Let us bow our hearts and glorify Thy name.
Please turn to the book of Revelation. We will read Revelation 4:1-5 and Revelation 5:1-10.
After these things I saw, and behold, a door opened in heaven, and the first voice that I heard, as of a trumpet speaking with me, one saying, Come up hither, and I will show thee the things which must come to pass hereafter.
Straightway I was in the Spirit: and behold, there was a throne set in heaven, and one sitting upon the throne;
And He that sat was to look upon like a jasper stone and a sardius: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, like an emerald to look upon.
And round about the throne were four and twenty thrones: and upon the thrones I saw four and twenty elders sitting, arrayed in white garments; and on their heads crowns of gold.
And out of the throne proceed lightnings and voices and thunders. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
And I saw in the right hand of Him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the back, close sealed with seven seals.
And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a great voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?
And no one in the heaven, or on the earth, or under the earth, was able to open the book, or to look thereon.
And I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open the book, or to look thereon:
And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not; behold, the Lion that is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath overcome to open the book and the seven seals thereof.
And I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, having seven horns, and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth.
And He came, and He taketh it out of the right hand of Him that sat on the throne.
And when He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having each one a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
And they sing a new song, saying, Worthy art Thou to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for Thou wast slain, and didst purchase unto God with Thy blood men of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation,
And madest them to be unto our God a kingdom and priests; and they reign upon earth.
When we were together last time, we mentioned that the book of Revelation is the book of the revelation of Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact, the whole Bible is the revelation of Jesus Christ, but especially this last book. It is called The Revelation, and the first verse of the first chapter says, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him, to show unto His servants.”
There is one thing that is in the very heart of God, and this is the only thing that God is concerned with and wants us to know: the revelation of His Son, Jesus Christ. Actually, nothing really matters but the revelation of Jesus Christ. If we have the revelation of Jesus Christ, we have everything. If we do not have the revelation of Jesus Christ, no matter how much we have, we have nothing.
It is the revelation of Jesus Christ. When God reveals His Son, then we see His Son. To God, it is revelation; to us, it is vision. So we mentioned that in this last book, the book of Revelation, there are a series of visions concerning Jesus Christ.
Last time, when we were together, we were on the first vision. The first vision of the Lord Jesus, as we find in the book of Revelation, is recorded in Revelation 1. John saw One like unto the Son of Man standing in the midst of seven golden lampstands.
This One who is like the Son of Man, we know, is our Lord Jesus—the risen Lord. The seven golden lampstands stand for the seven churches in Asia, which represent all the church of God throughout the ages. In this vision, we see our Lord Jesus as the glorious Head over His Body.
The Body is the fullness of Him that filleth all in all. How we need to see our glorious Head: how glorious He is, how full He is—full of righteousness, full of love, full of wisdom, full of power and authority, full of beauty. All that He is is meant for the Body.
In other words, as Head over His Body, He desires to fill His Body with what He is. At the same time, we find that the One who is like the Son of Man in the midst of the seven golden lampstands is not only the glorious Head over the Body, but He is also the High Priest serving in the true sanctuary.
We do thank God that whatever He expects us to be, He is the High Priest who supplies that to us. So this is the first vision that we need to see: the relationship of our Lord Jesus, who is in heaven today, with His church on earth now. This relationship is the relationship of the Head to the Body, and of the High Priest to the temple.
This morning, we would like to come to the second vision of our Lord Jesus in the book of Revelation. This second vision is found in Revelation 4 and 5.
John said that heaven was opened, and he was in the Spirit. There he saw something. He said he saw a throne in heaven.
Now, dear brothers and sisters, if heaven is opened to us, if we are in the Spirit of rapture, what will we see in heaven? We will see the throne—the throne of God. On earth we see the cross, but in heaven we see the throne.
If we do not see the throne in heaven, it is because heaven is not opened to us. If we do not see the throne in heaven, it is because we are not in the Spirit of rapture. Whoever is in the Spirit of rapture, and heaven is really opened to him—in other words, he has access to heaven and can see through into heaven—will invariably see one thing there: the throne of God.
No matter what happens on earth, there is one thing in heaven that never changes, and it is the throne of God. When John saw the throne in heaven, he saw it undisturbed.
Yes, in history there was the rebellion of the archangel. In history there was the fall of man. But whether there was the rebellion of the archangel or the fall of man, it did not change anything in heaven. The throne of God is still there. It never changes.
You remember the psalmist said in Psalm 45:6:
Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever:
A sceptre of equity is the sceptre of Thy kingdom.
The throne of God is in heaven. On earth there is confusion. On earth many things have happened, but in heaven the throne is set for ever and ever.
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of the throne of God. Lovingkindness and truth go before His face. The throne of God is there in heaven, and heaven rules over the earth. No matter what happens on earth, heaven is above the earth. Heaven rules and overrules the things upon the earth.
Dear brothers and sisters, there is one thing that we need to see, and that is the throne of God. Oftentimes, you know, we are surrounded by things that happen on this earth. We are occupied with those things that confront us in our immediate circumstances, and we are disturbed by the things that are going on—maybe in our city, maybe in our country, maybe in the world.
When we are occupied by these things, we lose sight of the throne of God. Sometimes we think that evil seems to have its way. It seems as if Satan is truly the ruler of this earth.
But, dear brothers and sisters, this is the time that we need to have an open heaven. We need to be in a spirit of rapture. We need to see the throne of God. If we do, then we will rise above our circumstances. We will be delivered from confusion, disturbance, disappointment, and discouragement. We will be joined to that throne, and because of that we will be able to be kings and priests unto God.
The throne of God—all power and authority—is there. Everything proceeds from that throne. Whatever happens on earth is not outside the power and authority of the throne of God. This is something that we must see.
John saw the throne and One who sits upon the throne. We know the One who sits upon the throne is our God. But, of course, no one can see God. God is Spirit, and no one can see God.
What John saw was One who sits upon the throne. He said He was like in appearance to a stone of jasper and sardius. In other words, John did not really see God, because God could not be seen; but John received an impression of God.
God is here presented to us in colours. You see colours, and with those colours you get an impression. The colour of jasper is blue, like the heavens; it is a blue colour. The colour of sardius is red. There is a rainbow all around the throne.
When we see a rainbow, we usually see perhaps a half-circle at most. But here you find the rainbow all around the throne. It is a full circle of the rainbow. Of course, we know a rainbow is a blending of all colours, but in that blending one colour stands out because it is like an emerald. The colour of emerald is green.
So, dear brothers and sisters, you see here beautiful colours giving us an impression of the One who sits upon the throne: blue, the heavenly colour, speaking of being heavenly; red, the royal colour, speaking of royalty; and green, the colour of life.
The impression given to us is that our God is so heavenly, so majestic and royal, and so full of life. It is like a stone. A stone speaks of stability and permanence, and being precious stones, it gives us the sense of value.
In other words, the impression created by this vision of God upon the throne is that our God is full of value. He is stable like a rock, and He is so beautiful, heavenly, royal, and full of life. This is the God who sits upon the throne.
Now, of course, we know Revelation 4 is a description of the glory of the Creator. The glory of the Creator extends throughout the period of creation. There you find God on the throne, reigning over His creation.
The whole creation is represented by the four living creatures. These four living creatures represent the whole creation before God, and the twenty-four elders represent the government of God over His creation. So, in other words, you find here a vision of God on the throne, ruling over this whole creation.
There is no interruption. There is no intermission. From the day that God created the whole creation, He has been reigning over it without interruption.
Then you find the seven Spirits of God, like the seven lamps of fire burning there, and there were lightnings and thunders. In other words, the throne of God is very active. It is not that God created everything and then left creation to work out its own way.
No. As God created the universe, as God created the creatures—the whole creation—He reigns and rules over His creation actively. Lightnings and thunders describe action, and it is in the power and energy of the Holy Spirit.
Now, brothers and sisters, I do want you to get such an impression, because we are living in a very difficult time. We are living at the end of the end days, and because we are living in such a time, so many things are happening on earth with such intensity and speed. There is so much confusion.
If we do not have such a vision of the throne of God—of the One who sits upon the throne and actively reigns over His whole creation—brothers and sisters, our faith may lose its focus. We may lose hope, and our love may grow cold. So it is of vital importance that we see the vision of the throne of God.
Ever since God created His creation, He has been sitting on the throne. He has been active in governing His creation. He is reigning over His creation, and this never changes. Do not be deceived by what appears to you on earth, but believe what God has revealed to you: God is on the throne, and He does rule and reign over all these things.
Now, even though in Revelation 4 we do not think the whole creation or the angelic host is seen praising God, yet we find they are represented by the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders.
The four living creatures, who represent the creation, cry out day and night:
Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God, the Almighty,
Who was and Who is and Who is to come.
The whole creation is praising God the Creator. You may never see this. It is true that when you look into history, the whole creation has entered into vanity and is now under the bondage of corruption. The whole creation groans.
Yet, dear brothers and sisters, if you rise above appearance and get into reality, if you are delivered from time and get into eternity, what will you see? You will see the whole creation, as represented by the four living creatures, praising God all the time without end—not groaning, but praising.
While they are doing that, the twenty-four elders worship God, and they reveal the purpose of creation to us. Why is it that the whole creation is praising God? Because God has created them for His own pleasure. It is for His pleasure that they are created.
In other words, the purpose of creation is revealed. The purpose of creation is to please God, to make God happy, to satisfy His heart. The whole creation was not created for itself. The whole creation was created for God and for God’s satisfaction.
This is the picture we see in Revelation 4, but this is only part of the vision. There is another part shown to us in Revelation 5.
In Revelation 5, it seems as if something has happened. In Revelation 4, it does not give you the impression that anything has happened. Since the day that God created, it seems that everything goes on according to God’s purpose, and nothing is really changed. Thank God, that is so.
But when you come to Revelation 5, you notice that something has happened. The Spirit of God recognizes that something had happened to creation. There was the rebellion of the archangel. There was the fall of man. As man fell into the hands of Satan, Satan organized this world into a system to resist God.
Satan became the usurper of this world. May I say, he was the squatter. He occupied, as it were, God’s creation and organized it into a world system to resist God.
But when Revelation 5 opens, John saw One sitting on the throne, holding a book—a scroll—in His hand. That scroll was written within and without, and it was sealed with seven seals.
This scroll, as we know today, is the title deed of creation. God created the whole creation, and He holds the title deed. In other words, Satan may usurp all this earth, and yet God has not given up His ownership.
Do not think that because Satan seems to occupy this earth and usurp it, he owns it. He does not. The ownership is still in God’s hand.
Now the declaration of the strong angel goes forth: “Who is worthy to take the book and to open the seven seals?” In other words, the ownership is in God’s hand, but God needs Someone to execute His will. God needs Someone to bring the whole creation back to Him as it was originally designed.
That is the problem. The problem is not with ownership; God never gives up His ownership. The problem is: who is able to take the whole thing back and bring the whole creation into subjection to God’s purpose?
The One who is to do that has to be worthy. So the proclamation goes out: “Who is worthy to take the book and open the seven seals?”
There must have been such suspense. There was no one worthy in heaven, on earth, or under the earth. There was no one worthy. When time began to pass and there was no answer, no one came forward. John wept much.
In other words, he thought it was finished. The whole creation was finished. It was out of God’s hand now, in the hand of Satan, and it would not be recovered or released. So John wept much.
Then he was comforted by one of the elders, who said, “Do not weep. There is One who is worthy.” Who is the worthy One? The Lion of the tribe of Judah and the Root of David.
At that moment, John saw, dear brothers and sisters, a Lamb standing as though newly slain. He came forward and took the scroll out of the hand of the One who sits upon the throne. When He took it, praises burst forth from the four living creatures and the elders. They played the harp and offered the incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
Revelation 5 is the scene of the ascension of our Lord Jesus. In the book of Acts, the Lord led His disciples to the Mount of Olives, and there He was taken up. They saw Him going up, and then a cloud received Him so that they could not see Him.
But they were still looking up because the cloud was going up and up and up. Two men in white apparel appeared and said:
Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was received up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye beheld Him going into heaven.
So our Lord Jesus ascended up to heaven, but no one saw the scene of His ascension—what happened when He arrived in heaven. We know He arrived. How do we know? Because on the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit was poured forth. There was the evidence that He had arrived in heaven. He was anointed, and then it all came down from the Head to the very skirt of the garment.
But nobody saw the scene of His ascension. Here in Revelation 5, we are shown the scene of His ascension. Historically speaking, Revelation 5 gives us the scene of the ascension of our Lord Jesus.
Why? Because He was there as a Lamb newly slain. He was slain two thousand years ago, but He was seen as a Lamb newly slain. It was only forty days after His resurrection. A Lamb newly slain.
When He ascended up to heaven, what happened? He took from God’s hand that scroll. In other words, He was made the heir of all things.
You remember Psalm 2. God said:
Ask of Me, and I will give Thee the nations for Thine inheritance,
And the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession.
Here you find our Lord Jesus. He is the heir of all creation. He received the ownership of all creation. He is the heir of all things, and now it is up to Him to open the seals—that is to say, to execute the will of God and to bring all things into subjection to God.
He is worthy. Why? Because He has overcome. He has overcome sin. He has overcome the flesh. He has overcome the world. He has overcome Satan, who is the usurper of this world. In other words, on Calvary’s cross He has won the victory.
There on Calvary’s cross, He bore our sins—the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. There on Calvary’s cross, He put away the old man. Our old man was crucified with Him, and the flesh was dealt with.
There on the cross, the world was crucified. Though the world crucified Him, yet on the cross He crucified the world. There on the cross, He stripped Satan of his power and made a public show of him, triumphing over him through the cross.
In other words, here you find in this Lamb the only One in the whole universe who is worthy. Nobody has ever overcome sin. Nobody has ever overcome the flesh. Nobody has ever overcome the world. Nobody has ever overcome Satan. But here you find our Lord Jesus, the Conqueror.
On the cross, He has overcome sin, the flesh, the world, and Satan. Because He has overcome, He has the power to execute the will of God. It is a matter of worthiness, and worthiness is based upon His overcoming.
Dear brothers and sisters, our Lord Jesus has already won the victory on Calvary’s cross. He is now crowned with glory and honour. He is made the heir of all things, and He sits at the right hand of God, waiting for His enemies to be made His footstool.
He will bring everything into subjection to Christ, and after that is done, then He will give all things back to God. This is 1 Corinthians 15.
The angel declares, “The Lion of the tribe of Judah, He has overcome.” But when John saw, he saw the Lamb. The declaration is a lion; the vision is the Lamb.
The lion and the lamb are two opposites. The lion speaks of majesty, strength, and power. The lion instils a sense of fear and awe. The lion devours.
But the lamb speaks of meekness and lowliness. A lamb gives us an impression of love. A lamb is to be sacrificed. In other words, the lion and the lamb are two opposites, and yet you find they are joined together in Christ.
The lion power of our Lord Jesus is in His lamb nature. It is a Lamb in the midst of the throne.
When Solomon built his throne, it is very interesting. If you read the Old Testament, you find Solomon built his throne with lions around it, because lions speak of royalty and majesty. Yet here you find the One in the midst of the throne is a Lamb.
The Lamb is in the midst of the throne. In other words, His victory, His power, and His overcoming are in His lowliness and meekness.
What is lowliness? What is meekness? Philippians 2 says that, being in the form of God, He counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bondservant.
He took the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross. That is lowliness. That is meekness.
Lowliness and meekness mean selflessness. Here you find our Lord Jesus overcoming sin, the flesh, the world, and Satan because of His lamb nature—His selflessness, His willingness to empty Himself, His willingness to humble Himself even unto death, His obedience to the Father, and His sacrifice of Himself for the whole world.
That is where His strength is. That is where His victory is: a Lamb in the midst of the throne.
Sacrifice is the picture of the glory of the Redeemer. So far as redemption is concerned, man is in the very centre of the redemptive work of God.
That is the reason why, when the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures sing that new song, it is a song of redemption. They sing how God has redeemed us out of every tribe, tongue, people, and nation, and has made us kings and priests unto God. What a redemption that is!
But, dear brothers and sisters, being redeemed, here you find the saints pray. The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures offer up incense, which are the prayers of the saints. In other words, we who are redeemed must begin to pray right away.
It is because of the prayer of the church that the whole creation is being restored to Christ. So far as the foundation is concerned, it is already laid. The foundation of victory has already been laid. Christ has already overcome every force that holds back creation from God’s purpose.
Christ has broken all the powers that bind creation. He has already overcome, and now it is left to the church to pray:
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.
As the church prays, the victory of Christ will be executed upon all things until all things are brought into subjection.
Ephesians 1:22-23 says that God gave Christ to be Head over all things to the church, which is His Body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all.
In other words, we are kings and priests. Do not think that we will only be priests and kings in the millennium, in the kingdom of God that is to come. No, brothers and sisters, He has washed us with His blood and made us kings and priests unto God today.
In what sense are we kings and priests unto God? In the sense that, being united with Christ, we are priests who pray, and we are kings who rule. The victory of Christ shall bear upon all things through the cooperation of the church.
I often say the work of the church today is the mopping up. The victory is won, and we are to go forth to mop up—to apply the victory of Christ and to bring all things into subjection in Christ. That is the commission committed to the church.
That is the reason why the Lord says, “Whatever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Kings and priests unto God.
As you read Revelation 5, immediately you find the angelic hosts and all creation beginning to sing anthems of praise. It is as if all creation has been restored. It is already restored.
Dear brothers and sisters, when you look into history, you have the past, the present, and the future. But when you look into reality, there is no past and there is no future; it is always present.
Therefore, even though this is the scene of the ascension of our Lord Jesus, you find the whole creation bursting forth in praises as if the whole creation has been restored. Historically, we are waiting for the restoration of all things. Spiritually, it is all restored.
Every knee has already bowed. Every tongue has already confessed that Jesus is Lord. Oh, wonderful! How wonderful it is!
Dear brothers and sisters, this is a vision that God wants us to see concerning our Lord Jesus: to see the throne of God.
If we really see the throne of God, the first effect upon us will be that we submit ourselves to God and His authority.
What is the use of talking about the throne of God if we are only thinking in terms of the world knowing His authority, unless we ourselves first know the throne of God? The throne of God that sits in heaven must be set in our hearts.
If the throne of God is not set in our hearts, we do not see the throne of God in heaven. The first aspect of seeing the throne of God in heaven is that we will bow before God and say, “Lord, set Thy throne in my heart.”
If we do, then out of us will come forth the authority and power of the throne of God. Do not expect that the authority and power of God’s throne will be manifested in and through us if we ourselves have not submitted to His authority.
But if we do, then the throne of God will manifest its power and authority through us.
Who is in the midst of the throne? The Lamb in the midst of the throne. Brothers and sisters, if ever we desire to be in touch with the throne, we must have the life of the Lamb.
You know, in our human mentality, it is very difficult to connect these two things. We cannot connect a lion with a lamb.
Before our Lord Jesus was crucified, you remember John and James came with their mother. I often laugh at it because it was such a manoeuvre—a clever manoeuvre.
The mother of John and James, the three of them, came to the Lord and said, “Allow us to ask a favour; give it to us.” They wanted Him to sign a blank check.
The Lord said, “What do you want?” They said, “Let one of my sons sit on Thy right hand, and one on Thy left.” In other words, they wanted throne and authority—one sitting on the right and one sitting on the left.
The Lord said, “Can ye drink the cup that I am about to drink? Can ye be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” Without really knowing what they meant, these two sons were so anxious for the throne that they said, “Yes, we can.”
The Lord said, “Ye shall indeed drink of My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on My right hand, and on My left hand, is not Mine to give, but it is for them for whom it hath been prepared of My Father.”
In other words, we cannot connect the throne with baptism. We cannot connect the throne with the cup. To us, the throne and baptism are two opposites. If you are baptized, if you drink the cup, you are at the lowest end. If you sit on the throne, you are at the highest end.
But, dear brothers and sisters, what the Lord is trying to teach us is that there is a Lamb in the throne—a Lamb in the midst of the throne. What He is, He has set as an example for us.
If we want to reach the throne, we have to be like lambs, not like lions. The disciples tried for the throne like lions; they devoured each other. But there is the Lamb.
Unless we have the spirit of the Lamb manifested in our lives, we are not in the midst of the throne. Our authority and our power are in the spirit of Christ.
Oh, dear brothers and sisters, may we catch that vision. May we see the Lord in the midst of the throne. May we see that God reigns. May we see that our Lord Jesus has already overcome.
May we see that He is now executing the will of God concerning the whole creation. May we see our part in it. It is through the church that God will bring all things into subjection.
One day there will be the restoration of all things. In other words, the whole creation will be restored to the original design of God—created for His good pleasure. Praise God.
Our heavenly Father, we do pray that by Thy Holy Spirit we may be given a vision of Thy Son as the Lamb in the midst of the throne.
Oh, may we see that He has overcome. He is the heir of all things. He is worthy to open the book, and He is executing Thy will. There is no question about the outcome.
Lord, we also ask Thee, as Thou dost show us Thy Son, our Lord Jesus, as the Lamb in the midst of the throne, that Thou wilt teach us the lesson that we need to learn.
Oh, that we may be filled with the spirit of the Lamb, that we may be in touch with Thy throne and be given authority and power in working together with Thee for the restoration of all things, to the praise and glory of God.
In Thy precious name. Amen.