Rejoicing In Heaven Part 2
The Book of Revelation • Sermon • Submitted
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Introduction:
And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God:
For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.
And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever.
And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia.
And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great.
And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.
And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
I. A Complete Salvation (vs. 1)
II. A Commendable Settlement (vs. 2)
III. A Concluded Sedition (vs. 3)
IV. A Comprehensive Sovereignty (vs. 4-6)
And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia.
And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great.
And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
I want you to keep in mind from our previous chapters in this great book some of the characters that are represented here in verse 4.
The text speaks of the 24 elders.
Now, since it has been a while, allow me to briefly remind you of some key points about these guys.
We were first introduced to these guys back in Chapter 4 verse 4.
And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.
Remember that I told when we were first introduced to the 24 elders, that there was some confusion and disagreement among people as to their identity.
Part of the disagreement as to the identity of these guys comes to bear in the doctrine of what is called Pre-Tribulation Rapture.
That is to say that the Church will be raptured mid way through the Tribulation.
Part of the basis for that is a misunderstanding about who the 24 elders are.
I told you when we were in chapter 4 that some say that the 24 elders represent the nation of Israel.
And I told you that the problem with that view is the fact that Israel, at this point of the Tribulation, has not been saved yet.
So these 24 elders could not represent Israel.
Probably the most popular held view is that the 24 elders represent angels.
That these are just holy angels in heaven worshipping and praising God.
Now, remember that I told you that there were a couple of problems with these guys being angels.
First there is never a time in the Scripture, in their celestial state, where angles are seen as sitting.
In the Scriptures holy angels are always seen as standing.
And if these are holy angels, then this would the only time where they are seen as sitting.
But these are not holy angels.
Not only for this reason but for another reason.
The text in Chapter 4 says that these elders are wearing crowns upon their heads.
We told you then and we remind you now that there is not a place in the Scripture where angels are seen as wearing crowns.
Particularly, this crown.
The Greek word for this crown is the “στέφανος” crown, or the victors crown.
Now, understand that this crown is only seen as being worn by four people.
The AntiChrist, during his fake victory.
The demons that come out of the bottomless pit
Jesus Christ.
Believers
But never holy angels
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
Now, since we know that these elders do not represent Israel.
And we know that these elders do not represent angels.
We conclude that based on these evidences that the 24 elders represent the Church or believers.
Now, obviously this is a representative number and not an actual number.
Therefore, since it seems clear that these elders represent the Church and since these elders are seen in heaven in chapter 4, then the church is in heaven BEFORE the tribulation begins, the tribulation beginning in Chapter 6.
Then John records that he saw the four beasts or as has been previously called, the four living creature that are around the throne of God.
And we told you when we first saw these guys, that they are the Cherubim; as class of holy angles that represent the holiness of God.
And the text tells us:
And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia.
Believers and the Cherubim fall down and worships God, who sits on the throne.
“Throne” is “θρόνος” and speaks about supreme power.
The person who sits on the throne has all the authority to do whatever he wills to do.
And since the one that sits on the throne has all the authority and since it is God that sits on the throne, the four area that brings worship in heaven is the fact that God is completely sovereign.
Now, let’s begin pretty basic by just defining what is meant by the fact that God is sovereign.
Biblical Doctrine: A Systematic Summary of Bible Truth Sovereignty of God
sovereignty of God. God’s absolute rule and authority over all things.
Biblical Doctrine: A Systematic Summary of Bible Truth God, Sovereignty Of
God, sovereignty of. God’s supremacy and meticulous control over all that occurs.
We first must understand that in the realm of God’s Sovereignty, that there is nothing that He does not control and have the total decree.
Systematic Theology D. Attributes of Sovereignty
The sovereignty of God is strongly emphasized in Scripture. He is represented as the Creator, and His will as the cause of all things. In virtue of His creative work heaven and earth and all that they contain belong to Him. He is clothed with absolute authority over the hosts of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth. He upholds all things with His almighty power, and determines the ends which they are destined to serve. He rules as King in the most absolute sense of the word, and all things are dependent on Him and subservient to Him.
The Doctrine of the Sovereignty of God is not just a NT teaching or something that was invented during the Reformation, it can be seen all the way back to the first book of the Bible and then all the way through.
And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:
Genesis
Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the LORD’S thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is.
For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward:
Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all.
Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all.
And said, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?
Thou, even thou, art LORD alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.
God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness.
For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.
I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine.
If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.
But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.
For I know that the LORD is great, and that our Lord is above all gods.
Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.
God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
So, we see that from Genesis to Revelation, the Scriptures attribute to God sovereignty.
To what degree is God Sovereign?
You say, “Well, obviously, He is sovereign over everything”.
And that is true.
But is there anything that God is not sovereign?
I think that it is very key to our understanding that we are clear on the fact that the terms decree and sovereignty do not equate to approval.
Some people have the misconception that everything that God decrees that automatically means that He approves of it.
Such is not the the Biblical Doctrine of the Sovereignty of God.
You say, “Well, that does not make any sense that God would decree something to happen and He not approve of it”.
That line of thinking is because of our fallenness and we try and put the attributes of God on the same level as ours.
Big mistake
These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.
In fact, in the Scriptures there are three areas that are said to be the will of God.
The decretive will of God.
This is the sovereign, efficacious will of God that cannot be resisted.
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
The Perceptive Will of God.
Those are the commands of God, they can be resisted.
Thou shalt not kill.
Do people kill?
Yes, because that is the Will of God is the Preceptive sense.
Those are the commands of God.
And they can be and are, in fact, resisted everyday.
The Will of Disposition.
That is the will that brings God pleasure and delight.
Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?
Ezekial 33:11
And while it brings delight to God to save sinners, because He by His nature is a Saviour and He is not a cosmic monster, but because He is also a righteous judge, He will and has already condemned sinners.
So we need to understand that in the Scriptures there are three different “wills” of God.
And when we speak regarding His sovereignty or decrees, we have more understanding in the fact that just because it is a divine decree, does not mean that it receives divine approval.
So while we understand that God is sovereign over all things in general, what are some of things that He is sovereign in specific.
Next time.