David Jeremiah Sermons 2021 _ A Look Into Heaven

first of all because of the sequence of events in the book of revelation because of the sequence of events the inspired outline of the book of revelation is in the first chapter and the 19th verse look down at verse 19 in your bibles of the first chapter and notice what it says it says here's what john's assignment was he was to write the things which you have seen and the things which are and then the things which will take place after this notice what it says in that last phrase in verse 19 the things which shall take place after this read verse one of chapter four after these things i looked and behold a door standing open in heaven and the first voice which i heard was like a trumpet speaking with me saying come up here and i will show you what the things that shall take place after this the same phrase that is in the 19th verse of the first chapter is in the first verse of the fourth chapter linking those two things together the fourth chapter is the beginning of the prophecy of john under the inspiration of the holy spirit about all the things that are going to take place after this after what after we go to heaven what's going to happen when we're in heaven what's going to take place up there what's going to take place down here so chapter 4 of revelation introduces the events which will take place after the church has gone to heaven in other words the happenings which began in chapter 4 are clearly events which take place when the rapture happens and we're in heaven when we have completed the letters to the churches which we have just completed we have finished everything about the church on the earth and we're going to notice that the sequence of events in the book of revelation tell us that something dramatic has happened between chapter 3 and chapter 4. when we end at chapter 3 the church is on the earth when we start chapter 4 the church is in heaven the only thing that is possible to explain that is that the rapture has happened and god has come to take his own to be with him now here's another interesting thing that helps us to realize this is true and that's the silence concerning the church in chapters 4 through 19. you would expect if the church were still on the earth during chapters 4 through 19 there would be some writing about it here's an amazing truth the word church appears 19 times in the first three chapters and it does not appear one time in relationship to the church in all of the rest of the book of revelation in other words chapter 1 through 3 there's 19 mentions of the church and from chapter 3 verse 22 all the way through the rest of the book it is not mentioned once as being on the earth number three you notice that the spirit of god has gone from the earth to heaven why is that where does the holy spirit live on the earth he lives in us right now he's available obviously in other ways but the basic ministry of the holy spirit is the holy spirit lives in believers so you would expect when the believers are gone guess what the holy spirit's gone too one of the reasons why the tribulation's held on earth is when you take the restrainer away there's no one left to hold back evil what kind of things are going to happen when the rapture takes place well the bible says the first thing that will happen is there's going to be a voice remember and the bible says there'll be a voice of the archangel read revelation 4 1 and the first voice i heard first thessalonians 4 16 the lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout and with the voice of an archangel there's a voice in the rapture passage in first thessalonians 4 and there's a voice in revelation chapter 4. what else do we know about the rapture along with the voice there's going to be a trumpet remember and the trump shall sound read revelation chapter 4 1 and the first voice which i heard was like a trumpet first thessalonians 4 16 the lord himself will descend from heaven with the trumpet of god there's a trumpet in revelation 4 there's a trumpet in first thessalonians chapter 4. what else do we know the bible says not only is there a voice and a trumpet there's going to be a change a revelation 4 2 says immediately john is speaking i was in the spirit what do we read about the rapture in first corinthians 15 for the trumpet will sound and the dead in christ will be raised incorruptible and we shall be what changed for this corruptable must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality i am absolutely convinced that if you read the book of revelation the way it was outlined by almighty god himself you will have to understand that after the third chapter a dramatic shift takes place the church is no longer on the earth the church is in heaven the tribulation is about to start on this earth seven years of hell on earth which is described in detail in chapters 4 through 19 but we will not be here to experience that for the bible says there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in christ jesus we will be taken to heaven in the rapture which could happen by the way at any moment and even before we're finished with this service and that would be all right with me so between chapters 3 and 4 the rapture happens the church is in heaven we look through an open door now into heaven and revelation 4 1-11 is what john sees as he envisions this time in the future and he looks through the open door the first thing we've looked at is the church's exit from the earth and now in these first 11 verses the church's existence in heaven and now you can kind of follow along in your bibles and you won't have to jump around very much and you'll be able to see the argument that's here revelation 4 1 says this john is speaking as he writes john the apostle under the inspiration of the holy spirit he said after these things after what things the things about the church that we've already studied after these things i looked and behold a door standing open into heaven and the first voice which i heard was like a trumpet speaking with me saying come up here and i will show you things which must take place after this the very first verse of this chapter describes an open door in heaven the door is open into heaven only twice that i'm aware of in the book of revelation first of all revelation 4 1 says after these things i looked and behold a door standing open in heaven in revelation 19 verse 11 we read and then i saw heaven open and behold a white horse watch carefully in chapter 4 the door to heaven opens and somebody goes up in chapter 19 the door to heaven opens and somebody comes down in chapter 4 the door opens and john is invited as a representative of the church to come up to heaven in chapter 19 we're told and you know this story that one day jesus christ is going to come back to this earth riding on a white horse and he's going to come back out of the door of heaven and take control of planet earth so the door to heaven opens twice once when some people go up and once when jesus comes down the key word in chapter four men and women is the word throne one of the great themes of the book of revelation is the sovereignty of god over all the world and i love that theme especially now because when you look around today it looks like nobody's in charge everything's out of control every day you read the newspaper and it seems like it's worse than it was the day before and you wonder where is this all going and i just want to tell you when you look up into the heavens when you look through the open door there's the throne there and almighty god is on the throne i just like you to know that that's a great encouragement to me there's somebody in charge it may not look like he's running things because he's granted some space to people here to do their own thing but he hasn't lost control i promise you there is a throne in heaven and that throne is occupied by god almighty now everything from now on is about the throne about things that happen on the throne things that happen around the throne things that happen in front of the throne all of it's related to the throne as you look into the door of heaven the one thing that just grabs your attention immediately is there is a throne right inside the door and it's magnificent and everything we're going to see as described in chapter 4 of revelation is all about the throne let's begin seated upon the throne is the triune god verses two and three john says immediately i was in the spirit and behold a throne set in heaven and one sat on the throne and he who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance he's on this throne and the brilliance of who he is you can only describe it in terms of these beautiful stones now the bible says when you look in through the door of heaven there is the throne of god and seated on the throne is the triune god primarily god the father notice secondly the bible says surrounding the throne is a rainbow verse 3 and there is a rainbow around the throne and it looks like an emerald are you painting this picture in your head here is almighty god on the throne and this emerald rainbow surrounding the throne and sitting around the throne are the 24 elders notice verse 4 and around the throne were 24 thrones and on the thrones i saw 24 elders sitting clothed in white robes and they had crowns of gold on their heads the 24 elders seated upon the 24 thrones do not represent the angels or the 12 tribes of israel the elders represent the church age they represent the saints how do i know that well let me just help you with it first of all i know it because of the praise that is on their lips the 24 elders are part of the choir of heaven and over in the fifth chapter of the book of revelation we are given an opportunity to hear them sing and listen to these words on the screen you can read them and when he had taken the scroll the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the lamb each having a harp and golden bowls full of incense which are the prayers of the saints and they sang a new song saying listen you are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals for you were slain and have redeemed us you have redeemed us you have redeemed us to god by your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation who does that sound like people that sounds like the church doesn't it redeemed out of every tongue and every tribe and every nation all of our missionaries all over the world preaching the gospel and out of all of these nations and all these languages people coming to christ and they're a part of the universal church and the universal church is represented in heaven by this picture by the 24 elders out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation and you have made us kings and priests to our god and we shall reign on the earth who is that that's the church one day the church is going to reign on the earth with almighty god did you know that during the millennium we are going to come back when the lord jesus comes through that door on the white horse the bible says at the end of the age for the battle of armageddon he's going to be accompanied by his angels and by all the saints that's you and me if we're christians we're going to come back to this earth and we're going to reign on this earth so i'm pretty sure in fact i'd like to be very dogmatic that the 24 elders who are in heaven represent the church of jesus christ and what are they doing they're gathered around the throne to worship god by the praise on their lips we know this is the church but next notice by the clothes on their bodies we know this is the church read again verse 4. notice how the elders are dressed around the throne were 24 thrones and on the thrones i saw 24 elders sitting clothed in white robes notice revelation 19 verses 7 and 8 this is what it says let us be glad and rejoice and give him glory for the marriage of the lamb has come and his wife who is the wife friends is the church and his wife has made herself ready and to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen clean and bright for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints so we know the 24 elders are the church because of the praise that's on their lips and the clothes that's on their bodies and thirdly we know this is the church because of the crowns that are on their heads revelation 4 says and they had crowns of gold on their heads each of these three elements describe the elders who are before the throne now watch this the praise that's on their lips the clothes that are on their bodies and the crowns that are on their heads we know who these people are this is the church of jesus christ these people represent you and me they're there in advance of us they're there to represent us they're there to picture us now isn't it interesting how this all ties together if you go back to the churches that were on earth in chapters two and three i'll just read these to you and you can see how cool all this is if you study the bible revelation 3 21 to him who overcomes i will grant to sit with me on my throne the church was promised a throne revelation 3 18 i counsel you to buy for me gold refined in the fire that you may be rich and white garments that you may be clothed the church on planet earth was given a promise of white raiment and then in verse 10 of chapter 2 be faithful unto death and i will give you the crown of life the 24 elders represent the church so let's just back up for a moment and take a breath and notice what we've seen seated upon the throne is the triune god surrounding the throne is a rainbow sitting around the throne are the 24 elders notice verse 5 sounding forth from the throne are lightnings and thunders and voices revelation 4 5 and from the throne preceded lightnings and thunderings and voices do you remember when the lord met with the israelites at mount sinai and gave them the law and moses went up and got the law and came down and you remember what the bible says happened at that time there were thunderings and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and the sound of the trumpet was very loud so that all the people who were in the camp trembled that's the way it was when the law was given and because the law has been so immeasurably broken those sounds will occur again from heaven as almighty god is about to move to this earth and meet out judgment upon those who have rejected him and his word now notice verse 6 in chapter 4 spread before the throne is a sea of glass the throne is surrounded by this incredible translucent glass notice in verses 6 through 8 that situated in the midst of the throne are the four living creatures the picture is getting more full in the midst of the throne and around the throne were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back the first living creature was like a lion the second living creature was like a calf the third living creature had a face like a man and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle the four living creatures each having six wings were full of eyes around and within and they do not rest day or night saying holy holy holy lord god almighty who was and is and is to come standing in the midst of the throne are four angelic beings who are about to enter into the judgment of the world how many of you know that when god judges the world during the tribulation he uses his angels to carry out the judgment listen to this revelation 6 1 now i saw when the lamb opened one of the seals and i heard one of the four living creatures saying with the voice like thunder come and see revelation 6 3 and when he opened the second seal i heard the second living creature saying come and see so the four living creatures are angels that do specific things for god and the first thing they do is they execute judgment but they also lead in worship they are involved in one of the great scenes in heaven and that is singing to the one on the throne are the creatures and the elders now watch carefully revelation 4 9-11 and whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to god who sits on the throne who lives forever and ever the 24 elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever and they cast their crowns before the throne saying you are worthy o lord to receive glory and honor and power for you created all things and by your will they exist and they were created ladies and gentlemen this is nothing more than a heavenly choir and john looks through the door of heaven and he sees it notice that the theme of the praise is basically the creatorship of jesus christ god is about to destroy the earth created by his son but before he does he wants to make sure everybody understands that the problem with the earth is not the one who created it he created a perfect world and so praise in heaven is to the creatorship of jesus christ i wish i could create in my mind the awesomeness of this scene john is seeing all of the threatening and the thundering and the lightning and all of a sudden as if captured by the majesty of it the angels began to say holy holy holy lord god almighty who was and is and is to come and the representatives of the church the 24 elders here the angels begin to sing and they fall down on their knees and they take the crowns that they have just been given in the judgment for their faithfulness to almighty god and they take the crowns off of their heads and they bring them to jesus and to the father and they lay their crowns at the throne as a gift of love to the one who has loved them so much and they throw them at the feet of god and of christ and they begin to sing and this is what they sing you are worthy o lord you are worthy to receive glory and honor and power for you created all things and by your will they exist and they were created i don't know about you i don't want to be left out at that moment i'm going to ask they thought they had need of nothing but in reality they were the most needy of all of the seven churches this is the only church of the seven about which the lord has nothing positive to say in fact the church made god sick it is interesting that god looks at apostasy and he gets angry he looks at indifference and he gets sick church intrigues us most as we study the seven churches because it represents the last of the churches and in the chronological order of the churches of revelation the last church represents the actual church that will be on the earth when jesus comes back at the rapture so if you want to know what the church condition is going to be like when the lord jesus comes back study this letter with media and you'll have a pretty good idea the church when jesus comes back will be exactly like this church to which this letter was written so i want you to think about the church i want you to think about your own lives because remember these letters not only give us a picture of the condition of an historic church of a church in history as we follow it through but they also tell us some things about individual christians which will help us if we allow them to first of all notice the correspondent to the last aged church remember all of these letters start with a particular description of jesus christ which is designed by the writer to fit exactly the need the church has and the correspondent to the last aged church is jesus and we learn about him first that he is the confirmation of the word revelation 3 14 says these things says the amen the faithful and true witness as the lord addresses the church he identifies himself first of all as the amen the faithful and the true witness in all of the other letters these terms are the descriptions of the lord that emphasize his attributes which are necessary for the needy church to whom he writes as the amen and faithful and true witness he exposes by his very title the deceit and superficiality that characterized the assembly in the church of laodicea the laodiceans claim to be rich increased with goods and needing nothing but in reality the scripture says they were wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked with his blazing penetrating eyes of fire the lord who is himself truth strips away all of the outward shell and exposes the emptiness that's inside this church he's the confirmation of the word he's also the creator of the world notice at the end of the verse these things says the beginning of the creation of god the beginning of the creation of god does not suggest that jesus was created the bible doesn't teach that it's not that jesus is created it means he is the source of creation he is the origin of creation all things were made through him and without him nothing was made that was made says the scripture god has in these last days spoken to us by his son whom he has appointed heir of all things through whom also he made the worlds hebrews 1 2. this is a message to the laodiceans that in their wealth and complacency thinking themselves in control jesus is telling them no you're not in control you're not in control at all i am the very source in fact everything you have originated ultimately with me we sometimes think we're self-made men self-made women that's foolishness if you're a christian all that you have is from god every good gift and every perfect gift comes down from the father with whom there's no variableness nor shadow of turning and so these arrogant people in this church who have over a period of time assumed to themselves this spirit of invincibility they're about to discover how very vulnerable they are jesus is the confirmation of the word of god and he's the creator of the world now that's the correspondent notice the characteristics of this last aged church beginning in verse 15. first of all the laodicean church is a compromising church i know your works that you are neither cold nor hot i could wish says the lord that you were cold or hot so then because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot i will vomit you out of my mouth in every other area of life men and women whether it's entertainment or sports or life all of our christian experience is either dead and cold or live and hot for instance if you're a sports fan you really love this team you don't care who sees how excited you are you know when i was first getting started back in fort wayne indiana i was then a dallas cowboy fan every weekend we would watch the cowboys in our home and sometimes i'd have one of our babies in my hands my wife finally decided that was not good for the baby's health one night i almost passed him across the room to an unknown receiver when you get into the whole area of sports isn't it interesting how fanatically we become we don't care who watches us we jump up and down and we scream and at first when we're christians we are on fire for god isn't that true we find out what it means to be a christian we're so excited about what god has done for us what christ has done for us and we're just on fire for the lord and then after a while we get in with some tepid christians who cool us off and we get tepid and we get lukewarm the laodicean church was a compromising church notice secondly it was a conceited church verse 17 because you say i am rich have become wealthy and have need of nothing and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked the laodiceans are typical of the modern church today which revels in the fact that everything you can see is so good but it seems untouched by the gospel and does not see beyond the veil of the material to the unseen things that really make a difference in the vitality of a church the church is the citadel of god's truth when you come to church you should hear the truth of god when you come to god's church you should be nourished up in his truth but if all you have is entertainment and some of the bizarre things i have read about that people do then you're just like this church in laodicea you think you're doing good but you're not you think you're wealthy but you're poor the laodicean church was a compromising church and it was a conceited church but it was also a christless church notice verse 20 in this text behold jesus says i stand at the door and knock if anyone hears my voice and opens the door i will come in to him and dine with him and he with me here is the last characteristic of the church jesus christ is on the outside of the church trying to get in now we often take this passage in revelation 3 20 as an invitation passage for personal salvation it can be used for that but that's not what it means here is a picture according to the writer of the book of revelation of the condition of the church in the last days jesus christ is not a part of the church he's on the outside of the church he's knocking at the door trying to get into the church and obviously he's not being received what a tragic picture of the church of jesus christ in our age during his first visit to this world christ predicted that his second coming would be met with unbelief he said in luke 18 8 nevertheless when the son of man comes shall he find faith on this earth and the expected answer is certainly not so the condition of the church at the time of christ's return is a christless condition jesus isn't in the church it's the church of jesus but he's not there he's trying to get in he's knocking at the door of the church seeking entrance back into the church but he's not welcome the correspondent to the last church is jesus who is the amen of god the characteristics of the church are that it is compromised conceited and christless notice the council that is given to this church what should they do the god of the universe condescends to give counsel to this sick lukewarm church as a doctor would prescribe medicine for a sick human body so the great physician prescribes help for this week's spiritual body first of all notice the prescription for spiritual poverty verse 18. i counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire that you may be rich this is ironic these laodiceans were well endowed with the riches of the earth but what they really needed they could not buy with their gold it didn't transfer into the currency of heaven isaiah the prophet alludes to this he says ho everyone who thirsts come to the water and you who have no money come by and eat yes come buy wine and milk without money and without price the laodiceans had a lot of earthly money but it didn't do any good in the heavenly realm so they couldn't get anything worthwhile with the money they had accumulated and jesus says what you need for your poverty is some spiritual gold some spiritual wealth notice the prescription for spiritual nakedness jesus said to this church you are poor and you are naked but notice in verse 18 he says i counsel you to buy white garments that you might be clothed that the shame of your nakedness might not be revealed instead of being clothed with righteous acts as believers they thought they were good because they had a lot of stuff and the bible says that in all reality they were just like walking around naked spiritually naked the prescription for spiritual blindness no he doesn't miss one watch this i counsel you to anoint your eyes with i salve that you may see in the city of laodicea there was a medical center and one of the products of that medical center that was manufactured there and exported from that medical center all around the then known world was a tablet that the roman empire thrived on the tablet was called tephra phragia it was used to heal a wide range of eye ailments the users would crush the tablet mix it with a small amount of water and put it on their eyes and wait for the healing to take place the tephra phragia was a famous eye salve that originated in the city of laodicea and jesus was reminding these blind laodiceans that they needed more than the tephra fragia to see they needed the truth of god which only christ could bring them while they may have had good eyesight physically they were blind spiritually and what informs the way you see the world men and women do you view the world through the lenses given to you by the holy spirit and have you ground those lenses in the pages of the holy scripture or has the spirit of the age placed a set of lenses over your eyes that you do not even realize are there so many christians today have forgotten have forgotten what it means to have spiritual insight we've lost our spiritual eyesight in our country now even among christians we don't look at life as bible-believing christians we look at life through the secular lenses we have adopted by living in this messed up world and so when we see something happening in our world if we're not careful we wait to see what the pundits say about it and then we sort of give it a little christian pat on the back and we adopt the pundit's view we get to the place where we're willing to say that things that are wrong that we know are wrong or maybe not as wrong as we thought they were maybe they're almost right and so that which is good we call evil and that which is evil we end up calling good because our eyesight has been tested and ruined by not spending time in the lord's word so that we keep our spiritual lenses clean we allow our eyes to be fogged over with the mess of the world and then when things happen that we don't understand or we hear people asking about them we have no clue because we haven't seen things spiritually for so long we wouldn't know a spiritual truth if it jumped up and bit us the prescription for spiritual blindness is spiritual eyesight take the tephra phrygia of god the tablet from the word of god notice the prescription for spiritual compromise it says in verse 19 as many as i love i rebuke and chasten therefore be zealous and repent it is interesting that the only other church that jesus explicitly says he loves is the church at philadelphia interestingly enough jesus loves the church of laodicea he loves this church that's lost its way he loves this church of europe that no longer understands who jesus is or even wants his name mentioned he loves the culture of america where we're not sure whether god belongs in a program or out of a program whether he can be mentioned in an organizational meal he loves this culture he doesn't love what this culture does look down at your verse again as many as i love i rebuke and chasten he's speaking to the people in this church he's saying i love you and the reason i rebuke you is because of my love if jesus did not call people to repentance he would be sending them a message do you know what that message would be the message would be go to hell rebuke here in the text describes pointing out a problem and convincing someone to do something about it chasing is a reference to correction or punishment with the purpose of training an individual a zeal or eagerness to get right with god must replace the lukewarm spirituality that characterized the church and the zeal will be seen in repentance wow pastor this is about me i used to be on fire for god i used to want to serve god more than anything else in my life and i've gotten warped into this culture so now i'm just like these people i'm lukewarm too the things of god aren't nearly as important to me as they once were nor are they as important to me as now i wish they were where do you go from that people what do you do about a compromising church what do you do for spiritual compromise there's only one thing you can do repent of it ask god to forgive you of it get on your knees when you get home tonight and say lord god i am sick and tired of only being halfway into my faith from now on i want to be all in all in lord with everything i've got the prescription for spiritual poverty for spiritual nakedness for spiritual blindness and for spiritual compromise and now notice lastly revelation 3 20 again behold i stand at the door and i knock if anyone hears my voice and opens the door i will come into him and dine with him and he with me there is not a more wonderful invitation in all of the word of god there are only 33 words in this english version of this verse and all except three words are short crisp words of one syllable they are the words behold any open there's an amazing strength and simplicity in this invitation in his other invitations jesus called men to come to him in this invitation he comes in person and stands at the door to knock christ is here pictured in our relationship to the church as well as to the individual and he stands outside of the professing church that claims to know jesus but obviously doesn't and here's jesus knocking at the door trying to get into his own church although a lot of people as i mentioned have used this verse as an evangelistic call to unbelievers and i think by way of application that's certainly okay what it really is is christ and his church in the last days the church has kicked christ out of its programming out of its messages out of its ministry out of its ordinances out of its very being and jesus christ wants back in and he's knocking at the door we should be knocking at his door he's knocking at ours the seven letters end with these words to him who overcomes i will grant to sit with me on my throne i also overcome and sat down with my father on his throne he who has an ear let him hear these letters and especially the last one men and women teach us one important lesson listen carefully the church must be jesus driven i've heard about seeker driven churches and small group driven churches but the church in this age for it to be of any viability at all must be a jesus driven

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Id: 3R86nmhPZ78

Length: 37min 50sec (2270 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 06 2021