this is all about.
God, from his throne, is accomplishing his will and purpose by sending
his witnesses all over this world to preach the gospel, to call
his people into the kingdom, and he's not going to lose anybody.
We've seen that, the 24 elders, the 24 seats, all that. There's no vacancy there, there's
no empty seats. God's gonna save his people.
Christ said, glorify thou me with the glory which I had with
thee before the world was. And how did he, what glory was
he talking about? In John 17, he says that I should
give eternal life to as many as thou hast given me. He can't
lose any that God chose for whom He redeemed. He's got to bring
them to the new birth. He's got to bring them to salvation.
And so here they are. They were full of eyes within.
Eyes within normally indicates self-examination by the Word
of God. And listen what happens here.
He says they were full of eyes within and they didn't stop day
or night saying, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty. I think
that's significant because here's what it is. When we look within,
what do we see as sinners saved by grace? I'll tell you exactly
what we see. We could talk about it in a lot
of particulars and it really wouldn't be pleasant, would it?
But when we look within, I'll tell you exactly what we really
see at the kernel of it. We see our greater need of Christ. Don't we? We see our greater need of His
blood to wash us from our sin, of His righteousness imputed.
If God were, Lord, if thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, who
among us would stand? None of us. Blessed is the man
to whom the Lord imputed, not iniquity. Righteousness without
works. And that's what's happening here.
They look within. They don't see any holiness or
righteousness within. What does it cause them to do?
Saying, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was and is
and is to come. That's the eternal, unchangeable,
self-existent God of glory. And he reveals himself to us
in Christ. Now what does all that do for
the people of God? Well, look at the last three
verses. This is worship. This is worship focused upon
God revealed in the fullness of Christ. Look at it. When those
beasts give glory and honor and thanks to him that sat on the
throne who liveth forever and ever, we glory in Christ. Let
him that glorieth glory in the Lord. God forbid that I should
glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are the
circumcision which worship God in spirit and rejoice or glory,
boast in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. That's
what it's talking about. Verse 10. The four and twenty
elders fall down before Him that sat on the throne and worship
Him that liveth forever and ever and cast their crowns before
the throne. Now the crowns, we talked about
that. In the Bible, the sinner saved
by grace, is said to have been given a crown of life. That's
eternal life. He's said to be given a crown
of glory, a crown of righteousness, even a crown of joy. And people
argue up and down about these crowns. Somebody talks about,
well, I've got to do this or do that to get my crown. No,
you don't. None of these crowns, none of these diadems are earned
by us. They're crowns of grace. Every
one of them. How do we attain eternal life?
The crown of life? By the blood of Jesus Christ.
Sin demands death. The wages of sin. Righteousness
demands life. Where am I going to find righteousness?
A crown of righteousness in Christ. His obedience unto death. His
righteousness imputed. That's the only ground of salvation. How am I going to find a crown
of joy? Well, look at yourself. Take inventory every day and
see if you can find any joy there. Because I'll tell you something,
when you feel good about yourself to the point that you find your
joy there, that's self-righteousness. If you're honest with yourself,
there's not a whole lot to be rejoicing about when we talk
about our attainments, our goodness, our achievements, all of that.
I'm not talking about in the realm of family and business. You know what I'm talking about?
I'm talking about in a relationship with God. Because a right relationship
with God is never established upon the merits of a sinner. It's established upon the merit
of Jesus Christ. And that's where rejoicing comes
from. Joy and peace in believing, the
scripture calls it. Believing what? Not just in the
fact that I believe something. No, joy and peace in looking
to Christ, who is my hope, my joy. That's righteousness, peace,
and joy in the Holy Ghost. And so these crowns are crowns
of grace, every one of them. And they cast their crowns before
the throne, indicating that it all comes from God and all belongs
to God. Even we belong to Him. We belong
to Him. We're redeemed. And He says in
verse 11, here's what they say. Look at it. Thou art worthy. And you know in chapter 5 we're
going to see the song of the redeemed where the focus is upon
the Lamb slain. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain.
That's what they're saying here. Thou art worthy. We're not worthy. Christ is worthy. Thou art worthy,
O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power. That word power,
there's the authority that he has as the mediator. And you're
worthy to receive that. For thou hast created all things,
and for thy pleasure they are and were created. Now, when you
think about creation, Certainly that includes the universe, the
world. God created the heavens and the
earth. But it also includes the new creation, his church. For we are his workmanship created
in Christ Jesus. We're the new creation. He created
us. He created his church. He said,
upon this rock I'll build my church and the gates of hell
will not prevail against it. And what that is, for thy pleasure,
when it says for thy pleasure, that means for his glory. That
which pleases God for His glory, for His honor.