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I. THE SEALED BOOK.

1. The Divine throne.

2. The Possessor of the throne. There is no name given, but there is eternal glory in this nameless majesty.

3. The right hand of Him who sat upon the throne.

(1) The right hand is the symbol of wisdom. God's hand and His council are synonymous expressions (Isaiah 14:27; Acts 4:28).

(2) The right hand is the symbol of power. All that infinite wisdom hath contrived, omnipotent power will certainly perform.

(3) The right hand is also the symbol of Divine operation. In all the means and instruments employed He is still supreme.

4. The wonderful book.

5. The writing of the book.

(1) The writing implies the immutability of His counsels and all His precious promises.

(2) The writing implies the manifestation of His counsels — the design of God, that His will should be revealed, or made known to the world.

(3) The writing implies their value and importance. They are worthy to be held in everlasting remembrance as a ground of hope and consolation to the Church.

6. The form of the writing — "It was written within and on the backside." The allusion implies the number and variety of the counsels, works, and dealings of God. It also implies the fulness of the writing.

7. The sealing of the book.

(1) The sealing is expressive of Divine authority. This book proceeds from the throne, from God's right hand; it comes in His name, it is clothed with His prerogative, invested with His glory, and enforced by His omnipotence.

(2) The sealing of the book is expressive of darkness. While a writing is sealed, the meaning is unknown.

(3) The sealing of the book implies distance — the distance of time between the giving and fulfilling of Divine prediction.

(4) The sealing of the book implies Divine certainty. What is written in the king's name, and sealed with his ring, may no man reverse.

3. The number of the seals — "It was sealed with seven seals." This implies the holiness, depth, fulness, and perfection of the counsels and covenant promises contained in the book of God's right hand.

II. THE HEAVENLY PROCLAMATION.

1. The agent employed. He is called "an angel."

2. His glorious power and excellence. This was "a strong angel."

3. The wonderful proclamation — "The angel proclaimed with a loud voice."

4. The great subject of the proclamation — "Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?"

III. THE UNAVAILING APPEAL.

1. The field of inquiry is vast and boundless.

2. The universal appeal.

3. The subject of inquiry is expressed again, and more fully and gloriously declared to the world. The work to be performed is great and marvellous, and variously expressed in the Book of Revelation. The qualifications for the work are also great and marvellous.

IV. THE SORROW OF THE APOSTLE — "And I wept."

1. If the book cannot be opened, how could the apostle refrain his voice from weeping and his eyes from tears? The darkness that rested on the Church's future history filled his heart with sorrow and deep foreboding fear.

2. The greatness of his sorrow — "And I wept much." There is a sacredness in sorrow, that fills the heart with awe. Yea, there is a majesty in overwhelming woe that commands the sympathy and homage of the heart.

3. The apostle repeats the reason of his sorrow; for the mind of the afflicted loves to linger on the cause of the affliction and the greatness of his grief: and he wonders that any one should feel such indifference to his melancholy tale, and take so little interest in what is so sadly interesting to him.

(James Young.)

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KJV: And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.

WEB: I saw, in the right hand of him who sat on the throne, a book written inside and outside, sealed shut with seven seals.