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Grace Notes Sermon Ministry:
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Behold the Throne!
Rev.
4
Rev. 1:19
19Write
the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things
which shall be hereafter.
‘hast seen’—ch. 1—glimpse at glorified
‘are’—chs. 2-3—church age, the present age of Grace.
‘shall be hereafter’—begins in 4:1, end of the world & eternity future.
v.1—last word= “hereafter”…the 3rd and final section of
Revelation begins right here!
The church [born again believers] has had the center stage until now…as a
matter of fact, the word church appears 19 times in chs. 2 & 3, but
in Rev. 4:1, the church
disappears! And is
not seen again until ch. 19 when we find the church returning w/
To use radio language, we would say that in 4:1, the church goes “off the
air”. Why does the church go off
the air in 4:1? I’ll tell you
why, because the church goes “in the air” in 4:1!!
This verse is a picture of the rapture of the church!
We can only imagine that glorious ride!
Are you excited about making that trip?
Are you watching for Him?
Working? Witnessing?
The rapture is the next event on God’s prophetic time table.
It won’t be long…it can’t be!
All the prophecies have been fulfilled.
There is nothing holding back the return of Jesus
v. 1 sounds like Paul’s
description in I Thess. 4:
16For
the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of
the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in
Take certain metals:
silver, gold, zinc, copper, and iron and sprinkle them on the ground. Then
take one of these giant electro magnets and sweep it over those particles of
metal on the ground. Some of the metal would rise
to meet the magnet, but
others would stay in the ground. The gold would stay in the ground, the
silver would stay in the ground, the zinc would stay in the ground, the
copper and the bronze would stay in the ground, but the iron would rise. Why
would the iron rise? Because it has the same nature as the magnet. When
Jesus comes again, those who are heaven-born will be heaven-bound. Those who
have the nature of the Lord Jesus Christ, the dead in Christ, will rise
first, and we which remain will be caught up to meet them in the air.
The world scoffs at these things, just as they did in Noah’s day, but
no one will be laughing on the day when millions, including all young
children, suddenly vanish! [2 cartoons…]
6
Reasons for a Pre-tribulation Rapture:
1.
Not
one time is the church mentioned in a Bible text discussing the
tribulation
2.
In
all the writings of Paul, the church is never mentioned in connection
w/ the tribulation or wrath to come.
3.
The
church has already been judged at
4.
The
pictures of Enoch/Lot,
etc. [all Bible types picture pre-trib]
5.
Rev.
19 pictures church in Heaven during the tribulation.
6.
The
coming of
Right now, God is still striving w/
rebellious mankind…
…calling / convicting / convincing / saving
sinners…but there’s coming a day very soon when God’s patience will give way
to God’s wrath…and there will be an avalanche of God’s judgment poured down
upon the world which rejects
I
Thess.
There’s a feeling in the air that the return of
Many
people in this room, in their lifetime, have seen mankind harness the atom,
and develop capabilities to destroy the entire earth in less than 30
minutes/Israel established as a nation, and the dispersed Jews return to
Israel by the hundreds of thousands (just as the Bible predicted would
happen just before
If
you are old enough to get a discount at restaurants, then you’ve seen in
your lifetime the divorce rate go from 1 in 8 to what it is today when
divorces outnumber marriages every year/crime rate increase by over
500%/birth of the church of Satan in 1969, which is now granted tax exempt
status by the US government/one-world government begin to be formed…the new
world order/one-world church…ecumenical movement/unprecedented increases in
famines, natural disasters, incurable diseases/there’s an intensity building
up, an expectancy is in the air…
…but
as believers, we need not run around w/ headline hysteria, we are to simply
look up, for our redemption draweth nigh!
We are to faithfully and patiently wait for our Savior, who will soon
come bursting thru the blue w/ the sound of a trumpet, in the twinkling of
an eye.
When
the Bible says that, it means in a millisecond, in an instant…therefore,
when the rapture occurs, if you’re not saved, there will not be time to get
saved, it will be too late for you.
If
you are a
Wait, Lord, I want to win a soul for you!
My brother, my father, my spouse, my kids, my friend, neighbor, my
co-worker!
Wait, Lord, I want to obey you and be a tither/got bitterness in my heart
toward someone/looking at porn right now, let me turn it off/(stamp foot)
let me put this out!
The
message of the rapture is “be ready”/do it now, for the Lord could come at
any moment. Be watching…be
ready!
Let’s pretend the rapture just happened, and we were whisked away.
What would happen…what would you see…what would you hear?
v.2
Behold, a throne!
3 things we’ll see upon arrival in Heaven:
1.
The Master on the Throne
V3
jasper and sardine stone=great in glory
Word
translated jasper could mean diamond=radiance, beauty, infinitely pure.
Then there’s the Sardine stone=deep red, symbolizing blood of
In
the OT, the high priest wore a breastplate…in it were 12 stones,
representing the people of God, the 12 tribes of
Not
only great in glory, but
great in grace.
After God destroyed the world w/ a flood, He made a covenant w/ man, and put
in the sky His symbol of that covenant…the rainbow, a picture of God’s
grace.
Most
rainbows are multi-colored, but this one is emerald green…the color of the
earth. And us earth-dwellers,
raptured away, will realize that once and for all, the storms of life are
over! …in heaven, beholding the
throne we realize, all the storms are over!
“It
will be worth it all, when we see Jesus, life’s trials will seem so small
when we see
Can
you see Him on the throne? Great
in glory, great in grace, and:
Great in government
v. 5
What a change! One moment
we’re beholding the rainbow of peace, and the next the lightning’s flashing
and the thunder’s crashing!
Tho’ the
storms are over for us, down below the storms are brewing like never before
as God’s righteous judgment goes forth upon the earth from His mighty
Throne.
Time out!
Where will you be when the rapture occurs?
Will you be witnessing this scene we’re describing in heaven, or will
you be left behind in the storm which originates from His throne?
There’s only
the 2 choices: be raptured away
by Jesus, or be left behind by Jesus…and what you do w/ Jesus
now determines what He
will do w/ you then!
We’ve seen
the master on the throne, great in
glory/grace/government…
2.
The multitude before the throne
v. 4
who are these elders?
These are the
redeemed, ch. 5 makes it clear.
v. 4 says:
clothed in white raiment=righteousness of
then it mentions the crowns we can win:
Runner’s crown
(imperishable crown in I Cor. 9)
Given to the
Soulwinner’s crown
(crown of joy) I Thess. 2
Given to those who win souls to
Crown of righteousness
(anticipator’s crown) II Tim. 4
Given to the christian who faithfully waits, and looks for the coming
of
Crown of life—Js.
1
Given to the
Crown of glory—I
Peter 5—Minister’s crown, given to a faithful shepherd
These are the 5 crowns we
can win…and what will we do w/ them?
Parade around w/ them showing them off for eternity?
What is, “no!”
v. 10-11
We’ve seen
the master on the throne / multitude
before the throne
3.
The majesty surrounding the throne
v. 6-8
Who are these 4 beasts at the foot of the throne?
These 4 beasts represent all of creation praising the Lord.
In Gen. 9,
after God destroyed the earth w/ flood, and saved Noah and family, He made a
covenant w/ 4 specific categories of creation:
8And
God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, 9And I,
behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;
10And with every living creature that
is with you, of the fowl, of the
cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you;
Man
/ fowl / cattle / beasts of earth
With
that in mind, read Rev. 4:7 again…
Lion—beasts of earth
Calf—cattle
Man—man
Eagle—fowl
God
has made a covenant w/ all His creation.
Don’t ever get the idea that God is finished w/ His creation.
Don’t ever get the idea that the devil spoiled it and it’s all over
w/ His creation. Not only did
God redeem man, but all His creation will be ultimately redeemed.
The Bible says if we don’t praise the Lord, the very rocks would have
to cry out!
Look
what the 24 elders say when they see the 4 beasts praising God…
v.
11
This world was created by Jesus, for Jesus, sustained thru Jesus,
redeemed by Jesus, and it’s all coming back To Jesus!
We’ve described what we will see there?
But what will it sound like?
For one thing there will be singing…sing v. 11 w/ me.
“Thou art worthy…”
There’s another sound we hear in this chapter…v. 8
Let’s imagine the sound of all creation…(chant:
Holy, Holy, Holy continuously)…as it attempts unceasingly to describe
how holy our God is!
What
will happen to you at the rapture?
Will you be right with God, or will you be left behind, preparing for
the storm that will end your life, and begin an eternity separated from God
in hell?
What you do w/ Jesus right now, will determine what Jesus will do w/ you then! Are you rapture-ready?
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