Revelation 4:1 The Throne In Heaven/ Greg Bahnsen {18 of 63} Revelation Verse By Verse

Wish to thank you this day for your goodness to us. We wish to thank you for that good word that you have given to us in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. And more particularly, Father, we would thank you for that word of hope which we receive as we read your Word. We ask you, Lord, that indeed we would be encouraged and we would be strengthened, and we would be impelled to advance the kingdom of Jesus Christ as we see what the Scriptures teach us and lay out for us the whole course of history. We ask you, Father, that you'd make us men of great faith and not little faith, that you'd make us obedient and submissive to your word. For it's in Jesus name that we pray. Amen. I'd like to finish up some thoughts that began last Sunday as we were looking at the letters to the seven churches. In an overall way, we've been kind of going through the. Through the marshes, you know, just kind of gully for gully and bush for bush, as we have been reading these letters to the seven churches. And last Sunday we kind of went up in a helicopter and trying to get an overall picture now of the whole field. And I was telling you that the theme, it would appear the constant theme throughout the seven letters is one of overcoming. Christ, of course, is the one who has first of all overcome the world, has overcome Satan, has overcome all of his enemies. The Scriptures teach us. And therefore he bids Christians to be overcomers, victorious, those who overcome the evil one, those who overcome the Antichrist, the enemies of Christ, those who overcome the world, and finally, those who overcome death. As we looked at the promises to the overcomers as they are found, distributed through the seven letters, we notice that each and every one of them is, in a sense, summarized in Revelation 21, where the promise is given to those who overcome again that they will have citizenship in the holy city with the adorning of the bride of Christ, that they will dwell with God as he is the tabernacle with them, and there will no longer be pain or sorrow or death for them. And then at the end of the class, what I was indicating is that the covenant promise in Revelation 21:7 is enunciated here as a way of summarizing everything that heretofore has gone under the designation of these various promises. In Revelation 21:7, we read, he that overcometh shall inherit these things. Okay, so there's the summary statement. All these things that we've been speaking of, and we've already said that those things are tied in with chapter three and chapter two, the promises there. So he will inherit these things. And I take that. And in the sense of by way of explanation now, and I will be his God and He shall be My Son. There is the most basic, fundamental, primary designation for the covenant promise of God that he'll be a God to us and we will be his people. And so that is about where we ended last week. And I wanted to begin summarizing then the covenant promises throughout the Scriptures. I hope it hasn't escaped your notice that what I've been doing is working out from a very central core, a detailed examination of chapters two and three in Revelation. Then we move out to Revelation 21 to encompass the entire book. And then as we look at the summary of the blessings found in Revelation 21, it turns out that they're really a summary of the blessings of all of the covenants. So all of Scripture, in a sense, can be seen as focusing down on those who are victorious, those who overcome, those who follow in the train of their Savior, Jesus Christ. And so let's do a study of some of the covenants and the covenant blessings throughout the Scripture, because I think this will help us to understand the book of Revelation as a whole. And the first point that should be made is that all of the covenants are in Fact unified. Ephesians 2:12 is perhaps the clearest one line expression of that fact. I think you wouldn't need this expression in Ephesians 2 to conclude this properly in a theological sense. But nevertheless, Ephesians does tell us in chapter two, verse 12, that we were at that time separate from Christ and alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from, and in this interesting phrase, the covenants of the promise. There's the single promise, the single operation of God, gracious operation, merciful operation of God in history. And all of the covenants, whatever they may be, as diverse as they are, all the covenants are unified around that single promise. And so that's why we believe in a covenant of grace, if you will, a covenant of promise, which is the unifying theme of all the diverse covenants of God. And that covenant that we see, that central promise in Ephesians 2:12 is an eternal covenant. All of God's covenants are in Psalm 105, 7, 11, which we read last week, we read that his covenant endures into all generations. It's an eternal covenant. It's a lasting and binding oath on the part of God. Now, what is encompassed, what is promised to those who are adherents to the Covenant of God to this one single eternal covenant of God. And to begin to see what is laid out for us in Scripture, let's turn to Genesis 22:16. In the first place, God promises blessing upon all nations. God says to Abraham, by myself have I sworn, saith Jehovah, because thou hast done this thing and hast not withheld thy Son, thine only Son, that in blessing I will bless thee. And in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is upon the seashore. And thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed. And my voice. It's really a marvelous promise given to Abraham. First of all, you see, his descendants are going to be multiplied in great number. But not only that, not only will they be multiplied like the stars of the heavens, but the seed of Abraham shall possess the gate of his enemies. You don't hear many sermons upon that particular phrase, but in a sense, that is a dominant theme and a recurring image throughout the Scripture of possessing the gates. Of course, if you possess the gates of your enemy, that is to say, you've subdued, you've conquered, you've overcome your enemy. Abraham's seed is going to overcome all of its enemies. Jesus, when he speaks to Peter about Peter, the confessing apostle being the foundation of the Church, says, upon this rock I will build my church. And what the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. We will possess the very gates of Hell. The march of the church will be such that even the gates of Hell will not be able to prevail. We will possess those gates. We will conquer those who are in the dominion of Satan. Well, the seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. It would appear then, that the way in which the kingdom of God is going to possess the gates of Satan, the gates of hell is by all nations of the earth coming in submission to the Savior, Jesus Christ. Now, of course, we're reading in Genesis 22. It's a very early indication. It's a New Testament interpretation that tells us that it's in Christ this shall be accomplished, the one true seed of Abraham. But nonetheless, even if Abraham didn't understand fully all the implications laid out in the New Testament, it's clear that he was to understand his seed would possess the gates of the enemy in such a way that all nations would be blessed in him. And then in Genesis 26:3. You'll notice secondly, that Abraham, the Abrahamic covenant, gave a promise of land to Abraham. 26:3. Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee and will bless thee for unto thee and unto thy seed I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swear unto Abraham thy father. The oath to Abraham, in a sense can be summarized in the promise of the land of Israel, the land of Palestine, which is going to be his. Look at Genesis 50, verse 24 also. And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die, but God will surely visit you and bring you up out of this land unto the land which he swear to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. Now, this has been particularly a stumbling block to a number of people who don't take what is called a premillennial approach to the Bible. A number of people, seeing the covenant being one, seeing the covenant being eternal, and noticing that one of the elements of the covenant promise is the land of Palestine, have assumed thereby that the Jews must have eternal possession of the land of Palestine. That is what scripture indicates. Although that is a major school of thought. I really must say, with all due respect for my Christian brothers who believe that way, that that is probably one of the most wooden interpretations of prophecy and covenant promise that one could ask for. It's quite clear that the land of Palestine and the promise of an inheritance in the land of Palestine is mentioned throughout the New Testament. And it's very important that we go to the New Testament and ask what the inspired apostles understood by such prom. Although we don't have time now to do this in detail, I would just point out for you that in Romans, the fourth chapter, where Paul refers to the promise given to Abraham that he should be the heir of Palestine, all the Old Testament designations speak of Palestine, of Israel. There in Romans, Paul says that Abraham was promised that he would be the heir of the world. The heir of the world. You see, in a sense, premillennialism is far too small in its expectations. Expectations. You see, what Abraham has been promised is not simply some sandy plot of ground over in the Mediterranean. He's been promised that he'd be the heir of the entire world. That was but just the foreshadowing. That was just the first fruits of what God was going to do for the seed of Abraham and giving them the world to possess. Likewise, when Peter in First Peter Chapter 1, wants to contrast the blessings of the old dispensation with the blessings of the new, he uses the land of Palestine as his paradigm for contrast, he says, you see, the old promise gave only this fleeting land with a fleeting tenure. It was something that was always dispossessed by enemies. It was corrupted from within. It was not secure. And he mentions all these things about the earthly Palestine. In contrast to what the inheritance of the saints is in this age, our inheritance now is much more glorious. It's one which doesn't fade away, which is secured for us, reserved in heaven and waiting. But we could go on and on. My point is simply that under the figure of the land of Palestine in the Old Testament, Abraham was promised that he'd be the heir of the world, and that would come in terms of the kingdom of Jesus Christ being established in the earth. Thirdly, there would be multiplication in strength according to the Covenant promise. Deuteronomy 6:3. Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it, that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as Jehovah, the God of thy fathers, hath promised unto thee, in a land flowing with milk and honey. This is not often individuated as one of the promises of the covenant. When you see you know, a list of those things promised to Abraham, you usually go to Deuteronomy 6. But you'll notice that the author here understands that one of the things promised to Abraham was an increase in might. There was going to be a multiplication of his strength. And in Deuteronomy 7:12, 15 speak of blessings in terms of production, health, and food. Deuteronomy 7, beginning at verse 12. And it shall come to pass, because ye hearken to these ordinances, and keep and do them that Jehovah thy God will keep with thee the covenant and the loving kindness which he sware unto thy fathers. And he will love thee and bless thee, and multiply thee and he will also bless the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, thy grain and thy new wine and thine oil, the increase of thy cattle and the young of thy flock, and the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee. Thou shalt be blessed above all peoples. There shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle. And Jehovah will take away from thee all sickness and none of the evil diseases of Egypt which thou knowest, will he put upon thee but he will lay them upon all them that hate thee. Deuteronomy 11, beginning at verse 13, going through verse 17, promises rain, fertility, and prosperity in a similar vein. And it shall come to pass if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments. Which I command you this day to love Jehovah your God, and to serve him with all your heart, with all your soul, that I will give the rain of your land in its season, the former rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy grain, and thy new wine, and thine oil and I will give grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou shalt eat and be full. Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived. And ye turn aside and serve other gods, and worship them, and the anger of Jehovah be kindled against you. And he shut up the heavens, so that there shall be no rain, and the land shall not yield its fruit, and ye perish quickly from off the good land which Jehovah giveth you. And then Deuteronomy 11 at verse 22, 25 speaks of the fact that the people of the covenant shall conquer the nations, okay? Verse 22. For if ye shall diligently keep all this commandment, which I command you to do it, to love Jehovah your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him, then will Jehovah drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves. Every place whereupon the sole of your foot shall tread, shall be yours. From the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the hinder sea shall be your border there shall be no man able to stand before you. Jehovah your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land, and he hath spoken unto you. And then, in a sense, the climax of all these covenant promises comes in the 28th chapter of the book of Deuteronomy, which we can't at this time read altogether, but in Deuteronomy 28, we find the blessings that are announced at Mount Gerizim upon the covenant people, if they'll keep the covenant of God, if they will be obedient to all of his promises, and those blessings include financial prosperity, they'll have international strength and security, they're going to have fertility with respect to their crops, with respect to their cattle, with respect to all their livestock, and with respect to their own bodies, that is, there's going to be many children born to them, they'll dwell securely in the land, and they will have a great deal of prosperity. And then Moses summarizes, you see all the all the covenant promises in the 30th chapter of Deuteronomy at verses 15 and 16, 19 and 20. See, I have set before thee this day. He says, now I'm going to give you the whole summary of these promises. When it comes right down to it, what we're saying is, I have set before you life and good, death and evil, in that I command thee this day to love Jehovah thy God, to walk in his ways and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, that thou mayest live and multiply, and that Jehovah thy God may bless thee in the land whither thou goest in to possess it. I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore choose life that thou mayest live thou and thy seed to love Jehovah thy God, to obey his voice, and to cleave unto him. For he is thy life and the length of thy days, that thou mayest dwell in the land which Jehovah sware unto thy fathers to Abraham and to Isaac, and to Jacob to give to them. So up through the Pentateuch, the covenant promises quite clearly include cultural benefits for the people of God. They're going to possess the nations. They're going to possess the gate of the enemy. They're going to be inheritors of the world. And as they do that, the world is going to bring forth its increase for the people. There's going to be health and protection, production and prosperity, and they're going to know life and blessing instead of death.

And curse before God.

So we turn to the latter portions of the Old Testament. The covenant promises are increased and amplified, and you'll Notice in the 89th Psalm, verses 34 to 36, that David himself has been promised, in terms of God's covenant, an enduring seed, a Davidic king who will reign in righteousness. Psalm 89, beginning at verse 34. My covenant will I not break nor alter the thing that has gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn by my holiness, I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before me. It shall be established forever as the moon and as the faithful witness in the sky this enduring seed who will be established upon the throne of David to rule in righteousness is going to save and rule the nations, According to Psalm 72, which we have read in the last few weeks a couple of times already. But I remind you of the really marvelous promises that are given here as to how Jesus is going to make the kings of the earth and fall before him, and he's going to rule from the river to the ends of the earth. His dominion is going to be worldwide. In Jeremiah 31, we come then to the promises of the new covenant. That is, when the fulfillment of all these promises is brought in, when God sends his own son, Jesus Christ, to be the true fulfiller of the promises given to Abraham and to David and all the other saints of the Old Testament, a new covenant will be established that stands in contrast to the ineffectual nature of the old covenant. In the time, the era of anticipation in the Old Testament period, the promises of God were not fulfilled. The blessings seen there were not enjoyed by the people. There was no realization of that which had been promised. So Jeremiah 31 tells us, beginning at verse 31. Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which my covenant they break, although I was a husband unto them, saith Jehovah, but this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days. See, now he says, here's the contrast between the old covenant and the new. The difference is this. I will put my law in their inward parts, not written on tablets of stone, but I will write it on their heart. And I will be their God, and they will be my people. And they shall teach no more, every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, no Jehovah, for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith Jehovah, for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more. So the new covenant is going to come in the power, first of all, of regeneration, the law of God written.

On the heart and internal writing of the law.

Secondly, it's going to be seen in the prosperity of the gospel. No longer will it be necessary to evangelize, to say to every man, to know the Lord, for they all will know the Lord, from the least to the greatest. And then finally, in a full accomplishment of salvation, sin being remembered no more at all. So that's the new covenant. Hebrews, the eighth chapter tells us that the new covenant has been fulfilled in Jesus Christ. We won't bother to reread, because that's just a lengthy quotation from Jeremiah 31 and Hebrews 8. But in Romans, the 15th chapter.

You.

Notice how at verse 8, Paul speaks of Jesus Christ for I say that Christ has been made a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God. Christ is a minister of the circumcision. Christ is a minister of the Abrahamic promise, the circumcision. And for what reason? That he might confirm the promises given unto the fathers. See, all the promises that have been given to the fathers are going to be found, confirmed and fulfilled, validated, realized in Jesus Christ. Indeed, even the land of Israel. The the promise of the land of Israel, Palestine, is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, as Galatians the third chapter teaches us. At verse 16, Galatians 3:16, Paul says, Now to Abraham were the promises spoken, and to his seed. And then he digresses, saying, he saith not, and to seeds as of many, but rather as of one and to thy seed. And then he interprets, which is Christ. Now what is interesting is that in the Old Testament you will find these quotes and to thy seed only in connection with the promise of the land of Israel. And the promise was made to Abraham and to his seed. And the quotation is directly an allusion to the land of Palestine. And then Paul says, it was fulfilled, you see, because his seed is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the one who fulfills the covenant promises of God.

He confirms all the promises made to.

The fathers, including the promise of Palestine. And so again, we have reinforced what I told you earlier, that we must understand the promises of the old covenant as being a figurative expression of what would be true of the kingdom of Christ as it's established in the New Testament. According to Romans the fourth chapter, Christ is the heir to Abraham. According to Acts the 13th chapter, Christ is the savior of Israel, his people. According to Acts the second chapter, Jesus is the king established upon the Davidic throne. In Acts the second chapter, we also read that this, this resurrected Christ brings with him the promise of the Holy Spirit, the internal writing of the law, regeneration, the power to accomplish the covenant stipulations. In Hebrews the fourth chapter, we read that Jesus is the one who brings the promised rest of the Old Testament. In Hebrews the ninth chapter, we read that Jesus is the one who brings us into the inheritance of the saints. And then notice two Peter chapter one, verses two through four, Second Peter one, grace to you and peace be multiplied in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, seeing that his divine power hath granted unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that called us by his own glory and virtue, whereby he hath granted us his precious and exceeding great promises. That through these ye may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world by lust whereby he hath granted unto us his precious and exceeding great promises. Well, what precious and exceeding great promises? Well, he confirmed the promises of the Fathers. You see, all of the covenant promises of God throughout the Scriptures have been confirmed in Christ and through him promised to us. That's why Paul can say in 2 Corinthians 1:20 this passage, which I think is really a stumbling block to any dispensational understanding of the Scripture, 2nd Corinthians 1:20, teaches us for how many soever be the promises of God, whether it be the promised land, whether it be a multiplication of strength, whether it be a possession of the enemy's gates, whether it be a possession of the world, whether it be crops and fertility among your livestock and your people, whether it be security in the land, how many soever be the promises of God? In him is the yea, wherefore also through him is the Amen unto the glory of God through us. All the promises of God are amen in Christ, are firm in Christ, are confirmed in Christ. All of them are true and realized in Christ and in Christ alone. Now, when we come to the letters to the seven churches in Revelation, you'll notice at the very end the letter to the church at Laodicea. And we've expounded this previously, but I would like to remind you that that letter begins these things, saith the Amen. You see, all the promises of God are in Christ. Amen. All of them are confirmed in him and realized through Him. Christ is the Amen. He is the apex. He is the climax of all the covenants of God. So let's summarize what we've said. All the covenants are one. You have the diverse covenants of the promise, and that's an eternal promise. It's an eternal covenant of grace. And that eternal covenant of grace details all these many blessings which we've been reading about in the Old Testament. And Jesus comes as the one who confirms the promises to the Fathers, who is the Amen, the confirmation of every single one of them. And through him we become inheritors of those promises as well. The reason I've bothered to go go through this lengthy discussion of the promises of the Book of Revelation and the promises of the covenant as they all center on Christ is because I think that will give you a proper perspective on what John is doing in the Book of Revelation. See, the Book of Revelation doesn't simply turn out to be the literary end of the Bible. It isn't as though some sort of dramatic swan song is needed to close out the canon. And so the Book of Revelation is given there to kind of, you know, well, that's it. I mean, that puts an end to it in a literary way. You see, that is also the climax of all of scripture when you see that Jesus Christ came to establish the kingdom of God and to bring all the promises of God to his people. That's why in the book of Revelation, you find some of the most hard things to believe. In all of Scripture, Jesus says, you will rule the nations with a rod of iron. The promise was made in the Old Testament that Jesus would rule the nations. Jesus says, you will sit upon my Father's throne with me. These are things that we hear them. But to take them to heart and to really comprehend the depth and the breadth of the blessing of God in being a follower of Christ is very hard indeed. Revelation is the climax of God's covenant dealings because revelation shows that God is sovereign in history, that God has fulfilled the promise to send a son who would rule the nations. And the amazing thing is that revelation is given. The revelation of these facts, the pulling back of the veil, the unveiling of this truth is given to a people who are so prone to think that it couldn't be true. Because look at the church. Look at the miserable state of the church. It's beat down on every side. The Jews on the one hand are persecuting us. The Romans, on the other hand, you see, are putting us to death. And so on every side, it seems like the church is going. It's just about doomed to death. And yet John brings a revelation that all the covenant promises of God come in Jesus Christ as the apex, as the king of God's choosing, who's been established to rule over history. So that leads me into a discussion of the Book of Revelation as a whole. We have finished now the seven letters and the significance of the seven letters. And what I'd like to do before I get into now, a lengthy down again in all of the details of the various chapters. I'd like to do an overall study of the Book of Revelation by giving you an outline of the book. And I've run off some outlines that I'd like to have us distribute among ourselves. And once you all get them, we'll look at it together. All right, now, to a persecuted church, to a church that has every reason to be a very small faith and expert expectation. John has said you are to overcome. You are to overcome because Christ your Lord has overcome. And he is in fact the climax of all the covenant, promises and dealings of God in history. He is the sovereign Lord over history. And so we are to be victorious. We are to possess the gates of the enemy. We are to conquer in the name of Christ. Well, how can anyone have that kind of faith? The book of Revelation is given to explain that. And let's go through this outline. Now. First of all, in chapter one, the first eight verses comprise an introduction to the book. We've gone over that. The title of the book is given and its significance. The author is given. Blessings and greetings are pronounced in a benediction. And then the book then divides into three major sections. And we've gone through two thirds of the book in terms of the outline. Then, first of all, the things which have been seen, the things which are past, are verses 9 through 20 of chapter 1. The vision given in chapter 1. The background to that vision is elaborated by John in verses 9 through 11. And then he sees the vision of Christ among seven candle stands, verses 12 through 16. His reaction to that vision and the interpretation of the vision is found in verses 17 to 20. Okay, so the things which have been seen as past, then the things which are present. The letters to the seven churches, Revelation 2 and 3. The seven churches are listed here for you in the breakdown of the verses where you can find those letters. And the common pattern to be found in each one of these is listed to the right for you. I remind you that each of the letters has this basic outline, an address to the angel of the church from Christ, who is designated in a certain way, usually drawing upon the designations in chapter one. The church is commended. The church is rebuked, the church is exhorted. And then there is this standard refrain, he that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. And then a promise to those who overcome. And the significance of that promise to those who overcome. I've been expounding for the last two weeks now, beginning, well, not next week, since I'll be absent, somebody else will be teaching, but the week after next. We'll then get in detail into chapters four to the end of the book, and I'd like to preview that this morning. The things that shall be hereafter, that is, those things which lie in the future, chapters four and following. Now, if you're going to read this outline and make much sense of it, because there's a lot of detail, I would recommend that let's go through and read it in terms of subsections that are parallel to each other. That is, don't try to get all the detail at once, but notice that the things which shall be hereafter fall into three major sections. First, very clever designation, the first prophecy, and then after that, the second prophecy, B. And then thirdly, the final revolt, last judgment, and consummation. That is, John winds it up by telling us all the things which will follow what takes place in the second prophecy, the first prophecy, the second prophecy, and then the final revolt, last judgment, and consummation. Now, the main outline for this book is provided by John himself in Revelation 1:19. I've told you that already. Write, therefore, the things which thou sawest and the things which are, and the things which shall come to pass hereafter. So there's the threefold breakdown. That's what you have in Roman numeral 1, 2, and 3. In my outline, the things which have been seen as past, the things which are present, things which shall be hereafter. Now, the third major section, the things which shall be hereafter, obviously begins at chapter four, verse one. As John says, the voices of a trumpet says to him, come up hither. I will show thee the things which must come to pass hereafter. The language is just too standard. Obviously fits right into the pattern established in chapter one, verse 19. Okay, so the third major section begins at 4. 1. We've established, I think, the validity of the outline up to that point. And of course, the real question, the real interpretive argument among different commentators comes in this last section, chapters four and following. And what I'd like to do is try to support an internal basis for this type of an outline from the Book of Revelation itself. That is, the effort will be not to bring a pattern to the book or try to, in looking at the details, think now, what on earth could we say to try to bring some sort of order to this chaos? But rather, I will argue that the.

Book of Revelation has its own internal.

Structure and that the structure is made clear to us. That's that John makes a point of trying to lay out for us what the outline of the book is, what we call today an outline. I don't know if they thought of outlines in that day, but in terms of what the major sections and the transitions of thought are, I think we have some hints. Well, the first major division we see after we get into chapter four in the outline, then, is the division between A and B, the first prophecy and the second prophecy. Now, what justifies breaking it down into those two major sections. Well, I think you will find support for that kind of breakdown if you will compare Revelation 10, 8, 11 with the second section of the book, chapters 13 to 18, which in a sense you can see what I'm talking about in chapter 13, verse 7, chapter 17, verse 15. That's a lot of figures. Let's look at it now. And what I'm saying is compare Revelation 10, 8, 11, 8, 10 and 11. Actually, let's read that. And the voice which I heard from heaven, I heard it again speaking with me and saying, notice the. Again, there seems like something now is going to happen which is structurally formally parallel. Again says, go take the book which is open in the hand of the angel that standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. And then verses 10 and 11. And I took the little book out of the angel's hand and ate it up. And it was in my mouth sweet as honey. And when I had eaten it, my belly was made bitter. And they say unto me, thou must prophesy again over many nations and nations and tongues and kings. And again I heard the voice say, and he has me take now a little book and eat it, because I must prophesy again over many peoples and nations and tongues. So John says, something has gone before which has in a sense been brought to a head now, or is about to be brought to a head. There's a foreshadowing of the fact that he's going to prophesy again. Now a second major section of prophecy is going to be given. Now, what I said is compare that with the whole of chapters 13 to 18, which appear then to be the prophecy of the little book. Look at chapter 13, verse 7. And it was given unto him the beast, to make war with the saints and overcome them. And there was given to him authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation. As everybody knows, whether you're pre, mill, post mill, all mill, the chapters 13 to 18 deal with the downfall of the beast. Excuse me. Again, the beast is introduced in chapter 13. And then what the beast does and how the beast is judged is elaborated for us in the remaining chapters up through 18. And specifically the beast. The. The prophecy about the beast is a prophecy about one who has authority over then exactly the designation John was given when he said the prophecy of the little book was given him. I must prophesy again over many people and tribes and tongues and nations. And then chapter 17, verse 15 reinforces that. And he saith unto me, the waters which thou sawest, where the Harlot Sitteth are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. And so the whole of this section, chapters 13 through 18, appears to be that second prophecy of John over many tribes and tongues and nations. You'll also notice that there seems to be a literary reason for holding to that breakdown between A and B in the outline. And if you look on the outline, I think, yeah, it's indicated there. The first prophecy is comprised in. Is constituted by a seven sealed scroll. You have the literary structuring device of a seven sealed scroll. The second prophecy is constituted in a little book. So you have the scroll and you have the book as the two major sections of the revelation. John prophesied the first time with respect to the seven sealed scroll. And then he sold. You must prophesy again, this time over many tribes, tongues, peoples and nations. And this is going to be the prophecy of the little book. Okay?

So that's why I think there's an.

Internal indication of the breakdown between A and B as I've given it to you in the outline. And then now going into a little more detail, 3b, the second prophecy is foreshadowed in the sixth trumpet of 3a. Let's take that slowly. I don't want you to get lost. The whole of 3B, the little book, we'll call it, for convenience sake, the little book prophecy, chapters 13 to 18 is foreshadowed in the sixth trumpet of 3A. Okay, so look at the. Look at 3A2, the judgment of seven trumpets. The first four trumpets sound, then the last three trumpets sound, and the last three include at two. Now, a foreshadow of the next section, chapter 10, verses 8 through 11, which we've already read at that section, sixth trumpet, John is given an indication of what's going to follow. Now there's going to be another prophecy. We're almost done with this prophecy, John. Finish it up. And then there'll be a little book I want you to prophesy about as well. Now, just as the little book is foreshadowed at the sixth trumpet of the preceding section, you will notice also that the resultant vision of 3b3 is foreshadowed at the sixth bowl of 3b2. Let's look at that now, 3b. To follow this closely, 3b3 is foreshadowed@ 3b2.

3B3 is the resultant vision of a rider on a white horse, followed by the church, chapter 19, verses 11 through 21. And I'm saying that that resultant vision is itself foreshadowed at the sixth installment of the previous vision, three B2, seven bowls are given. You have the first four bowls and.

The last three bowls, and then a.

Foreshadow of the next section at chapter.

16, verses 13 through 16. Now, why am I bothering going into this kind of detail? I want to point out that we.

Don'T look upon the book of Revelation as somehow just some ecstatic vision of.

John where he just started going into.

Gibberish and things just kind of fell.

Into some chaotic, you know, random place on the page.

This book is a highly structured literary presentation. There is so much internal structure that it's almost too hard to teach to see the parallels in the way John does this.

There is the scroll, there is the little book.

The little book is foreshadowed at the sixth installment of the scroll. And you'll notice that what follows, the little book is foreshadowed at the sixth installment of the little book itself. I mean, it is just. It is too much.

There's just too much clever scheme in.

The book to see this as somehow John just running off. You know, I saw this and I saw that, and I saw this, and who knows what to make of all that? It's highly structured. It's very purposeful. It's laid in with a plan. And then 3C, the final revolt, I think, follows upon 3B, the prophecy of the little book by any natural reading, and in fact, no commentator will disagree that that, in fact is the way to see the relationship between those sections. So what we've established is this from the book of Revelation itself, I maintain. You see, the Roman numeral 1, 2, and 3 break down. You see, the Roman numeral 3 begins at chapter 4. And you see that in the chapters that follow 4, the breakdown is between a first prophecy, a seven sealed scroll, and a second prophecy. One must prophesy again now the little book, and that there is a structure of anticipation even for that. And then C follows upon any natural reading. And so the major, major breakdown of this outline, I think, has internal support from John himself. And now to support the idea that there is this delicate and conscious balance between the main sections of part three, I'd like to point out a few things for you. We've already spoken of the foreshadowings at the sixth trumpet and sixth bowl. Before I talk anymore about trumpets and bowls and all the rest, maybe we better just read through the outline at chapter four. We begin with the prophecy of the seven sealed scroll, an explanation and a transition. That will be chapters four through 1217. You'll have the seven sealed scroll, an explanation of the seven sealed scroll, and then a transition to the next portion of the prophecy.

Okay, Beginning then to break that down.

First of all, there's a background to the judgment on the first enemy, which will be interpreted as Apostate Jerusalem. The background is given in terms of a setting and main characters being introduced in chapters four and five.

And that setting is the heavenly court. First of all, we see the exaltation.

Of God's sovereignty in creation in chapter four, that God is sovereign over all of creation. Chapter five then introduces the Lamb of God in the scroll which we've been speaking of. And this has this theme, the exaltation of God's sovereignty in redemption. So the sovereignty of God in creation. The sovereignty of God and redemption. That's no accident. That breakdown that doesn't come by John just running off in some ecstatic way. There's a definite dogmatic parallel. He wants to show that God is the Creator and that God is sovereign. Also in the second major work of God, the redemption of his people. Okay, after the setting and main characters, a preview of the contents are given that we might be prepared for the judgment of God. That's to fall chapter six and seven.

And that preview comes in the breaking.

Of the first seals. And as the seals are broken, notice.

That they will be broken in a.

4, 2, 1 pattern. There will be four seals broken, then two seals broken, then the final seal.

And we are introduced to the 144,000.

Who are sealed by God. And that's a pun which I haven't been able to make. Well, you never make total, I mean, never comprehend totally what God has for.

You in the Scriptures. But I mean, there is something very interesting about that.

As the seals are being broken, the saints of God are designated the ones sealed by God. Well, after we have this background to the judgment, the judgment finally comes in the seven trumpets, chapter eight, verse six. I'm sorry, I forgot one section here. The prelude to the judgment.

You have the setting, you have the preview, and then you have the prelude.

The prelude is the scene at the heavenly tabernacle, which you see in the first five verses of chapter eight. Then finally, the trumpets sound. The judgment now falls.

We've had it previewed.

It is now fulfilled. The first four trumpets bring natural calamities upon Israel. The last three trumpets bring human woes which include now in the explanation of the human woes that will fall upon apostate Jerusalem. An interpretation of those woes, a foreshadowing of the next section, an Elaboration of the fact that God is just in this judgment that has fallen, a note of finality. At the final trumpet, there is.

It's almost as though the curtain drops.

It is a dramatic end.

God has had it with the people.

And then finally, a declaration of God's victory and reign. Why do I detail each one of these? You'll notice that when we get into the next section. That's exactly what you find, I think, conspicuous balance here. An interpretation, a foreshadow, an elaboration of God's church justice, a dramatic ending note, and then a declaration of God's victory. Well, the judgment falls. We've seen the prelude to the judgment. The judgment of the seven trumpets has fallen. And then thirdly, there's an explanation and a transition. The explanation is, how did this take place? How do you account for this? What's the cause for this? How do you explain it? It's that God's kingdom has been established. And with the explanation of the establishment of God's kingdom, there's then a transition to the next section of the book. Chapter 12 is that explanation and transition. It explains that Christ has defeated Satan, that Satan has been cast down from power and the Jewish church has been saved because the Jewish church has been saved. What's the Jewish church? Christians who have fled from Jerusalem before it fell in AD 70. Since they fled to the wilderness and Satan could not destroy them. As he destroyed the city of Jerusalem, he turns in his wrath upon the Gentile Church. And so the Gentile Church, now being persecuted by Rome, becomes the subject for discussion. And again, that is just too smooth. It is too ornate, too beautiful a transition. You see, the judgment falls upon apostate Jerusalem. God's sealed saints are saved from that judgment. Satan is angry because he hasn't been able to destroy the saints of God. He turns to the other segment of God's church, the Gentile Church. And that brings us then to apostate Rome or to persecuting Rome. The second prophecy of the little book then is given with a resultant vision, an explanation and a transition, just like the former section, the background to the judgment on the second enemy, which is pagan Rome. And that background is just like the background above in section A. The background gives us the setting and the main characters. First of all, we're introduced to Satan on the seashore with his followers who are the two beasts of chapter 13. And then chapter 14 shows us Christ on Mount Zion with his followers, followers who are conspicuously designated the 144,000. And so there's A unity between the church which is saved. You see in the first section, the people of God who are sealed and the people of God who follow Christ as he battles the second enemy. Then, after the setting and main characters, there will be a preview of the contents in the section preceding this. The preview came in the breaking of the seven seals of the scroll. The preview this time comes again in a pattern of seven, but it's seven angels. You see three angelic messages and two harvests of the earth. And then the prelude to the judgment, another scene at the heavenly tabernacle. Isn't that interesting? The prelude to judgment in the first section was a scene at the heavenly tabernacle. And now the prelude to judgment to fall on Rome is seen at the heavenly tabernacle. You begin to see that it's almost too beautiful. I mean, there's exact point for point, balance and parallel in what John is doing. And now the judgment falls after the background to it. It's preview and prelude. And the judgment comes now with the designation of seven bowls. And how are the seven bowls revealed? A pattern of four bowls, and then two bowls, and then one bowl, four bowls, natural calamities, three bowls, human afflictions, just like the natural and human breakdown of the first section. And in the last three bowls include a foreshadow of the next section, a note of finality at the seventh bowl, an interpretation of what all this means, chapter 17, an elaboration of God's judgment and a declaration of God's victory, just like I told you previously. And it comes at just exactly the same place in terms of the formal breakdown of the book as it did in the section above. The second prophecy shows us the judgment on Rome, then the fall of Rome, and after that we have a resultant vision of Christ as the rider on a white horse, followed by the Church. The background is given, the main character is introduced, and then the victorious outcome of the battle is elaborated. But one needs an explanation of the second section of the book just as much as the first. How is all this possible?

Christ has come. Chapter 20.

He has bound Satan. The saints rule with him for a millennium. And then at the end, Satan will be loosed. Here's the transition to the very last section of the book. Satan will be loosed. And that brings the final revolt, the last judgment and the consummation. When Satan is involved in the final revolt, he'll deceive the nations again. There'll be a great apostasy, and Christ will return in final judgment upon this apostate world and bring the great White Throne, judgment to bear. Then there'll be a consummation of creation and redemption. God is sovereign in Creation, Chapter 4, Sovereign and Redemption, Chapter 5 and Chapter 21. You see the consummation of all of creation and redemption in the new heavens and the new earth and the new Jerusalem, the new creation and the new city of God. Well, that's an awful lot to take in.

I know in one hour we've been.

Looking at a great deal, but it's important for you to see that what.

We'Re going to be looking at in detail.

And I realize we're going to start now plotting through word by word, verse by verse, that all of this, if.

You take an aerial view of the.

Land, you can see this conspicuous pattern in a definite climactic structure, a systematic structure to this Book of Revelation.

In closing, I think it would be helpful before we get to the things.

That are hereafter, the section of Revelation.

Beginning at chapter four that you see.

Where Revelation comes in terms of the history of God's dealings in redemption.

And I think the best way to.

See the Book of Revelation in terms of a prophetic book is to see it as tying in with the prophecy of Daniel at the dream of Nebuchadnezzar. We don't have time to read it now, so let me just summarize for you.

Remember that Nebuchadnezzar back in the Old.

Testament and change gears now. Back here in the Old Testament, Daniel had to interpret for Nebuchadnezzar a very unusual and odd dream that he had. Nebuchadnezzar had a dream of a large statue of a man that was in four sections, four different types of metals or combinations of metals in the image. Nebuchadnezzar didn't understand it. And so Daniel was called in to interpret the dream. Daniel said, nebuchadnezzar, these four sections are four major empires. They are four kingdoms. And when you saw in your dream that a stone not cut with human hands, comes down and destroys that image, and then that stone grows as a.

Mountain filling the earth, what that means.

Is there are going to be four major empires. And then the kingdom of God is going to destroy the empires of man. And then it will grow to fill the earth. Daniel said that the fifth kingdom of divine origin would smash and then supplies plant the kingdoms of the world. Now, what are the four empires? Well, the fourth empire mentioned there is the empire of Rome. And so Daniel was prophesying that there would be a kingdom that would destroy the Roman empire. And upon the rubble, upon the heap of the Roman Empire, then the kingdom of God would grow to fill the entire earth. And that's precisely what the Book of Revelation teaches us, that it takes up right there at the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream. The Roman Empire, the beast and the harlot of the last section will be judged by God and destroyed.

Chapters 13 to 18 and after the.

Destruction of the Roman Empire, chapter 19 will show us that this kingdom of divine origin is going to grow to fill the earth. Every bit of opposition. Everybody who opposes the kingdom of God will be conquered by the Gospel. It will grow to great proportions and the sword from Christ's mouth will slay all opposition. And that's why the Church is said to rule with her Lord for the whole period between the two advents. The first section of Revelation, I mean the first prophecy is going to tell us why it is the church and not Israel. That is the stone cut without hands.

Israel has apostasy.

God has chosen the Church as his kingdom. The second section will show that stone made without human hands of divine origin, that kingdom destroying the Fourth World empire. And chapter 19 will show us it growing to fill the earth. So try to remember how the Book of Revelation is in a sense a summary and a climax to all the covenant promises of God in history. The book of Revelation takes up at the end of the prophecy of Daniel and shows us the kingdom of God, the destruction of the Roman Empire, and the final victory of God's people. Let's pray. Father, we ask you this day that you would make us diligent students of your word, attentive to its details, and obedient to everything it says. We ask you, Father, that we would be encouraged and built up in our faith as we see what lies ahead for your church. We pray, Father, that we would take encouragement and trust you all the more because you have fulfilled your word in destroying our enemies, destroying apostate Jerusalem, and destroying pagan Rome. We ask you, Father, that you would make us more faithful as your kingdom in spreading the news of Christ and his saving redemption to earth's remotest ends. We ask that you would enable us to hasten the day in which the kingdoms of this world are indeed the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, where it's in his name. We pray.

Amen.