Study 9 – Exhortation – The book of Revelation by Neville Clark – Enfield’s Special Effort – The throne in heaven

Study 9  – Exhortation –

The book of Revelation by Neville Clark – Enfield’s Special Effort –

The throne in heaven

Reading Revelation Ch 4.

Two parallel chronologies of history

The book of Revelation, as I think we are well aware now, is basically the story of two parallel chronologies of history, one secular, and the other religious, speaking, of course, of the development over time of the Roman Empire. Punctuating that history, are future visions of the kingdom age which are there specifically to edify the saints in each of the various judgment epochs of that Roman History. This morning, by way of exhortation we are going to consider the vision of Revelation Chs 4 and 5. But before we turn there, I want to establish the foundation back in Philip Ch 2. This is a section of verses which is very well known to us. I’m speaking of course of Philip Ch2:5-11, most well-known to us, perhaps, in the context of the fact that the churches use these verses to prove the Trinity. The  question for this morning brothers and sisters is, have you ever read the verses like this?  I’m going to read you the verses 5-11 of Philip. Ch 2 and as we do so, I know they are well known to you, so as you read down them, paint the picture of what these verses are describing on  the canvas of your mind. I’m going to say, what do you see? “Let this mind be in you, v 5, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and then found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross Wherefore God also has highly exalted him and given him a name above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.”

Well, what did you see? Well, I suppose, in the very centre of the vision you would in your mind have Christ in the centre, of course. Was he standing or was he sitting in your vision? Well, you can’t tell from these verses. What would he look like? Well he must look something like a servant, because verse 7 says that “he took upon him the form of a servant.” Yes, but he would bear the marks of death wouldn’t he, because V 8 tells you that he has been killed. But he’s been highly exalted, in v 9, so you might now think that he is a king, and in v 10, “on bended knee is all creation,” in fact, it is very specific, by “all creation,” we mean “things in heaven, things in earth and things under the earth.” That’s the angels in heaven, the saints in the earth, the resurrected saints of all ages beneath the earth. And then again, in v 7, there is a great chorus of acclamation because “every tongue,” of those mentioned in v 10, confesses that he is Lord. So there’s the scene, isn’t it, of Philip Ch 2. And perhaps I might suppose, that for every one of us, the picture we think of in that scene would look slightly different, perhaps more detail, perhaps less detail, perhaps the amount of detail we would put upon this picture is based on just how much thought we have given to these verses over time. But here’s the question, If we were to ask how the Lord himself would draw that picture, if we were to ask how he would draw this picture, what would he draw? How would he paint the picture or the vision of Philip Ch 2?

Of course, the answer is, we know already. Come to Revelation Ch 5, because the vision of Philip Ch 2 is precisely described in the vision you have before you in Revelation Chs 4 and 5. Now how do we know we are right? You remember that phrase we read out in Philip Ch 2:10, which spoke of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth, well, those are the precise words of Revelation Ch 5:3, and again, the precise words of Revelation Ch 5:13. Can you see the point, therefore, when we come to the book of Revelation, it is the revelation of Jesus Christ, it is not the revelation of John, it is the revelation of Jesus Christ which he gave to John. What we are saying here is, simply speaking, is that Revelation Chs 4 and 5 are simply an amplification of the vision you just saw by the Apostle Paul in Philip Ch 2. And what do you see in the pictures of Ch 4 and 5? Well, of course, in Ch 4:2 you see Christ on the throne. Is he standing or is he sitting? He’s clearly sitting, he’s on the throne. What does he look like? Well Revelation Ch 4:3 says he looks some combination of Jasper and Sardine, jasper of stone is transparent and Sardine stone is red. And since he is on the throne you might suppose that he looks something like a king, well, that’s true, but not entirely, because when you come down to Ch 5:6, it says that “I beheld and lo, in the midst of the throne, and in the midst of the four living ones, and in the midst of the elders, there stood a lamb as it had been slain.” So there’s the servant bearing the marks of death from Philip Ch 2. And all creation worships him, look at Ch 4:10, “the four and twenty elders fall down before him who sat on the throne, they worship him that live for ever and ever, they cast their crowns, in fact, before the throne, so there are the saints worshiping the king on the throne, and not just the saints, look at Ch 5:11, “and I beheld and hear the voice of many angels around about the throne, and the living ones and the elders.” So we’ve got the saints and we’ve got the angels and what are they saying? Ch 5:12, “Worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power, and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.” Every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord. Can you see therefore that what you have in Revelation 4 and 5 is simply an amplification of the Apostle Paul’s vision of Philip Ch 2, it’s a vision of the kingdom age with Christ on the throne ruling over the world with the saints.

If you were to redraw the picture of Philip Ch 2, perhaps now you could add the detail of Revelation Chs 4 and 5, and doesn’t the picture change. Now there is just one thing we do have to prove, how do we know it is Christ on the throne? It is evidently Christ in Philip 2, we’re suggesting that it is Christ in Revelation 4 and 5, how do we know that? One of the best proofs of the identification of the man on the throne is found in Revelation Ch 4:8. It says here that the four living ones had each of them six wings about them and they were full of eyes within and they rest not day and night saying, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty, which was and is and is to come, and when those living ones gave glory and honor and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who lives forever and ever, then the four and twenty cast their crowns.

Now, look at the note you have in the margin v 8, at the top of the page if you have an Oxford like mine, there is a quotation from Ch 6:2. So Revelation 4:8 is quoting Isaiah 6:2. Now, how does that help us? How does that prove anything? Come back to John 12. What John 12 proves for us is that Isaiah 6 is speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s why it is important to understand that Revelation Ch. 4:8 is quoting Isaiah 6 because that proves that it is Christ on the throne. John 12:37, though Jesus had done so many miracles before them yet they believed not on him that the saying of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled which he spake, “Lord who hath believed our report and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed.” Now that’s Isaiah Ch 53. Keep reading, “therefore they could not believe because that Isaiah said again, and this is Isaiah Ch 6, “he has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts that they should not see with their eyes nor understand with their heart and be converted and I should heal them. These things said Isaiah when he saw his glory and spake of him.” Now who is the “him?” Well, the “him” is the “him” in the next verse, “nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him.” It is the “him” of v 37, “though he had done so many miracles before them, they believed not him.” What’s the point? The point is that Isaiah 6 as the Apostle John quotes it in John Ch 12:40, is speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. These things said Isaiah when they saw Christ’s glory, so when the book of Revelation, in Ch 4:8, quotes Isaiah 6, of  the four living ones, the seraphim around the man on the throne, you know that the man on the throne is the Lord Jesus Christ, because John in his own gospel has told you that. There is proof positive, therefore, when we come to Revelation Ch 4 of the identity of the man on the throne.

Let’s start back in Ch 4, what did John actually see as this vision opened up? Rev 4:1, “After this I looked and behold a door was opened in heaven and he first voice which I heard was, as it were, of a trumpet talking with me which said, John, come up hither and I will show thee things which must be hereafter.” Now a door, the door which is opened. A door is simply an entrance. If you could think of it like this, John walked in vision out of the Isle of Patmos, and into the kingdom age. He just walked through the door of time, into the kingdom age, and sees and event which is yet to happen in John’s future, which he now describes to us. It says here that the door was “in heaven,” and heaven, of course, is the political heaven of the future age. Heaven simply means “government.” Now, how do we know that? Well, if you haven’t got enough references to that from what we have already considered, you might like to turn the page to Rev 6:13, this was the first of the great “earthquakes” in the book of Revelation, and it says in v 13 that the stars of heaven fell to the earth like a fig tree casts its figs. Heaven departs, v 14, as a scroll that is rolled away together, this is the departure of the Government of the pagan Roman Empire, when Constantine introduced Christianity, so the simple point I am making is, that “heaven” is government, it is not the place, or abode, of God in the context of the book of Revelation. Very simple in Rev 4:1, and John says, what’s more, that the voice that spoke to him, was the first voice you heard as it were of a trumpet, that’s a reference to Revelation 1:10 of the angel of that chapter that began to speak to him. The simple point he is making in Rev 4 is that the same angel that spoke to him in Rev 1, is speaking to him again.

Immediately v 2 says, “I was in spirit,” as it ought to be, “and behold a throne was set in heaven and one sat on the throne.” “In spirit” that means, symbolically made immortal, carried in the visions of his mind into the future age where Christ is enthroned in the kingdom, “the throne?” The word “throne” here is the key word of Revelation Ch 4. When you have a spare moment, just color them all in. The word “throne” occurs 14 times in Revelation Ch 4 and it appears in v 4 a couple of times as the word “seat,” it’s the same Greek word. That is interesting you know, because, in that case, where do you think that throne is? Well, of course, it is in Jerusalem, isn’t it? Heaven just means government. What we have a vision of, you see, here, is Christ’s government in Jerusalem and the throne in question of Rev 4:2 is none other than the throne of David which in Luke 1:32 Christ was promised that he would receive. “The Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David,” so what you are looking at is Christ’s government is established in the city of Jerusalem after the conclusion of the battle of Armageddon in the future age.

Revelation 4:3, and he that sat on that throne was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone and there is a rainbow about the throne. I made the comment that “Jasper” is clear and colorless, and “sardine” is red, there is a little more to it than that. Come to Revelation Ch 21. Here is what “Jasper” really means. It is colorless for a reason. In Revelation 21:10, here is the Jasper stone, “he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain and he showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. So the Jasper stone represents the glory of God, that’s the point from Revelation Ch 21. So back to Ch 4, what does the sardine stone represent? Well the sardius means, or the sardine stone, is a red stone, sardius means “red.” In the Hebrew, when you come to the stones of the High Priest’s breastplate, the Hebrew word for sardius is ‘Odin,” similar to the word “Adam,’ and it means “red.” It is a symbol of “flesh.” So you can see the point then about the “man on the throne,”4 v 3, he is a blend of the human and the divine. He is a combination of the glory of God on the one hand and human nature, or flesh on the other. This is a symbolic representation of the character of the Lord Jesus Christ, a perfect unity of the human and the divine, interesting isn’t it?

There’s another proof, if you like, of the identity of the “man on the throne.” In v 4 it tells us we’ve got Christ on the throne, and around about the throne, were four and twenty seats, or thrones as it is, and upon those thrones I saw four and twenty elders sitting clothed in white raiment and they had on their heads crowns of gold, now who were the 24 elders? If it is Christ on the throne, who are the 24 elders surrounding him? Well, there is no mystery here either, you see, because it says they are on thrones, or seats, in 4v 4, if you just pop up to the last verse of Ch 3, it says of the saints, “to him that overcometh I will grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I have overcome and am set down with my father in His throne,” so the saints will have thrones in the kingdom age.

It says they are clothed in white, in Ch 4:4. Well, just turn back one page to Ch 3:5, and it tells you that of the saints that overcome, the same shall be “clothed in white raiment,” so there’s the second proof. It says in Revelation Ch 4 that they are wearing crowns of gold and it tells you of the saints in Revelation 2:10 that they will be given, if they are faithful, at the end of the verse, they will be given a crown of life. The crowns that you read of, that the 24 elders are wearing in Revelation 4:4, it is the Greek word “Stephanos,” not the word “diadem,” so they are not kings in Revelation 4:4, they are conquerors. ‘Stephanos” is the laurel wreath that was given to athletes that succeeded in the games. These 24 elders are elders who have overcome, you see, they represent the saints as priests, based on the fact, of course, that David in his kingdom had 24 courses of priests, 24 courses of temple singers in 1 Chron 24. Christ is on the restored throne of David in Jerusalem. so, of course, there are major overtones with David’s kingdom. So 4:4 there are the saints as priests, but you know that the saints aren’t just priests in the kingdom, they are also kings. Well, you don’t have to go far to see the symbol of the saints as kings, because 4:6 says, “and before the throne there was a sea of glass like crystal and in the midst the throne, or round about the throne, four beasts, now I keep saying “four living ones,” the reason for that is that the word “beast” here is the Greek word Zooon from which we get the word Zooology, and it just means “a living creature.” When you go to Revelation Ch 12 and 13, the word “beast” is the Greek word “theron,” it means “wild animal,” so these are not four wild animals, these are just four living creatures, or we might say “living ones,” it is not like “the beast of the earth” or the “beast of the sea” or the “great red dragon,” they are not beasts like that, they are just four living creatures. The first living one, v 7, was like a lion, the second like a calf, the third like a man and the fourth like a flying eagle, that’s what it tells us.

Well, these living creatures, as it turns out, are a combination of the Cherubim of Ezekiel Ch 1 and the Seraphim of Isaiah Ch 6, and the word Seraph in Isaiah 6 means “to burn,” so the Seraphim are “burning ones,” fire of course, being a symbol of judgment, so Seraphic symbols of Isaiah 6, which is the main reference here, as we found in v 8, are symbols of the saints in judgment, well that’s the symbol of the saints as “kings,” you see. So you can see, there are 24 elders around about the throne, they are the saints as “priests.” There are four “living ones” about the throne, they are the saints as “kings” or as “judges.” So you have got the saints described in two symbols, one of “mercy” the other of “judgment,” one is Priests the other is Kings, around about this throne. If you had any doubt about why there should be two symbols used of the saints, well, look at Ch 5:8, and when he had taken the book the 4 and the 24 fell down before the Lamb every one of them with harps and vials, which are the prayers of the saints, and they,  that is the four and 24 of v 8, sang a new song saying that Christ “is worthy to take the book and to open it, because he has redeemed us to God by his blood out of every kindred tongue and nation.” So both the four and the 24 have been redeemed from the world, you’ve simply got two symbols of the saints, one in a manifestation as Priests and the other in a manifestation as Kings, it’s as simple as that.

We’ve got a significant point that we overlooked back in Ch 4:6, now what do you make of this? “Before the throne,” in addition to the 4 and the 24, “before the throne was a sea of glass like unto crystal.” Now that is an extremely significant point, now why was that? what does it mean “there was a sea of glass?” Well, the “sea of glass,” you see is as the result of the Seraphim judging, why is that? what is happening here? Well you see, Isaiah 57:20 tells us “the nations are like a troubled sea.” Revelations 15:2 tells us that before Christ has completely subdued this troubled sea, he sits on the throne before a sea of “glass mingled with fire.” So there are judgments that go out into the nations in the 50-year period we have been speaking about, in the period of the seventh vial, and they subdue the sea. By the time you get to the end of the 1,000 years, brethren and sisters, and Revelation 21:1, at the end of the millennium, “there is no more sea.” So it is very significant, therefore, we read in Ch 4:6 of the sea “like glass,” what does it mean? It means the world is at rest. The nations have been subdued, all opposition to the rule of the Lord Jesus Christ has been put down, the “little stone” of Daniel 2 has filled the entire earth, Christ is in supreme control and there is no opposition; we can date the fulfilment of this vision, can’t we? We know exactly, therefore, when the vision of Revelation 4 and 5 takes place in time. It happens in year 50, it happens after Great Babylon has been destroyed, at the very commencement of the millennial age, the last day, you might say, of the 50^th year, that’s the vision of Revelation Chs 4 and 5. There is a rainbow in the sky, v3, the storm has passed, the judgments are finished, the seven thunders have been issued upon the nations and the sea is at rest, like a mill pond, Christ is now in control of the world. And do you want to see the proof of that? Look carefully at the opening words of v 5, “Out of the throne proceedeth lightnings and thunderings and voices,” that’s what it takes to make the sea “like glass.” Remember the words, “lightnings, thundering, voices,” now come across to Revelation Ch 16. Now I am taking you here, because this is a chapter you are very familiar with. Revelation 16, of course, contains the vials, the seven vials, and from v 17 of Revelation 16, it is the seventh vial, it’s the last 40 years of the 50 year jubilee. Armageddon has just happened in Revelation 16:16 and it tells us in v 17 that the “seventh angel poured out his vial into the air, there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven saying, from the throne saying, It is done” and v 18 “voices, thunders, lightnings,” a great earthquake like there has never been in the history of the world and the destruction of great Babylon and v 19 year 50 of the Jubilee period, you see?

So we know exactly where we are in Revelation Ch 4 in the context of the seventh vial of Revelation Ch 16, there’s no mystery at all here. What you’ve got, therefore, in Revelation Ch 4 is a picture of Christ on the throne, surrounded by the saints, and two applications, Priests, Kings, the world at peace, “voices, thunders, lightnings” having been issued upon the troubled sea, has quelled all rebellion because there is now no opposition to the rule of the Lord Jesus Christ, and will not be, for the next 1,000 years. That is the vision you see in Revelation Ch 4. Now come to Revelation Ch 5, this is where it gets interesting. The burning question, when we open up Revelation Ch 5, that is, the burning question from the Lord Jesus Christ, is, how did he get on the throne? What did it take to put the son of God on the throne in Revelation Ch 4? and if the key word of Revelation Ch 4 was the word “throne,” the key word of Revelation Ch 5 is the word “worthy.” You see, not just anybody can sit on the throne, governing the kingdom age in the future, there is an issue of “worthiness” that is required, and you will see that the word “worthy” appears in Revelation 4:11, the last verse, it appears again in Ch 5:2, Ch 5:4, Ch 5:9 and Ch 5:12. In terms of the structure of these two chapters of Revelation 4 and 5, you’ve got to think of it like this, Revelation Ch 4 is a vision of the world at rest 50 years after the Return of the Lord Jesus Christ, we call that year 50. Revelation Ch 5:1-7 is a parenthetic glimpse back to the 1^st Century for the triumph of the Lamb. But when you come to Revelation 5:8 you are back at year 50 again, to conclude the vision, so Chs 5:8-14 are “back into the future,” but all you’ve got in Revelation Chs 4 and 5 is a vision of the future in year 50 and all we are simply saying is that Chs 5:1-7 is a glance back 2,000 years in time to understand what it took to put the Lamb on the throne, he had to be “a slain lamb.” And then, of course, Revelation Ch 6:1, the Lamb from the 1^st century then opens the seals of the scroll that he took from the hand of the man on the throne. So let’s be clear about that, Chs 4 and 5, v 8 – 14, year 50. Ch 5:1-7 and then Ch 6 and onwards 1^st century, you see, but having said all that now you’ll perhaps perceive the problem we have created for ourselves when you come to Revelation Ch 5. Look at v 1, “and I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside sealed with seven seals.” V 6, “and I beheld and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four living ones and in the midst of the elders stood a lamb as it had been slain having seven horns, seven eyes which are the seven spirits of God, and he came forth and he took the book out of the right hand of him that sat on the throne.” You see the problem, how does Christ, in v 6 and 7 take the book out of the hand of the man on the throne when we have already identified the man on the throne of v 1 as Christ. Oftentimes I think, brothers and sisters, we obscure the answer to that question, by using phrases like “God manifestation,” but you know, it is really very simple, in his book Thirteen lectures Brother Roberts explains it like this, now listen carefully, this is what he says. “The Lamb takes the book out of the hand of him that sits on the throne which indicates the moment he receives from the Father the knowledge and power to execute the program represented by the seals,” do you understand what Bro Roberts just said? “The Lamb takes the book out of the hand of him who sits on the throne which indicates the moment in time which Christ receives from the Father the knowledge and power to execute the program represented by the seals,” what Brother Roberts is saying is that prior to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, the “man on the throne” was God but the throne was given to Christ subsequent to his resurrection because he was “worthy,’ and what Bro Roberts is saying in Ch 5 is that in the fact the man on the throne is God, but we’ve identified the fact that in Ch 4 “the man on the throne” is Christ.

So this is the problem, the riddle we have to solve. Think of it like this, here’s Elpis Israel, p 191, Christ had to take a journey “into a far country” to be presented before the “Ancient of Days”and to receive from him “a kingdom and to return,” and there’s the clue, whereabouts in Scripture do you read of the “Ancient of Days?” well, there is only one place, come back with me to Daniel Ch 7. Daniel Ch 7, not an insignificant chapter of course, because it is the chapter that deals profoundly with the 2,000 development of the Roman empire; this is a highly significant chapter, because you see, three times in this chapter, the phrase “Ancient of Days” occurs. You read of the Ancient of Days in Dan 7:9, you read the phrase again in Dan 7:13, and you will read it finally in Dan 7:22, so who is the “Ancient of Days” in Daniel Ch 7? The answer is, it depends which verse you look at. What do I mean? Well look at this Dan 7:9, “I beheld till the thrones were cast down,” the word ought to be “till the thrones were established,” they are not destroyed, they are established. “And the Ancient of Days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, the hair of his head like pure wool and his throne was like a fiery flame and his wheels as burning fire” and that description that we have in Dan 7: 9 is exactly the description of “the man of one” in Revelation Ch 1. “hair like wool, garment like snow.” A fiery stream issued before him and thousands ministered unto him,” and it tells you by the time you get down to Dan 7: 12 “he is judging the nations of the world.” Who’s the man on the throne? evidently the Lord Jesus Christ, because this action is going to be done in the kingdom age, during the seven vial period, in fact it says, look at 7: 11, “I beheld then because of the voice of the words that the horn spake, and I beheld even till the beast was slain and his body destroyed and given to the burning flame,” that’s exactly Revelation 19:20, the destruction of the beast in year 50. So the vision of the Ancient of Days in Dan7: 9 is clearly a vision of the Lord Jesus Christ about to destroy the beast in the 50^th year of the Jubilee period at the end of the seventh vial. All right, Dan7: 22, “Until the Ancient of Days came and judgment was given to the saints of the most High and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom,” who is the Ancient of days there? well evidently the Lord Jesus Christ again, because the kingdom has been given to the saints, it is Christ’s prerogative to do that, now look at Dan 7: 13, “And I saw in the night visions and behold, one like to the son of man came with the clouds of heaven and came to the Ancient of Days and they brought him near before Him and there was given to him,” to whom? “the son of man” in Dan 7:13, “and was given to the son of man, dominion and glory and a kingdom that all people and nations and languages should serve him.”  There’s the Ancient of days in Dan 7:13, well, it must be the Father, because you have the transaction, you see, between the Father and the son in Dan 7:13 and 14, where the Ancient of Days is giving to the Son of Man a Kingdom and power to control it. It is exactly what Bro Thomas said in Elpis Israel p 191. So you see what is happening here, brothers and sisters, it is simple as this in Dan Ch 7, the Ancient of Days is a position, before the resurrection, that position was occupied by God, after the ascension it is occupied by the Lord Jesus Christ. This transaction is represented in Dan 7: 13,14 as a cloud of angels bringing the son before the Father to receive the kingdom. It is represented in Revelation Ch 5:7 as the Son taking the scroll out of the hand of the Father to open the rest of Roman history. Matt 28:18, Jesus said, “all power is given to me in heaven and in earth,” so no mystery really in Dan 7, but there’s the story of Revelation Ch 5:7, that’s why we can say the man on the throne is different in those two chapters, different depending in which year you ask the question. The man on the throne, that is, the Ancient of Days, was God but at a certain instant of time, power was transferred from the Father to the Son and from that time forward the man on the throne was Christ, as Peter says, “All angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him. All right, the interesting thing here, however, that Daniel Ch 7 doesn’t just speak of one transfer of power, you’ve read Dan 7: 13-14 speaking of the transfer of power from the Father to the Son, what do you make of Dan 7: 22? “Until the Ancient of Days came and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High and the time came that they possessed the kingdom,” you’ve got a second transfer of power, haven’t you? and v 22’s very similar to v 14 if you start to look between those two verses and v 14, the Son is given the kingdom, v 22 the saints are given the kingdom. In v 14, the Son inherits the control of the kingdom from the Father, and v 22, who do the saints inherit the control of the kingdom from? Well, not the Father, not even the Son, actually, I mean, yes, the son institutes the transaction, well, who controls the kingdom of men now? well, it’s the angels.

The transaction, therefore, that happens in v 22 is a transaction between the angels and the saints, you see that? Daniel Ch 7 is talking of two transfers of power, one between the Father and the Son, and the second, between the angels and the saints. Now let’s put that together, because it becomes very important when we come to Revelation Ch 5. Come with me to Heb 2. Hebrews 2 has an interesting verse all by itself in this section and it says in Heb 2:5, a verse you know well, the Apostle simply says, “For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come whereof we speak,” so here’s the Apostle Paul, we believe, speaking of control of the kingdom age; the angels govern the present age, but they will not govern the age to come as Daniel says, that’s the dominion of the saints. So the angels at some point are going to transfer their governance of the kingdom of men to the saints, that they can govern it. All right, not very complicated, turn one page back, to Heb 1:6, what do you make of this? “And again, when he brings in the firstborn into the world he says, And let all the angels of God worship him.” Now, it is poorly translated, and  your margin indicates to you when it says “and again,” the margin indicates that the translators have had some debate how to put these words in English, it ought to be, instead of “and again,” as if to say, “in addition to the quotation I gave to you in v 5,” where it says “and again,” in v 6, it ought to be “and when he again brings the son or the first begotten into the world,” that is, when Christ returns to take the kingdom age, when he comes to the earth again, that’s the point. When Christ comes to the world a second time then “all the angels of God will worship him.” They worshipped God when Jesus came the first time, in Luke 2, “Glory to God in the Highest and peace on earth.” When he comes again, the angels will worship the Son again. You know, Bro John Carter in his commentary on Hebrews was very perceptive when he makes the comment on this verse that “when Christ comes to take control of the world from the angels, he will do so with some public act of homage,” which he says John saw in Revelation Ch 5. “So there will be a specific moment in time,” Brother Carter says, “when all the angels worship him in some public act of homage” and that’s described in Revelation Ch 5. Come back to Ch 5, what are you seeing, brothers and sisters, in Revelation Ch 5? Well, the answer is, you are seeing two momentous transfers of power aren’t you? Rev Ch 5 is the 50^th year after the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to judge the household. The saints are on the dawn of the commencement of the millennial age, we know that because the sea is glass in Rev 4:6, the storm of judgment is over, Christ is on the throne about to commence 1,000 years of reign and question becomes in Rev 5 well, how did he get to that position? Well, there’s a scroll and it contains the unfolding future of the world but nobody could open this scroll, it says in v 2, even a strong angel couldn’t unlock this scroll, and John burst into tears in Rev 5:4, “what’s going to become of the world,” he says, “Who can possibly open this scroll?” “Don’t worry John,” says one of the 24 elders, “The Lamb’s done it, the Lamb, he’ll open the scroll,” and then v 6 says, the Lamb came, and he took the scroll from his Father’s hand, and he broke open the first seal, Rev 6:1 erupts into life and a horse charges into the foreground of John’s vision and the truth takes off into the Roman Empire at the hand of the bowman, and from the vantage point of the dawn of the millennium, year 50, the saints look back at that event 2,000 years ago and they cast their crowns to the ground, the four living ones raise their voices and the song of Rev 5:9-10, because they have now just become the kings of the world for the next 1,000 years. And so when they say “that thou hast made us kings and priests, what they mean is, you have just done it, like, this instant, you have just made us kings and priests of the world. And it is not just the saints as you know because 5: 11 says “and I beheld and I heard the voice of many angels around about the throne, and the living ones and the elders, the number of whom was ten thousand times ten thousand, saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain and to receive power and so forth.” Heb 1:6, there is all the angels of God worshipping him, this is the public act of homage that will yet take place in the future, but you see what is happening here?

What you’ve God in Rev 5:9-12 , is the fulfilment of Dan 7:22, this is the transfer of power between the angels and the saints, the saints shall take the kingdom, as Dan 7 says, thou hast just made us kings and priests, we have taken the baton from the angels that have governed the world for 6,000 years and we are going to take it for the next 1,000 years into the kingdom age, that’s the celebration of Revelation Ch 5. Two enormous transfers of power, one between the Father and the Son in Ch 5:6, and the second between the angels and the saints in Ch 5:10, unbelievable! Now did y you know, that Philip 2 was talking about that? and now we come to reflect upon the Lamb ourselves, you see, it was in the garden of Gethsemane he faced the cross and an angel came to him and strengthened him, words in fact directly from Daniel Ch 10. Now we don’t know exactly what the angel, Gabriel, I suppose, said the Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane, but it may well have been the context of Daniel Ch 7, the prospect of him meeting the Father whom he loved, that he had never seen, understand, you have just read in Dan Ch 7, when the Son of Man came before the Ancient of Days was the first face-to-face meeting between the Lord Jesus Christ and his Father that ever took place and at that meeting there was a transfer of power from the Father to the Son because the Son was worthy, that’s what Daniel  7 spoke of, and it may well have been that the context of the discussion between the angel and the Lord in the garden of Gethsemane, and the point of me saying that, you see is that it was the joy that was set before the Lord that propelled him  toward the cross. Well, what greater joy could you consider than the prospect of meeting the Father and taking a throne beside the Father, and as the first century came to a close, the Lord now has one last message for his brethren for the saints, and he gives that to John on the isle of Patmos, and he says, “John open the door and look at this, what do you see John? and what’s the prospect brothers and sisters of the vision of Revelation 4 and 5, well, simply this, that the saints might also receive the kingdom, that they might sit with him in his throne as he is currently set with the Father in his throne. We talk about the joy that was set before the Lord Jesus Christ, what about the joy that has been set before us? can you understand the enormity of the celebration of Revelation Chs 4 and 5 just exactly what the Lord has shown John for us in these chapters and now we come to the emblems, just pause and consider what it cost the Lord to give us this vision. He had to become the lamb didn’t he? He had to become the slain Lamb, he had to overcome like no one has ever overcome. If it wasn’t for him, brothers and sisters, we’d all be there weeping with John in Revelation Ch 5, that there was no man, but because God saw there was no man, he gave a son and that’s the son and everything related to him, that’s the son, that we remember now.