Revelation 4 // Throne of God

okay revelation 4 it hey what time is it I have a clock up here and I'm thinking I'm off what is it 1007 twelve okay seven twelve alright so I have a clock here you know what this means when a pastor has a clock on the absolutely nothing revelation four and let's let's pray before we start god again we're coming before you in Lord this book is a book that you said has a blessing with it that when we read it and when we listen to the words of this prophecy you promise to bless us Lord and that's what we want we want to hear from you we want to we want to see you Lord we're gonna be talking about some things out of the Old Testament today just because this is an Old Testament book in the New Testament and lord I just pray for clarity of thought as I'm as I'm teaching Lord just that you would bless your people and we just give you this time now in the name of Jesus amen okay Revelation chapter 4 it says after these things I looked and behold a door standing open in heaven in 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 immediately I was in the spirit behold a throne set in heaven and one sat on the throne and he who sat there was like a Jasper and a sardine stone in appearance and there was a rainbow around the throne and in appearance like an emerald around the throne were twenty-four Thrones and on the Thrones I saw 24 elders sitting clothed in white robes and they had crowns of gold on their heads and from the throne proceeded lightnings thunderings and voices seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne which are the seven spirits of God before the throne there was a sea of glass like crystal and 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 like a calf the third living creature had a face like a man and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle 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 whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne who lives forever and ever the twelve twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever and 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 were created so all of chapter 4 starts off with after these things we talked about this last week so I'm not gonna go way into it but this is the third section in the book of Revelation according to Jesus he said that what John was supposed to be doing is writing down the things that he'd seen in Chapter 1 the things that he'd seen in Chapter 1 was a revelation of Christ he saw a vision of Jesus and then he said he was told to write down the things which are and then you kind of don't know what that's talking about until you get to the last part and he said and then you write down the things which will take place after these things meta tada in Greek and this section starts off with exactly that term twice in the first verse and so it looks like what Jesus has done is he's divided the book of Revelation into those things that again that vision of Christ and the things which are what it would have to be the things of the church in Revelation 2 and 3 which is where we are it's where Jesus we're where the disciples where John was in in 90 AD when the book of Revelation was written we're in what's called the church age and so Revelation chapter 2 and 3 would deal with the church in the church age and that makes all kinds of sense after the church age comes the rapture of the church after the rapture of the church comes a period of time called Daniels 70th week and we'll talk about that a little bit later on we talked about the 70 weeks of Daniel this morning at the at the morning study it's out of Daniel chapter 9 and it's basically an outline of God's historical dealing with Israel from the time of Daniel up until the time of the second coming and so that's kind of interesting stuff and so consequently when we get into chapter four all of a sudden everything gets Jewish so we're gonna have some things in Chapter four here that are dealing with heaven and that are dealing with the church and it's all being you although all the terms in all the ways all the the illustrations and the metaphors are from Jewish terms Jewish speak basically Jewish a lot of the things that we have in chapter 4 in Chapter five have to do with the tabernacle with the temple in the Old Testament and so that's that's really interesting stuff from this point on you don't have the church mentioned the specifically the term Church is not mentioned from this point on um the church is mentioned as being the wife of the Lamb Church is mentioned as being the 24 elders we'll talk about that in just a minute church is mentioned in in those kinds of terms but the term Church has never mentioned again throughout the rest of the book of Revelation and again it has to do with that that whole aspect of God dealing with the Jewish nation once again so when I was praying I was talking about revelation being an Old Testament book it is it uses Old Testament idiom uses Old Testament terms uses Old Testament simile uses Old Testament symbolism all through it and I think that that's one of the reasons that it's a blessing to go through and read it when you don't understand something in the book of Revelation go to the Old Testament get out get out of concordance start looking up the terms start looking up the idiom you'll find them in the Old Testament there's there's tons of references to the Old Testament in this book okay so it starts off with after Jesus had told him what to write to these different churches after these things I looked and behold a door standing open in heaven and again we talked about that last week whenever I go through and read these things when I was a younger Christian I just went through and read it and it's like you're just reading the words and you're just moving on you know how that is you get done you look back and you go I have no idea what I just read and so I like to picture these things and so Jesus is or John is sitting on the island of PAP and he looks and he looks up into heaven and there's an opening into heaven and he says it's a door so there's a door that's opened up into heaven so he's seeing into heaven so he looks up at the sky it's not like the normal sky open door right and then he heard a voice 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 and then it says immediately I was in the spirit and behold a throne set in heaven and one sat on the throne and so that whole thing with John coming up there you think John came up there I think that's probably what was going on and so you know when when it says that verse 2 immediately I was in the spirit I don't know if he's talking about a trance or if he's talking about a change of location under the spirit's influence but in any case what what's happened here open door in heaven voice saying come up here and immediately he's in the throne room of God and I don't know if he was physically translated into heaven in that kind of sense or if he was just going through through a vision whatever but that's what's happening there and that's a great picture of the rapture of the church and we talked about that last week this is the only place that I can find in the book of Revelation that has a reference to anything that looks like the rapture of the church one of the one of the things that solidified my thinking on when the rapture takes place is that I could not find it in the book of Revelation there's all kinds of resurrections in the book of Revelation and so there's there's a resurrection of the two witnesses for example we'll get to chapter 11 and talk about those guys that's before the second coming of Christ there's a resurrection these guys are dead bodies are laying in the street and all of a sudden they get up and then they're taken up into heaven that's a resurrection there's a resurrection of people who died during the tribulation after Jesus comes back Jesus comes back and he takes care of the armies that are fighting against him in Revelation chapter 19 and after that in chapter 20 there's a resurrection the believers who died during the tribulation period so that's a resurrection the problem is that the rapture isn't just a resurrection the rapture is a resurrection of those who have died it's also a translation of those who are living so when you're looking for the rapture the church in the Bible what you're looking for is the Blessed hope what you're looking for is the thing that Christians have been looking forward to for for a couple of thousand years now and that's Jesus coming to take us home and what the Bible says we went through this what the Bible says is that those who are alive and remain will be caught up together with those who are being raised from the dead and will meet Jesus in the air so anytime that you're looking for the rapture of the church in the Bible you have to have those two things there has to be a resurrection of the dead and then there has to be a translation of the living into resurrection bodies and there has to be a meeting of the Lord in the air those those things need to be happening and so when I go through the book of Revelation I don't see that so I see some people being raised from the dead I see a group of people being raised from the dead after the second coming but there is also a group of people that's coming back with Jesus who have already apparently gotten their resurrection bodies because they're not raised from the dead they're just coming back with Jesus I see a resurrection at the very end right before the great white throne judgment but there's no mention of any resurrection of the living at that point no any translation of the living and so when you look at the great white throne judgment you don't see a translation of living believers when you look at the at the resurrection of people after the Second Coming it doesn't happen during the Second Coming it happens after the Second Coming when you see a group of people resurrected after the Second Coming you don't see a translation of living believers where they meet the Lord in the air when you go through the middle of the book of Revelation there's some there's some passages that talk about people being in heaven but but it flat out says that they've died and so these are people who've died during the during the tribulation period they're not people again who've been translated and so a parent obviously those who've died during the tribulation I'm talking about Revelation chapter 7 those who've died during the tribulation period are the ones who were raised in Revelation chapter 20 and so basically what I did when I was when I was looking at this whole issue of when Jesus comes for the church when we get translated I just went to the end and started backwards and that's what I was looking for I'm looking for meeting the Lord in the air I'm looking for a resurrection of dead Saints and I'm looking for a translation of living sayings and that's what I'm doing and every play every every point that people said well this is the this is the rapture of the church or this is the rapture of the church or this is the rapture of the church none of them had those and so when you're going through the book of Revelation in the book of Revelation from chapter 4 on is all about the last seven years before Jesus comes back and you can't find the rapture of the church in those last seven years and so where does that put it you can't find it in the last seven years you can't find it in the thousand years after that you can't find it before the new heaven and the new earth and so again going backwards new heaven and new earth there's a thousand years after Jesus is after Jesus begins raining the resurrection of the Dead is a thousand of the tribulation Saints is right after the second coming of Christ the resurrection of the of the two witnesses is probably just a few days or a few months before the second coming of Christ and then you don't have any resurrection of anybody else before that point and so that leaves us one thousand seven years at least out of the picture as far as the rapture of the church that places it before that period of time and so it's one of the major major reasons that I believe that Jesus is coming at any moment at any time that I can expect him and that I should be expecting him that's called the imminent sea of Christ of the return of Christ for the church it's something that Jesus taught and it's something that the when the church holds on to the church is way different when the church lets go of that what ends up happening is there is a distance that comes between believers and Jesus John said in John chapter 3 verse 2 I don't know what we're going to be like but we do know that when he appears we're gonna be like him for we see as he is and then he said this everyone who has this hope and it's the hope that I'm gonna see Jesus and it could happen at any moment everyone who has this hope purifies himself just as he is pure the Lord is pure there's a purity that comes along with an expectancy of the coming of Christ and so you you have this and again this is the only place that I can find where it looks anything like what's promised to the church and obviously this isn't really the rapture this is this is this would just be a picture of that in in the case of John but it's really interesting that Jesus places it right at the very beginning of the whole thing and it's it's an evidence that that's where we need to be putting it to so first - immediately I was in the spirit and behold a throne set in heaven and one sat on the throne and here we get to have a description of God and this is gonna be God right description of God when we get to chapter five minoo way I'm getting through to chapter 5 but you're gonna notice in chapter 5 that when Jesus is pictured he's pictured as coming out of the throne of God and so when John appears in heaven there's a throne that's sitting before him he sees the one sitting on the throne and this is the description verse 3 and he who sat there was like a Jasper and a sardine stone in appearance and there was a rainbow around the throne in appearance like an emerald and so we're in the throne room of God and when he looks towards the throne of the throne he sees someone who looks like a Jasper Jasper is a clear stone like a diamond a sardius stone is a blood-red stone and so he sees somebody who looks like a Jasper and Astarte sardius so does that mean that the guy sitting on the throne looked like a big jewel or two big jewels what's probably being described here what do you think light when he looks at the throne what he sees is light that's what he sees you have a description of the of the bodily presence of God because the Bible says that God is a spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth that doesn't mean that a spirit can't have a form angels are spirits too but when God is pictured in the book of Revelation he's pictured as a being of light and that's all you see I can't even say a being of light that's not actually accurate all you see is light when you look at the throne of God and so again what I do with that is I is i plunk that in my mind and I try to figure out what that would look like so there's something that's shaped like a throne like a big chair and out from that chair is blood red light and white light coming out and I don't know how that works because normally that would be pink right white and red pink that's what it would be but it's not it's white and red and he specifically talks about the the sardius and the jasper and what's interesting about that is that these were the sardius stone and the Jasper stone were the first and last stones on the high priests breastplate you want to put that you get the picture of the high priest there he is okay and so when you're talking about the sardius stone I picked this picture specifically because it's Jewish they're going backwards this is how a Jew reads just like this and so this would be the sardius stone it's blood-red and this would be the Jasper stone and it's a clear stone in this case obviously they can't use a diamond that that's big that's that big but that's what the high priests breastplate would look like that's what the stones on the breastplate would look like they're the first and last stones on the high priests breastplate and they represents the Tri they represent the tribes of Reuben and Benjamin so on that breastplate you have I don't know if you can see the writing but that that is the word Reuben read that direction and this is the word Benjamin read that read that direction they the the Jews read from right to left and the picture behind that is that Jesus is our high priest that Jesus has the tribes of Israel sitting on his chair close to his heart each one of them is a jewel to him each one has a name written on them it's a great picture right and of Jesus being the high priest not just of us but of the of the Jewish nation itself here's another thing about this they were specifically actually you know let me just read what I've got these were the first and last stones on the high priests breastplate they represent the tribes of Reuben and Benjamin the jewels representing the tribes of Israel were close to the heart of the high priest representing Jesus they were cut and polished to bring out beauty and that's the idea that trials that God uses of trials that God uses to beautify his people you have to be cut out then you have to be ground then you have to be polished if you want to bring out the beauty and so that's a cool thing you know we were talking about last time we were talking about pearly gates and we were talking about where Pearl's came from right where do pearls come from oysters or oysters clean or unclean unclean and so the pearl represents it's a it's a Jew or it's a Gentile Jewel and what's cool about a pearl is it has to be taken out of its place of origin to become an item of adornment you have to take it out of an unclean place to make it something that's a jewel and that's what that's exactly what Jesus does with us both figuratively and specifically literally he's gonna be coming and taking it that's an unclean place and taking us home to be be with him there's no another cool thing specifically about the names that are used so like I said the they represent Reuben and Benjamin the first one the red one represents Reuben and Reuben has a meaning to his name and literally the meaning is behold a son that's what Reubens name means and Benjamin you may know the name of the meaning of the name of Benjamin it means the son of my right hand and so the light that's coming from the throne and it's light that's the that's also connected with a high priests breastplate with the jewels on the breastplate those jewels represent Reuben behold a son and Benjamin son of my right hand it's pointing to Jesus is the point that I'm making here right so that's cool the so so when you're when you're looking at the colors themself the clear stone the diamond is a color that represents the glory of God the Jasper stone it's blood-red like I was saying before that represents what do you think probably blood right and so it represents the sacrifice of Christ so both the glory of God and the sacrifice that God made and sending his son would be what it's taken place there then it talks about the fact that there is a rainbow around the throne so again you're picturing this throne blood-red light clear white light coming off the throne and then around the throne is a rainbow doesn't say over to the throne so there's a round the throne so all around the throne if you're seen a rainbow around the moon you ever seen that rainbow around the Sun ice crystals yeah that's that's how I picture that whole thing and so it's an emerald green rainbow and obviously that's green emerald was the stone that was used for Judah in the Old Testament Judah means praise so the colors that are coming from the throne of God if you take the names of the people of the of the tribes of Israel it means behold a son the son of my right hand prays that's cool because that's what again what we're supposed to be doing with Jesus then the rainbow where's where's the first mention of a rainbow yes no in the Bible yeah it's after the flood with Noah and so God said I do set my bow in the clouds and so it's at at that point actually there has to be something different about the atmosphere at that point so something weird is going on there I mean that's pretty interesting but the rainbow was a symbol of mercy God said I set my bow in the clouds and he said because of that it's never gone the flood the flood waters are never going to cover the earth again and that's exactly the situation that we nowadays you can't have a worldwide flood on the planet that we live on it can't happen and the reason is because there there's a balancing of plates we have you've heard of plate tectonics and you have oceanic plates that are basaltic and they're there they're sitting down lower than continental plates which are granite and sediment and the the continental plates are lighter than the oceanic plates and so literally the the the mantle underneath is being pressed down by the oceans and that's lifting up the continents the only way that you can get the ocean waters to flood the earth again is to somehow press down on continental plates in such a way that it raises like literally morphs the earth and raises the oceanic plates so that the water comes out over the top the point that I'm making here is that the waters are not gonna cross the boundaries that God set for them just like God said and so there have been small floods since the time of the flood but there has never been a flood like what's described in the Bible that flood cannot happen again and it has to do with the way that God ordered the planet after he got done with Noah's Flood and so the rainbow was a sign of that whole thing and again it's a sign of the Covenant of God's mercy despite the sin of humanity so he had just judged humanity and then he says that he's having mercy on humanity despite the fact that there was no real repentance there was one family that did not fall into that that was Noah's family but God knows the end from the beginning and he knows that humanity is going to sin against him again and turn up away from him again and he makes a promise I'm never gonna flood the earth again I'm not gonna do this anymore and so it's a covenant of mercy so now we have white light the glory of God red light the sacrifice of Christ we have white or we have Ruben representing behold a son we have Benjamin representing son of my right hand we have green which represents Judah which means praise and we have a covenant of mercy despite man's sinfulness all wrapped up in the light that's coming from the throne of God I like that cool you know the Bible says that talks about the fact that Jesus is the one that the Bible is pointing to when when you're looking at prophecy the Bible says that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy it's the idea that when you're looking at prophetic passages they're all pointing in one direction in that direction is to Christ so literally even the throne of God points to to Jesus himself then you have this thing with elders verse 4 it says around the throne were twenty-four Thrones okay so you have one big throne and you have twenty-four Thrones around that and on the Thrones I saw 24 elders sitting clothed in white robes and they had crowns of gold on their heads and then it goes on and says from the throne proceeded lightnings thunderings and voices seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne which are the seven spirits of God and so you have these elders standing sitting around the throne on Thrones themselves and so there's been all kinds of ideas about who these elders were and you don't really have a passage in the Bible where the word twenty-four is mentioned in in that sense I'm gonna I'm gonna backtrack on that and and talk to you about something here so when I first read this I was like well who are these guys and so I went maybe you know I mean you got twelve guys in the Old Testament who were the twelve tribes of Israel and then you got twelve guys in the New Testament who are the Twelve Apostles right and so maybe it's a representation of the of the the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles okay so who are the twelve apostles name name the most famous three yeah Peter James and John who's having the vision here John himself so that's a little problematic you know at this point I get into time travel stuff and you know weird things because this is the future and so as John looking at himself and when I started thinking about the I was like I don't know if that's you know because that would be something that I would mention and I saw myself sitting on a throne one of the 24 elders it was me it was me that kind of thing and and obviously he doesn't do that there is a passage that talks about 24 guys and it doesn't it doesn't if you look at the word 24 in the Bible this is the only place that you're really gonna find it but in the Old Testament in first chronicles chapter 24 which is interesting there is a group of guys that were twenty-four elders David when he was setting up the priesthood he set up 24 courses of the priesthood in other words he took the the priesthood the guys who were gonna offer the offerings divided them into 24 parts by families and he said you're the courses of the priesthood and so each one of these guys had a guy that would each one of these these courses the priesthood had a guy that would serve in the temple two times a year for I believe it was two weeks two times a year and so that's how they that's how they decided who was gonna serve in the temple and so you see this in the again in the Book of Luke with John the Baptist dad he was of the course of Abijah and so that's one of the 24 courses when you had 24 elders in Jewish think the way that the Jews think if you have twenty-four elders representing a group of people those are the 24 priests that's who you would think of if you were Jewish okay Bible is a Jewish book and so that might be talking about a priesthood that may be talking about the 24 courses of the priesthood and again you can go back and you can find that in the book of first Chronicles that's the only other applicable place in the Bible where the number 24 is used when the 24 elders of the priesthood and met the whole priesthood was represented and again that's that's something that's Jewish and so we know actually another option for these guys is maybe they're just angels the problem with them being angels is these guys have some things going on number one it says that they're wearing crowns it's a it says they had crowns of gold verse four on their heads those are Victor's crowns of gold it's the Greek word stefanos there's a Greek word Diadema which means a royal crown and then there's a word stefanos where the name Stephen actually comes from and that is a word that means a crown rewarded for a victory accomplished we are given excuse me Stefan HUS at the judgment seat of Christ and so in 1st Corinthians 9 25 it talks about the fact that we're given crowns and it's not a royal crown it's Victor's crown it's what it's like getting medals when you when you're when you wrestled or getting medals when you ran track that's what these represented so in the in the Olympics we give out gold medals and then we get out silver medals which is always like kissing your sister then you have bronze medals you know that's what we used to say second place is like kissing your sister the second second place is first loser and so you always wanted the gold medal and I didn't throw I didn't throw my bronze medal so whatever my or my silver medals away but I always like the gold medals and in ancient times they didn't give a bronze medal they didn't give a silver medal they all they gave was a wreath of actually a wreath that you put on your head and it was called again a stefanos it was a Victor's crown so these guys have Victor's crowns the Bible talks about the found that the the fact that there's a crown of life that's given to us there's a crown for enduring trials that's given to us there's a soul-winners crown of rejoicing that's given given to us Philippians 4 1 first Thessalonians 2:9 Daniel 12:3 there's a crown of righteousness and second Timothy 4:8 there's a shepherd's crown I get a crown for being a pastor and so and that's called a crown of glory in 1st Peter 5 4 so there's a number of places where the this term for crown is used of people who are serving Jesus and so one of those things is going to be something that you are given you endure trials you get a crown of life and that's James chapter one verse 12 and revelation 2:10 if you are a soul winner if you're somebody who's led people to the Lord Philippians 4 1 and first Thessalonians 2:9 Daniel 12:3 talked about a soul-winners crown crown of righteousness and what the crown of righteousness is given for loving Jesus appearing anybody who's looking forward to Jesus coming back loving the fact that he's coming back for them you get a crown for that I like that one that's that's the one I want these other ones you know that's kind of that's kind of stuff crowns but looking forward to coming at Jesus that's that's a cool one and then again we have the Shepherd's crown the next thing that you see is these guys are seated on Thrones and so we have 24 which connects to the priesthood we have people being rewarded for their works which is something that the Bible doesn't teach about angels and they're seated on throne so they're not only priests but they're kings - so priests and kings then later on it talks about the fact actually if you look down in Revelation chapter 5 it says in verse 9 they sang a new song saying you were worthy to take the scroll to open its seals for you were slain and have redeemed us to God by your blood and it's the same guys talking and so these guys have been redeemed angels don't need to be redeemed the good angels never fell so these are fallen people who are pictured as priests and as kings sitting on Thrones with crowns that have rewarded them 1st Peter 2:9 takes that whole that whole picture of priests and kings and let's as lets us know that that is something that describes the church in 1st Peter 2:9 it says but you were a chosen generation a royal priesthood a holy nation his own special people that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into life and then in Revelation 1:6 it says and he has made us kings and priests to his God and Father to him be glory and Dominion forever and ever amen and one of the things that people will say is well you know isn't that something that applies to the Jews in the Old Testament - and the answer to that is no it would have if they wanted it to there's a there's a passage in Exodus chapter 19 in verse 6 and then when you read on in Exodus chapter 20 and verses 18 through 20 and then Deuteronomy chapter 5 Moses gives this whole narrative of what happened when God said I want to make you a kingdom of priests and at first the people said yes we want to be that and then when they saw the vision of God up on Mount Sinai actually with thunderings and voices in lightnings that whole thing when they saw that they were so frightened that they said we don't want to be we don't want that we don't want to be the priests of God you go up Moses you go talk to God whatever he tells you will do but we don't want to do that and so they took that whole idea of being kings and priests and they Nix that whole thing because they were afraid and they didn't want to approach God and that's how they that's how the priesthood got given to the tribe of Levi that's how the priesthood specifically was given to the family of Moses Aaron his brother was from the line of the priests actually had the line of the priests came from Aaron his brother and so God offered them and said I will make you a kingdom of priests but what they did was they said no we don't want that and what God did was when we get to the New Testament he fulfilled that so you guys are Kings the Bible says and you were priests the Bible says I'm not the priest and you're the congregation I'm a priest but you're a priest - and what priest did was they approached God and they interceded for people and they taught people and it was it was that kind of thing and that's not something that's confining to the guy who's standing up front doing a Bible study that's something that's common to every single one of us we all approach God for our family for our friends for ourselves we all approach God we all have access to God there's nothing that comes between me and the Lord and so our access to God is not a man it's not a priesthood our access to God is contained within Christ he's he's the man Christ Jesus who intercedes for us before the father so he's our great high priest but we're all under priests and the Bible also says that we're Kings to God brings us into a kingdom and he shares that Kingdom with us it says that they're clothed in white twenty-four elders clothed in white robes and later on in Revelation chapter 19 you have that that picture of being clothed in white applied to the wife of the Lamb and it says that it's the righteous acts of the saints and so the white is a picture of purity and so we have a priesthood we have Kings we have purity we have rewards for victories accomplished and it's all wrapped up in these guys that are here revelation 1988 says and it was granted to her to be arrayed in fine linen clean and bright for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints so the only group in the Bible that is called kings and priests and given Victor's crowns is the church and so this is a Jewish representation of the church and again it is the church but it's represented in Jewish terms at this point so chapter 24 so I don't know who these elders are I kind of think that there's probably guys that I mean you know when you had the priesthood when you had the original priesthood you get you had guys that were picked right to be in the priesthood and I don't know if this is just one of those things where you know it's it's just a metaphor it could be I can do that if he wants to I just don't know or I don't know if there's regular guys that are there I wonder if Billy Graham's there I wonder if Thomas Aquinas is there I wonder if you know Augustine is there I wonder if it could be there - I still think that's kind of weird Johnson himself but you know it's something is going on that represents the priesthood or the the church in this passage and so you have that kings and priests God finally gets what he wanted in revelation 19 because that's what he wanted kingdom of priests understanding before the throne of God then you have lightnings and thunderings and voices and that's always freaky whenever I think about it cuz you got a you know next time we have a good lightning storm go out and sit outside and watch it you know the we've had a we've had a couple of good ones in the in the almost 30 years that I've been here there was one one point where I was I got four acres that I bought when I first came up here haven't moved there's a reason for that I'm I moved 12 times when I was a kid and when I moved up here I was like I'm not moving and so I parked it there for almost 30 years and so we have a field out back and when the thunderstorm comes through I loved thunderstorms and so I would go out in my field and I would sit there and watch the thunderstorm there was one thunderstorm that came through though that had so many lightning strikes that it was freaking me out and so I'm sitting out there and I'm kind of like I'm well I'm out here in the open here and I got some big trees and I'm like there's a big tree there there's a big tree there and maybe I shouldn't be here I started getting frightened of the thundering right and when you're in a radical thunderstorm like that that's exactly what happens I used to live up in the mountains and Southern California and the thunderstorms were were common during the summer season and usually what would happen is it would start clouding up about 11 o'clock by one o'clock excuse me you're rolling up because there's there's lightning strikes all around you I've been actually I don't know how close I've actually been to a lightning strike the one that I could that I could pace off I was about probably 50 yards maybe 40 yards from a lightning strike that hit a Sequoia and are not a Sequoia a I'm blanking out what kind of pine tree it is anyway hit a pine tree and it just went down and and took off 4x6 chunks of wood out of this thing just spiraled down just blew this tree apart and there was white light everywhere and in that kind of thing and so I mistake I'm stamping standing out in front of the church actually when this takes place and it's like BAM wood wood goes flying right and so that's the closest I've been where I knew how close I was there was this one point where I was up on top of a hill in the mountains up there and we're rolling up because it's starting to get gnarly and as we're rolling up all of a sudden hair stands up on end all the hair that I had starts standing up on end and it's it started it starts looking kind of weird all of a sudden there's this just bright flash and everybody on the crew just hits the ground and I don't know how close that lightning strike was cuz it didn't actually hit anything that I could see but it was probably pretty close in anycase thunderings I respect lightning so the whole thundering thing I could understand why people would be freaked out about it so next time we have a thunderstorm go sit out in it and think of this passage that's that's what I do I do that and I'm just like okay God throne of God this is gonna be daily occurrence man [Music] so lightnings and thunderings and voices and the voices thing kind of creeps me out the voices sound like what's happening with the voices and this is designed to make you freak out and again in the Old Testament when the elders of Israel saw this on Mount Sinai they wanted no part of approaching the Lord and so it's got to be something that's awesome Exodus 20 eighteen through nineteen says this now all the people witnessed the thunderings the lightning flashes the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking and when the people saw it they trembled and stood afar off and then they said to Moses you speak with us and we will hear but let not God speak with us lest we die and so they were pretty freaked out by it and so we had that whole thing in the presence of God at the throne but apparently we're not all that afraid of it because we got Thrones sitting around the throne of God right again if that's a representation of the whole church then you have the lampstand verse five again seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne which are the seven spirits of God now again thinking in Jewish terms there is a lamp stem in the tabernacle right and so it's a seven branch lamp stand it's the menorah you want to put that thing up so that is actually the real-life menorah that's in Jerusalem right now the Jews put this together they they want to rebuild the temple and so that's actually gold and it's out in a Plaza in Israel and Jerusalem it just blows me away I thought I was a replica until I talked to some of the Jews that were in the area I said you know so this is just a replica and they go no no what do you mean it's not a replica they go no that's real gold and I was like you just have it out here in the open yeah it's it stands about this tall yeah and so and for you guys on the radio about up to my shoulder so I'm 6 feet tall so it's just out there in the open and they said no no that's a that's the real menorah that's really gold sitting out here in the open what what if somebody comes up and tries to rip it off and the guy goes look there look there look there I had cameras all around this thing man and it was so nobody could come and take off with it but that's a that's a that's a good representation of what the Jewish menorah would look like and so that was a seven branch lamp stand that was inside that the tabernacle and also later on inside the temple and so here we have seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne and then he says which are the seven spirits of God and so seven hence completeness and so it's the completeness of the work of God the completeness of the work of the Spirit of God there's a passage I like to to quote from when I when I get to specifically this passage where it talks about the Holy Spirit represented in his Sevenfold ministry so it's not that there's seven guys that are the Holy Spirit the the spirit the word spirit can be something that applies to my attitude it can be something that applies to my mind in this instance it would be the work of the Holy Spirit in different areas Isaiah 11:2 says this the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him the spirit of wisdom and understanding the spirit of counsel and might the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord and I underlined certain sections on there those are underlined right yeah and you can count them and how many are there there's seven and that's specifically a passage that's dealing with Jesus and the Ministry of the Holy Spirit in his life and so that's most likely what the Bible's talking about when it talks about the seven spirits of God it's a goes on and says before the throne there was a sea of glass like crystal and in the midst of the throne and around the throne were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back and so the next thing that you see is a sea of glass when one of the things that you don't pick up on in the more modern translations they they they make this a sea of glass in this passage but in the Old Testament in the King James Version when they were talking about the bronze Laver they didn't call it a labor a labor as a sink right and so they didn't call it the bronze labor in the King James Version they called it the bronze see bronze see and there there's a connection between the two and actually when you when we're going through the book of Revelation I'm going to point these out as we go through there was a throne there was a seat for God in the tabernacle and it was called the mercy seat and it said on top of the Ark of the Covenant and the glory of God which was the Shekinah the light that was in the Holy of Holies hovered over the mercy seat the Tabernacle in the tabernacle itself and so the mercy seat represents the throne of God and so we have the mercy seat there we have the seven-branch candlestick there and then on the outside of the tabernacle was what was called the bronze Laver you can put that next picture up and so you look right here this is where the bronze labor would be and we don't know exactly what it looked like but it would have been something like this and it's where the priests wash their hands and wash the sacrifices and again they called it the bronze see in the King James Version in this instance you have a sea of glass like crystal this is something that the again Jews looking at this passage would go this has to do with the bronze see now we got a sea of glass like crystal and these guys are standing on it when when you when you look at the representations that God gives in the in the tabernacle for example the Bible talks about entering into his gates with Thanksgiving and into his courts with praise there was a gate into the tabernacle that you were to go through and you were to praise God as you got there and then the next thing that they would do is they would offer a sacrifice and there's a sacrifice that's been made for us the sacrifice is Jesus and then the the priest would go and wash themselves in in the bronze labor or in the in the bronze sea and prepare themselves for sacrifice and for entering into the tabernacle itself and we have that representation taken across through the New Testament and in the New Testament it talks about the fact that Jesus washes us with the water of the word okay and that's that's in a couple of passages one of the most notable ones is in Ephesians chapter 5 where talks about he takes his church and he washes his church in the water of the word and then he compares that to a husband and a wife in that passage and so that's what's happening right now we're going through the Bible and Jesus is taking the words that are being spoken whether it's words we're I'm referring to Old Testament passages or the words that were reading right here and he's washing you with these things he's making you clean it's one of the cool things about the Bible okay and so that's what the bronze labor would represent this washing that would take place well when we get to heaven they're not being washed it anymore they're standing on it and it's not liquid anymore it's solid and that's a cool picture because what in the Old Testament and what in the New Testament we get washed with has now become something that's solid that could be stand the stood on and that's exactly what they do they're standing on the glassy sea it's a the picture of God's Word confirmed God's Word hardened God's Word not something that can be changed it's that idea you stand on the Word of God that's a cool thing right no longer needed for washing and when we get to heaven we don't need to be washed anymore if the labor represents the washing of water by the word and this is the model for the labor then the church is standing again on the fulfilled Word of God then you have angels and they're living creatures in this passage and they too are representations of Jesus and so in verse 6 it says they're full of eyes in front and in back they're covered with eyes you see it again in verse eight the four living creatures each having six wings we're full of eyes around it and within and they do not rest day or night saying holy holy holy and the passage goes on these are similar to cherubs in the Book of Ezekiel and so you you see in Ezekiel cherubim and they have four faces in this instance it doesn't say that each one of these angels has four eight the four faces it says and it calls them living creatures but it doesn't say that they have four faces but each one has a face that's represented there and so I don't know if they're actually if they're another style of angel or if they are cherubs that are being viewed from from one angle in other words your your four faces are mentioned exactly except for there are four of them and they each have one face facing yeah okay and so that may be the case and so that's that's all stuff we're gonna figure out because you're gonna be there and you're gonna see it at some point right and then any any speculation I have is gonna be confirmed or denied based on that in any case they're standing before the throne of God and those four faces represent stuff and you guys probably know what they represent what's what's the line represent yeah lion of the tribe of Judah represents Jesus and then you have a calf urn or an ox and that represents Jesus as a servant of man and so in the in the book of Mark Jesus is pictured as a servant book book of Matthew he's pictured as the king of Israel the line of the tribe of Judah then you have the face of a man and that represents humanity and Luke's Gospel it speaks more about the humanity of Jesus than any other it's in that Gospel that were given intimate details by Mary about his birth the genealogy and Luke goes back through the line of Mary all the way to Adam cementing Jesus's human credentials and the gospel pictures Jesus is being tired as being hungry as being grieved in other words Jesus in his human condition and so the son of man is something that's a recurring title all through the book of Luke and so it looks like that Gospel compares to the man and then finally you have the eagle which is the one who comes from heaven and that always represents deity in ancient times and so Jesus is the creator he is God and he is the creator John 1:1 through three makes that clear in the beginning was the word the Word was with God the Word was God literally says in God was the word is what it says in Greek and so Jesus was with God He is God and all things were made through him and without him nothing was made that was made so he's creator in God and so the deity of Christ is something that's really really clear in the Bible horses when they have when they have babies what are they yeah they're horses when a cat has a baby what is it it's a cat right when a dog has a baby what is it yeah it's a dog when when a human has a baby what is it when God has a baby what is it and so when people say that Jesus is the Son of God and I don't but I don't believe you that he's God that's like saying Nathan is the son of Steve but I don't think that he's human and that might be true no he's more human than I am in any case that's that's how the Jews think on these things they have wings there's six of them those implies speed the Bible says let your will be done on earth as in heaven actually in the prayer that Jesus gave us angels do God's will speedily and Jesus always again fulfills the father's will by the way I was talking about eyes all over and that represents the the knowledge of God represents the omniscience the on the presence of the Lord and so when you when you have these pictures of these angels it's kind of a freaky thing so you have freaky things going around the throne going on around the throne of God lots of noises you know that kind of stuff lightnings and thunderings and then you have these creatures that are standing around the throne with weird faces and eyes all over their bodies and all over their wings I wonder if they blink hey dude on the back of your head on your back and on your calf you know all over the place in case these these these creatures all of them are picturing Christ and I just looked at my clock and and so I thought I was really gonna get through Chapter four I can't believe I didn't but in any case what you see here is a throne room of God and one of the cool things again I already mentioned it but I like to I like to leave people with this this isn't something that is just esoteric or something that is is just something for scholars you know oh talking about the throne of God and there are these things and these representations and and that kind of stuff it's not just that these are things that you're actually gonna see you're actually gonna be there there's coming a time when you when when you're gonna be looking on events like this that are that are taking place and when we stand before God the Bible talks about the fact that all creation is erupting in praise including us we're all singing songs the songs are listed the words are in the in the in the Bible you better go check them out you don't want to be standing up there going on Jesus do you have a projector where we could put the words up on the wall over there or something like that or you know when you don't know how to sing a song you just kind of move your mouth you know one of the things that you can do is go watermelon watermelon water it looks like you know the song right I love it when I'm doing communion and these guys sing a new song but I don't know anything about it's it's just a great thing when that happens and and sometimes I'm sitting up here going dude why didn't you sing a song I know you know everybody has the words to the song you have the words to this song all the guys in the worship team had the words this song and the words the song are on the wall behind me and so finally I have to give up I get done doing watermelon watermelon I turn around and look at the song so that I can actually sing it you don't want to do that in heaven you want to know the words right let's pray thanks Lord for the for the picture into heaven picture into the throne room of God thank you Lord that every word that we have in the Bible is something that is just designed to bless us and to draw us closer to you and I like it Lord that especially as we're going through this chapter it doesn't it doesn't on the face of it look like anything that's really important and I want to minimize the word but it doesn't look like it's all that important but when we start digging into it and delving into what the Bible has to say about these things in various places we find that at all points to Jesus at all points to to you Lord you're the son hold a son the son of my right hand prays and lore that's what we want to do we know that that's what's going to be happening when we stand before you in heaven and Lord we just thank you for the fact that we get to do that even now when we're doing it now there's an act of faith that's being exercised because we can't see you face to face we can feel you many times we can hear your voice in our hearts and that's an awesome thing but there's coming a time when we're gonna actually hear your voice and we're gonna see the light that comes from the throne of glory and we're gonna want to hit our knees and cast crowns down before your feet because you're good and you've created us and it was for your pleasure that we are and were created and you're worthy of our praise so Lord until that day God we just pray that you help us to hang on and stay tight with you and be in love with you bless these people and bless us all as we go our way watch over us as we go home and we ask this all in Jesus name Amen what's you

Channel: Calvary Chapel Tri-Cities

Views: 4,237

Rating: 4.8139534 out of 5

Keywords: The End of the World in the bible, Truth, Jesus' Return, The rapture, the second coming, The book of Revelation, The Revelation Of Jesus Christ, The last book in the bible, The Bible, Calvary Chapel Tri-Cities, Steve Whinery, Gosphel, God, Biblical Prophecy, The End Times, End Of The World, The Millennial Kingdom, Revelation's meaning, Jesus

Id: GMFt7y1MuM0

Length: 58min 48sec (3528 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 23 2019