Position of the saints II
Introduction
Chapter five deals with the opening of the seven seals of the books in the hand of God.
'And i saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written and on the bask side, sealed with seven seals, And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book ,and to loose the seven seals there of. And i beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.(Rev5:1,5-6)
Without a doubt, these seven seals reveal the future events that should take place after the rapture of the Church and the mysterious judgments of God which would come upon he disobedient nations. Jesus said.'..the Father judgeth no man. but hath committed all judgment unto the Son(Jn5:22)Jesus added that the Father' Hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man'(jn5:27),In the light of these verses it is evident that Jesus the Lamb of God, is the only Person who has received the authority to break the seven seals of the Book an reveal its hidden mysteries and judgments .These hidden judgments were not reveled to the Old Testament saints but to the apostles and prophets of the New testament Church.(Rev22:6;eph3:5)
'And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having everyone of them harps. and golden vials full of odours,which are the prayers of saints. And they sung a new song, saying ,'Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou was slain and hast redeemed us to God by they blood out of every kindref,and tongue, and people. and nations: And hast made us unto our God kings and priests; and we shall reign on the earth' (Rev5:8-10)
These twenty-four elders and the four beasts were singing a newsong,not about themselves, but about those who were to receive New Testament redemption. And form Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever'.(Rev1:5-6
(a) 'They sung a new song': Song is the language of the spirit and the expression of the soul. Whenever God does a work of grace or redemption within our inner man, human words are not sufficient to express our gratitude to God. That is why the Psalmist says. 'He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feel upon a rock ,and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth..'(Ps40:2-3).The redeemed sing the song of their redemption , new and different from one another
(b)'Thou ..hast redeemed us': this gives the impression that they themselves have been redeemed. But if we refer to the original Greek, it reads:' Thou...hast redeemed them' and'hast made them unto our God kings and priests':also:'they shall reign on earth'. although in the English version of the Bible, this is not correctly translated, in many other versions of the bible. so the twenty-four elders and the four beast who are the old Testament saints from the dispensations of conscience and Law respectively, are singing of the saints of the New Testament Church.
'And I beheld, and i heard the voice of many angles round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; saying with a loud voice. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth, and under the earth , and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them ,heard I saying , blessing and honour and glory and power ,be unto him that sitteth upon the throne ,and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and eve r '( Rev 5:11-14)
John says that he beheld innumerable angels, as the last group behind all the saints in heaven. In other words first he saw, the throne with the Father and the Son Lamb of God) then the Holy spirit (seven lamps) just before the throne, then the Law period saints the four beasts) and the Conscience period saints (the twenty -four elders) After these groups he saw these innumerable angles.
There are some more of the redeemed, who are not mentioned in this list, such as the Church the Bride of Christ). the general martyrs, the tribulation martyrs and the saved, of whom we will study later.
Angels were created as 'ministering spirits' to minister to all the redeemed children of god mentioned above, who are called the' heirs of salvation'(Heb1:14).That is why the angels are mentioned as the last group in heaven.
The positions of these saints in Eternity will be:
(1)The Throne - The Father, The Son ,the Holy spirit and the Bride of Christ will be in Zion and New Jerusalem.
(2)Near the throne - The tribulation martyrs, the Law period saints, the conscience period saints and the general martyrs will inherit the New Heaven.
(3)The saved of all the dispensations - will inherit the New Earth.
(4)The angles - They have their own kingdom, but they are ministering angels to all those who inhabit Zion, New Jerusalem, New Heaven and New Earth. That is why they are called 'Ministering spirits....to the heirs of salvation'.