When the Apostle John was an
old man, he was exiled for Christ's sake. And one day during his
imprisonment on the Isle of Patmos, he describes himself as being
in the Spirit. And when he was in the Spirit,
he was given a revelation. We often refer to the book of
Revelation as the Revelations. It's not that. It is the revelation. Indeed, we need to learn this
with regard to the whole Word of God. It is not the revelation
of many things. It is the revelation of one thing,
and that one thing is the person of our blessed Redeemer. John
was given the revelation of Jesus Christ. That revelation was given
in seven visions. one after the other, but the
visions were each the same revelation. They were all telling the same
thing. And that is what we just got
through singing. The ultimate glory of Jesus Christ
revealed in all His creation, and most particularly in the
triumph over Satan, sin and darkness, and the salvation of his people.
Now, I want us tonight to worship our God, to worship him. And I can't think of a better
way to lead you in worship than to take you through one of those
blessed visions. So if you will, turn to Revelation
chapter 4, and we will begin here. That which John sees here
in Revelation 4 and 5, and really it is to be read as one. Chapters 4
and 5 are divided conveniently by our translators into two chapters,
but really it is one vision, one revelation. So read it as
one chapter. That which is here set before
us is an expansion of what Isaiah saw in Isaiah 6. If you want
to read it at your convenience, read Isaiah 6 and these two chapters
together and you will see clearly What Isaiah saw when he saw the
Lord high and lifted up, when he saw Christ in his glory, is
exactly what John sees here in Revelation chapters 4 and 5.
We'll begin in verse 1. 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 talking with me, which said, Come up
hither. And I will show thee things which
must be hereafter." I love it when God says, must. Things which
must be hereafter. He said, John, that which you're
about to see, that which you're about to hear, that which you
are about to behold, that which God is about to show you, must
be. They must be. And when God says
must, that's not a maybe. They must be hereafter. After this. After what? After all that was given of those
warnings in the letters to the seven churches in chapters 2
and 3. After the warnings given concerning
that which is experienced by God's church in this world. throughout
the ages, and the letters to the seven churches aren't talking
about seven different imaginary dispensations. They're not talking
about seven different ages of time. They're talking about the
things that God's people in local churches, just like this one,
continually deal with day after day, age after age, throughout
the ages of this world. He warned the church at Ephesus
of leaving their first love. He called on the folks at Smyrna
and said, Be thou faithful unto death. Be thou faithful unto
death. The church at Pergamos had a
terrible problem. They had there those who taught
the doctrine of Balaam, who taught that gain is godliness, and also
the Nicolaitans. The Nicolaitans were people who
taught that the grace of God in no way ought to affect the
way a man lives, and they practiced gross immorality. Thyatira was
in the depths of Satan. Thyatira had fallen and become
apostate with works religion, yet there were those there who
still believed God, in spite of the fact that they entertained
The only woman preacher ever mentioned in the New Testament,
she's called Jezebel. And he says, that which you have
already, hold fast till I come. In the midst of this darkness
and corruption and deceit that's all around you, hold fast that
which I've given you. Keep my works. What an admonition. Forget yours,
keep mine. Keep my works. To Sardis, he
says, you have a name that you live. You have a name and a reputation,
but you're dead. Be watchful. Strengthen that
which remains. Remember, remember. And then
to Philadelphia, he said, hold fast that which you have, so
that no man takes your crown. And to Laodiceans, he said, I'm
ready to spew you out of my mouth. because nothing moves you. You're
neither cold nor hot, but lukewarm, indifferent. But watch this. In chapter 3, verse 18, he gives
this word of counsel. I counsel thee to buy of me gold,
the gold of my grace, tied in the fire. Buy me gold, that thou
mayest be rich, and white raiment, my perfect righteousness, that
thou mayest be clothed How do you buy these things? Without
money and without price. Buy these things believing on
me. By white raiment, perfect righteousness, now watch this,
that thou mayest be clothed that thy shame, the shame of thy nakedness,
do not appear. He's talking about your sin,
your corruption. And anoint thine eyes with eyesalve,
the eyesalve of the gospel that thou mayest see. And then in
verse 21, he issues a call. Verse 20, Behold, I stand at
the door and knock. I stand at the door speaking
to the local church, speaking to Grace Baptist Church in Danville.
He says to you, to this assembly right here, right now, not the
folks who were here this morning, not the ones who will be here
Tuesday night, to you right now, Behold, I stand at the door and
knock. If any man, that means if there's
anybody in here, will you open to me? Will you open to me? If any man hear my voice and
open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him,
and he with me. Now watch this promise. To him
that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne,
even as I also overcame and am sat down with my Father in his
throne. Now let's move to chapter four. I want to call your attention
to five things as we go along. First thing we see is the first
thing John saw. After this, after these warnings,
after this counsel, after this call, after this promise, after
this, I looked, and behold, a door. A door was opened. I know who the door is. Christ
Jesus said, I am the door. Behold, a door opened. an open door in heaven, and the
first voice which I heard was, as it were, a trumpet. A trumpet. A trumpet talking with me. Sometimes
folks ask me, how do you know if God speaks? You know. You won't have to come to me
and ask about that. You'll know. It sounded like a trumpet talking
directly to me. And this is what the voice said.
Come up hither. Come up hither. And I will show
thee the things which must be hereafter. Now look at verse
2. Here's the second thing. And immediately I was in the
Spirit, and behold, a throne. Any man who enters in by Christ's
door, any man who is called of God, anyone who sees the glory
of God, By faith in Jesus Christ, the first thing he will see is
a throne. Not the last thing, the first
thing. The first thing. You don't get conned into believing
somehow that God sits on a throne and is sovereign after you have
learned so much. If ever you meet God, you'll see him on a
throne. First thing. Sovereign, absolute God. who has you in his hands, and
can do with you, not can do, who does with you exactly as
he will, and gives account of his affairs to no one. Behold
a throne." That's what Isaiah saw. He saw Christ sitting enthroned
on the mercy seat. The throne was set. Thy throne
is in the heavens, fixed, established, immovable. And one sat. What a picture. What a picture. Folks, somehow I had the idea
that our Lord Jesus Christ, that our great God is kind of pacing
the banisters of heaven, hoping maybe things are going to turn
out the way He wants them to. He sat. Back in Isaiah chapter
14, we read about Lucifer and his great, proud huffing and
puffing. He said, I will ascend. to the
throne of God, I will be most high. I'm going to take over
the God business. And the very next word is, this
is the purpose that is purposed in all the earth. Nothing disturbs,
nothing moves, nothing hinders, nothing causes God to be uneasy. Nothing causes God to fear. He sits. on his throne, and he
that sat on the throne was to look upon like a jasper in a
sardine He who sits on the throne, whom
John saw, is Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. I know that because
our Lord himself tells us in John chapter 12, as Isaiah describes
the same thing, he said, Isaiah spoke of me when he saw my glory. John saw Christ, and seeing Christ,
the God-man mediator, he saw all of God in him sitting on
his throne. Now watch this. And there was
a rainbow. round about the throne. You know
what that is. Back in the book of Genesis,
Noah came out of the ark, and he had already burned up the
ark, made firewood, built a machete somewhere, and he looked up and
saw a cloud forming in the sky. I often try to put myself in
the shoes of fellows when I'm reading the scriptures. Now,
how do you picture Noah? He's sitting there, watching
that cloud form, getting a little bigger, a little bigger, and
he's terrified. He knew what happened the last
time a cloud formed in the sky. He understood. But last time,
he had a boat to get in. And the Lord came to him and
said, Noah, when the rain falls, I'll put my bow in the sky. And
you see my bow in the sky, remember my covenant. My covenant. Hear me, children of God. Surrounding
the throne of God on which he sits, from which he rules, is
His covenant. And nothing comes to pass except
according to that covenant. The throne, a rainbow about the
throne, in sight like unto an emerald, that glorious, glorious
great covenant. Now, here's the third thing,
verses 4 through 11 of chapter 4. And round about the throne
were four and twenty seats, and four and twenty elders. Now,
let's look at these people. Who are these four and twenty
They're the ones for whom the seats were made. How many folks
are there? As many as there are seats provided.
No empty places. Who are they? They're described
in Revelation 7, I believe it is, as the 144,000. A specific
number given for an indefinite number. That is, the 144,000 representing the
whole of God's elect. the whole Israel of God, the
whole Church of God, here sat these four and twenty elders
upon these four and twenty seats. And as they sat there, they are
clothed in white raiment, perfectly pure, righteous, holy, unblameable,
without sin, without guilt, without defilement. And they had on their
crowns of gold. I've got to pause a minute. In these days of religious tomfoolery,
and it's been going on for a while, Baptists and Protestants have
quickly adopted the Roman Catholic doctrine of purgatory. You'll
hear it preached everywhere. Now, they don't call it that.
They call it degrees of reward in heaven. I hear folks Folks
sometimes who claim to believe grace say, oh, I had a fellow
standing at the pulpit at lookout one time when I was pastor there.
I was flabbergasted when I heard him say it. He said, you're going
to spend eternity weeping for every day. I thought, my soul. Are you talking about heaven
or hell? He was talking about purgatory. That's what he was
talking about. Don't I have to make up for your sins sometime?
No. All false. That there are degrees
of reward for God's saints in heaven are nothing on this earth
but works religion teaching that somehow you must suffer for your
sins and make up for your sins. And somehow God's going to honor
you for something you do. What nonsense. By works. Promising reward or threatening
punishment. Oh no, no, that's not what we
said. We said loss of reward. What's the difference? What's the difference? My daughter
growing up, she gets in trouble using something I've got her.
You know what I do with it? I take it away. It's called punishment. I take away privileges. Take
away things that she enjoyed. It's called punishment. That's
all on earth it is. These 24 hours, all of them,
had on their heads golden crowns. All of them. But, Preacher, doesn't
the Bible talk about different crowns? It does. It talks about
a crown of life. And that crown of life is promised
to everyone who is faithful to Christ. Do you know who is faithful
to Christ? All His people are. All of them. This scripture speaks of a crown
of righteousness. It's promised to everyone who
loves Christ in His appearance. Reckon that includes me? Everyone
who believes does. Scripture talks about a crown
of rejoicing, awaiting those who seek God's salvation in Christ. That's all who believe. They're
seeking His salvation. The Scripture speaks of a crown
of glory, which shall be the reward of our union with Christ.
There again, it's talking about all believers. It speaks of an
incorruptible crown that shall adorn the brow of everyone raised
in incorruption, an incorruptible crown for all God's people. And all these crowns are one
crown. Listen to this. And that day
shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory and a diadem
of beauty unto the residue of the people. You mean Christ is everything?
I've been trying to tell you that. Yeah. He's the prize we
seek. He is all now, and He will be
all tomorrow, and He shall be all forever in Heaven's glory. Look at verse 5. And out of the
throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices. I don't
know exactly what that means, but whatever it means, it's included
in this. And through him and to him are
all things. Out of this throne, this throne
on which the triune God sits embodied in the person of our
Redeemer, this throne encircled with the rainbow of God's covenant,
out of this throne proceeds lightnings and thunderings and voices, that
which frightens and terrifies. and startles, and that which
calms and eases and comforts, all come alike out of this throne.
And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne,
perfect holiness, which are the seven spirits of God, the perfection
of God's being. Verse six, And before the throne
there was a sea of glass likened to crystal. And in the midst
of the throne and round about the throne were four beasts full
of eyes before and behind." Four beasts. The word might better
be translated, living creatures. That's accurate. Four beasts.
I have somewhere back in my study a book. We used it when I was
in college. Some of you have seen such nonsense.
A book by a fellow named Clarence Larkin. on seven dispensations. And man, he's got some pictures
in there that will scare the liver out of you trying to describe
these things that John saw. What John saw here were good
things. They were good things. He's not
talking about monsters, he's talking about living creatures.
They're the same things that Isaiah described as seraphs,
fixed on each end of the mercy seat, looking toward the center
where atonement was made with six wings, with two to cover
their faces, and with two to cover their feet, and with two
to swiftly fly, doing the command of him whom they worshipped and
served. Who are these beasts? Why, they're
gospel preachers. Gospel preachers who lead God's
people in worship. Let me show you. They are gifted
with spiritual wisdom, have eyes before and behind. They're gifted
with grace and knowledge. Turn to Jeremiah 3.15. This is God's promise. He says
to his church, I will give you pastors according to my heart,
but that's not the end of the promise, which shall feed you
with knowledge and understanding, not with knowledge they have
acquired by great learning, not with knowledge they got in college
or seminary or through the books, not with understanding they got
from wise counselors, but with the knowledge of God as he's
revealed in his word and understanding the need you have of him. They
are wise men. And the first beast was like
a lion, like a lion. What is it that characterizes
a lion more than anything else? He's not afraid of anything.
Courage and boldness. And if a man doesn't have courage,
doesn't have boldness, it's because he's not sin of God. That man
who is given a commission from God Almighty to proclaim the
gospel of his grace, knows whose servant he is, and knows who
sent him, and he has boldness as a lion. And the second beast
is like a calf, like a strong ox. And the third beast had a
face as a man. He's got compassion, and he feels
for you, and he understands what you go through and He puts his
britches on the same way you do, backwards most of the time.
He knows where you are and what you go through. And the fourth
beast was like a flying eagle, soaring in heaven. He preaches
to you here. He labors for you here. But his
work is heavenly. And he fetches his message from
there, verse 8. And the four beasts had each
of them six wings, wings with which they covered their faces
and their feet with humility before God, and wings with which
they swiftly fly ready to do His will as God sends them. Six
wings about them, and they were full of eyes, wise beasts, eyes
within, and they rest not day and night. They rest not day
and night. Paul speaks of honoring those
who labor in the Word and the doctrine, honoring those who
labor among you. A faithful man, a faithful man
labors for your soul, labors for your soul. I've made it my
practice from the day I began pastoring to this day, no man
I preach to anywhere spends more time in labor week after week
than the one preaching to you. I ain't going to let it happen
as long as God gives me breath and grace to do so. God's servants
labor in the Word. But that's not the reason. Because
delight to labor in the Word. Labor for your souls as they
that watch over you who must give account. Day and night laboring
in the Word and the doctrine and the work of the gospel. I
was talking to Brother Lindsey. Tuesday night I think it was,
several years ago, one of these conferences for preachers. They
had a Bible conference and the preachers were, it was on burnout
in the ministry. And this fellow preached six
sermons on burnout in the ministry. I got burned out listening to
one of them. Somebody sent the things to me. I thought, my soul,
burnout in the ministry. I can see you going crazy loading
freight. I can see you going crazy working as a judge or a
politician. I can see you going crazy being
lazy and doing nothing. But laboring in the Word of God.
What foolishness! Oh, no. They labor, rest not
day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
which is, which was, and is, and is to come. Holy is the triune
God, the delivering God, the omnipotent God, the eternal God. And they lead the saints in worship.
Watch this, verse And when those beasts give glory and honor and
thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth forever and
ever, 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, saying, Thou art
worthy, O Lord." This is what preaching really
is. is what preaching really is. It's leading God's people
to bow before the throne and worship Him. That's it. It's leading God's people to
see Christ in His glory, bow before the throne and worship
Him. They take these crowns, not crowns
they had earned, but crowns He had earned and given to them
by His grace. and they cast them before his
throne, saying, Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us. Unto thy
name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake, with
a deep sense of gratitude, awe and reverence before him. Thou
art worthy, O Lord, to receive honor, to receive glory and honor
and power, for thou hast created all things. Why did he do that? Brother Bob Reddick Meckernoff,
the author of Proverbs 16.4. The Lord hath made all things
for himself. Thou hast created all things for thy pleasure. This is shocking news to this
generation. God didn't make the world for
you. And the world doesn't revolve around you. And God doesn't owe
you something. And the world doesn't owe you
something. He made the world for his pleasure. And Darvin
could, he made you for his pleasure, and me, and yours, and mine. For his pleasure. That is, for
his glory, as he willed to do it. For thy pleasure they are
and were created. That is, that which he did in
the beginning, and that which he executes in providence in
time, is all for his pleasure. Read on. just as though there
were no chapter break. Next thing we'll look at is the
book. Verse 1 of chapter 5, And I saw in the right hand of him
that sat on the throne a book, a book written within, and on
the back side it was written. It had writing all over it, all
over it, even on the back. And it was sealed, sealed tight,
shut. Sealed with seven seals. Sealed
with seals of perfection and grace. Seven seals. And I saw
a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to
open the book and to loose the seals thereof? Who has the ability? You'll see that in the next verse.
Who in all This great host who has the ability to come and take
this book and open the seals and show us what's written in
the book and fulfill it. I had no question at all what
the book is. Obviously, it is an allegory. John's not talking
about a literal book. He's talking, David, about God's
everlasting purpose. The book of God's eternal decree. The book out of which all things
come. Look at verse 3. And no man in
heaven, no man in earth, neither under the earth, was able to
open the book. He couldn't even peek inside.
No man able to look on it. No man. No man. Verse 4. And
I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open the book.
and to read the book, neither to look thereof. And one of the
elders says unto me, weep not. Stop crying. Stop crying. Oh,
I don't know what's going on in the world. Oh, I don't know
what's going to happen tomorrow. Oh, it's a terrible place to
raise that child. Oh, no! Stop crying! Do you or do you
not believe God? Stop crying! As though God died,
he's sitting on his throne. Read on. One of the elders said
to me, weep not. Behold, the Lion of the tribe
of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book
and to loose the seven seals thereof. And you know what he's
doing right now? You know what he's doing? He's
loosening the seals. He read the book, and he said,
Father, I'll fulfill it all. Give me your people. And he's
loosening the seals. Now watch the Lamb in verse 6.
And I beheld and lo, in the midst of the throne, in the midst of
the four beasts, in the midst of the elders, right in the middle
of everything, that which is the focal point, as the decorators
would like to say. That which is the centerpiece,
that which is the fullness of all, stood a Lamb as it had been
slain. Stephen recognized Him as He
stood, didn't he? He recognized Him as stood a
Lamb, the Lamb of God, slain from the foundation of the world,
having seven horns, perfect power, seven eyes, perfect wisdom. which are the seven spirits of
God sent forth into all the earth. That is, the horns of His power,
the wisdom of His being governs the universe. And He came. Now, I love it. Watch this. What'd He do? Remember, He's
the Word, who in the beginning was with God, face to face with
God, the Word who was God. He didn't have to come and ask
for anything. He came. and took the book. He's the one
who wrote it. He took the book. He's the one
who fulfilled it. He's the one of whom it speaks,
out of the right hand of the triune God that sat on the throne.
Now, turn to Revelation chapter 10. You see the same Lamb, the
same great God-man, portrayed as he often is in the book of
Revelation, as well as in the Old Testament, as a mighty angel.
And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed
with the cloud, and a rainbow was upon his head. That same
bow we saw encircling the throne. And his face was as it were the
sun, and his feet pillars of fire. And he had in his hand
a little book. A little book. A little book.
How can that be? If this is the book of God's
decrees, sometimes folks say, you folks just believe just a
little handful is going to be saved. Well, it depends on whose
head you're talking about. In his head, it's a little handful.
In his head, the book is small. This world is just a speck in
his head. He has the whole of God's purpose
and the whole of God's work in his infinite hand. And he had his right foot on
the sea, and his left foot on the earth. And he cried with
a loud voice, as when a lion roareth. And when he had cried,
seven thunders uttered their voices. And he says, let's see
what's on the next page. There he stands. Can you see
him? standing over the earth with the book of God's decree
in his hand as that one to whom God has given power over all
flesh, and he's fulfilling that which is written in the book.
Verse 8, Revelation 5, And when he had taken the book, the four
beasts and the four twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having
every one of them hearts and golden vials full of odors. which
are the prayers of the saints. Here they are. We offer up prayers
and sacrifices acceptable to God by Christ Jesus. He holds
them in a vial. The prayers of the saints. Golden
vials full of sweet odors. For the darkened red, we know
that if he hears of us, we have the petitions that we desire
of him. What does that mean? Well, boy, if you just have enough
faith and you need a new Cadillac, God'll give you a new Cadillac.
Or if you need two of them, God'll give you two of them. If you
want a spare to sit in the garage and show off, God'll give you
a third one. Just believe God, it's all up to you. No, no. These are not the lust of the
saints. They're the prayers of the saints.
What are they? Our Father, which art in heaven,
hallowed be Thy Name. God glorify Yourself. Thy kingdom
come. God save your people. Thy will
be done in earth as it is in heaven. My God, forgive me what
I want. Cause me to want what you want.
Give us this day our daily bread. Give me what I need. Oh God,
forgive my debts. Keep me from temptation. Deliver
me from evil. Not me only, us, your people. For thine is the kingdom and
the power and the glory forever. Amen. Verse 9, And they summoned
you, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open
the seals thereof. How come? For this reason thou
wast slain. slain in our room and in our
stead with our sin upon you, our sin made yours, our guilt,
your guilt, our transgressions, your transgressions, our wrath,
your wrath, our death, your death. And having been slain, thou hast
redeemed us." I was thinking today, driving back from Lexington,
there are so many words in the Bible, few people understand
redeemed. If you understand it, if you're doing it, but when
God does it, folks say, But he made an effort. No, redeemed
means he bought out. Redeemed out. Redeemed us to
God by thy precious blood. Watch this now. Along with everybody
else in the world. I'll give you a hundred dollar
bill right now for any translation anywhere in the world that says
that. And yet preachers preach it all the time. Redeemed us
to God by thy blood out of every kindred, tongue, people, and
nation, verse 10, and has made us unto our God kings and priests. Kings and priests. Every believer. Men who by grace, by Christ ruling
within, are no longer ruled by their passions, but rule their
passions. Are no longer ruled by the world,
but rule the world. and priest, folks who live continually
in the holy place, drawing nigh to God. And we shall reign on
the earth. David Comer, we're doing that
right now. We're learning to do it. And we're going to reign
in a new earth forever. Verse 11, And I beheld and heard
the voice of many angels round about the throne, and the beast
And the elders and the number of them was 10,000 times 10,000
and thousands of thousands. This is the church of the firstborn
whose names are written in heaven, to the spirits of just men made
perfect, to the angels of God, all the elect, all the redeemed,
all the called, all the saints, every sinner who believes on
the Son of God. Verse 12, saying with a loud
voice, worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and
riches. and wisdom, and strength, and
honor, and glory, and blessing. Every saved soul, every saved
sinner, every holy angel, and every man or woman made holy
by God's grace in Christ says, worthy is the Lamb of the Lord. Glory goes nowhere else. But
they're not the only ones. Look at verse 13. and every creature
which is in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and such
as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying,
blessing, and honor, and glory, and power be unto him that sitteth
on the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever." You mean
Brother Dodd? Everything that is, and has been,
and shall be, shall praise him? That's what he said. I don't
have any idea. I don't have any idea how Satan
and his being and his evil will praise Him. I don't have any
idea how ungodly, reprobate men shall praise Him. I don't have
any idea how earthquakes and tsunamis and forest fires and
disasters and plagues and disease will praise Him. I don't have
any idea. I don't have any idea how men who forever curse Him
in hell will praise Him, but blessed be His name. Of this
I'm sure everything shall praise God my Savior. There's a day
coming called the time of the restitution of all things, when
all things shall praise His name. And the four beasts and the preachers
said, Amen. That's just the way we want it. That's just the way we want it.
Oh, my God, I want everything to praise You. I want everything
to honor You. All who are His servants say,
Amen. And the four and twenty elders
fell down and worshiped Him that liveth forever and ever. All
of them. And they said, Amen. Oh, that
will be glory for Him. Amen.