After telling us of the vision of the theocratic throne, with the Lord Jesus sitting on the throne, in the radiance of His glorified humanity, and the rainbow of emerald around the throne, the type of everlasting verdure and prosperity, both in the spiritual, and intellectual, and material world, the apostle proceeds to describe the "four living creatures" that sit with Christ in the midst of the throne, that is, the glorified members of His mystical body, who are to share with Him places of honor and authority in His everlasting government. The four and twenty elders referred to are doubtless the twelve patriarchs and the twelve apostles.

The four living creatures spoken of in this chapter are exactly the same as the living creatures described in Ezekiel's vision, and if we look carefully into the first and tenth chapters of Ezekiel, we find his vision a description of the opening of the millennial age, and the restoration of the Jews to their own land, under the restored throne of David, and the living creatures that moved like flashes of lightning, and had the appearance of burning coals of fire, that superintended the movement of the wheels, is a description of the ministry of the glorified saints in 1he millennial age.

Concerning these creatures, and their rank in the coming kingdom of Jesus, we may note the following items:

1. The four living creatures described by St. John and Ezekiel are identical with the beings elsewhere spoken of as the cherubim and seraphim. It is a great mistake to suppose that these beings are the same as those commonly called in Scripture the angels. All the names given to these cherubic living creatures are different from the names ascribed to the angels, and they are never used as synonyms with each other. Nor are the offices filled by these living creatures the same as the offices filled by the angels. Hence neither in their names, nor in their offices, nor in their ministry are they ever confounded with the angels. If the cherubim and seraphim, that is, these living creatures, had been representatives of angels, then their formation on the mercy seat would have been contrary to the commandment, which says, "Thou shalt not make any image of any creature in heaven above or earth beneath.'' But inasmuch as glorified humanity was not a fact at the time the law was given, the representation of them was only a prophecy of an order of creatures to come in the future age, and so the command was not violated.

2. Unless the cherubim represent redeemed and glorified humanity, then there was nothing in the whole system of Jewish typology to set it forth. In the structure of the Hebrew tabernacle end temple there was a careful representation of the whole process of redemption, of the incarnation of Jesus, of the atonement for sin, both actual and original, of repentance, of regeneration, of sanctification, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, all set forth in various forms and degrees. Now would it not be strange to set forth the whole purpose of redemption without having anything to represent the result of redemption, to emblematize the outcome of salvation in glorified humanity? Hence the erection of the cherubim on the mercy seat was a type of the living creatures that should be the outcome of redeeming grace and the glorified ministry of the coming age.

3. We learn from the writings of Moses that the form of the cherubim or the living creatures was made out of the identical same piece of gold that formed the lid of the mercy seat on the ark. They were not made of a separate piece of gold, or in any wise detached from the lid, but the same piece that formed the lid was turned up at the ends to form the image of the living creatures. This shows that the same piece of gold on which the blood was sprinkled was the identical one that formed the cherubim, illustrating that the same beings who were sprinkled by the precious blood of the atonement were to be the living creatures in whom should dwell the radiant fire of the shekinah, the living, burning presence of God Himself within them.

The word "cherub" means one who is "held fast,'' one seized upon as with a tight grasp, hence the cherubim was held fast to the lid of the mercy seat, and represents that thorough and perfect union between the Lord Jesus and those who are fully saved and established in holiness and held in His right hand, and who share the highest possible union with Christ in His life, and sufferings, and victory, and who are to have dominion.

The word ''seraphim" means the '"burning ones, " those who are filled with the Holy Ghost and fire, typified by the shekinah flame that shone out between the wings of the cherubim over the ark. (Ps. 80. 1st).

4. These living creatures are set forth as being ministers of grace, which is nowhere the case with angels. One of these seraphims conveyed the live coal of fire to the lips of Isaiah, a type of the fire baptized ministry, conveying the living word of God to seeking souls, and rendering service in their purification. Also in the vision of Ezekiel these living creatures always go the way the Holy Spirit leads, and out of them went forth flashes of lightning, setting forth that they were the channels for the outflow of the Holy Spirit.

5. These living creatures are represented in the 5th chapter of Revelation as having the harps of God and golden vials full of odors, which are expressly said to be the prayers of the sanctified ones, and they sing the new song, praising the Lord Jesus who was slain and had redeemed them to God by His blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation, and had made them unto God kings and priests, and they rejoiced that they should reign with Jesus on the earth. This proves absolutely and concisely everything I have said in the preceding items that they were redeemed and glorified men, and had been lifted to a place in the theocratic government of • Jesus over the nations.

6. They arc called the four living creatures because "four" is that number which sets forth redeemed humanity, especially those who have very high rank among the redeemed and glorified ones. They had the face of a lion, typefying royalty, and the face of an ox, typefying humble service, the face of a man, signifying intelligence or enlightened reason, and the face of a soaring eagle, typefying supernatural and divine victory over all terrestrial things.

We have already seen the startling accuracy of analogy, between Noah and the flood, and the ark as representing the coming of Jesus, and the concurrent events. Now it w r as a singular providence, that God arranged that there should be just four men in the ark, and each man with his wife. These four men, coming forth from the ark at the opening of the new age, after the flood, was a perfect type of the four living creatures that John speaks of, as being in the throne with the Lord Jesus, at the opening of the millennial age. This is not all. During the days of Daniel in Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar fancied himself to be the fulfillment of that prophecy which told of one great God-man that should govern the whole world, and the great golden image which he set up was the picture of himself, as that great promised one who should rule the world. Now, singularly enough, God arranged to rebuke his impious blasphemy by setting forth a demonstration of the true Kingdom of God. The three Hebrew children were cast into the furnace of fire, and the great king looking in was astonished to find four men loose, walking in the flames, and one like unto the Son of God. There we have a perfect vision of Jesus as the God-man, with three of His chosen ones, making up the typical number of four, that should represent the coming Kingdom of God on earth. And we notice that Nebuchadnezzar issued at once a great proclamation concerning these four living ones that he saw in the furnace, ''that God had shown signs and wonders concerning His Kingdom, which was an everlasting kingdom, and His dominion from generation to generation.' 5 Thus God rebuked the great monarch and revealed to him that the time was coming when God's Kingdom should fill this earth, and that it should be under the jurisdiction of glorified men that should be victorious, not only over all kings and despots, but over all the laws of nature and the power of fire.

Again we are told both by our Savior and by St. Peter that the transfiguration of Jesus was designed expressly to set forth "His coming and His kingdom." Now with the same accuracy of divine providence, Jesus took only three of the apostles with Him up into the mountain, and those the ones who lived in closest relationship with Himself, typefying the elected ones, or those who should be the most perfectly prepared. Jesus and Peter and James and John in that transfiguration glory correspond exactly with Noah and his three sons in the ark, and with the Son of God and the three Hebrews in the fiery furnace, and with the four living creatures in the millennial throne.

We must remember that the Scriptures represent Jesus as one with His saints, a brotherhood of kings. They are heirs and joint heirs to the same kingdom, and one of the amazing surprises that await the real humble followers of Jesus will be the extent to which they will share His joy, and glory, and honor, and dominion in His coming kingdom.

7. If we want to get a correct view of the mode of existence which will characterize the glorified saints during the millennial reign, we have it set forth in the manner of life which Jesus spent in the forty days after He arose from the dead. From the instant that Jesus arose from the dead, His body was glorified and absolutely free from all material laws, and under the supreme sway of the laws of the glorified world, if we can say that that state of being has any laws apart from the unlimited choice of the will. He told Mary when she approached Him near the sepulchre after He had arisen that He had not ascended to the Father. But that very day He did ascend to the Father and report the completed work of redemption, and that night showed Himself to His disciples, and invited them to handle Him and see that He was indeed the veritable Jesus of Nazareth. He appeared and disappeared at will, taking His body through stone walls, with barred doors, eating and drinking with His disciples, and communing with them familiarly and lovingly, and then vanishing out of their sight. Here we have the manner in which the glorified saints will live and reign with Christ during the millennial age. They are to be the priests, and ministers, and teachers, and superintend all the details of life among the nations in that age, and, like the risen Jesus, will appear to the people on the earth to instruct, or aid, or correct, or commune with them at will, and at will vanish again into the air. The whole atmosphere surrounding the earth will be thronged day and night with these glorified ones, swiftly and safely moving hither and thither on the earth or in the air, singing as they go, with the harps of God in their hands, and crowns of gold upon their brow, and songs of ecstatic gladness on their lips, each one filling His own appointed mission in absolute harmony with each other and with their King.

It is very evident that all the millions of the other saved ones who did not rise in the first resurrection will be present with Jesus, and remain in their present state as disembodied and happy spirits awaiting then, as they do now, the general resurrection.

The apostle John tells us very definitely about the living creatures, and about the number that constitute the bride of the lamb being with Jesus in His throne, that is, rulers in His government, but he tells us of all the others of the saved ones from the earth, comprising a multitude that no man could number, that they stood before the throne, that is, they were members of the Kingdom of Heaven, and shared in its glory, but had not yet been raised to places of rulership in the kingdom. This is no fancy description of my own, but one that is expressly stated in several places and in different ways in the Word of God, and I must simply take the Word of God as it is. When the Scriptures speak of those persons who make up the bride of the Lamb, or who sit at the wedding supper, or who are rulers with Jesus, it always speaks of them as a definite number, but when the Scriptures speak of all the saved ones from the human race, including the saved among the heathen, who obeyed their light and the saved number of countless millions who have died in infancy, and the saved multitudes who are cleansed in the hour of death, it speaks of them as being like the sands of the seashore, and like the innumerable stars of heaven, and as being a multitude that no man could number. Hence the old notion that all the redeemed ones from the earth have the same rank in the future ages is utterly unscriptural as well as unreasonable. No one will reign with Jesus in His coming kingdom, except those who have paid for that privilege in this life by the humility and crucifixion of self and the testings of faith, which have qualified them for that position. This is exactly the teaching of Jesus when the mother of James and John requested that her two sons should sit the one on the right and the other on the left when He came to reign on this earth, and Jesus told her expressly that such positions in His coming kingdom had to be purchased by drinking His cup and sharing His baptism, and that no one could be lifted to such a principality in His empire, except those for whom it was prepared and those who were prepared for the position.

8. We are told in several places that these living creatures in the throne "are to rule the nations with a rod of iron," and that they "shall break all nations to pieces, as the vessels of the potter are broken to shivers," and "that they shall tread down the wicked as ashes under their feet," and that "they shall have dominion over the wicked."

Let us remember that at the opening of the millennial age, when Jesus and His saints return from the wedding, they will find the nations of the earth in a sad plight. Doubtless many will repent in the tribulations, but still sin will be rampant, and there will be a sharp, decisive conflict with ungodly men at the opening of the new age, to bring them into perfect subjection to the theocratic throne. This is strikingly declared and set forth in this 4th chapter by the words, that "out of the throne proceeded lightnings, and thunderings, and voices. "These lightnings and thunderings are the imperial edicts that will go forth among all nations at the very opening of the millennial government, Many persons suppose that the wicked nations on this earth are to be conquered by mild and gradual processes of religion, but every place in Scripture which describes the conquering of the nations sets it forth as a short, sharp, decisive conflict, not accomplished by gospel principles, but by the imperial- Son of God taking charge of the world and its people.

As soon as the throne of David is again set up in Jerusalem the myriads of glorified living creatures, members of the bridehood of Christ, will go forth with princely power into every nook and corner of the inhabitable globe. They will search every house, and home, and building on earth, and compel the inhabitants to burn up all whisky, and intoxicants, and tobacco, and poisons, and bad pictures, and erroneous books, and all the implements of war, or cruelty, and all articles of art or furniture, which are the works of the devil, or the instruments of sin, and the whole world will be cleaned out in every department of industry, commerce, or education, or social life, and the rod of iron, or inflexible law of righteousness, will be put down on every human being, and all the details of life. This is the real meaning of that large class of Scriptures which describe the dominion of saints, and ruling the nations with a rod of iron.

Remember that these glorified beings will have power equal to the angels, for Jesus says, those who shall be counted, as the Greek has it, extra worthy of a place in the first resurrection, shall be equal to the angels. The look from an angel's face paralyzed the hundred soldiers guarding the tomb of Jesus. The brush of an angel's wing swept the breath out of 185,000 Assyrian soldiers slumbering in their camp around Jerusalem in the days of Hezekiah. Hence it will be impossible for the wicked to resist the glorified, saints when they come forth to revolutionize the world and reconstruct the whole human race on the basis of a divine government among men.

A very good illustration can be found in that of the conquest of England by William the Conqueror. Previous to his conquest, England was filled with petty kings and kingdoms, but the great William wiped out these petty kingdoms, and consolidated all England under one government, and he appointed his officers and soldiers, who had fought with him, to places in his kingdom, making them dukes, and earls, and lords, and knights, and assigning to them different counties and earldoms. And at the beginning of his consolidated government, he sent forth some thundering edicts among the people, and among them was an edict that the people of England should destroy every old wooden house, and build them houses of stone. This may serve to illustrate how Jesus the conqueror will wipe out all the national governments on this earth, and consolidate the entire human race under one government, with one language, and compel the people of the world to destroy their arts, and trades, and customs, and to adopt those new ones, which will be perfectly righteous, and humane, and equitable. It is then that men will learn the art of war no more. The last vestige of it will pass away. There will be no more locks and keys, no more jails, or courthouses, or human legislatures, no more lawyers, or doctors, no more railroad magnates, or wheat gamblers, or scheming money lenders, or heretical teachings, or implements of vice, or games of chance, or theatres. Righteousness will fill the earth as the waters fill the sea. Everybody will be under the guardianship of the myriads of the glorified living creatures, and every department of life superintended by them, with inspired and infallible equity, and beauty, and gentle, tender love. The glorified ones will be the church of the first born, and they will take care of all the billions who will be born in that age, as a loving, thoughtful elder sister cares for the younger ones of the family.

9. After these revolutionary and reconstruction movements, typified by the lightnings and thunderings from the throne, John says he saw before the throne a sea of glass, clear as crystal. After the storm and shock of reconstruction has been gone through with, in which the nations of the world will make a rapid transition from anarchy to the heavenly theocracy, then the nations will be rapidly evangelized, and under the ministry of the glorified ones millions on mi] lions will be speedily led to repentance, and saving faith, and sanctifying power. All demons will have been chained in the pit. People's consciences and minds will be open to truth. Their great sufferings will have conquered their pride. The blessed Holy Ghost will flood the world with His presence. The message of grace will be everywhere accompanied with divine power, and nations will be born to God in a day.

The words "sea" and "waters" in this book represent the souls of men. Clear, glassy water represents pure, sanctified souls. Hence, shortly after the throne of Jesus is set up, in front of the throne, the nations of the earth will be spread out, like a beautiful silver sea of transparent glass, their souls purified and filled with quietness, and love, and obedience, and all the moral, intellectual, and social conditions of mankind, will move onward through the bright, beautiful centuries, like a clear, glassy stream flowing smoothly over golden sands.

This same picture is given by John again in the 15th chapter, where he describes the glorified saints who had come off more than conquerors as standing on the glassy sea, that is, they presided over the tranquil, purified nations of the earth, and had the harps of God, and sung the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb.

There are times when we get very close to God, and His pure love burns so sweetly in our hearts that these visions given us by St. John are spread out so clearly before our eye of faith that we perceive them with a vividness and reality that make our heart flutter with the anticipation of the glory, and brightness, and sweetness, and music, and worship, and heavenly intelligence that will fill the world in those golden days. Who does not long to see these things come to pass? This is the vision that thrilled St. Paul when his head was on the chopping block, and he saw that crown of righteousness that he would wear in Christ's coming kingdom, and saw other crowns for all those who love the appearing and coming reign of the Lord Jesus.  When King Solomon built the temple he put in front of the altar a brazen sea supported by twelve brazen oxen. This was an inspired type. Solomon's reign was a type of the millennial kingdom, and the brazen sea a type of the sea of glass, or sanctified society, and being supported by twelve oxen, typefied that the millennial kingdom would be supported by the members of Christ's bridehood, that is, the twelve times twelve of the hundred and forty-four thousand. Well may we say, "blessed and holy are they that shall have a part in the first resurrection, and that shall be counted worthy of a place to reign with Jesus in His throne and in His kingdom."