Revelation 4:1-3
From Here to Eternity
\\#Rev 1:19\\ Jesus commanded John to write the things which were,
the things which had been, and the things which will be. In
chapters 1-3, John was writing about the things he had already seen
and the things that were; but in chapter 4, I believe John starts
writing about the things that will be.
In chapter 4:2, John stepped out of the flesh into the spirit; he
moved from the earth to heaven; as well as, he went from wiring the
things that were future only to him to writing the things that are
still future to us. I believe what happened to John is a picture of
the rapture of the church.
Let’s remind ourselves of some important truths concerning prophecy
and the Book of Revelation:
1. The Book of Revelation is a Book of hidden messages.
a. Like a lot of prophecy, Revelation is written with symbols,
pictures, images.
b. That makes prophecy very difficult to understand.
c. Why does God do that?
(1) For the same reason Jesus spoke in parables.
(2) It was to hide the truth from those not willing to
pay the price to have it.
(a) Notice the question the disciples ask and the
answer Jesus gave.
Matt 13:10 And the disciples came, and said unto
him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is
given unto you to know the mysteries of the
kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
(b) Then Jesus basically repeats what He said.
13 Therefore speak I to them in parables:
because they seeing see not; and hearing they
hear not, neither do they understand.
(c) Then Jesus explained the problem He had with the
people.
15 For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and
their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes
they have closed; lest at any time they should
see with their eyes, and hear with their ears,
and should understand with their heart, and
should be converted, and I should heal them.
(3) Notice:
Matt 13:11 …but to them it is not given.
(a) Parables and symbols hide spiritual truths.
(b) From whom? \\#15\\ From the people whose hearts
are hard, whose hears are deaf, and whose eyes
are closed.
(c) If you are lost, if you are carnal, if you are
merely curious and not seeking Christ, you
probably are not going to get very much out of
the Bible.
(d) Those who come to the well of the Word must come
with buckets of thirst, faith, and obedience.
2. No one should ever think that they have prophecy all figured
out.
a. Far, far too many good men have thought they understood a
prophecy only to be self-deceived.
(1) The list is too long to name.
(2) And so are the errors they have produced and the
confidences they have broken.
b. What we will do is to continue through the book, but you
have and you will hear me say, "I believe…."
(1) That means what I am saying is what I am thinking
right will happen at this moment.
(2) Five minutes ago or five minutes into the future, I
might think something else.
(3) If I learn something else, if I think of something
else, if I see something else—I will change my mind
and I will say so.
c. Why? Two big reasons:
(1) Because the Bible is a living Book and even after
40 plus years of reading and studying it, it still
teaches me new things.
(2) Because our understanding of prophecy is also shaped
by the changing world around us; and the world
around us is changing very rapidly.
3.These two truths are so no matter:
a. What prophetical passage we are studying.
b. Who is leading the study.
c. Whether the one leading the study things they are true or
not.
I. \\#Rev 4:1-2\\ (I believe) is a picture of the Rapture of the
Church.
A. The next major prophetical event on God’s calendar is the
rapture of the church.
B. What is the rapture?
1. The rapture is when Jesus returns, unseen by human eyes,
to the earth to gather the saved and to take them to
heaven.
2. \\#1Thess 4:13-18, 1Cor 15:51-57\\
3. The rapture is unseen by human eyes.
a. The only ones who will know the rapture is taking
place are the Christians.
b. The only evidence that the rapture took place with be
the absence of the Christians.
4. Here is an example of how my view of the rapture has
changed over the years.
a. I used to imagine the chaos caused by the rapture of
such a large percentage of Christians.
b. Now I believe that if Jesus continues to tarry His
coming, by the time He does come, the results of the
rapture may be nothing more than a blurp on the
5:00 news.
C. Notice what takes place:
1. John goes from flesh to spirit, from earth to heaven, all
at the command of God.
2. That sounds very much like the rapture!
3. This is not death. This is something else.
D. Notice the similarities to the rapture:
1. \\#1\\ What John heard what we will hear.
Rev 4:1 …and the first voice which I heard was
as it were of a trumpet talking with me….
1Thess 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel, and with the trump of God:
2. What Jesus’ commanded is what the rapture will do.
Rev 4:1 …which said, Come up hither….
1Thess 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the
clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall
we ever be with the Lord.
3. What happened to John is what will happen to us.
Rev 4:2 And immediately I was in the spirit:
and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and
one sat on the throne.
1Cor 15;52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an
eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall
sound, and the dead shall be raised
incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
E. Two effects:
1. From this moment one, John will be in heaven seeing the
future from the same prospective that Christians will see
it AFTER the rapture of the church.
a. Where John is, we will be.
b. What John sees, we will see.
c. What John does, we will do.
d. I don’t know that we will see everything that John
sees because John was being given a personal tour by
an angel of God at the direction of Jesus Himself.
e. But generally, what John sees and partakes of is what
you and I will see and enjoy when the rapture of the
church takes place.
2. At the same time, the unsaved will be experiencing the
judgments of God on the earth.
a. The Rapture begins a period of time that Christians
refer to as the Tribulation.
b. That is a time when God pours judgment after judgment
upon this rebellious world for the rebellion and sin
it has and will be engaging in.
F. Understand that the Rapture has no warning.
1. Nothing must take place before the rapture can occur.
2. There will be no advance notice given—except messages
like this that I and others have been preaching for the
last 2,000 years.
3. It will just happen.
4. Are you ready?
a. If you are saved when the rapture occurs, you will be
instantly changed and taken to heaven.
b. If you are lost, you will be left and go into the
Tribulation.
c. Most of the remainder of this Book will tell you some
of what the Tribulation will be like.
d. You are not going to like it.
II. \\#Rev 4:2-7\\ John was taken to the Throne Room of God.
A. It is interesting that John was immediately in the presence
of God at His Throne Room.
1. Most Christians imagine that when they stand before God,
they will be a the Pearly Gates, but the Pearly Gates
are reference to the gates that surround the New
Jerusalem.
2. New Jerusalem does not come down out of heaven to its
place until \\#Revelation 21:2\\.
3. That’s at the end of the Book of Revelation, after the
rapture and after the Tribulation.
4. I believe that New Jerusalem is the place that Jesus went
to prepare for us \\#John 14:3\\ and that it is already
complete; but that doesn’t mean that’s where we are going
to first in heaven.
5. The truth of the matter is, New Jerusalem will not be
needed until after the rapture of the church.
a. Today Christians that are in heaven do not have their
glorified bodies.
b. Christians are in heaven, but they do not rooms or
houses.
c. For that matter, I do not know that we will need them
when we get our glorified bodies, but I do know that
New Jerusalem is not set in its place until AFTER the
Tribulation.
5. John did not go to New Jerusalem.
6. John went to the Throne Room.
7. Friend, that suits me just fine!
B. \\#Rev 4:2-3\\ Notice where John’s eyes first went:
Rev 4:2 …behold, a throne was set in heaven,
and one sat on the throne.
3 And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper
and a sardine stone:
1. John’s eyes first went to the One who sat on the throne!
2. Interestingly, we are not told Who that is.
a. The reason we are not told is because even the
dumbest person is smart enough to figure it out.
b. God is sitting on that throne.
c. Friend, you can doubt God’s existence as long as you
live on this earth, but when we stand before Him,
no amount of wishful thinking is going to make Him
go away.
Obviously, there is more. This is just the beginning, but the
question is, "Are you ready to meet God?" That is a question that
needs to be answered by both the saved and the lost.
Every day, people die. In the last week, we have had several from our
immediate community to die. Death will not only continue but will
escalate as these things begin to come to pass. However, I believe
that a threat even more imminent than death is the rapture of the
church.
At the Rapture, Christians are caught up from this earthly plane of
existence into the very presence of God and those left behind will
face the anger of the God they have sinned against.
Are you ready to meet God?
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