You're about to watch chapter 4 of this extremely controversial and thorough study of the book
of Revelation.
This series debunks, once and for all, every argument of the pre-tribulation rapture.
So here it is.
Pastor Steven Anderson breaks down chapter 4 of the book of Revelation.
Now, in Revelation chapter 4, we finished up with the messages to the seven churches.
And the Bible says in verse number 1,
So, if you would, go back quickly to Revelation chapter 1, because if you remember in the
introduction to the book of Revelation, John was told by Jesus Christ in verse number 19,
Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which
shall be hereafter.
So notice he's supposed to write the things that he already saw, and things that are,
meaning right now, present things, and the things which shall be hereafter.
Now when we get to chapter 4, he says at the end of verse 1, I will show thee things which
must be hereafter.
Now what that tells us is that we have not gotten to the hereafter phase of Revelation
until this point, right?
Everything he's seen before this point was the things which are, the present day things.
It was John, present day, on the Isle of Patmos.
It was John, present day, hearing messages to present day churches that were giving them
specific instructions about their church.
Now in chapter 4, we're getting into the hereafter phase.
You say, well why is that important?
Well because there's a false teaching out there that says that Revelation chapters 2
and 3 were not just speaking to specific literal churches that existed back then, but they
basically teach that Revelation 2 and 3 provide an outline of church history, or that they
provide seven church ages.
Now the primary source of this seems to be the Scofield Reference Bible, because in the
Scofield Reference Bible, on the messages to the seven churches, it says, you know,
this was the Ephesus age, the Smyrna age, the Pergamos age.
And then of course, we'll often hear people say that today we're living in the Laodicean
church age, because that was the final church that he addressed in Revelation chapter 3.
But if that were true, if Revelation 2 and 3 were dealing with these church ages, well
wouldn't those have all been in the future to John back then?
Because if John's living in the first century AD, if these letters to the seven churches
were giving him information about future events, wouldn't that have been things that would
be hereafter?
But yet, that is classified in the book of Revelation as the things which are the present
day churches.
And he doesn't enter the hereafter phase of Revelation until he gets to chapter 4.
So Revelation 2 and 3 were not prophesying future church ages to John, rather they were
just showing him things about those particular churches, and of course there's other symbolism
there.
But in chapter 4 we get into the hereafter phase.
Now you say, well why do you make such a big deal to tell us that those seven churches
are not church ages?
Well because there's a false doctrine out there known as the pre-tribulation rapture
that basically teaches that Jesus Christ will come in the clouds and that the trumpet will
sound before the tribulation, and that believers will be removed from this world before the
tribulation.
Now that is something that the Bible never tells us anywhere.
There's no scripture in the Bible that clearly states anything even close to that.
Therefore the pre-tribulation rapture, because there is no clear scripture that says the
rapture will come before the tribulation, or before the tribulation Christ comes in
the clouds, they have to use a lot of symbolism and a lot of very complicated arguments to
try to make their case.
So in order to prove that the rapture comes before the tribulation, and in order to prove
that the rapture can happen at any moment, two things that are not taught in the Bible
whatsoever, one of the things that they do is they try to say, well chapters two and
three are giving us this outline of the history of the church and giving us these seven church
ages, and then right after that last Laodicean church age, Revelation 4.1 is the rapture.
And they're using that to say, well you know you have the church history, then you have
the rapture, then you have the tribulation.
Now Revelation 4.1 is not the rapture, and I'm going to prove to you right now that Revelation
4.1 is not the rapture.
The Bible reads in verse number one, after this I looked and behold a door was opened
in heaven and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me
which said come up hither and I will show thee things which must be hereafter and immediately
I was in the spirit.
So those who believe in this false pre-trib rapture, they don't want to say well the book
of Revelation never mentions the rapture.
So they have to find something in the book of Revelation before the tribulation.
If they're going to teach a pre-tribulation rapture, they have to find something before
the tribulation and the tribulation is laid out in chapter six first of all.
Then they have to find something before that and say well this is the rapture.
So here's all they could come up with was this Revelation 4.1.
Now it's pretty ridiculous because they say well see a voice like a trumpet and come up
hither, John's caught up, that's the rapture.
Well here's the problem with that.
First of all, this is one guy being caught up to heaven.
The rapture is not one guy being caught up to heaven, the rapture is all believers of
all ages, the dead in Christ, those that are alive and remain, every saint who's ever lived
being caught up, it's an innumerable multitude that's going to be caught up at the rapture
first of all, not a single guy.
Second of all, at the rapture a trumpet will sound, not a voice like a trumpet and when
ever the Bible talks about a voice like a trumpet, it's talking about the volume of
the voice.
Like for example, he tells preachers in Isaiah 58 one, cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy
voice like a trumpet.
He's saying that he heard a loud voice when he's saying he heard a voice like a trumpet.
So there's no trumpet in this verse sounding, there's just a voice that has a volume like
a trumpet.
So it's one guy, there's no trumpet, there's no mention of Christ coming in the clouds
in this verse whatsoever.
You see when John is caught up and gets to heaven, Jesus is up there seated at the right
hand of the Father.
There's no Christ descending, coming in the clouds, us meeting him in the air, no mention
here of John meeting the Lord in the air, okay?
So one guy, no trumpet, no clouds, no Jesus Christ coming to gather, we don't see any
of that in this passage, but here's the one thing that just proves beyond a shadow of
a doubt that this can have nothing to do with the rapture.
Verse 2, and immediately I was in the Spirit.
Therefore John was not even bodily or physically caught up to heaven in Revelation 4.1.
And at the rapture there will be a bodily resurrection of the dead in Christ and we
which are alive and remain will be bodily caught up to meet him, we will be changed
in a moment of a twinkle in the eye, we will receive a new glorified body, but look the
rapture is not a spiritual occurrence, it is a bodily physical occurrence where we're
caught up to heaven.
So really this passage has pretty much nothing to do with the rapture, pretty much has nothing
in common with the rapture.
No trumpet, no clouds, no Lord descending, no bodily catching up, and it's one guy versus
an innumerable multitude.
You see there are other scriptures in the Bible that talk about people being carried
somewhere or brought somewhere in the Spirit.
For example, back in Ezekiel 37, one says, the hand of the Lord was upon me and carried
me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the midst of the valley which was
full of bones.
He did not physically go there, but he was brought there in Spirit.
Have you ever heard people say to you, you know what, I know I can't be at such and such
the event, but I'll be with you in Spirit, right, you know, I'm with you in the Spirit.
You know, a lot of times men in the Bible would go into a trance or have a vision from
the Lord or be carried in the Spirit somewhere, but honestly they stayed where they were physically.
Sometimes they were in a, you know, a jail cell for example, but they're caught up in
the Spirit and they're brought to places where they're shown different things.
Ezekiel was brought to the temple and shown people that were bowing down and worshiping
idols in Ezekiel 8, 9, and 10.
We see that drama there.
And this shows in Revelation 4, 2 that John was not bodily caught up to heaven.
He was only caught up in the Spirit.
And so to say that this is the rapture is a big stretch.
And what I think is funny about that is that those who believe in the pre-Trib rapture,
they always claim that they use the literal interpretation of the Bible.
You know, we interpret the Bible literally.
And here's what they often accuse anyone who does not agree with their dispensational
doctrine and their pre-Trib doctrine, they'll say this, well those who are not dispensationalists,
they often tend to spiritualize events in the Bible and they tend to spiritualize scriptures.
You know, who's spiritualizing?
They are the ones who are taking a scripture about John, one guy being caught up to heaven,
and saying, oh, this spiritually represents all believers being caught up, bodily, trumpet
sound, Christ in the clouds.
It's a big, big stretch.
But if you believe in a pre-Trib rapture, this is all you've got.
Because when we get into chapter 6, the tribulation is already happening.
And the only thing they can point to that's pre-Trib is Revelation 4, 1.
So if you can swallow that this is the only mention of the rapture in the whole book of
Revelation, one verse about John being caught up in spirit.
If you can swallow that, my friend, you're a good candidate for believing in the pre-Trib
rapture.
If you can swallow that, then you can swallow all the other garbage that you're going to
have to swallow in order to believe in the pre-Trib rapture.
But frankly, I'm not buying it.
It doesn't make any sense.
Let's show you the real rapture in the book of Revelation.
Because oh, make no mistake about it, the rapture is definitely covered in the book
of Revelation.
It's covered twice.
It's covered in chapter 7 as being after the tribulation but before God's wrath is poured
out.
And it's also covered in chapter 14 as being after the tribulation but before God's wrath
is poured out.
So let's compare, shall we, the pre-Trib position of the rapture, which is Revelation 4, 1.
And let's compare that with the post-Trib pre-wrath rapture, basically a biblical rapture.
Let's look at those in Revelation 7 and Revelation 14.
Go to chapter 7 first of all and let's compare and see which one looks more like the rapture.
Look at Revelation 7 and keep in mind the context of Revelation 7 is that at the very
end of chapter 6, the sun and moon have just been darkened at the end of chapter 6.
Well if we go to Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21, what happens right after the sun and moon
are darkened according to Matthew 24, 29 through 31?
He says immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be turned into
darkness, the moon shall not give her light.
And then he says, then shall they see the sign of the Son of Man coming in the clouds
of heaven and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn and they shall see the Son
of Man come in the clouds of heaven with great power and glory.
He says there's a trumpet.
He's going to gather the elect from the four winds, from the one in heaven to the other.
So look, if Matthew 24 and Mark 13 and Luke 21 teach that after the tribulation Christ
comes in the clouds, a trumpet sounds and the elect or the saved are gathered.
Elect always means saved in the New Testament.
If Matthew 24 and Mark 13 teach that the rapture takes place after the sun and moon are darkened
after the tribulation, then when we're reading Revelation and when we see the sun and moon
darkened in chapter 6, shouldn't we expect the next thing to be the rapture?
I mean if Matthew 24 teaches sun and moon are darkened, then Christ comes in the clouds
and the elect are gathered, wouldn't we expect to find in Revelation right after the sun
and moon are darkened, the rapture?
Well that's exactly what we find in chapter 7.
Look at chapter 7 verse 9.
After this, after what?
After the sun and moon were darkened at the end of chapter 6 and the 144,000 were sealed.
After this I beheld and lo, a great multitude which no man can number.
Now isn't that a little more like the rapture than one guy, John?
After this I beheld and lo, a great multitude which no man could number of all nations and
kindreds and people in tongues stood before the throne and before the lamb clothed with
white robes and palms in their hands and cried with a loud voice saying, Salvation to our
God which sitteth upon the throne and under the lamb and all the angels stood round about
the throne and about the elders and the four beasts and fell 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.
So right after the sun and moon are darkened we have a great multitude appear in heaven
that no man can number.
Now I'm going to prove to you that those people just got there because first of all he tells
us in verse 9, after this I beheld and lo, a great multitude.
So the great multitude was not there until after the sun and moon were darkened and after
the 144,000 are sealed but then he says this in verse 13, And one of the elders answered
saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes?
And here's the key phrase, And whence came they?
Well whence, the word whence, it's an old word but it means from where.
So he says, What are these which are arrayed in white robes?
And from where came they?
Whence came they?
Basically in our modern vernacular, where did they come from?
Showing that they just showed up.
After this a multitude shows up and one of the 24 elders says to John, Where did these
people come from?
Who are they and where did they come from?
And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest, he's like, Don't ask me, you should know.
And what does the elder say?
He said to me, verse 14, These are they which came out of great tribulation and have washed
their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Therefore are they before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple
and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.
They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore, neither shall the sunlight on them
nor any heat for the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them and shall
lead them unto living fountains of waters and God shall wipe away all tears from their
eyes.
So when we compare Revelation 7 to the rapture, it's a much better fit because in Revelation
7 it's a great multitude that appears in heaven, they've come out of great tribulation which
is consistent with Matthew 24 which teaches that after the tribulation is when Christ
comes in the clouds, the trumpet sounds and the believers are caught up, gathered together.
And then in 1 Thessalonians 4 when it talks about the rapture, coming in the clouds just
like Matthew 24, trumpet sound, gather up the saved, caught up together with them in
the clouds, there's this phrase in 1 Thessalonians 4, And so shall we ever be with the Lord.
And that's exactly what this phrase teaches in Revelation 7 when it says the Lamb which
is in the midst of the throne shall feed them and shall lead them and it says they'll serve
him day and night.
You see, this multitude that's caught up in Revelation 7, they're going to ever be with
Jesus, they're ever going to be with the Lamb, they're ever going to be with the Lord.
Now let me ask you this, let's compare that with Revelation 4.1.
One guy, did he remain ever with Jesus, ever with the Lord, or was he caught up temporarily?
Think about it now, he was caught up temporarily and then shortly thereafter he's back on the
isle of Patmos, he's copying out his letters to send it to the seven churches.
Okay, John was only caught up temporarily.
We're going to stay with Jesus and when Jesus comes back to this earth after he's done pouring
out his wrath on the right horse, we're coming with him and we're going to reign with him.
We will stay with Jesus Christ from the rapture on, we will be with the Lord, ever with the
Lord, always with the Lord.
So Revelation 7 is a perfect fit for the rapture because it's an innumerable multitude, because
it's after the sun and moon are darkened, because it's after the tribulation, because
it is exactly what we read about in all the descriptions of Christ coming in the clouds.
Later in the series I'll explain more about the order of the book of Revelation.
In chapters 11 and 12, you know, in those messages I'm going to go into more detail
about the order, because the book of Revelation is in chronological order, make no mistake
about that, because he often uses the term after this or after these things.
But it's just that chapters 1 through 11 are in chronological order, then in chapter 12
he starts over with the birth of Christ and he tells the whole story again.
So basically if you cut the book of Revelation in half, both halves are in chronological
order.
But he just goes through the whole story twice, sort of like he goes through the gospel story
four times, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
But again, I'll go into more detail proving that in chapters 11 and chapter 12 sermons.
But for now, just realize that both of these places I'm showing you are post-tribulational,
but pre-wrath.
They're both after the tribulation, but before God pours out his wrath, both chapters 7 and
chapter 14.
Go to chapter 14 and look if you would at verse 14.
Tell me if this seems more like the rapture than Revelation 4.1.
And I looked and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of
Man.
That's Jesus Christ, of course.
The Son of Man is what he was called on this earth.
Having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.
And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice, to him that sat
on the cloud, thrust in thy sickle and reap.
For the time is come for thee to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
And he that sat on the cloud, thrust in his sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.
Now again, perfect fit with the rapture.
Jesus Christ comes in a cloud, okay?
Jesus Christ is told by the voice of the archangel that the time has come for him to reap.
He thrusts in his sickle and reaps the harvest of the earth.
Now we have the cloud, we have Jesus descending, and we have the voice of the archangel, and
we have the earth reaped.
You say, well what does it mean that the earth is reaped?
Well, this goes back to the parable that Jesus gives in Matthew 13, where he explains that
the harvest is the end of the world.
He said that he that sowed the good seed is the son of man.
He said the good seed are the children of the kingdom, but the tares or weeds, he says
they are the children of the wicked one.
And he talks about reaping the harvest and gathering the wheat or the good seed into
his barn.
That barn is heaven, you know?
The father's house, he's bringing the good wheat of the harvest into his barn.
The Bible often uses the term harvest to refer to basically people being saved.
He talks about the fact that we should lift up our eyes and behold that the fields are
white into harvest, and that we should pray that the Lord would send for the laborers
into his harvest to go out and do what?
Get people saved, preach the gospel to every creature.
And he often refers to that as planting seeds, watering seeds, reaping the harvest.
So Jesus Christ, when he comes in the cloud here, he reaps the harvest of the earth.
This is where he's gathering up the saved from the earth.
He's gathering the wheat into his barn.
And then, perfect fit, jump to chapter 15.
Right after this, right after it's reaped, and of course after he reaps the wheat there,
then he also reaps the clusters of the vine of the earth and casts them into the great
wine press of the wrath of God, symbolic of him pouring out his wrath on those that are
left behind to experience God's wrath.
And then in chapter 15, it says this in verse 2,
And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire, and them that had gotten the victory
over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name,
stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God, and they sing the song of Moses, the
servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are thy works,
Lord God Almighty, and on and on they sing the song.
But again, it's a perfect fit.
Jesus comes in the clouds, he reaps, and what do you see next?
A multitude in heaven, singing and praising God.
Those are the people that were just raptured.
That's the same multitude from chapter 7.
It's a perfect fit.
It fits Matthew 24.
It fits Mark 13.
It fits Luke 21.
It fits 1 Thessalonians 4 and 5.
And you know, the pre-trib rapture is just constantly trying to jam a square peg into
a round hole, trying to say that Revelation 4-1 is the rapture.
And once you get a view that says it's post-trib, pre-wrath, everything fits like a glove as
you study Revelation.
And I've talked to a lot of people, go back to Revelation 4 if you would, I've talked
to a lot of people who said, man, I used to not like studying Revelation because it never
made any sense to me.
But once I figured out that the rapture happens after the tribulation, and that it's pre-wrath,
it's before the wrath, but after the tribulation, they said, man, it just all made sense.
It just all came clear.
Now I love reading it.
It's interesting.
It makes perfect sense now.
And that's how it is with any doctrine.
I mean, whenever you're struggling to understand something in the Bible, it's usually just
because you have a preconceived idea that you can't get out of your head.
And because you can't get that preconceived idea out of your head, everything isn't fitting
and it's confusing you and bothering you.
Just let go of it, man.
Just read the Bible and take it for what it says.
Read Matthew 24 and just believe it.
But again, where we are in Revelation 4, we saw John is spiritually caught up in heaven,
not bodily.
And it says that he sees a throne set in heaven and one sat on the throne.
Verse 3, he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone.
And there was a rainbow round about the throne in sight like unto an emerald.
And round about the throne were four and 20 seats.
And upon the seats I saw four and 20 elders sitting, clothed in white raiments, and they
had on their heads crowns of gold.
And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices, and there were
seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God.
So he gets up there and he sees this scene.
There's a throne.
There's one sitting upon the throne.
And obviously that's the Lord sitting on the throne.
And then he's surrounded by four and 20 seats with four and 20 elders.
Now you say, what are these elders?
Go to Titus chapter 1.
Titus chapter number 1 will help us to understand what the Bible means by the term elder.
The Bible reads in Titus 1 verse 5, for this cause, this is Paul speaking to Titus, left
I thee in Crete that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, or lacking
there, and ordain elders in every city as I had appointed thee.
So Paul left Titus in Crete to ordain elders in every city as he had appointed.
Look at verse 6, if any be blameless, the husband of one wife, and no that does not
mean one wife at a time, the husband of one wife having faithful children not accused
of riot or unruly, for a bishop must be blameless as the steward of God.
So notice we're talking about ordaining what in verse 5?
What are we ordaining in verse 5?
Elders in every city, right?
And then what does he call them in verse 7?
For a what?
A bishop must be blameless.
So doesn't that show that an elder is a bishop?
Because he's talking about ordaining elders and then he says here's the qualifications
of a bishop.
So he uses the term elder and bishop interchangeably.
The word that we most often use today in our modern vernacular is we call them pastors.
But there's nothing wrong with using the term elder or bishop to talk about someone who
is leading the church.
And the leaders in the church are known as bishops or elders and then they are served
by deacons and that's a whole other sermon in and of itself.
But here we see that the bishop or the pastor is called an elder.
So when we get to Revelation chapter 4, it makes perfect sense that these 24 elders are
basically 24 pastors, 24 church leaders, 24 preachers or prophets or men of God.
Now you say why 24?
Who are these guys?
Of course those who believe in a preacher or rapture say well the 24 elders represent
every believer.
The entire church.
Well first of all, that's not a very good representation since they're all men.
Aren't there a lot of women that are saved?
But there aren't any female pastors, you know, at least there shouldn't be according to the
Bible.
It's hard to be the husband of one wife when you're a woman.
So that's why, you know, that proves right there that pastors are supposed to be men,
okay.
So the 24 elders are all men.
No women represented there.
The 24 elders are all pastors.
There's no laymen represented there.
Do you see how that's not a good repre- because they say well this represents the entire church,
quote unquote.
This is all believers in heaven.
Because again, they're trying to prove that the rapture has already taken place.
So they say well this just represents, look, what was more like the rapture?
The multitude in chapter 7 that no man could number of every nationality or 24 guys.
Now you say well Pastor Anderson, how did these 24 pastors get to heaven if the rapture
hasn't happened yet?
Hmm?
How'd they get there?
Well, newsflash, every person who's ever died is already in heaven and the rapture hasn't
happened yet.
Believers are already in heaven right now.
But these 24 elders have not been bodily resurrected yet.
They are there in soul and spirit.
You say no Pastor Anderson because they're clothed in white raiment.
Can a soul wear clothing?
Can a spirit wear clothing?
Yes it can.
Go to Revelation 6.
I'll prove it to you.
Look at Revelation 6-11.
The Bible says, well let's start reading in verse number 9.
It says, and when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the what?
The souls.
This is before the rapture.
He says, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God
and for the testimony which they held.
And they cried with a loud voice saying, how long O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not
judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
Now that verse just proves so much right there.
That proves that the first four seals have not been God judging the earth at all or avenging
the blood of the saints on the earth.
People try to say, oh yeah, the fourth seal is the wrath of God.
No, because at the fifth seal they're saying, how long God, until you start pouring out
your wrath?
How long until you judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
Proving that he hadn't done that yet because he's not going to do that until the end of
chapter 6 after the sun and moon are darkened.
Proving that God's wrath does not begin until after the sun and moon are darkened.
Proving that the wars and famines and pestilences of the first four seals had nothing to do
with God's wrath or God's judgment or God's vengeance.
That was all man-made, that was all Satan persecuting the people upon the earth and
persecuting humanity and then persecuting God's people.
We'll get into that later when we get into chapter 6 in detail.
But look at these men that are martyrs to the cause of Christ that are being killed
and look what they say in verse 11.
It says, and white robes were given unto every one of them and it was said unto them that
they should rest yet for a little season until their fellow servants also and their
brethren should be killed as they were should be fulfilled.
So notice, these martyrs, the souls, they're not, they're bodily, they're dying and boom,
their souls and heaven.
Because look, the Bible says to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
Paul said I have a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better.
He said for me to live is Christ and to die is gain because if I die, if I depart, I'm
going to be with Christ.
We don't believe in soul sleep, we're not Jehovah's Witnesses.
The Bible teaches that when you go to heaven, the first thing you're issued is a white robe.
You know, you get there in the soul even before the rapture, even before the bodily resurrection
and you're given a white robe.
So why should it surprise us that if these people as they're killed are instantly appearing
in heaven in Revelation 6, their soul that is, their dead body is still on the earth,
why would it surprise us in chapter 4 when we got a bunch of pastors up there in white
raiment?
Now who are these elders, who are these 24 elders?
Well personally I believe that this would be a privilege to be one of these guys.
I mean I think this is where you want to be.
I mean there have been thousands and thousands of pastors throughout history, haven't there?
But man alive, there's only 24 that are going to be seated right around that throne.
And I'll tell you right now, these guys are glad that they're there.
I mean that is a position of great honor to be that close to the throne and to be in these.
So what I believe is that these are 24 great men of God, and I believe that they span throughout
history, you know, men who have somehow shown their love for God and their service for God
to the point where he's allowing them to be in this privileged group.
He's rewarding them by allowing them to be in this elite group of 24 elders.
Now you know I wouldn't even think to try to attain to that, but man it would be great.
You know it's probably something that every pastor could strive toward and think about.
Wow, maybe I could, you know, be a great man and reach that point where I could be honored
in that way or in some other way.
But these elders are obviously very great men of God.
They're human beings.
They're men who've served God on the earth and they were rewarded by being in this elite
group in chapter 4.
So it says these 24 elders are sitting in white raiment and they had on their heads
crowns of golds, look at verse 5, and out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings
and voices.
And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne which are the seven spirits
of God.
Now the seven spirits of God are mentioned a lot in Revelation.
They're mentioned in chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3.
But look if you would at Isaiah 11.
I believe that this is what God is referring to when he says the seven spirits of God.
Because people have often asked me, you know, what are the seven spirits of God?
What does that mean?
We know there's the Holy Spirit, but what about these seven spirits?
What is that referring to?
And it says that Jesus Christ has the seven spirits of God in an earlier part of the book
of Revelation.
But look at Isaiah 11, verse 1.
It's about Jesus and it mentions these seven spirits.
Look at verse 1 of Isaiah 11, and there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse
and a branch shall grow out of his roots and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of
knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.
Did you count there?
Seven spirits.
Let's go through it together.
The Spirit of the Lord, that's one, shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom, the Spirit
of understanding, the Spirit of counsel, the Spirit of might, the Spirit of knowledge,
and the Spirit of the fear of the Lord.
I don't believe that's a coincidence that a scripture that's prophesying the coming
of the Lord Jesus Christ mentions seven different things about his spirit and gives basically
the seven spirits of God, and I believe that that's what that's referring to.
Let's go back to Revelation 4 now that we understand that.
Look at verse 6.
And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal, and in the midst of the
throne and round about the throne were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.
And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast
had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle, and the four beasts
had each of them six wings about him, and they were full of eyes within, and they rest
not day and night saying holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was and is and is
to come.
Now get this.
They rest not day or night saying this.
I mean they just say it over and over, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, and then they
start over.
Holy, holy, I mean they're just constantly giving glory and honor and thanks to him that
sits on the throne.
I mean all the time.
They're just praising God.
They're just glorifying.
You know, you just, you can't glorify him enough.
I mean these four magnificent creatures are just glorifying him nonstop all day long,
and that's why the Bible tells us literally hundreds of times, praise the Lord.
You know, God is worthy to be praised.
He desires man to praise him.
He even has these living creatures that are praising him day and night before his throne.
Now, who are these beasts, these four beasts?
Well, these four beasts are what the Bible calls seraphims, okay, and you say what in
the world is a seraph?
Well, the Bible talks about these beings.
The Bible here calls them beasts.
First of all, ask yourself this question.
Does a beast sound like something that a human being would like to be called?
I mean if I called a human being a beast, and sometimes the Bible does call human beings
beasts, but whenever he calls a human being a beast, it's derogatory because he's comparing
them unto an animal when he used the word beast, because the word beast usually in the
Bible means animals.
Now you say, well, are these animals?
Well, they do have certain similarities with animals, but I believe that they're different
from animals.
Go back to Ezekiel chapter 1, and I'm going to shed some light on this for you if I can,
who these living creatures are, these beasts that are in Revelation 4.
Now the reason I keep using the term living creature is that when these type of beings
are described back in the book of Isaiah and back in the book of Ezekiel, God uses the
word instead of using the word beast, he uses the word living creature.
And I think he's using those words because they're not men.
They're definitely not human beings.
They are beasts or living creatures.
I don't know if animal would be the right term, but they are a living creature that
is not human, that is not man, and they are also called angels.
These creatures are sometimes referred to as angels in the Bible.
Now look if you would at Ezekiel chapter number 1.
Look at verse 4, and I looked and behold a whirlwind came out of the north, a great
cloud and a fire enfolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof
as the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire.
Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of what?
Four living creatures.
Now what did we have in Revelation 4?
Four beasts, right?
Well this is four living creatures, and it's the same meaning of the word there.
And this was their appearance.
They had the likeness of a man, but they were not men is what I'm showing you here.
They had the likeness of a man, and everyone had four faces because human beings don't
have four faces each, do they?
Okay.
And every one of them had four faces and everyone had four wings.
Now are these creatures exactly the same as what we saw in Revelation 4?
No.
Because in Revelation 4 the creatures had six wings each, right?
And in Revelation 4 there were four beasts and they each had one face that was different
from the other.
So there were four beasts with four different types of faces.
Well these creatures each had four faces, and instead of six wings they had four wings.
Everybody following me so far?
Okay.
Well look at the next verse.
And their feet were straight feet, and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a
calf's foot, and they sparkled like the color of burnished brass.
So again, not human here because human beings don't have feet like calf's feet that go straight
down.
They have feet that fan out to the front.
It said they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides, and they
four had their faces and their wings, and their wings were joined one to another.
They turned not when they went.
They went every once straight forward.
As for the likeness of their face, they four had the face of a man and the face of a lion
on the right side, and they four had the face of an ox on the left side.
They four had the face of an eagle.
Those are the same faces that we saw in Revelation 4, didn't we?
Same exact faces.
Well, if we jump down, you know, just for sake of time, we could go through this whole
description, but we want to save time.
But you know, verse 13, living creatures, verse 14, living creatures, but look at verse
18.
As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful, and their rings were full
of eyes round about them forward.
Do you remember how the beasts in Revelation 4 were full of eyes within?
Jump to Ezekiel chapter 10.
So we saw that in Ezekiel 1 pretty clear, and it kept using the term over and over again.
The living creatures, the living creatures, the living creatures, the living creatures,
the living creatures, right?
Which I believe is equivalent to the New Testament term, the beasts.
Look if you would at Ezekiel chapter 10.
And instead of calling them the living creatures, now he's going to call them something different
every time.
Verse 1, then I looked and behold in the firmament that was above the head of the what?
Cherubims.
And he begins to describe the same thing, but look at verse 3, now the Cherubims stood.
Verse 4, then the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub.
Verse 5, and the sound of the Cherubims' wings.
Verse 6, toward the end there, it says, take fire from between the wheels, from between
the Cherubims.
Look at verse 7, one cherub stretched forth his hand from between the Cherubims, under
the fire that was between the Cherubims.
Verse 9, and when I looked, behold the four wheels by the Cherubims.
One wheel by one cherub, and another wheel by another cherub.
Not just cherub, cherub, cherub, cherub, cherubims, cherubims.
Instead of like in chapter 1 where it was just living creatures, living creatures, living
creatures, living creatures.
You say Pastor Anderson, how do you know it's the same creatures?
Look at verse 19, and the Cherubims lift up their wings and mounted up from the earth
in my sight.
When they went out, the wheels also were beside them, and everyone stood at the door of the
east gate of the Lord's house, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.
This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river Kibar, and
I knew that they were the Cherubims.
So according to verse 20, the living creatures that he saw in chapter 1 are equivalent to
the Cherubims that he saw in chapter 10.
Now you say, well Pastor Anderson, why does it say Cherub singular, but Cherubims plural?
Why does it pick up an I-M-S on the end?
Well, because in the Hebrew language, plural is often made by putting an I-M on the end
of something.
That's why you'll see sometimes Baal singular, where they worship the false god Baal, but
then you'll see Baalim, plural.
Well the singular is Cherub, the plural is Cherubims.
So basically Cherubim singular, that is not singular, that's plural.
So it's Cherub singular, Cherubims plural.
Now go if you would to Isaiah chapter 6.
Now here's a theory that's out there, and I'm just throwing this out there, you can
do more study and more thought on this.
But if you remember, there were four faces mentioned, right?
What were those four faces, both in Ezekiel and in Revelation 4?
Well there was the face like a lion, there was the face like a calf, there was the face
as a man, and the face like a flying eagle.
And they were given in that order, weren't they?
In Revelation 4, the lion, the calf, the man, and the eagle.
Here's a theory, and I'm not saying that this is certainly true, but if you look at the
four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, right?
Basically if you think about it, they portray Jesus Christ in various ways.
For example, if you look at the book of Matthew, it is geared toward the Jews in the sense
that it quotes the Old Testament a lot, talks a lot about the nation of Israel and so forth
when you're reading the book of Matthew.
And so if you think of Jesus Christ in the book of Matthew as being the king of kings,
and you know, the book of Matthew emphasizes Jesus being a king more than any other book,
which is why it gives a genealogy of Jesus Christ from his kingly line, descending from
David, Solomon, Rehoboam, all the kings of Judah.
So the book of Matthew portrays Jesus as king, and remember, the lion is considered
the king amongst beasts.
And Jesus is referred to as the lion of the tribe of Judah.
And if you look at the book of Matthew, it emphasizes that he came from Judah, it emphasizes
that he's the king of kings, it emphasizes that he's come to rule and reign over Israel,
he's the king of the Jews, and so forth.
So that is the lion-like of the four gospels, Jesus Christ coming as the king, which is
represented by the lion.
Well, if you look at the second of the four gospels, Mark, Jesus Christ is emphasized
as a servant, okay?
He's always doing works.
And if you'll notice, if you have a red letter Bible where it shows where Jesus is speaking
in red, you'll notice that the book of Mark has the least read letters, because the book
of Mark emphasizes Jesus Christ serving and the works that he's doing more than the preaching.
Obviously, there's a lot of preaching in the book of Mark, but it really emphasizes
his works, and it emphasizes him coming as a servant, because remember, Jesus Christ
took upon himself the form of a servant, and it says he made himself of no reputation,
but took upon him the form of a servant.
That's why Mark has no genealogy.
Did you notice that?
The book of Mark has no genealogy because he's of no reputation.
He's there to serve.
He's there to minister, not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life
a ransom for many.
So Matthew portrays Jesus strongly as the king.
Mark strongly portrays Jesus Christ as a servant of no reputation.
Well, an ox or a calf or a cow is often used in the Bible to represent a beast of burden
that just serves and does the work.
For example, God compares preachers often to ox, oxen.
He says, thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn.
The laborer is worthy of his hire.
So he uses the term ox as a symbol of a laborer, as a symbol of a servant, a worker, a minister,
a preacher, often throughout the Bible used to represent is an ox.
So that's basically Jesus Christ as the king in Matthew, Jesus Christ as the servant in
Mark.
Then in Luke there's a great emphasis on the humanity of Christ, Jesus Christ as a man.
And this is emphasized by the fact that instead of a genealogy of his kingly descent through
David, Solomon, Rehoboam, et cetera, the genealogy in Luke chapter three is a descent showing
the humanity of Christ.
Basically it's Mary's genealogy.
It's not Joseph's genealogy because Jesus was not the son of Joseph physically.
Of course he was the son of God.
Jesus had no earthly father, but he did have an earthly mother.
He was the son of God, but he's also the son of man.
Well that came through the woman.
He was the son of the woman.
He was the son of the Virgin Mary.
So when Jesus Christ's genealogy in Luke three is given, it's his human genealogy.
That's why instead of just going back so far like the one in Matthew does, actually the
genealogy in Luke goes all the way back to Adam, right?
In Matthew, you know, we just go back to Abraham just showing he's of the nation of Israel,
the Jewish genealogy there showing that he's of the kingly line.
He's the seed of Abraham, he's the seed of David.
In Luke, we go all the way back to Adam and show his human genealogy because he's emphasized
in the book of Luke as man, Jesus Christ as man.
Then when we get into the book of John, Jesus Christ is emphasized in his deity, the fact
that he's God.
That's why instead of a genealogy at the beginning of the book of John, what do we have?
In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God.
The word became flesh and dwelt among us and then we just start out with Jesus as an
adult.
See, in Matthew, it's the kingly genealogy.
Mark, there's no genealogy.
He's a servant.
He made himself of no reputation.
Luke, there's the human genealogy going back to Adam through the Virgin Mary and then in
John, his genealogy is he's in the beginning.
He was God.
He's always existed.
He became flesh and dwelt among us.
So John represents the deity of Christ.
So with that in mind, if you think about these four faces in the order that they're
given in Revelation 4, we have the lion, Matthew.
We have the ox, Mark.
We have the face of the man, Luke.
And we have the eagle, John.
So something to think about, you know, I'm just throwing that out there.
I think it's a pretty good theory.
It makes a lot of sense.
And I guess it could kind of explain why the four gospels come in that order in our Bible
because that order is the same order that we find in Revelation 4.
And so I just wanted to throw that out there.
But anyway, and you know, you could look up all the verses about eagles and draw your
own conclusions there.
I don't want to spend the whole sermon on that.
So let me show you in Isaiah 6 because remember the creatures that we saw in Ezekiel 1 and
10, they were a little different because they had four wings as opposed to six wings because
the creatures in Revelation 4 actually had six wings.
You remember that?
But they're both full of eyes.
Look at Isaiah 6 verse 2.
Actually let's just start in verse 1.
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted
up and his train filled the temple.
Above it stood the seraphims.
Now notice, not the cherubims, now we have the seraphims.
Each one had six wings with twain, twain means two, with twain he covered his face and with
twain he covered his feet and with twain he did fly.
So here we have the exact number of wings that we have in Revelation 4.
And one cried unto another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.
The whole earth is full of his glory.
Does that remind you of Revelation 4?
They're saying holy, holy, holy.
They're praising God continually.
They have six wings.
So they have the same function as the angels in Revelation 6 or not angels per se, but
I want to say the beasts or the living creatures, they have the same function and they have
the same number of wings and so on and so forth.
So you say, what is the difference between a seraph and a cherub?
Because remember, Revelation 4 and Isaiah 6 we're dealing with the seraphims and in
Ezekiel 1 and 10 we're dealing with the cherubims.
Well if you look at the etymology of the word cherubim and the etymology of the word
seraphims, basically the word cherubims is a derivative of the number 4 and the word
seraphims is a derivative of the number 6 and so basically that is just a name that
refers to how many wings these living creatures have.
So back to Revelation 4.
Let's finish it up here.
Now that we understand the four beasts, it says in verse 6 that they were full of eyes.
We saw that consistent with the Old Testament.
Verse 7, the first beast was like a lion, the second beast like a calf, the third beast
had a face as a man.
Remember the calf was represented as an ox in the Old Testament, but an ox and a calf
are the same animal, just different ages.
And then it says the fourth beast was like a flying eagle and the four beasts had each
of them six wings about him and they were full of eyes within and they rest not day
and night.
I mean we're talking 24-7, he says saying, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty which
was and is and is to come.
And when those beasts give glory and honor and thanks to him that sat on the throne who
liveth forever and ever, and how often is that?
All the time, right?
When those beasts give glory and honor and thanks, I mean and they're doing it all the
time, to him that sat on the throne who liveth forever and ever, the four and twenty elders
fall down before the throne.
Now look, these four, twenty and four elders that are falling down, they're not doing this
once are they?
They're doing it repeatedly.
You got to look at the verb tenses here.
He says when the four beasts do this, the 24 elders, present tense, do this.
It doesn't say did like they did it one time.
It's saying this is what they do every time the four beasts give glory and honor and thanks.
Then the four and twenty elders, not fell, the four and twenty elders fall, present tense,
meaning that they do it when they do this, they do this.
When the beasts give glory and honor and thanks to him that sat on the throne who liveth forever
and ever, verse 10, the four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne
and worship him that liveth forever and ever and cast their crowns before the throne saying,
thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power for thou has created all
things and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
So get the picture.
These 24 elders are seated around the throne, white raiments, crowns on their head and when
they hear the beasts giving glory and honor and thanks, they get up and throw their crowns
before him and give him all the praise and all the glory also.
Then they pick up their crown, put it back on their head and sit down and basically this
drama is playing out over and over again.
They're just constantly worshipping God, praising him, throwing their crowns at his feet, saying
you're worthy.
And obviously what is a crown?
It represents authority.
These guys had a crown representing authority that they had.
These are elders.
These are pastors.
These are bishops.
These are preachers.
They had been given authority on this earth, okay, to rule God's house.
The Bible says let the elders, listen now, let the elders that rule well be counted worthy
of double honor in 1 Timothy 5.
So the elder is what?
A ruler.
And then he says in Hebrews 13, to obey them they have the rule over you who have spoken
unto you the word of God.
They watch for your souls.
And so these men have that authority but they're taking their crowns saying, man, you, all
the authority is yours.
Because a pastor doesn't really have his own authority that emanates from himself.
He only has the authority that God has given unto him.
We are shepherds as pastors but Jesus is the chief shepherd.
We derive all our power and authority from him.
That's why that crown is cast at his feet and he's the one that's worthy to rule and
reign and we only derive any authority that he is good enough and gracious enough to give
us and of course in the millennium we will have even more authority and so will God's
people that are not pastors will be given authority based on their works.
And he says in verse 11, thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power.
Power means what?
Authority.
You know, the ability to rule.
For thou has created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
You say, why are we even here?
Why does this earth even exist?
Why did God even create us?
For his pleasure, period.
Now look, I think it's great that God derives pleasure from us.
You know, that makes me feel like I have value in his sight to know that I bring God pleasure.
Why did he create Adam and Eve?
Why even put him in the Garden of Eden?
For his pleasure.
And he takes pleasure in his servants.
He takes pleasure in fellowshipping with his servants, with talking to his servants, and
he also takes pleasure in being worshipped and served by his servants.
That is what he enjoys.
And so that's why we're created.
That should have an impact on the way we live our life.
It's not about us.
It's not about glorifying ourselves, pleasing ourselves.
We ought not to please ourselves.
We want to please God.
We're created not to please ourselves.
We are created for his pleasure and everything in this world is created for his pleasure.
That's what the Bible teaches.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much for this chapter.
It's an often abused chapter by those who want to prop up a false doctrine that is
directly contrary to what you taught in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21.
But because they want to contradict your clear teaching, they strain it and gnat and swallow
a camel by saying that Revelation 4, 1, and 2 are the rapture when it has no resemblance
to the rapture.
God help me as a pastor to even be able to come close to being at the level of these
24 elders.
They're definitely a model that we could attain unto.
And Father, please just help us as we study the book of Revelation to learn and understand
these things and get the truth and we are looking forward to the day that we will be
there and that we will see this scene in heaven ourselves and it's going to be a glorious
time.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
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