is a faith coming by hearing and here by the word of God. So we're uh we're just going to open the Bible together this evening and uh we're just going to let it rip for just a little while. So Revelation chapter four as you know we're going verse by verse we're into chapter four now this evening and uh if you would we'll take it up there together the word of God together in verse number five. Revelation chapter four look at verse 5. We'll read 5, 6, 7, and 8. We won't get through 5, 6, 7, and 8, but we will read it always as we must do in context. Brethren, this is the very Word of God Himself. Look at verse number 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. 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. Verse number eight. And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him, and they were full of eyes. Incidentally, if I could just say this, in Scripture, because we're not going to get to verse number eight, but when someone tells you that they've had a female angel talking to them, it is a demon, because in Scripture there are no female angels, not one, not one time. Not here as well. It's always Him. It's always He. It's always Him. It's Gabriel. It's Michael. It's the he's. It's never the she's when it comes to angels. In fact, you see that there in verse 8. And the four beasts each had them six wings about Him, and they were full of eyes within, and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God Almighty, which was and is and is to come. Well, brethren, we remember, don't we, that John began by describing God's throne, and then the God who is sitting there. So he, remember, he begins with God's throne, and then the one who sat upon the throne, and he described for us those two as they were there in heaven. Then he turned his attention, as we remember, he describes then the 24, what we would call lesser thrones, that are around the throne of God, and he also described the elders who were seating there. So, as we're progressing along in our text, we're seeing John begin to, if you will, he begins to broaden the focus there, and this evening as we, again, take it up there in verse number five, we remember that we last week looked at, in Out of the Throne Proceedings, lightnings and thunderings and voices. And so tonight, we're getting in the middle of verse number five, we're going to take it up there again concerning the seven lamps. And here, John tells us in verse number five that there are seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God. Now, brethren, this is the spirit of God in His fullness. Again, we've kind of looked at this, we've hit on this a little bit as we've gone along here, as you know. Here, though, he is no longer, the Spirit of God is no longer a comforter, which is what Jesus said he would be, amen, that he would come, I will send you a comforter, remember that, Jesus promised that, and so the Spirit of God, as we know, like we prayed earlier, right, he has his function, his role within the world, he has convicted men of sin, he's doing these things right now. Here, his role, if you will, begins to change from a comforter one who is a comforter on the earth, if you will, to an instrument of God's judgment. And it's interesting as we look at this again. The seven lamps are in league with the lightnings and thunderings that we spoke of last week together, that boom from heaven as they burn before the throne of God in perfect unity with Him. And again, this is what we see, brethren, over and over again. There's this unity between the Father, between the Son, and now by the Holy Spirit and through the Holy Spirit of God. And you remember, brethren, just by way of remembrance, because again, we all have a tendency to, well, maybe it's just me, but we have a tendency sometimes to forget things. But this is not the first time that John has referenced, the seven spirits of God. And I just want to remind us here this evening, look if you would, Revelation chapter one, again, just as he began the text, as we began the book itself, we see there in verse number seven, look at Revelation. chapter 1 or verse number 4 I guess Revelation chapter 1 verse number 4 look what the Bible says John to the seven churches which are in Asia grace be unto you and peace from him which is and which was and which is to come and from the seven spirits which are before his throne and so again earlier on and Revelation we see that mention look at Revelation chapter 3 look at verse number 1 again. This is again Now the second time in Revelation in chapter 3 verse 1 look what the Bible says and unto the angel of the church of Sarnas write these things sayeth he that hath the seven spirits of God and the seven stars I know that works and so Again, we're seeing a unity here between the Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost concerning the judgments that are coming. And look, if you would, at one more place here, Revelation chapter 5. Look at verse number 6 there again. It's mentioned again. And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne, and the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb, as had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth." And so, again, we see this consistency throughout the book of Revelation. And you remember, I'll give you the verse this evening, Isaiah chapter 11, verses 1 and 2. If you go and look there, you will see the sevenfold characteristic, if you will, the personality, the function of the Spirit of God, and we see that there in Isaiah chapter 11. Now, keeping in mind, brother, that there's only one Holy Spirit of God, the seven Spirits. Again, let me just say this to lay the groundwork, because you know there's modalism out there. There's all kinds of things that are taught. There's only one Holy Spirit of God. The seven Spirits signify their unique role that he is playing and is going to play as he is executing God's judgments in all of their completed perfections. Remember, we looked at the number seven. It's amazing. I was telling Wendy that the farther along we get into the book of Revelation, and the more, if you will, I'm kind of a black and white kind of person, amen? So if someone asked me, is Jesus Christ the only way to God? Brother, what's the Christian response? Yeah, that's it, because it's very clear. The Bible specifically states that He is the only way. There's no other name given under heaven by which men must be saved. So that's very clear. And as we get farther along into the book of Revelation, some of the language that's used and some of the descriptions that are used, I told Wendy, I said, it gets kind of taxing because you're just studying and studying and studying to make sure that it's clear in your own mind and that you are able to communicate that clearly to the brethren, because even tonight in our text, there are several different, if you will, there's several different ways that men will look at this, and I have to look at it in my own heart and go, alright, is this following along with what I think the scripture teaches clearly? And so, that's what we're trying to do, brethren. We are simply trying to allow the scriptures to speak to us way it must be interpreted. But the number seven, as we know in Scripture, we looked at it, is the idea of completed perfectness, perfectiveness, and that's really what we're seeing here in our text. Once again, after the 1, 2, 3, and the 4 or 5 other times that we've looked at it, that's literally what it means. Now look back there at Revelation chapter 4, look at here at verse number 6. So, the seven spirits of God, which is you know, the Spirit's unique role in the judgments that are coming in 6, 7, 8, 9 and continuing on through the Great Tribulation after Revelation chapter 14. And again, look at verse number six again. This is where this language begins to be very interesting, because it isn't by any stretch as we read this text, John does not give us an interpretation of the text. And so we must search Holy Writs to see what that means, what he means by that. Look at verse number six. Look what it says. And before the throne, there was a sea of glass. like unto crystal, in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind them." So, again, here we begin in verse number 6, there is some very descriptive language. And as I said, John does not give us an interpretation of this text. It's an amazing thing. Brethren, again, we must always, shouldn't we, we should always investigate Scripture, we should always consider what is the writer saying, what would those who receive that letter, how would they have understood it? Did they understand it from a Jewish perspective? This one, yes, for sure. Did they understand it from a Christian perspective? Yes, actually, this text involves both the Jewish perspective and a, if you will, Christian And so again, this is what we want to clearly understand the scripture here. There are biblical reasons to believe that this sea of glass, as of crystal, that he is referring to the basin in the heavenly temple, which corresponds to the bronze laver in the earthly temple. And again, this is what we want to understand. Where's John at? This perspective, this view that he's giving us right now, where is he at? Where has he been called up to? It's Wednesday evening, you can shout it out. He's having a heavenly perspective. And so he's seeing things from a heavenly perspective. As he sees these things, eventually down the road, they will transpire on earth, as we understand and see that here. But I want you to see this, this sea of glass, what does that mean? And so from a Jewish mindset, as we understand that, as we look at this, the Old Testament, Clearly tells us what this is and it's really interesting because as you study this again, you have to allow the scripture Old Testament is what is? The inspired Old Testament the New Testament is inspired commentary on the Old Testament Amen as we go there and we look and we see I want you to see this how in the Old Testament that this bronze lever this bronze lever that was outside the priest would have to come and wash in it and as a picture, a symbol of them being cleansed of their uncleanness and their sins being remitted before they could go to the altar of minister. This is what they had to do. And in the Old Testament, you know what God called it? He called it the sea. This is what he called it. And so as we look at scripture, we see this and go, okay, is this what they're trying to, is this what John is saying? And yes, I believe that's exactly what he's saying. Look at 1 Kings. Let's just look at a couple of them here this evening, brethren. Look at 1 Kings. Again, we have to allow the Scripture to speak. It's like I told Wendy, you can't make any wild conjectures. You know what I mean? You can't just, well, we think it's this. You can't make those kind of wild conjectures because what you have is you always have salvation being worked out, you have God's judgment being worked out, and you have His eternal plan. And ultimately, in the end, is what? Is to glorify Himself, is to raise the Lord Jesus Christ as King of Kings, as He reigns in His Millennial Kingdom, and to bring those of us, brethren, who are saints, those of us who have been saved, into that Kingdom, eternally. And so, that's always the picture. This is always where it's headed. It's always atonement. It's always heading for atonement. It's heading for God's finished work, in the end, because that's what Revelation does. It starts here, and it just crescendos into into God's eternal glorious state. And so look there, if you would, 1 Kings 7. Look at 1 Kings 7. Now, this is just a couple of them. There are several of them. We don't have time to hit them all. But I want you to see again what God calls this bronze laver that was outside of the Holy of Holies, where the priests would have to wash themselves. Look here at 1 Kings chapter 7. Look there if you would at verse number 23. Please pay careful attention to the language, again, that is used. The Bible says in verse 23, and we're talking about the building of the tabernacle and of the temple. That's what's being spoken of here. verse 23, and he made a molten sea. And I want you to notice the size of the molten sea. That molten sea, again, is the bronze laver that was used to hold the water that the priests would wash their hands and feet in. And notice the size of it. It's humongous. This thing is humongous. And he made a molten sea, 10 cubits, from the one brim to the other. Now, a cubit is about 1.84 feet, and so you can do the math. So, in other words, it's 1.84 cubits times what? What does it say there? It says that it's brim to brim, it's 10 cubits, so it's about 18.4 feet. from brim to brim, which would be the top, amen? And then it says, look what the Bible says there, so it's about 18, from brim to brim across, it'd be like in your, you know those coffee cups that are fat? They go like, they kinda go like that? Brim to brim is the top of it, so it's the top, okay? Then we see the height of it there, look what the Bible says, it was round about, all about, and its height was five cubits, so you take five times 1.84, and what do you get? three, four, five feet high. So we got 18 feet across, it's about almost 10 feet high. So this is a rather large, large laver that we're talking about here, that the water was stored in for the priests. Now look what it says there. So it says, Ezra about his height was five cubits, and the line of 30 cubits encompassed it around about. And so he's speaking of the circumference there. So you've got, brethren, a laver that is about 18.4 feet across on the top. It's about over 9 feet tall. And then the circumference is 30 cubits. That's about 55.2 feet around. That thing is huge. And this is what the Bible calls it over and over again. The sea. It says it over the sea of lavers. CCC. This is what they call it. Look there, if you would, at 2 Chronicles, just a couple of them again, to understand from a Jewish perspective. How would they have understood this as God is speaking to them concerning this sea of glass, what He calls a sea of glass? Where would they get that from? Well, they get it from here, the Old Testament. Look at 2 Chronicles chapter 4, and I want you to look at verse number 1. Look what the Bible says again. The building of the temple here again is being recounted. Solomon's temple is being spoken of here, and they're being directed by God Himself. This is how you are to build it. And I want you to see 2 Chronicles 4, look at verse number 1. So again, we know exactly what the altar looked like. Brass, always in the Old Testament, is a picture of sin and having to do away with sin. This is the brass altar before you would go in. This is where the animals were sacrificed, the ashes were burned, and those sorts of things. It was a picture of their sin. Look at verse two. And he also made a what? A molten sea. There it is again. That's the bronze laver. That's what we're talking about here. This huge thing that contained all of this water. This is what he's talking about, of 10 cubits, from brim to brim, round in the compass, and five cubits in height, same exact thing thereof, and the line of thirty cubits did compass it round about." So again, we're getting a description of this sea of molten, this sea, if you will, that is being spoken of in the book of Revelation. Look at verse number 4. He continues, It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, three looking toward the west, three looking toward the south, three looking toward the east and what is that telling you that's all encompassing that's every direction again that comes in later in the text that actually comes in as we see the all these eyes that are looking forward and backward in every direction it's north south east and west there's nothing that escapes their vision Nothing whatsoever, but look what he says it stood upon 12 oxen three looking toward the north and three looking toward the west and three toward the south and three looking toward the east and the sea There it is again was set above above them and all their higher parts were inward And so again brother, this is what we're seeing This is what the Bible called in the Old Testament to see if you will of lat this labor that was used in the temple in the earthly temple Look at verse 10, look at verse 10, he mentions it again. And he set the sea on the right side of the east and over against the south. Look at verses 14 and 15. And he also made bases and labors, made he upon the bases one sea. 12 oxen under it. So again, we see this idea. So, we see again, brethren, this idea of the sea of glass. What is it? Well, I am firmly convinced from understanding the Jewish mindset, understanding the Old Testament, how they spoke in the Old Testament, that again, this is not just some wild conjecture that you just can't make this stuff up. The Bible is clear. It's very, very clear. Again, the revelation is what? To reveal Christ. Not to have a dark, spooky understanding of who He is, but a revelation of Him. Where is He revealed? Well, He's revealed in the Old Testament. How is He revealed? He's revealed in the Tabernacle. He's revealed in the Temple. He's revealed in the Holy of Holies. He's revealed in the Sea of Labyrinth. He's revealed in all of those things. Because as we look further on in the book of Revelation, brother, not only do we see this here, but we see many references, many references to the Old Temple, if you will, the, if you will, the references to the old temple and features of the earthly temple, described as John sees them in the heavenly temple. And again, this is why we have to have this perspective. He's seeing this earthly thing, describing a heavenly thing. I want you to see this. Look at Revelation chapter 6. Look at the other things that he describes in the book of Revelation from the earthly temple. Look at Revelation chapter 6. Look what's there. in this heavenly temple that coincides with the earthly temple. Revelation chapter 6. Look at verse number 9. Look there what the Bible says. And when I opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar. Well, there's the altar. The altar of the Old Testament temple. He now references it here in the heavenly temple. He says the altar's there. Just like the brass laver, the picture, if you will, of the sea of glass, that's there. along with the altar that we see here in his heavenly vision. Look at the next thing you see, look at Revelation 8, look at verse number three. Verse number three, not only do we see the altar there in chapter six, but we see the altar of incense here in chapter eight. Look at verse number three, look what it says. And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer, and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints. upon the golden altar." The golden altar is the altar of incense. So we see again, just like the Old Testament temple, tabernacle, so John again is seeing these heavenly things. And this is what it's tied to. Because in the end, it all comes down to what? It comes down to the finished work of Christ, and Him saving His elect. This is what it's about. Look at there, brethren, if you would, not only is the altar there in the book of Revelation, the heavenly, referencing the earthly, not only is the altar of incense there, but look also here in Revelation chapter 11. Look what else we see there in the book of Revelation that is corresponding with the earthly temple. Look at verse number 19. Look at Revelation 11, look at verse number 19, and there's no doubting where we're at. And the temple of God was opened, where? In heaven. That's where we're at. Again, we're getting another heavenly view. What are we seeing? Just like in chapter four, we're seeing a heavenly perspective. The Bible says, and the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament. Brethren, there's the ark of the covenant that was in the earthly tabernacle, is now there, John is referencing, in the heavens. It's amazing, isn't it? You see how this ties together. It isn't just some kind of whacked-out thing. It all has to do with what God was doing to redeem His people and to save His elect. Look at one more. Look at Revelation 15, the only other time in the book of Revelation that the sea is mentioned. Look at Revelation chapter 15. Look what the Bible says, verses 1 and 2. I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last plagues. For them is filled up the wrath of God. And I saw, as it were, a sea of glass. This time, however, John adds something to it. Mingled with what? What is it mingled with? With fire. Do you see that there? So we see, and it was, 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 in the sea of glass, having the harps of God, and they sang a new song." Brethren, do you realize what that's picturing? What that is telling us? Who is it that doesn't take the mark of the beast? Who is it that doesn't worship the beast? It is God's elect. It is those who are saved by grace through the blood of Christ alone. They are the ones who will not do that, and here they are standing there in the sea of glass, as it were, the Bible says, singing a song of victory. It's an amazing thing, brethren, it really, really is. So we see there, just as the priests were required to wash in the earthly sea the brazen laver, which symbolized their cleansing and forgiveness of sin before they went and ministered, as I said, at the altar. So the sea in heaven pictures for us the washing away of sin and uncleanness for all of God's elect. This is what it pictures. This is what we see for all of eternity by Christ, vicarious atonement. Brethren, that's where it all pictures. Everything in the temple, everything in the tabernacle, all pictured Christ, all pictured His sacrifice, all pictured His saving, all of it, it all typed and pictured what God was doing through his son. In fact, I like what one pastor said concerning this. He said this, thank God, the laver in heaven will be turned to crystal. The laver is of crystal because I, he said, and all the saints of all the ages will have been made like unto the Lord Jesus Christ and there will be no more sin. Amen. Think of that, brethren. This ultimately is where it's going. This is where we're going to see the book of Revelation take us to. Look back now, if you would, at Revelation chapter 4. Again, the sea of glass, which I do believe the Old Testament clearly defines for us. Not wild speculation, but very biblical, I believe, to help us understand from a Jewish perspective and a Christian perspective what that is. Look there back now at Revelation chapter four. Look at verse six and seven. We'll kind of finish this up. What do I got left here? Yeah, we'll be able to finish this up. Look at verse number six. The Bible says, and we've again done portions of it, and before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal. In the midst of the throne and round about the throne were four beasts full of eyes, before and behind. Again, this amazing descriptive language but I believe can be answered by Scripture if we allow Scripture to tell us what it is. Verse number seven, and the first beast was like a, what? Like a lion, and the second beast was like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. Now, brethren, one of the things that we see is John, again, is transitioning in the throne room It is a place of judgment where God's judgment will flow. We looked at that. Men will know that the judgments that are coming in chapter 6 and following are clearly flowing from the throne room of God. And they will know that it is God Himself who is working out His righteous judgment upon them. But it also indicates to us, and John tells us, that it is a place of glorious praise. And this is a most wonderful thing for us to get a hold of. We find there, and we sort of looked at this already, but we find there four beasts. And I want to define that word. I want to define that word beast, because again, this is very important. That word beast comes from the Greek word zoon. We get our word zoo or zoology from it. This is where our English word comes from. denotes the idea of living ones, and there are some manuscripts which I think have translated it quite well. They literally translated it, the living ones. This is literally what it means. John sees these four living ones and describes them for us. And we remember, brethren, don't we, that the number four appears in the book of Revelation first, in association with these four beasts. Remember, we looked at that. And if you look at just a couple of portions of scripture, you'll see this. This number four is associated first with the beasts, with the four living ones. And I want you to see this. Well, verse six, again, it says it there, right? There's the four beasts. Verse eight, it tells us, and we looked at this, and the four beasts, and we see that. Again, there's this number four that's associated with them. Revelation chapter 6 verse 1. Look at that one real quickly. Again, not to go through all of it, but again, this number 4. And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, I heard as it were the noise of thunder, and one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. Remember, we looked at these beasts, and these, if you will, these angelic beings, because that's literally what they are. These living ones are still ministering. They're still doing the work of God, remember? One of the beasts went and told John not to weep, because Jesus is able to open the scroll, remember? So we see this work, it's associated there. It's associated with them in Revelation 14, verse three, let me just give them to you. Revelation 15, verse seven, it's associated there again, the four beasts. And then Revelation 19, four. But brethren, also, and secondarily, not only is the four associated with these four beasts, and again, as they're ministering and doing the work of God, as they are called to do, the number four is also associated with the global effects of God's righteous judgments. And this really is important, again, as we see these four beasts who are connected with the judgments of God, the impending judgments of God. And we see it in the four horsemen. Right off the bat, as Revelation chapter 6 opens, we see these four horsemen, if you will, and the first seven seals. I want you to see this again, number four. We looked at number seven, now we're gonna look at number four. We'll look at number three, we'll look at number 10. There's some numerology in the Bible that's very important. And here, the number four is very glaring for us. Look at Revelation chapter six, verse number two, and we'll count here in chapter six the number of horses we find, again, and what are these horses doing? What are they, if you will, connected to? Look at verse number two. The Bible says, and I saw and behold a what? A white horse. So there's horse number one. There's a white horse that's in Revelation chapter six. He sat him, had a bow and crown was given him and went forth conquering and to conquer. So again, we're seeing this war that begins to break out. Look at verse number four. And there went out another horse, That was red, that's horse number two. And again, you see here as we go along that horse number two, as we get here, you will see that there will be no peace left on the earth. That's what horse number two does. That's what the red horse does. Again, all connected to and, if you will, pointing towards the judgment of God. Look at verse number five. And when it opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see, and behold a, lo, a what? A black horse. There's a black horse. What's a black horse do? Well, he brings famine upon the earth. So again, we see this working out according to God's perfect plan. Look at verse number eight. It gets worse, brethren. It goes from one to the other to the other, and it crescendos. These four horsemen bring these things. Look at verse number eight. And I looked, and behold, a pale horse, and his name that sat on him was Death and Hell that followed." And so again, we see this. This number four is directly connected to the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. And again, they're associated with the global effects of God's judgment. This is worldwide, brethren. This isn't just something that's a local thing. It is a worldwide thing that they are connected with. And we see that in scripture. Look at Revelation chapter seven, look at verse number one. Again, the number four. Look here what the Bible says in verse one. And after these things, I saw four angels. Well, there's four angels standing there. What are they doing? Where are they standing? They're standing on the four corners of the earth, which again, brethren, this is global reach. This is from one end, north, south, east, west. God's judgments are coming north, south, east, west. It's a global, You want some global connections. You're going to have some global connections with the judgments of God. It is gonna fall from one corner to the other of the earth, north, south, east, and west. None will be left unscathed. Look at there, standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor the sea, nor on any tree. And again, we see what happens after that. Then the, if you will, the elect of God are marked here. They're inked out, which we're gonna look at, Lord willing. You see that there. Look at Revelation chapter nine. Again, just a few passages of scripture concerning the number four and its connection to the global judgment of God. Look at Revelation chapter nine. Look at verse number 13. Look what the Bible says there. We find in verse 13, and the six angels sounded and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar, which is before God, saying to the sixth angel, which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels, which are bound." So there we have the four what? The four horns, the four angels are loosed, and rather, we know that they reap upon the earth. Again, this is tied with the global judgment of God. Look at here, if you will. Look at Revelation 20 again, just a few of them here Connected to it. You can't study this out and see this and say that there's not a connection I mean, I'm not a freaky weird. There's some people like into these freaky weird numerology stuff. I'm not this is just biblical This is what it's connected to. It's connected to the global effects of God's judgment This is what it is. Look at Revelation chapter 20. Look at verse number 7. Look what the Bible says there And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison. And again, brethren, this is after. It's amazing, it's just amazing. And when the thousand years were expired, the millennium, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog. Again, the idea here, brethren, is the global, the worldwide, the whole earth being under the judgment of God himself. In fact, there was one God himself who walked the earth, the Lord Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, look what He said. Look at Matthew chapter 24, if you will. Again, this is outside of it, this is a prophecy that we're reading here in the book of Revelation, something our Lord Jesus Christ said. And if the Lord Jesus Christ said it, I believe it. It's very simple. It's very, very simple. Look at Matthew chapter 24, again, having to do with the tribulation, having to do with what the Lord is ultimately working out according to His glory. We see this here in Matthew 24. Look at verse number 29. Look at what the Bible says. And immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the power of the heavens shall be shaken. Then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of God coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." Well, what is that? That's His Second Advent. That's when He comes here to what? To establish His Millennial Kingdom on the earth. Look at verse 31. 31 And He shall send His angels with the great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect. From where? From the four winds. Look what it says. From one end of heaven to the other. in Revelation, it is number four, is tied to the global earthly and heavenly, if you will, judgments of God that are coming. The number four does indeed represent the order that God has set in motion concerning the scope of his judgment in the whole earth. This is what John is saying. This is what he's telling us. And these four beasts, These four beasts will be right in the middle of it, as they are ministering and they are helping bring forth the commands of God in His judgment upon the whole earth. Now let's finish up tonight quickly. This is why I couldn't go very far, but we'll delve into this Lord willing next week quite a bit deeper. Again, allowing Holy Writ to define itself and describe for us So we're not making wild conjectures and all these kinds of things concerning what John is saying here. Even though it's descriptive, it's still biblical for us to look at scripture and find the biblical answer, if you will, concerning what he's saying. Look there at verses 7 and 8 again. Look at verse number 7. The first beast was like a lion, 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. Do you see why this is so taxing, brethren? Why you can't just whip through it? Because it's so stunning, it's just amazing to me, the language and what it represents. Look at verse 8. And the four beasts had each of them six wings. Now again, this is where we will find out what the four beasts are. We carefully look at the description, and then we look in Holy Writ to see, is there another description of something that is like this? And again, it's not always like that. But normally, that's the proper interpretation. You look in Holy Writ and say, was there a description somewhere else in Holy Writ that defines for me what this is? It's kinda like the, you know, I don't wanna get off on a rabbit trail, but it's kinda like baptism. It's kinda like baptism. Do we baptize adults, believers, or do we baptize infants? Well, I can take you to Scripture and show you every single time that one was baptized in the book of Acts, they were a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ first. Now, the only way you can say, well, we should baptize infants, and as our good brother R.C. Sproul once said, when he debated John MacArthur on baptism, he said, you know, I'm not gonna get up here with a whole bunch of Bible verses. I know you're not. And John MacArthur did the opposite. He got up with a whole bunch of Bible verses. And so, you must let Scripture clearly. Because there are places in Holy Writ that define for you those areas that can be sometimes obscure. You take the clear passages to define the ones that are not as clear. That's how you must do it. That's good biblical exegesis. That's good biblical interpretation. So, we see here again, listen carefully to John's holy description. And the four beasts had each of them six wings. That's important. Because many will say, well, it sounds like the cherubim and Ezekiel. Well, no, the cherubim and Ezekiel only had four wings. So, could it be cherubim? It could be. But more than likely, it's what Isaiah says they are. Look here, if you would. Each of them had six wings about them, and they were full of eyes within. And they rest not day and night, saying," What are they saying? Holy, holy, holy. That's important. What are they repeating? What are they saying? They had six wings. That's important. That's an indicator. They were saying holy and singing holy, holy, holy. That's an important indicator. Lord God Almighty, which was and is and is to come. Verse nine, and when those beasts give glory and honor, thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth forever and ever, the four and 24 elders fall down, and we look at this, they cast their crowns, they worship the Lord God. This is part of what they do. So John here says that the four peculiar living ones before the throne of God are indeed, brethren, an exalted order of angelic beings. This is what we see. This is what they are. Again, their description, what they say, who also guard, brethren. This is part of what they're doing. They're guarding the heavenly throne and leading in the worship and glorious praise of God the Father, He who is sitting on the throne. This is what they're doing. They're saying what? Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty. They are praising and leading that choir, amen, concerning God. He also says that they're full of eyes, both front and back, and we'll look at that, Lord willing, next week. What does that mean? The Bible, I believe, tells us what it means. No conjecture, no wild speculating. Their holy characters are described as one like a lion, one like a calf, one having a face as a man, and one like a flying eagle. Again, we'll look in Scripture. We will see. other descriptive language used like that to tell us what it is. And then, of course, as I said, they are winged with six wings, resting not day or night, praising He who is holy, holy, holy. This is, again, a great description of these higher order, if you will, of angelic beings. That's what these beasts are. They are angelic beings. In fact, we have a name for them, and Isaiah gives us that name. So I want you to turn to Isaiah chapter 6 with me, if you would, tonight. And again, I have seen good brothers who think that they are the cherubim of Ezekiel. But if you look there, the cherubim of Ezekiel, okay? They are roaming, these guys are not. They are stationary here guarding the throne of God at this present time, amen? They have six wings, like I said, the ones in Ezekiel have four. And the ones in Ezekiel, we're not saying what, These ones we're saying here in Isaiah. Look here, if you would, Isaiah chapter six. Look there at what the Bible says, and this is what I believe we are seeing. Again, I believe the Bible is defining for us what we're seeing. Chapter six, look at verse number one. In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Here he is again, seeing a, if you will, a view of the temple. Verse two. And it stood, and above it stood the what? Seraphims. Seraphims is a very high form of an angelic being. There's cherubim and seraphim. There's urnum and theodum. We're gonna look at that, Lord willing. Above it stood the seraphims. Each one had what? Six wings. Well, there's a description we got from the book of Revelation. There's really no question in my mind. This is who John is describing. He's describing seraphim, the angelic beings. With Twain, he covered his face. With Twain, he covered his feet. With Twain, he did fly. And look at verse three. And one cried unto another and said, What did they say? Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts. The whole earth is full of His glory. Now, brethren, again, I do believe in allowing Holy Writ to define for us and tell us what this is. I don't think, again, can I say, I think I've said it like 19 times tonight, haven't I? Or maybe more. There's no need for wild speculation. wild-eyed ideas of what it is. It's not that complicated, brethren. God has not designed it to be that complicated. It gets complicated when men begin to speculate and begin to come up with their wild, crazy ideas outside of Holy Writ. Why don't we just stay in Scripture? Brethren, when we teach through the book of Romans, when we teach through any other book in the Bible, every one of them, There's none of them that we would go outside of the Bible to interpret what it says. Not once would we do that. We always go to scripture, don't we? When I'm preaching on Sunday mornings, where are we turning? Are we turning to Mike's thoughts? Mike's honest? No, we're turning to scripture to see what God has to say. It's the same thing here with the book of Revelation, brother. There's no need for us to get wild and speculating when holy writ defines for us within itself. what it is. So as we close this evening, it's 820 already, I want us to consider this and next week, Lord willing, as we come together, we're going to dive into those eyes. We're going to dive into that face as a man, the lion, if you will, the calf. We'll see. The Bible will tell us what it is. So, all right. With that being said, let's pray together this evening. Father, we again rejoice with you, thanking you for your Word, which keeps us straight. Father, we are commanded in Holy Writ, and we should, as teachers of the Bible, with much fear, we should rightly handle and rightly divide it. And Father, I know we get into the book of Revelation, and it is a deep thing, it really is. But it is certainly an understandable thing. Now, there are some things that haven't happened yet that we can look at Scripture and go, alright, this seems to fit. But there are some things that are clear, very, very clear. And we see the beginning of the ending crescendo of John as he describes for us what he's seeing in heaven. Father, we thank you again that it's all tied to the work of Christ. It's tied to what he has done, his atoning sacrifice. Father, we thank you that we have remission of sins through Christ's work. Paul said in Ephesians chapter 1, first speaks of himself, the Jews, we who first trusted in Christ, he's speaking of the circumcised there. And just two verses later, he says, Father, we thank you in one trust in Christ, that they're eternally saved, secured, justified, and soon to be glorified as life is a vapor. Father, we love you, and again, pray for our brethren who are ill tonight, physically, those who are suffering, those, I think of some of our brethren who have lost close loved ones over the last couple of weeks. Father, we pray for them as well. We pray that our church can be a source of comfort to them, a source of help in their time of need. And Father, we thank you for this time. Those of us who are enjoying life right now at this present juncture, tomorrow may not be, and we may need our brethren to help us and to prop us up. Father, we thank you for the privilege of being able to do that. Now, Lord, we pray as we go about our way tonight and tomorrow about our business, Father, that we will live a life that is holy, that men will see and hear about the Lord Jesus Christ. Father, we love you now and pray these things in his name and all God's people said, amen.