Gooding, David: 1 - Introduction

A few preliminary things. This is the first, as you have gathered, of our short series of studies in the book of the Revelation. God willing, they are to continue through this week, including Friday night, but as I understand it, not Saturday night. Then, God willing, we shall be here again on Sunday in the will of the Lord to preach the gospel, and we shall, as he guides us, be speaking from some part of this book of the Revelation. Now, I am told on a reliable authority that one, if I behave myself, and two, if you are good, and three, if you keep coming and show interest in these things, I might even be permitted to extend this course of lectures, uh, into the early days of next week. But let us not say anything rash, Josie. Let us see how we get on, shall we? But it is quite likely that we shall extend this course of lectures until Tuesday or Wednesday of next week. You have upon your seat, now I hope in your hands, eh, a piece of paper. Don't take it too seriously. Its first, uh, idea is to help me, really, as we survey the contents of this book. It will save a lot of time if I know you have something in your hand to show you what exactly I'm talking about. It might even serve the further point of saving you the difficulty of taking notes, you'll see, uh, to go with the tapes that you will maybe eventually wish to buy, or notes that you may care to incorporate in your own further personal studies of this book. Now, this particular piece of paper for tonight, it would be useful if you come again that you could remember, if please, if you can, to bring it with you. There will be other pieces of paper, eh, in the course of these evenings, those you needn't constantly bring with you. But, uh, this one, if you could remember, eh, uh, uh, uh, bring it with you each night you come. And if you forget, there'll sure to be another copy, but I'm not sure what the fine is for having to be given a second copy. So with those few preliminaries, let's turn to our book of the Revelation and begin to read in it. The Revelation chapter one, beginning at verse one: The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him to show unto his servants, even the things which must shortly come to pass. And he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John, who bare witness of the word of God and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, even of all things that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of the prophecy and keep the things which are written therein, for the time is at hand. John to the seven churches which are in Asia. Grace to you and peace from him which is and which was and which is to come, and from the seven spirits which are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loveth us and loosed us from our sins by his blood, and he made us to be a kingdom, priests unto God and f- unto his God and Father. To him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they which pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn over him. Even so, amen. I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. And if that is how the book begins, let us now turn to see how it ends and read from chapter twenty two, Chapter twenty two, beginning at uh verse sixteen. uh Verse sixteen of twenty two: I, Jesus, have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright, the morning star. And the spirit and the bride say, come. And he that heareth, let him say, come. And he that is athirst, let him come. He that will, let him take the water of life freely. I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book. If any man shall add unto them, God shall add unto him the plagues which are written in this book. If any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life and out of the holy city, which are written in this book. He which testifieth these things says, Yea, I come quickly. Amen. Come, even so come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with the saints. Amen. So tonight, as I say, we begin a few studies in the book of the Revelation. And quite obviously, from the timetable we have set ourselves, we shall not be proposing to expound every detail of this magnificent and highly detailed book. We must content ourselves with a bird's eye view and with gathering, if we can, what are the major themes of this book and how they are interrelated. Now, it is no secret that some believers find the book of the Revelation a very daunting book. Well, there are some good verses in it that we sing, in fact, in some of our hymns, but the middle bits seem extraordinarily off-putting and difficult, so full of quaint figures and symbols and mystical numbers and suchlike things. Our first job is to get over those fears, for this is, in fact, a book dictated to the Apostle John through an angel by our Lord Jesus Christ himself. And not only dictated for John's benefit and the benefit of the early churches, but I am persuaded dictated for our benefit too, every single one of us present. And it stands to reason, doesn't it, that the Good Shepherd who gave his life for us, his sheep, and lives to pastor us and save us, has not written a book that he knew would be largely unintelligible to us. He must have thought that if we love him and give ourselves to him and to the study of his word, he by his spirit will cause us to understand in his good time. Truth to tell, difficult as it may seem, this book is a wonderful book, isn't it? It'll set your heart a singing if you take it seriously. There are more songs in this book in an- than in any other book of the New Testament. And what is more, from time to time we shall hear deep-throated hallelujahs arising from individuals and from the masses of the redeemed. We might find it a little bit unusual when we don't often hear hallelujahs ourselves, but then you'll see we're very more, much more sedate. But anyway, there you will hear them, hallelujahs, and I warrant this, that as you hear them, your heart too will begin to move, and you will want to re-echo the hallelujahs that rise to God in the course of this book. And then, of course, it is a book calculated to draw our attention to the topic of worship. It is the book that speaks most about the matter of worship than any other book in the whole of the New Testament. At least if you take the word count. One of the original words for worship, proskuneo, occurs in Matthew many times, dozen times or more, perhaps. But it is the book of the Revelation that uses the word most. Twenty five times at least in the course of this book will you come across the idea of worship. And if we put those two simple observations together, my brothers, my sisters, then we can be assured of this. If we read this book aright, and if the Holy Spirit should interpret it to us and to our hearts, it will lead our hearts too, to worship it, to worship not the book, but him who gave it. And worshiping him, to prostrate ourselves before him in that worship, and to sing him our heart's affection in songs of deep adoration. Mark that, well, shall we? Because if at the end of these studies we don't feel like that, then we can be sure of this, that we haven't quite read the book correctly. And if perchance it should lead any of us to wish to argue strongly and get upset with our fellow brethren to the point where we have difficulty restraining our fisticuffs, well, then we have misread it, haven't we? Surely. We shall not all agree, particularly with the preacher. I don't always agree with him either, but you see, there will be room for discussion and hard questions and, uh, if you will, other side sessions. But for the main message of the book, it shall be clear on the intention of the Holy Spirit to lead our hearts in devoted worship to the Lord Jesus, to sing his praise and to seek his faith, that he might direct us in the paths of holiness and deepen our hope of his coming again. So then, as I say, we shall tonight, uh, first of all, not begin with the detail of the book, but rather take a bird's eye view of it. And there is method in our madness. You see, it is well known that if you were to, uh, to enter a large wood, a forest of trees, stretching over some acres, and you entered it without map or guide, after a while you might find yourself getting lost. You lose your sense of direction. You can't think where you got in or which is the true way forward, and, uh, whether you should turn to the left or the right, and you could end up finding yourself going around in circles, you see, as they say, not seeing the wood for the trees. Yeah. And some people, it happens to them when they read the book of the Revelation, you know, they start off in great gusto, but when it comes to those difficult middle chapters, sometimes they lose their way a bit and can't make out where they've got to and how it all fits in somehow. It's better, therefore, if you enter a wood, to have a map with you and a bird's eye view of where this wood is and where the major paths lead, so you can follow the major paths and find your way out to the intended end. And that's what we're going to do tonight with the book of the Revelation. It will mean some hard study of, uh, on our part, you'll see. Eh, so if you care, you may fold this piece of paper up and put it in your pocket and take your Bibles in hand, because these are actually Bible studies. And I shall not be so much preaching sermons to you as joining with you in our united Bible study of this marvelous book. Don't be worried, I repeat, don't be worried by some of the symbols. If we come across them early on and we can't understand them at once, never mind, we shall later on. But a thing or two about the symbols that we shall meet. Some people, you know, treat these symbols as though they were a kind of a secret code, very difficult to decode, to find what they really mean, you'll see. But very few of them, if any, are meant to be codes like that, secret codes. In fact, so far as being difficult to, making it difficult for us to see what is meant, they are there to help our imaginations grasp more easily what is there. Let's take an example or two. When we come to chapter five, we shall hear about the Lord Jesus, as the strong angel proclaims who is worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof. And at first, none is found worthy, and then at last a voice proclaims it, yes, one has fa- been found. The lion of the tribe of Judah, it says, has prevailed to take the book. Suppose I had never come there before, never read it before, and I meet you as a Christian, and I say to you, lion of tribe of Judah? What does that mean? What is this lion thing? Who is that? You say, well, that's the Lord. And suppose I replied, that's you Christians all over again. Well, if it's the Lord Jesus, why didn't you say it was the Lord Jesus, then I would have known who it was. Why cover it up, talking about a lion of Judah? And then we listen again, and I turned and I saw a little lamb as it had been slain. And I say to you, now, now come on, tell me, who is this little lamb thing? You say, that's the Lord Jesus. I say, you funny lot. Why on earth don't you say it straight, Josie? And if it's the Lord Jesus, why didn't you say it's the Lord Jesus? Why use one code of a lion and another code of a lamb? Makes life difficult, doesn't it? And of course, you would smile at me and say, you poor ignoramus, of course, you haven't got the point. Everybody knows it's the Lord Jesus, and if you don't know it's the Lord Jesus, perhaps you oughtn't to be reading a book. Of course it's the Lord Jesus, who else could it be? Well, then why call him a lion then? Well, because, um, yes, it's the Lord Jesus, but what is the Lord Jesus like? How would you describe him? What is his character? Well, among the many illustrations you could get of our blessed Lord Jesus, one of them very prominent in this book would be, well, of course, he's like a lion. Can you imagine a lion? With all his beautiful mane, king of the forest. When he roars, all the forest takes notice. He's meant to be king of the bees. Oh, what a book is this going to be? We're going to see the Lord Jesus, and the Holy Spirit is inviting us to use our sanctified imagination to consider the Lord Jesus and see the wonder of the Lord Jesus. Oh, God, give us to see him as the lion, the conquering lion of the tribe of Judah. And of course, then you say, what is the Lord Jesus like? Is he just a sort of a massive force like a lion? No, there's another side to his character. He's like a lamb as it had been slain. Having, uh, horns and eyes. Unusual lamb, but then this is a picture, isn't it? Horns that speak of power, eyes that speak of discernment and wisdom. How do you picture the Lord Jesus? And tell me, what is the strength of his power? Suppose I asked it, what is the strength of the Lord Jesus' power in our life? You might reply in the terms of that vision, where he's the lamb who before his shearers was dumb and opened not his mouth. And the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all. When he was reviled, he reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously. This is the Lamb, the gentle, non-retaliating Lamb of God. I say to you, is that a sign of weakness then, your Lord Jesus? Oh no, you say, no, the very opposite. There is the very secret of his power. Do you see that lamb there with its horns? Which speak with its power, the power of the Lord Jesus over our lives rests in this, doesn't it? The power of his sacrifice, the power of his cross, the Lamb who, being slayed and pour- slain and pouring out his blood, loosed us from our sins in his own blood and made us a kingdom priests to our God. This is what Paul would describe as the foolishness, the weakness of the cross, the foolishness of God, the weakness of God, the cross of our blessed Lord Jesus. It is the power of God to salvation. It is the very wisdom of God. Forgive that sermon, I won't go on sermonizing, I'm supposed to be teaching. But you see, these symbols, don't be afraid of them. They're meant to vivify our regenerate, sanctified imagination, that we might grasp with our heart, mind and heart what we learn through our eyes and ears about the wonders of the blessed Lord Jesus. And tonight, particularly, we shall come across a series of symbols. They're taken from the Old Testament, and particularly from the old Testament tabernacle and temple. But then we shall find those moderately easy, can't we? If we know what the tabernacle and temple was about in the old days, and we can bring our knowledge of that to the book of the Revelation, then we shall find it comparatively easy to understand some of the symbols. More of that as we go along this week. But now let us take our Bible in hand, and what we're going to do now in our exercise is to see if we can map out the major parts of this particular book, you'll see. So I'm going to suggest to you that the book of the Revelation, long book as it seems to be, is made up simply of six major sections. And more, that in each of those major sections, there is one or more major theme. Of course, there are a lot of details. We should consider as many of them as we can, but if by the end of our studies we've got hold of this, that there are six major parts to this book, and each part has a major theme, and we can really understand that major theme, then we should have put a very good foundation in, can't we, for the study of the book, and be ready for all the other better preachers that come along and explain more eloquently than I can all its contents. So, what is the first part? Well, in chapter one, as you see, if you can put your eye down the page, in chapter one um our Lord gives John the first vision, a vision of the blessed Lord Jesus now risen from the dead and glorified, and he is described in verses twelve to the end of chapter one. He's seen in his glory standing in the middle of seven golden lampstands, and we are told that these lampstands represent the se- seven churches, seven assemblies in Asia Minor. And then in chapters two and three, he proceeds to dictate a series of letters, one each to each of these seven churches. Yes? It's easy to see, isn't it, that there's one, those chapters one, two, and three comprise the first major section, and they stand by themselves in that sense. When you come to the last church, number seven, that is this particular part of the book ended, yes? That's simple enough. What his message is, we must begin to consider, God willing, tomorrow night. If that is section one, Christ talking to the churches, look how the second section begins for a moment. Cast your eye on chapter four and verse one. After these things I saw, and behold, a door opened in heaven, and the first voice which I heard, a voice as of a trumpet speaking with me, one saying, come up here, and I will show thee the things which must come to pass. Straightway I was in the spirit, and behold, there was a throne set in heaven, and one sitting upon the throne. The topic has changed, hasn't it? You see how different this is from the first three chapters. A door opened in heaven introduces the ch- the section, and John is called up in the spirit into heaven through that door. Now, please notice what he sees. The first thing he sets eyes on as he enters this door, says he, is a throne, a throne set in heaven. Why, is there a throne in heaven? So says John, that is, says he, I saw it. There's a throne in heaven at which you may be allowed to suppress hallelujah. You believe it, don't you? There's a lot of people don't, of course. And some people find it very difficult to believe there's a throne in heaven. Look at what is happening in I- Indonesia just now, with a militia run riot and about to massacre perhaps thousands of people. How can you believe, they say, that there is a throne in heaven. Is there? Yes, you say that is our Christian belief. Of course it is. And the throne was occupied, it says. And as we in our simplicity used to sing with the children, God is still on the throne, and he will take care of his own. We may, as adults, now be drawn to consider what is the nature of that throne. We'll see. That is to say, what kind of a government is it? What kind of a ruler is he that sits upon that throne? And chapter four will begin to describe to us that throne because in that symbolic language, it's talking to us about the nature of the government of that throne and of the God who sits upon it. That will be an important topic, won't it? Because, you'll see, from chapter four um onward, this book is going to tell us that the day will come when the Lord Jesus will begin to set loose on earth the judgments of God that shall bring earth back into subjection and obedience to this throne of God in heaven. Those judgments shall be severe, with mounting gravity, sometimes so severe that they who suffer them will gnaw their tongues for very pain, says the book of the Revelation. You say, well then, what kind of a government is that? That would set loose judgments on people that would cause them to gnaw their very tongues for pain. What kind of a God is he? What kind of a throne? Now that will be an important question, won't it? What kind of a throne? Anyway, the throne, we shall see, is described in detail in chapter four. It's the Creator's throne, of course, and that tells of his right as the Creator that all the honor and glory and riches and power should be his. The theme, however, and we're looking for the major theme, not stopping with the detail as yet, the theme goes on into chapter five, does it not? For when the throne has been described, John says, I saw in the right hand of him that sat upon the throne a book written inside and outside, and a strong voice proclaiming who is worthy to take the book and to look thereon and to open its seal. So the scene is still going on. Can you see it? There's one advantage in reading the revelation, that is if you've got a good imagination, you see. John actually saw it, like someone watching a play enacted on a stage. There he was up through the door. Oh, look there, says he. Oh, look at that throne. Wow, it's like this and that and other. Oh, what's going to happen now? He's up there, you see. You'll forgive he gets a bit excited because it was such a vision, you'll see. And he says now, look, oh, that the one who sits on the throne has a book in his hand, and an angel is saying, who's worthy to take it? I wonder if anybody will. And in the drama, no one is found, and John weeps heavily, for he begins to understand the consequences if no one can open that book. And then he sees the lamb, the lion of the tribe of Judah. Can you see him in your mind's eye? Coming to him that sits on the throne and taking the book out of the hand. Well, that's, that's, uh, vivid, isn't it? And John says, as he takes the book out of the hand, the mass choirs of heaven begin their symphony of praise to the Lamb, until the heaven and the earth, and under the earth, hell itself is obliged to admit the moral worth of the Lamb to take that book and to set loose those judgments. Chapters four and five. But you will know notice, notice now, if you care, that, uh, we've not got to the end of this section yet. Chapter six follows. Chapter six normally follows chapter five, of course, but what I mean is that the, the, the stage, uh, uh, uh, the, the events are still following. Are you still there with me in the throne room, and you've seen the throne and the book, and the lamb has come to take? Yeah? And the choirs are finished? Well, we're still there. And I looked and I saw when the lamb began to open the seals. It's all one scene, isn't it? And what happened when he opened seal number one, two, three, four, five, six? And at six, it comes to a climax, for the judgments let loose come to this tremendous day of the Lord. And look what the people say, you'll see. Verse twelve of chapter six: and I saw when he opened the sixth seal, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the whole moon became as blood. And the stars of the heaven fell onto the earth as a fig tree casteth her unripe figs when she is shaken of a great wind. And the heaven was removed of a s- as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the princes, and the chief captains, and the rich, and the strong, and every bondman and free man hid themselves in the caves and in the mount- rocks of the mountains, and they say to the mountains and to the rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of God. And you don't object? I've misread it, haven't I? It doesn't say hide us from the face of God. What does it actually say? In my Bible it says, fall on us and hide us from the face of him that sits on the throne. You see, we're supposed to be up there still in our imagination, and we've seen the Lamb take the book out of the hand of him that sits on the throne, and now we've watched him undo the seals, which result in these judgments proceeding on earth until they get to their great crescendo, and under the fear and pain of it, even the great men of earth go into the holes in the mountains, and they cry, save us from the face, hide us from the face of him that sits on the throne. Because, you see, the heaven was removed, says verse fourteen. And that veil that normally veils the unseen world from the seen world is now removed. And guilty men can look right straight up direct into the face of him that sits upon the throne, and they cry in absolute terror. Hide us, they say to the mountains, from the face of him that sits on the throne and of the Lamb. We're standing there in the heavenly place watching all this, aren't we? Or, my dear friend, do use your imagination. If you believe it, and we can see what it begins to mean, it will turn us into evangelists, won't it? What will it be for men and women when one day that heaven is removed? Men look up into the very throne of God. Unprepared. All we need for God's Holy Spirit to use these pictures and figures, to burn it in on our hearts, the reality of it, that we might be ready to preach God's gospel to men and women. What happens next, you say? Are we now over? Oh no, we're not over. Ha, there comes chapter seven. Ooh, say the theologians and commentators, but so chapter seven is a parenthesis. Well, if you know what that word means, this one isn't a parenthesis, you'll see. Why not? Because as we go down chapter seven, you will see this theme continues still. We're still up there in heaven. We're watching them now on earth, unconverted, unrepentant, seeing the throne of God and terrified thereby. And now he says, I saw these four angels, and there are two groups of people. In the verses one, uh, down to verse eight, there are one hundred and forty four thousand people, twelve thousand out of each of the tribes of Israel, and they are sealed so that, uh, they should not be hurt, that no wind should blow upon the earth or on the sea or upon any tree, uh, uh, until the servants are sealed in their forehead. Figure taken from the book of Ezekiel, so that these folk people shall suffer no damage under the devastating judgments that will devastate earth and sea and ocean in these days. And then there comes a second group, verse nine to the end of the chapter. After these things I saw and behold a great multitude which no man could number, out of every nation and of all tribes and peoples and tongues standing before the throne. Where? Standing before the throne. You haven't forgotten we're, we're in the throne room, have you, at this point? No, of course you haven't. Uh, I knew that. And, uh, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, arrayed in white robes and palms in their hands, and they cry with a great voice, saying, salvation unto our God, which is in heaven. Huh? Well, what then? Which sitteth, who sitteth on the throne. And unto the Lamb. And all the angels were standing around the... throne, of course. And about the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell down before the throne on their faces and worshiped God, saying, Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be unto our God forever and ever. Amen. And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, These which are arrayed in white robes, who are they, and whence came they? And John said, I haven't a clue, you tell me, you'll see. It must be important that we should know this. So the elder replied, These which are arrayed in the white robes, who are they, and whence came they? I said unto him, My lord, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which come out of the great tribulation, and they washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne. Yeah? And they serve him day and night in his temple, and he that, uh, sitteth on the throne shall spread his tabernacle over them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore, neither shall the sun strike upon them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall be their shepherd and guide them unto fountains of water of life, and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes. You'll say, why on earth are you emphasizing this matter of throne for? Well, I begin with simplicities myself always. What is scripture actually saying? And the great theme that began in chapter four with the vision of the throne of God and the dramatic coming of the son of man, the lamb, the lion of the tribe of Judah, to take the book out of the hand of him that sat upon the throne. And then the continuation of it as he begins to undo the seals, and the judgments begin on earth until terrified men see the very throne of God as the heaven is rolled away, cry in their panic. That theme is not yet finished. Doesn't find its conclusion and great climax until you come to chapter seven. You'll say, but Mr. Preacher, you ought to know by the time you've got to your age that this is all about the tribulation. Well, perhaps I do. It says it there. These are they that came out of the great tribulation. But pray let's notice the theme of it. What about these that came out of the tribulation? Their salvation, of course. Their salvation? In what terms? Well, listen. They washed their robes, that is, in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are what? Therefore they are before the throne. Marvelous, isn't it? Before the throne. Now you see the vivid contrast between chapter six and seven. These in six, when they see the throne of God revealed, unprepared, unrepentant, unsaved, unwashed in the blood of the Lamb, cry in their panic to be hidden from that throne and from the face of him that sits on it and from the Lamb. These, oh, thank God, these, this great multitude that none can number, they are before the throne. How can they stand there calm and unafraid? Well, because they've washed their robes white, that is, in the blood of the Lamb. And when we read of that great company, we should be thinking of ourselves also, aren't we? You are able to stand before the throne, and I see thee on my throne. What then? All the wonder of salvation, be it to those people in the future or us now. What is the secret of standing before the throne of God, unafraid? All this is gospel indeed. They stand on this ground alone, wash their robes in the blood of the Lamb. Yes. So the Lamb shall lead them eventually to fountains of living water. Do not follow that now. Oh, I'm making big mistake already. I'm trying to, I'm starting to preach. I mustn't do that. I meant to be teaching, you see. Have I convinced you that section two that begins in chapter four and goes through four, five, six, and seven is about this major theme, the throne of God in heaven. What is the nature of its government? What shall the judgments be that one day will come from it? What are the conditions of salvation in the light of that judgment? And then we come to chapter eight and it starts a different subject, doesn't it? A different section. Look at what it says, chapter eight verse one: And when he opened the seventh seal, there followed a silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. And I saw the seven angels which stand before God, and there were given unto them seven trumpets. And another angel came and stood over the altar, having a golden censer, and there was given unto him much incense, that he should add it unto the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints went up before God out of the angel's hand. So now, yes, uh, another section begins. You notice how it o- uh begins? The second one in four began with a door opened in heaven. This one begins with the seventh seal opened, and there follows a silence in heaven. In the drama, hitherto there had been much song and praise, and therefore noise. Now there comes a silence for half an hour. You'll see, and an angel came and stood over the altar, having a golden censer, and he took the coals and added this incense to the prayers of saints, and they came up upon the golden altar, which was before the throne. So there's been a shift in attention, yes? We were looking at the throne before, now our shift of attention, we're still in the heavens, but our shift of attention is to the golden altar of incense. And all you tabernacle experts will know what that means, won't you? For in Moses' tabernacle, there stood just in front of the veil, outside the most holy place, there stood this precious vessel called the golden altar of incense. And when the priest came to minister to the lampstand or came to pray and intercede for his people, he would stand at that golden altar, opposite the veil, addressing him who presents himself on the throne of God in the most holy place, just inside the veil. So, if you can imagine, the priest stood there at the altar, then there was the veil, and this side was the throne of God. There was this veil acting as a mediator between, but the priest stood there and offered his incense at the time of prayer to the him who sat upon the throne. Incense talking of prayer, and as you see here, the prayers of the saints. So now let's see where we are. Why, how is this one different from the other one? Well, in chapter four, the second section, we learned why the judgments of God must come on this world. Why must they come? Because of the claims of the throne. He who sits on it is the creator. He has a right to be served by everything upon the uni- in the, in the universe. Men have rebelled and gone their own way. The throne is not going to wait forever. One day, God will rise up. He's going to regenerate, renew the very creation. He's going to redevelop the earth. He's not going to wait forever. And if men and women will not repent, then one day the judgments have come to clear the ground so that God can get on with his plan for the renovation of all things. So the judgments might come because of that. Now this section three is telling us another reason why the judgments must come upon our world. What is that? The prayers of the saints, that's why. The prayers of the saints. Did you notice the drama with which this section opened? He says, when the seventh seal was opened in heaven, there was a silence for half an hour. I wonder, can you imagine that? Are you good at imagining things? Have you ever celebrated Armistice Day or something? And you're in a big throng, and at the eleventh hour, everything stopped. It was silent. Two minutes. Oh, I can remember as a kid when that happened in school, you had to stand still two minutes. Well, in in the playground, two minutes was scarce a second, but standing still, doing nothing, and saying anything, seemed an eternity. No. No. Wh- wh- what, what will break the silence? Hm. And then at last the silence was broken. Must have been a dramatic moment for John, hasn't it, with all these thousands and ten thousands and thousands of thousands of archangels and the elders and the living creatures and the saints, and they'd been singing their hallelujahs and the worthiness of the land, and the whole thing fell silent. For half an hour. Whether John felt the same. Mm-hmm. Mm. Oh. What's going to break the silence? Is nothing going to happen anymore? And what broke the silence? The angel who came with his sense and the coal, and there was given him much incense to add to the prayers of saints, and the prayers of saints came up before God, and God began to listen and to answer them, and as a result of their prayers, the judgments came upon earth. That's reason number two. Judgments will one day come. As God gathers up the prayers of generations and centuries, of his saints of all ages, and answers them. Psalm ninety four helps us to understand the situation, doesn't it? Psalm ninety four, you will remember, begins it's lament, O thou to whom vengeance belongeth, how long, O Lord? How long dost thou not avenge thy people? How long before you rise up and stop the infernal persecution of thy people? How long? You can imagine the Jews of that, and you said you believe there's a God, and you believe there's a throne in heaven, and your friend has looked back to you and said, uh, you say there's a God in heaven? Then why doesn't he intervene and stop this savagery in Indonesia, in Kosovo, and where you like. How can you believe there's a God in heaven who cares for justice? If he does nothing about it. Of course, of course, to answer that question, we shall have to ask another presently. Why is not God done anything yet about the murder of his son? He will do one day, won't he? But how long? And when? Do you see the problem? How many dear believers have felt it, because they've been taken in Christian times to the stake, or suffered iniquity in the factory, or have been cheated by unscrupulous businessmen. And their hearts have cried out to the Lord, how long, O Lord? Don't you care? The answer is, of course, yes, there is a God, and there is a throne, and he does care for justice, and one day he will avenge his people. This section of the book is concerned now largely with timetable, and why and the wherefores of God's apparent waiting, but how the time will eventually come. You'll see, look at chapter ten if you will. You will see. Uh, verse seven, you will see. In the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then is finished the mystery of God according to the good tidings which he declare- declared to his servants, the prophets. You will see. Right, and now we come on to chapter eleven and towards the end of the section. Verse fifteen of eleven: and the seventh angel sounded, and there followed great voices in heaven, and they said, the kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. And the four and twenty elders which sit before God in their thrones fell upon their faces and worshiped God, saying, we give thee thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, which art and which wast, because thou hast taken thy great power and its reign, and the nations were wroth, and thy wrath came, and the time of the dead to be judged, and the time to give their reward to thy servants, the prophets, and to the saints, and to them that fear thy name, the small and the great, and to destroy them that destroy the earth. You notice that last phrase? It's answering the question at the beginning, how long, O Lord? And after the long apparent silence of God, the prayers of the saints eventually prevail. At last, the judgments begin to come, and one day, the supreme day, and the time will come, and the day shall be judged, the time for the prophets to be rewarded, the time for the kingdom of this world to become the kingdom of our Lord and his Christ. Marvelous, isn't it? We have a gospel message, my brother and sisters, to preach to a world that is torn in its inward heart at the apparent injustice and irrationality of man's cruelty to man, and themselves have no answer to it, nor any hope. And then the next section comes. We can't spend the same time tonight on them as the others, but just let's notice, first of all, how the fourth section begins. Verse nineteen of chapter uh eleven: And there was opened the temple of God that is in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his covenant, and there followed lightnings and voices and thunders and an earthquake and a great hail. It's getting a little bit sort of samey, isn't it? Section two began with a door opened in heaven, and section three began with the seventh seal opened in heaven and uh, uh, uh, and silence in heaven. Now this begins with I s- there was opened the temple of God in heaven, yes? And in s- in section two, when the door was open, John saw the Ark of God. And in the third thing, when the, when he was in heaven, he saw the incense altar. Now this time there is opened the Ark of the Covenant, and there followed lightnings. You say, what's the point of that bit of furniture? Why Ark of Covenant? Well, it was called Ark of Covenant, was it not? Because in it were the tables of the law, got the basis of God's covenant with Israel. And do you remember the first great law i- i- i- in that covenant? It was this, thou shalt have no other god but me. You shall not make an image to bow down thereto and worship it. Cardinal sin number one. To worship any one or thing other than the living God. And John sees this Ark of Covenant, sees the judgments begin to come. Why? Because this is the section of the go- of the book that's going to tell us of the rise of the beast. And Satan shall give him his great power and authority and his throne. And the second beast shall do many mighty miracles, apparently, and persuade the fanatical crowds that they worship the beast and worship his image. And in their fanaticism they cry, who is like the beast? That's not innocent language, that isn't. You see the great rhetorical question in the Old Testament, who is like Jehovah? It's really a statement that Jehovah is absolutely unique, none other to be worshipped. But the time will come on our earth when men in their godless infatuation and driven by Satan's artful ways, having got rid of the idea of God out there, and finding they can't get on without anything to believe in, will fall for the suggestion that they deify the ruler of the world, and he shall sit in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God, exalting himself above all that is called God or is worshipped. Men in their folly rejecting God, the true God, because they don't want to be slaves to God, finding that that path leads inevitably and irresistibly to a time when man will defy man and fall down and worship his image. The biggest slavery that the human race has ever experienced before or ever will experience. The world is moving towards those times, isn't it? And then there is the, um, fifth section. That begins, as you see, in chapter fifteen and verse five. And after these things I saw, and the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened. So now, you could almost have guessed it, couldn't you, how this was going to start. They all started that way. Now this time, it's the, uh, temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven. That is, the innermost shrine was opened. And the innermost shrine being opened, there came out the seven angels, and the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God. For in the innermost sanctuary dwelt the presence of God and the Shekinah glory. And when it was open, the smoke indicating his presence streamed out of that holy sanctuary. What followed? Well, to put it very, very briefly, in chapters sixteen, seventeen, eighteen is the judgment of two women. In section fi- 4, it was two beasts, bad and evil. In section five, it's two women and equally evil. If the beasts were male, these are female. God is fair, you know. Doesn't care a lot for political correctness. These two ladies, bad. And you say, what's wrong with them? Well, to sum it up briefly, you could, uh, find that out by contrasting them with how that section ends. That section five ends, you'll see, in verse, in chapter nineteen verse seven: Let us rejoice and be exceeding glad, and let us give the glory unto him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And it was given unto her that she should array herself in fine linen, bright and pure, for the fine linen is the righteous act of the saints. There's the true woman. She's the bride of the Lamb. And all down the centuries has made remain faithful to her absent Lord. She shall reign with him and share his throne. By contrast with her, the faithful, devoted bride and eventually wife of the Lamb, stand these two women. Pervous religion, perverse Perversed economics. economics. A world religion and a world of consumerism. Gone from God. Look at those two women. The one in chapter seventeen, she's not arrayed in pure linen, bright and clean, not her. She had a different sense of style, you know. You should see the color and the couture of the woman on the beast and the rouge on the face, you'll see, decked up in all her colors. Instead of being faithful to the absent Lord, it's compromised her loyalty and got on the very beast, the opponent of God and of the Lamb, in her foolish attempt to control it, and in her adulterous fashion will meet destruction at the hands of the very beast she tried to control. The unfaithful women contrasted with the faithful bride of the Lamb. Yes? And final section, you couldn't, you couldn't even imagine how that would begin, could you? It begins, in fact, in chapter nineteen verse eleven. And I saw that heaven opened. But this time John sees no furniture in heaven. This time, when heaven is opened, there comes forth the rider on the white horse, namely our blessed Lord, the Word of God, to execute the judgments of God now finally on this age, to destroy the beast and false prophet, to inaugurate the first resurrection, to institute the millennium, and at its end, the great white throne and the introduction of the new heavens and new earth. Six major sections of the book. Not so difficult, are they? Not in outline. And one can begin to see the shadows of major messages, and each of them are great gospel messages that will give us not only a view of the future, they will move our hearts in worship of the blessed Lord Jesus. They will give us understanding of the ways of God, and they will give us not only a sense of need for progress in holiness as we listen to the Lord and his letters to the churches, as we hear of his coming again and our need to be ready, but they will work in us a tremendous compassion for the lost, as we see the reasons why a holy God must judge our civilization and bring it to its end, so that understanding God's ways, with compassion in our hearts, we may go out and preach to the world around us and answer the problems they have when they think of these gigantic things.