The Vision of Heaven. A. D. 95.
1 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. 2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne
was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. 3 And 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. 4 And round about the
throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty
elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns
of gold. 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. 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. 7 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. 8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and
they were full of eyes within--
We have here an account of a second vision with which the apostle John
was favoured: After this, that is, not only "after I had seen the vision
of Christ walking in the midst of the golden candlesticks," but "after
I had taken his messages from his mouth, and written and sent them to the
several churches, according to his command, after this I had another vision."
Those who well improve the discoveries they have had of God already are
prepared thereby for more, and may expect them. Observe,
I. The preparation made for the apostle's having this vision.
1. A door was opened in heaven. Hence we learn, (1.) Whatever is transacted
on earth is first designed and settled in heaven; there is the model of
all the works of God; all of them are therefore before his eye, and he
lets the inhabitants of heaven see as much of them as is fit for them.
(2.) We can know nothing of future events but what God is pleased to discover
to us; they are within the veil, till God opens the door. But, (3.) So
far as God reveals his designs to us we may and ought to receive them,
and not pretend to be wise above what is revealed.
2. To prepare John for the vision, a trumpet was sounded, and he was
called up into heaven, to have a sight there of the things which were to
be hereafter. He was called into the third heavens. (1.) There is a way
opened into the holiest of all, into which the sons of God may enter by
faith and holy affections now, in their spirits when they die, and in their
whole persons at the last day. (2.) We must not intrude into the secret
of God's presence, but stay till we are called up to it.
3. To prepare for this vision, the apostle was in the Spirit. He was
in a rapture, as before (ch. i. 10), whether in the body or out of the
body we cannot tell; perhaps he himself could not; however all bodily actions
and sensations were for a time suspended, and his spirit was possessed
with the spirit of prophecy, and wholly under a divine influence. The more
we abstract ourselves from all corporeal things the more fit we are for
communion with God; the body is a veil, a cloud, and clog to the mind in
its transactions with God. We should as it were forget it when we go in
before the Lord in duty, and be willing to drop it, that we may go up to
him in heaven. This was the apparatus to the vision. Now observe,
II. The vision itself. It begins with the strange sights that the apostle
saw, and they were such as these:-- 1. He saw a throne set in heaven, the
seat of honour, and authority, and judgment. Heaven is the throne of God;
there he resides in glory, and thence he gives laws to the church and to
the whole world, and all earthly thrones are under the jurisdiction of
this throne that is set in heaven. 2. He saw a glorious one upon the throne.
This throne was not empty; there was one in it who filled it, and that
was God, who is here described by those things that are most pleasant and
precious in our world: His countenance was like a jasper and a sardine-stone;
he is not described by any human features, so as to be represented by an
image, but only by his transcendent brightness. This jasper is a transparent
stone, which yet offers to the eye a variety of the most vivid colours,
signifying the glorious perfections of God; the sardine-stone is red, signifying
the justice of God, that essential attribute of which he never divests
himself in favour of any, but gloriously exerts it in the government of
the world, and especially of the church, through our Lord Jesus Christ.
This attribute is displayed in pardoning as well as in punishing, in saving
as well as in destroying sinners. 3. He saw a rainbow about the throne,
like unto an emerald, v. 3. The rainbow was the seal and token of the covenant
of the providence that God made with Noah and his posterity with him, and
is a fit emblem of that covenant of promise that God has made with Christ
as the head of the church, and all his people in him, which covenant is
as the waters of Noah unto God, an everlasting covenant, ordered in all
things and sure. This rainbow looked like the emerald; the most prevailing
colour was a pleasant green, to show the reviving and refreshing nature
of the new covenant. 4. He saw four-and-twenty seats round about the throne,
not empty, but filled with four-and-twenty elders, presbyters, representing,
very probably, the whole church of God, both in the Old-Testament and in
the New-Testament state; not the ministers of the church, but rather the
representatives of the people. Their sitting denotes their honour, rest,
and satisfaction; their sitting about the throne signifies their relation
to God, their nearness to him, the sight and enjoyment they have of him.
They are clothed in white raiment, the righteousness of the saints, both
imputed and inherent; they had on their heads crowns of gold, signifying
the honour and authority given them of God, and the glory they have with
him. All these may in a lower sense be applied to the gospel church on
earth, in its worshipping assemblies; and, in the higher sense, to the
church triumphant in heaven. 5. He perceived lightnings and voices proceeding
out of the throne; that is, the awful declarations that God makes to his
church of his sovereign will and pleasure. Thus he gave forth the law on
mount Sinai; and the gospel has not less glory and authority than the law,
though it be of a more spiritual nature. 6. He saw seven lamps of fire
burning before the throne, which are explained to be the seven Spirits
of God (v. 5), the various gifts, graces, and operations of the Spirit
of God in the churches of Christ; these are all dispensed according to
the will and pleasure of him who sits upon the throne. 7. He saw before
the throne a sea of glass, like unto crystal. As in the temple there was
a great vessel of brass filled with water, in which the priests were to
wash when they went to minister before the Lord (and this was called a
sea), so in the gospel church the sea or laver for purification is the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, who cleanses from all sin, even from sanctuary-sins.
In this all those must be washed that are admitted into the gracious presence
of God on earth or his glorious presence in heaven. 8. He saw four animals,
living creatures, between the throne and the circle of elders (as seems
most probable), standing between God and the people; these seem to signify
the ministers of the gospel, not only because of this their situation nearer
to God, and between him and the elders or representatives of the Christian
people, and because fewer in number than the people, but as they are here
described, (1.) By their many eyes, denoting sagacity, vigilance, and circumspection.
(2.) By their lion-like courage, their great labour and diligence (in which
they resemble the ox), their prudence and discretion becoming men, and
their sublime affections and speculations, by which they mount up with
wings like eagles towards heaven (v. 7), and these wings full of eyes within,
to show that in all their meditations and ministrations they are to act
with knowledge, and especially should be well acquainted with themselves
and the state of their own souls, and see their own concern in the great
doctrines and duties of religion, watching over their own souls as well
as the souls of the people. (3.) By their continual employment, and that
is, praising God, and not ceasing to do so night and day. The elders sit
and are ministered unto; these stand and minister: they rest not night
nor day. This now leads to the other part of the representation.
The Vision of Heaven. A. D. 95.
--8 And they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord
God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. 9 And when those beasts
give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth
for ever and ever, 10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that
sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast
their crowns before the throne, saying, 11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to
receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and
for thy pleasure they are and were created.
We have considered the sights that the apostle saw in heaven: now let
us observe the songs that he heard, for there is in heaven not only that
to be seen which will highly please a sanctified eye, but there is that
to be heard which will greatly delight a sanctified ear. This is true concerning
the church of Christ here, which is a heaven upon earth, and it will be
eminently so in the church made perfect in the heaven of heavens.
I. He heard the song of the four living creatures, of the ministers
of the church, which refers to the prophet Isaiah's vision, ch. vi. And
here, 1. They adore one God, and one only, the Lord God Almighty, unchangeable
and everlasting. 2. They adore three holies in this one God, the Holy Father,
the Holy Son, and the Holy Spirit; and these are one infinitely holy and
eternal Being, who sits upon the throne, and lives for ever and ever. In
this glory the prophet saw Christ, and spoke of him.
II. He heard the adorations of the four-and-twenty elders, that is,
of the Christian people represented by them; the ministers led, and the
people followed, in the praises of God, v. 10, 11. Here observe,
1. The object of their worship, the same with that which the ministers
adored: Him that sat on the throne, the eternal everliving God. The true
church of God has one and the same object of worship. Two different objects
of worship, either co-ordinate or sub-ordinate, would confound the worship
and divide the worshippers. It is unlawful to join in divine worship with
those who either mistake or multiply the object. There is but one God,
and he alone, as God, is worshipped by the church on earth and in heaven.
2. The acts of adoration. (1.) They fell down before him that sat on
the throne; they discovered the most profound humility, reverence, and
godly fear. (2.) They cast their crowns before the throne; they gave God
the glory of the holiness wherewith he had crowned their souls on earth
and the honour and happiness with which he crowns them in heaven. They
owe all their graces and all their glories to him, and acknowledge that
his crown is infinitely more glorious than theirs, and that it is their
glory to be glorifying God.
3. The words of adoration: they said, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive
glory, and honour, and power, v. 11. Observe, (1.) They do not say, We
give thee glory, and honour, and power; for what can any creature pretend
to give unto God? But they say, thou art worthy to receive glory. (2.)
In this they tacitly acknowledge that God is exalted far above all blessing
and praise. He was worthy to receive glory, but they were not worthy to
praise, nor able to do it according to his infinite excellences.
4. We have the ground and reason of their adoration, which is threefold:--
(1.) He is the Creator of all things, the first cause; and none but the
Creator of all things should be adored; no made thing can be the object
of religious worship. (2.) He is the preserver of all things, and his preservation
is a continual creation; they are created still by the sustaining power
of God. All beings but God are dependent upon the will and power of God,
and no dependent being must be set up as an object of religious worship.
It is the part of the best dependent beings to be worshippers, not to be
worshipped. (3.) He is the final cause of all things: For thy pleasure
they are and were created. It was his will and pleasure to create all things;
he was not put upon it by the will of another; there is no such thing as
a subordinate creator, that acts under and by the will and power of another;
and, if there were, he ought not to be worshipped. As God made all things
at his pleasure, so he made them for his pleasure, to deal with them as
he pleases and to glorify himself by them one way or other. Though he delights
not in the death of sinners, but rather that they should turn and live,
yet he hath made all things for himself, Prov. xvi. 4. Now if these be
true and sufficient grounds for religious worship, as they are proper to
God alone, Christ must needs be God, one with the Father and Spirit, and
be worshipped as such; for we find the same causality ascribed to him.
Col. i. 16, 17, All things were created by him and for him, and he is before
all things, and by him all things consist.
