Revelation 4:2-4
The Finish Line
Two times in the Bible, the Christian life is compared to a race
\\#1Cor 9:24, Heb 12:1\\. The goal of most every race is to cross the
finish line. For the Christian, the finish line is heaven. There are,
however, some differences in the Christian finish line and the
finish line of a race. For example:
1. Every Christian will cross the finish line. There will be no
injuries, no penalties, no disqualifications, and no one can
quit. The reason for this is because we are not the ones
responsible for getting across the finish line. God is and
He will not fail.
2. Our goal is not to get across the finish line first but to get
across the finish line faithful. The order in which we cross
the finish line is not important. Being faithful until we
cross the finish line is.
3. Our finish line is not a line. It is a place. The finish
line for the believer is heaven. It is that place that I
want to preach about this morning.
I. Heaven is a changing place.
A. Please do not misunderstand me.
1. I know that God is God and He never changes.
Heb 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and
to day, and for ever.
2. I also know that heaven will never change when it comes to
it’s character, that is, it’s purity and nature.
a. Heaven will always be eternal.
b. Death, sickness, sorrow, and sin will never enter into
that place.
B. Even so, the Bible teaches us that heaven has, is, and will
change.
1. In eternity past, as far as we know, heaven had only one
occupant.
a. Granted there is some guess work here, but only God is
eternal so only God has always been.
b. There was a time when there was no people in heaven.
c. There was a time when there was no devil around
heaven.
d. There was a time when there were no angels in heaven.
e. And I suppose there was a time when there was even no
heaven.
f. There was only God.
g. But then God began to create things.
(1) We do not know when but since time is an earthly
creation, it does not matter.
(2) I suppose we can guess that the why was because this
is the way God wanted heaven to be.
(3) But sometime in eternity past, God created angels and
the other heavenly beings that now abide in heaven.
(4) And that is the way heaven once was, just God and
heavenly beings.
2. Then came NOW.
a. God created mankind.
(1) Of course, God always knew that man was going to
sin.
(a) In fact, although we do not know the exact
time, most assume that Adam and Eve did not
go long without sinning, maybe just a few
days but probably not longer than a few
months.
(b) Why?
i. Because they had no children before the
fall.
ii. God told them to be fruitful and to
multiply.
iii. We would think they would have set to
obey God with some measure of speed.
(2) Once sin entered the world, God gave Man the hope
of salvation by grace and faith.
(a) That means that if man would obey God and
believe, man would be forgiven of his sin.
(b) I believe that Adam and Eve were the first
two to believe. I believe we will see them
in heaven.
(c) But they did not go to heaven in the Old
Testament.
(d) Instead, the Old Testament saved went to a
place referred to as Paradise and the Old
Testament unsaved when to hell. (You can
read Luke 16:19 to see this in the Bible.)
i. It was not until after Jesus rose from
the dead that believers began going
straight to heaven.
ii. \\#Luke 23:43\\ Even the thief that
died on the cross had to go to
Paradise.
(e) But after the resurrection, Jesus took the
Old Testament saints to heaven and ever
since then, saints have gone directly to
heaven.
Php 1:23 For I am in a strait betwixt two,
having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ;
which is far better:
2Co 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing
rather to be absent from the body, and to be
present with the Lord.
b. That means that every saint that dies instantly
goes to heaven to be with the Lord.
(1) There is no soul sleep where the believer
just falls asleep until the last trumpet.
(2) There is no purgatory when we have to "work
off" our sins.
(3) There is only blink your eyes closed here and
open them there!
c. That also means that heaven changes a little every
second!
(1) With the addition of every believe, heaven
changes some.
(2) Again, not in character and nature but it
does in occupancy and make up.
(3) I suspect that some Christians might have
more of an impact in heaven than others.
3. But the biggest change is in the future.
a. There will come a day when the last believe will be
called home.
b. At that time, the Bride of Jesus will be complete and
we will go from being His Bride to His Wife.
(1) That is going to be a BIG change.
(2) We will receive our eternal bodies.
(3) We will receive our eternal abilities.
(4) We will receive our eternal rewards.
(5) I suspect that we might also receive our eternal
duties.
c. During that same time period, God will claim all that
Jesus purchased with His blood.
(1) For example, this earth.
Re 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and
there were great voices in heaven, saying, The
kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms
of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall
reign for ever and ever.
(2) Israel will also accept Jesus as their Messiah.
(3) The devil will be removed. He will first be
locked away in a pit for 1,000 years but
eventually, he will be cast into hell never to
be released.
(4) Then the glorified and human believers will live,
worship, and work together for at least 1,000
years and maybe forever.
II. Heaven has some unique occupants.
A. There is God. You and I have never seen anyone like God!
Rev 4:2 And immediately I was in the spirit:
and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and
one sat on the throne.
1. \\#2\\ God sits upon a throne.
a. Does God need to sit down?
b. We must remember that God is infinite and needs
nothing.
(1) God does not need a body, a place to dwell, or an
entourage.
(2) It may be that all we are about to read about is
something God has done for our benefit.
(3) This throne speaks of His position.
(a) God is the Almighty that ruleth over all
things.
(b) The throne helps us to see and easily accept
this literally.
2. \\#3\\ God looked like a jasper and sardine stone.
Rev 4:3 And he that sat was to look upon like a
jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a
rainbow round about the throne, in sight like
unto an emerald.
a. Why does the Bible compare God to a colored stone?
(1) Various stones are mentioned when describing God
and His surroundings, not just in Revelation
but in other passages.
(2) Perhaps Bible writers used these descriptions
because the gems were tinted with colors but
were also bright and translucent—like light
itself.
(3) Those who wrote our Bible had never seen any
lights other than the natural lights (the sun,
moon, stars, fire).
(4) They had never seen a beam of light that was, for
example, yellow, red, or green.
(5) It is possible that the reason they compared what
they saw to these clear, colored stones was
because they were seeing lights that were
bright, colored, and translucent.
(6) Indeed, when we look at these gems, we might say
that we are looking at "frozen light."
(7) This is not to say that God is a light beam, but
we should remember that the Father is not flesh
but spirit and as such, both He and His abode
may look more like light than anything our solid
world offers.
(8) The Scripture encourages the parallel between God
and light numerous times.
James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift
is from above, and cometh down from the Father of
lights, with whom is no variableness, neither
shadow of turning.
1John 1:5 This then is the message which we have
heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is
light, and in him is no darkness at all.
Revelation 21:23 And the city had no need of the
sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the
glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the
light thereof.
b. Jasper is commonly a green, bright, clear stone.
(1) The colors may vary or be mixed.
(2) Less frequent are red, purple, and yellow.
(3) The Hebrew word for "jasper" means "polished"
according to Strong’s and "glittering" according
to Easton’s Bible Dictionary.
https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/jasper/
c. Sardine is a deep-red colored stone.
3. This was John’s description of God’s physical appearance.
a. You and I have never seen anyone like that!
b. If you think God looks different from anyone or
anything you have ever seen, just wait until we learn
about His nature!
(1) His holiness
(2) His power
(3) His glory
(4) His purity
(5) His brightness
(6) His beauty
(7) His majesty
c. God IS different from anyone or anything we will ever
see!
B. There is the heavenly host.
1. Just like God created a unique host to inhabit earth so
God created a unique host to inhabit heaven.
2. There are angels, archangels, cherubims, and beasts—that
we know of—in heaven.
a. We have some knowledge of angels because we see them
serving God in Scripture.
(1) As the word used for angel means, they are the
messengers of God.
(2) \\#Heb 1:14\\ also calls them "ministering
spirits."
(3) Interesting.
(a) For the angels—the messengers—to have a
purpose, there needed to be someone who
could not hear God and needed to be
ministered to.
(b) If everyone could hear God, there would be
no need for messengers and if everyone was
self sufficient, there would be no need for
ministering spirits.
b. Archangels
(1) Only one archangel is mentioned in the Bible,
Michael, mentioned in \\#Jude 1:9\\, but it
seems likely that there are more.
(2) Michael seems to be more than merely a messenger
and a minister.
(3) The Bible says of Michael that he "contended with
the devil," giving the impression that perhaps
he is a stronger being than a typical angel.
c. Cherubims
(1) Cherubims are mentioned 57 times in the Bible,
but we do not know very much about them.
(2) Most of the mentions are of decorative cherubims
as two images of cherubims were placed on the
Mercy Seat and others were carved into the walls
of the temple.
(3) However, the first time a cherubim was mentioned
is in Genesis where a cherubim was placed as a
guard to keep sinful man away from the tree of
life.
Ge 3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed
at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and
a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep
the way of the tree of life.
(4) This, as well as all of the other uses, gives me
the impression that cherubims are guards of
holiness.
(5) Of course God needs no guards, but that is the
impression I get none-the-less.
d. Four Beasts
Re 4:6 And before the throne there was a sea of
glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the
throne, and round about the throne, were four
beasts full of eyes before and behind.
Re 4:8 And the four beasts had each of them six
wings about him; and they were full of eyes
within: and they rest not day and night, saying,
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was,
and is, and is to come.
(1) Since the Bible tells us there are four of them,
it would seem that there are only four of them.
(2) Exactly what they do, we are not certain, but
they stand always in God’s presence both to
worship and to serve God.
e. The twenty-four elders
Re 4:4 And round about the throne were four and
twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and
twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment;
and they had on their heads crowns of gold.
(1) Everything about these elders indicate that they
are literal, redeemed human beings.
(2) "Elders" is a term used only of men in the Bible.
(3) They are clothed in white which symbolizes the
righteousness of Christ.
(4) They wear crowns which are the rewards of the
saints.
(5) The number equals the sum of the sons of Jacob
and of the apostles added together, and even
though John—who was seeing the vision would
be one of those elders—I think the best guess
is that the four and twenty elders are that
combined number of leaders, being honored by God
with a special place of worship in eternity.
III. Heaven has some unique activities.
A. The Bible does not reveal everything that goes on in heaven.
Heaven is both big and eternal so that the picture we get
is nothing more than a single snapshot of heaven at a
particular time.
B. I believe there will be two activities that will occupy us
in heaven.
1. There is going to be worship.
Rev 4:8 And the four beasts had each of them
six wings about him; and they were full of eyes
within: and they rest not day and night, saying,
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was,
and is, and is to come.
9 And when those beasts give glory and honour
and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who
liveth for ever and ever,
10 The four and twenty elders fall down before
him that sat on the throne, and worship him that
liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns
before the throne, saying,
11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory
and honour and power: for thou hast created all
things, and for thy pleasure they are and were
created.
a. Some can not image worshipping God for eternity as
being enjoyable.
b. The heart to worship is what God gives to His
children.
c. If you do not enjoy worshipping God, that might be a
telling sign about yourself.
2. There is going to be work.
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