The Elders Before The Throne

The Elders Before The Throne
A SERMON DELIVERED ON SUNDAY MORNING, MARCH 23, 1862, BY REV. C. H.
SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"And round about the Throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the
seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting clothed in white raiment.
And they had on their heads crowns of gold." The four and twenty elders
fall down before Him that sat on the Throne and worship Him that lives
forever and ever and cast their crowns before the Throne, saying, You
are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for You have
created all things, and for Your pleasure they are and were created."
Revelation 4:4; 10,11.
THE universe of God is one–Heaven and earth are not so separate as
unbelief has dreamed. As the Lord has but one family, written in one
register, redeemed with one blood, quickened by one Spirit, so this
whole household abides in one habitation evermore. We who are in the
body abide in the lower room which is sometimes dark and cold but bears
sufficient marks that it is a room in God's house. For it is to the eye
of our faith often lit up with heavenly luster and we, even we, while
we are yet here, are by blessed earnests made partakers of the
inheritance of the saints in light.
It is the same house, I say, but ours is the lower room, while our
glorified Brethren are up there, in the upper story, where the sunlight
streams in everlastingly, where no chilling winds or poisonous breath
can ever reach. It was well said that God's great house seems to have
two wings. The one was a hospital and the other a palace. We are as yet
in the wing on the left hand side, which is the hospital. We came into
it sick even unto death, leprous to our very core, polluted from head
to foot, having no soundness in us anywhere.
And in this hospital we are undergoing the process of cure–a cure
which is already certain, which is soon to be perfected. And then we
shall pass from the hospital, the lazar-house, into the palace, where
"without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing," we shall be recognized as
the aristocracy of God, princes of the blood–royal of the universe.
Sons of God and joint-heirs with Christ Jesus. Still is it but one
building–one roof covers the whole, both lazar-house and palace– one
family, we dwell in it–one Church, above, beneath, though now divided
by the narrow partition of death.
Now, to a great extent there is a likeness between the lower room and
the upper room. As on earth we prepare for Heaven, so the state of the
saints on earth is Heaven foreshadowed. In many respects the condition
of the child of God on earth is a type of his condition in Heaven. And
I may say without fear of question that what the character of the
saints is above, that should be the character of the saints below. We
may very safely take for our example those glorified spirits. We need
not be afraid that we shall be led astray by imitating them, by
learning their occupations, or by attempting to share their joys.
Surely the things in Heaven are patterns of the things on earth and as
they are before the Throne of God so ought we to be, and so shall we be
in proportion as we live up to our privileges and receive the likeness
and image of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Brethren, it is upon this subject that I want to speak this morning.
God is making Heaven very near to us. We are now so large a Church that
according to the laws of mortality, we lose five or six every month by
death, and frequently two or three are removed in a week. We can hardly
hope to meet together upon a single Sunday without hearing that another
of the stars is set. Some little time ago we went to the grave with an
excellent elder of our Church, who had long known the Master and had
served Him well–and now, during the coming week, it will be our lot to
perform the same mournful office for another Brother who has been in
Christ, I suppose, these forty or fifty years, and who has served this
Church for some little time with industry and zeal–but this week has
been removed from our midst to join "the general assembly and Church of
the first-born whose names are written in Heaven."
The veil grows thinner and thinner, and our faith in the unseen grows
stronger. As the advanced guard of the army wades through the stream,
and we hear their triumphant shouts upon the other shore, this world
fades away and that better land stands out in stronger and more
glorious reality than it did before. Come, let us talk to one another
by the way, this morning, of that better land and let us encourage each
other's hearts to make ourselves through God such as they are who sit
upon their thrones and to make this land, through the Spirit, such as
that land is where God sheds His light forever.
With regard to the spirits before the Throne of God, we shall have
three things to say this morning. First, a little concerning their
state and enjoyments. Then, further, concerning their occupations and
spirit. And a few words with regard to their testimony and precepts to
us, as, speaking from the upper spheres, they urge us to follow their
example.
I. First, then, Brethren with regard to THE STATE AND ENJOYMENTS OF THE
SPIRITS BEFORE THE THRONE OF GOD. In John's vision, you perceive that
the Church of Christ is represented by the four and twenty elders who
sat round the Throne of God. We are to look upon them as being the
representatives of the great body of the faithful gathered to their
eternal rest.
Mark, then, in the first place, that the saints in Heaven are
represented as "elders," which we take to refer not merely to the
office of the eldership, as it is exercised among us, although it seems
most fitting that the officers should be the representatives of the
whole body–but the reference is rather to the fullness of growth of
Believers before the Throne of God. Here we have elders and those who
are elders in office should be chosen, because they have had spiritual
experience, are well taught in the things of the kingdom of Heaven and
are, therefore, elders by Divine Grace as well as elders by office.
But in all our Churches we have many who are babes in Christ, who as
yet can only receive the elements of the Gospel. We have many others
who are young men, strong but not matured. They have the vigor of
manhood but they have not yet the ripeness of advanced age. The elders
in the Church are those who, by reason of years, have had their senses
exercised. They are not the saplings of the forest but the well-rooted
trees. They are not the blades of corn springing up, but the full corn
in the ear awaiting the reaper's sickle. Such are the saints before the
Throne of God.
They have made wondrous strides in knowledge. They understand now the
heights and depths, the lengths and breadths of the love of Christ,
which still surpasses even their knowledge. The mean, if there are such
differences, the mean of the glorified understands more of the things
of God than the greatest Divine on earth. The rending of the veil of
death is the removal of much of our ignorance. It may be that the
saints in Heaven progress in knowledge–that is possi-ble–but it is
certain that at the time of their departure they made a wondrous
spring.
They are babes no longer. They are children and infant beginners no
more. God teaches them in one five minutes, by a sight of the face of
Jesus, more than they could have learned in threescore years and ten
while present in the body and absent from the Lord. Their heresies are
all cleared away with their sins. Their mistakes are all removed. The
same hand which wipes away all tears from their eyes wipes away all
specks from their eyes, too. Then they become sound in doctrine,
skillful in teaching. They become masters in Israel by the sudden
infusion of the wisdom of God by the Holy Spirit. They are "elders"
before the Throne of God. They are not unripe corn gathered green and
damp–they are all fully ripe and they come to the garner as shocks of
corn come in their season.
Perhaps they are represented as elders to show the dignity and gravity
which shall surround saints of God in Heaven. We sometimes hear
complaints made about the younger members of Churches, that they are
somewhat light in their conversation. Well, this has always been the
fault of young people and, as I said the other day, when one
complained, I could not make lambs into sheep–and while they were
lambs I suppose they would show some playfulness. It seems to be the
natural failing of young people to be overflowing with mirth and
sometimes overtaken with levity.
But there is a gravity which is very becoming in Christians and there
is a solidity which is extremely comely in the young Believer. And I
think when we make a profession of our faith in Christ, though we are
not to cast away our cheerful faces but to be more happy than ever we
were before, yet we must put away all unseemly levity and walk as those
who are looking for the coming of the Son of Man, hearing this voice in
our ears, "What manner of persons ought we to be in all holy
conversation and godliness!"
Now that fault can never be brought against the Church of God before
the Throne. There they are elders, glorious, blissful, happy–but yet
serene and majestic in their joy. Theirs is not the prattling joy of
the child, but the deep silent bliss of the full-grown man. As the
senators in the Roman senate sat down in solemn grandeur, so that even
the barbarians were overawed by their majesty bearing, so let our
holier tranquility and joyful serenity cast an influence over the foes
of our religion.
Look upwards, Christians. There are the elders before the Throne of
God, representatives of what you and I, and all of us who trust in
Christ, shall soon be. Let us be laying aside childish things. Let us
be getting ready for the elders' dignity. Let us leave the toy, the
trifle, the plaything, to those who know not the immortal manhood of
Believers and let us go on unto perfection, growing in Divine Grace and
in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
In passing, I may observe that the number of four and twenty is
somewhat puzzling. There have been different attempts made to account
for it. They say that this was the number of the Sanhedrim. But that is
not clear. Others think that as the number twelve was the symbol of the
Jewish Church, in the twelve tribes, so twelve more may have been added
to represent the accession of the Gentile Church. Or it may show the
multiplication of the Church, that though small, so that it is numbered
by twelve, its number, while still definite and complete, is now larger
than it was before.
But, still better, I think, as there were twenty-four courses of
Levites, who were porters at the gate of the temple and twenty-four
courses of priests who offered sacrifice, so the number twenty-four is
made use of to show that the service of God in His temple is
complete–that there are as many as will be wanted–that every part of
the Divine service will be taken up and around that altar which smokes
before God eternally, there shall be a full complement of those who
shall bow before Him and do Him homage.
2. But, secondly, you will notice that these elders are said to be
around the Throne. We suppose, as near as we can catch the thought of
John, sitting in a semi-circle, as the Jewish Sanhedrim did around the
Prince of Israel. It is a somewhat singular thing that in the passage
in Canticles, where Solomon sings of the king sitting at his table, the
Hebrew has it "a round table." From this, some expositors, I think
without straining the text, have said, "There is an equality among the
saints." In Heaven they are not some sitting at the head and some
sitting lower down but there is an equality in the position and
condition of glorified spirits.
Certainly that idea is conveyed by the position of the four and twenty
elders. We do not find one of them nearer than the other, but they all
sat round about the Throne. We believe, then, that the condition of
glorified spirits in Heaven, is that of nearness to Christ, clear
vision of His glory, constant access to His court and familiar
fellowship with His Person. Nor do we think that there is any
difference before the Throne of God between one saint and another. We
believe that all the people of God, Apostles, martyrs, ministers, or
private and obscure Christians, shall all have the same place near the
Throne, where they shall forever gaze upon their exalted Lord and
forever be satisfied in His love.
There shall not be some at a distance, far away in the remote streets
of the Celestial City and others in the broad thoroughfares. There
shall not be some near the center and others far away on the verge of
the wide circumference. But they shall all be near to Christ, all
ravished with His love, all eating and drinking at the same table with
Him, all equally His favorites and His friends.
Now, Brothers and Sisters, as we bade you imitate the saints in their
eldership and perfection, so would we exhort you to imitate them in
their nearness to Christ. Oh, let us be on earth as the elders are in
Heaven, sitting round about the Throne of God. May Christ be the center
of this Church! May He be the center of your thoughts, the center of
your life. If an angel should fly across this assembly this morning,
when he came back to Heaven, could he say, "I saw them in the House of
God, sitting around the Throne. Their eyes were gazing on the
slaughtered Lamb. Their hearts were loving and praising Him. They were
desiring to do Him homage and to pay Him reverence"?
And what do you think of tomorrow and the other days of the week? Will
it be true of you that you are sitting before the Throne of God?
Brothers and Sisters, we are out of our proper place when we are
looking after anything but Christ. "We are not our own. We are bought
with a price." Why live as if we were our own? He is our Husband, our
soul is espoused to Him. Oh, how can we live at such a distance from
Him? He is our life. He makes us live, He makes us blessed– how can we
be so much forgetful of Him? How can our hearts be such strangers to
their Beloved?
Jesus! Draw us nearer to Yourself! Oh to be nearer to Your Throne,
Lord, even while we are here! O take us up to You, or else come down to
us. Say unto us, "Abide in Me and I in you." And permit our souls to
say, "His left hand is under my head and His right hand does embrace
me."–
"Abide with me from morn till eve, For without You I cannot live. Abide
with me when night is nigh, For without You I dare not die."
3. A third point of likeness strikes us at once. It seems that the
elders sitting around the Throne were represented to the illuminated
eye of John as "clothed in white raiment." Not in raiment of party
colors, where there were some spots and yet some signs of whiteness.
They are without fault before the Throne of God. They have "washed
their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb," and the
Spirit of God also has so thoroughly renewed them, that they are
"without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing."
They have been presented holy and unblameable before the Throne of God.
Brothers and Sisters, in this, too, they are an example to us. Oh that
the Spirit of God might keep the members of this Church, that our
garments might be always white. Perfection we must not hope to see
here–but oh, we must aim after it. If one should never unite with a
Christian Church till he found one which is perfect, and free from all
fault, then such a man must be a schismatic for-ever–for with no
Christian people could he ever join. Yet, this is what we aspire
unto–to be faultless before God. We desire to so walk, and to so act
among men that our conduct may never bring a slur upon our
profession–that our language, our actions, our motives–everything
that is about us, may witness to the fact that we have been with Jesus
and have learned of Him.
O Brothers and Sisters, it is impossible for one pastor, assisted even
by the most earnest of elders, to oversee so large a flock as this. Let
me ask, have you kept your garments white this last week? Oh, if you
have stained them, I beseech you, repent, repent bitterly before God.
And if any of you have backslidden, I pray you, do not be hypocrites.
Let your guilt be fully confessed before God. If you cannot honor this
Church, do not dishonor it. If you cannot glorify Christ by your walk
and conversation, at least do not trample under foot His blood and put
His Cross to an open shame.
There is nothing which can so injure a Church and cut the sinews of its
strength, as the unholiness of its members. When we are "fair as the
moon and clear as the sun," then we shall be "terrible as an army with
banners." But not till then. Those blots upon the escutcheon, those
spots upon the garment, are soon perceived by a lynx-eyed world. And
then they turn round and say, "Ah, these are your Christians. This is
your religion!" The sons of Belial make excuses for their own
conscience and go on in their sin, hardened by our mistakes. Oh, let
this be your prayer, I exhort you, you who are mighty in prayer, never
forget this day and night, "Lord, keep Your people! Hold them up." I
can say it has been at all times the bitterest draught I have ever had
to drink, when any who have professed the name of Christ have turned
back unto vanity.
To bury you is but a blessed duty in comparison with noting and
correcting backsliding and apostasy. I know my prayer for myself has
been a hundred times, "A speedy death, a soon and sudden sleeping
beneath the green turf, or even a painful, agonizing, languishing
decay, upon a bed of pain, rather than you should live to see your
pastor stain his profession and fall from his integrity." If it be so
with the minister, it must be so with each of you. Better for you that
you depart at once than that you should live bearing the name of
Christ, to make that name a reproach and a byword among the heathen.
Lord, help us, that we, like Your saints above, may be clothed in white
garments.
4. Further, to carry on the parallel. You perceive that these elders
exercised a priesthood. Indeed, their being clothed in white garments,
while it is an emblem of their purity, also represents them as being
priests unto God. They themselves expressly sing in the 10th verse of
the 5th chapter, "You have made us unto our God kings and priests."
They exercise the office of the priesthood, as you perceive, by the
double offering of prayer and praise. They hold in their hands the
censers full of sweet incense and the harps which give forth melodious
sounds.
Brethren, in the wilderness of old they were not all priests. One
special tribe and one family out of that tribe, alone, could exercise
that office–the rest of the people stood in the outer court. As for
the most holy place, into that only came the high priest and he only
once a year, so much exclusion was there in that age of shadows. But
now all Believers are priests. We have all a right to stand in the
priest's place, to offer sacrifice and incense. No, more–through
Christ we enter into that which is within the veil and stand in the
most holy place and look at the bright light from the Shekinah, fearing
not that we shall die, but having boldness and confidence through the
new and living way, the rent body of Christ.
The saints before the Throne of God are represented as all of them in
the holy place, round the Throne, all officiating, every one of them
presenting sacrifice. Brethren, what are we doing? Let us look up to
them as the priests of God and then ask ourselves, are we celebrating
His worship, too? Brother, did you this morning, before you came up to
this house, lift up your hand with the bowl of incense in it, in your
earnest prayer for a blessing upon His people? Have you this day in our
sacred song, been laying your fingers mystically among the strings of
your golden harp?
What did you do last week, my Brethren? What were you? Can you say that
you were a priest? Or, must you not blush that you were rather a buyer
and a seller, or a thinker and a writer, than a priest unto our God?
And yet this is our high calling. This is our blessed vocation. Our
earthly calling is but little honor to us, nor should it engross our
richest thoughts. Our heavenly calling is of the most importance. It is
that which is to last forever. It is that which should have the cream
of our soul's attention. We are priests.
Oh, Brothers and Sisters, if we have failed in the past, may God give
us Grace for the future! And during the coming days of the next
work-day week, may He help us, that our buying and our selling, our
traveling and our tarrying at home, may all be the exercise of
priesthood! You know, you can make "the bells upon the horses" holiness
to the Lord, and the very pots of your house can be as the bowls upon
the altar. You need not go out of your everyday callings to be priests,
but be priests in your callings. Sanctify the Lord God in your
workshops, in your fields, in your marketplaces, in your exchanges. And
whatever you do, whether you eat, or drink, or whatever you do, do it
all in the name of the Lord Jesus, who has made you priests and kings
unto Him.
I know there is a sad tendency among us all to leave the priesthood to
some peculiar clan. Mark you, members of this Church, I will be no
priest for you. It is as much as I can do to exercise the priesthood to
which God calls me on my own account, to offer my own thanks and my own
petitions. I will have none of your responsibilities. You must be
priests for yourselves. You cannot shift this burden off, nor would you
wish, I am sure, if you are true-hearted. You, you say, are poor! You
are unknown! You have no talent! You need it not, these cannot make you
priests. How came the sons of Aaron to the priesthood? By birth.
So with you. You have been "born not of the will of the flesh, nor of
the will of man, nor of blood, but of God," and the priesthood is the
inalienable inheritance of the new birth. Exercise your office, then,
be you who you may, O Beloved of the Lord. In the name of Him who has
begotten you again unto a lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead, live as men sanctified for Divine service, who
cannot and must not be servants of men and slaves of sin.
5. Once more and I think I shall have said enough upon this first
point. There is yet another likeness between the saints in Heaven and
those on earth. You perceive that these had on their heads crowns of
gold. They reigned with Christ. He was a king and He made them kings
with Him. As in the old Persian court the princes of the blood wore
crowns, so in the court of Heaven the princes of the blood, the
Brethren of the Lord, are crowned, too. They are royal senators. They
sit upon thrones, even as He who has overcome and sits down with His
Father on His Throne.
These thrones they have to show their dominion, their rights and
jurisdiction. Know you not that we shall judge angels, and that when
Christ shall come He will bring His people with Him and they will sit
upon His throne as co-assessors with Him? Then the wicked, the
persecutors, the revilers of God's people, shall be brought to judgment
and the saints whom they despised shall be their judges! So that when
Christ shall say, "Depart, you cursed," there shall be heard the
thundering assent of the ten thousands of His saints, as they say
"Amen," and confirm from their hearts the sentence of the All-Righteous
Judge. Therefore do these elders sit upon their thrones.
Now, Beloved, let us imitate them in this. "Oh," you say, "but I cannot
wear a crown as they do." Nevertheless, you are a king. For they who
are Christ's are kings. Take care, Brother, that you wear your crown,
by reigning over your lusts. Reign over your sins. Reign over your
passions. Be as a king in the midst of all that would lead you astray.
Christ Jesus has broken the neck of your sin–put your foot upon it.
Keep it under–subdue it. Be king in the dominions of your own being.
In the world at large act a king's part. If any would tempt you to
betray Christ for gain, say, "How can I? I am a king. How shall I
betray Christ?"
Let the nobility of your nature come out in your actions. Forgive in a
royal manner, as a king can forgive. Be ready to give to others as God
has helped you, as a king gives. Let your liberality of spirit be right
royal. Let your actions never be mean, sneaking, cowardly, dastardly.
Do the right thing and defy the worst. Dare all your foes in the
pursuit of that which is right and let men see while they look upon you
that there is a something under your homely appearance which they
cannot understand. Men make a great deal of fuss about the blood of the
aristocracy. I dare say it is not very different from the blood of
crossing-sweepers.
But there is a great deal of difference between the life-blood of the
saints and the life-blood of the proudest prince. For they who love
Christ have fed upon His flesh and have drunk of His blood and have
been made partakers of the Divine nature. These are the royal ones.
These are the aristocrats. These are the nobility and all are mean
beside.
Christians, perhaps some of you have not reigned as kings during the
last week. Perhaps you have been either murmuring, like poor whining
beggars, or you have been scraping, like dunghill rakers, with your
covetousness. Or perhaps you have been sinning, like idle boys in the
street, who roll in the mire. You have not lived up to your kingship.
Now I pray you, ask God's Grace that during the week to come you may
say of sin, "I cannot touch it, I am a king. I cannot demean myself
with it." That you may say of this earth's dross, "I cannot go down and
scrape that–my heritage is above." That you may be able to say of
everything that is low and mean, "Shall such a man as I do this? How
can I come down from the elevated position to which God has called me,
to act as others act, from their motives and with their ends?"
Let, then, the state of the saints above, while it is the theme of our
delightful thought–while we anticipate the time when we shall fully
partake of it–be also an example to us while in these lands below.
II. Briefly upon our second point–THE OCCUPATION AND SPIRIT OF THOSE
GLORIFIED ONES, AS THEY SHOULD BE IMITATED BY US BELOW.
1. Notice their occupation. First of all it is one of humility. At the
tenth verse in our fourth chapter we perceive it is written, "They fall
down before Him." They are kings but yet they fall down. They wear
royal crowns, but yet they prostrate themselves. They are second to
none in God's universe. They stand as first in the peerage of creation.
Yet before the King they have no honor and no esteem. As if they were
slaves and menials, they cast themselves upon their faces before His
Throne, having nothing of their own whereof to glory but boasting alone
in Him.
Where holiness is in perfection, there humility is in perfection, too.
The cherubim veil their faces with their wings, while they cry, "Holy,
holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth." So do these elders, taking the same
posture of humility, they bow before the Throne of God.
Brothers and Sisters, are we as humble as we should be? If we think we
are, we at once betray our pride. But let us understand how unseemly
anything but humility must be to us. We are yet on earth. If they in
Heaven boast not, how dare we? We are yet sinful and erring. If the
spotless ones bow, what shall we do? If we threw dust and ashes on our
heads and acknowledged ourselves to be the vilest of the vile, yet were
the words not too coarse for us, nor the action too humiliating. Far
from us be the pride which would let us exalt ourselves! Pride is
natural to us all, Brethren, we cannot get rid of it, even though we
strive against it. What shall we say of those who nurture it–whose
very carriage and walk betray the pride of their hearts?
What shall we say of the pride which finds root in the purse, or that
which shows itself in outward array and garments? What shall we say of
the pride of station and of rank which will not permit the professedly
Christian man to speak with his poorer Brother? Oh, these are damnable
things! I hope we despise and are rid of these. But there is a subtler
pride–a pride which mimics humility–a pride which comes in after
prayer, or after preaching, or after anything that is done for Christ.
Let us strive against it and be it our constant and daily endeavor to
fall before the Throne of God, "While less than nothing we can boast
and vanity confess."
2. But as they fall before the Throne of God in humility, you will note
that they express their gratitude. It is said they cast their crowns
before the Throne. They know where they got them from and they know to
whom to ascribe the praise. Their crowns are their own and, therefore,
they wear them on their heads. Their crowns were Jesus' gift and,
therefore, they cast them at His feet. They wear their crown, for He
has made them kings and they cannot refuse the dignity. But they cast
the crown at His feet, for they are only kings by right received from
Him and acknowledge Him thus to be King of kings and Lord of lords.
It was a custom, you know, in imperial Rome, for those kings who held
dominion under the emperor, on certain occasions, to take off their
crowns and lay them down before the emperor, so that when he bade them
put them on again, they had fully recognized that their rights of
kingship flowed only through him. So do they who are before the Throne
of God. With what rapture, with what joy, with what delight, do they
cast their crowns there! To think they have a crown and a crown to cast
before Him!
Brothers and Sisters, I am afraid when you and I get any Graces, or
have been made useful in Christ's cause, we are glad for the thing's
sake. But we are not right, if so. We should be glad because we have
something to cast at His feet.
Have you faith? I must thank Him for faith, I must lay it at His feet
and say, "Jesus, use my faith for Your glory, for You are its Author
and Finisher." If you and I shall, by Divine Grace, persevere to the
end and shall arrive at Heaven, it will be a joy to think that we are
saved, but we will lay it all at the door of Divine love.
Will you wear a crown, Believer? Will you accept jot or tittle of the
glory? O no, you will each of you disown anything like the Arminian's
proud boast of free self-will. It will be Grace, Grace, Divine Grace,
alone, in Heaven. There will be no division and no discord in that
eternal hymn. We will cast our crowns at once before Him and we will
say, "Not unto us, not unto us, but unto Your name be all the praise."
We imitate them, then, in this–in our gratitude mingled with humility.
3. Further, I well perceive that these elders spent their time in
joyous song. How glorious was that strain–"You are worthy to take the
book and to open the seals thereof: for You were slain and have
redeemed us to God by Your blood, out of every kindred and tongue and
people and nation." These elders knew that the time was come when all
earth and Heaven should be more than usually glad. They, with the four
living creatures, whom we take to be the representatives of some
special order of presence–angels, about whom we know but little–led
the strain.
And as the music rolled through the aisles of Heaven, distant angels,
who were in all parts of God's dominion keeping watch and ward, stood
still and listened till they had caught the strain. And then they
joined with loudest notes, till from north and south and east and west,
from the highest star and from the uttermost depths, there came up the
blessed refrain from ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of
thousands, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and
riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing."
Then, as these angelic ones sent up the song, the inferior creatures
caught the Divine infection and in Heaven and earth, in the sea and the
uttermost depths, the voice was heard and all creatures responded,
while the universe echoed with the song, "Blessing, and honor and glory
and power, be unto Him that sits upon the Throne, and unto the Lamb
forever and ever." This is the occupation of saints before the Throne
of God. Be it yours, Brothers and Sisters. Let us, as God's redeemed,
sing with all our hearts and let us enlist others in the strain. Let us
remember that we are to be leaders in the hymn of God's works.
We are to begin with, "Bless the Lord, O my Soul." But we are not to
end there. We are to go on bidding all God's works praise Him, till we
come to a climax like that of David, "Bless the Lord, you hosts, you
ministers of His that do His pleasure; bless the Lord, all His works,
in all places of His dominion; bless the Lord, O my Soul." The world is
the organ–we are the players. We are to put our fingers upon the notes
and wake the universe to thunders of acclaim. We are not to rest with
our own feeble notes, but we must wake even the dumb earth itself, till
all the planets, listening to our earth and joining her song, shall
sing forth the music of the ages.
God give you, Brothers and Sisters, a desire to imitate the saints!
Some of you, perhaps, are good hands at groaning–perhaps some of you
have come up here today mourning and murmuring. Lay these things aside!
Take up your proper vocation and now smite the strings of your harp!
Magnify the Lord. Let the day of jubilee come to your spirits. You
saints of God, rejoice! Yes, in your God, exceedingly rejoice!
4. Yet once again–these saints not only offered praise, but prayer.
This was the meaning of the bowls, which are so foolishly translated
vials. A vial is precisely the opposite of the vessel that was
intended–the vial is long and narrow– whereas this is broad and
shallow. A bowl is meant–full of incense, covered over with a lid and
perforated with holes– through which the smoke of the incense rises.
This does not mean that the four and twenty elders offer the prayers of
the saints below, but their own prayers.
Some have asked, Is there any prayer in Heaven? Certainly, there is
room for prayer in Heaven. If you want proof, we have it in the chapter
which follows the one out of which we have been reading this
morning–the ninth verse of the sixth chapter–"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, do You not judge and avenge our blood
on them that dwell on the earth?"
There is prayer. Perhaps the prayers of the saints are the major
portion of that perpetual litany which goes up to Heaven. But leaving
that for a moment, let us imitate them. If they pray, how much more
reason have we? If they plead for the universal Church, they who enjoy
the rest of God, how should we pray who are still in this land of
temptation and of sin, who see the perils of our Brethren, know their
weaknesses and their afflictions? Let us draw near unto God. Let us
never cease, day and night, to offer intercession for the whole company
of the elect.
5. I must not forget, however, that these elders before the Throne of
God were ready not only for prayer and praise but for all kinds of
service. You remember there was one of them, when John wept, who said,
"Weep not." Depend upon it–that elder had been occupied in visiting
the sick when he was on earth. And often when he had gone into their
cottages and found them sorrowing, he had said unto them, "Weep not."
And the good man had not lost his character when he went to Heaven,
although it had been spiritualized and perfected. And seeing John
weeping, he said to him, "Weep not."
Ah, those saints before the Throne of God, if there were mourners
there, would comfort them, I know. And if they could be sent down here
to visit any of the sorrowing children of God, they would be too glad
to do it. Then there was, you remember, another of the elders, who said
to John, for his instruction, "Who are these that are arrayed in white
robes and from where came they? And I said unto him, Sir, you know. And
he said to me, These are they that came out of great tribulation." I
venture to believe that this elder used to teach a catechumen class on
earth. That he had been in the habit of teaching young people, and he
put the question to John first, as he had been in the habit previously
of putting it to young disciples on earth. The saved ones would be
ready to teach us now, if they could. And they do today bear testimony
for Christ, for to the ages to come God through His Church makes known
to principalities and powers the exceeding riches of His Divine Grace.
Now, those before the Throne are willing to comfort the weeper or to
instruct the ignorant. Let us do the same! And may it be ours to wipe
the tears from many an eye, to chase the darkness of ignorance from
many a young heart. Have you been doing that lately Brothers and
Sisters? If not, mend your ways. Be more earnest in these two good
works–visit the fatherless, the widow, the suffering, the mourning,
those in prison, and teach the ignorant and those that are out of the
way.
III. And now, lastly, WHAT IS THEIR WORD AND LESSON TO US THIS MORNING?
Bending from their shining thrones, being dead they yet speak–and they
say to us:
First, by way of encouragement, Brethren, follow on. Be not dismayed.
We fought the same battles that you fight and passed through the same
tribulations. Yet we have not perished, but enjoy the eternal reward.
Press on! Heaven awaits you–vacant thrones are here for you–crowns
which no other heads can wear–harps that no other hands must play.
Follow courageously, faithfully, trusting in Him who has begun the good
work in you and who will carry it on.
Hear them, again, as they say–Mark the footsteps that we trod. For
only in one way can you reach our rest. We have washed our robes and
made them white in the blood of the Lamb. They say to all the world, If
you would be clean wash there, too. None but Jesus can save your souls.
Trust in Him. Repose in His atonement, confide in His finished work!
Flee to His sacrificial blood. You shall be saved by faith in Him, even
as we have been–
"I asked them from where their victory came. They with united breath
Ascribed their conquest to the Lamb, Their triumph to His death."
Friends! Are you trusting in Christ? My Hearers, many of you are
perfect strangers to me this morning. I ask you, are you putting your
trust in Christ? Have you come under the shadow of His Cross, to find a
refuge from His vengeance? If not, no golden crown can be for you. No
harp of gold. But, whoever you may be, if you will believe in Christ
Jesus and put your soul into His hands, you shall be a partaker of the
glories which He has laid up for them that love Him.
Lastly, they say to us, as they look down from the battlements of
Heaven–Are you getting ready to join our ranks, to take up our
occupations and to sing our songs? Answer for yourself, my Brothers and
Sisters, as I must answer for myself. Are you living for your own
pleasure? Then you must die. For, "he that sows to the flesh, shall of
the flesh reap corruption." Are you living for Christ? Then shall you
live, "because He lives you shall live also." Are you a priest to God
today? You shall bear the golden bowl in Heaven. Are you instead a
servant of your own body, your own lusts, your own gain, your own
pleasure? Then the lowest depths must be your portion. Heaven is "a
prepared place for a prepared people." Are we prepared?
Brothers, Sisters, can we say, "We hope in Christ. He is our only
trust." And do we endeavor to live to Him? And though with many
failings and frailties, yet can we still say, "For me to live is
Christ"? Oh, if it is so,
"Come, death andsome celestial band, to bear our souls away!" But if it
is not so, then our end must be destruction, because our God has been
our belly.