Neither joy nor trouble will
occupy the heart that is
centered upon Christ.
Here is his comfort...
Rev. 4 and 5
The connection of the first verse of chapter 4 with the addresses to the seven churches is most significant.
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.
A door is opened in heaven to John, and he sees the throne of God in government, when everything is according to God's mind. John's spirit had been troubled by the display of the utter failure in testimony just witnessed in the churches. He had seen the Lord walking amidst the golden candlesticks, investigating their condition, and all is entire failure-so much so that their end is such that Christ will spue them out of His mouth.
What grace at a moment like this, to open to the tried heart of the prophet a door into heaven, and to show the poor saint of God—tempest-tossed amid the ruin of all which God has set up in the hands of man—a scene introductory to the coming day of glory, where no failure can come.
Purposes of God in Heaven
Such is the comfort of the child of God who walks in communion with God. He is shown the purpose of God in heaven, and though he may scarcely know how to steer his course amid the waves and storms as they grow more and more tempestuous around him, the Spirit of God carries his heart into a scene where no evil or failure can come. Whatever the Church may be now, God will set a throne in heaven, and One will sit thereon, displaying the glory of God's government, where not even the spray of the storm can reach! This is the stay of the heart.
If the Church is all in confusion and disorder, God shows His saints for their comfort that even now the government is in the hands of One who sits upon the throne. The display of glory here is dispensational and governmental—Jehovah-Elohim Shaddai—in connection with creation, as the One for whose pleasure all things are and were created.
Yet, I am sure that a heart touched by sovereign grace will not fail to discern Jesus in the scene as the One by whom all things are upheld. The eleventh verse is still unfulfilled:
Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created.
Fallen creation is anything but an answer to God's pleasure, being under the permitted rule of Satan, except as by Providence all things are overruled. Jesus is the sustainer of what was created for the Divine pleasure. And He will, in a new heavens and a new earth, bring all things into subjection to Him who sits upon the throne.
Redemption
The fifth chapter unfolds redemption. It is not the question then who Jesus is, but what He is, and for the comfort of the saints the heavenly drama is shown. John in a mortal body is a picture of the weakness of the present condition of the saints in communion with God. Though in heaven, John displays his weakness, and weeps much. The saint carrying about with him a body of sin and death, always displays his weakness in God's presence.
In spite of this, all the grace of God is shown forth in this scene for the comfort of John's heart. Why should John weep at what man is? Had he forgotten there was a Man who was worthy? He shows his bewilderment in God's presence and weeps much, because he had forgotten the Lamb who was worthy to take the book and to open the seven seals thereof. And notice, it is not only His personal worthiness, but the redeemed worship Him in new song. They declare His worthiness because He was slain, and had redeemed them to God by His blood. This is His worthiness. He glorified God in shedding His blood for us. He was not content to abide alone. He redeemed us to God by His blood, and we shall reign with Him.
Praises
Lower down in the chapter, the countless multitude of angels celebrates His praise, but the angels are lower down in another sense too. An angel cannot speak of Him as the One "who loved me, and gave Himself for me." They praise Him for what He is to the saints. As the servants at the welcome of the prodigal son, they praise the master for what they learn him to be as a father, in his welcome of his long-lost son. But this does not change their position; they are still the servants.
Then John hears every creature in heaven, and in earth, and under the earth, taking up the praise. This is anticipative, but it was given to John to know it beforehand for the comfort of his and our hearts. Peter had been with the Lord in the holy mountain, and had seen the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. But in point of fact that day is future. And so it is with John. It is the grand result before his eyes, as a sample and pledge of what it will be when the blessed One shall have risen up from His Father's throne to banish the adversary from the universe. No place will be left for Satan in the scene God had created for His glory.
What grace of our God to show us this glorious future! This is the time when all the mind in heaven and earth shall be one in worshipping Him who sits upon the throne, and in adoring the Lamb.
The Mind of God
And now for a practical word. Do you know this mind of heaven, the mind of God? As Christians you have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:1616For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:16)), but whether you are displaying it in your everyday life is quite another thing. If I look around upon professing Christians and ask whether they are displaying the mind of heaven, I would have to say that they show anything but that. I see professing Christians seeking their own good things down here, laying up for themselves treasures upon earth, and in no sense waiting for God's Son from heaven.
Let me then ask you, Is the Lamb the center of your heart? This is the mind of heaven. If so, you will not seek your own joys now. You will say that you wait for the Son of God from heaven for your portion. As for trouble, you will not be striving to get out of it. You will take it as a pilgrim does the rough roads on his journey home.
Neither joy nor trouble will occupy the heart that is centered upon Christ. Such in spirit wait for the scene of this chapter to end their sorrows and bring in their joy.
Words of Truth