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Rev. 4:1: After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things."
         Jesus Christ opens the door of heaven to that one who will open his heart to Him. A time will come in the future when the heart of man will be opened to Him and to His voice. Oh God, as much as Your inner ways are spoken evil of and despised in this hour, so much will they be esteemed and followed in future centuries.*
*Lord we are still waiting.

Rev. 4:2,3: Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne. And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance.
         This is the throne of God and the brightness of His majesty. Jesus Christ shows John this to give some pledge of the glory He has prepared for His elect ones and to give John some idea of the fearful greatness of God. God is seated on this throne because His rest is never interrupted. His throne is immense, and can only be filled by Him. The color "like a jasper and a sardius stone" shows its stillness, its immutability, and the steadfastness and duration of His glory. This circle of emerald signifies peace and reconciliation, and this is witnessed by the rainbow. The color of this rainbow is emerald, to show that reconciliation is in our Savior Jesus Christ alone, and that no one will be saved and enjoy the advantage of this reconciliation except by their hope in this divine Savior. This rainbow surrounds God, which indicates that the humanity of Jesus Christ surrounds the divinity within Him.

Rev. 4:4,5: And around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads. And from the throne proceeded 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;...
         These twenty-four elders are the holy Patriarchs and Prophets, the most faithful, and most beloved of God. They were, so to speak, the foundation for all the other saints who follow. God showed these elders to John to have him understand the glory He reserves for those He admits to His banquet.
         On these wonderful thrones the Son of man will place those who overcome in Him and by Him!
         These thrones are reserved for those who leave all to follow Him. "Ye which have followed Me....ye shall also sit upon twelve thrones."
         These elders are also dressed in white; they had been reinstated in their innocence by the grace of Jesus Christ, given to them in its fullness after His death. They have been crowned with perfect love.
         Oh God, who is man whom You should honor with so many graces and such glory?
         But oh, foolish and insane man, losing divine and eternal delights for a moment's pleasure which is not even worthy of being called pleasure. Oh, ambitious ones, wanting to be kings in this world, aspire rather to be kings in heaven! These on the throne have been brought to nothing. That is why you surround the throne of the One who became nothing, taking the form of servant and slave. The measure of nothingness is the measure of glory.
         This reign that Jesus Christ possesses in the throne of David and in the throne of God will have no end. The high degree of glory to which David has been raised can be understood by the deep humiliations to which he was reduced. So, thus, with the Son of David. Those who are fortunate enough to have apart in the humiliation of these saints will have a share in their glory.
         The holy ones of past ages are sanctified looking forward to the blood of Jesus Christ which was to be shed or had been shed. We, by looking back. In this century (where wickedness is at its height), holy ones will still come into being, by means of a God Who takes pleasure in producing holy ones in all ages. The world would perish without these saints! God puts up with the ungodly on account of the righteous.
         There are "seven Spirits of God" full of lights and flames, like lamps which are always lit, to honor His supreme great- ness.
         "And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices."
         This shows the majesty, greatness, and dignity of God. Moses once saw the majesty of God and exclaimed, "You are wonderful, terrible, and merciful," adding many spontaneous words to explain what he saw, but which explained very little what he meant. So John, too, exclaims, but little is explained; such is a view of God's majesty.

Rev.4:6,7: ...and before the throne there was, as it were, a sea of glass like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. And 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.
         "The four living creatures, full of eyes" are filled with the knowledge of Jesus Christ, with what He said and did, so as to let us all know. The lion is like the state of the saints who defended the Church. The calf defends His church, also. This was the time when saints roared. The man is as the saints who imitate Christ outwardly. The fourth is an eagle flying above the others. This represents those to whom the inner Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, is imparted.
         All things will become inwardly understood. We do not mean to say that the martyrs were not inward souls. However, each was excellent in his particular quality. They are "full of eyes" because they are full of light and knowledge.
         Nonetheless, of the four, the eagle flies above the others.
         John is given the eagle because he flew higher than anyone.
         As we read the Gospel of John we see that he takes us to the very bosom of God and draws from Jesus Christ, discovering through his humanity the advantages of his Divinity; John it is who searches what is deepest in Jesus Christ. It is certain that times are coming when purer lights than those which exist today are going to be uncovered for the Church. There will not be anything earthly in this ministry; all will be spiritual and divine. Men will seem to be dwelling near the Sun, as the eagle does, through the pure lights which will be given to them.
         These living creatures tell us something; they reveal different stages which believers must pass through to reach the throne. The first creature is filled with fire, strength, and courage, like a lion. The second has much of the animal or the beast. (David expressed this when he said: "I was as a beast before thee"). When men lose this brutish state they become fully human, having nothing left as far as courage or stupidity is concerned; the life of divine humanity comes through the cross and the woes of this life. But finally the believer becomes as an eagle. Just as he was linked to earth, so now he is detached from it. This last state of the believer withdraws wholly from the previous three.

Rev.4:8: 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."
         The six wings of these living creatures carry them. They have eyes without and within representing their outward and inward enlightening. All is light with them. They  discover and penetrate everything. "They rest not day and night." They sing just the same in the day of joy and in the darkness of afflictions, in the inner light and in a dark state. "They say, Holy, Holy, Holy" because God is holy...day or night! They understand that holiness is wholly in God. They are near the throne to give Him the glory which is due Him on account of His holiness.
         "You only are holy. We do not recognize any other holiness but Yours."
         But why do you shout so?
         "Because of the light we have that God alone is holy, and we wish that everybody should know Him in such a way." These four living creatures cry out without ceasing that He is "Almighty" ...not only holy, but He can make us holy. "He was, is and is to come." There is nothing that is truly real and lasting but Him.
         Oh God, if we could only give You a glory as infinite as You are infinite! But as this is not possible, may these creatures which You uphold and which behold You give You all the glory they can give. And may we join them!

Rev. 4: 9,10,11: 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, the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

                                                       "Worthy art Thou, our Lord and our God,
                                                       to receive glory and honor and power;
                                                       for Thou didst create all things, and
                                                       because of Thy will they existed, and were created."

         All saints owe Him much glory and gratefulness; from Him is all the glory of their holiness. He is their purifier and He has given Himself for them; He has sanctified them by His blood. They can never acknowledge too much such an excessive mercy.
         Now we see "the twenty-four elders" (the most humble and nearest to God) "fan down before Him." Their falling down bodily shows how they brought to nought themselves so as to allow Him to be an in them. They seem to give this eternal knowledge to an future ages: The manner of honoring God as God is through nothingness. They now do in heaven what they had done on earth. "They cast their crowns before Him," to show that they have made Him their king, allowing Him to reign in them and over them, ceasing to govern themselves or to lead themselves. They have yielded to Him an the rights they had over themselves. They show He reigns in them perfectly, that they have been His kingdom as He has been their king. They glorify Him through nothingness, and by yielding to Him.
         They now cry out to God: "You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power." No one is more worthy than You. You are infinitely glorified in Yourself, and You must be so in Your creation.
         "For You have created all things." All is done in His divine will. When the soul is left without any will of its own, it begins to enter into a new state and into a new creation.
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^{(1) Guyon, Mme. Jeanne, CHRIST OUR REVELATION, Gardiner, Main, Reprinted 1987 Christian Books Publishing House ( Book in now out of print)}

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