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 Sermon > Lecture Messages |
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Title |
Revelation Lectures(35) |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Revelation4:5-9 |
Date |
2007-08-24 |
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Revelation 4:5-9
[5] Out from the throne come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. 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 something like a sea of glass, like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind.
[7] The first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face like that of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle.
[8] And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come."
[9] And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever,
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
In the beginning, God existed as light, containing sound.
It was when God divided Himself as God the Trinity that God took on a form.
Even though God put on a form like this, however, He retained all the aspects that He had when He existed as original sound and light.
The dignity, the glory, and the power are all contained in God the Father.
The verse 5 says, "Out from the throne come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder," and it refers to the dignity, the glory, and the power.
It describes the power with which He creates and governs the whole universe and everything in it, and the verse also expresses His dignity, authority, and glory to which everything obediently submits.
The latter part of the verse 5 says, "And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God."
The seven Spirits are the heart of God, and God showed 'seven lamps of fire' as a symbol of them.
Just as a lamp shines lighting up its surroundings with its light, the seven Spirits that are separated from the heart of Father God like light that shines on everything and searches everything precisely.
They search all nations as well as all the hearts, minds, and wills of all people.
Therefore, the seven Spirits are the standard of measurement, and they play a role as a scale of answer.
Dear brothers and sisters.
Since God is love, God wants to give only the good things to His children, and He wants to lead them only to blessings.
However, because God is also the God of justice, He cannot give good things just unconditionally.
Only when the conditions of the justice are met can He give answers and blessings.
If people could receive answers regardless of the law of the justice just because they are the children of God, just how chaotic would the world be?
If answers can be given to those who still have greed and evil, seek for their own benefits, or haven't prepared their vessel yet, then the answers would never benefit them, either.
Therefore, God gives answers and blessings precisely according to the Law of Spiritual Realm and the Law of Justice.
And it is the seven Spirits that measure the standards according to justice by which answers and blessings can be given.
Among the aspects in the heart of Father God, the most important seven are separated into the seven Spirits, and these seven Spirits measure each individual.
"Seven" means 'complete' and 'perfect.'
Even though they only measure the seven fields, they eventually become the heart of perfect God and measure them without the slightest error.
In other words, the measurement of the seven Spirits is identical to that of the heart of perfect God.
And so, if a man's heart and deeds are proper according to the justice when the seven Spirits search them, he can be given answers and blessings.
I told you about the seven fields that the seven Spirits measure when I explained 'the church in Sardis.'
They are faith, joy, prayer, thanksgiving, keeping the commandments, faithfulness, and love.
Therefore, if you want to receive an answer, you can check yourself based on these standards.
Of course, the measures of the standard become different according to each individual's level of faith.
The seven Spirits measure each of the seven in consideration of each individual's level of faith, and so, if the measurement is proper according to your level of faith, you will be given an answer.
Besides, if you want to check how far you have come into spirit, you can check it through this measurement of the Seven Spirits.
Of course, you can measure it by reflecting on Beatitudes, Spiritual Love, and the Nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit. But you can also measure it in general through the measurement of the Seven Spirits.
I'll not explain about the seven Spirits. But I hope that you will listen to the message about the seven Spirits repeatedly and make bread out of it so that you can receive answers and live a blessed life.
However, if you do not make an effort to meet the standard it will all be useless even though I tell you about the seven Spirits and tell you step by step how to receive an answer.
Therefore, just as James 1:22 says, "But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves," you must put what you hear into practice.
Only then can you receive an answer and come into spirit.
I urge you to realize and remember that you can't receive answers or come into spirit, no matter how many times you listen to the messages or make confessions, without proving yourselves by doing what you've heard.
Now, the verse 6 says, "and before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind."
Here, 'a sea of glass like crystal' means both that it is as broad and wide as a sea, and that it is very clean and clear.
Since the water of the river of life makes up the sea of heaven, the sea is not salty as it is in this earth. It is rather sweet and deep.
In addition, since it is so clear that looking through it you can see all kinds of fish and aquatic plants.
But, there is another important role that this sea of glass will play on the Day of White Throne Judgment.
That is, the kind of heart, mind, will, words, and deeds that you had while in this earth will be revealed on the sea of glass.
Everything will be revealed on the surface of the sea of glass that is so clean and clear.
And everything revealed on the sea of glass is nothing but the truth.
By the way, in a fleshly sense, you may wonder, in a single glance how you can the whole thing that is revealed on the sea of glass be seen.
It is like standing by the shore of the East Sea, and the whole East Sea is a screen, in a fleshly sense in a single glance you cannot see all of the whole sea yet it seems like it.
Yet the truth is that no matter how broad and wide the sea of glass is, whatever is revealed on it can be seen at once.
And it is possible since it is in the spiritual world.
In the fleshly world, you can see only the things that can come into sight. But in the spiritual world, no matter how huge and wide it is, it can be seen and it is in view.
For example, from a fleshly perspective, there are angels and cherubim that are too huge to come within the field of vision.
But if your spiritual eyes are open, you can see them within the field of vision no matter how huge an angel or cherubim is.
You can see it from its head to toe.
Moreover, if you feel it with your spiritual sense while seeing it, you can spot even the very details as well as the whole thing at the same time.
On my last journey to Israel, God allowed the Archangel Michael to accompany me. This time, God showed me the minute things of the Archangel Michael.
Among the many archangels, Archangel Michael plays a role of the commander of the army.
His dignity and authority are great, and his size is huge as well.
Let me tell you a little more about the Archangel Michael.
He is wearing a helmet like a crown on his head, and he's holding a long sword.
On its upper right chest is an emerald, and on its lower, sardius. On its left chest is something like a name tag. The tag has a mark that tells who he is and what his rank is.
And he is wearing a belt, and many weapons are hanging on the belt.
He is also wearing something similar to a long skirt so that his legs are not seen, but hidden.
Among you whose spiritual eyes are opened, you will recognize him by his look that he is the Archangel Michael.
I already explained to you about the 4 living creatures in great detail before.
Tonight's scripture says that the 4 living creature are around the throne of God, and it proves how high their positions are.
The 4 living creatures are the leaders of the cherubim. They are like bodyguards, serving God in very close proximity.
Their authority is so great that they have countless cherubim under their control.
And from time to time, they receive orders directly from God and carry them out.
Both the Book of Revelation and Ezekiel have detailed accounts of the 4 living creatures. But it's not easy to portray their appearance just by reading about them.
It's possible only when you see it with spiritual eyes.
For example, Prophet Ezekiel said in Ezekiel 1:6, "Each of them had four faces and four wings," but Apostle John said in the verse 8, "each one of them having six wings."
Their recordings are different, because they described the figures of the 4 living creatures with their wings combined or overlapped while they were looking at their combined appearance.
I'm not saying the Bible has recorded something incorrectly. By recording it differently, it rather gives us a more correct understanding of their outlook.
Depending on when they are combined or divided, or depending on the directions they are seen from, their appearance may look different.
As the name implies, the 4 living creatures is a cherub in which four different creatures make up one being. Either they can remain combined, or they can exist separated from each other.
On the whole, they look like a man and they have a head, but they have four faces on the four sides of the head.
Since they neither turn around and go back, nor turn the head to the right or left, the face that you see in front of them is the face that represents each living creature.
The 4 faces of the 4 living creatures are a man, a lion, a calf, and an eagle.
The verse 7 of tonight's scripture says, "The first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face like that of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle."
Actually, it's not easy to describe what the 4 living creatures look like with accuracy. Only those who have very well-opened discerning spiritual eyes can see them under the permission of God.
Except on some special occasion, the 4 living creatures don't leave the throne of God. Since their roles are very important and secretive God rarely reveals them but hides them.
But several years ago, God explained to us the appearance of these 4 living creatures and their roles in great detail. And He showed them to those whose spiritual eyes are opened.
Unlike angels or heavenly hosts, they look very scary, and they sometimes make others feel threatened.
Their color is relatively dark and thick and it produces a sense of great strength and solidness.
These combined 4 living creatures are suddenly divided, and fly to the 4 directions when they are to carry out an order.
They always move straightforward, and their flying speed is extremely fast.
Ezekiel 1:12 says, "And each went straight forward; wherever the spirit was about to go, they would go, without turning as they went."
And in 1:14, it says, "And the living beings ran to and fro like bolts of lightning."
Now, just as the verse 8 of tonight's scripture says, "(they) are full of eyes around and within, their whole body is full of eyes.
The reason is, of course, because their role is to stay close to God and to keep a sharp lookout around Him. But there is another reason; it is to receive orders from God and to patrol the earth.
The role of the 4 living creatures is like that of National Security Agency or Bureau of Investigation, and so when there is sin directly related to God, the 4 living creatures take care of it.
For example, when someone commits sin such as blaspheming or speaking against the Holy Spirit, or when he crosses the border of the justice by standing severely against God, the 4 living creatures directly bring about disasters or tribulations.
The punishment on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah was the work of the 4 living creatures under the direct order of God. They will have their hand in the 7 Year Great Tribulation as well.
By the way, they have a duty as a whole, but each of them also has its own directives and duties.
First the man-creature has the authority to command and move the cherubim.
The cherubim move when it gives the order to them.
The cherubim in the second heaven also move according to the order that the man-creature gives.
Next, the eagle-creature has the authority to open and close the gates of heaven.
The gates of spiritual world are open through the movement of its wings.
Therefore, when clouds in the sky are 'coming out' or 'going in', it is only possible when this creature opens the door to the second heaven.
It is also the work of this eagle-creature for us to be able to see the movement of stars or multi-fold rainbows by the opening the gate of spiritual world.
The lion-creature has authority to control disasters or plagues.
It brings down the disasters of fire and the plagues of pestilence, and it has the authority to take them away.
Lastly, the calf-like creature has the authority to control the changes of weather in the first heaven.
Gathering clouds, making rain, stopping rain, creating or destroying typhoons; these are all under the authority of this creature.
Likewise the 4 living creatures have their own directives and duties, but there are many cases that they unite together and work with great authority.
God commands the 4 living creatures with such huge authority so that He can change the weather, bring down or take away disasters, or show wondrous sings by opening the gate of spiritual world according to the justice.
By the way, some people may say that the appearance of the four living creatures is quite strange while reading what is recorded about what they look like.
But it's not so when you actually see them.
Of course, their dignity and authority is so great that it makes you feel fear. However, since they are guarding God and staying close to Him, they must have such dignity and authority that no one can easily come close to them.
Just as a king of this world selects the most good-looking manly people, and makes them his guards, when you actually see the 4 living creatures who are guarding God, they too are so dashing and commanding, yet beautiful.
Now, the confessions of the 4 living creatures are written in tonight's scripture.
It says in the verse 8, "And day and night they do not cease to say, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.""
Since the light of glory of God always shines from New Jerusalem to Paradise, there is no darkness or night in heaven.
Despite this, it says, 'day and night,' but it is to make the people living on this earth understand easily.
In other words, they speak without ceasing.
In the bible, there are expressions that people may misunderstand when interpreted in a fleshly sense. For example, 'Pray without ceasing' doesn't mean that you must pray 24 / 7 during the whole year.
It means your heart must always be set toward God with the heart of praying.
It means that you must pray from the depth of your heart before God during the hours of prayer, and your heart must be set toward God even when it's not the hour of prayer.
Likewise, the meaning of 'the 4 living creatures' giving glory and thanks and praising before the throne of God day and night' is not that they do so every second without rest. It means they always praise God from the depth of their hearts and worship God.
Sometimes they make a confession with the voice that can be heard, and sometimes it is in their heart.
Actually, in heaven, the praises never stop.
Besides the 4 living creatures, there are angels created only for praising God. Most of all, those saved children of God who went to heaven never stop praising God.
Even if they never cease to praise and worship God without rest, how can they pay back for the grace that they received from God?
Since feasts are held everywhere in heaven, everyone can freely praise God and give the aroma of the heart to God.
It doesn't need to be a feast place. They can always give glory to God through their praises.
They give praise with voice to God as well as the aroma and the impression of the heart.
With such a heart, the 4 living creatures always worship and praise God. They confess before God, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God."
1 Peter 1:16 says, "because it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy."" As written, God is Holy God, and He wants us to become holy as well.
Therefore, it is when those children of God who became holy by resembling Father God praise God with their lips that God accepts it with joy.
When we go to heaven, all the citizens of heaven from New Jerusalem to Paradise will praise God. Then, whose praise will God take with the greatest joy?
Of course, it is the praise of His children who completely resemble the holiness of God and enter New Jerusalem.
It is the same on this earth as well.
Today, countless people praise God, but it is not their outlook or talent that God is searching first.
He looks at the holiness of their hearts, and He joyfully smells the praises that the children with holy heart give.
Furthermore, it will be more joyful when His children, who accomplished the holy heart, give praises with lovely and beautiful voices after they practiced hard to please God.
It's not because their voices are lovely and beautiful, but He takes their heart and sincerity because they practiced hard in order to give praise to Him with such lovely and beautiful voices.
The same rule applies to other areas.
The most important thing is the heart, but besides the heart, the deed to express the heart is also important.
God doesn't accept it the same if you concentrate on outward deeds only but without heart.
But if you can give the heart along with the deeds that contain your heart and sincerity, then you will be able to touch the heart of God with even more thick aroma.
That's why 1 John 3:18 talks about deed and truth together saying, "Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth."
Therefore, in the future, when the children of God praise God and express their thanks and love for God with the heart of spirit that they accomplished while being cultivated in this earth forever and ever without changing, how much will Father God be pleased?
That's why especially the praise and worship of the 24 Elders become all the more great joy to God.
We will take a look into this in the next lecture.
Dear brothers and sisters.
When you go to heaven, even though nobody tells you or leads you, your lips will be always full of praises.
It will be overflowing with the confession of thanks. The confession of praising God and giving glory to God will never cease.
Since thanks, joy, and grace are springing up from your heart, you cannot but express it.
Then, what about you, NOW?
If you can do so even in this earth, then your heart must be full of heaven.
It is possible at least when you come into spirit.
And nothing in this world can take your joy and grace away from you.
Wouldn't you like to enjoy such good things?
The door is open for you.
I hope that you will not hesitate staying in all kinds of worries, anxieties, and sufferings in this fleshly world.
Without any hesitation or lingering affection, you must put down the things that make you attached to the fleshly world.
Only then can you come to spirit.
May you become like that, enjoy the joy and thanks that you will enjoy in heaven while still on this earth, and always give praises, thanks, and glory to God, in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, I pray!
Amen |
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