Heaven's Throne, Part 1

Remember that the book of Revelation is the book that reveals to us Jesus Christ like no other book reveals Him. Therefore, Satan will do all He can to make sure you don't get into that particular book. That's the book. Book he wants to keep you out of because it spells his doom. So he wants to make sure you don't understand the book of Revel. So don't get caught up in, it's too much, it's too confusing. As we go through the book, verse by verse it will unfold to you it will be spelled out for you and everything will become very clear to you but also remember the words of Revelation 1 verse number 3 bl is he who reads And those who hear the words of the prophecy and heed the things which are written in it, for the time is near.

You've got to remember what the word of the Lord says. The blessed person is the one who reads and hears and then heeds the wor of the Lord. Remember that. Tonight, We want to take you to heaven. We want you to see something you've never seen before. We want you to see it as John saw it. But sadly, There are others who have claimed to have been to heaven. Maybe you know some of those people. Maybe you have heard them on television, heard them on the radio, read their books. Believe it or not, there are many.

People who have claimed to have had an out-of-body experience and they have gone up into heaven and they have seen the L, so they say. On April 11, 19. In 199, a television network based in Los Angeles, that wonderful state in which we, or city in which we live, carried an interview with Dr. Richard E. B. who claimed to have died, gone to heaven, and come back again. According to Dr. Eb, he fell off a balcony, struck his head, and was supposedly dead. He reports that he experienced, quote, paradise.

His formerly weak eyes needed no glasses. Now he could see for a hundred miles. His body took on a wonderful quality. He could move anywhere at will. He was visible yet transparent. Dr. Eb said that he found some flowers, broke them off, and noticed they had no water in their stems because Jesus is the living water. The aroma of heaven was especially overwhelming with a sweet savor of sacrifices. Dr. Eb said, he said the human brain was 12 cranial nerves and then added that those 12 nerves represent the 12.

12 tribes of Israel. Further, he explained that the primary nerve in God's cranium is the sense of smell. Eb said he learned that the whole purpose of sacrifices was to send a sweet aroma up to heaven to satisfy God's main cranial nerve. As Dr. Eb went on, the talk show host kept saying, marvelous, wonderful. Oh, this is so meaty, end quote. If they weren't so humorous, or stupid, they're at least blasphemous. That somehow people would say that they actually had this odd out-of-body experience whereby they met Jesus Christ.

Face to face. And yet, of all the stories we read and hear about, none of them even begins to compare with those in the scriptures who were ushered up into glory and received a vision of the glorified. Lord. They're not even close. It's a shame that hundreds of thousands of people actually believe what these men say. It's not so bad that a guy would say this happened to him. What's bad is that people would actually believe that this guy or fellas had these things happen. to them what an indictment on our society in Scripture we get a glimpse of heaven through the pen of Isaiah The pen of Ezekiel, the pen of Paul, and of course, the pen of John.

Paul was one of those men who was taken up to the third heaven. You know the story, it's recorded. In 2 Corinthians chapter 12. It says in verse number 1, boast is necessary, though it is not profitable. But I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ who, 14 years ago, whether in the body, I Do not know, or out of the body, I do not know. God knows. Such a man was caught up to the third heaven.

And I know how such a man, whether in the body or apart from the body, I do not know. God knows, was caught up into paradise. and heard inexpressible words which a man is not permitted to speak. On behalf of such a man will I boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast except in regard to my weakness. For if I do wish to boast, I shall not be foolish. For I shall be speaking the truth, but I refrain from this, so that no one may credit me with more than he sees in me or hears from me. The Apostle Paul was.

Great man. He wrote the majority of our New Testament. God used him in an incredible way. And as Paul was ushered up into that third heaven, that's above the the troposphere.

That's the heaven in which we live in, where the clouds and the rain and the snow are, the air we breathe. Above that is the planetary atmosphere where the celestial Beings are the stars, the sun, the moon, those kind of things. Above that is the third heaven, the abode of God.

And Paul says, I was caught up to paradise. I was caught up to the third heaven. But Paul. Paul didn't tell us what he saw. He was forbidden to speak what he saw. And when I read about this man in his ministry, I begin to understand. That no matter what the affliction bel, the thing that drove him was the satisfaction above. And that's the exact same thing that should drive us. And as we embark on Revelation 4 and Revelation 5 and get a glimpse of glory through the pen of the Apostle John, I'm hoping that whatever affliction you Face this day, whatever difficulty you face in this new millennium, you'll be reminded of Paul's messenger of Satan.

In spite of all the hardships he had, and if and if you were. To chronicle all the pain and problems that Paul went through, they are insurmountable. But what kept him going was the little glimpse of glory he received. And was unable to speak about. And I'm hoping that through tonight and next week and the following week, as we study Revelation 4 and Revelation 5. That's the motivating factor in your life as well. So, with that, I would invite you to turn with me to Revelation chapter 4.

John gives us probably the best detailed description of heaven in Revelation 4 and 5. And as you recall, he's already had one vision that was of the glorified Christ in chapter 1 verses 12 to 17. And now we're going to get a glimpse of our future home. And in chapter 4, the focus is on God the Father. And on chapter 5, the focus is on God the Son. All that to say. say this, that heaven is not so much a place in which we will go, as much as it is a person in whom we will see. And that's the focus of his vision.

There are three points we want to cover both tonight and next week. I thought I could cover 11 verses in one week, but I was a fool. To even think that we're going to talk about the vision of the throne, and then we're going to talk about the description of the throne and then the adoration at the throne. Those are our three main points. We'll get through main point number. Number one, this evening, and into main point number two.

First of all, the vision of the throne. Let's look at Revelation chapter 4, and I just want to read through it with you and just think about it as we read it.

After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. The first voice which I 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.

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 sardeus in appearance. And there was a rainbow around the throne. Like an emerald in appearance. And around the throne were 2 thrones, and upon the thrones I saw 2 elders sitting clothed in white garments and golden crowns on their heads. And from the throne proceed 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.

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. 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 is Who is to come? 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 2 elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne.

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 creat. The vision of the throne, that's where we'll begin. He receives his second vision.

It says, After these things, I looked. What things? Well, if you've been with us, you know that in chapter 1, he received a vision. vision of the glorified Christ. And then in chapter 2 and chapter 3, there were the letters to the churches that he had received and was to make sure were delivered to those churches. But now comes a very important aspect in John's life and in our lives because it introduces to us the third.

section of the book. Believe it or not, we've already covered two-thirds of the book. Chapter one is the first third, chapter two and three is the second third, and now this is the rem third.

As you recall, over in chapter 1, verse number 19, Christ said, Write therefore the things which you have seen. That's the vision of the glorified Christ. And the things which are, that's the letters. To the seven churches and the things which shall take place after these things. What's going to take place after these churches? And now, As John receives the vision, it says at the end of the verse, I will show you what must take place after these things. What's going to happen? Set us on what's going to take place.

After what I believe is the church age. That was the letter given to the seven churches. And I want to let you know that. You know, some of you made a comment about last week about how difficult it was for you to follow the outline and how many verses there were and all the stuff about the rapture and stuff. And I understand that. In fact, if it's new to you, I understand the difference Difficulty that's there. I would encourage you to get the tapes. So, John receives a vision. Two things I want you to see: number one, what he saw.

Number two, what he heard says, after these things I looked and behold. Now that's, again, that statement you need to circle. Stand in amazement. Be astonished. Can you believe this? Absolutely incred. He says, a do standing open. In heaven. As you recall, Revel chapter 3, verse number 20, there was a door closed on earth. Now we see a door open in heaven. And John says, Can you believe this? I sa a door. Into heaven. What did he hear? Hear a voice. The first voice, which I heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, Come up here, and I will show you.

You, what must take place after these things? What's the voice? It's a familiar voice. Chapter 1, verse number 10, it says this: I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and And I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet. The same voice he heard in chapter one is the same voice he hears in chapter four. It's a loud voice. So I want to remind you. Once again, that loud is what heaven is about. Everything in heaven is loud. God likes lots of noise. He wants to be able to hear the praises of men.

So when Tom stands up here and tries to lead you and tries to get you to sing, he wants you to be loud because God likes loud. See? That's why he speaks with a loud voice. Come up here, John. Because about what he's about to hear is going to be loud. And what he sees is going to be loud. And so, therefore, John hears a voice that he's familiar with. Come up here. When Jesus says, come, guess what?

You go. John was obedient, and he went. He says, immediately, I was in the sp. I was in another dimension. I was. Beyond time and beyond space. This was a supernatural event. This was not some whimsical dream. This was something that was supernatural that immediately. up my saying or understand my heart to be obedient to come, I was transcended into the door, into the throne room of God. That's leads point number two: the description of the throne.

This is absolutely amazing. As I sat in my study today, I knew there would be no way I could cover all this with you in one evening. John says, Again, what? Behold. This is. absolutely astonishing. Be amazed. John's amazement al us as to our responsibility. To pay attention. Whenever you see the word behold in scripture, perk your ears up, listen more intently. Because what is about to unfold before you is that which you better not ever miss? Because if you Miss this, it will alter your life. If you get this, it too will alter your life, but it will alter your life in the right direction.

So, John says, Behold. There was a door. There was a voice. And I was caught up. I was in the spirit. And behold. Get this, he says. A thr was standing in heaven and one s on the thr. First an open door.

Then a voice, now a throne, and the one who's on the throne is sitting on the throne. That is, there is someone who is reigning on the throne. And this is for you who need practical application, which all of us do. The point being, there is somebody in charge. There is somebody who is controlling everything. Things just don't happen. There's no such thing as luck. There's no such thing as ch. There is someone in charge. We need to understand that. The very first thing John gets a glimpse of is the sure that everything is going to be okay because somebody is running everything.

We forget that, don't we? We like to think we're running some things. God help us if we ever start running anything. You need to know that. That's why you need to understand heaven's throne. Because God's in charge. And I can't think of anything more comforting than to know that when I get into my car, when I go to bed at night, when I send my kids out to play, God's in charge. God's in control. But the description of the throne, the outline's very simple. We want to ask who was on the throne, what was around the throne.

What came from the throne and what was before a thr. Four prepositional phrases that kind of help us understand this throne in heaven. First of all, who was on the throne?

It says, I was in the S. And behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and one sitting on the thr. And he who was sitting was like a Jasper stone, and a sardia. In app, who's that? Well, we know. Go down to verse number eight. It's the Lord God Almighty. But John begins to describe his appearance. He says, The one who was sitting there was like a Jasper stone. Obviously, God's not a rock, but he was like a Jasper stone. Stone, what is that? Well, if you go back to Revelation 21 for a moment, it tells us what the Jasper stone is like.

Revelation 21, verse 11, it says this. Having the glory of God, her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal clear Jasper. It describes the Jasper as. Being crystal clear. It's like a diamond. The door opens up, and John sees this one on a throne. And the way he describes him is with a word that helps us understand. The unbelievable brilliance, this crystal clear stone that refracts lights. All over the place, like the like like the brilliance of a huge diamond. And then he says, and Sardius in appearance.

A sardis stone was a beautiful blood-red ruby-colored stone. It creates incredible splendor. The Jasper could represent his holiness and his purity, and the sardiest stone could represent his pending judgment. And that's the way I would take it to mean. Some think that the red. Red stone represents the atonement, and well, it could that God did an atoning work for his people. And as John begins to go into the throne room of God, he is reminded of that. I would tend to think that it deals more with.

His wrath and his judgment. Because you see, God is sitting on his throne, he is reigning, he is about to unleash his fury upon the earth. Over in Daniel 7, remember what Daniel said? He said, I kept looking until thrones were set up. Verse number 9. And the ancient of days, that is the Old Testament name for God, took a seat. His vesture was like white snow, and the hair of his head like pure wood. His throne was ablaze with flames. Its wheels were a burning fire. A river of fire was flowing and coming out from before him.

You see, what Daniel saw is what John himself saw. If you go back to Ezekiel chapter 1 and read verses 26 to 28, you begin to see what Ezekiel saw, Daniel saw, and John saw. The point being is that God never changes. They all saw the same thing. And they were nothing what Dr. Piercy Collette saw or Dr. Eb. But these men in the scriptures all saw the exact same thing. Number two, what was around it?

It says that there was a rainbow. Around the throne, like an emerald in appearance. And around the throne were 24 thrones. And upon the thrones, I saw 24 elders sitting clothed in white garments. garments and golden crowns on their heads. There was a rainbow. There were 24 thrones. There were 24 elders. What do those represent? We'll talk about that next time. May we be a people who learn to worship our God because we have seen him for how he is truly revealed in the word of God. Let's pray together.